Lt. James Cater

Actually it's Cater...CATER... It goes back to a character in an early 80s RPG.

Considering all the different aircraft and time frames that's pretty hard to nail down to an exact answer. In WOV i was a seriously high time Thud pilot who also spent time in Phantoms, Huns, and Crusaders. In WOE i started out a Hunter, had my greatest succes ever in a Hun, briefly was in F4s before ending up in an A-10.

Yep! it's a pretty strange thing to see every once in a while. A few weeks ago i blew the wing off an IL-28 and it took forever to go down.

It would be nice if someone can come up with a Recce campaign. Imagine taking RF-101s, RF-8s, RA-5s or RF-4s into action. What would be really hairy is having to go deliberately into the most heavily defended areas repeatedly and being forced to fly straight and level at times to get the perfect recon pics.

Can't wait till it's good to go!

Another thing to remember, If you are going to go down on the deck, go DOWN on the deck. 500 feet or lower. The lower the better actually and as fast as you can. Whenever i'm zooming down on the deck i switch the radar to terrain avoidance so i don't fly into a hill. Whenever you are in the Hanoi-Haiphong area ALWAYS KEEP THE SPEED UP! You want to be moving at least 500 knots no matter what altitude you are at. There are guns everywhere up in Pack 6. About the only time you won't have flak is when you're blazing down Thud Ridge heading downtown. But once you get to Hanoi, you can be sure that all hell is going to break loose. Another great thing about going fast down below. there isn't a MIG around that can catch you on the deck.

Lucky you to have been captured. Both times i've been shot down in Thuds killed me. That you only made 3 missions is something though, the first time i made 82 and the second attempt got me nailed at mission 41.

Just to add my two bits... In WOV that is THE best way to hit targets in Hanoi. Head on up north of Thud ridge and come in at max power down the east side. At about 2 miles begin pull up in full burner, climb to height, roll inverted, spot target, pull target onto pipper, rotate aircraft, make final adjustments onto target, release bombs, get the hell out of there. I prefer getting out of there at low level, so the whole process makes for a minimal time as a taget for the defenses.

Angle and speed are just part of it. 45% is pretty much the best angle to take and the faster you're going the better. Not only for a flatter trajectory on the bomb, but for staying alive. In "When Thunder Rolled" by Ed Rasmius, the author overheard a radio call by an F-4 that pulled back it's throttles during an attack and had the engines cut out. Rasmius (a Thud pilot) wondered why ANYONE would do something like that over a target. The minimum i begin roll in is at about 12,000ft and i try my best to drop bombs and pull out above 4,000. Go lower and those 14.5 and 23mm guns will do a number on you sooner or later. The speed is important for another big reason. Depending on your target and where you are at, you might want to get back to altitude as fast as you can to both avoid the worst of the AAA and to give you height in case of SAMs being fired at you. Believe me, i've been shot down by flak while i was about 1600ft dodging a SAM. Sometimes you might want to exit an area at low level and speed is life down there. If you aren't going at least 600 knots on the deck around Hanoi , you are on borrowed time.

You more or less have to know your location at all times. I've gotten nailed hard up in Packs 5 and 6 a few times yet made it either back over the Red river or made it out over the South China Sea before ejecting. Sometimes, an approach to a target has to have the nearest safe areas factored into the route planning.

Damn, too bad my computer is in storage. I have a whole lot of pics of aircraft shot to peices and still flying. One great pic is of a Crusader that i took in TOOO close to the MIG-17 i was bouncing. I probaly collided with the MIG about a second and a half after puling the trigger. The Crudsader was almost impossible to control after thaat but stayed in the air.

What the heck did that Mig get hit with?

Just about everyone has one but almost no one ever mentions it. My fine Republic F-105D Thunderchief is named "Pack6 Peggy". No matter how many times i've gone Downtown she always brings me back home. Even though she's been hurt a few times she always is a honey. When she's going seriously supersonic on the deck, dodging flak at altitude, or performing her nimble SAM avoiding dance i can't help from loving her more than i do. Now let's hear of your love!

Point is... i tend to get carried away a bit with things i happen to enjoy.

Try not to be too much of a killjoy! I've known plenty of other people in other games that had no problem with naming certain things. In MW4 Mercs i had a mech called "PigKilla" due to the loadout and role it used it for. I also tend to take things a bit more seriously if i deem it worthwhile, it's my nature. IE... if you are in a band with me, expect to rehearse 6 days a week, about 5-8 hours a day. Some of us to get a little deeper into things.

