"Ace of Aces" - WWII Challenge!

[Varibraun]

@Requiem & @ShamrockOneFive flying coop with the Dream Team (flight of 4 players in PWCG Coop) as WO Wood continues the pursuit of Johnnie Johnson and earns a DFC:

 

 

[Varibraun]

@Requiem's WO Wood increases his score and the Dream Team picks up a @busdriver along the way (at least for part of the ride until a hate filled German decides simple gunnery isn't enough).  My favorite callout "oh...there's a Spitfire down there" 19:25, and then Wood saves the day!  Nice work to all involved...you should check the Intel screen to see if you put a couple of squadrons out of action. 

 

 

[busdriver]

13 hours ago, Varibraun said:

Dream Team picks up a @busdriver along the way (at least for part of the ride until a hate filled German decides simple gunnery isn't enough).

 

There's a reason @Requiem and @ShamrockOneFive let me play...somebody has to die and it might as well be the old fart.

[ShamrockOneFive]

34 minutes ago, busdriver said:

 

There's a reason @Requiem and @ShamrockOneFive let me play...somebody has to die and it might as well be the old fart.

 

You also serve the valuable role of "I told you so" when I go and attack an airbase and die... again ?

[Varibraun]

8 hours ago, ShamrockOneFive said:

You also serve the valuable role of "I told you so" when I go and attack an airbase and die... again ?

 

Uh oh...foreshadowing teaser to a future episode?

[ShamrockOneFive]

4 minutes ago, Varibraun said:

 

Uh oh...foreshadowing teaser to a future episode?

 

Mayyyybe

[Requiem]

14 hours ago, busdriver said:

 

There's a reason @Requiem and @ShamrockOneFive let me play...somebody has to die and it might as well be the old fart.

Ahh the good old “designated mort” argument! 

[PatrickAWlson]

14 hours ago, busdriver said:

 

There's a reason @Requiem and @ShamrockOneFive let me play...somebody has to die and it might as well be the old fart.

 

Black Adder: "I'm not feeling very cannon fodderish today"

[oc2209]

Even though I wanted to wait until Normandy was finished before I started another career (in the base game, not PWCG), I've changed my mind. Going to see how close I can get to 352. I have no illusions of besting it. My last attempt ended at about the halfway point. I'm going to try to get most of my kills in Moscow and Stalingrad, since those are the careers I do best in historically.

 

I got six kills in my first sortie. At face value, it just sounds like the AI isn't challenging enough (on hard), but it's really quite an exhausting experience. 21 minute sortie, and after 10 minutes or so my nerves are shot. My eyes are strained from looking around so much (I regularly clean dust particles off my screen to be sure I don't misidentify one as a plane), and my aim gets noticeably worse as time goes on. I got 5 kills with ~130 cannon rounds, then the last 70 rounds were used finishing off one I-16. Still had 700 rounds of 7.9mm left, but I was in no mood to hunt with it.

 

Funny thing about I-16s is, if you fail to knock it down in one pass, you'll waste tons of time repositioning for another attack (because they're so nimble), and usually set yourself up to be attacked in the process. As indicated here:

 

 

I'd just shot down an I-16 when I took this screen. I had a vague sensation that I was being tailed, but not this closely. Needless to say, without headrest armor, I'd have a good chance of being killed even by 7.62mm from this angle. I still prefer to fight without headrest armor. I'd rather see everything and be killed more easily, than see nothing behind me and be hit unaware.

 

A P-40 has no chance to get on my tail, but could hit me broadside if I'm not paying attention.

[Varibraun]

On 11/9/2021 at 11:40 PM, oFlyingDutchman said:

I like to feel that i'm a good pilot and would at least know how to handle myself if i were a pilot in ww2
Then i get killed a few times and put back on my place.

 

Exactly!  One of the reasons I wanted to set up this challenge was to hopefully see how difficult things are when there is no "redo," which I believe sheds at least a little light onto how amazing those scores really were for the IRL aces.  If we have to take numerous tries from our 1G chairs, vast in game experience, lack of mechanical issues, and no fear of bodily harm, I think it paints a vivid picture for us if you really sit back and reflect on those times and pilots.  Every time I see one of the videos of Erich Hartmann casually being interviewed, I marvel at his accomplishment and the simple fact he is sitting there in "old" age.  From that perspective, I challenge anyone that complains about the AI to come here, match his feat, and also survive the entire war in a PWCG Ironman campaign. 

