Lt. James Cater

Yikes! It's 5 o'clock Charlie!

I've mentioned it before in another thread but i highly suggest "Termite Hill", 'Lucky's Bridge" and "Tango Uniform" by Tom Wilson. These are a trilogy and i suggest them strongly to anyone that even has the slightest interest in F-105 operations in Vietnam.

Should've punched out and not let the enemy recover a whole aircraft.

I've always considered the 21 and 19 more of a threat than the 17. I've been shot down by all three so i sorta felt impartial when comparing them. Fishbeds are a danger if you are in a situation where you are going to be relativly straight and level for a while. I once was shot down about 2 seconds after i got a kill with an AIM-7. I was moving at high speed but the Sparrow shot made me a predictable target. Mig-19s on the other hand are the ultimate gunfighters. I remember once in WOE when one past by on a near reciprocal course as my wingman and i were heading back to base. Damned if that thing didn't convert onto us in a heartbeart and close to firing range quick! If we didn't head for the deck that MIG driver would have had two kills for certain!

The second time in a row this happened i was so ticked i almost put the keyboard through the monitor. I've recently gotten started on a tour doing Recce missions when the following happens...I'm flying home after doing a hell of a mission and am F6ing through various other flights to check out thier planes when the game suddenly crashes. Oh the agony!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All that work gone to hell! Anybody else have that happen? Does anyone else know why? It's to the point of my wanting to avoid looking at anything other than my own plane and hitting ESC instead of flying back to base just in case in is going to happen again.

Stayed with my aircraft and had a successful mission. Funny how it never happened when i was flying an F-111! Anyways, i never ventured beyond F-6ing my plane and all went well. Crazy as hell mission but that's another thread!

I figured it had something to do with having a less than powerful( Read: a couple of years old budget brand) computer and so will just stay in the cockpit from now on if a whole bunch of planes are in the air. How i love those Recce missions!

I have things lowered down way further than i ever did before. The funny thing is how it crashes deep into the egress period. Conclusion? On the way home do not look at any other aircraft.

I'm also willing to give up my very worn but still capable stick.

"Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed The Art Of War" by Roger Coram is a must. Amazing what Boyd did with an F-100. All of us at this site use what he formulated everytime we dogfight. "Black Aces High" by Robert Wilcox is the best book on actual F-14 combat operrations. The opening chapter has a Tomcat outflying a West German flown Mig29 in a training scenario. "Scream Of Eagles", also by Wilcox is THE best book concerning US Navy tactical changes that led to the permanant retention of TOP GUN.

Since you have one book by Rasmius i would suggest a second (if you don't have it already) "When Thunder Rolled" "Thud Ridge" by Jack Broughton is a classic as is "100 Missions North" by Ken Bell. Away from Vietnam, "Angles Of Attack" by Peter Hunt is a good one about flying an A6 during ODS. "Ironclaw" by Sherman Baldwin is a bit different, being the experiences of a Prowler pilot in ODS. I'll check some more in my book collection and add more titles later.

It looks like i'm i'm done at my current job. Seeing as i'm single with no dependants i can be quite mobile. The way things have been lately it seems to be a big bonus. Anyways, i've been knowing about the work situation in Fargo for the last some years after reading an article in the Wall Street Journal and talking to some folks from the region. Seeing the city in the news a few weeks ago and talking to an ex ND co-worker gave me basic heads up info for a possible contingency plan but i need to know a little more (I'll also be searching the net like mad). What do you think are the hot jobs and what are the demands/requirements? What about semi skilled employment? Is there work for experienced non-cook kitchen(restarant)workers? What is the basic cost of living? Is it easy to find a place to live.. IE apartments/boarding house/rooms for rent? Is there a particular ID or permit/card i would need to work in ND? Like i said above, i'll be doing a lot of searching on my own but would really apreciate any info someone can give me. Thanks all.

Anyone having worked the the Hotel/Casinos of Las Vegas/Clark county, Nevada can tell you any number of stories of the variety of cards you needed to be able to work. For example.. for years in order to work in a Kitchen i had to have a Health Card and a Sheriffs Card as well as a legal ID and SS card or no joy. If i was serving alcohol yet another card was required. It would help to know stuff like that before i decide to head up there.

