Sabres over Korea

The first thing I noticed, apart from my wingmen - I was last in the pack - It's good to see some ocean traffic below- it makes you feel part of a living sim-world.

As we approached Sokcho-ri some P-51 Mustangs called for help and we tangled with Yak-9's over the most precipitous landscale I've seen in Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator (1998).

After a good dogfight I elected to try the more thrilling approach to Sokcho-ri - over the mountains and a steep descent to runway 44.

Hey - we've got company! It's good to see some traffic about - it makes you feel part of a living sim-world.

This time I was leading the flight in a formation takeoff. Actually it was pretty ragged so I ended the flight and tried again - this time paying attention to the the numbers in the take off checklist.

The MiG's weren't too much of a challenge in this mission - the rugged terrain taking it's toll. At least I'm pretty sure I didn't get any hits in - things were moving along rather quickly.

On the way back I noticed that the wingmen kept much better formation if you cruise at 400 - 450 knots, rather than at a slower airspeed.

It was a nice clear day with minimal cloud cover as we took off and headed North.

The rockets fitted to my F-86 did a good job on the control building and radar towers. FLAK was present but not overwhelming.

Having satisfied the mission goals I headed off to the next waypoint then homewards. My wingmen had dropped behind and I was contemplating turning back to find them when they started calling "MiGs - MiGs !!".

Sure enough there were 3 MiG-15's mixing it up with my crew. I joined the fray and got a few good shots off - well they were good except that I didn't hit anything ! OK... I got off a few stylish but ineffectual shots.

I was lining up for another volley - 300 yards... 150 yards.... then whack whack whack ! Messages like "Aileron control cable damage" started scrolling up the display. Looking around the cockpit showed puffs of smoke from the fuselage. I could only coax 270 knots out of the bird and the controls were very sluggish.

Not good.

I should have headed home then and there - but, not thinking clearly, I elected to hang around. I thought I'd be safe trundling along at 200 feet altitude. A fighter pilot is always reluctant to point the nose at the ground - or so Fighter Combat - Tactics and Manoeuvering by Robert Shaw says.

Obviously the MiG drivers hadn't read from the same book as to my amazement one of them clipped me again - at 200 feet - and in an almost head on pass !

Still, my wallowing antics distracted the MiG's enough os that my wingmen finished them off in fairly short order. Still a bit befuddled I continued South along the planned route - albeit at a safer altitude. About 30 miles from base I came to my senses, turned on the ADF and headed directly home.

Maybe the cold air streaming in through the bullet holes in my canopy blew some sense into me as I elected to land in a slow arc from the seaward approach rather than the usual steep approach down the mountainside.

A satisfying outing!

Not much to say about this mission. A splendid dogfight.

I shared a couple of kills with the F-84s.

I tried to stay at 2,000 feet AGL throughout the whole flight - on my first attempt at the mission I was too high and didn't even see the factory.

I wasn't bothered by MiGs but that's not to say they won't bother you!

This mission has something for everyone - anti - ship and air to air. The biggest challenge is knowing when to switch your focus from the ships to the aircraft and vice versa.

My wingmen seemed to be handling the air threat quite well so I zoned in on the gunboats - taking pot shots at any Yak or MiG that was in range as I zoomed off a strafing run.

Plenty of action in theis mission. With 3 flights of F-80s, my Sabres and MiGs in the mix I really had to keep my wits about me just to avoid an air-to-air collision.

The last MiG ran away and I landed with undercarriage damage.

There was a tank column approaching my downed wingman. I despatched them neatly with the help of my "unlimited rockets". Then I spotted truck column approaching. For the life of me I couldn't hit them with cannon fire despite repeated strafing runs... obviously I need more practice.

Anyway rockets did the trick again and I headed home.

As I arced in for finals in what was now becoming an enjoyable and familiar routine I noticed something odd about the runway.... smoke !

Was it a Xmas B-B-Q ?

Gear up, flaps up and a fly-by revealed a Sabre and a Banshee splayed across the runway with rescue trucks in attendance. OK - off to the divert runway.

I established a slow climb - making sure I was going to clear the mountains and then put my head down in the cockpit to find the ADF channel for the divert. Whoooshhh ! Ack Ack Ack !

What the .... ?

MiG's attacking the base and mixing it up with Sabres - jeeez they came in fast!

Dropping my checklists I pushed the throttle forward and started mixing it up, resulting in my most satisfying MiG kill yet. As usual, teamwork was involved.

One of my wingmen clipped the MiG and obviously upset the pilot who entered a slow right turn. I was screaming in from behind - airbrake out and I settled into a perfect firing position. Even I couldn't miss this one!

Sure enough there were MiGs !

A good dogfight followed by one of my worst landings... mind you I did have aileron damage.

As in their previous campaigns the mission designers have spent some time creating an interesting rail yard to attack.

I was bounced by a single MiG during the attack - I got him - got the train and got home... got a medal too !

I'm getting the hang of this.

On arrival at Pyongyang I spotted a flight of MiG-15's taking off. Extending the airbrake I executed a split-S and dropped in behind the leader as he raised his gear.

Brilliant move!

2 seconds later I reappraised the merits of that move as the rest of the MiG flight hammered my Sabre into little pieces.

He he he - bail out and try again.

A ripping final mission with furious dogfighting and plenty of parked aircraft to strafe.

With the virtual cockpit zoomed out ( using the - key ) the sense of speed is exhilarating.