From: ap@jyu.fi (Patrick Aalto) Subject: CK: A dweeb story for a change! Date: 28 Aug 1995 16:12:53 GMT Hello, fellow Confirmed Killers! First, I quess some background info is in order... I first heard about Confirmed Kill a week ago, downloaded the software, and tried it offline... The only plane I got off the ground was the P-38. Figures, right.. Well, as soon as I was able to repeatedly get it off the ground, I decided to get online! I think that was last Monday. Well, not surprisingly, I played CK a couple of hours on Monday, and got shot down so many times I lost count.. But, I managed to get a couple of enemy planes in front of my crosshairs, at least! Oh well, if only I had had time to actually shoot at them before I got shot down.. Anyways, I did fly my red P-38 up to Thursday, and was even able to get a kill or two during the days! In Friday I decided to testfly a Zeke for a change. A lot better visibility (with that F4U art), and it seemed to recover from stalls and spins all by itself.. Neat.. Got into various furballs and stall fights against P-38:s and other Zekes, and again got a kill or two.. However, I did not like the very frequent "one-ping-lose-a-wing" events. Late Saturday I switched to a P-51D, as I had heard some good things about it. And I soon found out that it sure is a great plane! But, lets get into the events of yesterday (Sunday)... I first got online at about 13:00 our time (I quess it might have been around 4am Sunday morning Texas time). About 6 Reds and 6 Purps online, with a couple of Greens and Golds. My fellow Reds were mostly protecting F15 againts Green and Purple attacks. I did that for a while, but noticed that a P-51 is not at it's best when stallfighting against Zekes and P-38s... Got shot down quite a few times. So, soon I decided to head for the F22 to see what the Purps were up to there... Climbed to 15.000 feet and headed south.. Hmm.. Some 5 purp planes, P-51Ds and a FW190 near F22.. Interesting.. I dive down, and single out that FW. I zoom right past him (and all the other Purps) at 500 knots, slowly pull up, and climb back up, doing a loop... Soon I am back at some 9.000 feet, with all the Purps below me. A second dive down, and this time I get into a dogfight with that FW.. He gets on my tail, and I receive quite a few pings.. No damage, though. I do an Immelmann, and suddenly am at his tail for a change.. A couple of bursts from my machine guns, and soon he crashes. Wow.. But I've got a couple of P-51s on my tail, and get my elevators shot off! Hmm.. Let's see if this bird can fly without elevators... And what a surprise, it sure can! I get really low on altitude, flying practically between bushes and trees.. Got two Purple P-51s following me, too.. The nose of my P-51 tries to rise all the time, so I have to do some fast rolls and bank left and right to keep my altitude low and speed above 300 knots.. Slowly I am heading home to F15 from F22, asking my fellow Reds to help me if they have the time.. And, I did get all the way back to F15! Haven't yet figured out a way to land without elevs, though, so I crashed... :-) I did several more "lone wolf" attacks against the Purps, always aiming for that FW if it was in sight.. The one flying that Purple FW turned out to be a pilot called "tm_t", who got curious as to who is that red P-51 who always "surgically removes" (as he said) the horizontal stabilizers of his FW.. :-) Told him it was me.. If the horiz stabs are the weak spot of an FW, the elevators sure is that for a P-51D! I got them shot off a total of three times, once the Purps also got my rudder... And always I was able to get back to (or near to) F15 before crashing from lack of altitude, or from the Purps at my tail finally hitting a (more) vital part of my P-51D. I also got into a neat duel against a Green F4U near F15 once.. He immediately got behind me and stayed there no matter what I did to shake him loose.. I received some pings too... However, I then did a split-S followed by some strange manoeuvre that got me stalling out of control.. When I recovered from the stall, the F4U was directly below me, about 1000 yards away... Ha! Lag Pursuit! This time I planned on staying at his six, no matter what! And I did stay there, even though I had to use full flaps and even had to lower my gear a couple of times not to outdive him... I hit him a couple of times, and finally shot his rear fuselage off.. "System: Indy Crashed" followed by "Indy: Good flying, red P-51!"