Lt. James Cater

30OCT62 Made a successful intercept of some YAK-28s but stayed a little too long in the area. Met up with some enemy fighters and lost four planes, two of them in the landing pattern after we made a run for it. The damn Yankee missles are killing us as sure as the Red guns. Within another week, we shall be wiped out.

29OCT62 Now this is more like it! Took two flights on a sweep. Gathered everyone at 20,000ft and then headed out while climbing to 30,000ft. On the radio, we could hear all kinds of action going on all across our sector of the front. Very little of it was good news as the Reds seem to have the upper hand today. About 10 miles short of Holzdorf, we got into a fight with a pair of MIG-19s. My wingman and i went after the leader and it quickly became apparent that this Russian was more than averagely skilled. He got two of our guys despite all our efforts to get him. I myself had the most difficulty in keeping him in my sights but finally was able to have him in the right spot and shot him down with the guns. His wingman was as agressive but not as skilled. Nonetheless, he almost got me from head on during my initial pass. It took a bit of doing but i got in behind him and waited until he came across the nose of my plane and i had him also. After collecting everyone and heading back to a decent altitude we got a call from ground control as to bearing to some enemy not too far away. From the response to questions posed to Control, it was obvious that the enemy were landing at a nearby base. So off we went, down from our lofty perch to hunt for the Reds. It turned out to be a pair of MIG-21s and i took full advantage. I had a missle left and went almost down to the trees to get in perfect position for a launch. At a mile and a half i heard the lock indicator and i let fly. The MIG flew on just like on a target range and i got him! My first success with a missle! His parachute was visible as he ejected and i stared for a second or two before switching attentions to the second '21. I pulled away hard to avoid an overrun and waited to see his reaction. It was just what i thought. Too low on fuel to do anything but try to land as quickly as possible. So i helped him get to earth a little sooner. Back on the throttle and came in to near point blank range from his dead 6 and fired a short burst. Very nice to have made Ace and celebrating with champagne, but my wingman, 1LT Daniel Gautheir and #4 of the second flight 2LT Leo De La Chapelle are missing in action. I hope they made out ok and are on their way back to us soon.

28OCT62 Once again we suffer casualties and have little to show for it. If it was not for some Amis in F-100s and F-101s becoming involved we would have failed miserably. It's a good thing that we chose to intercept them early and so engaged them 30 miles east of their target. Unfortunatly, some Mig19s were run into short of the interception point and chased after us. In a furball at low level, they are especially deadly and got one of our fellows. As for me, i cannot believe that i did not down an IL-28 despite numerous attacks and visible hits on two different targets. Things just weren't quite right today. Thank God that we didn't lose anyone today. For some ominous reason, this is reminding me of May 1940. If this continues, we shall have no aircraft to fly!

So far we've been doing with the AIM9 as no other missile has been supplied to us yet. The rocket/tank pod should come in handy provided the Beagles aren't too far away from our base. The funny thing is seeing successes with the Sidewinder vs Migs, but only a single kill of a bomber.

So i got going in my new campaign... The pilot is David DePaul. Flying a Mirage IIIc with the EC 1/13 "Artois" Squadron of the Armee de l'Air of France. I will make this brief since i am about to go on another mission. So far things seem to be alright as far as the aircraft goes. It flys great and is extremely fast compared to some of the other aircraft availabe. So far the only drawback is the incredibly unreliable AIM-9Bs and the limited 30mm ammo. Both victories so far (Beagles) have been achieved by guns. My wingman are a mixed lot as their gunnery during intercepts is quite poor and so they are falling victim to the gunners. On every intercept now i wonder how many will go down. A2A we got 4 MIG-17s on our first mission. I just hope we ca avoid the 19s for a while until we get more experience. Action began on 26OCT1962 and we are baseed at Neuburg, West Germany.

Took this advice on a whim and did two missions. So far it's been good as far as fighter vs fighter, our losses (4 Mirages) have been to Iron Beagle tail gunners. Will do AARs when i get home from work in the morning.

