Lt. James Cater

Fubars' video is more in line with my experience. I've seen dozens of aircraft get shot down by ground fire. Jaeger, light a candle cause you were blessed with that Phantom. I've been moving faster and higher and still got hit bad enough to either get downed ( Thud, Crusader, Phantom, Hun) or shot up bad enough that i had to head for a safe place to punch out. I have screenshots of planes of mine looking like flying scrap heaps after Triple A got em'

That's the greatest screenshot i've ever seen!!!! I'm sold now. Next month i'm picking up this sim.

And getting people in and out of high threat areas with minimal casualties is mine. I don't know what everyone's getting so worked up about. It all comes down to the ancient concept of Measure/Counter-measure. Look at the the vid once again. the SAMs are firing on what is basically a target range setup. It's a damn impressive system but it can be overcome like every other form of defense.

Jaeger, what settings did you have WOV on? Because i've been shot down by low level AAA and have been shot up on numerous other occasions. At certain speeds and altitudes over certain areas you stand a very high chance of getting zapped. 100mm might be nothing much but down below the 14.5mm and 23mm guns will carve you up if you screw up. Before i forget, the ZSU23/4 (Shilka) is in WOV. I've nailed more than a few of them, one with a Shrike that was intended for a Fansong.

Thanks, i just have to check this out!

In Vietnam it is either sunny, hot, and humid as hell or raining enough to float Noahs' ark with clouds over everything. Look up the monsoon seasons and you'll be good to go.

I've been thinking about working out a chart factoring range/altitude/speed/heading/time. It'll be a big help when the "SAM launch" goes over the air and you know you are the target. Once i get my comp back in action i'll go right to work on it. PS- my wingmen and i have been nailed by SA2s as far as 20 miles. We just happened to be in their envelope for too long and were made statistics.

Ok, my general view is that pretty much anyplace north from Thanh Hoa is a danger zone for anyone flying but there are a few spots where the flak is sorta rare. That being said, once you wander away from those spots it's potentially your life at any given moment if you are flying stupidly. Ground Zero is Hanoi without a doubt. There is probaly more AAA in and around that city than in all of the map in WOE. To say that flying missions to that place is hairy is a massive understatement. Haiphong is the next best place to experience high pucker factor. But not to worry, there's more. Thai Ngyuen, Yen Bai, Viet Tri, Phu Tho. The last three can flown over with only minor course corections so you can experience prolonged exposure to flak. Oh yeah, i almost forgot the 100mm shooting gallery NE of Than Hoa. it'll help you empathize with those B-17 guys over Germany in WW2. That one lasts until until Nam Dihn is past your 3-9 line. Since i'm on about 100mms let me tell you of another good route. Head on up and turn hard right so you approach Hanoi from due west. In the distance you'll see an airfield that you're going to fly over. About 5 miles before that base is a hill i call "SAM KNOLL". From then on you are a clay pigeon in a shooting gallery. Expect nonstop flak all the way to Hanoi and back. BTW, you are also going to experience the joys of flying directly over a SAM site. Airfields and SAM sites are chock full of AAA. Since one is almost always near the other means that you can have twice the flak fun since the lead being thrown at you has increased in density. Hanoi once again provides what has to be a unique setting. Not only does the city itself has damn near as many guns as buildings, but it's ringed by 3 airfields and 3 SAM sites. Just to add a bit more there's two other SAM sites in the neighborhood to give some support. I hope you find your flak soon. Me? I've enough to last me. That distinctive hard PING of a hit on my aircraft then looking down in the cockpit to see the instruments telling me that my bird is dying is something i truly want to avoid.

Take it from a guy whos been shot up on more than few occasions while down low. It's not infantry, it's triple A. If while heading back to base at altitude and in a safe situation, use the view buttons to see a truly scary sight. The absolutly mind bending amount of AAA that is in and around certain areas. I've gotten screenshots where i thought only a single gun was firing at me and later realized that up to twenty-thirty 14.5mm, 23mm, and 57mm guns were trying to get me.

Try this...... www.enemyforces.net/tanks/t64.htm That might clear things up a bit. A few things to note. The early model was given the rather frightful nickname of "The steel grave" by it's crews and the main gun, while powerful was also inaccurate at range.

