JonathanRL

Ljungbyhed, Southern Sweden. 5th of September, 1964 It has been a busy summer. All too little time spent on the beach, watching all the pretty girls around here and too much in classrooms. The month before our first solo was gruelling as hell, but the instructors wanted to make sure everybody was to pass. If they did not think you could pass it, they chucked you out. And chucked out people they did. I was sure I would be one of them for sure. My navigation skills was lacking, and during instructor flights I seemed to be a degree or two off course almost every time. There is a certain reluctance to get to know people, but it happens anyway. This is for the obvious reason that if you get a best mate, the bunk can be empty by the next day. I knew that at the beginning, my attitude would be kind but distant. This failed at the same time I met Lars Broman for the first time. He had just returned from AWOL and asked me to cover for him, something that one only did if you could be sure to get away with it. Sure enough, once he had left Kapten Johansson came with the Väbel. They asked me if they had seen Lars. I answered that indeed I had. They asked me if he had recently jumped over the fence, back into the base. Looking Johansson straight in the face, I answered rather truthfully that I had been looking away at the time and was unsure in what direction he had come from. A few hours later, I spotted Lars, drenched in sweat and glared at me, muttering curses under his breath at the Väbel. I grinned at him and asked if it was worth it. He grinned back and said that his lady friend would probably find it romantic that he endured punishment for her. It was good to have Lars as a friend. He was dead useful in tutoring my navigation skills, and especially counteracting for the wind during flight, something I had never gotten the hang on, despite different instructors attempts to explain the subject. So the time came for our first Solos, and we passed them with flying colours. I was nervous as hell. We was to make a shorter flight, along waypoints but I made it okey with just a few pointers from the flight teacher. Some others was not as lucky. We had two crashes with one fatality. This sobered the rest of us up for the risks we took when we went up in the air. A month after our first solo, and the little more tricky manoeuvres we was tough, our teachers declared we would actually get to do something more fun this exercise. As we had recently practised formation flight, most of was begging for more individual action. And that we got. We was to have Dogfight drills. Mission: Intercept "Enemy" and engage the enemy. Mission Role: Interceptor It was my view that no kill was worth the life of a wingman. . . . Pilots in my unit who lost wingmen on this basis were prohibited from leading a [section]. The were made to fly as wingman, instead. — Colonel Erich 'Bubi' Hartmann, GAF. It turned out we was not to be missing out on the formation practices after all. We would fly 2 vs 2, one wingman, and one Lead and I was somewhat disappointed to be the Wingman for this exercise. Lars would be Section Lead, as the Kapten felt the practice was more bound to actually happen if he navigated the flight. So we took off - routine by now - and headed towards the area where the "enemy would be". We flew around for quite a while, not finding them and we was worried they where not where they where supposed to be. But a few minutes later, two small dots was visible below us. Our target had arrived. Lars pulled his aircraft into a dive without warning me making us split the formation. I tried to follow, but I was already too far behind. He went in behind the opponents wingman and "shot" him down with simulated fire. However, the Leader broke and went after Lars who now had a bogey on his six. As Wingman, my role was to prevent just that. Over the radio, a familiar voice called out "Du är träffad, avbryt." (You are hit, Abort), and I suddenly realised the pilot in the aircraft was Captain Johansson! It seemed however that Lars was reluctant to accept the hit, as he kept manoeuvring, trying to shake the Captain off his tail. The Captain warned him again that he indeed was hit and was to return to base. With a word that is not fit for polite company, he broke off. I had however used this time well to time up my shot on the Captain. "Guns Guns Guns." I called over the radio making sure to push the gun cameras several time to make sure I had the kill recorded. "Not bad" the Captain replied, and ordered the three of us to form up on his wing and return back to the field. I was surprised. I had expected the fight to last longer, and yet it had barely lasted a minute. I asked the Captain about it, knowing he had flown in combat back in ´56. He replied that this was the average length of a dogfight, and that most of the targets would never know what hit them. This was not reassuring tough, and we flew back in silence. After Landing, Lars had to spend another night with the Väbel for not obeying orders and as Johanssen put it "unfit leadership." So I was put in his shoes as Wing Leader. I was not sure I would be able to preform any better in that capacity and I told the Captain so. He smiled and said that he now knew he made the right choice. Lars breaks to engage Confirmed Simulated Kill

