Leaderboard

402nd Debrief: 6th December 1944 A reconnoitre of the Zülpich area armed with 2x500lb bombs A mixed mission for sure and not without incident sadly. We flew as white and blue flights to 485th's red flight, in a show of force to jerry. As we reached cruise altitude blue one was seen to nose down violently by blue two and despite his frantic calls, never recovered from the steep dive. Suspected catastrophic control failure and the subsequent extreme negative G the likely cause of pilot incapacitation. 2lt Roger Over joined 402 only a few missions ago, but he quickly became a favourite of all in the squadron, especially for 'that trick' in the mess hall involving a chalice, 20mm cannon shell and a pair of nylons. How he managed it, we will now sadly never know. Blue skies young man! Blue two formed up with white flight to resume as a fighting four. Shortly after 485 engaged with the Ju88 and whilst orbiting awaiting their new position, we answered the call to engage fighters to the South. A busy furball ensued, with our Tempest escort also getting stuck in. A number of 190 D9s were shot down or damaged in the engagement with no loss to our own. At this point white three reported possible control damage to his aircraft so opted to RTB; this later turned out to be a dodgy window causing buffeting - after giving it a bash he headed East again and joined the rest of 402. After a period of searching the sky and an aborted engagement on what turned out to be friendly aircraft, we looked for ground targets of opportunity along the frontline from Zülpich up to Jülich. Some AAA were dispatched, one of which caused damage to white four who, escorted by white three returned to Florennes as a precaution whilst lead and two continued the search. White two was the only pilot to still have bombs hanging from his -38 following the earlier dogfight, so we were keen to find somewhere meaningful that he could lay his eggs. Unfortunately, this was not to be as a well aimed AAA hit caused severe damage to both of his engines. White two immediately diverted due West to successfully recover at a forward airfield escorted by white leader, who then made the lonely flight home for a well earned cup of coffee. A slightly frantic mission with a decent tally of aircraft downed and a handful of ground kills, though sadly darkened by the loss of 2lt Over.

Very eventful sortie today 485th ! Set off as a four ship flight along with the 402nd on a combined Sqn air patrol mission over the front lines north of Zulpich. 2x500lb bombs were carried by all to suppress flak for 410th bomber Sqn if needed. From 15,000ft before we reached the front lines, what turned out to be a single Ju88 was spotted. Since the armorers had forgotten to load 2nd Lt Lucas Rockwell’s aircraft with bombs and the refuelling chaps had only given Capt Rea half full tanks, I sent them in as a bombless pair to despatch said Bosh bastard whilst 2nd Lt Artisan Well and myself kept our eggs for later. HOWEVER, to the south was spotted a loveliness of FW D9s at around angels 15 so all bombs dumped and in we go. Capt Rea and 2nd Lt Rockwell had to climb to join us so things were a little lop sided and......well..... Well was overwhelmed and we think he took damage to his elevator which lead to an unrecoverable dive into oblivion. It’s a shame because he was a very deep, well rounded chap. Anyway, we dispatched the D9s with some excellent work from Rockwell and Rea, continued on our patrol all the while keeping in touch with the 402nd boys and the 410th chaps who were also busy inflicting harm and misery as required. On the return northern leg of our patrol we descended to look for ground targets of opportunity and found plenty. 25 plus were destroyed between us in what can only be described as an ordered frenzy of aggression.... brought a tear to my eye it did. Capt Rea dead stick landed, out of fuel, at a forward airfield without a problem and Rockwell and myself landed at home base in time to join 402nd’s afternoon whisky and knitting bonanza.

Disappointing news from EDs Discord: NineLine — Yesterday at 5:20 PM I was just told that the Mossie has slipped back behind the Hind, sorry guys. NineLine — Yesterday at 5:25 PM I wont give any dates right now, but its slipped back a little NineLine — Yesterday at 5:27 PM Nick just wasn't happy with the external model, so that's a good thing, he knows what's good and what isn't DCS Well, at least it's still this year, hopefully 2nd Quarter....

That is what counts!

I trust his judgement. It'll be worth the wait

@Toad ok I will have a look. It actually might be easier if I do that and then circulate the recording and then take questions, that way people can do it when it suits them, its an option. Also happy to do "live" sessions. The UK clocks go forward this weekend by the way.

I still dont know when I will be sending the 1080. No updates for nearly 3 months

I had planned to be with you all, laid around all afternoon watching tv.. I'm slipping, sorry.