 

14 hours ago, oc2209 said:

Even though I wanted to wait until Normandy was finished before I started another career (in the base game, not PWCG), I've changed my mind. Going to see how close I can get to 352. I have no illusions of besting it. My last attempt ended at about the halfway point. I'm going to try to get most of my kills in Moscow and Stalingrad, since those are the careers I do best in historically.

 

Welcome back OC!  I am happy to see you are going to take a run at Hartmann's score with Peter Schroder, I think with your gunnery skill you certainly have a chance.  Don't forget that while you are welcome to use "hard" in career mode throughout, the challenge allows an RNG element before each mission if you would like to use it - see the "rules" in first post.  I think it is probably more realistic to have some inexperienced opposition at times (as you know PWCG already has that built in, so I think this allows a somewhat level playing field).

 

14 hours ago, oc2209 said:

I'd just shot down an I-16 when I took this screen. I had a vague sensation that I was being tailed, but not this closely. Needless to say, without headrest armor, I'd have a good chance of being killed even by 7.62mm from this angle. I still prefer to fight without headrest armor. I'd rather see everything and be killed more easily, than see nothing behind me and be hit unaware.

 

Great screenshot - Sneaky bugger coming out of the sun!

[oc2209]

5 hours ago, Varibraun said:

Don't forget that while you are welcome to use "hard" in career mode throughout, the challenge allows an RNG element before each mission if you would like to use it - see the "rules" in first post.  I think it is probably more realistic to have some inexperienced opposition at times (as you know PWCG already has that built in, so I think this allows a somewhat level playing field).

 

The PWCG mix of skilled/less skilled enemies would be more realistic, I agree; but I prefer keeping it on max because I like the intensity and the fear involved.

 

While early war Russian opposition was weak, the Germans did still take losses--and on easy difficulty, it's simply too easy. Diving into a group of I-16s outnumbered 1 to 6 (in the immediate area) is a rush when you know they can actually hit you.

 

What's interesting to me so far (4 sorties), is that I haven't lost a single friendly pilot. I'm sure that can't last much longer, but still: 4 sorties without a wingman death is unusual. They're also scoring some decent kills. Even more remarkable is that one of my sorties was 35 minutes long--enemies came in several waves, and usually staying over the mission area that long will wipe out most of the flight. Enemy planes come up 'fresh' with full ammo, while my wingmen are empty by then.

 

It makes me think friendly AI has been improved a bit.

 

So far, aside from being shot up by light machine guns a few times, my closest brush with death was my own fault. I was trying to finish off a crippled MiG at low altitude, and the AI, excellent as it is at dumping speed to force overshoots, led me into an incredibly low-speed collision (imagine two planes flying parallel a few feet apart at stall speeds, then getting entangled briefly before falling away from each other). Without thinking for even a full second, I bailed. Upon seeing my plane from the outside, it didn't look as damaged as I thought it would; consequently I'm not sure if it was still flyable. I got the kill credit for the MiG at least, which crashed immediately.

[Varibraun]

3 hours ago, oc2209 said:

The PWCG mix of skilled/less skilled enemies would be more realistic, I agree; but I prefer keeping it on max because I like the intensity and the fear involved.

 

Sorry...I didn't mean to use PWCG for the challenge since you are playing Career.  You can certainly play on Hard all the way through - I just wanted to be sure you saw I added this to the in game Career "challenge rules" in the OP for anyone wanting to use Career for the Challenge and to add some varied level of difficulty:

 

4.  Prior to each mission, use a random number generator (or die) to generate a number 1 - 3.  Under the Options setting pick the Difficulty Level of that mission to match the random number: 1 = Easy; 2 = Moderate; 3 = Hard.  These settings control the AI level for the mission and will add some RL randomness to each flight.  (Pick the other settings to your preference based on your system).

 

3 hours ago, oc2209 said:

It makes me think friendly AI has been improved a bit.

 

That would be great if they are working on that now.

