finally, I've lived long enough to become an ace in P3

[Waldemar Kurtz 1]

I've never lived long enough in Phase 3, and I've been working too much to get one of my campaigns to become an 'ace'. but this weekend my FA62 pilot was finally able to get 5 victories confirmed. I use the HUD and tactical display because my graphics are so poor that I can't see anything without using labels. I also use warp because, quite honestly, if I've worked 10-12 hours in a day I don't really want to 'live the experience' in real time. however, I did put on all of the most difficult reality settings and I NEVER ressurect a pilot or replay a mission. cuz, seriously, it's not THAT hard to start all over again.

 

Flieger Albert Beuhlighen of Feldflieger Abteilung 62

June 1rst to 3rd, 1915

(6 sorties and 4 victory claims)

 

what's interesting is that even though I only posted 4 victory claims I was awarded 5 victories. in one combat I could have laid claim to shooting down five enemy machines--but for lack of witnesses, it would say "CLAIMS ERRONEOUS" so I would deliberately remove certain claims until it finally said that it would be prepared to accept them. if I were to bypass the claims process I would probably have 8 confirmed victories instead of 5.

 

 

SORTIE NO.1

claim no.1

1/;6/;1915 ;10h;40 ;Flanders ;Douai ;Artillery spotting ; Flying: Fokker EIII. On this day claims: ;1 ;Bris Scout A . ;as we departed from Douai, slowly gaining altitude, I saw four specks at 2 o'clock high and began climbing. by the time we reached 5,000 feet and got within 1,000 feet or so I could clearly see that we had crossed paths with four British biplanes, of the Bristol Scout A variety. I closed in to attack the trailing machine, but they all broke hard to the left and went under my left wing. I then hastily summoned Kurt Fellinger and Gehard von Rieck-Eggbert to help me attack! I could see plainly that these British aircraft had machine guns mounted on the port fuselage and aimed off at an angle away from the propellor. this gave me great confidence that even though a British airmen were sitting right on my tail that he could do me no harm! moreover, if I went into a climbing right-hand turn there would be little hope of him scoring hits on my machine, for fear of stalling out in his plane. remembering this fact helped save my life at low-altitude. the battle spiralled down to several hundred feet, barely tree-top level. I had selected one fellow and opened fire as I saw him attacking Gerhard. I saw a British machine falling down, end-over-end at 10:48 when it suffered a direct hit from anti-aircraft fire. finally, at 10.51 I was able to fire a long burst at a Bristol Scout in a head-on pass (which favored me greatly, as he couldn't even shoot at me with us going head-to-head)! at 10.51 this Bristol Scout fell NW of Douai, as witnessed by Kurt Fellinger and Gerhard von Rieck-Eggbert. at 10:56 I witnessed Gerhard von Rieck-Eggbert shoot down a Bristol Scout in flames NW of Douai.. Witnessed by: Kurt Fellinger, Gerhard von Rieck-Eggbert Status : Confirmed ;

 

SORTIE NO.2 (W/O RESULTS)

well, this flight wasn't uneventful, it's just that I wandered off from the formation to attack an enemy machine behind our lines. since none of my comrades followed me, the victory was unable to be confirmed. I didn't even bother TRYING to fill out a claim form for this one.

 

14.33 enemy flight encountered NW of Douai, but they made no attempt to engage us (probably went unseen)

14.39 another enemy flight (5 strong) above us, got as close as 4000 ft, but they took no notice of us

14.44 arrived over Loos VimyRidge 64, subject to moderate shelling.

14.52 W of Roucourt, another encounter with EA at "Waypoint 11"

14.53 two Bristol Scouts observed at height of 7,000 ft heading SW

14.56 stalked enemy formation and closed within 700 feet, whereupon they broke hard right and dove away

selected one fellow, closed within 150 feet and fired about 50 rounds into him and scored hits, but he kept turning. I saw the other fellow flash in front of me in a left-hand turn. I dipped my nose down, and then after I'd built up some speed, pulled up and caught the first Briton in my sights again--he was some 300 ft away and I fired another 50 rounds.14.58 with the first fellow a thousand feet below me, I turn my attentions towards the other fellow--who's still pursuing me. I keep up with my right-hand turns, because I can again see that they have port-mounted guns.14.59 attacked Briton at 300 ft in a head-on pass with 30 degrees deflection and 20 rounds

15.02 my first victim crashed N of Roucourt

 

as there were no witnesses to verify I had brought this fellow down, my claim was rejected out of hand--as my other flight-mates had abandoned the battle.

