Cliff7600

UnknowPilot, yes I survive but I break Starfighters one after the other! 5th mission 2Lt Henry Golfaurla No. 350 Squadron, Brüggen – F-104G Starfighter 08/26/68 Take off : 09.38 Target : Twenthe, Intercept Anvil 11 : 2Lt Henry Golfaurla Anvil 12 : 2Lt Jan Peeters Report : In fact, the No.350 Squadron was relocated to Brüggen AB. I welcomed my mates when they arrived but Major Jottard told me I was assigned to “two minutes alert” with my friend Jan Peeters, who was in good shape. The crew chief selected for me the Starfighter of 1Lt Crombez and Jan stayed in his plane. 09.38, we took off to intercept a raid against Twenthe. Now they go to the Netherlands! We did a great take off and flew to Twenthe. We intercepted the bombers but they broke up when we engaged them. The same fight than yesterday but I didn’t shot down anyone before my plane caught fire. Two in a row. I evacuate the F-104 just above Enschede and the plane crashed in a building. Local authorities recovered me and sent me back to Brüggen without a smile. Major Jottard asked me to bring back the planes or I will be banned from flying. And the doctor warned me about my back : “You won’t last long at this rate, I recommend a suspension of flight, or you will be killed, and that will preserve the aircrafts”. This was my fifth mission and I ejected three times, damaged one plane on landing, and only made one flight without breaking anything. No good at all…

4th mission 2Lt Henry Golfaurla No. 350 Squadron, Wittmundhafen – F-104G Starfighter 08/25/68 Take off : 09.22 Target : Gütersloh, Intercept 1 Il-28 Beagle Zebra 11 : 2Lt Henry Golfaurla Zebra 12 : 2Lt Victor Depreez Zebra 13 : 1Lt Bruno Werbrouck Zebra 14 : 1Lt Hans Detal Report : Scramble alert today. We took off and went to Gütersloh to intercept an enemy’s raid. I feel much more confident since some veterans operating the Starfighter provided us some very useful advices. A quick flight in a TF-104G without telling anyone and this was it. My wingmen were efficient today and they formed up without delay. We reached Gütersloh right on time and Tactical Control guided us to our target, a Beagle bombers flight, 12 o'clock, 1 mile. I was in a perfect position and tried and frontal pass. It was too fast and I missed the leader. I did a wide 180° turn and the Beagles flight broke up as if they were performing an air show. “Zebras, Zebra one, each his own”. Mine was in a vulnerable position although he was low (1500ft). Too close to fire a Sidewinder, I kept the Vulcan but I didn’t manage to aim properly. I did a roll then another and he was right in front of me. I shot, he exploded. But… fire alarms lit on the board, I turned off the engine and then I saw flames in the mirrors, and I ejected. I landed without problem and was assisted by local people who drove me to Hopsten AB (kindly, they didn't forget to give me some beer cans and some sausages). There, I was told to go to Brüggen AB and wait there for further instructions.

@ UnknownPilot, Fubar512 and Lt. : You guys rule! Thank you very much! I will study your advices and I hope the F-104 will not scare my DiD pilot anymore ;) I like that plane even if I barely control it. A new challenge in the DiD challenge... Thx again! Have good flights! Cliff

