PWCG P-38 Lightning Strikes Co-op Campaign

[FoolTrottel]

Thanks Tom!

It has shown somebody else can do your job where it concerns clicking them buttons ...

But writing this all up the way you do? ... Nope. Never.. Ever... 

 Thanks so much!

 

[Painless]

Mixed bag this time out 485th, wing men like Capt Dave Prang don’t grow on trees !.
Hope our replacement, 2Lt Joe Walsh flys as well as he apparently plays the guitar!

The technical  problems which occurred before we took off are being looked in to by the crew chiefs and will hopefully not plague us again. We can not afford to loose three experienced pilots before we even get off the ground. 

In flight problems concerning vision, specifically target acquisition, can and WILL be rectified with a combination of the correct spectacles and medication !

Other than that well done for giving Jerry a bloody nose once again. You saved a few GI lives today chaps.

Drinks are on me this evening provided you all wear “one item of lace” as was the habit of our dearly departed Capt  David Prang. 

[Reggie]

@Painless would you be so kind as to send me the actual file you use for icons in your install? I will replace mine with that and see if it helps as I am having similar problems offline as I did last night. 

And that is after a dose of my special Famous Grouse medication, and thorough cleaning of my spectacles 😉

[Sid]

1 hour ago, Reggie said:

 

And that is after a dose of my special Famous Grouse medication, and thorough cleaning of my spectacles 😉

I am wondering if your special Famous Grouse is as efficacious as the Mr. Grant that I sometimes turn to  rely on  use....

[Painless]

Here you go Reggie, this is the one I think you need found in the MODS   Icon_Map_Other_Planes_Off_3010C_2-15   folder...

Correct me if its the wrong one chaps.

map.dds

[Sid]

This is the one I use to get the small triangles for aircraft and squares for ground targets. The one Painless posted is a mod that removes aircraft/ground targets off the minimap and briefing map except your own.

Using these and turning icons off should get you the same as us Reggie.

ICON_D_D_NL_SM_T.zip

[Painless]

Thanks Sidly ! 👍🏻

[DD_Fenrir]

Found these in discord; colourized,  but a good job done I think. The originals were taken at Andover in Southern England prior to the move to France. Very atmospheric.

Plus anything with a 402nd FS P-38 in it is automatically cool, and definitely trumps any other P-38 squadron image. Period. 

[DD_Fenrir]

Oh, and I found this one a while back, forgot to post it. Besides, didn't think a picture of a plane belonging to of a bunch of dribbling knuckle draggers would raise much interest...

[BluBear]

Very cool, nice find! Just look at the state of the OD painted aircraft in particular. 

[DD_Fenrir]

Some black and whites now showing Florennes at the time:

[BluBear]

Hard to see in the others but those last three aircraft appear to have the white wing tips, just as you've painted on your skin.
I thought it was unique to 402nd, but it looks like this particular ID marking crossed squadrons. Do you know any more about it?

[DD_Fenrir]

10 hours ago, BluBear said:

Hard to see in the others but those last three aircraft appear to have the white wing tips, just as you've painted on your skin.
I thought it was unique to 402nd, but it looks like this particular ID marking crossed squadrons. Do you know any more about it?

Alas, no Chris. As we have seen, actual colour images of these aircraft is very rare. I based the white wing tips on my 'Q' from a PTO Lightning (though it's were red with black trim) just on the basis that I thought it would look good in white with red trim and wasn't a stretch that an individual in the ETO might have done the same. It wasn't based on any prototypical 402nd aircraft in particular.

Regards your seeing the white wing tips in the images above, I'm not necessarily convinced though I can see why you believe they could be; they certainly appear lighter. However this could be down a number of factors. The increase taper of the wing profile allowing more ambient light to be reflected. I suspect that the wing tip skins are stamped/pressed structures to give them the shape - to accomplish this the metal could need to be a heavier alloy than the wing skins and grained differently. The forming itself could adjust the specular nature of the metal thanks to heat/energy transfer. Also bear in mind wing-tips tend to get knocks and bumps and maybe a newer (cleaner!) replacement had been fitted to one of these aircraft. Or indeed they may have been painted. A few too many equivocations to definitively conclude... 

[Painless]

Wow “too many equivocations to definitively conclude” .......“factots” 

Marry me !

[DD_Fenrir]

Gentlemen, I have some news...

As many of you are aware, at the inception of this campaign, both the 402nd and the 485th were supposed to be based, as in reality, at the same airfield, that is Florennes/Juzaine (A-78).

However, due to apparent limitations with PWCG and GBS, this was not to be; we had issues with aircraft from one squadron spawning inside or partially interfering with aircraft of the other and it resulted in my being obliged to move the 485th to another airfield, some 50km to the NE in order for the campaign to be playable and to get us started.

It has stuck in my craw for some time, not least because of the ahistorical element but also because having 6-10 P-38's starting, taxying and taking off from an airfield was brilliant but to have almost double that would have been awesome. I felt we were missing out on spectacle, atmosphere and the camaraderie of coming back not just as a squadron but as a Group.

It's been nagging me so I looked at this again. Armed with a little clarification from Vander (he of Easy Mission Generator fame) on how the ground start spawning logic works, my own anal retentive obsession for accuracy and a healthy dose of sheer bloody mindedness I set to making this a reality...

and I am pleased to announce that, henceforth,

The 485th will be based alongside the 402nd at Florennes/Juzaine (A-78) Airfield!!!

In order for this to work, I had to fool PWCG that the 485th was based at a different airfield than the 402nd, hence the 485th boys will see their home airfield as "Juizane", where the 402nd will still be based at "Florennes"; however, they are the same airfield. And it works! We have two well separated dispersal areas and no chance for the spawn collisions that wrecked this idea in the first place.

I tested myself thoroughly and Painless & Kimo joined for a third party test session and quick airfield orientation and local area familiarisation flight this evening just gone, all successful I might add. Thanks for the help gents.

So 485th flyers take note: I have included a map to help you orient yourselves with where you will spawn on the airfield and give you some idea of the layout. Bear in mind your flight times will be a bit longer and there's sweet F.A. in terms of alternate fields in the immediate vicinity - could be something to consider when nursing back a wounded bird or low on fuel.

 

[Perfesser]

Will add a new dimension to the take-off. ... pilot gestures. Good work!!

🤞 🖖🖕🤏🤙

[Friar]

That is fantastic work Fen. It will make the mission start and ends even more awesome.

[BluBear]

Bloody well done that man! Immersion levels increased. I cannot wait for the cacophony on that first take off. 

[Painless]

Brilliant work Tom, have posted detailed PM to the 485th boys .

[Reggie]

Great stuff guys, and thanks for the mods, I will try them and see how we go

[Crash]

Joe Walsh is ready to fly.

[Painless]

Reporting for duty skipper .

[BluBear]

Nah boring, I'm washing my hair.

 

 

Just kidding, I'm in like flynn!

[fruitbat]

Reporting for duty.

[Reggie]

Reporting myself for being ready for duty - 😎