There is a "Norway" map for SF1. The inverted commas are there because it looks absolutely nothing like Norway. I too would like a Norwegian Sea Map but good terrain makers are not easy to come by, and I there is a long list of requests.

http://fly.historicwings.com/2012/06/the-catalina-affair/ http://fly.historicwings.com/2012/06/the-catalina-affair-part-2-of-3/ If you want to read more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Lines_Flight_007 Peaceful indeed ^^

There was one in particular in Öregrund as I recall it. NATO & Swedish divers had a field day with it...

If you mean Gotska Sandön, yes it is. Especially if you are a nature photographer. Never been there myself, sadly.

...Soviet Aircraft shot down a Swedish SIGINT DC-3 Bird over International waters, then shot down the SAR Bird looking for it. The fate of half of the crew is still unknown. Before the DC-3 was found and salvaged, the only thing that had been found was a life raft, carrying the sign of Soviet Cannon Fire. This is known as the Catalina Affair. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalina_affair For many years, the Swedish Government denied the true status of the bird, and the Soviets denied shooting it down. The secrecy on both sides have been especially tough for the family and loved ones of the crew.

Ljungbyhed, Southern Sweden. 12th of June, 1964 Not all of us are made for flying. That much is certain. Sometimes, during the lectures you can sometimes feel so stupid that you feel you are one of them. But nowhere is this clearer than after the instructors took us up for our backseat flights. We had three people dropping out, one medical and two who just quit after their first flight. Nobody ever got the chance to talk about it, but the rest of us felt scornful. How could a man not want to fly? Clearly there was something wrong with them. We expected them to get yelled at in public, but the instructors and officers took another stance at it. They seemed to feel that this was only natural, and a lad who questioned one of the dropouts manhood was told sternly to cut it out or get thrown out. This quickly shut the rest of us up. I did however have the courage to ask Kapten Johansson about how many who usually dropped out for simply not wanting to fly. He stared at me and ordered me to present the effects of flight on the human body on the next lecture, robbing me of my free weekend in the process without even having to revoke my Leave. The lecture I had to give did however make me feel more prepared for the next stage of our training. We was going to fly again, but not as passengers. Instead we would be the pilots, and the entire training flight would be in our hands, with the instructor ready to take over if we did something wrong. Mission: Take-Off, Circle the Airstrip and Land. Mission Role: Pilot-In-Training "You haven't seen a tree until you've seen its shadow from the sky." - Amelia Earhart You know the Theory. You know the buttons in front of you. You know what you are to do. You know the comforting voice of Captain Johansson pulling jokes and a serious tone to put you at ease. You need all of it. When I looked on the Vampires & Tunnan on the Söderhamn field, near my home it all looked so easy. How they streaked to the stars to do battle. Now, I was given responsibility for two lives and it all comes down to how I moved a stick. It almost felt silly. So I pushed the throttle forward and prepared myself for the moment when my aircraft would lift off the ground. The feeling surprised me, and suddenly I found my wing a little closer to the ground when what is reasonable. I quickly pulled the stick in the other direction and found the other wing closing to the ground. Captain Johansson told me to move the aircraft more gently, and not pull it like I was breaking a formation. It went better from there but I am not sure by how much. Captain Johansson gave me corrections and it was increasingly difficult to keep track on where to fly next. I ended up outside the waypoints two times and had to be reigned back in but I did better than I think it would. Not once did the Captain have to order me to release the stick. The landing however could have gone better. I came in too fast, and the Captain told me to raise the nose. I raised the entire aircraft too fast, and we almost entered a stall. Without thinking, I pulled up and left, and went on the go around. Lowering my landing gear, we then came in for landing. It felt a lot harder than the landing I in the moth, but since the Captain did not complain, I suppose I should not do so either. So I have flown a plane now. Up and down again, and everything in between. There will no doubt be many theoretical and practical lessions to go, but it is a milestone. It was a happy night in the mess hall that day. We skålade for our new life in the air, and for the Air Force. Truly, to Fly is to Live.

