Lt. James Cater

A great way to know if you're going supersonic without looking at the gauges!

What i find strange is that multiple SAM launches have had zero effect on FPS in either of the two comps i've used. CBUs or lots of bombs strikes will slow me down to a crawl though.

As a Cannibal Corpse fan, i'm tickled by that!

Listen to the sounds your comp makes as well. I picked up my Dell 4400 second hand and in retrospect, should have realized the hard drive was suspect from the start. The sounds coming from the comp were that of a dying HD but i wasn't sure just how bad it was seeing as i never knew what dying HDs sounded like. After a whole lot of miserable experences the thing finally gave the blue screen death notice and that was that. Once the HD was replaced and XP reinstalled, the Dell has been running as smooth as can be.

That's damn funny!

First (and only) WOV MIG kill while flying a Thud!

I know i have a pic of a WOE Thud going faster but this one is more reasonable. Note the speed with a standard bomb load. Even with all that the speed is pretty impressive. Once rid of the weight there was no combat aircraft on earth that was going to catch a Thud on the deck.

We all have to die someday. However, having a Flight in which everyone is a double digit ace makes for a longer time before the fall.

I wouldn't exactly know about going to 125, but i noticed that guys in my squadrons that got to 90+ in experience were quite formidable if they also had skills nearly as high.

WOW! That's a hell of a lotta downloads for a non-commercial gamers site! :yes:

F-1 all the way!

I was working on a lengthy post when my comp had a problem so i'll add more detail later. For me it is ODS flying the RF4C. Hands down the most consistently white knuckle experience i've ever had in either WOV or WOE. Recently had 22 SAMs fired at me within 25 miles of the target. This campaign is a major challenge.

"Alone, Unarmed and Unafraid" gets a bit changed over Iraq. More like "I'm all by my damn self and am sorta nervous whenever i get anywhere near enemy Fighters and SAM range". Timing is everything flying Recce birds. Be either too early or too late on your route and you'll really have a pulse racing experience. Even if things are going right it can be hairy. Going up to K2 i had a pair of Mig-21s track me for 68 miles. All the way to the IP i was hearing the RHAW beeping and it only stopped when i went down for the photo run. They couldn't keep up as i went seriously supersonic so went after someone else. If the Iraqis flew in real life like they do in the sim, it would have been a totally different war. That K2 mission was a bloody massacre. F-111s, F-15s, F-18s and whatever else going down in numbers and here i am venturing out into this without even a slingshot. Wouldn't give up flying these missions for a million bucks

As a devotee of the toughest aircraft Republic ever made, i will confirm that!

Oh Hell Yeah!!!!!

Boy you sure picked a couple of winners! Black Eyed Peas i actually respected years ago. Seriously though, i can find certain vids on Youtube where guys are pulling off stuff instrumentally that is technically demanding above and beyond the realms of "regular" music and physically difficult enough that only a few can pull it off. Yet it is still labeled as noise by the "masses".

Unfortunatly, not all unbelivable moments are so welcome. One i remember in particular was in WOV. A SAM i didn't spot the launch of came right at me from dead ahead and passed by so close i swear i thought it went right over the wing of my Thud! While i was chuckling and gloating at the miss the SAM proceeded to blow away my wingman who was about a mile behind and above me.

Close, but no cigar! Setting Out. The Last Moment Of Peace.

Alone, Unarmed & Unafraid.

One thing i always wanted to do in WOV/WOE was fly Recce birds. To go into seriously hairy places relying on nothing more than speed, ECM, and guile takes some doing. While first checking out ODS i noticed that there was a RF4-C unit included. Well, it's the Nevada ANG and i've spent years in Vegas and lived close enough to Nellis to have seen the planes of the 192nd TRS on many occasions. So i decided to give it a go. Talk about a diffferent kind of intensity! The tactics i've used so far is a variation of how i flew the F-111. After take off i climb way up to take advantage of high altitude performance. Nearing the IP, a dive down to the deck is done and the target is overflown with full burners hit at 10 miles out and continuing (usually) for at least another 10 miles before a climb back to altitude to get out of the area with a minimum of hassle. So far my nemesis is the Mig21/Magic-550 combo. I got shot down the first time after hitting K-2 when i thought i was in the clear and home free. Luckily i was picked up and got off with nothing worse than a Purple Heart. The second time i knew my approach was somewhat of an error but i never thought i could get zapped by an A2A missle at the speed and height i was flying. That ended the campaign (MIA) but now i'm hooked! Time to really get serious about this!

Thanks all for the replies. Regarding my two shootdowns, in my opinion the MIG got lucky on the second one. I had them converting onto me as i was in a dive but knew they didn't have the angle so i kept going as the MIGs turned onto my six.. Once i was down in the sand i figured that all things considered, the RF4 would make a very difficult target. At 10 miles from the target, full burners and down to about 150 AGL and imagine my surprise to get blown up about a mile short of the target. Didn't think the Magic-550 had that kind of envelope! The first time was similar to Echarlies' but i was back at altitude going full bore for home and thought i had the Mig outrunned. As it turned out, with a pair of 21s firing they got me with the last 550 they had.

I have a question for the community... Would staying at altitude instead of doing a low level run be legit? I wonder because when i got shot down the first time, i figured it would have been safer had i stayed high instead of doing the usual. Opinions anyone?

I've never used this weapon but trust me, historically speaking, your life expectancy is short using a Bullpup anywhere near serious defenses.

Thanks for the info. I'm pretty familiar with Cold War recce flights but this is a new one to me. As the years go by things get declassified and we get more insight into the times and ops.

This was one i had in mind but i forgot the ttile and author. It's for the Spad drivers out there. It's "My Secret War" by Richard Drury and it has everything you want to know about Skyraider missions over the Ho Chi Minh trail.