 

SORTIE NO.3

claim no.2

2/;6/;1915 ;8h;35 ;Flanders ;Douai ;Reconnaisance ; Flying: Fokker EIII. On this day claims: ;1 ;Bris Scout A . ;take off from Douai at 08:27 with Gerhard von Rieck-Eggbert, Kurt Fellinger, and Walter Becker. as we approached the front lines, within sight of 1915 Loos VimyRidge 65, we were attacked by three Bristol Scouts. I turned left and signalled to my comrades that we were under attack. they immediately broke hard-left and began to fight. one of them gets right on my tail and I do everything I can to shake him. I turn right and he stays on my tail. I have no luck in getting rid of him, but I can comfort myself that since his machine gun is mounted on the left fuselage he can't attack me without stalling. so I began climbing to make things even more difficult. but this does no good, so I turn left and dive, then snapping back over again the second he gets on my tail. now I'm getting frustrated! he's been all over me, and nothing seems to shake his resolve of killing me. so I get an idea: I'll go into a diving right hand turn (where he can't safely shoot) and then pull up sharply . he's still on me the whole way through, but at least he can't hit me. then I hear the groaning of a machine gun and fear that I'm done for! I look behind me and see numerous strikes on the Bristol Scout, pieces of wing and debris are flying everywhere! Gerhard von Rieck-Eggbert closes within 100 feet or so of the enemy and his firing constantly. the Briton goes nose-down and is smoking badly. this adversary fell at 8:42 I now see that Kurt Fellinger is in trouble, and I dive down as low as 300 feet to blast a Bristol Scout off his tail with some 50 rounds. none of my shots seem to land home, however, but at least this has discouraged the enemy! Kurt turns into a climbing right hand turn, while the Briton goes into a left-hand turn. no sooner than I can try to reposition myself this chap is on MY tail! so here I am, turning all over the place, yanking my nose up and down, stomping on the rudder bar and flying like a maniac--but I can't shake this fellow. then I look behind me and Gerhard is pouring hundreds of bullets into this fellow. a few seconds later the Bristol Scout falls to the ground tail first and explodes. there is now just one Bristol Scout remaining. I'm immensely frustrated by my inability to shoot down an enemy machine. I begin my attack--but am astonished by huge bursts of flak, perhaps the anti-aircraft gunners have mistaken my new Fokker E.III for a French Morane Saulnier H-type. once I get my bearings I dive down on the last Bristol and open fire, but he breaks hard left and I have no hope of staying with him, so I climb. now Becker is in trouble, so I try to help him out. I dive down and fire on this Bristol Scout and succeed in getting him to abandon his pursuit of Walter Becker... but now I'm in trouble! I go into a steep climbing right hand turn and he chases after me. this time, I hear the groan of a German machine gun and it is Kurt Fellinger who rescues me. FINALLY, at 08:51 I get a chance to attack the enemy. I close within 30 feet and fire some 30 rounds and see a few hits. we're at a height of roughly 300 feet. the Bristol Scout has a large black "1" on the upper right wing, and a British flag on the fuselage behind the roundel. it appears to be from RFC-3 Squadron. after I see hits on his machine, he pulls up, and then pauses in mid-air, and falls to the earth tail-first completely out of control. the machine explodes in a massive ball of fire E of 1915 Loos VimyRidge 65. my witnesses were Gerhard von Rieck-Eggbert and Kurt Fellinger. Witnessed by: Gerhard von Rieck-Eggbert, Kurt Fellinger Status : Confirmed ;

 

SORTIE NO.4 02/06/1915

 

I was on a recon patrol and I got shot down in less than 15 minutes! it happened so quickly, I didn't realize my predicament until my engine stopped working and I was forced to land w/o power! I was able to crash land without injury. which surprised me enormously, as in Phase II if you didn't make a perfect landing you pretty much died instantly! and when I saw my Fokker go up in flames and the screen go black--well, I figured it was over. but, surprisingly, I lived to fly again.

