DesertDog

Flew this today and the formation stayed together - appears to be fixed.

Sure, though I would have spent more time composing that message! seriously, your advice made it feel like less a game and more an experience. I finally learned to not just dive into the fray, but instead think more, look for good opportunities and then try to take advantage of them. Overall I finished with 7 aircraft kills, 2 ground vehicles and lived to the end. there was one surprise flak that nearly took me out ( exploded just in front of me, damaging the engine but not catastrophic luckily!) but I managed to limp back to and land at Lympne. That was stressful!

(no spoilers) Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed this campaign. I took your advice and wasn’t trying to rack up a massive score, just survive, and I found it to be much more immersive and filled with tension since I was tryin to not be captured or killed. Took a couple months, flying no more than one mission a day, and I looked forward to each one. i really enjoyed not being able to use the online map to know where I was, and instead found landmarks and printed maps to help me navigate and better learn the terrain, nicely done. I only had one mission where I failed to make it back to England, and it was due to poor engine management, resulting in a seized engine. Fortunately for me, the resistance got to me before the Germans and I was able to get back to England ( ). I enjoyed this so much I just started The Big Show. finished the first mission today. Whew. FYI, I have completed both F-14 tomcat campaigns you created, and Zemke’s Wolfpack for the P-47. Your campaigns are top notch, very enjoyable and really give a sense of being there, to the extent a game can do so. I can only imagine what the real pilots went through, and this gives a very tiny glimpse into it. Finally, I am a wargamer, and being able to fly over England in a spitfire helps me visualize the board games I play as well, and let’s me better visualize what the pilots flew over. thanks again, and I look forward to your future campaigns! Keep up the great work! Dave

Just wanted to say thanks for your campaigns. I own three (Zone 5, Fear the Bones and Zemkes Wolfpack), and I have completed only Zone 5, and flown a couple missions in Wolfpack, and just completed mission 9 in Fear the Bones. I was hip deep in trouble during this last mission in FtB, and as I was maneuvering against the Migs in mission 9 (Going for gun kills as was too close and out of Aim 9’s), I realized that, wow, I can actually fly and maneuver without stalling or ripping my wings off! and not get shot down. I think I learned something in Zone 5! After the mission was over, I thought some more and wanted to say that these three campaigns have done more for my ability to fly in DCS than when I was doing random missions and training. Wolfpack taught me how to fly in formation and keep in touch with my wingman. zone 5 taught me how to fly the tomcat and some radar work, but mainly how to look around and fly and merge and ACM against the AI. FtB has taught me the following: how to orbit a waypoint (or ship) and doing that at night really hammered out how to do it on instruments how to use the radar and different ranges on the TID, and how to use ground stabilization to get a better all around picture. how to use the Phoenix (finally getting some kills in TWS) how to get kills with a sparrow (4 of my 6 in the last mission were kills) how to avoid SAMs. A lot. there is more but this gets long. I loved learning this while enjoying great stories and campaigns. Once I finish FtB I will finish Zemkes WP. keep up the great work and I look forward to more campaigns from you dave

I was low but again, stupid. Lined up and flew straight for too long, thinking it was something else. great campaign, thanks again

No spoilers mission two went really well until I got a case of the stupids on the way back to base and promptly took an 88 smack in the face. But first, how we got there From the start, this mission was an improvement in my ability to taxi and stay behind my lead ( and not get bulldozed by the AI like in the past!), with a cleaner take off and formed up in formation a lot faster. Unlike mission 1 where I was all over the place, I pretty much stayed in formation for most of the mission until the action happens. As long as the flight is, I am seeing improvement in my piloting! Really appreciate it. didn’t get any kills but stayed a lot closer to my wingman this time. so, on to the stupid part: on the way home, near the coast and I saw enemy units on the ground. Stupidly I thought they may be trucks or other soft targets and dove in to machine gun them. imagine my surprise when I realized that I just took an 88 in the cockpit, and was pretty much KIA. Got to the water and crashed. don’t be like me, make sure you know what you are diving onto before you dive! I get to repeat the mission this week, and this campaign is so fun that I am looking forward to it!

Sure! feel free to use the post, though I would have done a better job capturing it. And good point about changing the map settings, I will do that. also, I watched in TacView and it was interesting. Looks like I may not have survived the mid air after all, but honestly it didn’t change a thing about how I felt about the mission. I’ve seen photos of badly damaged P-47s so figured it was doable. and was still a blast. Even dealing with my drunk fellow pilots (DCS AI is entertaining in the turns!) very well done. I’m alternating between this and the Zone 5 campaign, and only have limited time, so it may be a while til I do the next mission. Hopefully this week. thanks again!

I wanted to say thanks for creating this campaign, for a number of reasons. But my experience today was something I have not experienced in a flight sim in a long time, if ever. It was incredibly fun and tiring and stressful. I can only imagine what the pilots felt in real life, though this gave me the smallest of glimpses into it. All from the safety of my office. first, this campaign has really helped me learn the P-47, even if I only just completed the first mission. Long, it may be, but plenty of practice for trimming the aircraft, trying to fly formation (harder than it should be for me, but betting better), and engine management. As well as spotting and oh yeah, flying! But the main reason for my post: an incredible start to the campaign - I had to nurse a badly damaged P47 back home from very far away, and mostly on my own..that’s what I get for hitting a 190 with my left wing! take off was good, and I joined up with my group and then got lost (I’m still learning how to estimate closure speed and fly with the AI!). Got formed up on the wrong flight and didn’t join my flight until we had crossed into France. Had some equipment issues (trackIR clone) and when I got that sorted was separated again. Rats. Caught up, then engine sputter as the drop tank emptied, far earlier than I wanted. But reformed, and let’s say had some excitement (to avoid spoilers). I completed the first mission with 2 kills, though having had to fly most of they way back with 3-4 feet of my left wing missing, as well as the aileron, due to clipping a 190 in a dog fight! Somehow, I gained control and could trim out the aircraft, though my pitot tube was gone and I had no airspeed. And no radio! Dead reckoning and a general knowledge of which way to fly, got me to the channel, running low on gas. Was my engine going to hold together? Heck, was the aircraft going to hold together, despite some buffeting and vibration? I so wanted to F10 but said, no, gotta try to do this. Sure would have liked a better map (note for next time, get one ready on my iPad!). Somehow I crossed the coast, and said, I can get to base, I think! Spotted some returning fighters And found Detling, got the gear and flaps down, and well, survived the landing! Wasn’t pretty but wow. Felt like I hadn’t taken a breath in a very long time. I really felt immersed in the mission, and was sweating trying to nurse my wounded P47 home. The sheer number of planes in the air, the radio call outs, etc. I haven’t had this much immersion in a flight simulator in a long time. thank you! dave

Thanks, I wonder if I have random failures on. Either way, it was interesting, I hadn’t pulled any high g’s, etc. no matter! I really like how you scripted the comms, etc. great job to you and BIO dave

Flying mission 3, third or fourth time as my dogfighting skills are.. well, weak. Hence why I love this campaign. as I approached Bighorn, noticed an odd yaw and roll so I look at my master caution panel and see that the left feed ramps, etc, are lit, and looking at my engine readouts the left engine was dead. Wasn’t able to restart it. not sure if I did something wrong or what happened, but that was interesting. Not sure if it was a big or just .. cool. though I get to fly the approach again, I am getting to really know it. great campaign so far, looking forward to more! dave