... Hmm.. "Indy, you in that green F4U?" I asked. "Yep" was the reply. "Your F4U seemed to outmanoeuvre my P51 pretty easily!" I told him. "Sure wasn't easy!" he said... "I believe that!", I said, having heard that the Corsair is not exactly the easiest plane to control in a stall fight... "But was a fun duel, though!" he said. It sure was! I had to log off to get something to eat, and then I logged back on at about 16:30 my time. Fought a bit against two green Zekes that were attacking F15, but just got shot down by them repeatedly.. Not much fun there. I then decided to head south, to take a look at that Purple F22 again... I reached 16.000 feet and was soon directly above F22, and still nothing on my radar... Did I lose a connection or are all the Purps at sleep? Then, suddenly, a Purple P-38 takes off, some 15.000 feet below me. Hmm.. Should I attack? Seems silly losing all that height advantage against a single P-38... But then I hear on the radio: "tm_t: A red P-51 above F22... That gotta be pate..." Well, I had to roger that.. A quick look at the radar, where is that FW190 "tm_t" is known to fly?? Nothing but the P-38 on my radar. And then I receive a message over private channel: "tm_t: Pate, feel like attacking the Gold at F17 with me?" Hmm.. That might be interesting... But where is F17?? Let's take a look at the map... Well, I have never been to the Far East before! "Sure, suits me fine!" I respond, also in a private channel... I am just about to ask where did he lose his FW, when he says "Flying a heavy P-38 for this one..." I see.. Well, I am not carrying anything but my guns, and only have 15% fuel left, but let's head east! "tm_t" begins the attack dive pretty far away, and I follow him in, some 5000 yards behind.. Two Gold P38s defending the field... We hear messages like "Now what is this, Reds joined forces with the Barneys?" on the radio... He takes a good shot at the tower with his rockets, and I follow, zooming by the field at 500 knots, and climb back up... At the top of my loop I see how "tm_t" approaches the field again, but gets hit by the AAA and crashes. "Boy, that AAA is nasty!" he comments... I see one of the Gold P-38s being in a good position for my attack. I dive in, aiming behind him.... A-ha, he is leading me directly into that AAA fire! Well, let's see what this P-51D is made of! I follow him directly into the Anti-Aircraft fire, all four of the guns shooting at me.. The sky is full of AA streaks! Ping!...Ping!...Ping!... Heh, got no damage yet.. A tough plane this Mustang! Distance to him is 1200 yards and closing fast...Ping! Left fuel tank hit... Ping! Right fuel tank hit.. Oh well, I was down to 10% fuel anyways, not a big loss... And then I am past the AAA fire, the P-38 trying to outclimb me... 1000 yards.. Open fire! I press both triggers and keep him in the center of my crosshairs.. 800... 600.. Ha, got a ping into him at least.. But my speed is dropping rapidly... Distance at 400.. 300.. Pieces falling off that P-38.. Oh, and the pilot ejects! Hehe..Cool... :-) But I am stalling! Nose down, let's get some speed and find that other P-38...Ping!...Ping! Oops, I quess he found me instead. My speed at 200 knots.. 300 knots... And my engine dies! Bummer... A quick look at the fuel gauge.. Stuck at the "empty" mark.. I quess those fuel tank hits were rather serious, after all.. Well, perhaps he will overshoot me if I lower flaps and gear... But no such luck, he stays above me. Hmm.. Altitude at about 2000 feet, no engine, gear down... Well, I have always wanted to find out if one can land outside of airfields, let's test it now! That valley looks like a perfect place to land, so I steer towards it... Oops, better pull up, that hill is coming towards me fast! I pull up, looks like I am practically INSIDE the hill! Speed at 125 knots... 100 knots... 75... Hey, I should be stalling bad!...50..25..0. Wow.. No messages about crashing, and I have stopped.. I must have landed! I radio my fellow Reds, ask what one is supposed to do after landing "in the middle of nowhere".. They say that a rescue team is on the way, and will pick me up as fast as I can type ".e"... And sure enough, I soon find myself back at the headquarters! Wow, what an interesting mission! Got to fly farther east than ever before, got a kill, and even lived to tell the tale! I was happy! Later I did a couple of more missions agains F17 with "tm_t" and his fellow Purple P-38.. "tm_t" asks whether I have considered to change my color.. Hmm.. To give up my dweeb rights and become a...Barney... or something? Nah... Not likely! :-) Brought to you by "pate", flying a red P-51D. Patrick Aalto ap@jyu.fi http://www.jyu.fi/~ap/