Fighter ops are such a drag sometimes with CAP and Sweeps. It's almost impossible to know what are the priority targets at the moment and you just can't ingore other enemy planes just to wait around to see if something "special" will show up. In the past, i've changed Recce to a decent percentage and used them as fighter sweeps. At least then you can plan a route and roam around looking for action. I've done a mission flying an F-111 during Linebacker II but it was just a bit too blase and going low made my computer chug unacceptably. Guess i'll go back and fly SPADS again, i wanted to fly a Thud in Rolling Thunder badly but the spike situation would make it impossible to take wingmen along with you.

Something i thought of a lot when doing my recent DiD campaign. We all like being in planes that can give out punishment. How about a plane that could take it? In the A-1 you are certainly going to have a good chance to be able to keep in the fight and live to brag at the O club later. The amount of damage that plane can absorb is jaw dropping to say the least. I know of about four ocasions when i thought i was a goner but made it home despite the aircraft being absolutly shot to pieces. IIRC, the record for surviving hits was 23 14.5mm hits. Engine hit and smoking, cockpit area hit on both sides, aileron shot away, flap gone, rudder blown off and yet still made it home. All that was on a single pass over a target area. Missions when i didn't take damage were the unusual ones. I haven't used the A-10 enough to compare but the ground fire in WOE is laughable compared to the almighty frightenly intense flak storms that the WOV GOLD mod conjures up. We all have seen planes the were shot up but still flying, but what plane have we flown enough to give an honest opinion on? A-1H Skyraider>Everything else in the sim.

I remember watching a flight of A-10s get shot down one after another when they flew by a fuel depot and then just after flew right over an air base. Sorta reminded me of the Canberra death rides i saw so many times in WOV.

26OCT62 1st mission wasn't bad even if we didn't accomplish our primary goal. The distance we had to fly was ridiculous and the timings were a given were a joke. Nonetheless we took off and did battle. The only problem i see is that the pilots in this squadron don't seem very agressive. To compensate, i'm putting the shooters in first two flights. Anyways, it was a wild fight and we got three Mig 17s and a Mig 19. I got the 19 with a burst from about 800 meters out. He made the mistake of trying to run for it and stayed wings level just a bit two long. The 17 was defensive as two of us had him. I got him with a deflection shot when he was forced to become predicable for a few seconds. All to soon the calls of "bingo" came about and we had to race away with some Migs chasing us. Luckily everyone got away. Edit-Flew a second mission but didn't feel the Buzz i need. Also, the AI of the Squadron is so pitiful that it's virtually suicide to take them out with me in F-100s. Campaign abandoned.

Here's my new pilot... Jean Lefevre Campaign-WOE Red Thunder Unit-EC 2/3 Champagne, Armee de l'Air Start Date-26OCT62 Aircraft-North American F-100D Super Sabre

What i should have done was stay up and and pickled the Rockeyes as i overflew the gun. Judging from the explosion, a shell must have hit the ordnance i was carrying. Oh well..... Learned a lot about going low and slow in horrible weather conditions in terrain that would be considered impossible to fly a plane around. Also survived in a putt putt antique in places that would have destroyed any jet you could name. Anone who wants a long life should fly a SPAD. For my next attempt i will be revisiting an old campaign of mine in WOE. I had a French F-100 pilot who racked up 59 kills before going down. I'm going to see if i can beat his record.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

14May72 Mission #45 I was killed today. Should have been a routine mission but i got disgusted at the meager targets around and so went hunting for a bit more before going home. The endpoint came when i knocked out a 57mm gun that had shot down my wingman and tore up my #4 at a scarcely defended base. I went in and got the 57mm in two passes. Swinging around after that kill i thought i'd drop some Rockeyes on a 23mm emplacement and head on home.

13May72 I feel sick. Decided to take two flights on a Recce In Force. When near the target area i spotted some trucks and ordered everyone to attack and went in myself. By the time i realized what was happening, five of my men had crashed to their deaths. 3 and 4 of my flight and 1,3 and 4 of the second. With recent casualties, this spells the end of any missions in numbers greater than a flight until some replacements show up.

