New Kid in town

[Hard Sarge]

Crima front
JG 52 gets a new pilot, baby faced kid, looks too young and too skinny to be at the front, don't look like he has to shave yet, and his mop of hair won't stay in place, just what are they sending us anyways

first mission, the kid gets lucky and knocks down 4 planes, all the old vets are impressed, but it was all luck, it is the 2nd mission that will tell them what they got, a young lion, or a baby seal

todays mission is a long one, we going to fly to the Russian Airfield at Kersh, and try to keep our bombers in one piece, let you in on a little secret, the Bomber CO and I got a little wager going, his 20 Marks to my 100 Marks, that not one of his bombers is going to be shot down by the Russkies today, don't let me down, I don't have 100 Marks until next payday !

it is a long flight, the drop tank make this plane sluggish, but we pass the 10000 foot mark with no hassle, then settle in for the flight, half way to the front, we pick up the bombers, man, who would want to fly in one of them things, the slow and they are ugly, and worse, the girls back home don't want to talk with the bomber jocks

as we get close to the border, the flak starts to pop around us, what a joke, like they can damage us

Number two, my engines been hit, I got to break off and return to base, your on your own kid, follow me home or latch on to someone else, just keep your eyes open

I watch as my section leader drops away, trailing a line of white smoke

normal rules would be for me to follow him home, to protect him in case the enemy shows up, but we are still close to our lines and this is a max effort, so decide to stick with the formation

soon, he is out of sight, well, out of sight, out of mind, they say, but you still feel as if you are not doing what you are suppost to do, then

Boggies, 12 oclock low, 6000, rings out of the headset, Boggies, 11 oclock low, 7000 , Boggies, 12 oclock, 8000

Get em boys, keep the speed up, hit em and get, watch your partner, everybody comes home today, yells the Skipper

Yeehaa, come on Ivan, time to dance, screams the headset

there coming right under you, you spot the first of the enemy planes, was I lucky yesterday, or am I any good, gun switches on, snap over and pull into a Split S and dive into the fight

try to hold the Split as long as I can but I under shoot, and watch helplessly as two P-39s fly past my cockpit, use the speed I got built up and zoom back up into the sky

out the top of the cockpit, I can see more Russian planes coming in, it is going to be a big fight, finish off my loop and come back down, a little rudder and I am screaming right at 2 P-40s, tap the trigger and see shells strike the rearmost plane, but it just starts a roll and I am past him, his leader is filling the sights much fastest then I want, but....

aim for the oil cooler under the engine, tap the trigger, tap it again, then yank back on the stick, we going to be close

[Hard Sarge]

Wow, that hurt to even watch, but that is one down, look over my shoulder trying to pick up the other one I hit, but see a 109 on his tail, and smoke is pouring out of his engine, so he is done also

try to level out and build up some speed, see 3 P-39s zoom past under me, and a P-40 doing barrel rolls above me, but I am out of place to get an attack in, there a P-39 is chasing a 109, maybe I can climb in under him before he knows what hit him, using all my speed, to climb to his alt, bleed me dry, but I am close to getting a shot off and he don't see me, he is too locked onto his target, about to tap the trigger when ISee his guns begin to bark

close my finger around the trigger and let him have it

[Hard Sarge]

hmmm, that was a good 4 or 5 20 mm rounds right into the belly of that plane, and nothing, try a wing over, but the plane just goes into a heavy roll,snap the roll before it becomes a stall or a spin, and see under me my target, it is trailing smoke, but is breaking for home at full speed, try to come around and get on his tail, but see another 39 coming in from the side, tighten the roll and try to get a lead on this guy, high defection, poor shot, but got to let him know I am here, maybe he will make a mistake, only use the 30 cals, can't waste the 20 on a lousy shot, one short burst, another, and now, fire a third and ...

