"Scramble" can be also defined as "take-off on alarm". This means that an hostile flight, generally NOT directed against airbase of the scramble, has been detected and available fighters are sent to intercept. So it matters of an intercept mission.

Historically, a surprise attack to an airbase was helpless for the attacked. All pilots could do was run to nearest AA gun and try to shot down an aggressor, or, better, run to a shelter. I am NOT saying that never happened some fighter took-off and fought, just this wasn't the rule.

On the contrary, all combat sim I played, modeled scramble like IL-2, more or less with an overwhelming bunch of attackers versus "never so few" defenders. I think it's unreal. Actually, either it is an intercept (with a number of interceptor congruous with intruders) or an helpless airbase devastation (which makes no sense to be modeled in a game).

Regards,
GB

In my campaign "America's Ace of Aces" there is at least one historical mission where Bong and his squad mates are on the runway waiting to take off when Japanese bombers attack the airfield as the bombs are dropping they take off and attempt to pursue the enemy. Historically on this mission Bong was successful and did get a kill. I can't remember the missions name but it is historically accurate according to his flight log and numerous books on his combat career.

That seems like a scramble to me.

Also in Blue Sky White Star there are many "scramble" missions as I recall.

Maybe I'm not understanding your statement correctly.

QMB is not really THE place to force historical issues with. You can i.e. fight P-51s with P-51s.
Scramble missions are made to have some big disadvantage and you can even use it for other - non combat - purposes.

However, no one will hinder you to just eject and run away from you plane, taking shelter, as the sirens start to alarm. It works great even in scramble missions. So far for realism.

P.S.: I just read a book about JG1 'Oesau', fighting in the west, and there it seems to have happend often, that a flight was starting during an attack. If they were in their planes - they did start!

There were plenty of historica examples of "Scrambles": Pearl Harbor, Clark Field, couple ofbig Russian raids on Finland during the Winter War, Bodenplatte, just to name a small number. They weren't easy missions to survive on, historically, but there are plenty of examples of figter pilots taking off just prior to or as a raiding force arrived over their field.

Yep, this statement was a bit to general. Sakuro Sakai described "scrambles" as pretty much a frequent occurrence as far as I remember, and this involved taking off under fire etc. I think it depended a lot on the theatre of operations and the circumstances.

Quoting myself:

"I am NOT saying that never happened some fighter took-off and fought, just this wasn't the rule."

Of course! But you must admit that the odds of being on own plane, ready to taxi on the runway, at the exact moment of enemy attack are very few!


P.S.: btw, I sent you at daidalos.team@googlemail.com a table of data that I hope useful about japanese engines, with its source. Could you confirm to have received them? Thanks.

Thanks for your comment.

GB

Maybe. If defenders already did fly almost "around the clock" in a very tense environment and attackers raided continuously enemy airfields, then probability of a "scramble" jumped dramatically.

IMHO, IL-2 modeled this circumstances in an heavily unfair way: I think an average pilot can't survive in a 1 vs. 6 confrontation and starting a mission with certainty to be shot down (or be forced to flee as only chance of survival, as practiced by Wheels ( China-Japan air war ) isn't enjoyable for me. Thanks to the programmers, Ops files are editable and I proceeded to set a 1 vs. 1 balance.

The odds of making contact period, were very low (the vast majority of sorties in real life did not involve in air combat), so yeah, those would be lower still.