Scott Spaulding, flight sub-lt in HQ Sqd 1 Wing RNAS in Flanders, 24 Feb, 1916. He's got nearly 13 flying hours in - all of it from take off to landing - for every mission. His first enemy contact was with an EIII on his 4th patrol in which he ran out of ammo and his flight leader finished the job. On this latest patrol, off the coast of Dunkerq, he cut off a pair of escaping Aviatiks by racing ahead to the coastline to intercept their return from the sea leg of their patrol. The main flight of my patrol gave up the chase because the enemy altitude was too high, but Spaulding pressed on, racing far enough ahead to give him the time he needed to gain the altitude. Good planning on his part and after his second pass gunning for them, one of the Aviatik's broke off formation and began to circle around. He thought the first was going to keep flying on but after a few minutes, it returned and stayed close in the area of the one that had stayed behind. At first he thought the one that stayed behind was just giving cover so his wingman could escape but a closer look showed some of Spauldings gunnery skills had wrecked flight control gears and all he could muster was a long, slow, modest radius turn while still out over the ocean. His fate was sealed. Lt. Spaulding's wasn't much better though. Enemy fire had severely limited his own ability to make left turns, thought he could still do it with some effort and right turns were significantly easier.

The Lt kept his distance and the enemy occasionally spit fire at him in short bursts whenever he wandered too close. No additional hits though and over time, the Aviatik circled ever downward until the inevitable happened and he crashed into the ocean. His wingman had stayed in the area the entire time, doing his best to keep Lt. Spaulding at bay, sometimes taking a few shots at him. Never hunting Spaulding, but rather shooting when he got to close to his mortally wounded comrade. As the damaged Aviatik crashed into the ocean, his wingman literally flew right over the top of his fallen comrade to check for survivors and then immediately flew off back towards his lines. He could do nothing to save them, but he could stay and make sure the Allied scout did no further harm. Such honor was a thing of beauty to behold in the sim.

Lt. Spaulding managed to limp back to his own lines and, with considerable effort, landed at the closest (not his) aerodrome, though not without some scuff marks on the right wing. With none of his own wingmen anywhere in sight and the downed aircraft crashing into the ocean, there were no witnesses to the kill. No claim was even filed and as instead, all he got was one hell of a dress down by his CO for breaking formation. A wild story about downing an enemy aircraft with no witnesses simply wouldn't do.

Man, I love this sim.

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Very cool, Hellshade. This sim just keeps giving and giving.

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I believe I've heard of Flt. Sub-Lieutenant Spaulding. If I recall, he rose as far as Captain. The war soured him on military service, though, and straightaway after cessation of hostilities he resigned his commission and set about exploring remote corners of the globe. He spent a good deal of time in Africa, where once he shot an elephant in his pajamas.

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And how that elephant got in his pajamas we'll never know.

Hooray for Captain Spaulding, the African Explorer! Did someone call me Schnorrer? Hooray hooray hooray!

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