Lt. James Cater

In Vietnam that was true to a certain exent but, a few pickups had to be aborted due to the proximity of enemy aircraft and in 1970, an HH-53B call sign JOLLY GREEN 71 was shot down by a Mig 21 while trying to get to a WW crew north of the Mu Gia pass with the loss of all crew. The crew of the F-105F, call sign SEABIRD 02, were declared MIA.

Imagine something along the lines of having to reduce the AAA in a certain area under a time limit. Make the flak MASSIVLY dense and it should be be a decent simulation of reality. With Jaegers' mod on the flak settings, things should be very...Fascinating!

Firehawk, all things considered, it's best if those piece of s**t AIM-4s had stayed lost.

Somewhat like that. The Hollywood BAT21 was somewhat of a sham. I have a book in my storage unit that has the real deal concerning that operation as well as other SARs during the period. I just wish i could remember the title. Not only would it be very interesting from our sim perspective, but Linebacker and beyond would be very diffcult to pull off unscathed in certain areas.

I've daydreamed a few times about what an SAR mission would be like in this sim. Historically speaking, a few huge battles developed betwen the USAF and North Vietnamese defenses during SAR operations. The Americans had a pilot down and the NVA knew the area and would reinforce the AAA to disrupt rescue operations. There were some multi day tasks that came about from the above situation.

I've flown a number of aircraft but these are my main rides in WOV and WOE... F-105D Thunderchief F-4D Phantom II F-100D Super Sabre

That was some sexy artwork!

Sorry to say people, but (American) English is my native language. I've been somewhat of an Anglophile since i was a kid so i'm more than familier with a number of the differences between the US and UK uses. As for the Spanish...I've given that much thought. About the only Spanish that Europeans know is basically what is spoken by Spaniards. There's more Latinos in the Western Hemisphere than there are Spaniards and we have WAY more words and dialects. Me being of Cuban ancestery, i'm naturally at home with the Carribean (IE Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Dominican) speech but have lived West Coast enough to have gotten down with the classic Chicano/Mexican ways. I think that it can be sorta fun slangin' away in the UK. On the street, it could come across as something rather different.

I used to live in the NYC metro area for years. I'm familier with those kinds of conditions. As a mater of fact the coldest i've ever been was at FT. Knox when i went through Armor school. Not even when i was homeless was i that cold. Kentucky is WAY worse than the Northeast. The NYC area is also the most expensive place to live in the US. I figure if i was able to survive there, i can make it somewhere else. BTW i used to live in Florida as well. Down in Dade county in places like Perrine, Homestead and Richmond Heights before and during some of the "Cocaine Cowboy" days.

If anything i would like to head over there in about 2-3 years. One thing i've been wanting to do since the early 90s is the pilgramage(sic) to Santiago de Compestela. Fly into Paris, head down to Lyon and connect to Le Puy. From all the research i've done i figure i can make the Way in about 60 days. Ideally, it would be nice to do the Way of ST. James first then head for the UK. After the next month or two i'm going to begin hoarding every bit of cash i can get so to pay for all this. Funny thing about working in England...While doing research on streetlife over there, i uncovered more than few hustles that were right up my alley back in my younger days. I'd read of certain situations and think "You gotta be kidding me, i can handle this so smooth and easy it would be a joke" Too bad my intentions are to be a square john and not to be pulling down scores!

Thanks for the pic Syrinx, if i had a camera i'd give you a view from where i'm at. To the east about 10 ks is the McCullough mountain range. To the west across the desert my view actually straddles the California/Nevada line. Just taking an educated guess those ridgelines over there are about 15ks away at least. From near my front door i can actually see south damn near 15 miles into California while north the view about 14 miles into Nevada south of Las Vegas. Working and living on the Nevada/California line, East side/Mojave Desert.

Wrench, i forgot completly about the Firecan.

How about a Kitchen Steward? I'm highly experienced in that role. Cooks screw up kitchens and rarely know a damn thing about keeping things clean and sanitary. A Steward is in charge of all the Kitchen Utility workers and coordinates with the Exec. Chef on things varying from basic sanitation to banquet setups. Or perhaps i should lie my head off and say i'm a Harvard MBA type?

To actually go to Wales would be incredible. I've been wanting to try the hills there for years. My knees are all shot to hell but i can still hump a ruck when i need to!