You can go that route too. But your long term survival is in doubt. The Thanh Hoa SAM and the site SE of Yen Bai are the only two sites which you can get in a one on one situation with. Even then, that is only from a certain direction and at a certain range. Come in wrong and you will have multiple SAMs inbound. "Kill em all" is a great mindset but also a suicidal one. Take Hanoi for example. How are you going to kill all the SAM sites with a max of 4 ARMs? It's not going to happen. Even the least defended approach to the city has multiple threats to deal with. You could order your wingmen to deal with the objective while you go around blasting the enemy but that will only really work south of Vihn. Any attempt to do that up in Pack 6 will lead to unacceptable casualties.

Lots better Flogger, that way you have the altitude and speed to be able deal with an unexpected SAM or MIG. I usually cruise at 400-450kts at about 18,000ft and the closer to the target area, the more i increase throttle. Full military power is the norm from about 10 miles out with 100% burner on the egress. When using ARMs i like to get up to about 20-25000 and make myself a nice target to the SAM operators. You WANT them to fire at your aircraft. It's really the best when you can entice them at the SA-2s near max range. That way you know EXACTLY where their at and the fact that they are active and locked onto you. If you are carrying a Standard... After you avoid the missle, pull out from the SAM's range, climb to altitude, line up and shoot.

Wittmann at Villiers-Bocage is the most famous Tiger action but not the only incredible one. On the Eastern Front Von Strachwitz infiltrated enemy lines with 4 Tigers and destroyed 120 Soviet tanks in an hour. The first Tiger Knights Cross winner was Franz Staudegger, who's Tiger engaged 59 T-34s singlehandledly and destroyed 22 of them. In another war, Zvi "Zvika" Greengold was a marvel. Despite being burned and wounded, he fought for twenty hours against the Syrians despite facing odds that were sometimes over 100 to 1. Ok everyone, back to our planes!

I did this once while first checking out in an A-10. A MIG-23 couldn't pull out and crashed at the base of a tree. Lesson to all...if you can, hug the deck!

That's it! I'm taking my main comp into town and getting it fixed so i can take off again. All this activity i've been reading about recently has made me envious beyond belief.

Sorry Flogger, when it comes to editing stuff i'm a complete newbie. Whatever happens, don't give up until you get it right. The Standard ARM is incredible!

Dude, expect much unlove coming your way!

33 kills? What are your settings and how are you using the aircraft?

My future plans are to explore Armor sims. If one thinks aerial combat is something, they should check out all the variables Tankers have to face. And talk about odds in combat, in the past mere tank platoons have gone against batallion and regimental sized opposition and managed to come out on top.

Flogger, just a little heads up. You are getting too low and slow in that Thud. In that situation with a SAM site and/or a MIG that close (in this case BOTH) you ideally want to be moving at least 500kts. The areas around SAMs are absolutly infested with triple A and you don't want to go over them with mere 25% throttle setting at low altitude.

Purely in the sim. I've always gotten a bit carried away in whatever i'm doing. The more immersed i get in an enviornment, the better my performance. In real life, my military experience was as an M60a3 crewman in various Guard and Reserve units.

Personally, i've fired exactly 1 Aim9 form an A-10 and both narrowly missed getting a kill and being killed. While i was lining up a MIG, another was right behind me. As i fired the Sidewinder, i rolled into a violent split S and headed for the weeds with the second MIG spraying cannon fire at me. My right wing was shot up but i managed to get so far down that the MIG could get me and so i got the hell out of there. Moral? Don't get into the habit of engaging MIGs in an A-10!

For me at least, going North usually led to some "Fascinating" times. Certain targets were never boring since their location and the defenses around them. Want a truly hairy experience? Fly over downtown Hanoi in the middle of the day at say, 15,000ft. Believe me, your primary function will be the LAST thing on your mind. Staying alive all of a sudden becomes the routine. I know that i've been on escort missions up North where my flight ended up in such a defensive stance due to SAMs and AAA that the planes we were escorting were basically on their own. Missions down in Packs One and Two were always cherished since those were easy counters. You know the "Provide CAP" bug? I treated those as armed recce or strike sorties to the lower packs. Yep, anything that gives you a freebie has got to be loved. The only MIG kill i ever got in a Thud was on a mission down in Pack 2.

Nice shot!

While using ARMs i like to be as high up as possible, preferably up and behind an inbound strike. If SAM becomes active i can pop him from a long enough range to be able to cover a wide area. If just one or two sites are in the area then going in first becomes the choice. I still like to be high up so that i can trade altitude for energy to allow me to dodge as many SAMs as possible before taking out their radar. Might as well have them waste valuble missles for nothing!