April Fools v1

The Ohka was launched around 55 miles(88km) from the target, usually from under the belly of a Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" bomber, at an altitude of about 27,000 ft (8,240m) and speed of 175-200 mph(280-320 km/h). The first 50 miles(80km) were covered by gliding at around 230mph(370km/h), upon which the pilot ignited the rockets to take the speed up to around 535 mph(860 km/h). In the final dive approach, speeds of up to 620 mph(1,000 km/h) were reached.

The first recorded attacks by an Ohka is on March 21, 1945, when 16 were launched to intercept a US Navy fleet at Kyushu. However, the G4M Ishiki-Rikko was one of the weak links of the Ohka, the Mitsubishi bomber was virtually unarmoured and its entire wing was a giant fuel tank without a self-sealing lining; it was slow and unwieldy at the best of times and the addition of the Ohka made it even more so. This mission illustrated this vulnerability to a T when it was intercepted by Grumman F6F Hellcats and all the bombers were destroyed.

The first successful attack is thought to have been on April 1 1945, damaging the battleship USS West Virginia and two cargo vessels.

On April 12 the American destroyer, USS Mannert L. Abele was sunk by a direct hit.

On May 4, the destroyer Shea was hit by an Ohka as was the USS Hugh W Hadley on May 11; while they did not sink, both destroyers were judged to be beyond repair.

MISSION DATE: Sunday, April 1, 1945

GAME REQUIREMENT: IL2-FB-PF 4.01m

GAME TYPE: CO-OP up to 12 players

MISSION TYPE: Air Intercept

FLYABLE PLANES: F4U CORSAIR 4, F6F5, G4M1-11

FLIGHT TO TARGET TIME: 9 minutes

MISSION INFORMATION: This mission by JR "Big Daddy" Jacobs