From the other side

[Hard Sarge]

Major Willy Messer
(doing some tests, so I just use the same settings, the names stay the same)

joins the 357th FG, after years of teaching others how to fly and fight, he is finally going to get his chance to show his stuff (before the war ends)

March 1st 1945
a bombing raid is planned for a airfield south of Berlin, ou rjob today will be to keep the LW away from the bombers, and once the target is hit, and we have any ammo left, to hit anything that moves down on the deck

we cross the border at 20 K, the bombers are in a nice packed formation, and plenty of fighters are swarming the area, so I take my wingman and sweep out ahead of the raid

soon, we see we are in luck, Gerry was slow in getting the news and is still climbing to get into postion, I spot 2 groups of 2 underneath of us and a number of Gerry planes off in the distance, time to get to work

I waggle my wings and roll onto my back, hit combat flaps and do a Split S, kill the flaps as I come out of the Split and start to close the range to the number two man

looks like late models 109s, from 300 yards I open fire and see strikes across the wings, the plane all but stops in mid air as the 50s rip the plane to shreds

fly past, then start to pull up, to engage the leader, but this boy is awake and rolls to the side and then starts to climb for all he is worth

it took too long and lost too much energy trying to pull out of the dive, so we are both in close to the same energy state, and the fight is getting interesting, finally he starts to stall out, that is when I am able to open fire, but the climb and the guns going off, causes my plane to stall too

my target falls away, but I am still hanging by my props, and the plane won't respond, finally it starts to nose over and down below me, I see my foe, with two other Stangs diving in

he snaps to the left as the 1st stang opens fire, then reverses his course when the 2nd stang opens up, and both are forced to break off the attack as they start to overshoot there target, back into the sky zoom the pair

good, go back where you belong, this is my target

[Hard Sarge]

all the fancy moves has burned off any energy my foe may of had when he first got away from me, and I am gaining speed and closeing the range fast, just as I start to line up my shot, I see another stang dive in, the crafty 109 counter rolls and the Stang zooms away, but it was to be his last trick, thought I as he once more rolled upright just as I press the trigger

before my rounds can reach him, see his hood pop off and the pilot starts to crawl out of his cockpit, too late I see the 50s reach the target, and slam his body into the plane he has so masterfully flown, as I fly past his plane, I turn and watch his lifeless body fall to the earth

war is hell, but he was one of the good ones, in the end, it will be better for us, but at the moment, it feels like murder

break up and away and gain some alt, while scanning the skies to see what is going on, spot another 109 and make short work of him, the 190s have hit the bombers HARD, but that is for the other fighters to take care

once I see that the coast is clear in our sector, I waggle my wings and point to the deck, my wingman just nods his head and down we go, looking for anything that is moving

I spot a lone 88 fireing at the bombers oh so far away, and hammer it, it is a smoking ruin as I fly away, soon I spot a train, and work it over, from caboose to engine and then were are out of the combat zone, flying for home

a good day, 3 kills, 1 AA gun and 6 train/cars

[Hard Sarge]

March 2nd
the plan is for me to take my flight out and hit anything moving in Zone 17 a 3, so we load up some bombs and head towards the target

strange orders, attack trains or not any to be seen, attack any trucks we can find

got a flight of Stangs flying cover for us, as if the 357th needs any help !

reach the target area and soon spot a train, give the command, to attack, and I start the dive, I toss my 2 500 pounders at the train, but am a little short, but one of the train cars bursts into flames, look over my shoulder and watch as the rest of the boys go to town

in a very short time, the train is a pile of wasted metal, but see that the number 4 man, either ran in too low, and got caught in one of the bomb blasts, or a lucky MG gunners found the mark, but smoke is billowing out of his engine, order he to trun for home, when the over head flight calls out bogies

snap my eyes to the front and right there passing under me are 2 twin engine Gerries, pushing all thoughts of my number 4 man, I kick in the boost and Split S to start my attack

a little too eager, if I wait to line up the 2nd plane, I will not be able to pull out of the Split and get onto his tail, if I go for the 1st plane, I will place myself right in front of the 2nd plane

oh well, my blood is up, one of my boys has been hurt and it is time to pay Gerry back for the pain

making a slashing attack, and pour the ammo into the left wing, soon flames spurt from the wing and engine and the plane spins out of control (and almost smacks me in the face !)

the attack is too fast, I am in and out and coming back around, before the 2nd plane could react

