Joined: Thu Nov 14, 2013 7:23 pm Posts: 180 Location: Bay Area, CA
F95 FW 190 A-8s
KoN were spilt this frame to perform 2 separate duties.
Flight #1: Jabo run on shipping lane off coast of England. 4 Pilots
Flight #2: Bomber intercept. 6 Pilots
Both flights rolled at T 0. #1 heading NW across channel, #2 heading N to grab altitude.
# 1 made their attack run on shipping with damage to 1 ship reported. and the loss of 3 AC. Low flight and 190 being unstable in a slow turn caused two to crash. One pilot had issues and had to log. One returned to base.
#2 grabbed altitude the best we could and patrolled the F83 area until vectored SW to intercept incoming B17 bomber group. Remaining fighter from #1 rendezvoused with us at that point.
Bomber group intercepted SW of F139 at 28K
4 fighters lost to bomber guns and escort 2 fighters RTB 1 pilot had computer issues and had to log. KoN then stood down for the night
AC PERFORMANCE NOTE: FW 190 A-8 could not perform well enough to be effective at the altitude of the bomber attack at 28k+. We had to get rid of our drop tanks much earlier than we wanted to just to gain altitude. In order to get to 29K and maintain altitude, we had to use boost 2 constantly, burning through fuel too fast as well as overheating the engine. We would drop to 100% T for cooling, and lose 2-3k in altitude immediately. Many could not even reach 30K, which seemed to be the ceiling for that aircraft. I believe this should be around 37K (from minimal research I did on 190 A8) By the time we made it to the BG, we could only catch them at co alt, with a very slow closure rate, thus exposing us to the guns and otto for too long, not to mention hanging us out to dry against the escorts.
Swanee ---------------------------------------- There are 2 kinds of people in this world... Fighter pilots – and those that wish they were.
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