Hi, I have a new pilot, flying for the Belgium air force during the 68' Red Hammer campaign (NF4). Does anybody know how to fly the F-104G? I need some advices, as you can read... 1st mission 2Lt Henry Golfaurla No. 350 Squadron, Wittmundhafen – F-104G Starfighter 08/21/68 Take off 07.19 – Landing : 08.00 Target : Gütersloh, Intercept 3 Il-28 Beagle, 2 MiG-21F Fishbed-C, 1 MiG-21PF Fishbed-D, 1 MiG-19S Farmer-C Mamba 11 : 2Lt Henry Golfaurla Mamba 12 : 2Lt Michel Robin Mamba 13 : Capt François Mathy Mamba 14 : 1Lt Bruno Werbrouck Report : I was very nervous for my first mission with the No.350 Squadron. On the one hand it was my baptism of fire and on the other hand two rookies had been killed last week, on their first mission too. The first one crashed when he took off and the second made a tail strike when touching the runway as he was landing, the engine caught fire and the jet exploded before the poor guy eject or evacuate. So the officers seriously warned me to respect carefully the procedures. The fact is I barely made a short flight with a U.S. TF-104G and the instructor told me “Good, there’s gonna be no problem for you”. So I wasn’t definitely familiar with the procedures, I am a rookie and I was shaking hard when I put the throttle to the panel for today’s scramble. But the Zipper took off, and I reach our Angel, 19600 ft. I didn’t push too hard because I wanted my wingmen to form up before things get tough. As I was beginning to panic because there were too many bandits in the DZ, Red Crown gave me the proper vector to intercept our target “12 o’clock, 25 miles”. As a matter of fact, they were just under my nose, flying low, I locked the radar on one of them and radioed the engagement order. They were Il-28 Beagles and it was going to be a serious task to complete because of their speed and their tail guns. I tried to intercept them from the side but I just managed to get their 6, just where I didn’t wanted to be. Mamba 2 took him out before I reached shooting range. And then it became a big mess. I lost my wingmen and I tried to get another target to attack. I finally saw another Il-28 and, after I fired my four AIM-9 (1 hit him but he kept on flying, same speed, same altitude) I decided to get him from under. Not a bad idea but when I climbed to catch him I didn’t succeed to hit him and overtook him. Lousy attack… I made a 360° turn and I did the same mistake on my second attempt, and the tail gunner seemed to be more precise than me! The third assault was the good one and I shot his left engine and wing. I thought that it was time to get back to the base but a fighter was marauding in front of me. After a long hesitation, I decided to engage him and “we’ll see”. It was a MiG-21 and he was fast! I broke the barrier of sound several times before I caught him and it was far more difficult to aim at him, not to overtake him and not to crash to the ground, because he was low. To be honest, I don’t think the guy saw me because it wasn’t really a dogfight but more a pursuit. I tried to shoot him from distance but I finally caught him and he begun to try evasive maneuvers. I had to be a bit more violent with my Zipper to follow him and I finally shot him. It was too much for me and I set a course to RTB and gained altitude. I saw two Beagles passing in front of me and I tried to engage the second one. He was turning and when I realize that I will have to shoot him from his 6, I gave up. I was exhausted after the hunt for the Fishbed and I found this last attack was more risky and stupid than really necessary. Others pilots would have go after that Beagle but I was just not able to do that. My wingmen formed up but Capt Mathy didn’t answer my calls. We returned safely to Wittmundhafen AB and as I was clear to land I began to concentrate. All went Ok until I touched down. I had too much speed and the Zipper bounced. The nose went up and the tail stroke the runway. The master caution alarm lit and I cut off the engine to avoid it to catch fire. I went on the brakes and stopped my plane on the right side of the runway, in order to let the others Mambas land after me. There wasn’t so much damage and I wasn’t harmed so I wasn’t blamed for that. Capt Mathy was rescued and hospitalized, his life isn’t threatened. I survived my first show and won two victories, but I really have to learn how to make a good landing with that damn rocket-plane. Nevertheless I think that its powerful engine and its speed capacity were the key for my survival today. 2nd mission 2Lt Henry Golfaurla No. 350 Squadron, Wittmundhafen – F-104G Starfighter 08/22/68 Take off 09.01 Target : Hannover, CAP Report : My second mission and my first crash. When I pulled the stick to take off I stroke the tail and the engine caught fire. There was the city just ahead of me and time was short before crash. I started a slight turn starboard and ejected. I saw the plane crashed in a field and felt relieved for it didn’t harmed anyone on the ground. I was hospitalized and came back to the base the day after. No one said anything, good or bad. I was just another rookie that will kill himself because that type of aircraft doesn’t forgive pilot errors. 3rd mission 2Lt Henry Golfaurla No. 350 Squadron, Wittmundhafen – F-104G Starfighter 08/24/68 Take off 07.22 – Landing : 09.16 Target : Bitburg, Intercept 1 Il-28 Beagle Tuna 11 : 2Lt Henry Golfaurla Tuna 12 : 2Lt Michel Robin Tuna 13 : Capt Hans d'Aische Tuna 14 : 1Lt Filip de Grunne Report : Scramble alert, there were bandits to intercept near Bitburg. I took off very carefully and as the plane was climbing and everything was Ok, I thought I made it. That plane scares me. We climbed till Angel 11 and set a course to the south. We were on time to intercept the target, a bunch of Il-28. Things went wrong, I didn’t managed to get them from the side and Tuna 2 and 4 were shot down by the Beagles tail gunners. They were low (1000ft) and it was difficult to place the plane in a good position. I fired my 4 AIM-9 without result. And I did the same thing than I did on my first sortie : catch the Beagle, firing at him and break before the gunner aimed. But this time the Beagle pilot was a good one. He flew his bomber low and made tight turns. It seemed difficult for me to do my job, it was almost a dogfight. I started to lose my concentration and made unbelievable mistakes like doing a 360° aileron roll instead of a 180°, in order to fly inverted and not losing sight. But that brilliant bomber pilot seemed to calm down. We were close to the ground and I thought he made errors himself. And he begun to fly steady. I grabbed my chance and hit him with the Vulcan. The gun camera revealed that I shot him three times before he started to slow down and lose altitude. I overtook him and Tuna 3 told me he was down. We buggered off and climbed at 11400 ft to return to Wittmundhafen. On approach, I realized that I was going to do the same error than the first time. Too much incidence, the tail was going to hit the runway. So I lowered the nose before I touched down. It was a hard landing but the plane was Ok. We didn’t prevent the enemy’s strike force to drop their bombs and lost two planes. Both 1Lt de Grunne and 2Lt Robin are alive and hospitalized.

