Il-2+CUP: Lancaster Tour of Duty

[33LIMA]

First mission in a brand new campaign!

 

 

Apart from the occasional mission, I have never seriously tried flying bombers in Il-2. I'm quite fond of shooting them down...or trying to, at any rate. I have flown bombers in CFS3 using that sim's simplified bombing system and in B-17 II The Mighty Eighth, with its much superior facilities, including a decent simulation of the Norden bombsight.

 

However, having of late much enjoyed flying with Il-2's new Community User Patch (CUP), I decided it was time to get serious with bombing in this sim. The deciding factor was the recent arrival of a brand-new bomber campaign, made specifically for CUP and featuring one of my favourite aircraft, the mighty Avro Lancaster. I had enjoyed flying this big bird in Just Flight's excellent CFS2 'Dambusters' add-on and wasn't going to miss the chance to try her out in an Il-2 campaign...even if it meant sitting for long periods in a darkened room!

 

The campaign is by Hamm66 and you can get it over at Mission4Today, here:

 

http://www.mission4today.com/index.php?name=Downloads3&file=details&id=2137

 

'1942 Lancaster Tour of Duty' features ten semi-historical missions from the wartime career of 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron, RAF Bomber Command, apparently the first unit to re-equip with the Lancaster. We are based at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, a county where so many bomber squadrons were based for what became the great Allied bomber offensive against Nazi Germany.

 

Here's the briefing for the first mission...an unusual one, to be sure. It's Christmas 1941 and - as in real life - the squadron is about to get its first Lancs. My 'mission' is to trundle down to the runway in a jeep and watch our brand new aircraft arrive, presumably flown in by RAF Ferry Command, recently formed to fly new planes to operational airfields. Just like ours.

 

 

So I loaded up the mission and there I was, sitting in my jeep, alone. The weather was rather murky and it seemed the others had decided that their first close-up look at the new planes could wait. Fair enough!

 

 

This was my first time driving a ground vehicle of any type, in Il-2. The silence suggested that starting my engine might be a good way to get going, so that's what I did. The joystick seemed to control things much as with an aircraft and I was soon on my way. But which way? I followed the track I was on, which led to a long, wide paved area which was obviously a runway. Here I stopped. I was reminded of the story told me by my late dad, who was a mechanic in the RAF, post-war, and served all over the world, much of the time, of all things, in an Air Sea Rescue launch. On this occasion he was based closer to home and on terra firma, at RAF Ballykelly in Northern Ireland. He was on a tea break, the problem being that the tea was being served from a NAAFI van which was over on the opposite side of the runway. He had a bike at his disposal and while it was of course strictly forbidden, there was nobody about and so he cycled straight across to the NAFFI van. As he was sipping his tea there, a Lanc came in and landed. But instead of taxying off to dispersal, the bomber came to a halt next to the NAFFI van. Out came the navigator, and ran across to the van. Who was the airman, he demanded to know, who had cycled across the runway a few minutes ago, causing the Lanc to have to break off its approach and go around? He had been despatched by the pilot to get that man's name. The presence of the bicycle next to my dad made denials rather fruitless!

 

This was a mistake I wasn't going to make now! So I pulled up short of the runway, and I waited...

 

 

...and I waited. No sign of the Lancs. Was I at the right runway? Hard to say, but I decided to sit tight where I was. No point in incurring the wrath of the ferry pilots or worse, the Rock Apes (as Air Force people call the RAF Police, after those famously cheeky primates who inhabit the Rock of Gibraltar). Had the flight been cancelled, perhaps? It was Christmas, after all.

 

 

But no, the party was still on. Undeterred by the rather poor visibility, the Lancasters were coming!

 

 

And a fine sight they made, too, even though they were still carrying the squadron codes of an Operational Conversion Unit. Soon, hopefully, they would carry instead the 'KM' of our very own 'Forty-four'.

 

 

Finally, I saw them, slipping into and out of the murk that lay all around, as they joined the circuit.

 

 

By this time, they had shaken out into line astern and the landings could not now be long away.

 

 

Soon, the leader was breaking off and then settling down into his approach.

 

 

 

Of all this, I saw nothing. I WAS at the wrong runway, although I could hear the R/T chatter, which somebody was evidently blasting out on a loudspeaker for all and sundry to hear. Except that all and sundry were likely watching from the comfort of their respective messes, leaving me sitting out here in the cold. At the wrong runway.

 

Enough! I daren't cross the apparently-inactive runway ahead even so but I'd sat there long enough. Off I went, seeming to startle a flock of geese, which took to the skies as I roared past...hopefully not heading in the direction of those other, much bigger birds now in the vicinity. Recklessly endangering Government property - to wit, four Avro Lancaster aircraft - by driving geese into the skies while they were landing, would make for an interesting Charge Sheet, but this was the RAF and anything was possible, in the pursuit those guilty of any form of of '..conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline'.

