Very Satisfying!

[bw_wolverine]

I just had one of the most satisfying flights I've ever had in a combat flight sim tonight on the Syndicate server. And yes, it was in Cliffs of Dover.

Flying a Spitfire Mk. Ia, I did a sweep of the french coastline before returning to england. Radar spotted a flight of Stukas heading for Manston.

Intercepting them, I did a high turning climb before diving down on them, peppering the rightmost plane of the six aircraft flight, tail gunners wailing at me all the while. Not a scratch!

Diving down and then rolling over to come back onto their tails, I chewed at the plane I'd previously marked, sprouting fresh trails of fuel and radiator coolant. He fell away from the pack! Turning my attention to his wingmate, I was about to open the guns when I noticed that some of the tracers flying past me were coming from behind!

Quickly, I throw the DeHavilland two speed prop into coarse and roll, diving away in a tight high-g manoever. The sneaky 109 that bounced me came with. Down and down we spiraled towards the ocean, with me watching my RPMs the whole time and pleading that my gambit would work. As we near the cold channel waters, the 109 breaks out of the turn, engine sputtering. Success! He's over-rev'd his DB and has no more hunter left in him. Now he will be hunted!

Bringing my Spit back around in a rudder assisted turn, I open up the prop to give myself a bit of power and roar onto the 109's tail. Before he knows I'm there, I've layed bullets across his wing. He turns and tries to climb away, too close to the sea, but his wounded bird won't cooperate now. We twist and writhe above the waves until he crosses my sights once more and a strong two second burst from my eight browning guns opens up his oil and smoke starts to fall away from his wing as a fire has started near the tip.

Pulling up and away, I lean over to the side and see his canopy open and a nervous pilot bail out, only a few hundred feet above the waters. I salute the warrior and head for home.

A successful landing later and I'm in the flight officers mess, telling this exact tale.

(All events happened during my mission. Wonderful stuff! I experienced no bugs at all during the flight. When the game is working right, it works really really well. I'm not going to say it doesn't need work. It does. But that was simply a wonderful sortie. The flight model, the management of my aircraft, the light playing on the dash, everything. Wonderful.)

[Bobb4]

Mind if I ask was it an AI or human 109?
Yes, it is very nice when it all works (sim that is) and I have had moments too :grin:
The first time I managed to get the G.50 airborne on our server. I was so proud of myself...
It was spluttering away and I was looking around all chuffed when a Hurricane thought he would give me flying lessons.
His first burst was way off the mark. Now the G.50 may be a dog to fly, no speed, peashooters but it turns on a dime and this hurricane pilot (human) had obviously never seen one in the air before (you do not see them zipping around servers anyway).
To cut a long story short I smoked him after a long turn and pepper session.
I still managed to land the bugger. :grin::grin::grin:

What I was going to originally say, nice to read someone enjoying the game, we all complain but it still is good at times and sometimes very good.

[CaptainDoggles]

I've been having a blast flying online lately. Just now had a real nailbiter of a dogfight against a very competent Hurricane pilot who was trying to shoot up some AI stukas as they were landing. I dove in on him but with my excess speed was forced to yo-yo as he turned hard. That gave him the space he needed to start playing hide and seek with me in the clouds. I went low, trusting that my DB601A with 1100PS could regain me the E advantage if he stayed high. It very nearly didn't, but at 1.45 ata and 2500 rpm there's not much that will keep up with a Messerschmitt. We scissored a bit on the way up; I was trying to get him to pull lead on me so he'd stall out. Eventually he got impatient and dove away (foolishly) which gave me the positional advantage needed to move in for the kill.

115m convergence for cannons and nose guns seems to be the sweet spot for me. Load the nose guns with armor-piercing ammunition for excellent cockpit penetration.

Edit: Haha, and actually, the first time I saw a G.50 online I shot it down, thinking it was a Hurri. I mean what poor sod gets into a Fiat willingly? :lol::lol:

[JG52Krupi]

Awesome, we had something like this on simhq here is my post from that thread.


