ok guys.......tried something different. i did this story as a bomber crew/pilot. not sure if i did it as well as i manage to do the fighter ones, so if ya'll don't mind, i'd appreciate any feedback, and suggestions....good or bad.
thanks to jc67, grumpy, fugitive, malap, baumer(gunning with/for me)and jgroth for your (un)willing participation in the screenies. names are made up, no squirrels with cameras or sheep were hurt in the making of this. i hope you all enjoy. "pilot from ball." go ahead ball. "cap, we got sumthin down low, climbin to us." can you make out what it is? i asked?
"yea, it looks like a 109, cap". "captain to crew, check in." i listened, as i hear "tail checking in", right waist checking in,
left waist........top turret.....nose......all checked in.
ok guys, check your oxygen tanks, we're gonna have company. pilot from tail. "go ahead tail". johnny, my tank's reading a
lil low.
right waist from pilot.....can you get a fresh oxygen tank to len in the tail? pilot from right waist......on it cap. good. i liked
flying with this crew. they were like a well oiled machine. there were none better, and if i could help it, i'd not fly with any
other to protect my baby.
i looked at my co-pilot, and nodded as we both scanned the skies for more bandits. it was rare to see a single german air-
craft.
the germans tended to hunt in pairs or packs. they knew what they were doing, and they did it very effeciently. i don't think
any of us feared them, so much as we respected them as advesaries, and the hunters they looked on themselves as.
we had gotten lucky. our box didn't encounter any fighters on the way in to target. we had to deal with the flak though. german
88mm anti-aircraft guns. sometimes they were deadly accurate. it had been moderate, but we all still hated it. we had no
way of defending against it. all we could do was to fly through it, and hope for the best.
i was brought out of my thoughts, hearing len in the tail yelling. "pilot from tail!! bandit!! 5 o'clock high!! comin in hard!!"
ok guys, someone keep an eye on the low guy! lets get these guys, and go home with a couple more scalps!! we have a ways to go,
try to keep your bursts short, and conserve your ammo guys!
i could see the nose guns turning to the right, but knew there was no way he could bring them to bear on the bandit. then i hear it.
the staccato chatter of the top turret, and tail. i feel the ship shake slightly, as we take hits, and i hear the waist and ball guns fire, as the
109 blasts through our formation, so close, i could almost see the pilots goggles. he goes below us, out of sight, and i can't see him.
did anyone get him?! i asked. negative! he took hits, but no obvious damage sir. "ok guys, keep on him." no sooner are those words
out of my mouth, than i hear the top turret open up again, as he yells, here comes the other one!! we take no hits this time, but i see
a fuel tank ignite on our left wingman.
c'mon guys...hit the extinguisher!! the fire gets bigger, as left waist and ball start counting the chutes out loud. i hear 8, then an explosion
that rocks our ship. i call for checkin, and all of our crew checks in. their ship exploded. at least 8 of em got out. thank god.
here he comes again!!! get that sonofasqueak!! i hear the stacatto of multiple 50 cals firing. i can almost feel the ship shaking from their recoil.
woohoo!! we hear on the intercom, in high pitched voice. "i got that sonofasqueak!!!!! tore his wing right off!!!!" came from the tail. good shooting len!!
now cut the chatter!! we still have another up here. we don't want to end up like butches ship, do we?
cap, we got a problem., says the co-pilot. wassup will? we're losing oil pressure on #2. "top turret from pilot." "go ahead pilot." can you see
anything on #2?" yessir, we're trailing smoke, but i can't see much more. "pilot from ball. go ball" "cap, there's oil running down the wing sir."
we're gonna lose that engine. gotcha...thanks ball.
will......keep an eye on #2. if she starts vibrating too badly, shut her down. yessir. the mighty pratt and whitney twin wasp radial was one of the most robust engines we've ever seen, and they've been known to run when they should've long ago seized. i hoped this was one of those times.
we hear the guns open up in their short bursts again. takatakataka. over and over. len yells from the tail, "gitem ball!! he's comin right under us!"
up front in the cockpit, all we can hear is our gunners working together, and every so often, we think we can hear the electrics driving the turrets.
ball yells!! got his ass!! ain't no way in hell he's goin home!!! take that hans!!! that's for butch's crew!!
calm down guys!! keep a look out for more!
will shuts off the fuel to #2, then the magneto, then feathers the prop. we don't seem to lose much speed. i say a silent thanks to the engineers
at pratt and whitney for our twin wasp radials. they're probably one of the best engines we have.
crew, look over outside, what damage can you see?
from ball.......landing gear looks ok sir. some holes in the wings, and you already know about #2..........no hydraulic fluid anywhere.
we all keep scanning the skies, but it seems we were lucky, and we listen to the wonderful music of our twin wasps taking us home to safety.
45 minutes later, we touch down to mother earth. will and i go through the shut down checklists, as the crew removes the ammo from their guns,
and load them onto the jeeps to take them back to the armory.
we all hop into a jeep, to head for the debrief, in the chilly damp air. it actually feels warm compared to where we just were.