9th mission Lt jg Peter J. Raczesky May 03 1966 VF-114, CVA-63 Kitty Hawk – F-4B Phantom II – Take off 12.01 Target : Hoa Lac, Strike, Barrack Python 11 : Lt jg Pete "Linger" Raczesky / Lt jg Mark "Snake" Short Python 12 : Ens Spence "Baron" Flagg / Lt jg Tom "Butcher" Speer Python 13 : Lt Samuel "Indian" McCoy / Lt jg Bud "Daisy" Ketchie Python 14 : Lt jg Scott "Machine" Ruliffson / Lt jg James "Clockwise" Stender Report : Lt jg Pete Raczesky and Lt jg Mark Short have been KIA. Their wingmen reported that Python 11 was flying low and then both engines caught fire. No enemy fire has been detected and the most likely cause of the accident should be the insufficient altitude over terrain. Lt jg Raczesky was known to be a relatively unsafe pilot, but the official cause of the loss of the VF-114 F-4B modex 201 will be : unknown. Python 12, 13 and 14 completed the strike mission and RTB safely. (I don't know what happened, I was looking for another route than going south of Hanoi and I thought I get shot by AAA. But the mission log just said that I crashed - Cliff) _

8th mission Lt jg Peter J. Raczesky May 02 1966 VF-114, CVA-63 Kitty Hawk – F-4B Phantom II – Take off 7.27 - Landing 7.59 (Emergency) Target : Hoa Lac, Escort Ramrod flight (8 F-105D 357 TFS Licking Dragons) 1 MiG-21 Asp 11 : Lt jg Pete “Linger” Raczesky / Ens Mark “Snake” Short Asp 12 : Lt Samuel "Indian" McCoy / Lt jg Bud "Daisy" Ketchie Asp 13 : LCdr Mace "Midnight" Greer / Lt Jeremy "Badboy" Unruh Asp 14 : Lt jg Clinton "Breaker" Irwin / Ens Charles "Vulture" Vohden Report : It’s been close this time! We were assigned to escort a F-105 strike to Hoa Lac. I was glad to do this mission because the rendez-vous point was near Nakhon Phanom AB and it was a good opportunity to break the routine. Lt McCoy was number 3 so I went to LCdr Greer to tell my concerns about leading this mission. He told me that Lt McCoy would be number 2 and himself would be number 3. Number 4 was my good friend Breaker, first ace of the squadron. We took off and I tried to find a relatively secured path to cross North Vietnam. We reached level 10 but get painted by hostile radars. So we went low (1400ft). I tried to find a path to the south, and I decided to fly over the Gianh river. What a mistake… A dense AAA barrage welcomed us when we reached the shore. A shot in the frame and the master caution alarm lit. We were hit… no good at all… I informed Midnight of our situation and made a 180° turn to the sea. LCdr answered “You’re out, 2 is in charge”. And they continued the flight as scheduled without us. We made a full check and I didn’t really knew what parts were damaged. We were flying, handling the plane, the engines were OK. Snake made a quick RTB navigation and brought us right back to the carrier. Observers from the ship told us that the plane seemed OK to land but we had the port flap missing. We waited for the clearance and I started my approach. Something was wrong with the rolling. We had slowed down and the plane was more difficult to roll. As we were closing to the ship the F-4 was losing too much altitude and I waved off. I decided to try with the only flap remaining down and the bird kept steady on the second approach. It was not a bad trap and we were relieved to be back in one piece. My wingmen completed the mission. They engaged some MiG-21 and Asp 14 (Breaker/Vulture) shot down their sixth bandit. The crew chief told us that our F-4 had been hit by five 14.5 mm bullets. We were lucky this time! _

