[Rain Man]

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B-17 #14 – Lucy Quipment

Pilot Psicosis (4)
Copilot KCTitus (4)
Bombardier Clint in Wichita (4)
Navigator 2bikemike (4)
Engineer Fat Elvis (4)
Radio Op. chief52 (4)
Tail Gunner old_geezer (4)
Ball Turret Gunner chiefsfan58 (4)
Right Waist Gunner RINGLEADER (4)
Left Waist Gunner Patteeu (4)

Target: Meaulte
Mid-formation horizontally, high vertically (moderate vulnerability)

Zone 1 Out: Britain

No enemy

Zone 2 Out: English Channel

No enemy

Zone 3 Out: France (Entering Target Zone)

1 Fw190, 1 Me110 driven away by fighters

Entering Bomb Zone
Good Weather
Light Flak – 1 hit
-superficial damage to tail

The flak throws Clint off – 0% score

Zone 3 Back: France (Leaving Target Zone)

1 Me109, 1 Me110 driven off by fighters

2 Fw190s, 1 Me109, 1 Me110 attack – 2 Fw190s and 1 Me110 are driven off by fighters

2bikemike fires, misses
oldgeezer fires, damages Me109
patteeu fires, misses
chiefsfan58 fires, misses

The damaged Me bears down on a collision course, pumping bullets into Lucy Quipment. He scores 3 hits.
-superficial damage to pilot compartment
-psicosis suffers a serious wound to the neck
-kctitus is killed by a hit to the neck

Damaged Me breaks off attack.

Before the plane falls out of control, Fat Elvis leaps up to the controls. Unaware that an identical situation is happening aboard Throw Bomba from the Train, he gets help from 2bikemike and chiefs52 as well as Air Control as he gets a “crash” course in aircraft operations.

Zone 2: English Channel

No enemy

The order to bail out comes through. Unfortunately, Psicosis can’t bail out and Fat Elvis can’t abandon the helm and leave him to die. Once again, the decision is apparent. Everyone will bail out except Fat Elvis, and he will try to land the plane and save Psicosis.

Zone 1: England

As Lucy Quipment flies over the English countryside, parachutes begin blooming from the low-flying plane.

Right Waist Gunner RINGLEADER (4) bails out first and executes a perfect landing in an open field.

Left Waist Gunner Patteeu (4) bails out second and executes a nice landing in a village square.

Tail Gunner old_geezer (4) steps out, parachutes down, and lands in the front yard of a small farmhouse.

Ball Turret Gunner chiefsfan58 (4) jumps, pulls his cord, and floats peacefully to earth onto an open field.

Bombardier Clint in Wichita (4) jumps, pulls his cord, and drifts into a tree. Within 30 minutes, local residents find him and cut him down.

As soon as the plane is readied for landing, Navigator 2bikemike (4) and Radio Op. chief52 (4) wish Fat Elvis luck and step out the door. 2bikemike executes a nice landing in a village park. Chief52 isn’t so lucky, landing in a small lake nearby. After a brief drowning scare, he manages to extricate himself from his parachute and dog paddle his way to shore.

Fat Elvis lines up with the runway and takes his shot at landing. He descends in perfect weather, centers the nose on the runway, and touches down. The plane bounces back up a little too high and he brings it down again. The cycle repeats, but he manages to set the plane down. Unfortunately, he has concentrated so hard to bring the plane down that he hasn’t cut the speed. Lucy Quipment is going far too fast, runs off the end of the runway, bounces out of control, and slams into a grove of trees. The plane explodes as the wings shear off and the nose is crushed, killing both Fat Elvis and Psicosis.

Aftereffects

Since most of the crew survived, a second Lucy Quipment will take to the skies, albeit with a new aircrew.

Eligible for next mission

Pilot XXX
Copilot Clint in Wichita (4)
Bombardier 2bikemike (4)
Navigator XXX
Engineer chief52 (4)
Radio Op. old_geezer (4)
Tail Gunner chiefsfan58 (4)
Ball Turret Gunner RINGLEADER (4)
Right Waist Gunne Patteeu (4) r
Left Waist Gunner XXX

What an odd sequence of events to repeat. It’s tough to be a pilot sometimes.