[Varibraun]

@Requiem's Dream Team continues the pursuit of Johnnie - two of the Commonwealth lads are now aces and the Yank gets his first kill:

 

 

[oc2209]

18 hours ago, Varibraun said:

 

Sorry...I didn't mean to use PWCG for the challenge since you are playing Career.  You can certainly play on Hard all the way through - I just wanted to be sure you saw I added this to the in game Career "challenge rules" in the OP for anyone wanting to use Career for the Challenge and to add some varied level of difficulty:

 

4.  Prior to each mission, use a random number generator (or die) to generate a number 1 - 3.  Under the Options setting pick the Difficulty Level of that mission to match the random number: 1 = Easy; 2 = Moderate; 3 = Hard.  These settings control the AI level for the mission and will add some RL randomness to each flight.  (Pick the other settings to your preference based on your system).

 

Right, I did see those rules. I might turn it on easy now and then just to see how different it is since I last tried it (before AI changes and other recent developments). I also wonder if it changes the amount of enemy plane waves during certain sortie types (like ground cover).

 

The waves are overwhelming on hard:

 

 

Note that this is after I shot down 3 MiGs. The one heading N/W away from me is crippled and going home. I lost this sortie (as in, 'mission failed' message) because my flight was shot down and I was damaged (and almost out of cannon ammo anyway) by the time that second wave reached the mission objective. It didn't help the odds that I had to give my flight 109F-2s (I kept an F-4 for myself, naturally) because the F-4 stock was dwindling. For some reason I couldn't give them the 20mm F-2 upgrade.

 

Here's a rare (for me) mid-air Sturmovik explosion (aftermath of one, anyway):

 

 

Here's me landing with substantial damage taken from a MiG head-on pass that nearly got into my cockpit (I pushed the nose down into a dive right as the enemy opened fire):

 

 

Tally so far:

 

 

If I maintain this pace, I can hit the necessary kill count in 90-100 sorties. Staying at a perfect 4.0 kills/sortie is somewhat unlikely, but an average in the high 3s is doable.

 

 

[oc2209]

Another day at the office:

 

 

My current tally:

 

 

You know how in baseball, a hitter in a slump will start making bad decisions, swing at anything, get angry with himself, then swing at even worse pitches? Or in football, a quarterback who's losing will try to force a pass into triple coverage and throw an interception instead?

 

Yeah, that's what I'm doing right now. My mind isn't in sync with my trigger finger anymore. The more I try to get 4 kills a sortie, the closer to 2 my average gets; my last 3 sorties were 2, 3, and 1 kills. Let this be a lesson in hubris and tryhard-ism.

[Varibraun]

16 hours ago, oc2209 said:

Let this be a lesson in hubris and tryhard-ism.

 

You and Gunther Rall...it took him 8 times 

[oc2209]

It's going to be a good day when the entire flight of enemy P-40s takes a shot at you:

 

 

That line of planes further away is the Sturmovik attack group. Throughout the duration of this sortie, two more groups of enemy fighters arrived: 3-5 I-16s, and 3-5 MiG-3s. The only friendlies in the area were 2 109Es besides my own flight of 6 109Fs.

 

I have learned the hard way that the game's default setting of 4-plane flights for the Luftwaffe at this stage in the war is suicide on hard mode. If I wasn't the squadron leader, I couldn't change the number of planes in each flight, and we'd be doomed to be wiped out every other sortie. As it stands now with promoting myself to leader from the beginning, I have some control over the longevity of my AI wingmen's sad lives.

 

I have also begun to give my wingmen smaller fuel loads if the flight distances are short; anything to give them the slightest edge in survival.

 

This should give you an idea of how dense this combat was:

 

 

You might be wondering why I didn't return to base. I ended the mission in-air. It feels cheap to do so, but there's no way my flight would've survived if I hadn't; our airfield is just a few miles away, and there were still plenty of Russian fighters alive. I was out of cannon ammo.

 

Take a look at one of my wingmen:

 

 

I have no idea what hit him that hard. The I-16s weren't the cannon variety. Might've been a P-40. Point is, I quit the sortie right after I took this screen. He was still being pursued, and wasn't going to make it much longer in this condition. I can do emergency landings while being shot at, but the AI can't (note: he was the only member of my flight to have the hated wing cannons; I do this to give at least one wingman a chance to shoot down a Sturmovik, and they are pretty good at it when they have wing guns).

