Friday Night Flights

[Sketch]

FRIDAY NIGHT FLIGHTS and SATURDAY ENCORE FLIGHTS

 

FnF Date/Time

SeF Date/Time

Server: Combat Box FnF and SeF Server

Comms: IL2 SRS

---> REGISTRATION PAGE <---

---> MISSION BRIEFING <---

 

This week will be a repeat of last week’s mission. If you flew Allied or Axis last week, now is your chance to try the other side…

After setting up airfields at Agoy and Lazarev, Axis Command has decided to make a push against the wood industries in the South of Kuban. Allied refugees and troops from the coast are being transported via rail to Khan City while in pursuit of the 8th mobile infantry. Meanwhile, the 66th have set up radar to help support the Allied defense, but radar is limited in the mountain ranges where Axis intend to strike...

 

Can the Axis destroy enough objectives within the limited time frame (2 hours) or can the Allies hold them off with the use of radar?

 

Sign up now to find out!

 

Planes:

P51 vs Bf109K4 

SpitfireXIV vs Fw190D9

P47D22 vs Fw190A6

P47D28 vs Bf110G2

 

SRS Installation

Please note: All participants must be on and use SRS.

Get Skins Here

SRS install guide

 

 

Want to know Friday Night Flights and Saturday Encore Flights is like? Check out this video here:

 

 

Edited May 17, 2021 by Sketch

[JimTM]

(FIXED) Sketch, the url for the sign-up has a couple of asterisks at the end, leading to a 404 Not Found. The link in Discord is OK.

 

Looking forward to this Friday and trying out SRS with CB.

Edited June 8, 2020 by JimTM

[ITAF_Airone1989]

I registered.

Just one question: I said I wish to be fighter, but really it's not a problem for me be an attacker, so basically I can do what is needed or I can also change during the game due to front situation.

Should I send another registration with attacker request or is not necessary?

[Sketch]

6 hours ago, ITAF_Airone1989 said:

Should I send another registration with attacker request or is not necessary?

It's not necessary. If we need an attacker pilot, I'll be sure to hit you up first... But I doubt it; last Friday, we had 26 pilots playing together... It was two full attacker squadrons and three overly filled escort flight groups. Good times! ?

Edited May 4, 2020 by Sketch

[ITAF_Airone1989]

Perfect, thanks a lot

[JimTM]

Sketch, I suggest that everyone set up a PTT key for the leader channel in case they end up leading their flight for one reason or another.

 

Is the "All Channel" frequency for everyone on one side or for everyone on both sides?

[Sketch]

On 5/6/2020 at 1:30 PM, JimTM said:

Sketch, I suggest that everyone set up a PTT key for the leader channel in case they end up leading their flight for one reason or another.

 

Is the "All Channel" frequency for everyone on one side or for everyone on both sides?

All channels in SRS are push to talk. The "all channel" for the event is for all of us and not tied to a side. So each flight member will have a flight group channel, and an to everyone channel. No one should be using the all channel really; it's there just in case. Flight leaders will have their own channel, and no flight member will hear any communication from that channel (unlike Teamspeak), so they won't have to worry about double communications. (Technically, Flight Leaders will have 3 channels, the flight group they're in, the flight leaders channel, and the all channel.)

 

After the event, we will open SRS radio (with you guys being early adopters) to the masses of Combat Box. Hopefully after Friday, many of you guys will 'get' SRS Radio and how cool it is. It works just like a real radio would, and that makes it super duper awesome in my opinion.

 

BTW, today is the last day to register for Friday Night Flights for May 8th! Registration closes at 9pm EST today. We have 16 people signed up, but have PLENTY of room for you and your friends to join us. See you guys Friday!

Edited May 7, 2020 by Sketch

[JimTM]

2 minutes ago, Sketch said:

All channels in SRS are push to talk. ... Flight leaders will have their own channel, and no flight member will hear any communication from that channel (unlike Teamspeak), so they won't have to worry about double communications. (Technically, Flight Leaders will have 3 channels, the flight group they're in, the flight leaders channel, and the all channel.)

...

 

It's not the PTT I was thinking of, it was that everyone who may end up being a flight lead have a key mapped in SRS for the lead channel. So, if Sketch gets shot down and says, "Jim, take over", Jim just dials in the leader frequency and is ready to communicate.