Flying over the red lines and having already downed a hurri I decided to do one last sweep of the area before RTB and sure enough a spit caught my eye. Unaware of my presence I opened the throttle and closed in on my prey, the cannon in the right wing was out of action from the previous fight so I opted for a longer burst from MG's and sure enough thick smoke started billowing from the stricken aircraft, but the pilot hadn't given up yet and was pulling into a sharp climb, alas it wasn't to be sure enough his engine slowed and finally cut out and the pilot bailed. I followed the aircraft as it stalled and slowly slide into a plummet (Damn AI machines ). Flashes of gunfire quickly snapped me out of my daydream and I could only stare blankly around as a hail of 0.303cals chewed their way through the narrow cramped cockpit that I thought was soon to become my coffin and sure enough I felt the stab of a bullet grazing my side out of instinct my body thrust forward into the stick and down attempting to hide from the lead ripping through my machine. Without realizing it I had entered a steep dive and collecting my senses I opened up the throttle raised my flaps and dived for home...

I'am not sure how I managed to escape but I did and now seemingly out of trouble I decide to survey the damage taken in the cockpit a number of bullet holes in the front canopy was allowing a bitting cold wind to scratch and claw at my face, a number of instruments were broken but most distressing sight of all was my gunsight, smashed to smithereens. No worry I would be landing soon and sure enough the concrete landing strip of my HQ was visible in the distance. A flash to my right caught my eye and I saw another 109 under attack from a hurri with one glance back at the safety of the concrete strip ahead of me and despite the bullet graze from my last encounter I veered off to the right... I couldn't leave a comrade in the lurch even if my craft was in no fit shape.

Swiftly and despite the damage the 109 began to gain on the assailant who was still too busy trying to down his target, I reduced the throttle and lowered my combat flaps... I had just entered a long flat turn when the chilling sound of 0.303cals rattled against my machine, immediately I yanked back on the stick opened up the throttle and started a steep climb as second later I quickly pushed the stick forward but nothing happened, my elevator was broken! yet my aircraft continued to climb sharply.

Looking back at my tail my worst fears were confirmed the elevator was stuck forcing me into a ever steeper climb, what should I do.. Bail. No! the sea was stretching out below me and I could see my concrete home not far away now, I must try and land. I raised my landing flaps and began to claw at the elevator wheel... it must work... I had entered a dive now and the ground was looming towards me but sure enough with the elevator wheel on full the climb was significantly reduced and I was able to turn away from the tree tops.

Briefly my attention returned to my comrade "Forget about him there is nothing you can do now"... turning towards my HQ I made the achingly slow business of attempting to bring my aircraft in for a landing. It was only now that I felt the stab of pain in my chest, I had being hit again in the last attack but this time much worse, slowly my sight was blurring.

By turning my aircraft in one direction and then the next and with my throttle reduced I was able to produce a slow controlled decent, for anybody watching it must have looked like crazy dance, eventually it was time to lower the gear and I heard the familiar clunk of my undercarriage locking (at least I did in my imagination, damn sound bug) and two green lights burst to life on the instrument panel.

[furbs]

Nice read Krupi!! you should write one about our sortie last night! 2 confirmed kills i think between us.

[Rattlehead]

Great reading material guys. Thanks.

[JG52Krupi]

Nice read Krupi!! you should write one about our sortie last night! 2 confirmed kills i think between us.

Ah a tale of how I took a noob pilot (furbs) under my wind and made him an ace :-P ;-)

We certainly have a few sorties to choose from now :D I will have a go when I have a spare moment.

[retrojet]

Well listening to you guys, I hope they don't release a patch and mess up all your fun!

Just joshing! ;)
Great stuff! Give us more, please!

[baronWastelan]

Dogfight servers: the panacea of air combat. No need to concern yourself with procedures, orders or mission objectives. Simply manage your CEM, SA and gunnery. I also found it addictive for more years than I care to admit.

[Skoshi Tiger]

Last night I was on line and picked up a round from a German tail gunner that put a spray of oil over my windscreen. In a fraction of a second I went from being the attacker to nursing a crippled fighter back to the closest airbase from half way across the Channel.