11MAY72 Had one hell of a fight on this mission. Seeing that Chan Hoa was up for us i decided to continue stepping on target areas so we went out 3 flights strong again. That something was unusual was apparent by the lack of ground fire to those that ventured into the target area ahead of us. Gopher flight (a pair of F-4s) didn't even find anything to attack. Neither did a pair of Marine A-4s which flew somewhere else to find targets. As we closed in, prople began spiking and it was quite a task to hold them until the proper moment. About 7 miles out i let everyone loose and the fight was on. I angled us slightly between Chan Hoa and the airfield at Dong Hoi and it was a good thing as lots of triple A opened us on us. I myself, had it tough in the initial moments with fire that was close and relentless. I know that there were Firecans in the area and it was showing. LT Atterbery made a determined run and dropped EVERYTHING. Can you imagine what 4 MK117s and 10 Rockeyes look like when they go off right after each other? That was my cue and so i manages to avaoid the fire just long enough to make a run at the base. My bombs added nicely to the conflagration and now it was open hunting for me also. We went on a tear but the enemy wasn't exactly asleep. As i started my run, MAJ Jasperson was hit and went down. So the battle went on. I found myself attacking targets at Quang Khe. As much as i hate dueling with guns, there were some juicy targets in the area and so the guns had to be suppressed. The cost was steep, LT Atterbery was shot down near the river mouth. I found myself stalking and taking out the guns that got Atterbery. It took multiple passes but they were wiped out by us. In between, i hit one of the river ladings with a pair of Rockeyes and caused witnessed multiple secondaries from trucks that were waiting to cross the river. By the time the last guns on the river were destroyed i figured that enough was enough and gathered everyone together for the flight home. The attacks stretched from Dong Hoi to the Arrowhead. Enemy fire was intense to say the least but we overcame the defense. Maj Francis Jasperson has been declared MIA since no one saw what became of him after he was hit. 2LT Karl Atterberry bailed out but was taken POW. I really thought he could have made a run for it but he must have been injured. If Jasperson made it out his aircraft in one piece, he stands a good chance since the hills weren't too far away from where he went down. I intend to put up LT Atterberry for some high decoration since his initial attack destroyed no fewer than 18! vehicles, including 3 SAM transporters and a BDRM. Damn, i really regret their loss.

USA 5-3 over Canada in hockey? Wow, gave me the same shock as seeing the result of the US dispatching Spain in the Confederations Cup.

14APR72 Had a Recce mison and so decided to take a long a few friends. 3 flights worth of em to be exact. As far as i'm concerned, everyone's along for the ride just in case the enemy fires upon my number two and me. Then we can do the natural thing and protect ourselves. Instead of going right at them, i figured that there just might be some defenses that we don't know about somewhere over the Ho Chi Mihn trail. The usual long flight to the Ubon area was called for and it was hoped that the somewhat cloudy condition would cover us from any guns we would overfly on the flight over Laos. The only thing of note on the ingress was a warning from Red Crown. Gopher flight, a pair of F-4s on patrol intercepted the bogey and it turned out to be a lousy AN-2. What a laugh! Gopher two got it and i bet it went over in their O'club after they landed. Still, a kill is a kill. Well, we came in on Khe Phat and from 10 miles out, i led everyone down through the clouds and sure enough we drew fire as we closed in. The rest was a foregone conclusion. My term for these missions is "Stepping" because that's what we do to an area, we STEP on it. Khe Phat was utterly denuded of defenses after we were done. We could have done more but the boys were getting too agressive and were out to hit places were we are going to take care of in the future.