 

With my abrupt ending, we only lost 1 pilot:

 

 

Which I consider really fortunate.

 

Even though they're just AI and will be endlessly replaced, I prefer to keep them alive if I can. I had my hands full most of the sortie, but did shoot an I-16 off one of my wingmen as he was being attacked.

 

And finally, here's my usual method of attack:

 

 

Stay low. This reduces my presence to the enemy AI, and allows me to see every nearby plane silhouetted against the sky. I next identify a probable enemy. I climb up behind and under him rapidly, full throttle. I wait until I'm under 150m away, and fire only my cannon. I immediately roll into a descending turn at reduced throttle, until I'm at near zero altitude. I repeat this pattern as often as I can until my cannon ammo is depleted.

Edited November 25, 2021 by oc2209

[oc2209]

Here's a quick example of how to determine friends from foes, and what to do once you have:

 

 

That yellow circle of 4 fighters is my flight. Not sure where the fifth guy is (myself being the sixth).

 

We've just met 3 Russian P-40s head-on, and what you're seeing at this moment is the Russian flight breaking up. Despite our numeric advantage, a P-40 flames one of my wingmen; another is flamed by a MiG-3 that arrives on the scene shortly after this. Both pilots lived to bail out, shockingly. But I digress.

 

The Russians break in all directions. I have a choice: to go after the left or middle Russian. The P-40 on the right is already being attacked by my flight; it's pointless and dangerous (mid-air collision risk) to attack him with my flight nearby.

 

I predict that the middle P-40 will come down and attack my flight (surely with 4v2, they can take care of themselves? Sigh). I therefore choose to go after the left P-40.

 

Note that I'm not 100% sure that the planes I've circled are what I think they are. I'm only guessing based on probable AI behavior. If I was wrong, I'd end up chasing the guy on the left only to find it was a friendly, and possibly be blindsided by a Russian in the process. Luckily I was not wrong.

Edited November 25, 2021 by oc2209

[Varibraun]

The Dream Team completes the starting roster with @=RS=Funkie joining the squadron to bring the flight to a full 5 flying together in Coop (you guys should have named your pilots "Magic, Michael, Larry, Hakeem & Kareem" - but we won't let them see that takeoff sequence ). 

 

Since the entire Coop Campaign is Ironman, and  @ShamrockOneFive is Canadian, I thought it appropriate to enter him into the Beurling Challenge (32 - title still unclaimed), and then added the rest of the crew ( @Peregryn, @busdriver, @=RS=Funkie) just give Colin some healthy competition. 

 

@Requiem WO Wood is now 1/3 of the way there in the Johnson Challenge (looks like Johnnie neglected to update the official squadron Killboard with Wood's last 2 victories, maybe he is feeling some pressure?):

 

 

Edited November 26, 2021 by Varibraun

[ShamrockOneFive]

Well I've died twice so... I'm not sure where I'm at on the Beurling Challenge. ?

[Varibraun]

1 minute ago, ShamrockOneFive said:

Well I've died twice so... I'm not sure where I'm at on the Beurling Challenge. ?

 

Shhh...we don't know that yet...but your new campaign pilot(s) starts over.  However, I am pulling for the Yank anyway, National Pride and all (even if he is Air Force) 

 

Seriously though, I am really glad that Requiem set this up, very entertaining to watch you guys in the Coop flights in PWCG Ironman!

[ShamrockOneFive]

3 minutes ago, Varibraun said:

 

Shhh...we don't know that yet...but your new campaign pilot(s) starts over.  However, I am pulling for the Yank anyway, National Pride and all (even if he is Air Force) 

 

Seriously though, I am really glad that Requiem set this up, very entertaining to watch you guys in the Coop flights in PWCG Ironman!

Oh sorry... spoilers ?

[Requiem]

1 hour ago, Varibraun said:

The Dream Team completes the starting roster with @=RS=Funkie joining the squadron to bring the flight to a full 5 flying together in Coop (you guys should have named your pilots "Magic, Michael, Larry, Hakeem & Kareem" - but we won't let them see that takeoff sequence ). 