RIP Fred Andrews He was one of the first DiD pilots, one of the most experienced...

Hi, and welcome to the new DiD pilots 7th mission Lt jg Peter J. Raczesky April 26 1966 VF-114, CVA-63 Kitty Hawk – F-4B Phantom II – Take off 10.26 – Landing 11.11 Target : Kep airfield, Strike, Fuel Tanks 2 Fuel tanks / 1 ZPU-2 AAA Tomahawk 11 : Lt jg Pete "Linger" Raczesky / Lt jg Mark "Snake" Short Tomahawk 12 : Ens Dave "Plumber" Amend / Lt jg Charlie "Robert" Maxwell Tomahawk 13 : Lt Samuel "Indian" McCoy / Lt jg Bud "Daisy" Ketchie Tomahawk 14 : Lt jg Scott "Machine" Ruliffson / Lt jg James "Clockwise" Stender Report : Today, strike mission. We’ve been to Kep, to destroy some fuel tanks at the airfield. As I was the flight leader, I discussed with Lt McCoy the point of loading only Mk-82 500 lbs bombs to strike the fuel tanks. I argued that if Plumber and I would missed the target, mission would have failed. He retorted that we were all qualified and competent to deal with bombing. I asked him to load LAU-3 rocket pods and he gave in on that point but only for my plane, and told me to load only 2 Sparrows instead of 4. I chose not to follow the flight plan, it would have expose us to AAA. We flew north and came to Kep southbound. I fired my 2 AIM-7 at a bandit but they exploded just after launched. I tasked Tomahawk 12 (Plumber/Robert) to attack the primary targets and Tomahawk 13 (Indian/Daisy) and 14 (Machine/Clockwise) to opportunity targets. My first pass was with the rocket pods but I missed. Tomahawk 12 missed his pass too… I tried a second pass dropping the Mk-82 but I missed again. So I made a third pass (!) firing all the remaining rockets and successfully destroyed 2 fuel tanks. No good… During the three passes I was turning tight with full burners all the time. Snake warned me “Watch for fuel”. I called for the flight to form up and set a course to the north. But Tomahawk 13 and 14 remained above Kep, trying to engage some MiG-17. I repeated my calls and thought that Lt McCoy had something in mind that he didn’t told me. They finally broke off from the bandits but one of them started to chase Tomahawk 13. I radioed the call that they were waiting “Tomahawks, Tomahawk lead, engage bandit”. 3 and 4 engaged the MiG-17 but nothing happened and we all eventually joined up north of Hong Gai, and headed back to the Kitty Hawk. Machine and Clockwise destroyed a ZPU-2, and Snake and I will receive the Distinguished Flying Cross! I can’t believe that! LCdr Greer yelled at me : “How many pass are you allowed to make on a strike mission? Only ONE Linger, I’m losing patience with you!” I know that LCdr Greer was right, safety first… _

