It was Gunther von Buren of Jasta 18! I don't want to meet him again!!
I am having one hell of a time with this SPAD XIII. My only chance is to have height advantage. Once I'm into a dog fight I just can't get away from the DVII's. This is the first time I was able to outrun one in a dive thank goodness. I also can't out climb them either.
(Give me my Pup or Camel Please!! )

Slick, it is good to see someone who is making some headway with the SPAD! Cudos to you!

Sept. 13, 1918
Mission No. 6

Another yawner of a mission, mostly because of no Fokker D.VII intervention. I claimed another observation balloon.

Jeb McCoy
Mission #10
October 6, 1918









Man what a day. I got shut out of the DMV when my watch said it was 4:58... Bought a new black ink cartridge for the printer which won't print, had to go to 2 different WalMarts because they didn't have the thing I needed at the first (TWO!!!) Shadowplay wasn't working (Clicked on GeForce Experience and got this never before seen "Can't connect to NVidia, try again later" bug. Head tracking was going all over the place and to top it all off, my plane was spinning in ridiculous ways. I think I might invest in some new controllers instead of a new CPU/mb combo...mine are over 16 years old and probably due for an upgrade! Good luck to those still alive!

Oh Rick... I will sorely miss Jeb's letters home.
Sometimes there are bad omens that try to stop us from mounting our rides and still we cannot resist the temptation to fly.
It's been a pleasure to fly with you.

Rick;

Say it isn't so!!! I tòo will miss Jeb's reports. Save me a seat on that cloud. I don't think Goddlo is long for this campaign!

Heh, thanks guys! I do have to say that when I rolled into bed last night, I was pretty done with yesterday! I'd rather face a pack of Fokkers than have to go back to the DMV today, wish me luck!

errmm... what's DMV? Department of Motor Vehicles? Anyway, good luck there!

Heh, yeah!

Elonzo Ledbetter,

Dear Mamma,
You remember that fellow I told you about from Oklahoma, Jeb McCoy, well he bought the farm yesterday. He landed at the field ok but was all shot up and the doctor folks couldn't save him. He weren't really Southern but he was the closest thing to Southern in this here place. He could understand everything I said anyways. I sure will miss the old boy. We had some good times here.

Yours Son,
Elonzo

Slick, don't sweat the inaction. I'm sure you will get more than you bargained for soon!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Not Jeb McCoy! He was such a nice feller, too.

Sorry, Rick. What a drag of a day. Hope today is much better.

Wow, that was alot of action to digest with my lunch!
Bad bad Omens Rick, don't get me started on the DMV or any govt. agency known by 3 letters.

RIP Jeb McCoy !

continuing service of Goddlo Brown:



14 Sep 1918 @ 06h30 Patrol friendly front lines east of Verdun

Biddle lead the flight with Guthrie, Hays and myself accompanying. “A” flight sent Brody, Brewer, Seerley, Slovall and Drew to follow up. We had scattered banks of cumulous from 7000 to 9000 ft. The flight to our lines was uneventful and we began our circuit. Shortly thereafter, Biddle signalled to attack and Guthrie followed. I stayed high to provide some top cover. After some time Biddle and Guthrie began to circle and climb back up so I stayed top and circled with them waiting for them to catch up. Suddenly I heard some shots ping off my engine cowl and breaking quickly into a climb I observed three Fokker DVII’s on my tail. I managed to put some distance between us and maintained a gentle turn so as not to provide an easy target. Slowly I gained distance and as I looked back I saw Biddle and Guthrie closing on the DVII’s. I kept my circuit going in hopes they would not check their six and sure enough it worked. Biddle managed to get close enough after what seemed like forever, and shot one down. This alerted the other two DVII’s but they would not give up their attempt to get me. When I had enough distance I turned and faced them down on two separate occasions. During one of them, Guthrie took out another DVII. Finally after more attempts to catch me the final DVII turned and ran. I chased him back to his aerodrome and shot him down over the field. Seeing some of his mates taking off, I got the hell out of there and landed at Souily safely. I put in a claim and it was confirmed the next day. I now have 2 kills.

YouTube Video:

Excellent job playing "live bait", Robert !
Cat, then mouse, then cat, then mouse...and with those dreaded red & white Fokkers too!

