Thanks everybody, especially ShtGn who took so much work on to pull this off. Ditto was no slouch, either, flying into the thick of it with our Heinkels. That in no way diminishes the efforts put in by all the He111 pilots that I flew with, or the escorts that tried to cover us (in most cases, successfully!). There are just too many to list.
The scenario is over now. These are just some of the screenshots that jumped at me and I was trying a "post in real-time as the event unfolds" type of thing, during the down times between sorties.
There were so many other times when I wanted a screenshot but didn't react fast enough or think to take one, or wished I was rolling film after something.
After a near-suicidal run on a strat at the end of one frame before the beginning of another, I dove away in a single plane but was being chased by a spitfire that was pounding me. I neglected to mind my speed and after taking lots of hits I also ripped off my elevators. The spitfire made a pass or two after that, my gunner peppering him to no effect, and then saw I was basically without elevators. I saw him fly to my side for a moment, then break off, writing me off as dead. Instead, I managed to moderate my speeds using flaps (constantly riding between one setting and the next) and my gear and set down relatively safely in a field some 20 miles away. While blacking out pilot wounded the entire time. I was captured, but it was a moral victory!
Another moment I wish I'd had film rolling for an amazing moment: I'm in my shot up He111 sans drones (see above pics) and straggling 2k behind the formation. Brooke and Slipknot are the closest ahead of me and friendly 109s above and to the rear. A spit comes into range on my high 3 then 4 oclock. Then he goes away. Then he comes back in and almost before I can warn anybody he moves from 5 high (very high, 109s called him as above 20K, we were at 13K) he is closing so fast it's amazing. I bank left a little then right, about to dodge, when I realize he's aimed at Slip, in front of me. I start levelling off JUST in time to see him ZZZZzzzzzoooooooom-BOOOOM and he and Slips lead plane both disappear into trailing fireballs... Poor RAF pilot forgot about compression and locked up on his attack run. All this happened as I was tracking him in and watching them both fireball. It ... was... GLORIOUS!
There were some other awesome moments as well. Thanks everyone for participating! Hope you enjoyed my little live-posting attempt here.