Lt jg Peter J. Raczesky April 23 1966 VF-114, CVA-63 Kitty Hawk – F-4B Phantom II – Take off 10.19 – Landing 11.01 Target : Noi Bai, Escort Olds flight (4 A-4C VA-76 Spirits) 2 MiG-17 – 3 MiG-21 Gopher 11 : Lt jg Pete “Linger” Raczesky / Ens Mark “Snake” Short Gopher 12 : Ens Jack "Taylor" Floyd / Lt Donald "Bull" Bruning Gopher 13 : Lt Eugene "Ruler" Freckleton / Lt jg Kenneth "Pancake" Carr Gopher 14 : Lt Lt jg Dorsie "Surgeon" Ford / Lt Lee "Injector" Dunlop Report : After few months we’re back in Vietnam! I must say that I feel weird after this mission. It was very tough and some of us didn’t went back home… It started well, we were on time to rejoin Olds flight and were the first of the second wave heading to Noi Bai. We detected a bunch of bandits and we got a lock very soon. I fired two AIM-7E, but the first one detonated just after have been launched. Snake told me to turn off “the music” just to be sure our Sparrows would not be jammed by our own device. Third and fourth didn’t hit anything, I was really disgusted because the MiGs were in sight. I switched to the AIM-9 but they saw us and broke up. I chose one of them and we started a dogfight. This North-Vietnamese pilot was a good opponent but, despite of the AAA and the SAM launches, I won the fight and went on his 6, it was a MiG-21. I fired two Sidewinders and the second hit him (I didn’t think that it was our 5th kill, so Snake and I didn’t say anything at that time). The sky was boiling so we engaged another MiG-21 and fired the two remaining Sidewinders. We were out of ammo, and I must admit that we were lost (above Haiphong?) so I decided to set a course back to the sea, and it was straight ahead, full speed… (when I think about that moment, I feel like a coward) As I was turning left and right to avoid AAA fire, Red Crown confirmed my premature decision and told us to RTB. Gopher 12 (Taylor/Bull) was just behind us, doing his wingman job, but Gopher 13 (Ruler/Pancake) and 14 (Surgeon/Injector) didn’t answered. Gopher 13 made it back to the carrier with a badly damaged Phantom. The debriefing revealed that Gopher 14, Lt jg Dorsie Ford and Lt Lee Dunlop were reported MIA after a victory against a MiG-17. We don’t know what happened to them. Our MiG-21 should be confirmed as well and Ruler and Pancake took out 2 MiG-21 and 1 MiG-17, three victories in one mission! We should celebrate our 5 victories of the day but no-one has the heart to rejoice… We’re crying our friends… LCdr Greer will ask a promotion for Snake and told us to answer to the journalists, as we are the second crew of the squadron to win 5 victories (Breaker and Vulture were the first in October 65). I don’t care about fame but Greer insisted “It’s a part of your job, you have your orders.” My smile was fake… _

Vicar, "You most likely take more time writing the report than in the flying... " Sure, you're flying a Su-9! Doing a DID campaign is a challenge in itself ; choose a Su-9 to do it sure boosts your ego, as you said. She's a beauty and really fine to fly, but there's more vodka in Bolshie's bootle than fuel in the Fishpot's tanks! "Those who live short but exciting lives" Thx! ...there's a Su-9 in my install now :)

Thank you xclusiv8 :) Bolshie, Sykes, Andrews and the others are on their way to become Double D's heroes! Vicar, you know how to create a hero! Lt Cater, I knew that already but you know how to be smart and brave at the same time! Here's my last mission : Ens Peter J. Raczesky October 21 1965 VF-114, CVA-63 Kitty Hawk – F-4B Phantom II – Take off 7.20 – Landing 7.51 Target : Vinh, Reconnaissance 2 MiG-17 Austin 11 : Ens Pete “Linger” Raczesky / Ens Mark “Snake” Short Austin 12 : Ens Spence "Baron" Flagg / Lt jg Tom "Butcher" Speer Report : What a flight! I just can’t realize what happened! Baron/Butcher, Snake and I were tasked to perform a recce over Vinh. We knew that this place is quite a dangerous area and this mission was to be taken very seriously. I didn’t really understand how we were assigned to this mission because Butcher was the higher in rank and is only Lt jg. As I was in charge of the flight, we discussed about the loadout and we chose belly droptanks instead of wings droptanks. Much lighter. We took off and followed the flight plan. At the IP, we went on the deck and pushed hard full burners. We flew over the target (There were many cargos in the harbor and two more in the bay). We turned sharply to the east and Snake noticed that there were two Ramrods hunted by several bandits. We were not able to engage those guys, going back on the Kitty Hawk was the priority. One Ramrod was shot down… Austin 12 rejoined formation and we prepared for the landing. But the remaining Ramrod and the b.....s who were on his tail were too close to the carrier. We decided that Austin 12 will land and save the precious reco datas and I will help Ramrod. I was closing to them and shot a bandit with an AIM-7E after Snake did a perfect lock on him. Ramrod was a Marines F-4 and kept his course to the south, one bandit went back to his base but two others started a dogfight with me. We really were in big troubles : 1 vs 2 and we knew that the F-4 is inferior to the Fresco during a slow and close combat. I didn’t take the advantage during the dogfight, requested help from Red Crown (no fighter available) and was waiting for the carrier AAA to shoot those guys. We were just above the carrier! I almost get shot when one of them was on our 6 and fired his guns! Scary… I thought that if we get shot, we’ll be rescued anyway so I started to relax while some observers on the carrier helped us “One, break right! Break right!” I thank them to the bottom of my heart. One of the bandits headed to Vinh and I decided that the last one should be for me! It was impossible to land with this guy around. I finally got his 6 by trying something new : I used the flaps to handle the F-4 while slowing down. It’s risky if the other MiG is still in the fight but I managed to follow the little fighter while he was turning and banking (Snake told me later that he was ready to eject at this moment). I launched my second AIM-9D and got him. What a relief! I knew that there were many people looking at us while I did the landing pattern so I thought “Don’t mess up, don’t do something stupid, act as a professional combat pilot of the US Navy…” Snake helped me watch the speed, we are becoming a real team by now. I was a little too high but performed my best trap since a long time. After a loud debriefing (Navy officers don’t appreciate to see MiG-17 fly over their vessel), we were warmly congratulated by LCdr Greer who told me “Two weeks before I was thinking to send you back home, but today I know I was right to give you a second chance. I don’t believe this is reasonable but you’re promoted to Lieutenant junior grade and Snake and you will receive the Air Medal for your air show above all of us. Linger, this is my last warning : Don’t do that again!” Snake and I had to buy our rounds to the whole squad. Big party! _