Right now i'm a Utility Porter working at a hotel/casino complex in Nevada. Specifically i'm 2IC of the Deep Clean crew and am the lead High Cleaner. Nothing like going into an office or bathroom to clean it from ceiling to grout or spending hours on a hydralic lift at max height squaring away lighting fixtures and vents openings to let you know that life can sometimes be a crap state. Perhaps putting on safety harness while just KNOWING, that you'll probally suffer multiple injuries when what you are dusting gives way and down you go to confirm that you can't love life TOO much if you want to get the job done. I've been researching a lot about street life over in the UK. Basically i've been a street guy all my life and have (too many) years of living amongst and associating with various Crips, Bloods, and 18th Street bangers as well as other gang types. If i went North i'd do the same as i have for a few decades....Mind my own business and hope the other guy does the same. I've never been hit, but i've been under fire on multiple occasions. The one thing that does make me a bit nervous is the prevelance of knives over there. Where i recently lived, pulling a knife would probaly get you...1-Laughed at...2-Shot.

Thanks for the info. I've had times when i flew through flak so thick i was amazed that i wasn't hit. Glad to see some things changing. North Vietnamese AAA was legendary for it's intensity. Glad to see someone helping make it so in this sim.

Hey Jaeger, i've got to do that mod when i get my comp fixed. Things should really be different now that the high altitude AAA is better. Two great books i highly recommend is "When Thunder Rolled" and "Palace Cobra" by Ed Rasmius. He flew Thuds during the period of their highest losses and later flew an F-4E in a Wild Weasel Hunter Killer flight. Awesome reads!

I'm posting this before going online and doing a thorough research of the SA-10. Observation...The SA10 setup will guide a SAM down at you. Conclusion...The missle itself depends on it's controller at the site. Action... Put terrain between your aircraft and the radar or kill the controller. This system seems to to be a challenge. Something i just though about a while ago is what effect does ECM have on this SAM,.

A couple of things i wonder about is...What was the terrain like when you got the launch warning and could you determine more or less what was the terrain where the SAM launched from? My line of thought is towards using the topography to lessen the threat.

I once posted a pic of the place but i can't find it now. Anyways, it's down the coast from Vihn about 40-45 miles IIRC. You'll find a tree covered terrain feature that has an arrowhead shape. The immediate area north of it has some AAA that is very agressive. When fragged for missions anywhere in the area i would make sure to have a spare bomb or two(preferably CBUs) to drop on them.

In the history of warfare there hasn't been a defensive system that was unable to be overcome. The factors to take into account are time and cost. How soon can you develop countermeasures and countertactics and what price you are willing to accept in terms of casualties to achieve your objective? Depending on what terrain we are talking about where the SA10 is located has to be taken into account. WOV had places in Pack 5 and 6 where you could go to avoid SAMs. That a few also had AAA there had to be taken in stride as part of the hazards of the trade. WOE has numerous locations that can be used for cover and better yet, no AAA anywhere in the area. I haven't gotten WOI yet so i can't comment there. A SAM that will engage me at 40 NM, to tell you the truth, is rather comforting. It gives you a most precious thing in battle, Time. Whatever SAM is used it's always best to deal with it from as far away as possible. My greatest fear is of a system optimized to engage targets from 10 miles in. A missle for that job will have to be one able to accelerate to high speed quickly and thus would cut down on the time available for the target to make adjustments. That really keeps me up at nights. My key question concerning deployment of the SA-10 will be it's density in the enemy defense. If faced with a setup such as the SAMs around Hanoi one would really have a big problem trying to find ways to penetrate enemy airspace.

Oh wow Jaeger! In one of my past threads i mentioned going down to strafe and getting shot down. I was in a VF-111 Crusader at the time! I got nailed south of Vihn at a place i call the "Arrowhead" THE nastiest low level flak south of Nam Dinh can be found here (at least to my experience).

A tactic i would try is to go 180 to the SAMs approach and head down while pumping chaff. The chaff should provide a curtain that will hide your aircraft from the missle. The only X i can see is the range/altitude/distance factor that has to be considered for proper timing.

Personal rule #1 concerning enemy SAM sites. Always assume they will be where your easiest approach to the target will be. Personal rule #2- Always expect multiple Sam sites in every area. Personal rule #3-Expect SAM from the second you are in enemy territory to the time you are back over the fence.

Low and slow over either city=Dead