I've been meaning to do this for some time but have now only gotten around to it. Knowing what an aircraft can and (sometimes more importantly) can't do is crucial to getting the most out one. Since this kind of discussion is pretty rare here i figured i might get the ball rolling. I'll list only those that i have flown in combat enough to be able to really know the plane. F-105D Thunderchief-Pros-Incredible low level speed, heavy bomb capacity, cockpit instruments well laid out, superior dive bomber. Cons- High wing loading, limited radar functions, handles poorly at altitude. This is the plane i've got the most time in. Say what you will, but as far as getting the bombs on the target and getting out alive, the Thud is hard to beat. It handles like a dog at altitudes above 20,000 ft, but it's in it's element down below. While capable of speed with a standard loadout, once rid of the bomb load it's virtually impossible to catch while in full burner at lower than 500ft. Not really meant to be used in any capacity other than as a strike aircraft. Using it as an Interceptor or CAP is pretty much futile due to both a rather simple radar setup and poor turning ability. F-100D Super Sabre-Pros-Good cockpit visibility, superior gunsight, plentiful cannon ammo,decent fighter-bomber.Cons-Ocasional vicious handling drawbacks, no radar, poor acceleration. The first production fighter capable of level supersonic speed. The Hun is somewhat of an enigma. Weather it performs very well, or very bad depends much on how one approaches aerial combat in this machine. Anyone attempting "Fangs out,Hair on fire" dogfighting is in for disaster as the F-100 will promptly become more of a danger to it's pilot than to the enemy. Yet, it can rack up if one is thinking ahead of the aircraft. The Hun can reward cerebral pilots in a big way. The gunsight gives you a very clear target picture while 1000 20mm rounds carried does lessen the worry of quickly running out of ammo that most other fighters give a pilot. 4 AIM9s are also a nice touch. In a pinch, it can also carry an acceptable load of A/G ordnance. F-8E Crusader-Pros-Good handling, very good gun/missle arrangement, very manuverable at altitude, Cons-Poor cockpit instrument layout, limited A/G loadouts compared to other fighters in the game. The "last of the gunfighters" historically scored more missle than 20mm kills. Similar in performance to the MIG21, the Crusader does best at higher altitudes. A really good close in dogfighter to fly. The F-8 can arguably be considered a superior "pure" fighter than the Phantom. However, "pure" fighters are a rarity in these sims. F-4 Phantom C,D,F-Pros-Good all around performance, jack of all trades versatility, superior radar fire control, powerful engines. Cons-Inferior turning ability compared to it's opponents,poor cockpit visibility, no gun in earlier models, no AIM7s in F model as well as limited gun ammo. I do find it hard to fault the F-4 as far as overall performance. It can pretty much do damn near everything. If you want to survive combat the F-4 is a plane to strap into. The J-79s takes some credit. A whole lot of air to air survival is due to the sheer power of these engines. In an aircraft of this size and weight, it takes a lot of energy to get the advantage and General Electric produced a winner. The radar+Sparrows combo is tops, in the right envelope it can be decisive. This is all for the moment. I'll add a couple of more next time.

Just thought i'd update this a bit since WOV GOLD brought in a few more aircraft to general use. A-1H Skyraider...Pros-Tremendous load hauling capability, very rugged, unmatchable fuel endurance. Cons-Slow, effectively obsolete, vunerable in high threat areas Unmatchable ground attack/CAS aircraft. Nothing in the WO* series can do it like the SPAD, especially in poor weather/ difficult terrain situations. Capable of hauling virtually anything and everything it makes for a deadly attack plane. Being piston engined it is rather slow and so pilots are at risk in areas of heavy AA. Thankfully, it can absorb damage that would drop any jet out of the sky.

Husker Du-The Living End

The great things about the SPAD will become apparent the first time you have to do a CAS or Armed Recce mission in truly lousy weather. Sometimes slow and low is the best!

The beginning of the end for the Luftwaffe in the West.

Damn, one Gold in 30 years?!?! I could have sworn the UK had came out on top in something over the years at the Winter Olympics. I always figured that the Brecon Beacons would make a pretty good spot for working out snowboarding and if anything, you could have some quality hockey players if you encourage those hardcase nutters from Glasgow to have a go at it. Think of it as football on ice!

Corpsevomit-Raping The Ears Of Those Above.