 

Since the entire Coop Campaign is Ironman, and  @ShamrockOneFive is Canadian, I thought it appropriate to enter him into the Beurling Challenge (32 - title still unclaimed), and then added the rest of the crew ( @Peregryn, @busdriver, @=RS=Funkie) just give Colin some healthy competition. 

 

@Requiem WO Wood is now 1/3 of the way there in the Johnson Challenge (looks like Johnnie neglected to update the official squadron Killboard with Wood's last 2 victories, maybe he is feeling some pressure?):

 

Yeah I've been shorted a few kills so far so he has something against me! It's something with how the claims system works I think.

[Varibraun]

2 hours ago, Requiem said:

Yeah I've been shorted a few kills so far so he has something against me! It's something with how the claims system works I think.

 

Likely all your loose talk around the ready room about "besting the Old Man."  It was very clear he didn't like you when he assigned you that night mission in the rain against night fighter 110s on mission #3! 

 

(Pat made some changes with 13.5.0 that might help, but he has said in the past that in Coop the claims system can be less accurate than in SP because of how the game generated logs work).   

Edited November 26, 2021 by Varibraun

[Varibraun]

On 11/24/2021 at 9:40 PM, oc2209 said:

You might be wondering why I didn't return to base. I ended the mission in-air. It feels cheap to do so, but there's no way my flight would've survived if I hadn't; our airfield is just a few miles away, and there were still plenty of Russian fighters alive. I was out of cannon ammo.

 

 

Hi OC - I hear what you are saying, and from this perspective, it may be that PWCG is a little better suited for this Challenge since it creates realistic enemy flights but not hard mode "hordes" of spawned enemies.  However, I still think the "spirit" of the Ironman Challenge needs to have the mission end with the player pilot landing, crash landing, or bailing out to faithfully recreate (in at least a small way) what the IRL rival had to face. 

 

In your mission, it might have ended with you deciding to leave the AI wingmen to their fate with you slipping away since you were out of ammo, or trying to draw fire to save them by putting your virtual life (and score) at risk, but a tough decision either way.  While I understand that your Rival Hartmann wouldn't have had our sometimes clueless AI wingman with him, he also couldn't ever auto exit from the fight.  So, I think having to "finish" adds some real time tactical decisions about when to engage and disengage - which are good for the immersion in this Ironman Challenge, especially if you are trying to protect your wingmen along the way. 

 

Finally, no disrespect intended in this response, I know you are a very skilled virtual pilot and marksman.  I am glad to have you aboard for the Hartmann Challenge, and am really interested to see if Balthasar can survive and best his score.     

[oc2209]

2 hours ago, Varibraun said:

However, I still think the "spirit" of the Ironman Challenge needs to have the mission end with the player pilot landing, crash landing, or bailing out to faithfully recreate (in at least a small way) what the IRL rival had to face.

 

I agree completely.

 

I always land when I've taken damage, because the instability is an existential threat (especially since very hard landings are more likely to be fatal/injuring now). For instance, in one flight I was hit by friendly AA in the right wing tip, and had all I could do to land, much less score a kill after that.

 

The funny thing about forced landings in a sim is, we can't hit soft ground/mud to flip our planes over and kill us; our planes also don't tear apart after ground looping like a real 109 often would. At most we lose an aileron that drags in the dirt.

 

Consequently there's no drawback to making gear-down emergency landings in any fairly flat area. Whereas in real life, gear-down landings off a runway or road were exceedingly dangerous and inadvisable. The options were to either belly in, or bail out. And bailing was risky in itself. So yes, we do already get huge advantages here with how easy it is to safely reach the ground.

 

Pretty soon I won't need to cut any corners to save my wingmen, since they'll all be dead. After the original crop is gone, I won't care about saving the replacements. I lost 3 originals in a recent sortie; one I watched crash (I shot down his attacker, too late), but the other two simply vanished at the same time. One minute I saw them, another minute they were nowhere to be seen. I suspect a mid-air collision with each other.

[oc2209]

I'm unlucky when it comes to dodging transfer flights. To be lucky is to randomly not be placed in the flight. Unlike all other sortie types, I have no control, even as the ranking officer, over whether I fly the sortie or what plane I fly in. So far I've had 4 transfer flights. We're never intercepted, so that's 4 dull flights with no kills.