Ens Peter J. Raczesky October 17 1965 VF-114, CVA-63 Kitty Hawk – F-4B Phantom II – Take off 11.24 – Landing 12.07 Target : Noi Bai, Escort Python flight (8 F-4 VF-21 Freelancers) 3 MiG-17 Dallas 11 : Ens Pete “Linger” Raczesky / Ens Mark “Snake” Short Dallas 12 : Ens Dave "Plumber" Amend / Lt jg Charlie "Robert" Maxwell Dallas 13 : Lt Eugene "Ruler" Freckleton / Lt jg Kenneth "Pancake" Carr Dallas 14 : Lt jg Scott "Machine" Ruliffson / Lt jg James "Clockwise" Stender Report : Things getting better! Once again we had to escort a strike force to Noi Bai but today we were on time! We rejoined Python flight and escort them until we reached the shore. Then the AAA started their barrage and when Python flight lost one of their F-4 on my starboard side, I decided to climb. We were there to chase some bandits, not to be shot by ground fire. We reached level 20 but we didn’t locked anything. We noticed a MiG-17 and the flight split up. I followed the MiG but lost him in the clouds. I tried to engage several times others MiGs (or maybe it was the same from the beginning?) but always lost them in the clouds. Red Crown told us to RTB so I asked my wingmen to join formation. As I was waiting for them for an egress to the North, I saw another Fresco and engaged him to prevent my wingmen being assaulted. This time we were above the clouds and this guy wasn’t very aggressive. I won the dogfight and, on his 6, had a radar lock. I fired 2 AIM-7E and, as he began a turn, launched a third and prepared for the last one. I saw him started to smoke and as I overtook him, Snake yelled “Yeeaah!”. I smiled. On the way back, we were warned that there were many planes going back to the carrier. So I asked a direct approach and landed on the deck almost perfectly. We celebrated our victories of the day : Three MiGs, one for Plumber and Robert, one for Ruler and Pancake and the last for us. It’s our second victory and this time it wasn’t a lucky shot like the first one was, and I shared it with Snake who seems to be more confident with me. _

