String of bad luck or... hilarious tales of nearly succeeding

[ShamrockOneFive]

I enjoy the single player campaign despite it being sometimes a bit sparse. And so in the last few days I've really been chipping away at my progress with it (even leveled up to 11) and have been enjoying myself for the most part.

 

But I had a string of pretty bad missions that I can really only blame on myself and while I'll keep the details short, they are quite... hilarious? Maybe?

 

First one!

 

So this first one went fairly well actually but it almost didn't. Flew a low level intercept mission in a MiG-3 against a trio of Bf110s with 109 escort. This time I took the twin UB cannons in the nose and the UBKs hanging off the wings. This part of the fight went fairly well. I managed to evade the 109s (I heard a single LMG hit against the wing) in the initial merge before I managed to get killing bursts on two of the Bf110s and one of the 109s. My wingmen cleaned up the rest but not before a 109 savaged my MiG, injuring my pilot, damaging the wing and engine.

 

At this point we made a beeline for home. Unfortunately halfway there we ran into a flight of 109s on patrol at higher altitude. I dove for the deck hoping they wouldn't see us. And at first... they didn't. Passed right over us (this is the AI were talking about) and kept on going. But at some point we must have gotten into their viewpoint (and really... I'm trailing smoke) and they started chasing us.

 

We're now 5km from homebase and the flak batteries have opened up. I run for base but the 109s are on us and so it gets into a low level turn fight with the 109s. I managed to get an angle for a shot and a few measly rounds in the starboard gunpod come out before it dries up. The port gunpod is damaged and the nose guns, despite an ample ammo supply, are dead. Very fortunately, one of the other MiGs scores a killing blow on the 109s and the flak takes out the rest.

 

Made a terrible landing complete with a bounce, a stall and scraping the port wing along the ground before bringing it to a stop on three wheels and the engine still running. So that was ok actually.

 

Second one!

 

I take a MiG-3 out again for an interception mission. Climbing through 6.5km we find Ju88s escorted by 109s and I go for the engagement. I badly misjudge the 109s interception angle and one of the 109s gets a half dozen hits on my MiG-3 which bursts into flames and the elevator jams in place. So I have a burning tumbling MiG-3 careening out of control. That ended pretty quickly thereafter!

 

Third one!

 

I decide flying bomber interception is too hazarous tonight. Time to fly the bullet sponge... aka the IL-2. The mission is to attack an airbase in the northern part of the Moscow map. So I take a full load of six 100kg and eight rockets. Approaching the airfield at low altitude I line up on the flight line and spot the parked aircraft and vehicles that we're supposed to attack. I go full throttle moving in at an angle to the first flak battery taking it out before aligning myself with the parked aircraft. I toggle series of 4 bomb and rocket release and I launch everything into the parked aircraft. Well that goes up brilliantly! Thinking that this is fun I swing around for another pass along the flight line. Flying low to avoid the flak... or so I think. A flak battery opens up directly infront of me and just as I launch the next 4 rockets... I get hit square on. My IL-2 fuselage detaches and my IL-2 tumbles to the ground... traveling the short distance between me and the flak battery. My IL-2 rams into the flak battery and then everything just explodes.

 

It's just that kind of night :D

[216th_Lucas_From_Hell]

Great thread

 

Yesterday in an attempt to be daring and 'realistix' I dialed the curves up to 80% on both roll and yaw, keeping the stiffness on the stick maxed up - for the record, it does work and feel a lot more interesting if laborious to fly.

 

So off I go in my MiG-3, flight of four, to intercept some Junkers. 5.500m, no escort, looking good! I make pass after pass on them and it seems they missed their bomb drop. I continue. After hitting them hard a few times I am told to go home, but I don't want to leave our guests intact so I press on. Initially the only damage is a pierced fuel tank. But the comes another, and after getting too close at an unfavourable angle I get yet another fuel tank hit and my left aileron loses control.

 

Remember that 80% curve on roll?

 

That bastardly aileron is now flapping madly in the wind, requiring nearly full opposite force to keep the aircraft mostly level. My MiG enters all kinds of stall when I try to get around to hit a Junkers, and realising aiming is impossible under these circumstances I start going to Kubinka and my flight follows.

 

Some 5-8 minutes pass, my hand is aching, yet every now and then the aileron sits into place and allows me to relax a little. Kubinka appears in front of me just as the engine starts cutting out from fuel starvation, but the plane ended up in one piece.

