Lt. James Cater

http://combatace.com/gallery/image/19739-n11/ 21APR65 Had a good mission despite a few hairy moments. Took off with Andy in the right seat and 2LT Everet Olmstead, MAJ Kaye Sheffler, and 2LT Adam Brown. The weather wasn't too bad and since the target was relativly close, we figured on being able to hit hard anything in the area. Going in low and slow, we found out quickly that it was an error as some rather intense but inaccurate fire came up at us. At that same moment we saw some trucks a bit in the distance and so went to work. Alas, there were only a few and so we turned our attention to the guns and the camp. We all made multiple passes and knocked out everything except for one pesky 57mm that was a pain to keep in sight since there were low clouds in the area and you had to pay carefull attention to a nearby hill. So home we went. Except for taking a couple of 14.5mm hits, everything was pretty nice. Looks like HQ must like how we're doing things.

:rofl:

To be honest, i really couldn't stand her vocals but one has to admit that the band were pretty original for the early wave of punk.

http://combatace.com/gallery/image/19713-n8/ http://combatace.com/gallery/image/19714-n9/ 18APR65 This was a wild one to say the least! It all started with the road bridge at Quon Lang. That was our target and so we were a two plane force heading out to deal with it. Due to the very bad weather, we decided to use it to our advantage. Climbing slowly northeast up to 12,000ft, the plan was to get to altitude and swing west towards the IP, which was where the CA river comes out of the hills. We would have the distraction of multiple flights in the area to set up for a dive on the target and a quick low level getaway to the southeast to where intell has determined that there are no guns. We were pretty confident that there were no radars in the area so we could count on coming down out of the clouds at speed for a good glide bomb attack and get out of there before the gunners could get a good look at us. And wouldn't you know that it all went to hell just as we were approaching our tip over spot? Some Huns out of Da Nang got there first and called in that they got the bridge so now we had a problem. With our primary gone it was right to send our wingman home and for me and right seater 2LT Andrew M. D. Semper, to decide what to do. Finally we decided on our original plan in order to further damage the bridge. We were carrying 14 MK82s so the odds were good that we could wreck the primary some more. The first clue that it was not going to be a walk in the park was the 100mm bursts that began bursting around us. Yep, they must have had assistance down there since they were shooting well even though we were above the clouds. So full throttle and a turn north was in order. After a few minutes more of manuvering around we figured we were in the right place so down Andy and i went. It would have been perfect except for the our navigation being a bit off and breaking out of the clouds with the bridge slightly behind us. As the flak started getting worse, we could only head out on our original escape route while trying to plot our next move. The situation we were in was that pretty much everyone was going home and here we were at low level in lousy weather. Knowing then that some potential targets could be found further downriver, we turned and began flying around looking for something worthy of dropping our bombs on. We knew there was a POL site out there but we just didn't know exactly where. After what seemed to be an eternity of zig zagging over the Ca, we heard some Marines that we knew were the flak supression for a strike at the POL site. It seemed they were behind us a few miles so we climbed a bit a began a turn to head back upriver. Lo and behold, we saw something! There were some good sized buildings so it must have been something important. Me and Andy decided to drop on it and as we closed in we could see that it was a power plant. We caught the gunners a bit by surprise but they were quick to react. The fire was so hot that i could only make a reasonable SWAG and let loose. Forget about anything fancy, this was just like Ploesti. The moment that the bombs were released we went into some very abrupt evasive manuvering as well as heading for just over the weeds. From all the glare behind us we knew we hit something since secondaries were going off but that was all we could figure since there was heavy fire coming from virtually everywhere. Somehow, we got going on the wrong heading and went a bit further downriver where there were more guns. Luckily, we were able to find a hill to zoom behind and banked hard towards our intended egress and safety. We held the throttles wide open until we came to the spot on the coast that was where we were to climb back to the west and home. Boy was i shaking and i didn't relax until we were back at 12,000ft and well on the way home. http://combatace.com/gallery/image/19715-img00415/

With WOV Gold you have to rethink just about everything. It's a whole new sim and it can be dangerous as hell if you are in a wrong place, wrong time, wrong airspeed and altitude situation. Ground fire is now a terrifying threat.

Want to take all doubt out of your mind? Use a max range of 400 meters for gun engagements. Get in closer and you will be able to fire short bursts with just about every round hitting the target.

http://combatace.com/gallery/image/19698-n7/ 12APR65 This was a wild one and we were lucky to get out better worse for wear, We were tasked with suppressing triple A for an attack on a VC basecamp. Along for the ride were 2LT Ron Barton, MAJ Kaye Sheffler, and 2LT Paul Baily. Take off and assmble was no big deal, there was a silid overcast with low clouds but nothing at 85,00ft which was our chosen altitude. As we neared the target area Mamba flight(a pair of F-100s out of Da Nang)was already on station and were doing such an outstanding job that i called Control and was cleared out of the area. So se turned northeast towards Quon Long and decided to take a look at what was over the DMZ. It didn't take long to find something. We knew of AA gun emplacement from Intell reports and perhaps a radar somewhere in the vicinity. Well, that's what we found and boy did we get found out as well! As we went in to hit the radar( at a base no less) it seemed like the sky exploded as fire came from seemingly everywhere. Since we last came here the north vietnamese moved in a hoard of guns and now we had a big problem. Hoping to divide their fire and set up for another run i turned towards the coast while Ron went after the radar. Man was the fire intense! How they did not get me is a mystery! As soon as Barton called "bombs away" i called for everyone to form up so we could think things over. As we headed back towards the hills, i figured that as we passed just south of the guns we would turn and come in on them quick. That's what we did and they opened up with a storm of fire. It was so bad that after Ron and i dropped, i ordered everyone to get out of the area and dumped all ordnance so we could fly faster! They got the better of us today, but next time we plan on bringing a few surprises. http://combatace.com/gallery/image/19699-img00407/ http://combatace.com/gallery/image/19700-img00408/ http://combatace.com/gallery/image/19701-img00410/

http://combatace.com/gallery/image/19658-n2/ http://combatace.com/gallery/image/19662-n3/ http://combatace.com/gallery/image/19661-n4/ http://combatace.com/gallery/image/19660-n5/ http://combatace.com/gallery/image/19659-n6/ 3/8APR/65 What an incredible way to begin! Two just great missions, the second of which was something special since the guns in the area where neatly taken out before we came into the area. Not much on detail i admit, but my wingmen seem to be hopeless at A2G and so i'm off to figure out what i can do to get them straight. The first mission involved the wrecking of two enemy bases in RP1 This is one fine aircraft! http://combatace.com/gallery/image/19665-img00399/ http://combatace.com/gallery/image/19664-img00400/ http://combatace.com/gallery/image/19663-img00401/