POL Airbase Strike AAR Part 2

[Ruggbutt 45]

I take one last shot at a Ka52 attack chopper, as I exit the target area. I figure one Maverick for a chopper is a good tradeoff. I'm able to lock the Mav right away. "Rifle". Direct hit.

 

 

AWACS calls the airspace free of bandits so Beagle drops down and launches a coupld Mavs at a convoy at his 11 o'clock low.

 

 

 

 

I line up for a gun run and with all the smoke and fire I don't see the Strela till it's too late.

 

 

Uh, this isn't good!

 

 

 

I feel the aircraft shudder as Betty screams at me "Hydraulics Failure". I don't have time to do a quick check to see if I still have both wings as the Strela fires again. I dump flares as fast as I can and the missile fails to track. It's been blinded.

 

 

I take a quick look down and see my speed brakes are deployed. There's no way they're going to close with a hydraulic failure so now I'm nose up, slow and the plane is handling terribly. I continue to drop flares in large amounts because I just "know" that I'm still in range and being tracked. I'm hoping that the flares are enough to keep the next missile from damaging my plane further. Beagle screams at me, "Missile 6 o'clock! Whomp! I hear the shrapnel from the SAM pepper the aircraft. That one was close but I'm still flying!

 

 

There's one left in that launcher and with me out of range Beagle is his target. Beagle is dropping flares and the SAM explodes behind him. There are some holes in his aircraft but no major damage, at least according to Betty.

 

 

I take a minute to get the plane flying straight and level as I switch the controls over to manual reversion. Now I'm using the backup pulley and cable system to keep my bird aloft. I can manage 190 kts. at 100% power and my speedbrakes are locked open. I get on the radio and call Mayday. I give my position relative to Bullseye. I intend to fly this thing home if at all possible as SAR choppers are vectored to my area should I have to eject.

 

 

Beagle follows me in trail, as he handles all the radio calls. I'm having a heck of a time flying the plane, it takes alot more muscle with no boosted controls. I'm leaking fuel out of my right wing. I try to calculate my fuel loss rate and fuel consumption to get a quick guesstimate on whether I'll be able to make it home. There are no emergency bases closer and I don't relish the thought of having to land this thing on a road with no hydraulics.

 

 

After 15 minutes of (relatively) uneventful flying I drop my gear and turn onto ILS approach. Tower calls me in and scrambles the crash trucks. I have no flaps. I'm going to have to put it down 35kts faster than a standard approach. Tower tells me I'm on glidepath and I hear the outer perimeter warning as I fly over it.

 

 

I follow the ILS all the way in and set 'er down on the numbers.

 

 

I roll out to the end of the runway, and I'm thankful that we're flying out of one of he longer bases in theatre. I park on the apron just off of the main runway and shut down my engines. My plane is leaking fuel all over.

 

 

Beagle lands several minutes behind me. We head off for debriefing and then to talk to my crew chief to see how badly I damaged his aircraft...........