Ens Peter J. Raczesky October 12 1965 VF-114, CVA-63 Kitty Hawk – F-4B Phantom II – Take off 10.55 – Landing 11.38 Target : Kep, Escort Austin flight (4 F-8 VF-154 Black Knight) 3 MiG-17 Tomahawk 11 : Ens Pete “Linger” Raczesky / Lt Cole "Despair" Carr Tomahawk 12 : Ens Jack "Taylor" Floyd / Lt Donald "Bull" Bruning Tomahawk 13 : Lt Lt Samuel "Indian" McCoy / Lt jg Bud "Daisy" Ketchie Tomahawk 14: Lt jg Clinton "Breaker" Irwin / Ens Charles "Vulture" Vohden Report : We have had the congratulations from LCdr Greer but I’m not proud of me. Yet, I’m rejoicing with my mates for their success. This time, my Naval Flight Officer was Lt “Despair” Carr. LCdr Greer asked him to evaluate my abilities to lead a flight and, to land safely. Despair told me not to worry about that because he was with me mainly to secure the landing pattern. Our mission was to provide an escort to Austin flight, 4 VF-154 F-8 Crusaders from USS Coral Sea (CV-43), they were tasked to bomb Kep airfield. We missed by far our rendez-vous and Austin flight have entered the DZ without us. We climbed to level 30 to avoid SAM and gain speed. There were dogfights everywhere but I didn’t manage to lead my flight to engage bandits. We finally met MiG-17 at level 15 near Kep. I fired 2 AIM-7E then 2 AIM-7D at the MiG that we engaged with Tomahawk 12 (Taylor/Bull). I tried to lock on him a Sidewinder and fired two AIM-9D, but with no result. As I was trying a third shot, Taylor got him with a Sidewinder. Good shot, man! I called Tomahawk flight to rejoin for an egress to the North. As Tomahawk 13 and 14 was joining up, a MiG-17 went between them. I made a turn toward them and ordered to engage the bandit. Tomahawk 14 (Breaker/Vulture) took him out, it was their second kills of the day. Tomahawk flight joined up North of Hong Gai and we headed to the carrier. The landing pattern : I almost lost the control of my F-4 on the first turn and, as I was trying to recover, I heard Despair yelling “What the …. are you doing? You’re trying to kill me!” Hopefully, the bird did what I asked her to do, and I made a good landing on the first attempt. Despair didn’t say a word when we left the plane. After the debriefing, LCdr Greer told me “You seem to be a damn lousy pilot but you did the job this time.” We celebrated the 3 victories of the day but I was reported that the VF-154 did have hard time and I felt ashamed thinking that it was my duty to protect them today… _

Ens Peter J. Raczesky October 9th 1965 VF-114, CVA-63 Kitty Hawk – F-4B Phantom II – Take off 9.41 – Landing : 10.12 (crash) Target : Noi Bai, CAP Gopher 11 : Ens Pete “Linger” Raczesky / Ens Mark “Snake” Short Gopher 12 : Ens Dave "Plumber" Amend / Lt jg Charlie "Robert" Maxwell Gopher 13 : Lt Eugene "Ruler" Freckleton / Lt jg Kenneth "Pancake" Carr Gopher 14: Lt jg Dorsie "Surgeon" Ford / Lt Lee "Injector" Dunlop Report : No glory today… Gopher flight set a course to Noi Bai. Mission altitude was 11400ft but for safety, we climbed at level 40, because the SAM are easier to see and run out of boost. As we were closing to Noi Bai, Red Crown told us to RTB so we turned back home to the carrier at level 5 and full speed. Gopher 14 (Surgeon/Injector) tried to engage MiGs with no success. An F-4 (Gopher 13?) and I were too close on finale because we weren’t using the same approach. I made the unbelievable mistake of not waving off and we crashed on the deck. Snake and I ejected at the right time and both of us are unharmed. I feel very embarrassed and I know that Snake is really disappointed. LCdr Greer told me just “Don’t do that again, man!” Good luck to everyone!

Hope you'll make it Lt, dont' forget to come back in one piece...

It's sad but realistic to say MIA=KIA. I've read that Capt Roger C. Locher (USAF F-4D WSO) survived 23 days in north Vietnam after ejection 90 miles from the border, during Linebacker I. He has been rescued, so he wasn't MIA... Sorry for 2nd Lt Hans King...