[Guest deleted@50488]

Excellent read! Thx!

[216th_Lucas_From_Hell]

On this note, I'll just repost one of my best/worst sorties because that was unforgettable from the beginning to the end.

 

Two MiGs flew from Zenino under terrible rainy weather to intercept some Messerschmitts that came in to attack a frontline airfield. At first we blew past them without contact, but the AAA gave the Messers away. Me and my wingman turned around and gave chase. One of them dropped a bomb at a AA gun before joining the group, which entered the thick cloud layer upon seeing us. I tried to chase them but it was useless, so I dragged my pair above the overcast in a steep climb and at its peak I was delighted to spot a pair of enemy aircraft beneath me to the right. Targets! I turned and let the MiG drop its nose, and surely enough one 109 came into my sights. I fired a good burst at it, and it started smoking and trailing fluids, dropping its bomb together with its wingman. I chased the second one, but after a minute of manoeuvring both dove westwards into the clouds and I lost them for good. Later it turns out a flight of I-16s came across the Messers and shot down two of them.

 

Knowing my location, I decided to go home instead of chasing enemy planes which had already dropped their bombs and escaped without dealing much damage. Me and my wingman set the heading to the next waypoint, and I decided to fly it above the clouds on v*t = d. Sure enough we hit the mark, and it was time for the last leg home. I set course and started a shallow dive so I could use the rivers to navigate (a very useful thing over Podmoskovye). A minute or two passed without much happening, then suddenly as we flew over a road I heard multiple cannon hits on my machine. Blimey, did the Messers come back? I broke right and rolled to look behind me but there was nothing there... except for four trucks. And from one of them another burst flew towards me, but this one missed. In panic, my wingman entered a steep climb through the clouds and that was the last I saw of him. With the danger left behind, I levelled out and assessed the damage - multiple hits on the left wing, but by most means it seemed like it would hold. The aircraft was handling fine by most means, and I had nothing to be too worried about. Then, as I struggle to check if there was damage to the tailplane, I saw more tracers flying past. Enough! I followed my wingman's advice and pulled straight through the clouds, where it was peaceful and quiet. With a couple of minutes to collect myself, I figure it's time to dive and look for the airfield.

 

Imagine my surprise when I dip the nose, eyes on the artificial horizon and altimeter, and am greeted by the open field of Zenino right beneath me! Home sweet home, I've made it! Zenino was close to the front lines - you could only approach it from the East, otherwise you'd already be within AA range. I did as the mission planning recommended, set the flaps for about halfway and entered the base leg. Gear down, cockpit open, ASI was showing 210 km/h and slowly decreasing. Everything was set for a perfect landing. I took some rough aim between the bonfires and trimmed the MiG nose up. The descent was smooth as butter, and as I cleared the last few trees it seemed like this would be the best MiG-3 landing of my life.

 

...BOOM!

 

With my mouth hanging open I looked at the helpless picture in front of me. What went wrong? A bug?! Everything looked perfect up until that second! I then look at the searchlight to the left side of the runway and notice that my wreckage was strangely parallel to it. There and then dawned on me that my amazing mission ended up tragically because of me missing a bloody searchlight hiding under the MiG's nose. The horror, the horror!

[seafireliv]

You should see my hilarious hi-jinx online. Everything goes perfect in my trials offline, but online can I taxi- Hell no! Aircraft decides it don`t want to follow the path any more and like a wayward horse insists on trying to crash into the nearest Tower. Only after 5 minutes and everyone is in the air after boredom does my aircraft decide, `Ok, I`ll move straight now!`

 

Then I arrive to the dogfight 5 minutes later when all my side are dogmeat.

 

Then what about the fun of getting lost in the formation and asked to take lead so we can get even more lost.

 

Tis a good thing I have a generally calm demeanor, although my stick was a tempting target to throw out the window at 2 am!

Edited June 5, 2016 by seafireliv

[ShamrockOneFive]

Had a pretty good mission today for counter balance.

 

A pair of MiG-3s up against a flight of 109s and 110s and we still managed to escape with a victory despite also running smack dab into the middle of another dogfight between MiGs and 109s. I ended that flight with a mission success and five victories! Ace in a day

Edited June 6, 2016 by ShamrockOneFive