Bougainville Privateers - Frame 1

[Baumer]

332nd Flying Mongrels

daddog
22:07:43 Departed from Field #15 in a A6M5b
22:26:38 Shot down a F4U-1A flown by AKAuger.
22:27:23 Shot down a F4U-1A flown by AKDogg.
22:31:22 Shot down a F4U-1A flown by AKelfy.
22:32:49 Was shot down by unknown enemy.

RAYL49
22:07:49 Departed from Field #15 in a A6M5b
22:29:23 Shot down a F4U-1A flown by AKWxMan.
22:34:00 Was shot down by AKHoopy.

trap78
22:07:48 Departed from Field #15 in a A6M5b
22:21:46 Shot down a F4U-1 flown by Herder.
22:25:30 Was shot down by Saxman (crashed).


Well done Daddog, RAYL49, and Trap78, the AK's are a very good group!

[daddog]

So much for my prediction.
I figured we would fair pretty well as we (IMHO) are more of a turn and burn squad than energy fighters.

Most of those F4U pilots flew smart. I was shocked to see how high they were and that we were not above them. AKDogg flew smart. He stayed high and fast. Made several passes before he was forced to dive in and help his squadies.

As Baumer said they are a very good and experienced FSO squad.

Sorry it did not go any better for everyone. 

[BigRat]

That was ugly   In our defence, every F4U I got near was flown well.  None tried to turn with me, all when I got within 600 would nose down a bit and dive away.  I tried to keep me and Blutik high, to avoid them being above us and make them fight up.  None took the bait to fight up .  I got close on one but couldn't get enough lead on target to close the deal before he nosed down past 400 mph and I had to break off , was wishing for 50 cals or hispanos really bad at that point.  We went down to help the low zeros with the remaining F4U's at daddog's request and chased some around, when a few more high F4U's dove in.  I tried to swing wide to one's left to avoid the head on guns pass and hopefully swing in behind, the guy made a nice rudder over shot that took off most of my left wing I augered soon after.  Very frustrating night for me and the reason I didn't stick around long after augering.   to those that got one and especially daddog with 3

 
BigRat

[Teedog]

Yeah it was ugly. When Trap and headed towards those F4U's, I didn't expect all 10 or 12 of them to turn around and fight. I got a pilot wound right off the bat, and it was very hard to fight. I was surprise Trap and I stayed up as long as we did. we just kept turning, hoping to get a shot of one of them. WTG Trap, You took one of them with us 

[Earthdog]

Three weeks off and my gunnery is gone completely, especially in the Zeke with the small site.  There were several I should of had.  I would have been much more comfortable fighting these guys on the deck.  Everytime I got near them they would dive and really there's not much you can do.  If you chase you either compress or loose so much maneuverability that you can't turn with them.  The Zeke likes to be low and slow, at least when I fly it.  Anyway, got to get in more practice.  Got sucked into another game which both my wife and kids play so been a lot of online family time, which is nice, since I've been laid up and can't do much with them outside the house.

[Malap]

I didn't fare well either, i got separated from Harppa at the initial merge and i could not get back on his wing, i need practice at being a wingman. I only got one snapshot at a Corsair and missed.

Then i saw a squadie in trouble (i forget who), flames pouring out of the Zeke and a Corsair still on his 6. So i dove down to try force the bandit of his tail, sadly the bandits wingman got me and i went down in flames missing vital parts of my Zeke, (a wing)  .

Malap.

[daddog]

Over the years Earth I have been amazed how I lose my edge in gunnery if I don't fly much or take breaks. Just 2 or 3 weeks off with little or no flying and you will (as you noticed last night) really lose a significant amount of skill in your gunnery.

It is a shame it is not like riding a bike concerning gunnery, but the good news is what skills someone has concerning air combat maneuvers does not seem to fade as fast. You can be away from the game a month or more, but if you were a good stick prior you will still fly like a pro, even if you can't hit the side of a barn.

[Ghosth]

It seems that I need at least a couple of sorties a day in the same plane to really be sharp on shooting.

Baumers offline missions are a great way to "tune up" before heading to the main.
You can choose the plane you want to fly, and get some good practice in before you have to do it for real.