With the MiG beta having just been updated, stability has increased
greatly and I decided it was time to write a more complete mission
report, especially detailing the flight experience and dogfight
experience. In general my impressions are overwhelmingly positive.
I spent forty five minutes setting up and then flying this mission
in the fifth and latest campaign. I'll describe the mission from an "I
was there" perspective. All the actions I describe will be actual
actions I took in the mission, including COMMS and aircraft avionics
actions.
MiG Alley, by the way, does not support Glide under 3dfx. Rowan has
gone completely to Direct3d for this simulation, so all Voodoo boards
run via Direct3d. I tested Campaign mode at 1024x768 on both a K6-3 450
system with TNT2 and a PII 400 system with 16 MB Banshee and Logitech
Wingman Force. Frame rate was not an issue on either system, even with
multiple aircraft in a dogfight.
Mission Report: January, 1951
It's January 15th and I am piloting an F86E Sabre on an air
superiority mission flying almost eight hundred miles into North Korea.
On this particular mission I am commanding three flights of four
aircraft.
My position as tactical commander, unusual for a squadron leader
(VBG) allows me to determine the strategic priorities for this phase of
the campaign, and you can see where I placed my emphasis in the screen
shot above. While Air Superiority and even Close Air Support are
important, they are really secondary to choking the enemies supplies.
Prior to flight we went through the usual briefing. I boned up on
the tactical picture as well as checking INTEL for the target area. I
knew what SAM and AAA threats to expect and also what airborne threats
were likely. Naturally, I also checked the weather and wind conditions!
Korea in the winter is hell, by the way.
Now I am on the runway and going through a visual check of my
squad mates when I get a call from the tower that I am jamming the
runway. I spool up the engine and hear it respond, but nothing happens!
After a few seconds I realize I need to release my wheel brakes,
but a punch of the brake toggle (B key) only extends my air brakes.
About fifteen seconds later I have a flame out, just as I finally
locate the wheel brake toggles! Too many things on my mind this
morning.
I restart and throttle to fifty percent. The engine seems fine,
so I release brakes and throttle to 100% for take off. In less than a
minute I am airborne, and I throttle back to 80% and begin a lazy
circle around the base.
As my squad mates take off we form up and I gradually swing up
onto a heading of 360. I check in with Dentist (ground control radar)
for a picture and he informs me that there are no bandits anywhere near
us. I then asked him for a vector to my patrol area, and he gave me a
heading of 324.
As I level off at 20,000 heading on 324, I call to Viper squadron
to check in. All my pilots report in, and I notch up my elevator trim
for a gradual climb to 30,000 feet.
At this point I jumped out to the MAP view to check out the
options. MAP view is an interface that allows you to continue to
control and communicate with your flight, the tower, or FAC but cheat
using time acceleration features. I accelerated to the next waypoint,
then jumped back into my aircraft.
I found myself half way to my target waypoint and at 30,000 feet.
My trim adjustment was no longer effective at the altitude I had set
and I had to take manual control to level off. I found that the Sabre
is a much more twitchy aircraft at 30,000 feet and I induced some nasty
shaking before leveling off. I then notched the trim back to obtain
level flight around 29,500 feet.
Checking my fuel level I found I could still run on the external
tanks. I checked in with AWACS again and discovered a couple of bandits
100 miles north at 1,000 feet. Since they weren't a threat and not in
my frag order, I ignored them and continued to target. I was cruising
at 85% throttle around 420 knots.
The old bird is beginning to feel familiar, and I'm enjoying the
view. I notice that the cloud layer has moved up. Initially we were
flying around 15,000 feet over the clouds, but now there are some
clouds much higher, around 25,000 feet. This could complicate the
scenario in a dogfight since the F86E is already at a disadvantage at
high altitude.
No matter, we are still 400 miles from our patrol area and things could
change considerably by then. There is hardly a breeze up here and I
settle back to enjoy the ride.
I need to make a slight course correction so I drop my left wing
slightly, glancing off my right shoulder to observe my squadron mates.
The telltale black trails are more noticeable as the sky grows brighter
and the day wears on.
