A Tale of 2 Missions

[Duce Lewis 3]

Mission #1 was a Balloon Defense

Our flight of 5 DVII's followed A Flight's 3

Short flight to the front, a 90^o turn to port towards the balloon, A Flight descending below us

Almost immediately bogies popped up 11 & 1 O'Clock high

A Flight flew on so we maintained high cover

 

The 11 O'Clock bogies (5 Se5's) moved in and dove on A Flight

It didn't look good so I sent the Wingies to help

Intuition said 'delay' and sure enough the 1 O'Clock bunch turned up 5 more Se5's

Intercepted but they blew right by me, got a good burst into 1 but he just dove down into the scrap

 

Dove down after him but it was already goig bad

Managed to shoot 1 down then ended up running for my life

2 Se's gave chase & when 1 finally turned back I turned on his M8

Shot him down with a flaming engine then made for home

...Massacre is the only word that comes to mind

 

 

Mission #2 Balloon Defense, approach front, 90^o turn to port, A Flight descends, bogies 11 & 1 O'Clock high

De ja vous, hair stood up on my neck, but his time both A & B Flights are packin 6 DVII ea.

Sure enough, the 1 O'Clocker's are Se5's and dive on A Flight, passing right through them, below us

Watched the 1 O'Clock boys a bit but they're not moving, ATTACK! and down we go

 

We hit em hard with A Flight joining back in

Made a pass on 1 and 1/2 looped back at him

Hit him hard fron astern, then 2 wingies popped up right in front on me, hitting him too

Banked off and found a new target, shooting him down after a couple passes

Pulled up and looked around, watching the Se5's getting mopped up

1, 2, 3, ...12, we're all here but there's more bogies out there

 

Started climbing their direction, trying to provide picket duty, early warning

4 Camels flew off but a 2nd flight of 4 Se5's dove below me at our reforming DVII's

Called the attack and dove on the 2 Tail End Charlie's

My beloved B Flight responded to the call but A Flight had turned for home

Mangaged to shoot 2 down with the wingies cleaning up the other 2 Tommies ...NO LOSSES!

 

Skies clear we merrily reformed and headed for home

Hadn't gotten a couple miles when still more bogies popped up at 8 O'Clock

They were passing behind us heading right for the Balloon

Sure would be bad sport to valiently defend the balloon then fly off while it's destroyed

Round we turned, angling to cut them off

 

These Se5's flew strangely, splitting into 2 groups and milling about

Not sure if we engaged the whole lot, but at least 2 went down, 1 of em mine

Again we reformed all 6 and set off for home, struttin along like peacocks

Just before approaching home field more bogies poopped up 10 O'Clock

Cautiously skirted them as ammo belts were getting light

Turned out to be A Flight! engaging 3 or 4 Re8's ...Have at em M8's!

They seemed to have the situation in hand and we touched down feather light

Only got credit for 3 but who cares, the squad was wildly successful!

 

Sure was a raucus night in the canteen

...but there where some missing faces

Edited September 21, 2009 by Duce Lewis

[Bullethead 12]

1918 is kinda boring isn't it? Good as the D.VII is, there are days when you don't think it's good enough.

 

In 1917, I used to worry about helping A Flight a lot. But then I figured those aces could take care of themselves, at least long enough for the enemy B Flight to commit. Only then would I go help A Flight.

 

But in 1918, sheesh.... The enemy has A, B, C, D, E, F and G Flights. No matter how many flights you let dogpile on your A Flight before going to help, another 2 or 3 will soon come along and jump on you. Fortunately, several friendly squadrons usually join in, too, so the odds ain't usually as long in the huge melee as they appear to be from outside it. Still, the choice is usually between jumping into the meatgrinder or not fighting.

[Duce Lewis 3]

No matter how many times A Flight has left me to the wolves

...I always try to do my duty and support them

That way when I rip them in my claim reports, I can claim innocence in abandoning them

 

Fortunately, several friendly squadrons usually join in, too, so the odds ain't usually as long in the huge melee

Huh! what squad you flyin???

I almost never get ny outside help

And 1/2 the time A Flight bails on me

Can't count how many times, odds looked so good, then I ended up being hounded all the way home alone

[Olham 164]

Yes, I made the same experience - in the end, I'm always left alone with my wings.

But you seem to have made a very good stand against so many S.E.5a - you don't

seem to have had many losses, Duce.

That maybe the advantage of flying a DVII. I have flown Summer 1918 only in a DVa -

not the craft of any superiority. I often came home single.

I felt happy, when I had one or two wings left aloft with me to fly home.

[Bullethead 12]

Huh! what squad you flyin???