I am able to loop from the first attack and still come back in on the 2nd plane, but as I close in, he starts a counter move, I try to follow, but have too much speed built up, so all I can do is try to skid the plane, and open fire as fly past

my luck holds, and I hammer the right wing, the wing bursts into flame and again, the plane snaps out of control, and spins to the earth, trailing a long string of fire

neither plane were the pilots able to get out, the force of the spin, must of been too great, hopefully, for there sake, the ground was found before the fires spread

some trucks and another train is found on the way home

my number 4, tried for a belly landing, but either the plane was too badly damaged or he misjudged the lay of the land, he didn't make it

2 more kills today, makes me an Ace, plus 6 trucks and 5 more train cars, my crew chief is up half the night, painting some silly symbles onto my plane, but I must admit, they look real good to me

[Hard Sarge]

Hmmm
seems it is only Feb 1945, guess I been busy and never noticed the date !

also, for some reason, I have trouble flying the P-51 !, I keep flying into things !!

it maybe that the Stang picks up speed faster then some of the planes I am used to and my break off point is different, or it maybe the fact the 50 cals take a bit longer to work over a target

Feb 3rd
mission for today is to fly cover for some of the big boys, the CO gives his normal, do your job and come home in piece speach, but then stops and seems to debate with himself before speaking again

okay boys, word from HQ is that they dont want to hear anything about UFOs flying in the area, intell says the Gerries have been working on all kinds of new plane types, and what the bombers have been reporting, maybe some of them, so..., if you see anything strange, shoot it down and report it as a Gerry

oh.. yea, Intell requests that you all make sure you got your gun cameras turned on

hours later, 20 K and crossing the border of Gerryland, the radio crackles, White Flight, your the rover, happy hunting

Roger, Mars or bust, here we go

chuckles are heard over the radio, but don't last long, as the skipper starts to command the other flights into there proper postions

the Rover Flight, gets to range out ahead of the bomber strike and either report on, or attack any Gerry that trys to form up in front of the raid

the bombers are an impressive sight, as we kick up the speed and start to climb, and start to pass them by, soon, they are just dots in the mirror as we get closer to the target, soon, we start to see the Gerries as they are climbing

2, you see what I see ?, roger 1, either those planes have already been attacked, or they are shooting flames out of there wings

Roger 2, White Flight, stand by to attack, Skipper, we got 4 UFOs climbing fast, 18 K, and 2 large Gaggles of Gerries forming up below them, attacking now

nose down, WEP on, guns armed, gun sight on, cameras on, and at over 400 mphs we streak down into the UFOS, it looks like they are doing about the same, but they been climbing since I first spotted them !

try to line up on the lead plane, but both of us are going too fast, the lead zooms past my wing tip, don't look, aim, fire, real flames burst out of the left engine of the 2nd plane, dang, but that thing looked like a shark, a big mean shark, watch in my mirror as the cockpit flys off into the wind, and the pilot starts to bail out, a big bad nasty shark, but one that can be hurt

take a heavy load of Gs as I pull back on the stick, the 2nd flight of UFOs is already passing me by, get to the top, fight off the darkness and roll the plane level

they are still climbing, but I may still have some E left from my dive and climb and give chase, close in the 2nd plane, Crud, the bombers are in view, and I can see 3 streaks of flame headed into there mist

start to rush and panic, fire, lead em boy, they are are fast, your shots are falling way behind him, put the pipper on his nose, jerk the nose up and fire, let go of the trigger and relack the pull, let the nose come back down and YEA, flames, the left wings is a ball of flames, aim for just in front of the nose and fire again, and smoke starts to poar out of the nose of the beast
, cockpit pops and out the side rolls the pilot from his striken bird

in the distance, see a 17 explode, and a shark zoom though the flames, almost in range of the lead plane, but he is pulling away, my E is all but used up, fire, poor shot, but didn't plan on it hitting, but it worked, the shark starts to bank left, then rolls right and starts a slight turn to the right

ahhh, hope I can report this, the Shark is fast, but sluggish, and bleeds E fast in any type of turn, hit the rudder and easily fell behind the beast, he starts to panic and breaks his turn and rolls to the left, then right, then left again, right at the end, it seems like he knows what mistake he has made, and tries to put his nose down, but it is too late now, I am in range

