Fortress Malta Campaign

[_AH_Lippy]

I as a wing commander would like to talk about the mission before we fly it. Like were we are going the altitude to get too were to meet up at and so on before we launch the flight. of course that would mean one of two things. We have silence on comms so we four can discuss it or we go to a separate channel. Silence on comms is out of the question someone always pops up and says something. So if WE as a group want to survive I think we need to talk and cordinate a little. Instead of going out there half cocked and going for the points as everyone seems to do. Now as of late Third has been flying together and I am rather proud of my guys. What say you.

[_AH_Bear]

I agree.. after the 1st bogie was spotted i lost track of my group accept for DW..  low and high bogies were called out but i think some of that confusion was some ppl weren't as high as others.. so low to some was high to others.. i think as 3 individual groups we need to spread out more defined as a group and stick close as a squadron.. make sense.. and yes.. too many loud, bad calls with not enuf info.. "ooo i see 3 infront of me.. where???? Know what your goinna say before you talk and be quick.. no holding the button down for lengthy periods.. and LISTEN to what others are saying..
My 2 cents

[_AH_Hollywood]

Salute All,

Some good points made by Hogan, DW, Lippy and Bear. 

A few things that I think we can touch on.

First and foremost, realized that there will be plenty of enemy aircraft to go after so, let's not go all in at first sight of the first enemy A/C. Like DW stated previous, Keep the initiative and control the fight. 

Within each squad, stick to the flight and element concept that way each pair has mutual support and larger coordination within each squad.

Have a pre-determined altitude for the flights, with some staggered high and low for proper scanning of bogeys.

Since each squad is now flying out of separate airbases, have a pre-determined rally point for each squad. That way if some get separated, they can regroup and attack again in force.

Have uniformity within the speed bar and cockpit gauges, either all in mph and feet or kph and meters so there is no confusion.

Next, work on Comms and implement brevity code such as BRAA calls (Bearing of enemy with respect to friendly A/C, Range, Aspect of bandit to friendly A/C, and Altitude) to name a short few. Like Bear said, short calls with only pertenant information.

Salute

Wood

[_AH_Lippy]

We have 4 flights. 1 flight should be bomber control (low flight) all others are enemy then bomber. I personally dont like being spread out to far apart. A full squad can be destroyed before others can make it there. But I also know we need to cover the island, and spot the enemy before they hit the island. We dont need to continue calling out on comms hey I got one, or hes going down. We need COMBAT COMMS implimented. Maybe the CO can call it out, that means shut up unless you have something to say about the combat. Dead pilots need to keep it quite as well, too many jokes being said when polts are still engaged. If your dead and you want to bs go to another channel.

[_AH_Hollywood]

God help those German and Italian pilots in Mission 5. They're gonna see the wrath of AH.

[_AH_gatlingun]

~S~
Best advice I have seen Lippy,we need to realize we are flying combat missions,not competing for comedian of the year.

[_AH_Archie]

I liked the mission.  Need to get waxed every once in a while


Bring em on

[_AH_taldrg]

~S~
   Bear and his killers are tooling along at somewhere tween 15 and 20,000 on (lets say 360)and spot a flight of bad guys at about 11,000 on 180 hd'g. They don't see us...Bear calls...hold alt. new hd'g 180 to see what they will do. They do nothing...just heading on their mission. Bear calls....all in...bust 'um up...climb out 270..regroup at 13,000. Now lead and wingman pick out one of the suckers and kill him...others do the same...one by one kill 'em all...zoom-boom...in out..not round and round...in..out..Alt. is golden...we WIN.

[_AH_DarkWolf]

Good discussion, couple thoughts on what some of you've said :

Keep in mind that usually we are not gonna know where we are going until we are in the air. Most of these missions it's like we pilots are hanging around the dispersal hut or at the splinter pen or maybe even cockpit readiness. When the call comes in to scramble we go and start climbing like mad men, Ops will get to us with the info once we are airborne. There will only be a few exceptions to this during the campaign.

The confusion with the calling of high and low bandits was not so much our altitude as it was that the enemy were at two altitudes. One enemy squadron was at 8-10k and one at 15k trailing the first a little. Some of AH encountered the high squadron while the low squadron continued on before being sighted by another group of AH. So in fact both calls were right but it was'nt realized right away that there were two seperate groups.

Remember too we are not 4 flights anymore, we are three Squadrons and HQ Flight. Our main strength is in the three squadrons, we can't deploy HQ like a squadron as they only have a maximum of three aircraft. So think of us as having three main units at our disposal with HQ as kind of a roving reserve.

Lippy is a Squadron Leader, only Hogan would be a Wing Commander.  :surprised-027:

DW

[_AH_Col._Hogan]

Bloody Wingco! Wanker!

[_AH_Olds]

I think we are making progress here. We do need to keep the comms chatter at a minimum. Just for the record, that was the one night I was not having issues with lag on comms. I did not have a problem communicating in real time with Jetdoc, when I was able to hear him and there was enough space available to key up and communicate. Most of the time the comms were too crowded to talk. It is difficult to tell your wingman to check his 6 or wherever when you cannot break in to do it.

Hopefully, we can implement these suggestions in future missions. If we can't get this to work better, maybe we should consider splitting comms, and having the leaders communicate what is going on.

Just my 2 cents.

Olds

[_AH_Jack]

I guess I'm done joking.  I have always believed that the reason AH has stayed together and active through the years is that as a group, we all seemed to remember that the game is, when all else is said and done, JUST A GAME!  I try to always remember that, and to NEVER EVER take it so seriously that it stops being FUN.  What a crock, huh?

[_AH_DarkWolf]

I guess I'm done telling jokes.

I wish I could believe you this time, I really do.

DW

[_AH_DarkWolf]

I think what guys are talking about is people joking in the midst of combat, not necessarily objecting to any telling of jokes. Sometimes we do have guys using up air time to make a smart arse comment when it's needed by others. Most of us have done it, I know I have, it does'nt matter so much the fewer the people on comms but on campaign night it can\has been an issue. Just dialing that back a tick is'nt infringing on anyone's freedom to joke and will just ensure a little more space for combat communication.

DW

[_AH_DarkWolf]

God help those German and Italian pilots in Mission 5. They're gonna see the wrath of AH.

That's the spirit, let's have at those jerry wankers!

DW