I was still over water when my engine died completely. Luckily I'm starting to get familiar with the lay of the land around Dover and could spot the land marks to lead me back to Hawkhinge Aerodrome.

There was a distinct feeling of relief as I dropped my undercarriage as I crossed the hedge (trees at the boundary of the strip) and flared out for a dead stick landing!

Even with no kills, just getting out of the mission alive was extremely satisfying.

Cheers!

[jojovtx]

Wolverine you also tangled with me and my squadmates from 5./JG27 last night. You really gave the four of us a run for our money. You killed my TG and put some holes in my aircraft before my wingmen could get you off of me. I think you even managed to damage one of the 109's prior to getting shot down yourself. We all made it back to base but the Luftwaffe is short one TG and some aircraft are in maintenance right now. We were all commenting on how this Spit driver actually knew his stuff. I tried killing your motor via nose bunting but it didn't seem to have much effect on your bird. Good fight and I look forward to sending some lead your way in the future.

[yellonet]

Excuse me if I'm slightly off-topic as this is from IL-2, I posted this at the UBI forums in 2004, but it still is one of the single best online experiences I've had.

Just had one of the best online experiences ever!
I was on greater green flying for red. After a unsuccessful flight in a I-16 where I collected 0 points and had to ditch after my tanks were emptied, in friendly territory though, I decided to have a go in the P-40M.
First try.. braked too hard when taxing and dipped the prop in the ground :sad:
I started up again and made a nice takeoff with flaps @ 210 kph climbing quickly. I then headed west towards the fighting. When I saw tracer fire I flew towards it and wohoo.. the best(as in fun) fight I was ever in :D 109s and various allied planes flying all around.. very nice to see that the 109s alternated tactics and didn't just keep to BnZ exclusively.
I flew around for some 10-15 minutes and scoring kills both in the vertical and horizontal ;)
At the end I Was behind a 109 in a low altitude turn-fight and firing when suddenly - "Out of ammo" - Damn! Not now!
I was afraid that if I just broke the pursuit the 109 would get on my tail.. so I kept with him until I was turned towards east and my airfield, I broke off fast and pushed the throttle to full WEP, I dove down to the deck and just ran like... something really fast ;)
On the way home I was turning slightly left and right to check my six - no one there. I pulled up a bit and there it was right infront of me.. the airfield! - I was lined up perfectly.. I lowered my flaps and leaned back on the throttle.. was gliding in for a perfect landing..
- Pam Pam Pam! Tracers flying past my windscreen.. flaps up! Throttle full, roll to the right and turn! I looked back over my shoulder. It was one of those pesky 109s - Where did he come from?!
I realized that I had to make him think I still had ammo and I engaged him in a turn fight. My War Hawk had the upper hand and I was beginning to catch up to him when he apparently pulled the stick to hard. I saw him loose speed and then he just smashed his Messerschmidt into the ground breaking off the right wing in the process.
I was home free.. went in for a landing slightly askew but compensated with the rudder.. put my baby down gently with flaps @ 160 kph. rolled to a stop in the grass beside the runway. I breathed out loudly. I was alive!

And 400 points richer ;)


- Yellonet

[bw_wolverine]

Wolverine you also tangled with me and my squadmates from 5./JG27 last night. You really gave the four of us a run for our money. You killed my TG and put some holes in my aircraft before my wingmen could get you off of me. I think you even managed to damage one of the 109's prior to getting shot down yourself. We all made it back to base but the Luftwaffe is short one TG and some aircraft are in maintenance right now. We were all commenting on how this Spit driver actually knew his stuff. I tried killing your motor via nose bunting but it didn't seem to have much effect on your bird. Good fight and I look forward to sending some lead your way in the future.

Yep, it was a great time!

In that particular encounter, I was flying towards the French coastline when I spotted some aircraft in the distance. I was angling towards them when a 110 zoomed overhead of me. It couldn't have been more than 500ft or so away and kept going. I must have been hidden under the nose of your plane or else you'd have had all your nose guns on me.