[Sketch]

Ahh yes... We'll I can designate number 2 and number 3 pilots to take over if need be. Are you volunteering? ?

[JimTM]

16 minutes ago, Sketch said:

Ahh yes... We'll I can designate number 2 and number 3 pilots to take over if need be. Are you volunteering? ?

 

Sure!   

[Sketch]

Registration is now closed for May 8th's event with over 16 people registered! See you guys tomorrow at 9pm Eastern.

[ITAF_Airone1989]

If somebody want to rewatch yesterday sortie:
 

 

Edited May 9, 2020 by ITAF_Airone1989

[Sketch]

See first post in thread

Edited May 18, 2020 by Sketch

[56RAF_Roblex]

Just checking the times.  Here in the UK we are on Summer time so GMT+1.   Are you saying this event starts at 2am local time in the UK?

[Sketch]

Yes, 2am for the UK. If you're interested in hosting an EU time zone, you can message me.

[ITAF_Airone1989]

1 hour ago, 56RAF_Roblex said:

Just checking the times.  Here in the UK we are on Summer time so GMT+1.   Are you saying this event starts at 2am local time in the UK?

 

If you host EU mission, I will be glad...

 

Was super funny to fly this kind of mission, but not so much wake up at 3am (Italian's time)...

 

But for sure also a lot of EU players will be happy to enjoy this kind of event at 9pm UK! 

Edited May 10, 2020 by ITAF_Airone1989

[=FEW=Hauggy]

I'd love to join too but I have the same issue.

 

[Lawn*Dart]

I posted some 4K screenshots from this last Friday night onto imgur, some of them came out pretty good.  It was a very fun night, despite the slaughter : )

[Sketch]

1 hour ago, Lawn*Dart said:

I posted some 4K screenshots from this last Friday night onto imgur, some of them came out pretty good.  It was a very fun night, despite the slaughter : )

Omg this is the best! Thank you for making my week @Lawn*Dart!!! I love the story behind it all. ?

 

Edited May 18, 2020 by Sketch

[Sketch]

FNF for May 29th has been posted. See the first post of this thread for more information!

[Stoopy]

Sketch, I'd like to join this coming Friday and I've gone through the setup and the connection and configuration of the SRS radio.  It all works as advertised with the exception of one dumb question please:  At 4:25 in your YouTube video you mention that once connected to AWACS mode, "from there you will be given a Radial number". But it's not obvious where that Radial number is given, displayed or otherwise provided.  In testing the connection, I don't hear it being given either, if that's where it's meant to come from.  Where does one find it?

[JimTM]

On 5/31/2020 at 12:16 PM, =[TIA]=Stoopy said:

Sketch, I'd like to join this coming Friday and I've gone through the setup and the connection and configuration of the SRS radio.  It all works as advertised with the exception of one dumb question please:  At 4:25 in your YouTube video you mention that once connected to AWACS mode, "from there you will be given a Radial number". But it's not obvious where that Radial number is given, displayed or otherwise provided.  In testing the connection, I don't hear it being given either, if that's where it's meant to come from.  Where does one find it?

 

Not "radial number" but "radio number", i.e., the radio frequency. Once you sign up for the upcoming Friday Night flights, Sketch emails you  the mission briefing (usually a day or two before the event). The briefing includes a flight leader frequency and a frequency for each flight.

 

SRS defaults to 251.000 AM and 30.000 FM, which are common channels that everyone can hear. Sketch uses 30.000 FM to check in with everyone at the start and then everyone is supposed to start using the flight channels and leaders are supposed to use the leader channel and their flight channel.

 

Glad you are joining us Stoopy. See you on Friday.

 

(Link removed) Btw, Sketch, the url for the SRS setup video in the opening post includes %C2%A0, which causes a 404 not found.

Edited June 8, 2020 by JimTM

[Stoopy]

Thanks JimTM!  And yep I forgot to mention the URL correction needed. 

 

No radial number? Darn I thought we were finally gonna get a chance to use VOR navigation! 

[Sketch]

Friday Night Flights Campaign event updated to June 12th. Please see the first post in this thread for more information.

[Giovanni_Giorgio]

I registered but won't make it.

[Sketch]

TLDR:

• Format for FnF has changed to dogfight on a closed server instead of cooperative mode.

