Having recently invested a little time in getting to know this sim a bit better I just had to drop by and say how impressed I am with it.

For a title that's somewhat long in the tooth I'm amazed at what has been done to keep it alive and I must say that it is probably the best WW2 flight sim I have ever played.

I couldn't believe my eyes when, after a session of circuits and bumps in the old Spit I parked her alongside a Tiger Moth and saw, not only a bunch of chaps reclining in deck chairs by the ops hut and what-not but a troop of three uniformed figures strolling around the airfield! Talk about atmosphere and attention to detail!

Apart from a couple of quick 1-vs-1s I haven't done any real combat yet, my only actual campaign 'op' so far has been one single long, dull convoy patrol with 609 Sqn (I have chosen 609 as my unit for the incredible dynamic campaign after reading the Diary of D.M.Crook DFC, I'm in 'A'-Flight, Yellow Three) but even this short stint has left me speechless at how incredible the AI in this sim is. No balls-ups, tight formations and the leader calls the maneuvers, asks for the surface wind before take-off and he even lets you know when the patrol is almost over!

From a guy who used to play "Their Finest Hour" on the old 286 (and practically every flight-sim in between) I hope it means something to the people who have put all this together when I say that this is an outstanding work of art!

I agree, I play this sim often and it is fun. Try just to survive the Channel Battle.

Well said JB and spot on! I'm sure the chaps who have worked so hard to make BoB what it is are delighted, chuffed and very tickled to receive such well-deserved appreciation!

We do thank players for the very kind words about "Our Time Machine", BOBII.

Amen! that sums it up perfectly!

Time machine is just the word for it!

Another thing I noticed was that each aircraft in my squadron had the correct markings for 609 and I'm pretty sure they each had their individual indentifiers, mine was "PR-C". That's something I've been dreaming of for decades.

I also ran the engine up after landing and tested for mag drop, it was hard to hold her in one spot for this but I managed it with some gymnastics and saw that the tacho correctly indicated about a 50 R.P.M. drop for each bank of plugs when a magneto was switched off. A "chocks in" command might would be very useful if it is possible.

I'm scheduled to go up for another picnic over the Channel later today and I can't wait, hopefully the Hun come up to play this time but even if they don't I'll get some much needed formation flying practice. From what I've read here I guess I'll be seeing more than enough of the Luftwaffe when things warm up.

Dud patrol, nothing doing but everyone in 609 now calls me "Gillette" after I had to be told three times that I was too close to my section leader.

Ho-leee-cow!

Well, after hours of stooging about looking at ships and water I've finally been blooded.

609 was scrambled from Middle Wallop to intercept a formation of 70+ bandits (Ju-87s and 109s) over the channel at about 1915hrs last night. On the way out I noticed that a Hurricane squadron had also been scrambled and were following us into the fray. In the end we were able to claim 12 enemy aircraft destroyed for the loss of one Spitfire and, unfortunately, it's pilot Blue Three. Yellow leader was also damaged and made it home with a shaky engine.

The combat itself was amazingly intense, I've never seen anything like it.

Just above a thin layer of cloud at about 20,000 ft we merged with what looked like every bloody Ju-87 in the Luftwaffe and I don;t exaggerate when I tell you that our fighters went through those damn Stukas like sh*t through a goose! You've never seen such carnage or heard such a lack of discipline on the R/T!

I lost sight of my leader about 30 seconds into the fight, despite my best efforts to stick with him, and subsequently spent the rest of the time madly weaving about to ensure that I wasn't the subject of any attention from the 109s and making runs through the Stuka formation at about 350-400mph when the opportunity presented itself to do so.

I found myself with little time to line up and shoot at these speeds but the Stuka formation was broken up and the 109's were nowhere to be seen so I made a more deliberate pass and landed a good, three second burst on one Stuka whilst closing from about 200 to 50 yards or so. Clouds of debris and the sheer speed of the attack made it hard for me to see what happened to him so I could only claim him as damaged. I didn't have time or the luxury to confirm or make a second attack since the skty was rather crowded with tracers, going every which was and the possibility of being jumped by 109s.