Hi, here's my new pilot: Ens Peter J. Raczesky VF-114, CVA-63 Kitty Hawk – F-4B Phantom II – Take off 11.02 – Landing : unknown Target : Quang Suoi barracks, vehicle port 1 barrack, 1 building and 1 MiG-17 Bison 11 : Ens Pete “Linger” Raczesky / Ens Mark “Snake” Short Bison 12 : Ens Spence "Baron" Flagg / Lt jg Tom "Butcher" Speer Bison 13 : Lt Samuel "Indian" McCoy / Lt jg Bud "Daisy" Ketchie Bison 14: Lt jg Scott "Machine" Ruliffson / Lt jg James "Clockwise" Stender Report : At 11.02, Bison flight took off and headed to WP3 (460knt/1900ft). As we reached WP3, we tried to lock on bandits but they were out of range to launch AIM-7. When in range, I fired one AIM-7E with no result. Entering DZ we saw the target very late as there was intense AAA barrage. I dropped 6 Mk82 with no success. Bison 12 (Baron/Butcher) destroyed the primary target (vehicle port). We turned and headed west full speed (Mach 0.9/500ft) when a MiG-17 passed in front of me. I followed him and fired one AIM-9D. I saw the Sidewinder detonate but the MiG was still flying. I heard Baron “You got one!”. They confirm that the MiG crashed after the Sidewinder explodes close to him. Bison 13 and 14 destroyed several targets and joined up formation. _

2nd mission Report : VF-114 / CVA-63 Kitty Hawk Rolling Thunder – North VietNam Date : 04/10/66 Task : Escort Denver flight (8 A-4 Skyhawk) Target : Noi Bai airfield Flight : Anvil 11 : Ens Louis “Locker” Bernardino / Ens Kyle “Vampire” Hamond - 200 Anvil 12 : Ens Ray "Salmon" Richard / Ens Matthew "Toxic" Christianson - 201 Anvil 13 : Lt Roger "Tankard" Schumacher / Lt Gareth "Lawyer" Wise - 202 Anvil 14 : Lt jg Robair “Duster” Wilkinson / Ens John "Gorgone" Souder -203 Take off : 19:59 / Flight time : 13’ Ammo fired : 1 AIM-7E Notes : Anvil 11 was shot down by AAA near Dong Suong. Ens Bernardino and Ens Hamond are held POW. When they returned back home, they retired to civil life...

1st mission report : VF-114 / CVA-63 Kitty Hawk Rolling Thunder – North Vietnam Date : 04/04/1966 Task : Strike Target : Kep airfield, Barracks Flight : Tiger 11 : Ens Louis “Locker” Bernardino / Ens Kyle “Vampire” Hamond - 200 Tiger 12 : Ens Bernard “Guru” Howell / Ens Victor "Flicker" Amend - 201 Tiger 13 : Lt John “Beef” Taylor / Lt Lee "CannonBall" Kovaleski - 202 Tiger 14 : Lt jg Robair “Duster” Wilkinson / Ens John "Gorgone" Souder -203 Take off : 11:23 / Flight time : 43’ Ammo fired : 6 Mk82 1 Barrack destroyed Notes : Foggy weather but all went ok. I must admit that I didn’t expect such AAA, very intense everywhere. There were some enemy fighters but they didn’t engaged us, we were too fast for them and we were low (500 ft mini). Tiger 14 (Duster/Gorgone) fired 2 AIM-7E at a MiG-21 but with no result. Landing wasn’t that easy : 1 wave-off and 1 bolter, 3rd attempt was the good one. (Personnal : First real combat mission ever! Before taking off, I was concerned for the leading of the flight. But when we reach Vietnam I really get scared by the AAA. We went just above some batteries and I really feared to be hit. Bombs release was not bad, we stroke the target. I wonder how things going to be when we will engage fighters. I think that Vampire is a bit disappointed by my training skill, he’s more experienced than me. But I know that he will help me if necessary.)

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Hi Double D's! I will post my mission reports when I'll get back home. It won't be as good as Mike's My pilot, Ens Louis "Locker" Bernardino is still alive but got serious troubles... I'll tell you :o) Cliff

In my case I'm playing a non-DiD Uk vs France campaign and I die all the time. I stopped training with combat missions because I was shot (midair colision/landing crash...) too many times. I'm just practising carrier landing, and it's getting better :) Sometimes a quick unloaded carrier CAP... I like the "purist way" too! Cliff

Hi DoubleD's! For me it's gonna be a Rolling Thunder campaign, Eburger & Malibu WOV expansion pack mod. I will fly a VF-114 Aardvarks F-4B, US navy. I hope it will work and I won't die too often (2 virtual guys in the plane...) Cliff

Hi! Do you know this one? :) _

Well, I guess there's still hope for me. Nevertheless, others AF are Ok but navy seems un bit more attractive to me. Still training to be ready January 1st... _