I almost never get ny outside help

And 1/2 the time A Flight bails on me

Can't count how many times, odds looked so good, then I ended up being hounded all the way home alone

 

I know I'm in Jasta 4 and it's the earliest time they have the D.VII, but I can't remember the exact date--combat is too intense to keep track of time there. The airfield is RIGHT ON the front line (enemy positions about 1000m away), so you start taking flak on your takeoff roll and gas clouds sometimes drift over the runway. Fortunately, the runway is parallel to the front so you never have to take off right into massed AAMGs.... You can't miss it when picking a squadron, due to the airfield being right on the red stripe.

 

It's pretty much always a scramble mission regardless of what the briefing says, but more realistic than actual scramble missions because the enemy is far enough away (usually) for you to circle the field a couple times and get some altitude. The sky is FILLED with planes in all directions, but only about 2/3 of them are enemy and quite a few on both sides are 2-seaters. It's not long before A Flight starts what soon becomes a huge melee involving 40-50 planes or more (provided one isn't already in progress), and you're just going DAMN, because everything you've been able to identify so far has been enemy, with more enemy coming from all around. But once you get sucked into the melee, you find that quite a few of the many planes in the fight are Albatri and D.VIIs from other Jastas, plus A Flight somewhere in there. If you keep your wits about you, you can stay with somebody (and your own wingmen, of course) to achieve a small zone of local numerical superiority and gradually expand it into a clear area where you can catch your breath before repeating the process.

[Duce Lewis 3]

Yes, I made the same experience - in the end, I'm always left alone with my wings.

But you seem to have made a very good stand against so many S.E.5a - you don't

seem to have had many losses, Duce.

I think RFC had a big superiority in numbers by 1918

Flying DVII's is tough enough, hat's offto the DVa Jocks in this era

Yeah Mission #2 was a real treat

No losses and even found A Flight fighting on at the end

Usually missions results are somewhere between the 2

But the contrast of massacre vs routing the HA was worth posting

 

I know I'm in Jasta 4 and it's the earliest time they have the D.VII, but I can't remember the exact date--combat is too intense to keep track of time there. The airfield is RIGHT ON the front line (enemy positions about 1000m away), so you start taking flak on your takeoff roll and gas clouds sometimes drift over the runway. Fortunately, the runway is parallel to the front so you never have to take off right into massed AAMGs.... You can't miss it when picking a squadron, due to the airfield being right on the red stripe.

 

It's pretty much always a scramble mission

Sounds like a wild ride

I've avoided Jasta 4 because of the Beugneaux Airfield

Flew from there so many times in P2

Next pilot - Jasta 4 though

Sounds like a glorious if but so short a career!

[Olham 164]

Bullet, with every sentence of your description, Bruce Willis' "Die Hard"

comes to my mind again (Lol!) Sounds like the Jasta to pick instead of the

new 12 vs 12 instant fights?

Duce, DVa in 1918 is alright against SPAD XIII (shot down two in my first

sortie with Jasta 26 in late April 1918 - see the "Who's ancestor was a WW1

pilot" thread). But soon, I will have to face hordes of S.E.5a or Camels!

According to Bullet - real masses of them? That will be almost impossible.

 

Jasta 4 is on my list now, too. I'll join you, Bullet and Duce (if we only COULD

fly together - that should be fun!)

[Duce Lewis 3]

OK Olham, I'm ready to enlist my Jast 4 pilot

My Jasta 5 guy, Alois Krieger met his end rather stupidly

Had a great little escort mission, (see Coordinating Ace & Bomber Flights Poll)

We led 5 Hannovers 10 miles behind enemy lines

There were HA milling about everywhere and a big Dogfight on the perimeter

Managed to shoot 5 Camels and 2 Se5's down

It wasn't that difficult as we took them on mostly 1 at a time and always had a height advantage

Lost 3 Hannovers but their tactics were insane so they're asking for it

Saw the remaining 2 off and touched down in a 3 pointer

Taxied up to the hanger and switched off

Decided to wait to see the wingies land and getting bored decided park her in the hanger

Any idea what happened next??? ...7.5 hours down the tubes!

[Olham 164]

The escort mission must have been great!

Meeting single Camels, all lower than you - I wish I would have that once!

 

You "driving into the hangar" was - not a good idea.

Next time you want to see them land, just circle over your field - they will come.

See my post with pics in that "WW1 relative as pilot" thread - the Pfalz made it.

The Albs crashed though; one of my wingmen was at least only semi-crashed.

 

Jasta 4 has funny black spirals round their crates - probably to avoid being mistaken

for an enemy craft by their own ground crew.

So close to the front, anything is dangerous.

Edited September 22, 2009 by Olham