[Hard Sarge]

fire and both engines burst into flames and the shark rolls over onto its back, just like my guppies used to back home when they died

see another 17 explode, and the lead shark streaks down towards the ground, but he has company, 4 of more Stangs are giving chase, and again, the pilot makes a mistake and trys to shake his followers instead of flying away, Skipper gets a UFO too

my eyes follow the Skipper and his kill as they race towards the ground, grin, the Skipper is a alright guy, turn my eyes back to where they belong and am shocked and dumbfounded, I am headed right into the middle of the bomber raid, and they can't tell friendly from enemy and are blasing away, pull the nose up into as sharp a climb as I can handle and wiggle my wings and hope they see my stripes

soon I am over the bombers and my luck still holds, the bombers got a lot of guns, but, they got lousy gunners

[Hard Sarge]

either I have lost my wingman, or he was smarter then I and didn't fly though the bombers, but soon I am turned around and headed back to the battle, climb a bit, so I can use my alt if I get the chance, see that the bombers have been hit HARD, 3 bombers are trailing smoke and 2 at least have gone down

and the fun has only just begun, as the other two groups of gerries are closing in

see 4 109s coming in from the right, dive down into the them, fire at number 2 and see hits and smoke, and he starts to roll to port, 3 and 4 break left and right and the leader pulls his nose up to the stars, I pull back on the stick and try to follow, higher and higher we go, soon, I am all but out of E, but so is he, I am hanging on my prop for all I am worth and soon the speed drops to 70 mph, but the 109 just won't stall out, fire, normally I am light on the trigger, but this is a all or nothing attack and hammer the trigger, see strikes along the tail and into the wings, white smoke begins to leak from his engine and my plane stalls and falls onto its back, a guick glance over my shoulder and I see he also has fallen onto his back as his stall begins

nose down, center the controls, break the spin, level it out, come on boy, you been teaching this for years, do your job, break the spin, there, get it under control, where is that bugger, look to the left, look to the right, check your backside, look down, there ! got him, how he get so far away so fast ? , bombers, never mind that, he is pushing his nose over and starting to make a run on the bombers

nose down, full power, push in the WEP, dive boy dive, he must be damaged, as I start to gain on him, as he closes in on the bombers, I can see his rudder push to the left and then to the right, as he is starting to line up for his gun run, FIRE, and his engine explodes into flames, the plane spins out of control as it finally comes with in range of the bombers, I keep my dive going, I try and pull out over top of the bombers, I am sure my luck will not hold

zoom past under the bombers pushing 450 mph, cut power and start a slow pull out as I start to bank back towards the belly of the raid, and am rewarded with a new target, 4 more Gerries are climbing into the attack, strange looking beasts, black with a very long wingspan, but what ever they are, they got guns on them and white crosses on the there wings, so they got to die

[Hard Sarge]

my zoom speed is great and close on number 4 but can not shift my aim so am unable to fire and hit the target, but he kicks in HARD right rudder and breaks off his climb, fire on 3, strikes along the left side and I am past, if I can't kill em, maybe I can still break up the attack

starting to slow down, but still gaining on the next plane fast, start to fire, but either he has been watching or his 6th sense kicked in and he breaks to the side, as my shells tear little chucks of metal off of his wing, and again I am past before I can finish him

the leader starts to jinks as I climb into him, point my nose where he is not, as most jinks will come back, and he does, I pull the trigger and my shells tear his engine apart, I can see his prop stop in mid air, as it seems his plane does also, I snap my plane to the left and barely slide by the crippled plane

and again I am into the bombers

on the last pass, I seen my tracers change color, so I know my guns are done, out of ammo, and as I look around, out of targets, soon, my wingman joins up, and we get the message that the 4th FG is now in the saddle, time to turn for home, fighters that didn't get into the battle or suffer damage are allowed to break for the deck and gun down anything moving, I am out of ammo, and I am tired, I think we will take the lazy way home this time

after we land, the intell boys have a field day, with the films and reports, UFOs and Sharks ?, Me 262s twin engine jets, a new wonder weapon for the Gerry, if flown right, they are deadly, but they are few and far between, and not many can fly them as they need to be flown

I got 3 of them, the long winged bird ?, a TA-152, some kind of new FW, suppost to be better then the Stang at high Alt, maybe we were lucky and got them lower down, but we got them, I claimed 1 killed and 2 damaged, along with 1 109 and 3 damaged

turns out the 109 I got, was not the one I was chasing, the flim showed his markings were different

not bad, 5 confirmed kills, with at least 5 damaged, but in the back of my mind, I still see the shark, I think my dreams are going to be haunted by sharks, for a long time to come

[Hard Sarge]

