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214 Practice server: Bombers Rule!


WWCephas

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Taking off from palm base last night in a three ship formation, 2 A-20's (Cephas and Screamer) and a Corsair (Natops) we headed 030 to finish off the convoy south of Goodenough that had recently been deprived of it's destroyer escort. I remained on the deck while Natops climbed to provide some cover as we made a max speed ingress to the target area. Spotting the ships form a long distance we each picked one to attack and continue North to Goodenough.

I made an uneventful pass on my transport targeting the higher aft end where the bridge is to make sure my bomb did not skip over the lower middle deck portion and was rewarded with an easy kill. Natops had to change his attack when he was informed that he was not allowed to skip bomb in a F4U but instead used a low level attack I advised him to use where in you approach just over deck height and release moments before passing over the ship, with bomb delayed allowed you still have plenty of time to get clear. (It really is not much different than skip bombing, just try not to skip it). Screamer unfortunately bounced his over the transport, but we moved on turning our speed into alt as we climbed towards Mt. Goodenough. As we climbed ground control informed Screamer he was Broadcasting to all channels and he began to try to fix his comms.

reaching 10k feet we turned east towards flak island and when I was close enough began my attack dive with Natops providing CAP. I pickled 2 pars of 300lb'ers and both hit dead on target inside the circle of flak guns for 11 statics and 5 AAA kills. The flak battery being almost dead I called into Screamer to abort his run and save his bombs but his comms situation had worsened and he was no longer hearing or replying to calls. He scored a few more hits on the island battery which was for all intents completely obliterated. As I crossed the south end of "The Channel" heading towards the resupply point on M13 river Natops got involved with some Zekes trying to protect Screamer. I continued towards the next target area and thanks to Natops was undetected.

It was at this time that I lost contact with the non responding Screamer so I am not sure exactly what his status was at this time.

Reaching the river mouth I proceeded North strafing small transport craft in the river then got a call from Natops he was inbound to me and I turned West to hook up with him. We then flew towards the resupply point from slightly different angles abreast of each other with my bomber opening up with my quad 50's from over a mile and letting them hose down the target liberally all the way in. In one pass I scored 4 statics and 3 landing ships and a AA. I then turned around for another pass and scored several more kills before going Winchester and heading home with a bit of wing damage. Natops also left the area in good shape and escorted me all the way home. Regretfully i can not remember what became of Screamer that mission, but it does go to show how important good comms are!

The total damage count stood at a score of 1100 points just for my ship, with minor damage to me and Natops (Screamer?). I would really like to thank Natops for his superb escorting and Screamer also for flying with me. Screamer and I ran another anti-convoy mission after this that was also excellent, although we both had major engine damage after tangling with 3 Zekes (splashed one, damaged the other 2) after sinking the destroyer and PT boat guarding the channel convoy.

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