 

 

I never did get to see the Lancasters land. Taking a turn too tightly brought my trip around the airfield to a sudden end. All I could hope for was everybody else was watching the bombers land, rather than my four-wheel drive aerobatics.

 

 

Happily, the Lancs didn't put a wheel wrong, landing one after another, past a row of rather obsolete-looking Whitleys.

 

 

 

Once down, each machine taxied out to a dispersal point. Soon all were down. The first of our new warplanes had arrived. From here on in, it was over to us!

 

 

...to be continued!

[hrc]

It's really amusing to read your stories. Keep them coming.

 

Btw, CUP is great. I've installed it yesterday, had some trouble with getting the encanched water mod to work, but now that it's done I'm dogfighting over Guadalcanal in underpowered and sluggish Wildcat after many years...

[awralls]

Nice review. One very minor quibble... 'Rock ape' or just 'rock' is RAF slang for a member of the RAF Regiment, not RAF Police.

 

Andy

[33LIMA]

First flight!

 

The next mission in this campaign has me on a long cross country familiarisation flight in my very own Lancaster. Here's the briefing. Our base is at Waddingon, and in addition to the usual airfield icon it has a radio mast symbol, whose significance will become apparent later. Although not labelled in the level of map zoom seen in the screenshot, a closer look will confirm that the map is nicely detailed, complete with well-known local landmarks like the resort of Skegness ('So bracing', according to the railway company posters, possibly a nice way of saying 'windswept'?) and further north along the coast, the famous fishing port of Grimsby (soon to be the subject - or should that be 'object' - of a Sacha Baron Cohen film, apparently):

 

 

So I kicked off the mission. And immediately hit the first challenge. The CUP mod is based on the Team Daedalos 4.12 .exe. Amongst its features apparently is the ability to create missions which involve taxying out to the runway. As someone who has often railed against the stock IL-2 'conga line' takeoffs, you would think I would have been pleased, to find the mission starting with my Lanc ready to taxy out, instead of lined up on the runway and ready to go.

 

 

The problem of course is that suddenly, I needed to do a little bit of ground-handling and in a big bomber, to boot. While contemplating this, I had a good look around, admiring the well-laid-out recreation of an operational bomber airfield, complete with animated vehicles, aircraft undergoing maintenance, and a little group of airmen who had come out to watch me make an idiot of myself.

 

 

 

 

The IL-2 Lanc is billed as a Mark III and has an H2S ground-mapping radar dome under the rear fuselage, paddle-blade airscrews and a few aerials the Mk1 of 1941-2 probably should not have, but all 'normal' Lancs looked much alike and it's a fine replica. The fighter-style cocpkit is nicely reproduced with an impressive array of functional flying and engine instruments. I get a faint, intermittent horizontal line across the left front winscreen but it's no big deal. There doesn't seem to be a 44 Squadron skin available so I'm flying a machine in its delivery markings.

 

 

Time to get weaving! I don't use Complex Engine Management in IL-2 but selected and started the four Merlins individually. When done, I held her on the brakes while I listened to their roar as I throttled up. Sweet!

 

I checked the controls, set the flaps and began to roll forward. Helpfully, a Wellington was taxying out ahead of me so I decided to follow him, in the hope that at least one of us knew where we were going.

 

 

 

First time trying out a Lanc takeoff in CUP, I was all over the place until I realised that the way to accomplish a tight turn on the ground was Soviet-style, hold down the brake key while applying rudder in the desired direction. You daren't over-do it though, as it seems fairly easy do do this:

 

 

No such mishaps this time: soon we were up and away, leaving Waddington slipping into the Lincolnshire murk behind us. The sounds of flaps and gear retracting are nicely done.

 

 

The training flight which followed was more like something out of FSX or an elementary flying lesson, getting the Lanc trimed and settled down into level flight at my chosen airspeed and altitude, all the while trying to maintain my heading and resist the temptation to admire the view, outside and inside.

 

 

 

 

Soon I was heading east and out to the coast, where I turned north, up towards Grimsby.

 

 

 

 

Every so often, a text message would appear, giving me my position as if from a fix from radio beacons. I haven't used this facility in Il-2 before - apparently it's useful for finding your way home, in realistic carrier operations - but suspected it would become important, flying nocturnal bomber sorties, in this campaign.

 

 

Learning to fly the Lanc was interesting but I decided enough was enough and cut across to the west. Time to go home! As is my wont, I was flying with my own plane's icon and my route displayed on the 'mini-map' so it wasn't hard to find my way back. I was soon turning into my approach.

 

 

I got a bit of a shock on short finals when a flock of those darn geese took to the air from the runway threshold just ahead of me. Obviously, these creatures were going to me our regular companions at Waddington. I made it down all right, despite this unwanted excitement. Landing's not my strong point in Il-2 and the cushioning effect of those big wings saw me flare too soon. But I caught her and then set her down without so much as a bounce, which is a good landing by my standards.