Roughly one hundred miles from our target waypoint I get a call from
Dentist that we have bandits at 30,000 feet one hundred miles ahead. I
call the squadron to spread out and drop tanks. The tanks are almost
exhausted anyway.
A minute or two after leveling off on course 295 my wingman calls out,
"MiGs at two o'clock!"
Not much time to plan now, I give the order to engage, jam the throttle
to the wall, roll and break left. My wingman follows as I push the nose
down then break high. I'm scanning for bandits and pick up a MiG behind
me and at about 30 degrees off my tail crossing my path. Perfect!
Eyes fixed (now in padlock view, a semi cheat view which is now
looking across the outside of my aircraft toward my target), I complete
my manouver and am down to 250 knots. This isn't much energy at 30,000
feet, but since the bandit is not heading directly away from me I dip
my nose and begin to gain on him rapidly.
By the way, did I say I hate the way the views are arranged here?
There, I got that out of my system. Having said that, it's only a pain
because it's unfamiliar, unless you still happen to play Flying Corps,
in which case you will LOVE it. The Rowan viewing system works
beautifully once you are familiar with it. You can also preset for snap
views or panning views. And since you can program macros to your HOTAS
or to your voice command software, you'll find you can configure the
system to work for you.
The organization of views is like this. F6 to F10 establish camera
viewpoints, with F7 as the cockpit camera. F1 to F5 keys modify the
camera views. Hit F1 following F7 and you will have an enemy in view,
gazing out from your cockpit. Hit F1 following F6, and you will have an
enemy view across a Player Track view. If you have realistic view
limits selected, you will lose sight when appropriate.
If you have Auto Padlock selected, you will also move from an
internal padlock to external Player to Target view automatically. But
this ability to see across your own aircraft to the enemy will also be
limited by your peripheral vision settings. Finally, using the "d" key
you can choose to place a red target box around your selected target.
Now back to the fight.
He hasn't spotted me, and a moment later I am almost in range. It's a
waiting game; will hel spot me before I can close the distance?
Just before I fire my wingman is warning me that there is a bandit
closing on my six, but he is on it. A few seconds later tracer fire is
arcing over my head, and I hear an impact on my airframe. I dip and
jive around a bit, whipping my head back for a quick look. The bandit
is now at my five o'clock and breaking high. I turn my attention back
to my victim.
I let fly from about two hundred yards and catch a piece of him
before he breaks hard left and then rolls to break high. The MiG is
more manouverable and I can't stay with him, but in spite of no smoke
from the aircraft a moment later I see the pilot eject!
My wingman is celebrating my victory with me. Meanwhile, I am
also receiving calls from the rest of the squadron. There have been a
few other kills and I may have lost one pilot.
Now my wingman calls a bandit location at my 2 o'clock high and
I swing my view in that direction. I have a MiG pulling toward me at
about 500 yars and 2,000 feet overhead, but he is hot on the trail of
another Sabre.
It's a great opportunity, and I am able to pull onto his tail very
quickly. This time my rounds have more effect, and he is making smoke
as my wingman calls the kill.
I notice that my fuel is getting low, but I have the taste of
blood and decide to try for one more kill. I spot a llikely candidate
at three o'clock and slightly below me. As I turn to engage I notice a
second MiG nearby but decide to ignore him, since I have my wingie for
protection.
However, this MiG spots me and begins manouvering. I attempt to
stay with him but I make a bad move and find myself in a spin. Whew,
this is a nasty one. I finally recover at 11,000 feet. Only now do I
notice that I have lost some lift on my left wing as a result of taking
slight damage there. Time to call the squadron to disengage and
regroup.
SUMMARY
I am immensely impressed by the experience. I had a lot of fun with
this mission, and the flight modeling, squadron and ground control
comms and view modeling all feels great.
I noticed after this mission that I did not have COMPLEX pilot AI set
to ON, which may explain the ease of my kills. My squadron of twelve
came up against twelve or more MiGs and we did fairly well. I have a
feeling that it will be a lot more difficult next time!
