I clear my tail every so often as I cruise back to Tangmere, canopy now slid back. I'm looking for any sign of the other boys, as much as for Huns. But the skies remain clear. Apart from all that cloud. Oh and that ragged group of distant specks, which might or might be what's left of the rest of the squadron



From the low level I've descended to, I can see a ridge of higher ground, left and ahead - the South Downs, I fancy. It wouldn't do, to fly into it if conditions deteriorate. I start a gentle climb, just in case.



My port wing bears the scars of hits I believe I took quite early on, probably from a 110 rear gunner. Handling seems unaffected so hopefully nothing critical is damaged.



Sure enough, visibility deteriorates. I stop climbing though, since I can still see the ground for a good distance ahead. I don't want to climb into cloud and then have to descend through it into murk, later.



I pull up slightly to ensure I've got good clearance over the ridge, as I begin to cross it diagoinally.



Where the ground falls away on the other side, the visibility suddenly improves...



...and it's not long before I spot Tangmere and begin my approach. Rather than fly a circuit, I decide not to tempt fate with my damaged kite, and go straight for the near east-west runway, rather than the longer north-south one from which we took off.



With everything hanging and the approach going reasonably well, I get a shock when another Spitfire lands across my front. Reminds me of the scene in 'Angels One Five' where the newly-arrived 'Septic' Baird has to hop his Hurricane over another one who's damaged and landing crosswind. Fortunately no such antics are necessary this time, bit I keep a good look out to my left in case there are others. Which there aren't.



And I'm soon safely down.



It's been a pretty bloody encounter for both sides. We have lost no less than four pilots killed and five Spits destroyed. It's a terrible price to pay, even for the ten kills we're claiming, including my own 110. Blue 2 - Jack White - is claiming four of these, but celebrations will be muted...



...even though news awaits me that I've been awarded a gong! To be honest, I'd rather not have lost the chaps we won't be seeing again, after today.



Footnote - the 'multiple fighters attacking multiple enemies' stutter hit me very noticeably at the start of the air fight, for maybe 30 seconds or so. Smooth it wasn't; it didn't improve my shooting, though it didn't entirely spoil it either. I'd happily put this down to my somewhat sub-spec 1.5Gb GTX 580 (even though it breezes through other sims, old and less old). But it seems this serious stutter appears with better, more modern cards, too. And it can't be much if at all reduced by toning down graphics settings. So I hope something can be done, which doesn't (and frankly mustn't, for WotR's sake) involve reducing formation sizes below the numbers needed to produce the sense that you're fighting in large-scale air battles (which some recent missions have done admirably). On a more positive note, I loved the environmental representation of early morning and/or poor visibility, which gave everything a cold, stark feel, quite different to that on sunnier days. I do hope the screenshots conveyed this.