S3 Series

Colours won't change!
We have a convoy from Goodenough Island, moving at 23 mph it won't get close enough to unload (slows to 1 mph) it is heading to 83 our other convoy starts ar about 8.3.1 and heads to 76. We need to protect these fleets and finish off the 81/82 area.


Ideas, mission peference?

B-24 raid at max altitude to somewhere would be a good strategy. The higher we go above 20k the larger the advantage for our P-38's (they suck down low). The more Ki-44's we can kill while they try to struggle at high altitude to intercept our bombers the better, since the Ki-44 is a great threat at lower altitudes.

I agree. We lost our airstart in Australia, so we will need to plot a course for the buffs that will keep them out of NME DAR long enough for them to climb. Once at alt, we should have a distinct advantage.

Rules state that buffs must take off with 75% fuel. Thats a lot of weight and it will slow the climb considerably.

I can try to do a test to see how long it will take them to climb.

We are doing a great job at stopping the Japanese advance but we are getting creamed in points because of deaths. We need to make an effort to stay alive. Just because we have 3 lives per frame doesn't mean we should burn through them. We need to stress to our pilots that they need to stay alive.

B-24D 75% fuel. 12 500lb:

timed from roll

Climb speed 150 Boost 2 on initial take off then boost 1 in climb
time to 10k- 11:15. 25 miles, temp 98

Changed climb speed to 145 boost 1
time to 15k - 16:00. 42 miles, temp 101

climb speed still at 145 boost 1
time to 20k - 21:05. 57 miles, temp 104

Hey Nooky is this toial time, ? What time to 20K?
You put clock time, but what was Takeoff time?

A strike of B24's should finish 81*82 area, then put leftover bombs into Port 83.
RCAF will close 70 & 69 as they have DAR emitters
We may need to have the AE stay close to Port Moresby as the Japanese have in their orders to capture it. They ar sending etties at 20K the last few frames.

The times I give are minutes:seconds. I started the clock when I rolled. Time to 20k was 21 minutes. Faster than I thought. I used the 12 500lb load out which is 6000 lbs as the 8 1000lb loadout is 2k heavier.

Climb speed was 150 until 10k then I switched it to 145. Used boost 2 for take off then switched to boost 1.


81 and 82 are closed and should go green this frame. We need to deal with 75 or 76 and 100 ...they closed them and they should go red this frame. That gives them DAR on Port Moresby. So we might need to close them 1st thing in the frame.

I think our priority targets are up in the north this frame, but we need to hear from Kacey as to what those are. If thats the case, we might need to roll B-24's from 80 or 81 as it will be a good 120-140 miles to the North. Rolling from 89 or 91 the buffs would have to climb first to get over the mountains, then it would be a 180 mile trip to New Britain. Either way thats a good 2hour long flight there and back, so we will need to plot a good course and have good escorts as we will only get one shot at dropping on target.

21 min to 20k is nice. It will allow us several B-24 sorties, preferably coming in at 25k if possible. We can also use 8x 1600 lb which is over twice the tonnage per B-24 compared to 12x 500 lb.

For a defense it should be easy to defend against Betties now that we have P-38's. We can have our defenders CAP'ing at 30-35k, then swoop down on any betty raid, climb back up then swoop down again. The Jap planes shouldn't be able to provide any effective escort against P-38's if the Betties are at 20k and we come in from altitude.

I'll test the climb rate with the 8 1600lb load out. I'm assuming it will take longer with the added weight. Anyone know our targets?



Ok new climb tests:
B-24D 75% fuel. 8-1600lb load out.

Boost 1 climb speed 145

to 10k - 14:30 40 miles, tmp 94

to 15k - 21:30 60 miles, tmp 99

to 20k - 28:10 80 miles, tmp 103


longer climbs and more distance needed to grab alt for the added weight.

A climb to 25k could take up to 100 miles distance, and 35 minutes.

-nook

Seems to me we must close 75, 77, 69 and 84 asap to take down their DAR. the NME did a nice job of taking DAR stations. Maybe even taking back 108 since they can now launch from there. could be a real problem for us.....

One important point. We've done a decent job of holding and pushing back the nme but we are currently losing in points. Maybe we should concentrate on closing NME DAR and fields and try to avoid as much NME contact as possible. Strike and move to next target fast... we need to get points for closures and ground targets and not give any more up to lost aircraft and pilots. Other than the JABO attacks on NME DAR, we should keep our p-38's and buffs high as we have the advantage the higher we go.

I'll have a discussion with the 4th about how having 3 lives per frame does not mean we should get careless.


One idea: roll B24s low from 89 Heading SE....stay below Dar then climb once clear of Dar. Continue SE until at 20K, then turn West to close 108 from high alt. Meanwhile we have a quick strike on 75 and 69 with heavy p-38's to kill the DAR there. The buffs would then be clear of nme dar to turn N and strike fields In the North West from high alt, with p-38 escort.