Feb 4th
(funny, you read alot in the IL-2 forums about how poor the 50 cal is, I think it is a real killer, but, the hassle is, you don't see the instint kill with it, you take a 109 K or a FW 190, and your target either snaps a wing or bursts into flames, or blows up, but the 50, you can rip a target with what looks like a heavy blast, and the plane keeps flying, BUT...., most times it is a dead plane, it just has to find out that fact)

Mission for today, hit anything on wheels, we get to fly cover for the mudmovers

Red flight has 4 fighters, my flight, White flight only has 2, Red flight does a number of slow turns, in and out over top of the mudders, my flight grabs for alt and set up high cover

but a long mission and boreing for the cover boys, not one Gerry shows up, soon, many smoke trails are floating up from the roadways and the Mudders are turning for home

White Flight, Rover time, comes over the radio, roger, Rover it is (Rover mean we get to free hunt, any trucks, trains or fields we find, we can waste our ammo on)

soon, my wingman waggles his wings and once he sees that I am looking, points to the north, looks like a train in rolling, but I don't feel right, Intell reported that Gerry should make a showing today, and it has been pretty quiet, so I just point East, my wingman, shakes his head then waggles his wings, his job is not to reason why, just follow what the boss says

minutes pass, and nothing, soon I notice, that while I been heading East, I have been letting the wind push us to the north, that train is starting to look good, start to look over my shoulder, to see if I can still pick up the smoke from the Train, when I spot them, 4 boggies heading West, and under us, 2 Boggies, Roger, see em, we going to jump them 8 boggies ?

8 ?, I only see 4, turn my head and there they are, 8 more right in front of us, about 6 K under our noses, oops, wait for my break, we go in and get out, no turns, hit em HARD and then head for home

Roger

we have to wait for a bit, and the first 4 start to get away from us, but we should get a chance to surprise the tail of the next group of planes

Gun sight on, Guns Charged, safety off, time to rock and roll, well, time to roll, onto my back I go, pull the stick back and start my dive, ahhh, we were spotted, 4 pairs of FWs break and head into different directions, still able to pick my target, but won't be able to shoot up the whole group

close in and fire, strikes all across the FW, but am not able to stick with the target, break off the run and and try to line up on the leader, my zoom speed is letting me gain on my next target fast, but still have time to check my 6, and see that my last target has started to go into a lazy spin, must of hit it better then it looked

the next 190 is still above me, need to get my nose up or I am going over shoot him, hit my flaps, and fire, the FW starts to do a snap roll, but is too late, the shells that would of ripped his engine apart from below, rip it apart from the top, and I see the hood pop off as I zoom by, again look over my shoulder and see that the first target has not broken his spin, and the 2nd has bailed out

see 2 FWs headed away to the right of me, turn to look to the left and DANG, 109s in front of me, headed right for us, must of been the first group I seen, they turned back for us

I need to start watching where I am going, that is twice now, the bad guys where right in front of me

the leader pitches his nose up while his wingman rolls to the left, I get a good clean shot, my shells should rake him from nose to tail, and.... nothing

no way I missed, look back over my shoulder again, and see that we got 4 FWs headed in, the one 109 is breaking for the deck, but the other 2 are looping over

time to get out of town, and head for home, quick count and I know where 10 of the bad guys are, 2 are missing, roll the plane a bit to get a look under my wings and there they are, under us and headed the same way we are

nice shot Skipper, that 109 just bailed out, well now, thought I had hit him good, he just didn't show it

do a double barrel roll as I start my dive, am able to keep my speed while not gaining too much forward motion, pull the nose up and am right behind the trailer, my shells start ripping into his wingroot, and smoke and fuel start to trail behind the plane

the leader start to roll to the left, so I break off my attack so I can follow the leader, hit flaps, and roll with him, see his flaps drop and he starts to tighten his roll, but I am too close now and fire, strikes across his wings, he tries to counter his roll, but again, it is too late and my shells rip his engine apart, his hood almost hits me as he starts to bail out

again, look behind me and can see the other FW spinning to the ground

guick glance and the coast is clear, but lots of bad guys behind us, clean the plane up and point the nose down, we got too much of a lead and after a while, the chasers start to give up and head back for home

once on the ground and we are able to check out the films, look like two of them FWs were the D model, so, 2 FW 190 A8s, 2 FW 190 D9s and a 109 G10, not a bad mission, even better since I did almost everything wrong

maybe it is the plane and not the pilot