That last Fokker was totally after you ignoring your buddies too. I've noticed that the WOFF AI enemies can ignore other closer wingmates of me, and just fixate on me...at times, not always.

MudWasp, your assessment of the AI is quite reasonable. My video was over 30 minutes in length (80 gig in size). I edited it down to take out a lot of what could be called dead air or redundancy. In summary when my flight leader and his wing dove down to attack what was a two seater, I stayed high for cover. I circled for what seemed an eternity waiting for them and when they became visible they were circling below me and climbing back up. I was fixated on them when the three DVII's surprized me. ( I know, I know, first rule...frequently check your six!!!). I immediately took evasive manouvers climbing and circling and trying to gain height and distance. While doing this and constantly checking my six to see where they were I saw my flight leader and his wing sneaking up on the DVII's and eventually took two of them out. I have never had my flight assist me in this manner before and I was wondering if the fact that I stayed circling and within sight of my flight allowed them time to realize the DVII's were in the vicinity and a good target for them. I guess I will never know for sure but I have noted this and will try to use the tactic again to see if it gets any results.

Thanks for the pat on the back for my tactics. It has taken me 4 missions to learn what I need to do. You will note that at one point I tried to loop over when I had a good distance lead but the DVII was able to close the gap too quickly for me to get a sight on him so this trick will be one I remove from my bag in future missions as it is a little risky.

Best Regards;

continuing service of Goddlo Brown:



15 Sep 1918 @ 07h14 Patrol enemy front line north east of Verdun

Biddle led the flight with Hays, Guthrie, Seerley, Brewer and myself accompanying. We had scattered cumulous at 8000 ft. The trip to the lines was uneventful. Upon crossing the lines Biddle waggled his wings and went into a left turning dive. Everyone followed except me. I stayed high and looked for signs of enemy in the area. I saw the squad go down on two enemy aircraft which proved to be Fokker DVII’s from Jasta 73. As they engaged I spotted two more enemy craft approaching from the east and well below me. I went into a shallow dive as I approached them and swung onto the tail of the last one. I followed him and gave him several bursts climbing back up and repeating until I found I was over their aerodrom. My last bursts sent him in so I broke away in a south west direction climbing out and weaving to avoid the flak. Some time later I noticed two specs on the horizon well above me coming in the opposite direction to I headed North West to avoid contact while still climbing. They appeared to pass by ignoring me. I gradually resumed my south west direction climbing and avoiding flak. I kept checking my six in case I was being followed and just south east of Verdun I spotted someone on my tail. I broke into a slow climbing left turn and discovered it was a DVII from Jasta 73 wanting to dance. We circled each other endlessly with neither gaining any advantage. I kept climbing in the turn and he was unable to get a shot. I noticed another spec in the distance and only hoped it was a friendly. My DVII finally broke off to climb away when I had foiled a stall which was coming on. I regained my airspeed and chased him down sending him down to crash. The spec I saw in the distance was one of my squadron which probably helped me get my chance. I landed at Souily and put in a claim for 2 DVII’s.

YouTube Video:


One of the DVII's was from Jasta 13-A:


One was Werner Scheluckebier of Jasta 73-C:

Well done, Robert! I think you've hit on the two best tactical options when fighting the Fokker D.VII. When surprised and caught from behind, a gentle extension with just enough evasives to avoid getting nailed. This is the classic "Drag & Bag", as long as your flight members are close enough and choose to cooperate.

I agree about looping in the SPAD. It's just not a good option.

In your last mission, the climbing turn fight is a good tactic, given that you can always dive out of the fight and extend.

Very impressive flying, sir.

Elonzo Ledbetter
Mission 14

Dear Mamma,
This here war is getting serious. I have bagged 11 of the Germans so far and thought I had this business figured out but the on the last 2 missions those boys have handed me my rear end on a plate! The only thing that has saved my lonesome is the fact that my plane is faster than theirs. You know I have never run from a fight in my life but this is different. We ain't talking about missing a few teeth or bein sewed up. We are talking about dead. Running is the only way once one of those boys start getting the best of you.

I can't wait for you to see the 3 shiny medals I done got. Real pretty. Got to go, we have a long mission in the morning I suppose.

Your Son,
Elonzo

Thanks Slick! Im still struggling with the stall point. I'm wLking the razors edge.

MFair. 11 kills and still alive! Nothing there to sneeze at Sir! Good show!