Provided i still have a job after this weekend i should be ordering YAP2 in exactly 3 weeks at the latest.

Even if you did get it wrong, the results still look pretty cool!

You know how we all talk about getting low to avoid the worst? This is the result of having to listen to a seemingly endless series of SAM warnings, pilots reporting damage, planes going down, an insane number of FOX calls, and a near heartstopping encounter with a Mig-25 pilot who was quite intent on making me the reason for his promotion. All this on the first sortie! PS-Put all ordnance dead center on the target.

This is a laugh to close this thread. (if a Mod wants to) I just started a new campaign and the first mission went fine. In the second i was just settling in at about 900ft a few seconds from weapons release when i heard an unusal"bang" and the cockpit was lit up brightly from behind. FIRE!!!!!!!!!!! TIME TO GET OUT!!!!!!!!!! So i punched out and that ends another campaign. Turns out i got shot down by a 14.5 mm gun.

I managed to get a lot of experience dealing with SAMs at low level flying an RF4C while i was working on making a WOE SAM map. While attacking the K2 base, i came from over the mountain and set up for my usual approach. With about 10 seconds to drop i was being tracked and it continued as i made my turn to go back over the mountain and go home. The big mistake is one of my top 10 classics. I actually did everything possible to give the operator a viable target! You see, i was running a bit late and two other strikes got in before me, bombed, and began egressing the area. My descent to attack altitude actually overflew the outgoing strike by about 500 ft on a reciprocal heading. SAM was up and firing by that time since 2 SAM calls had already happened and so i actually was flying right into the sights of the SAM operator. The killer errors came as i was turning to get away. My route was the same as i came in, a 180 turn and back over the mountain. I was doing everything possible to make myself a target. As i was in the turn and climbing slightly the first SAM came. It was close but i avoided it. Then back towards the route and that was yet another error. Manuvering to avoid the SAM bled off speed and so now i am beginning to climb insufficiently for the situation. SAM#2 is launched and that's it. Out of energy and out of luck. I did what i could but i knew i was a goner.

Sometimes you have to get low. Just got shot down and taken prisoner a while ago while trying to egress after hitting the runway at K-2. Made a really bad choice. Instead of heading north while in the weeds, i tried to make it over the mountain as fast as i can. Evaded one SAM, the second got me.

I was surprised when i got the award. I figured that losing a wingman would be a big strike against it.

I've tried using the terrian aviodance radar but it felt sorta weird. I never had a problem with it in WOV but i can't seem get the same vibe in ODS. For ease of flight on the deck, the F-16 is a dream to fly. Now that is one plane i'll take zipping through the trees with no problem!

Lucky you. I had a nightmare of a mission when doing some armed recce an obscene distance from base and in weather that was positively horrible for this kind of mission. After a terrible start, things got sorted and an Iraqi convoy was blown to bits. Was awarded the Silver Star for my efforts. Bad news was that my wingman, who i sent home after he was winchester, was shot down by a Mig.

Being low is one thing. Being low and flying by stick and rudder is another. I've yet to mod my F-111 with a HUD setup and so i have to do by sight and feel. Zooming down low over the desert is a pain due to the sheer monotony of the terrain. It's damn hard to make out some elevation changes and in certain areas going higher than 400 ft is not healthy. Sooner or later you have to climb and that's when the chop will come in time. In the first 10 missions of ODS i was hit twice by ground fire over the target. The first time was seconds before weapons release and the second time was during the the turn to begin egress. I've also lost two wingman to fighters. Want the true high speed weed machine? The F-105 Thundercheif. Fastest low level aircraft of it's day. Able to go supersonic right off the treetops and rock steady as well. Virtually uncatchable once it was rid of it's bombload. If you wanted to get the hell out of Dodge as quickly as possible, it was unmatched.

Psychedelic Aardvark!

Thank you for the solution to one of the biggest hassles i've ever had to deal concerning computers!