We danced a while and I got some good hits, but your manoevers were good so I had to spend a lot more time managing the RPMs than lining up shots. At that point, though, my Spit had the advantage since we'd both lost a lot of energy and as long as I didn't stall it, I'd be able to keep on you. Your squadmates did a great job of lining me up. I try to keep a good situational awareness, but the first indication of your wingmen was bullets in my elevator.

I'm not exactly sure how it ended. I was doing evasives after getting hit (my plane was still functioning). I seem to recall doing an 'up and away' turn after gaining some speed and blowing past a 109 coming right at me. I lost a wing but I wasn't sure what happened to the 109. Did we collide or did he take the wing off with cannon?

Also in response to whether or not the 109 I shot down was flown by a human, yes it was. The stukas probably not. The 109 definitely. We chatted a little about the encounter just after it happened.

--

Great posts from everyone else in this thread. Combat pilots recounting their fights are always interesting to listen to - real or simulated. Let's hear some more!

Also, can't stress enough how much having a good flight model changes this game. I compare CloD more to FSX with guns than IL-2 1946. Flying the A2A Accusim Spitfire in FSX prepared me very well for taking the stick in CloD. If you're still having problems with the game (performance, bugs, what have you) I really recommend picking up the A2A Accusim Spit for FSX if you don't already have it. Absolutely worth the money and a great training ground for when CloD is cooked enough to your taste.

[Stukadriver]

I am glad to see some people reporting their enjoyment of COD. Before it was released in the US, I was reading all the horror stories and was really wondering if I should get the game or not...but I had been reading the forums for so long and had waited to see the game for so long, that I had to buy it. And I am glad I did. I only have been playing/practicing as a single pilot, not on-line, and as I have used the sim, read the manual, tweaked my system to improve performance, I have come to really look forward to playing the game when I get home at night...even squeezing in some training at lunch time, if I can...I have found COD to be very good and clearly it will be great as time goes by.
I have been a pilot for over 15 years and I fly a warplane replica (StuKa). I am used to being bounced around in the cockpit (although I like the smooth days better) and I feel that the simulation of flight in this game is about as close as you can get to the real thing...no game will ever achieve the sensation, of course. So...I am not a drooling fanatic but neither am I a insatiable critic...I just want to express my satisfaction with what has been delivered so far and to encourage the developers to continue their excellent work.

[CaptainDoggles]

Dogfight servers: the panacea of air combat. No need to concern yourself with procedures, orders or mission objectives. Simply manage your CEM, SA and gunnery. I also found it addictive for more years than I care to admit.

It's also a lot of fun to participate in something a little more regimented like an online war, with multiple squadrons cooperating in real time. But sometimes it's fun to throw that out the window and go on a frei jagd.

I don't think any online war could drag me back to il2fb. Under the rough exterior this game is leagues ahead of il2.

[Ze-Jamz]

He's over-rev'd his DB engine


FAIL! :)

lol..Good post mate

[bw_wolverine]

Please lets not have this thread devolve into yet another debate about what is or isn't ready/right with the game.

Let's hear some more tales of valor in the sky!

[CaptainDoggles]

Please lets not have this thread devolve into yet another debate about what is or isn't ready/right with the game.

Let's hear some more tales of valor in the sky!

Well it's not necessarily a tale of valor but the Bf 109 flight model actually seems a lot better than the model in FB. Using the climb advantage against spits and hurris actually works, and the elevators don't lock up at 400 km/h.

Today some silly Spitfire pilot chased me up to about 6500m. At that altitude the performance gap is quite evident, as I literally flew circles around him.

[Jugdriver]

A few nose down maneuvers were unsuccessful, damn the forum-whiners that removed this from the British aircraft!

I was unaware that the fuel starvation in a negative G maneuver has been removed from the British aircraft, can someone confirm this?

JD
AKA_MattE

[CaptainDoggles]

I was unaware that the fuel starvation in a negative G maneuver has been removed from the British aircraft, can someone confirm this?

JD
AKA_MattE

AFAIK It's still in the game. Haven't flown the RAF birds in a few weeks but as of the latest patch you still sputter when nosing down. It takes a few seconds of continual negative Gs before it'll cut completely tho

[bw_wolverine]

Ya, its not removed completely, but long ago Luthier stated they changed the value from what they had found through research (I believe it was 0.5g) to a more user friendly number, and increased the time for the fuel starvation to occur.