 

Anyway, here's my current tally (there was a transfer flight after this screen was taken, so same score but in 19 sorties):

 

 

My most recent combat sortie:

 

 

As you can see, my wingmen are in full lemmings mode now. I swear there had to be another mid-air collision to explain this. Also, MiG-3s are extreme pilot killers. Observe the following damage done to the sole AI survivor of the above combat:

 

 

He is absolutely shredded. Also note that whatever MiG attacked him didn't waste any shots on the wingtips. It was all concentrated.

 

I was in no mood to wait for him to clear the runway (his leaking vapors are visible at the end of the runway below), so I landed on the dirt beside the runway:

 

 

'Cuz I'm a rebel. And there were still Russians around. One of the things I love about Moscow/Stalingrad careers is the proximity of the airfield to the target areas (ground cover, intercepts). The downside is that enemy fighters are always near your airfield.

 

I have 5 of my original 12 men still alive. At this rate, the only way to survive my command will be to transfer out of it.

[oc2209]

To elaborate briefly on my earlier post, about landing anywhere with no real danger:

 

Spoiler

 

 

I set up a quick mission against 8 P-51s to give them a chance at hitting me before I landed.

 

The goal is to land anywhere, with no conventional approach, and without wrecking the plane.

 

I'm pretty sure the real 109's gear wouldn't have survived that bounce down the hill. A Fw-190's might, but I also couldn't safely dump speed so quickly in a 190. The only other plane I'd feel comfortable landing this badly would be a Yak. Except the Yak would probably nose over. I should really try it with other planes.

[oc2209]

Forgive the following excess. I decided to try emergency landing other planes. Too many to make videos of, so here's pertinent screens.

 

Each attempt lasted around 1 minute; never over 75 seconds. The record shortest was in the Spitfire IX, at 51 seconds. I'll explain later.

 

Fw-190A-6 first attempt (lightly injured):

 

 

Fw-190 second attempt:

 

 

La-5FN (lightly injured):

 

 

Yak-9 (shot by Fw-190A-8 during touchdown; lightly injured):

 

 

Yak-9 second attempt (shortly after this screen, the ground was saturated by hits that I believe were missing ahead of me by inches; I suffered no direct hits):

 

 

P-47 attempt (pilot killed; Fw-190 attacker is exploding after hitting the ground):

 

 

P-51 attempt:

 

 

Spitfire IX attempt (it was very easy to turn at near stall speeds, and then immediately land at less than 100 MPH; the enemy had no chance to line up a shot):

 

 

Tempest attempt (pilot seriously injured by the flip):

 

 

Finally, another 109 attempt, this time with 8 Typhoon enemies:

 

 

I was lightly injured during the spin around. Not sure what happened exactly. As you can see by the tracks in the snow, I turned 180 degrees somehow. Yet didn't end up on my back. In any event, a real 109 would probably break in half from such a violent loop.

 

So, the lessons I learned from the exercise:

 

Fw-190 AI pilots are extremely aggressive at strafing; more than the P-51s and Typhoons I faced in Axis planes.

 

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it's clear to me that the best way to emergency land (with nearby AI opposition) is to bleed all your speed away in a sharp turn as close to the deck as you dare, then drop gear and flaps and land immediately after exiting the turn.

 

My least evasive landing approach was with the P-47. That's why it got pasted. I was too afraid of stalling it out to turn like I do with other planes.

 

Note that in all planes, I was flying with 50% fuel loads.

[Varibraun]

16 hours ago, oc2209 said:

I have 5 of my original 12 men still alive. At this rate, the only way to survive my command will be to transfer out of it.

 

LOL...but, that's not terrible considering the intensity of your recent combat.

 

12 hours ago, oc2209 said:

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it's clear to me that the best way to emergency land (with nearby AI opposition) is to bleed all your speed away in a sharp turn as close to the deck as you dare, then drop gear and flaps and land immediately after exiting the turn.

 

My least evasive landing approach was with the P-47. That's why it got pasted. I was too afraid of stalling it out to turn like I do with other planes.