 

 

Sometimes just flying an aircraft in a combat flight sim can be fun and so it was with the Il-2 Lanc, on this cross country flight. Helpfully, the campaign missions are included also as single missions so you can fly this one as many times as you want. However, I was now keen to get my operational tour in the Lancaster off to an early start. That would come next!

 

 

...to be continued!

[sixstrings]

Looking now at getting back into Il-2 '46,after being seriously into CFS3 and had no idea that Il=2 progressed so far ahead of CFS3 and it's different versions,(except OFF maybe).  This CUP version looks fantastic and immersive . Can't wait to get CUP installed and working properly , along with all of the Third Wire's series for XP.  Like the story !!!

Edited May 4, 2015 by sixstrings

[MrGoTime]

So I've been holding off on getting a CUP install up and going. Mainly because I tried once and couldn't get it going. 

 

However - this has inspired me to give it a shot again. I absolutely LOVE heavy bomber stuff, and have had a hard time finding much of anything in ANY flight sim (outside of B17II, which I love). I'm amped to get an install up. Great work 33LIMA, as always!

[33LIMA]

Thanks guys!

 

I'm not sure I've the patience for this heavy night bomber business, as I found out on my first operational mission in this campaign. It was an easy enough turn, minelaying (with fused delay 1000 lb bombs simulating the mines). I must have hit the wrong key - the penalty of switching between different sims! - so I failed to get a screenie of the briefing. But it was a straightfoward trip, a short hop up to the coast to the north-east, then a long leg due east over the North Sea to the Heligoland Bight. The complicated bits were that it was dark, I was number four in a formation and we had to fly there at a thousand feet, to come in under the radar.

 

As with my familiarisation flight, the first bit of fun was just getting to the runway, this time in darkness and from a dispersal point on the grass. At least the active runway was well lit!

 

 

By the time I had started up and checked the controls, the others had begun to take off, so I wasted no time and got cracking myself. If this had been Flight Unlimited, the tower would have told me politely that they were already paying someone else to cut the grass and didn't need my help but I was in a hurry. I got onto a proper taxiway as soon as I could and switched on my navigation lights.

 

 

 

I did a bit more grass-cutting but eventually made it onto the runway, just as the last of the other three Lancs was lifting off and disappearing into the night, marked only by its navigation lights.

 

 

 

Despite carrying four thousand pounds of ordnance, the takeoff was undramatic and I was soon in my way.

 

 

The campaign readme had advised me to set keys to change radio beacons so I tried these now, thinking that perhaps, in some fashion of which I was totally clue-less, they would help me navigate, perhaps showing up on my radio compass. All I saw was a text message which indicated that I was tuning in to different radio stations, starting with the good old BBC and ending with Grossdeutches Rundfunk or some other enemy station. As clue-less as I'd started, I ploughed on into the darkness.

 

 

If flying a precise course and altitude wasn't hard enough in the daytime, doing the same thing in complete darkness and in a room which I couldn't darken down enough, was in a different league of difficulty, at least for me. And I had to combine all that with trying to get into, and then maintain, formation. I heartily dislike formation-flying in sims - it's too much like hard work, compared to the freedom of flying as a leader. No option, tonight, though. So I shamelessly used all the help I could get, including the mini-map and icons. Even with all that, it was a struggle to catch up and stay caught up.

 

 

 

Pausing to set up and take screenshots just made it worse. Orientation dispelled, formation lost, start over. This screenie alone probably cost me a few hundred yards and a proportionate amount of sweat and tears.

 

 

I don't know if this counts as 'in formation', but it's about as close as I got.

 

 

I tried to stay just below the others, so that I could see them against the lighter sky above, without resorting to labels. This worked tolerably well, but in the dark it was very hard to detect gradual changes in distance, so that I would often find myself drifting away or getting to close. Hard work indeed!

 

 

I didn't dare try time compression but instead I turned on the autopilot. Not a good idea. I almost never use this in Il-2 and haven't for ages, but the very odd time I have, flying fighters, I remember seeing this initially send my plane banking off to one side before swinging back into formation. This time, it just turned my Lanc around and settled us onto what looked like a course for home. Was it taking me back to that waypoint I had missed, when I cut a corner to catch up? I don't know, and I don't think Il-2 has the Strike Fighters style 'next waypoint' option to tell the autopilot that's where you want to go next. None of CFS's 'warp' feature either. Meanwhile, the rest of my formation, which I had spent the last twenty or so minutes sweating to catch up and then stay with, disappeared to the east. Brilliant.

 

I decided to call it quits. When I got back to Waddington, I'd tell them some vital piece of equipment failed. Which was almost true.

 

I'm not sure I have either the patience or the aptitude for this heavy night bomber lark. Maybe I'll ask for a transfer back to Fighter Command!