S3 Series

Great job all in frame 4. The Allied now are in the lead, and it's time to deal the final blow. For frame 5 Robert and Omega- of the 4th FG will sit in the big chair.

OPERATION: BRONCOS
(Codename: Talib XXI)

BASINGS
All squads start from the ground at the airfield at Iwo Jima, except the 4th FG which start from the CV's.
Preliminary All fighters with droptanks, this might change if we want to have a 1st sortie CAP clean, then refuel and run the bomb run. Conserve fuel please, run a throttle which enables 3 hours of flight if going with tanks.

FIGHTERS
* The 23rd FG will fly P-51D's and be the main escort group. They'll help CAP CV's at the start of frame 5, but will then run in with the B-29's, unless ofc all enemy fighters are dead.
* The 352nd FG will fly P-51D's. They'll be our flexible group, either defending the CV's from kamikaze attacks or escorting the buffs, depending on how many fighters the enemy has for defence once our bombers run in.
* The 4th FG are defending the CV's in F4U-4's.

BOMBERS
Will be in B-29's and there will most probably only be time for 1 sortie, so what field(s) do you want to strike? I'm thinking industries around either the 7.7x or the 7.8x as that would enable our P-51D's to get back to our CV's for late frame defence.


THE PRELIMINARY PLAN
It will be a 1 sortie mission for the B-29's. We saw last event that even with airstarts it's very hard to squeeze in 2 sorties for the bombers. As such I want the Bombers to hang back for the early part of the frame, waiting for the GO light. The reason I'd like the Buffs to hang back is because I want all our fighters able to protect the CV's against any early IJA raids. It doesn't matter if our bombers arrive at target at T+60 or T+130 as they only have time for one sortie anyway. The P-51D's would launch with droptanks and hover at specified CAP locations, while the F4U's would be scouting in all directions from the CV's for enemy strikes.

Scenario 1: If the enemy tries to catch us pants down with an early strike then all FG's would engage and get rid of their drops. As soon as the enemy raid is neutralized, all P-51D's would rearm at Iwo Jima and get back up asap to escort. When the P-51D's are ready I'll let the B-29's loose on Japan. If the enemy still has a lot of fighters after their raid then all remaining P-51D's would be used as escorts, but if the enemy fighters are reduced in numbers then I'd like to have the 352nd as high CAP to defend the CV's from a kamikaze strike.

Scenario 2: If the IJA doesn't launch a full scale strike like last frame and rather hang back awaiting to interecept our bombers, then the B-29's will move in on target for a normal escorts vs intercept mission like in frame 2. I'd then like to have either the 352nd or the 23rd ready to rush back to the CV in case the enemy launches a delayed CV strike with escorts.


All input is welcome.
/Robert
XO 4th FG

Salute!

We buffs have more gas than we know what to do with, and it really cramps our climb rate. So a surface takeoff with wingies is preferable to the goat rope we had in frame 4. We could also have two gropes - DR and then a NS/Nomad grope.

So taking off early and grabbing and setting up an orbit works. The lites could also learn a little about leaning out the mixture and reducing the power if well away from enema radar. Besides, the IJN ain't gonna sink boats if they are up in the stratosphere.

Gum sends...

Not sure you can get AI wingman with an airstart using the new bomber interface. So maybe a take off from Iwo Jima is the best bet. We did it in Frame 2 so know it works.

The 23rd will fly whatever is needed. We lost some airframes the last go around so we would be in -1D's if you need us in navy blue.

I will be unable to attend the last frame but will pass on orders and info to the group for you... (valentines day is also my anniversary and consequently CINCWIFE pulled my wings for that weekend ).

Salute!

TNX, JABO.

However, we could use less gas and let the buffers figure out how much. The hours we have with the 75% load is stoopid for an S3 when in a buff. This is well known, and the biggest thorn for many moons has been the high fuel flow rate that required us to take more gas than required for the range and such.

PLZ put Gums on record for requesting relief from the gas load and no air start. We'll fly like the old days from IWO and use time for our tactical plan.

The rule of thumb for the B-29 is 5% gas equals about 2,000 pounds of gas for our ordnance. Climb rate for new FM on the Superfort seems close to reality, so that means a coupla hours to get to 20,000 feet, maybe, when with a full load. Just look at the Hiroshima mission profile. Thi may all be historical, but the S3 is only 3 hours, so I feel we could cut some slack for the buffs.

What do you think, Robert???

This would be up to jabo to decide, gums sir. I agree though the buffs could do well with 50% fuel, considering the time limit. However with the buffs somewhat lower, the escorts will have an easier time considering they'll be burdened with droptanks once the enemy are about to strike, and as such can't get much higher than 35k.

The 4th FG have volunteered for CV cap, The 23rd are in P-51D's for frame 5.

Jabo, FYI, at the end of the frame when the airstart was fixed (actually at F188), I launched with AI air started.

If you can get AI then you can have a 20,000ft airstart out of Iwo.

Salute!

Only reason we need an air start is due to the obscene fuel load for our Super Forts. We can easily hit a good altitude climbing from Iwo within the limited miles of the terrain model if we only had to take 50% or less gas. We are not flying a 8 + hour mission like they did back in 1945 from over a thousand miles away.

At the 20K air lurch, we can get almost 500 fpm RoC at max grunt and a fairly decent bomb load. But I am not confident that we will all lurch at the same point and with our pet drones.

WE NEED A NO SIERRA ONLINE TEST TO ENSURE THE SETUP WORKS!!!


Nomads would prefer NS to lead the small buff grope and allow DR's to coord and help Robert with buff stuff. Buffs can easily hold in a racetrack northwest of Iwo until the "time is right" for a run to the Empire tgt.

A backup idea is for the combined NS and Nomad folks make a mad dash for a small tgt and close it early on while DR's make a heavy run later. Then NS/Nomads RTB for a quickie sortie at end of the frame/series for style points or more.

Nomads can't lead but will still show and try to help rest of week.

Gum sends...

Ok, My plan is almost figured out. Buffers, which mission do you prefer?
Alternative 1: Close the AAA base at F139 and then hit the Toyota factory at F51
Alternative 2: Close the Shizuoka factory at F51 and then AAA at F59

Both routes should make sure to enable you a second strike at the target factory on the egress if needed to close it. Are two targets enough or do you want a third?



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/Robert