No, I want comments. The more the merrier. Constructive criticism, comments on plot, aircraft, screenshots and praise or hatemail; pretty much anything goes.

[A/N: First of all, the reason I put this into its own thread and not in the AAR thread is because this will be a longer, story based AAR. It will follow a Swedish Pilot from flight school to combat missions with more story then your average AAR. I do not know how often I will update this, but I will do it as often as I feel the urge to write down the adventures of my character and the campaign slot reserved for him. The Campaign style is "Dead is Dead, no Alt-N". If he dies in training, this will be a very short AAR. Furthermore, while I made sure as much as possible is accurate, there will be some parts that are not due to artistic licence, but the main goal of this AAR is to combine my desire to tell a story with what I know or think I know about the Swedish Air Force and their methods. I hope you will enjoy it. The Lion from the North Ljungbyhed, Southern Sweden. 3th of May, 1964 I waited a long time for this. Longer than one would think. I touch my hand across the flat surface of the wing. Compared to some of the other aircraft I have seen and serviced, this one is primitive. An old Brit, put into the use of trainer. I am not even going to fly it this time around. The instructors are going to bring us up, one by one. This is the first part of our training. Many of us have never flown, but feel the call of the skies. It is interesting that I know the Lansens technical statistics and best maintenance shortcuts in and out, but I have never actually flown. I used to beg the pilots to bring me up into the backseat for a flight. I got to sit there a few times, but never fly in it. And that is what brought me here. Maybe I should start from the beginning, as most stories do. My name is Johan and I am twenty years old. I spent my youth around Gävle and Söderhamn, watching the airplane soar above us, even scoring kills in the war a few years back when I was just a boy. So when I was called up for my military service, I tried to be a pilot. The officer just laughed at me and told me I had to be employed in order to train as a pilot, but as a favor, he put me into maintenance. I spent twelve months learning to put things apart and together, fix battle damage and load ammunition as quickly as possible. My aircraft of choice to work on was the A 32 Lansen, based at the very air base I had seen them fly my entire life. I made sure to pass with flying colours. It almost backfired, as they wanted to train me as a crew chief. So I made a deal with my boss. I would become a crew chief if I failed flight training. In his notes in my application, he wrote down my expertise maintaining the Lansen. If I passed, I knew what I was most likely going to fly, and it suited me just fine. The instructors are fair and honest with us. They tell us that most of us will never be pilots. That drop-out rates are high, but that they want us to make it. And so, they have their first little test planned for us. Fail this, and you will never become a pilot. Most of us do not see it as a test at all. It is more like a treat, of the kind you get if you have been a nice boy all year. We are going to get to fly for the first time, just a week into training. It is also efficient. If anybody who dreams of flying feels it is not for them, there will be no waste of resources on them. So now I stand before my first taste with Gods blue sky, and is about to plunge into it in a machine of metal, fabric and daring. The Sk 11 Tiger Moth. It is an old aircraft, but to get all the students up in the air, they have to scramble most of the aircraft on the field. Most of the students go up in the newer SK 16 Harvard. Two others got up in SK 12s, usually used to tow gliders. Me? I seemed to have won the grand prize. It does not seem so at first glance, but most of the instructors apparently fight over a chance to fly this old bird. Or it could just be the words Kapten Felix Johansson uses to comfort the fact that I got this piece of flying junk. But his joy to fly the Tiger Moth seems actually to be genuine. I like the aircraft, despite the fact that it is difficult to believe it belongs to the Kungliga Krigsflygskolan. It is painted in bright colours and according to the Captain often used as air shows or when the instructors just want to take a break and fly for the joy of it. I asked if its actually on the aircraft rooster of the Academy. He smiled at me and told me to get in. Mission: Take-Off, Circle the Airstrip and Land. Mission Role: Passenger It was not a very calm flight, despite promises of the opposite. Then again, I do not really have any experiences to compare it with, but after today, I am quite sure I will. We took off and the Captain made a sharp turn over the parked aircraft, putting the aircraft in a slow circle around the airstrip. Looking down on it, I saw my fellows walk into and out of aircraft, and in the air around us; other instructors flew with other students. The experience of flying with the wind in ones face is beyond description. It was wonderful, and I knew that even if I did not pass my course here, I would get a flight license. This was what I wanted to do. And I would get the chance to do so sooner than I would think, when the Captain yelled if I wanted to try and take the stick. I was terrified but exited at the same time but my answer was obvious. Taking the stick, I gently moved it back and forth to check the results of my actions. The rudders responded to my command in a very graceful way, and I even dared to take the aircraft into a slow turn before the captain informed me that it was his stick again. Then he told me to hold on, as he put the Aircraft into a steep dive, and then up into a roll. I was screaming with excitement and then laughing as the aircraft stabilized and the Captain put her into a gentle turn that would take us in for landing. As we reached ground, I had to suppress a cheer. Not because we was back on the ground, but because I knew this would not only be something I could do again, but if I passed the course, my profession. The Captain seemed to know what I was thinking and smiled, asking if I liked it. There was only one possible answer… [A/N: Thanks to Flogger23 for helping me with SK 16 decals who proved to be a pain.]

