I could almost imagine a real pilots feelings of being in that position, nursing home a wounded machine hoping it would hold together. We made it home and he made a shaky but good landing.
Thank you OBD!
Heck, the feeling of a squad-mate doing exactly what you were doing; seeing it all go down, and then watching and hoping the guy made it back ok, wondering if at any moment you were going to see him roll over and go down.
Just your writing about it dropped me into that.
This may sound corny, but I actually experienced a sort of feeling of loss, and then rage with my first experience. It was after a good bunch of missions with a young wingman. He was being chased and peppered by an enemy craft while I raced to his aid. Watched him come apart before I could get there, then tore into the Alb, shredding him all the way down even after he was burning.
It was my first loss of an airman. That is what gave me the idea to go all black with my plane and turn him into a vengeful flyer.
A game that can do that?!