• Your accomplishments will matter in the campaign and for your personal stats

• The start of this campaign will be Friday July 10th

 

I hope everyone had a great time the last time we did Friday Night Flights. I know it’s been awhile, and as we continue to grow, the format has changed again. Some of the issues we had last few FnF’s were - cooperative mode with 50 people that couldn’t reconnect if they had technical issues, a fully open server where players only went after bombers and not objectives, and we didn’t have a great way to display stats or make the stats persistent.

 

In our last event, we had over 50 people register for FnF! While that’s amazing, it came with its own set of problems. Cooperative mode with 50 people was and is just too much of a headache. Players are like herding cats. Some players didn’t know how to connect, what role they were in, or how to get onto SRS. Other players had taxing issues, or watched as AI planes crashed into their own plane. Even more players had to wait, after completing their mission, for everyone else on the server to complete their own missions. This causes many people to have to wait. 

 

With a 50 person cooperative mode, there’s just too much room for technical errors, hang ups when trying to herd cats, and lots of downtime. So, from now on we will use the dogfight format with a limited amount of planes. If your game crashes, you have some sort of technical problem, or something similar within the first 30 minutes of the match, you’ll still be able to reconnect and get another plane.

 

Another problem was that registered FnF pilots on an open server didn’t end well. The players that didn’t sign up would typically join the opposing team, find the enemy bombers either through sheer luck, stream sniping, or by getting the mission briefing. Then they would only attack the bombers that did sign up to pad their stats. And those bomber pilots that did sign up, would meet their efforts with little reward. Their stats would be crushed, and there was no continuous campaign; where what they bombed mattered. This is why we opted for PWCG. Which by the way, works extremely well for much smaller groups (say 4-5 players) in resolving all of those issues - but not for 50 pilots! 

 

So in the future, we’re going to have a sort of blended PWCG and main Combat Box stylized campaign. We will still have a closed dedicated server, and we will have only one map play out like we did with the open server. However, to mimic how PWCG generates his missions our map will not have as many objectives as the main Combat Box server does. The objectives in these missions will be handmade (each week); which I think makes more sense than PWCG’s auto generated ground forces. Plus, those objectives will have operational values tied to them. The operational values of each target at the end of our 2.5 hour events will determine the next week’s missions, supplies, ground forces, etc, etc. 

 

As an example, say the first mission is to destroy an enemy materials plant. If the operational value is low enough, the next week’s mission may not give pilots of the lost plant better engines for their replacement planes. 

 

We will attempt to do a monthly campaign or more (depending on how well it goes) and at the end of the month players will have influenced the results of the campaign based on what they’ve accomplished.

 

When I used PWCG I stopped collecting emails and no one knew where to attack, what radio channels they should use, and who was the group leader of their flight. With that in mind, I will go back to collecting emails and will send out a mission briefing on Thursdays again. This time though, it will be two different briefings. One for the Blue team and one for the Red team. 

 

With this format, bombers won’t be the sole target for enemy players looking to pad their stats, missions will be ‘campaign-like’ without cooperative mode, I won’t have to herd too many cats, and bombers will be rewarded with targets that actually matter. Furthermore, players can do as many missions as they like within the two hour window instead of waiting for everyone [from cooperative mode]. 

 

Finally, let’s talk stats. Players love looking at numbers; at least I know I do. Since the missions will be generated on a closed server, we can have completely separate pilot stats from the main Combat Box server. We still, in my opinion, won’t have a great PWCG-type stats system. Maybe someday. For now, we will use Val’s stat system - the same system as the main Combat Server uses. More information on where you can see these stats as we bring them online, will be forthcoming soon.

 

Long winded post, but I’m trying to be as transparent as possible. If anyone has any questions, please let me know. Our next event will be July 10th at 9pm and the campaign will be the Rhineland Campaign. This will give us a few weeks to get the registration fixed for the new format, some missions handmade and generated, and develop mission briefings for those missions.

Edited June 24, 2020 by Sketch

[1PL-Husar-1Esk]

Hi.

Great initiative !

I think about joining in , was flying  TIPs FNBF and enjoyed it very much.

EU friendly time ?

[Sketch]

The format will be very similar to @[DBS]Tx_Tip's Friday Night Bomber Flights. I used to take part in his events back when he was running them and enjoyed them very much. Our event is not really EU friendly - it starts at GMT+1. You're still welcomed to sign up when registration opens.