My Spit stopped a few rounds from the Stukas rear gunner as I zipped past and I instinctively dumped the stick forward to dodge both his firing and a collision with his aircraft. The engine didn't like this treatment much and I mistakenly thought I was hit in the radiator for a while as it coughed and spluttered after being momentarily starved of fuel. After this had sorted itself out I climbed for another pass and was scanning the sky around me for 109s when I saw a Hurri coming back into the fight with what I took to be a 109 in hot pursuit.

Cranking my Spit around to give chase I was a little too eager and ended up in a spin that cost me 5,000 ft of height. By then this wasn't a problem because the Stukas had dived into the attack and now fight was spread all over the sky from 15,000 down to about 5,000 ft. After vainly chasing about looking for something else to shoot or somebody to wing up with at I heard Patin leader come on the R/T ordering us to regroup.

After hunting around the lower level of cumulus I eventually found the rest of the squadron and rejoined. My section leader was damaged and putting out a lot of blue-grey smoke which made me feel quite guilty for losing but, in all probability, the damage he sustained was at from a rear gunner and not a 109 since the 109s seemed unable to mount any kind of effective defense of the Stukas whatsoever. I'm not even sure that they were in position as we attacked since it looked to me that we dove on two squadrons of Stukas, I never actually saw a 109 the entire time.

The remainder of us made it back to base and everybody landed safely in the twilight. I almost pranged into a Hurri on landing, he was taxiing across my path as I came in and I never saw him until the last second since the light was very poor but I managed to react in time and skip over him, giving him a couple of raised fingers in salute as I sailed over his canopy by few inches! Of course this meant that the Gillette jokes and the first round of Pimms was on me again since everyone in both squadrons had seen it. The mess staff must think that Australians are a very generous lot because this is the second day running that I've had to stand drinks to everyone and my mess bill is running quite high! Hopefully I can win a few quid back at poker.

Later that night we heard on the BBC that todays bag was a record for the RAF! A grand total 25 Huns would be fertilising British soil, digging potatoes in Wales or paddling their inflatable dinghys home with their tails between their legs! Wizard!

Excellent combat report! Enjoyed that!

Well thanks McGonigle, glad you enjoyed it. I enjoyed reading your recent racing article as well since sim racing is something I'll be interested in investing more time in at some point.

Anyway, back at Middle Wallop:

Yellow leader copped another packet from a tail gunner today. We were up patrolling Ventnor for the second time in two days to trick the enemy into thinking we were covering a convoy and luring up some trade when I spotted a lone Do-17 on a recce run at 14,000ft about 8 miles SE of the Isle of Wight. The others spotted him seconds later and roared off in pursuit before I could pull my finger out. In the ensuing chase my kite seemed to be the slowest of the lot so I didn't get a crack at the Hun myself but I did see Yellow leader attach himself to the tail of that flying pencil like a bulldog to a postman's ankle. He got pretty badly hammered by the gunner for his trouble but, predictably, the Dornier came off second best.

(Eight machine guns trump one every time!)

That flying pencil won't be doing any more doodling in the heavenly margins again. Last I saw he was plunging towards the Channel at about 500 mph trailing a sheet of flame, smoke and bits and pieces that are, according to the manual, usually required to keep an aircraft in flight (wings, engines etc). I think only three of the crew managed to take to their brollies but I can't be sure, there's not much time for sight seeing up there, but if I'm right then one poor sod must have ridden that lot to the bitter end, probably the rear gunner I imagine.

That meant the rest of the patrol was a write-off as we had to cover Yellow leader while he nursed his smoker back home again

Tonight in the mess the C.O. presented Yellow leader with a packet of John Players Navy Cut and told him he would get an extra packet added to his ration every week from now on if he promised to "only smoke on the ground". Since then all the lads have started calling him "Navy". He took it in good humour at least and I wonder who will be the next poor prune to earn themselves a nick-name.

It's really no joke though, I saw how shot up Navy's kite was on the way home. The mechanics found twenty three bullet holes in the fuselage so that's something to think about.

Ops has given us the day off tomorrow, we've been at it hammer and tongs for a few days straight now and it will be good to get some rest.