It's still pretty devestating if you don't compensate for it. Nose down manoevers still work if you've got a spit pilot on your tail who doesn't take the time to learn about the merlin's carburetor. Also, I think it occurs quicker the more rapidly you push the negative g's. A very very gradual nose down will start to sputter in a couple seconds, but a hard nose down will cough instantly. I think this is fairly good. It at least allows you to manoever in level flight without having to flip over all the time :) Hard dogfighting is another story, though, and you've got the be cognisant of it alllllll the time.

Good story! Outflying your opponent can be as satisfying as filling him with lead.

[SEE]

I logged onto the Syn server last night and there were around 24 players. Unfortunately, my FPS was dreadful and |I experienced the sound issue within seconds of spawning. During take off another Hurricane spawned directly in front of me and that was the end of that first session. My views would hold for around 5 seconds and the FPS got so bad I had to exit again and try a re boot and see if things were better .

I checked my Cache folder an noticed a whole bunch of files created during that MP session so deleted everything in it - my sound returned but the fps was just as bad if not worse.

At around 15000 ft (over my home base) I spotted a trio of Bf109's below me but, with my fps at single figures decided not to engage but keep a watchfull eye (which became increasingly difficult as panning resulted in frozen views).

I was spotted and the best I could do was take evasive action, survive and land with damaged rudder control.

It seems that the more players on the server the worse the performance which suffers dramatically when another ac gets close. I gave up trying again which was a huge disappointment as I recognised a whole bunch of regulars from this forum and it would have been great to fly with and against them. I won't give up and will try again - may be it was just a bad session!

[Tree_UK]

I logged onto the Syn server last night and there were around 24 players. Unfortunately, my FPS was dreadful and |I experienced the sound issue within seconds of spawning. During take off another Hurricane spawned directly in front of me and that was the end of that first session. My views would hold for around 5 seconds and the FPS got so bad I had to exit again and try a re boot and see if things were better .

I checked my Cache folder an noticed a whole bunch of files created during that MP session so deleted everything in it - my sound returned but the fps was just as bad if not worse.

At around 15000 ft (over my home base) I spotted a trio of Bf109's below me but, with my fps at single figures decided not to engage but keep a watchfull eye (which became increasingly difficult as panning resulted in frozen views).

I was spotted and the best I could do was take evasive action, survive and land with damaged rudder control.

It seems that the more players on the server the worse the performance which suffers dramatically when another ac gets close. I gave up trying again which was a huge disappointment as I recognised a whole bunch of regulars from this forum and it would have been great to fly with and against them. I won't give up and will try again - may be it was just a bad session!

Yes we have experienced similar things as yourself, I dont know if its the AI thats causing all the big pauses and lag, but something is definitley not right. I found it so frustrating I just gave up in the end, it could be that the game simply doesn't like steam.

[Danelov]

It seems that the more players on the server the worse the performance which suffers dramatically when another ac gets close. I gave up trying again which was a huge disappointment as I recognised a whole bunch of regulars from this forum and it would have been great to fly with and against them. I won't give up and will try again - may be it was just a bad session!

Maybe a solution is a MP with AI special aircrafts. That mean, as example a Spitfire with less polygonos and specially, simple skins to reduced load time, avoid freezing and obtain top fluid FPS. That work quite well with FS9 and FSX and a good number of this models AI are of excelent qualitat like the Aardvark or FSP. There are thousend of repaints of this models, working usually only with one or two BMPs.Negative point: can be a little"frustrating" specially for the fans of personnel or specials skins.

[yellonet]

This thread is obviously getting infected by an increasingly heated off-topic discussion.
Why not create a new thread for that as this one is for tales of bravery among the clouds.

[VO101_Tom]

I replied in this topic (http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?p=317111#post317111), let us continue the talk there.

[Blackdog_kt]

Good suggestion Tom, i moved all of our posts regarding multiplayer modes to that thread.