[Sketch]

Friday Night Flights Event for July 10th has been added to the first post on this thread!

[JimTM]

Sketch, I signed up and my name appeared on the list. Then it disappeared from the list, along with one other person that signed up. So, I signed up again and now my name appears twice on the list. Can you remove the duplicate please.

[Sketch]

11 hours ago, JimTM said:

Sketch, I signed up and my name appeared on the list. Then it disappeared from the list, along with one other person that signed up. So, I signed up again and now my name appears twice on the list. Can you remove the duplicate please.

Fixed. Thanks for letting me know!

[Sketch]

Mission briefings have been sent! If you need any assistance, please join the Discord at Combatbox.net. See you tomorrow at 9pm Eastern!

[Sketch]

DEBRIEF FROM July 10th FnF:
Feb 5th, 1945 - The Rhineland Campaign

 

 

Axis
Eudenbach Airfield:
G14 - 2 Losses
190A8 - 2 Gained from supply
110G2 - 4 Gained from supply

Wins:
11 planes destroyed or disabled

Losses:
4 planes lost
2 pilots KIA or MIA
Major defeat at Julich

 

Allied
A-92 St. Trond Airfield:
p51 - 6 Losses, 2 Gained from supply
Spitfire - 3 Losses, 2 Gained from supply
A20b - 1 loss

Wins:
6 planes destroyed or disabled
Major Victory at Julich

Losses:
16 planes destroyed or disabled
5 pilots KIA or MIA

[NiiranenVR]

Gosh - it's 3 o'clock night in Denmark ?

 

Remember in past - Tyson was boxing - we stayed up hole night, maybe 3 o'clock and the Boxing game /Tyson win in less 2 minutes 

 

Maybe I'll live a little bit longer in the air ?‍♂️

 

?

[Sketch]

DEBRIEF FROM July 17th FnF:
Feb 12th, 1945 - The Rhineland Campaign

 

 

Axis
Eudenbach Airfield:
G14 - 2 Losses
190A8 - 4 Losses
110G2 - no change

Wins:
15 planes destroyed or disabled

Allied Plant at Herleen disabled

Losses:
4 planes lost
2 pilots KIA or MIA
ground forces at Julich retreated

Allied
A-92 St. Trond Airfield:
p51 - 3 Losses, 4 Gained from supply
Spitfire - 4 Losses, 2 Gained from supply
A20b - 3 losses

Wins:
2 planes destroyed or disabled
Ground forces have taken Julich

Losses:
12 planes destroyed or disabled
7 pilots KIA or MIA

[Sketch]

The registration is now open for July 24th event!

[Sketch]

DEBRIEF FROM July 24th FnF:
Feb 14th, 1945 - The Rhineland Campaign

 

 

Axis
Eudenbach Airfield:
G14 - no change
190A8 - no change
110G2 - 1 loss

 

Wins:
3 planes destroyed or disabled

Losses:
1 planes lost
ground forces at Aachen stalemated

Allied
A-92 St. Trond Airfield:
p51 - 1 Loss, 2 Gained from supply
Spitfire - 2 Losses, 8 Gained from supply
A20b - 2 losses, 10 Gained from supply

Wins:
1 plane destroyed or disabled

Losses:
5 planes destroyed or disabled

Ground forces at Aachen stalemated

[Sketch]

DEBRIEF FROM July 31st FnF:
Feb 25th, 1945 - The Rhineland Campaign

 

 

Axis
Eudenbach Airfield:
G14 - 2 losses
190A8 - no change
110G2 - no change

 

Wins:
Multiple b25s destroyed over Duisburg and surrounding areas

Losses:
6 Bf109G14s lost

5 Ju88s lost
minor damage to Duisburg Industrial Area

Allied
A-92 St. Trond Airfield:
p51 - 3 Losses 2 Gained from supply
Spitfire - 2 Losses
A20b - no change

 

Wins:
4 Bf109G14s destroyed

Multiple Ju88s destroyed over Wassenberg FOB

Losses:
10 planes destroyed or disabled (5 p38s, 3 p51, and 2 spitfire)

Wassenberg ground forces demolished

Edited August 1, 2020 by Sketch

[Sketch]

Event registration is open for August 14th!

[Sketch]

 

A simple visual guide on how to setup IL2 SRS for Friday Night Flights.