Zeno~SPARTA~

Cent and I had a bash in the DCS Mosquito, even got in some multi crew action.

A few pics of gameplay with me and Adder. We started out in the YF12A, Adder got some very long range kills, but I managed to get to about 117,000 feet, not quite as much as Branson, but not bad. I also managed to land the beast. Then we had a play with the CH53, here is Adder living up to his name! We did some multi crew, yes the CH53 can have two pilots and each can take control. Here is Adder coming in for a smooth landing.

Another great Helicopter mod, the CH53 Super Sea Stallion. Discord https://discord.com/channels/803931291103526942/853527108605313035 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-nLngf8vq0DqgS4CFnnhduMml_hInDXf/view?usp=sharing

One for Adder, The CH47 Chinook https://forums.eagle.ru/topic/281662-ch47-chinook-flyable-clickable-efm/

Have a great day.

I thought this map would help visualise the route to the target. We will take off to the west from Batumi, then do a 180° turn and head back up river. After about 8 miles we will bear left following the power lines and pylons. I have added smoke to help with the navigation but, since I have left the map markers on, you will also be able to see the AAA markers. There are 4 on the way to the first target, the fifth is at the target. 20 rockets from a Mustang will destroy the target. The Mosquito carries 8x60lb rockets or 4x500lb bombs. With rockets we can stay at low level. If we go with a small interval between planes we can assess the damage from the plane ahead before firing, once target one is destroyed we can move onto targets 2 and 3.

This is for Custard although it may be interesting for others.

Target destroyed with rockets

Since the AAA emplacements are visual only I tested darker hours in winter, Here is 18:00 in December And this is 17:00 in December. 18:00 is ok at first, but it will get darker and flying low in the dark is impractical. 17:00 seems better and in both cases I didn't notice the AAA guns firing at me. I will try to find an evening with a full moon to see if that helps.

They didnt work. There is a High fidelity TF51 (Unarmed trainer) version of the Mustang that comes free with DCS World.

I am downloading a mod pack that is a bit old. but may have some flyable planes, I will test a couple of them tomorrow and let you know.

Great! This what I am hoping the run will look like using A20s But I hope we do better than them as none made it to the target.

I don't think so!

Good luck with that, you are welcome as a co pilot, but you will be able to fly. Yesterday I referred to alert fighters coming after you if you climb too high above the valley floor, this is what you will see. As a matter of interest the building you are trying to destroy can be seen below the fighter.

The DeHavilland Mosquito will be released in a couple of weeks. In preparation for this I have been working on a mission that runs through the valleys near Batumi. The mission will be to destroy a power station. You have to fly near the ground otherwise a flight of FW190s will come after you. Near the ground is a bit safer, but not much as there are AAA batteries dotted along the route. I have been testing the mission with Gunthar and Adder, it is doable. It helps if the AAA batteries are attacked on the way in. This may be doable if the lead draws the fire and the wingman strafes the battery. I will add Spitfires and Mustangs incase there are not enough Mosquitos (only 2 at the moment). Here are a few pics to give you a sense of what you will be up against. Take off from Batumi Do a 180 and fly upstream. First AAA encounter. Fly Low Take evasive action Keep evading The old planes can take a few hits in the rear, not so many in the front. If you managed to stay low and survive the run in you get to bomb the power station. When you have done that there are 2 more. Are you up for the challenge! Here is the practice scene from the film.

Another mod for DCS, this requires the F15 from Flaming Cliffs 3, the YF12A. The YF12A is the original Mach 3+ interceptor that was abandoned becoming the SR71 spay plane (with some modifications). Here it is flying Mach 3 at 85,000 feet. Using this I was able to defeat the naval SA300 SAM of the Kirov class battlecruiser. After several attempts I manage to fly over the ship without it firing by climbing as I approached the launch zone, the AI must have figured I would end up outside the kill envelope, it was wrong as my climb was unsustainable. It might have been better to start at 70,000 and climb to throw off the launch calculations. The ship did launch when I was on the other side, but, even though the initial speed of those missiles is incredible, I was moving away from the ship at nearly a kilometre a second, so they lost their energy before catching up. Obviously the SR71 was the ultimate plane when I was young, I remember it made a record breaking transatlantic flight landing at the Farnborough air show opening, It did it in 1hour 55 minutes. It's cool that it is in DCS, even if its not a very useful plane (except maybe for long range BVR combat).

I have started building a simple mission starting at Batumi and flying east into the valleys. we will be following power lines to three power stations, which we must destroy. The closest air defence in the free part of DCS which the Mosquitos have a chance of beating and which are similar to WW2 equipment are the ZSU23mm, either mounted on Urals or in emplacements. These have no radar assistance and are hand cranked similar to the ostwind and Wirblewind which are 37mm and 20mm respectively.

I will build ground attack missions for the Mosquito using free assets. But to include contemporary defences you have to have the WW2 asset pack as well. Even with the free assets we can build interesting low level missions on the caucuses map.

This looks good, but if I ever go down this route it will have to multipurpose, for planes, helos and cars (and maybe spaceships). IE it has to be easy to switch from one to the other.

I was wrong regarding the swiss purchase, in fact until a few days ago they were going to buy the Rafale, but following a visit from President Joe Biden they switched to the F35. Here I agree with the French, the F35 is not the right plane for the Swiss. Almost all intercepts in Switzerland involve accompanying jets through their airspace, so stealth offers no advantage since they have to get close to the target initially. If at that point the target plane goes rogue, the F35 is the wrong plane as it is not an awesome dogfighter. So the, swiss who wont be bombing anyone, would be better off with a Rafale , Eurofighter or Gripen. Over the last few years swiss banks have been in a lot of trouble for helping Americans hide money from the IRS. They have paid billions in fines. I wonder if there is another case pending that would proceed if they dont buy the F35.

My first Viggen kill using the RB15F Anti ship Missile! You probably can't see it in the second image but those missiles are flying 6 feet above the water.

There are mods of various WWII naval assets available for DCS, including some of the biggest battleships ever built. I downloaded the Tirpitz and built a mission using it as a target for modern aircraft, including the A10, A29, F18 and F16. I strafed it with 30mm ap rounds from the A10, launched GPS bombs and Harpoons from the F18, and high drag bombs from everything except the A29, which took forever to get to the target only to be shot down prior to launch of any weapons. The Tirpitz is the sister ship to the better known Bismark, as I understand it, both were the heaviest European battleships of WW2, but the Tirpitz was 2000 tonnes heavier than the Bismark. The Tirpitz did use its anti air weapons and was able to shoot down anything that wasn't moving high or fast. It could even shoot down Harpoon anti ship missiles. It takes about 9 Harpoons to sink the Tirpitz, strafing with the A10s 30mm cannon is entertaining but dangerous for the A10, as you might imagine. Using dumb bombs does not result in enough hits per sortie. I will try 4 2000lb laser guided bombs next, but I have to relearn how to use the Tpod. I might try HARMs as well to see if the radar can be knocked out. The Tirpitz is a good ship to practice on as it is big, very tough to kill and can defend itself to some extent. Trying to do the same to the Kirov class battle cruiser is all but impossible as it shoots everything down.

It is available now on the steam and DCS stores at a 30% discount. DCS sell a WW2 asset pack to create a realistic atmosphere, but the Mosquito can be enjoyed in its main role as a precision bomber using the assets and maps available for free.

Lesson 2, navigation, route planned and input. Flew the route and landed. Result, still not on fire!!!

I had my first lesson with Gunthar today, and managed to take off, fly to another airport and land without any damage!! This is after landing.