Bravo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Awesome movie! That was intense! As soon as i my comp going again i'm picking up WOE without delay!

I fly campaigns 99% of the time. And yes, i am a very proud and totally dedicated Thud driver with more time spent in Pack 6 than some others have been in theater! Single missions i do when i either want to test a certain weapon or a planes performance in a certain situation. sometimes it's just to figure out how certain things work!

Yep, those were some lousy missles and ROE those guys had to deal with. Thats why i'm so truely glad that my Thud has the ultra reliable, never fail you, 20mm Vulcan! I remember doing a practice mission in a Hun against some 17s. 3 Sidewinders fired at what i figure was textbook range and angles and not a single one worked worth a damn. I jettisoned the last missle, cocked the guns and went to work. Flamed 2 of them in about 5 minutes.

I always start on the runway. I just love that feeling when you push the throttle foward and engage the burners. Watching the end of the runway getting closer and then lifting the nose....Gear up, flaps up, check your climb angle and climb rate, getting set for the chore of the rest of the flight(s) joining up. Once eveyone is in place, head out on the mission while climbing to altitude. Thailand looks wonderful from up high. The endless expanse of green below, farms carved out of the jungle, airstrips every so often. Laos is much the same (except for the airstrips). The sight of the other aircraft in your force, seemingly cruising serene, yet loaded with tons of death and destruction. As you near North Vietnam the anticipation increases with every indication on the RHAW. They know you are coming and there is not a single thing you can do about it! Soon you are closing in on the Red river. Bandit country for sure! Flak everywhere, Sams aplenty, Migs too. Your pulse begins to quicken. perhaps you've been monitoring the differtnt frequencys other flights are using that day. Sams launching, planes getting hit, others getting shot down, Red Crown vectors, advisories and warnings...... Starting near the target has nothing on the the above.

This is something i've been wondering about for some time. In damn near every sim you can imagine for years everyone is always glowing about the fighter role. In WOV i am strickly speaking, a fighter pilot. My ride is a F-105D. However, i follow the notion that "fighter pilots write books, attack pilots make history". Shooting down the enemy is all fine and dandy but getting the bombs on target is what really counts. The Thud comes with a nice 20mm gun but the only time i've ever used it was was for strafing ground targets. At the moment i'm not doing any missions, but you can bet that if i survive this tour, my next will probaly be in A-7s for the Linebacker period. Opinions?

I've wondered about this one for a while. In all three campaigns i did until i was grounded, i set virtually everything for as real as it could get. However, things were to the point in my first go around that by the time i got shot down on mission #85 i was flying them on my own since every other guy in my Squadron was gone. Is there any way of setting it up to get replacements? Since we are here, how about replacement planes as well?

Thats weird.... I've always had rather accurate info from Red Crown despite not even purposly looking for MIGs. Perhaps that is a quirk while flying pure fighter ops?

I did my best with my squadron. As a matter of fact, i would only load bombs on my wingmans plane and my own and have everyone else just along for the ride. That was before i found out about using 0 20mm and just loading them up with CBUs. The majority of the losses were to SAMs with a couple being shot down by AAA while at low level. Speaking of low level... I remember one mission where a bug came into play. While going in low and fast near Haiphong i noticed buildings in an urban area floating in the air at about 500 ft. At about the same time i toggled around my flights and noticed ALL of them going nose down to the ground. At the time i was so busy with the local defenses that i forced myself to ignore that and carried on. After the bomb drop, only my wingman showed up. 7 Thuds were lost that day and my wingman was shot down by AAA a few days later. In the last campaign i was doing, In the course of about 51 missions we had no fewer than 8 pilots KIA and 1 wounded. One was downed by AAA and the rest to SAMs. I wish to hell we could keep the Squadron up to strength insead of looking like a suicide unit.

I'm not sure if there is a mod for it but i'm going to look. I would absolutly love to do a tour as a Recce pilot. Absolutly great chance to Voodoos, Vigilantes, or Crusaders!

To a certain point, thats my premise. You can't get the bombs on the target from miles away , unlike "fighter" puke who can track and shoot a missle from an infinity away. My only diagreement is that Navy guys have it easier since their carriers are right off the coast. Try nursing a shot up Thud all the way back to Thailand and you will understand what it means to be under SEVERE pressure.