 

SORTIE NO.5 02/06/1915

claim no.3

2/;6/;1915 ;16h;17 ;Flanders ;Douai ;Artillery spotting ; Flying: Fokker EIII. On this day claims: ;1 ;Bris Scout A . ;we take off on an artillery spotting patrol. at 16:30 on our way to the front we see three Bristol Scouts approaching us (they are heading east). they are above us and to the right. they dive on us almost immediately and we fight back ferociously. after a twisting dogfight we descend down to about 2,500 feet. I select one adversary and fire from a range of 400 feet. he begans turning and zig-zagging, but I stay with him, and fire about 100 shoots into him. finally, I close within 100 feet of the fellow and polish him off with a few short bursts. I look behind me and see that Gerhard is watching my back, also firing on the enemy. at 16:35, at a height of 350 feet I fire 30 shots some 50 feet away from this Bristol Scout and he falls. the Bristol Scout crashed NE of 1915Artois Festubert 447. witnessed by Gerhard von Rieck Eggbert . Witnessed by: Kurt Fellinger, Walter Becker, Gerhard von Rieck-Eggbert Status : Confirmed ;

 

claim no.4

2/;6/;1915 ;16h;17 ;Flanders ;Douai ;Artillery spotting ; Flying: Fokker EIII. On this day claims: ;2 ;Bris Scout A . ;at 16:37 I attack a Bristol Scout A at very low altitude and fire 100 rounds at a height of 320 feet. the Bristol crashed NE of 1915Artois Festubert 447 at 16:37. Witnessed by: Kurt Fellinger, Walter Becker, Gerhard von Rieck-Eggbert Status : Confirmed ;

 

[on this sortie I also attacked a BE2c behind German lines and set it on fire. however, since my wingmen were not close enough to witness the victory I had to eliminate this from my claims. the following was a rough copy of my original combat report for this victory. since it became clear NOBODY was watching me, and they were all simply returning home, that I couldn't lay claim to this victory.

 

E of 1915Artois Festubert 447 returning home I see lots of tracers streaking up from the ground and presume that enemy machines are nearby

16.45 I dive down and attack the two BE2s as they head West

16.46 I attack the trailing machine and score a few hits. but I overshoot him, I cut my throttle and then aim for the leader. I fire maybe 70 rounds into him and see the spatter of blood from the cockpit. we are at 800 ft

16.47 the enemy has gone into a shallow dive and crashes NE of Festubert 447

16.47 I attack the remaining BE2c, I stalk in behind him at a range of 150 feet and close within 80 feet before breaking off, I fire another 50 rounds or so.

16.49 the BE2c has crashed just beyond the front-lines]

 

 

SORTIE NO.6 03/06/1915

 

3/;6/;1915 ;6h;34

 

I'm badly shot up after one quick pass by the enemy. my Fokker is forced to crash-land in a forest about a mile back from the front lines. again, I assume the worst has befallen me, and that I'm going to die. but after the screen fades to black, I arrive into the duty room and have been congratulated on my 5 confirmed victories and that I've been given a medal: the Iron Cross!

 

 

 

 

(on a side note, I'm flying a career for AFA 209 where I've already shot down three FE2bs using the DFW C.V--but even though I've gotten three claims in 2 days of intense combat I'd have to consider this career a failure thus far because I haven't hit anything with my bombs yet apart from mud and water!)

Edited May 10, 2009 by Waldemar Kurtz

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

Well done!...No time to sit on your Laurels though!...there's a war on! :)

[Olham 164]

Congratulation - now you're an ace! Get on with it!

[+Polovski 441]

Well done WK.

 

F7 (unless TrackIR us using it) you can view the bomb view btw...

[rayfer 0]

Congratulations! Having played this for a solid week now I can appreciate your accomplishment. One question....is "Phase 3" the same thing as the retail version on the DVD I'm playing?

[Waldemar Kurtz 1]

Well done WK.

 

F7 (unless TrackIR us using it) you can view the bomb view btw...

 

 

roger that, I've been trying that... but I usually get bounced by 3 to 6 British airplanes before I can even cross the lines... so usually I just have to ditch my bombs and fight for my life!

[Test Pilot 0]

Congratulations! Having played this for a solid week now I can appreciate your accomplishment. One question....is "Phase 3" the same thing as the retail version on the DVD I'm playing?

 

Did you buy it through this website? Phase 1 and 2 were freeware and the 3rd installment, phase 3 is what is on sale now.