 

Good insight here, and I will concur that you to be careful with those stalls as you point out - the "sink rate" can be a literal killer now.  I got my last Uri pilot killed after a successful mission with no damage because I was way to casual with the landing on the strip and stalled just before touching down following a tight landing turn.  The Yak-1B survived with intact landing get, but Uri did not (I guess he wasn't strapped in tight and broke his neck). 

Edited November 28, 2021 by Varibraun

[oc2209]

7 hours ago, Varibraun said:

Good insight here, and I will concur that you to be careful with those stalls as you point out - the "sink rate" can be a literal killer now.  I got my last Uri pilot killed after a successful mission with no damage because I was way to casual with the landing on the strip and stalled just before touching down following a tight landing turn.  The Yak-1B survived with intact landing get, but Uri did not (I guess he wasn't strapped in tight and broke his neck). 

 

This might be a case of these new ground-impact changes needing a slight tweak. I'm sure it was possible to die in hard landings, presumably of neck/head injury--pretty much death by extreme whiplash.

 

But in the scenario you're describing, I would imagine spinal injury or some other kind of non-fatal injury should be more likely. I guess I'd need to see the height off the ground and the speeds involved before coming to any conclusions.

 

This is the final example of my emergency landing tests, in a Yak-9:

 

Spoiler

 

 

I suppose I haven't encountered the hard-landing death phenomenon yet because I come in so low to begin with. I sink about 20 feet (or less) instead of probably 50 or more from a typical approach. At that point it's just a physics calculation to determine whether your pilot lives or dies.

Edited November 28, 2021 by oc2209

[Duce_de_Zoop]

Hey, I'd like to fund a couple collectors planes or a campaign for additional contests. DM me if you need any specifically, would like to get it before the sale ends. I have a P-38J collectors plane in my library I can give out to start. 

[Varibraun]

5 hours ago, Duce_de_Zoop said:

Hey, I'd like to fund a couple collectors planes or a campaign for additional contests. DM me if you need any specifically, would like to get it before the sale ends. I have a P-38J collectors plane in my library I can give out to start. 

 

Thank you @Duce_de_Zoop - That is a very kind offer!  Right now, I want to see this one finish out, at least for Johnson and Beurling (Hartmann is going to take some time, even with @oc2209 in the hunt) and I already have those rewards ready to go.  If you want to add a bonus plane or campaign to those two aces, just post them here and I can add them to the rewards list in the OP.

[Varibraun]

@Requiem's Johnson Challenge continues - some really nice teamwork and call outs here (they will make the SPs among us weep).  Also, at the end you can see the first paradrops starting Operation Market Garden appear on the map behind German lines.  Looks like the boys are in for some tough action in the days to follow thanks to @PatrickAWlson adding Iconic Events to the Campaign.

 

 

Edited November 30, 2021 by Varibraun

[grcurmudgeon]

After a break to make some adjustments to my custom throttle console, I am back chasing Beurling. No good stories, the FW-190s I'm up against in particular seem to be sitting ducks, and the 110s explode nicely with the Spit IX armament. Attempt VI is at 9 missions, 14 kills, in mid-October 1944.

[grcurmudgeon]

Mission 16 for Buerling Attempt VI was more exciting than expected. Tasked with CAP over a fight at the front, as we approached the battle AAA opened up and two planes in our four-ship flight were hit and forced to turn back. This made me leader, and we continued. Shortly afterward, an enemy flight of 6 was spotted inbound, so we turned to engage. They were FW-190 A-8s, and luckily for us they kept their rockets while we started our runs on them. In the initial turn or two I landed a few hits. I was able split one off, got some hits, he finally unloaded his rockets but it was too late and I finished him off. We were a bit away from the fight, so I turned back, but the rest of the 190s were headed home and not worth the chase. With one kill and no one else around I started heading for home.

 

As I exited the CAP area a few minutes later, I saw some additional flights circling around. One was headed out, but another was flying in a nice formation at a higher alt. Thinking "88s!", I climbed and gave chase over the battlefield. As I got close they split apart into pairs and were clearly more 190s, I guess flying their own CAP? I made one turning pass through, landing hits on two, and then put the hammer down, dove for the deck, and ran as fast as I could. They were NOT pleased and gave chase.

