SECOND CAMPAIGN MISSION

Well, it's actually my second, first campaign mission, as I'm now on the Beta of update1.19 - with full OBD permission; no Non-Disclosure Agreements were harmed during the making of this report.

So - same pilot, same start date (10 July), but different squadron, and a different aeroplane - the Supermarine Spitfire Mk.I, with 92 Squadron. We're based at Hornchurch, a Sector (control) station in 11 Group, east of the Metropolis and north of the Thames Estuary. 'Ninety-two' was famously commanded by Roger Bushell, until he was shot down at Dunkirk, captured, and later murdered by the Gestapo for his role in 'The Great Escape'. Also captured at this time was Peter Cazenove, whose Spitfire P9374 was recently beautifully rebuilt to flying condition, after he belly-landed it on the Calais beach (not wheels down, as in that idiotic culmination to the flying sequences in a certain recent movie).



In update 1.19, as shown above, active pilots are now listed in their allocated 3-plane section, not merely by Flight assignment, and the sections are correctly colour-coded. And RAF squadrons now have a more historically-accurate strength, in both pilots and aircraft. Squadron Leaders (whether of that rank or not) generally flew in the Red 1 position, I believe.

I hit the wrong button in the screen above at some point and instead of accepting my proferred mission, I ended up with a similar one on the next day. It's a patrol over a shipping lane to the east, which I assume means over a convoy, otherwise there would be nothing much to patrol. Which turned out to be right.



Here I am leaving Hornchurch, which is nicely equipped with a variety of hangar types and has blast pens for its precious fighters, dispersed around the perimeter track, just as they should be. A very nice piece of work. Likewise my mount, which looks much the same as the carefully-restored P9374 does today. Complete with black and white halved undersurfaces, intended for quick recognition from below in the home defence role.



The underwing roundels were a late addition, for Spits operating over France to cover the Dunkirk withdrawal. Unlike the BoB2 and CloD Spitfires, WotR's one more correctly leaves off the IFF wires from fuselage roundels to tailplane tips. These were a late addition and rarely seen with the common TR9D HF radio (the superior VHF one apparently had its antenna in the mast, not running to the tip of the fin).



My kite is coded GR-P. Apparently, some time later in 1940, it was realised that 92 had kept its pre-war squadron ID letters and these were changed to QJ. Interestingly, this is the code on my companions, who also all have the recently-introduced Sky undersurfaces, with roundels. Trust me to end up flying the older kite - I could likely have swapped the skin before flying, and may do so, next trip. If I get as far as that!



I think WotR pilots fly with their oxygen masks permanently on. If it has to be one or the other, this is probably a better choice for the Battle of Britain than was made for BoB2, which it is said tried both in Beta, with 'no mask' winning the popular vote!

I have 1.19's closest formation option in effect and the boys are soon slipping into place behind me, as we climb steadily to the east, with the Thames Estuary to our right.

I turn on the labels just to see how they look, with this result. The stroke of a key cycles through other options, including a simple dot, with further adjustments possible in the Workshop settings page. The reflection on canopies is nicely-done, better than in CloD which seems to obliterate the canopy side framing.



Our Spits have the DH prop with its 'pointy' spinner and they have the correct, slender profile blades. These started as two-pitch units, fine or coarse, but were famously converted 'without a lot of paperwork and fuss' by De Havilland to constant speed operation, early in the Battle. Moelders flew a captured Spit without this modification and concluded it was nice to fly but 'as a fighting aircraft...it is miserable' largely because its engine was always under- or over-revving, in combat. He probably learned to sing a different tune after being wounded and forced to belly-land by a 41 Squadron Spit, on 28 July.

It's a beautiful summer day as we continue to climb, though there's a fair bit of cloud around.

I level off briefly at about 8,000 feet. I think the isthmus below and right is Canvey Island, and the one under my nose across the Estuary is the Isle of Grain. Nice to be able to pick out landmarks, and see the shadows of the clouds on the surface of the water.



A look down shows everything looking much as it should, in both senses of the term. I'm climbing again, playing around with the elevator trim, intending to take her up to about fifteen thousand.



I level off and throttle back, and the boys slide a little ahead until they correct fully.



The distinctive fork in the rivers behind me is between the Roach (to the left) and the Crouch (to the right). On my port wing is one of those gas warning panels, which were carried in some squadrons for a time. Personally I don't like them, but they seem popular at the moment with plastic and virtual model builders, and indeed with restorers.



IIRC triangular patrol areas are implemented in 1.19 and that's fine by me. Reaching the first point on ours, I turn right and begin the patrol.



You can see that my Spit has non-standard, small Type B roundels on the upper wing. Apparently, small roundels in this position were a left-over on some aircraft from the conversion of the pre-war red/white/blue/yellow roundels to low-viz blue and red. The Tamiya model of DW-O has these but not everybody thinks they got their sources right. Whoever painted the excellent full scale fiberglass 'gate guardian' of DW-O at Bentley Priory agrees with Tamiya.

Anyway, we've arrived. Question is, will any uninvited guests be joining today's party?

...to be continued!