660629 First F-105 MiG Kill for SF2V

[+streakeagle 871]

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660629 First F-105 MiG Kill for SF2V

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June 29, 1966 was a pivotal point in the air war over Vietnam.

 

Restrictions on bombing in Hanoi and Haiphong were lifted by Washington, D.C.

The first targets were major POL storage depots (Petroleum, Oil, and Lubricants).

The USAF struck Hanoi and the USN struck Haiphong on this day.

About 56.8% of North Vietnam's POL storage capacity was destroyed.

 

However, another significant even took place on this day.

An IRON HAND flight of four F-105s was bounced by four MiG-17s.

Two F-105s were damaged.

One MiG-17 was hit and last seen diving into a cloud just above the ground.

This MiG-17 became the first confirmed kill by an F-105.

The pilot was Maj. Fred L. Tracy of the 421st TFS, 388th TFW.

He was flying in F-105D 58-1156, callsign Crab 02.

 

/*****Sources******************************************************************/

 

"MiG Killers" by Donald J. McCarthy, Jr.

Brief synopsis of the aircraft and pilot involved.

 

"Clashes" by Marshall L. Michel III

Detailed but generic account of the action, no name, units, etc.

 

USAF "Red Baron" WSEG Report 116 Event II-15

Incredibly detailed account.

 

/*****Design*******************************************************************/

 

After extensive testing, this mission uses the following design decisions:

 

Written for a stock SF2V install, no mods required.

 

The stock environment does not permit low level clouds experienced that day.

Only the higher level clouds are modeled.

 

The initial aircraft positions reflect WSEG Report 116 Event II-15.

the mission starts when the MiGs are first detected by Crab 04.

However, the AI cannot be "bounced" as was historically the case.

So all F-105s are immediately aware the approaching MiG-17s.

This means that the MiG-17s do not get the first pass on Crab 01 and Crab 02.

It also means that Crab 02 does not automatically get a point-blank free shot.

It does lead to the correct situation of trying to clear MiGs from tails.

 

The historical F-105 mission is SEAD until the arrival of MiG-17s.

This forced the F-105s to jettison their ordnance to evade attack and engage.

So the flight leader, Crab 01, has been placed on a SWEEP mission.

This makes the AI flight leader drop all ordnance and focus on the MiGs.

 

The player is flying as Crab 02.

Presently, players can only be the lead aircraft in a flight.

So, Crab 02 is modeled as a separate flight assigned to ESCORT Crab 01.

The player cannot issue commands to any other aircraft.

The focus is realistically shifted from MiGs to protecting the flight leader.

To win the mission, the flight leader must live.

As in reality, MiG kills are just an added bonus.

 

Crab 03 and 04 are also a separate flight.

This permits historical initial positioning of the aircraft.

The default game formation is too close together.

This is also necessary due to the player being assigned as a separate flight.

Otherwise, Crab 03 would end up in the wingman position of Crab 01.

Crab 03 and Crab 04 are also assigned to ESCORT Crab 01.

This largely makes them act as members of Crab 01's flight.

 

The MiG-17s have been broken up into two flights.

A three plane flight and a single plane flight.

This permit historical starting positions.

 

Historically, the F-105s got separated.

Each pilot made decisions based solely on what they saw or heard.

Some F-105s disengaged while others were still fighting.

This is an added advantage to having one flight get broken up into several.

Each flight decides to fight or flee independently of the other flights.

This permits outcomes that are very close to the historical results.

 

/*****Playing Tips*************************************************************/

 

Do the following to make this mission challenging and realistic:

 

ONLY USE THE NORMAL IN-COCKPIT VIEWS: <F1>, <F2>, and <F3>

Do not use map <M>, target <T>, padlock <F4>, or any view target <F8> keys.

Doing so provides the player with exceptional situational awareness.

The player unrealistically always knows everyone's location.

This extra knowledge allows a skilled player to easily kill all of the MiG-17s.

 

Be proficient with the POV hat, look up <NUM 5> key, and zoom view controls.

Due to the way the game renders distant targets, spotting MiGs is very hard.

MiGs that are not very close cannot be seen at all when zoomed out.

Learn to zoom in and scan the horizon for small moving dots.

This will be frustrating and the spotting distances may seem unrealistic.

The end results are exceptionally realistic.

The player may frequently get lost or disoriented.

Like real pilots, level out and/or use check turns to find your way back.

It will take skill and luck to spot MiGs.

It requires even more skill and luck to get one or more kills.

Of course, TrackIR makes this whole process much easier and realistic.

 

The first thing the player should do is jettison all ordnance.

Then the player should maneuver to cover the flight leader's tail.

The flight leader, Crab 01, is very close and to the right of the player.

Crab 01 can be observed to jettison his ordnance at the start of the mission.

Historically, Crab 01 broke to the left, but the AI breaks to the right.

Next, a decision will have to be made:

Follow and protect the flight leader, or engage any MiGs encountered.

 

Play the mission several times following these restrictions.

Once used to it, the player will learn two skills critical to real pilots:

1) Visual scanning discipline to focus and pick out distant contacts.

2) Situational awareness to mentally track planes not within view.

 

Good hunting!

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• Submitter
  streakeagle
• Submitted
  05/31/2010
• Category
  User Made Missions

 

[+kreelin 2]

Nice little mission pack Streak

[+streakeagle 871]

If you install the F-105 Early Tail Numbers skin I released earlier (found here: http://forum.combatace.com/files/file/10842-f-105-early-tail-numbers/ ),

the mission can be easily modified to use this skin to have the correct tail code for Crab 02. I have been unable to document the tail numbers on the other three aircraft in Crab flight.

 

Note that in the actual mission, the lead, Crab 01, was flying an F-105F and Crab 03 was flying the real life equivalent to the F-105D (66) of the game.

Crab 02 and Crab 04 were in the game's F-105 (i.e. no RWR). For the mission, I used an F-105 (66) as a substitue for the leader. Crab 03 is stuck in a regular F-105D as I would have had to break the Crab 03/Crab 04 element into two flights to give Crab 03 the correct aircraft.

[DaniloE31 280]

Ahhh great! I was really looking forward for this one.

Thanks