[Hard Sarge]

Wow good shot, good shot kid, unreal, must of been a 60degee deflection shot and I land it, even better, them 30 cals must of went right through the engine

roll level and try to get a bearing on what is going on, when I see green streaks fly past my wing tip, what the hell was that, then I see more of them, look over my shoulder and see a P39 on my tail, followed by 2 more, ahhhhhhh

at lesat he might be a rookie too, he fireing from way to far away, and if he had held his fire, I may never of known he was there till it was too late, don't have much speed built up, but am pushing over 300 mphs, do a gentile roll and pull back just a little on the stick, try a gentile turn, and keep my speed up, it works, I am turning faster then he can correct, but still picking up enough speed to stop him from closing, it is the other two I am worried about, they are farther back, so can correct much easier, and just bide there time

Clear my tail

roger, on it kid, hang on

them tracers seem to be getting closer and closer, don't them things ever run out of ammo !, come on, clear my tail

Roger, Hang on kid

oh, you think this is funny, when I get back to base, I gonna

hey the tracers stopped, check the mirror and see all 3 39s are pulling a sharp turn away from me, while some 109s are doing there thing

come on baby, lets show Ivan what we got, they wanted us, now they going to get us, and yank the stick into the pit of my gut and snap over into a loop, roll at the top, and get a view, see two of the 39s break to the right, while the 3rd one breaks left, my little helpers have all rolled to the right, so I will take on the other one

up. down, and round and round, this jocky is pretty good, but then again, I am a rookie, so what do I know, I fire a snap shot with my 30 cals, he starts to break his roll and do a counter, but then stops and pulls for all he is worth, his plane almost stops in midair as his plane tries to break all the rules of flight, only I never followed his first counter, tap the trigger and watch the 20's smash into his engine

[Hard Sarge]

watch his flaming wreck fly into the ground, then snap out of it, there are more planes in the area, tails of smoke are raising from the ground almost anyplace you look, somebody is taking it on the chin, hopefully it is Ivan

funny, how wide awake you are and how keen your sense are, while you are in combat, and how many times, you don't know what is happening right behind you

BREAK KID, BREAK

reflexs take over and you snap the plane onto it's back and pull for all your worth, and you get a glanceing look at two P40s zooming past you, there wings ablazeing, finish the split and start to climb when you seen another P40, you get a belly to head shot on it, but your shells go wide, or maybe not, but they don't do major damage

then you see what you want, below you, crossing across your nose, another P-40, kick the rudder and down you go, at the last momemt he sees you and tries to climb away, too late

[Hard Sarge]

only I am too close, and my engine takes some damage from the flying parts, fly though the flames and am shocked to notice I never seen his wingman, but he has seen me

HARD rudder, maybe his angle is off, jank the stick back and look over my shoulder, and dang, he is dead on me, my first move didn't help

clear my tail, clear my tail

pull out of my Split at tree top level, and am going wild trying to find him, clear my tail

2 your clear

I said clear my tail

Kid, your clean

it takes a few seconds to check all around, but they are right, there is nothing there, then you see the smoke, raiseing behind you, he tried to follow you, and couldn't make the pull up

Kid, you leaving a trail, go home

then you hear it, the engine is knocking, check your gages, and your pressure is dropping

Roger, returning to base, Good hunting guys

shortly you see the puffs of smoke from the border guns as they send you on your way home, a few miles inside the border, the engine starts to slow down, you pull your nose up, and lower the flaps, kill as much speed as you, and slowly you settle down and ride out of bumpy landing

chief not going to be happy, his props are all bent, and the belly has seen better days, but any landing you can walk away from, is a good one

[Hard Sarge]

soon a Truck comes and picks me up, and takes me to a airfield near by

by they only have a few planes for recon and getting supplies to the front, so I got to be a passager, by the time I Land, the squadron is already back, and big party is in full swing

ah Kid, welcome back

what is the party about ?

well, it is a brithday party, when ever you are alive, when you should of died, we have a party

for who ?

your section leader, on the way home, he came across 4 Il-2s, approching a supply column, he shot down all 4 before plowing into the trees along road, the troopers found him sitting on the side of the road as they drove up, nobody knows how he got out in one piece, but we don't argue, we just party

by the way Kid, good job, I won my bet

HARD_Sarge