TSF is following this thread with extreme interest due to the Norwegian F-5A This looks frankly awesome!

Belive me, that one gets really tiresome, really fast. At least if you start making Campaigns from scratch

Battlezone is freeware nowadays for people who want it. http://www.battlezone1.com/ But yes, those who games would be perfect for HD remakes. All they would need is a new engine that would support the improved graphics, change nothing else.

There are no such thing, and frankly, I am not really sure why you would want one. I suppose you could do it manually, by altering every tile and model in a terrain green, but that would take a long time. When I cut stuff, I simply go for fair weather and the blue will create a nice backdrop.

Go have a Holiday, you silly Monty ! Trainstrafing is fun. Oh yes. Will it be moving or just stationary?

*bows*

Then let me rant at you. Your title sucks. How about a better one. Or how about posting this in a thread dedicated to the game? Now when that is over with... If you want a great story, you are not going to get it. TK is not Bioware and ALL of his scenarios have terrible storylines, ones that are seldom mentioned more then three lines. Futhermore, you may want to study "Arctic Victory" scenario from Red Storm Rising where Iceland was captured with alot less resources that are put into TKs scenario. Lastly, if you want a good story, Try TSF. Then you will at least get angry retorts from the storys author

Thats what Ubisoft does to their franchises. Did you not heed the warning R6: Vegas delivered?

http://combatace.com/topic/72592-strike-fighters-2-videos/

Lansen Parade.

I always liked the F-11 :)

I do want Ground Branch and sincerely wished I had 10 000 dollars to pledge to their cause.

Well, if you have SF2: Europe, you can use two of them on the Mega Package. The PBY5 is there too. http://combatace.com/files/file/12979-the-scandinavian-front-mega-package-part-1/ http://combatace.com/files/file/12980-the-scandinavian-front-mega-package-part-2/ If you only want the PBY5 however, the link above is what you want. That has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I have tried to get proper Subhunting working in TSF for about the mods entire lifespan... Esp since NavalCampaign seem to botch Anti-ship missions from ever appearing.