 

I hit treetop level with 5 190s in pursuit. Every time I spotted a cluster of friendly ground targets, I wove towards them, hitting several pockets of friendly AAA protecting bridges. Staying just ahead of them, about halfway home, 3 of them peeled off, but two stayed with me. As I continued to run, I got a pair of kill notifications. I think one may have been a chaser crashing, while the other (based on the AAR) was likely someone I hit much earlier in the fight crashing while trying to land. SIDE NOTE: I think il-2 is a bit generous with awarding kills to crash-landers well after the fight and with no enemies around, I've managed to give a kill to an enemy before when I had trouble putting a damaged crate down at my home airfield and stopped too far off the runway and was considered ditched. But I'll take it if someone has to!

 

I reach my home airfield with two still in hot pursuit and make 2 passes over the field while the gunners go to work. I see a chance and turn into them, avoiding their fire. On the second pass through them, the AAA finally gets one, and I go after the other. My Spit quickly gets on his tail, and I put some .50 rounds through the cockpit and the plane starts fluttering to the ground. I can finally run a pattern and land my trusty Spit IX, with its 29th, 30th, 31st, and 32nd kills.

 

Yeah, I know I misspelled "Beurling", my apologies on that. I do already have the Spit V, so I think it should go to the first person who makes it through this story, sees this note, and replies here saying they want it. Anyone still following along deserves a reward.

 

[Varibraun]

Well done @grcurmudgeon!  I think the fact that it took 6 attempts again demonstrates just how remarkable these pilots records and survival was throughout the war.  I also think it is a testament to the often maligned but much improved AI under the closest thing I think we have to IRL conditions.  I am honoring your desire about the Spitfire V reward - we will see where it goes! 

 

FYI to all following the Challenge - The Johnson challenge still continues I am adding a bonus reward of Flying Circus I to the first one to claim it, since it will effectively likely close out this chapter of "Ace of Aces."   I am not sure where @Requiem stands in the hunt he was documenting on Youtube since I am sure his IRL airline pilot job has been overwhelming with the holiday travel and shortage of flight crews.  I look forward to his next installment whenever it comes along.

 

Of course THE Ace of Aces Hartmann still remains effectively unchallenged by any close rivals.  @oc2209's last score posted score for Balthasar was I believe at 54 several weeks ago, so no idea if he is still leading his squadron or even survives.  @Hetzer-JG51's Maj Steffner has the highest score of any living pilot, but has been assigned to desk duty in Berlin since earning the Diamonds several months ago, and even he was only half way toward Hartmann's victories.  That reward continues to be ANY IL-2 product of the victor's choice.

 

 

[grcurmudgeon]

I'm thinking about what to do next - go after Johnson to try and close out the remaining service aces? I'm really enjoying the Spit, so that could be fun, but I could go after Hartmann by going back to an earlier war Russian Spitfire squadron. If Normandy was out, it would be an easy decision to go start an early-war RAF career to chase Johnson, but until then Russia is the only way to get a few years to chase Hartmann with Spits. Or I could go back to Moscow and the Mig-3 again, my favorite early-war ride, and switch to Yaks once available. Or be a purist and go back to 109s in Moscow. We'll see what feels like fun when my work day is over.

 

Not that I have much shot at Hartmann, I always manage to get too aggressive at some point. I ALMOST blew this this Beurling challenge by getting too close to a 190 while adjusting aim and not breaking off, but I managed to avoid the debris. But I like the setup of the challenge and will give it a go.

[grcurmudgeon]

I think I'm going to officially throw my hat in the Johnson ring, I haven't flown the Tempest yet and seems like a good opportunity. Then I can go back to Eastern front 109s and see about Hartmann.

 

[Varibraun]

19 minutes ago, grcurmudgeon said:

I think I'm going to officially throw my hat in the Johnson ring, I haven't flown the Tempest yet and seems like a good opportunity. Then I can go back to Eastern front 109s and see about Hartmann.

 

Got you entered for Johnson...good luck!! 

 

P.S. - The Tempest is just a monster.  I think the most likely way someone will eventually pass Hartmann will be when the BoN map is released and @PatrickAWlson gives us a pre 1944 start.  Flying Spits early and transitioning to the Tempest is going to result in a lot of kills for a pilot who can survive.  I am looking really forward to the BoN map for a lot of reasons.