[Rain Man]

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B17 #10 – Gunther’s Thunder II – Full Throttle

Pilot Rain Man (5)
Copilot tk13 (5)
Bombardier KC Jones (5)
Navigator Duck Dog (5)
Engineer DrNick (5)
Radio Op. Cormac (5)
Tail Gunner The Rick (5)
Ball Turret Gunner DaKCMan AP (2)
Right Waist Gunner BrainCase (2)
Left Waist Gunner JohnnyV13

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

Zone 1 Out: Britain

No enemy

Zone 2 Out: English Channel

3 Fw190s attack – 1 is driven off by fighters

KCJones fires, misses
DrNick fires, misses
Duck Dog fires, misses
JohnnyV13 fires, misses

Fw misses, breaks off attack

Fw scores 2 hits
-superficial damage to pilot compartment
-BOOM! An explosion shakes the plane, and a bolt of light flashes. Cormac’s oxygen line was hit in the radio room, and exploded into fire. Cormac staggers out of the flaming radio compartment, seriously injured by burns to the skin and burns in his lungs from the flash fire. His flight jacket is on fire.

JohnnyV13 leaves his position and beats the fire off of Cormac, and BrainCase takes one of the three fire extinguishers to the flames. They grow, even after he empties the entire contents of the extinguisher.

From the front of the plane, KCJones and tk13 rush to the fire with the plane’s other two fire extinguishers. They spray the fire liberally as DaKCMan AP climbs up out of the ball turret, which is getting overheated. The fire expands exponentially, and the five crew members at the front of the plane are cut off from the five at the back of the plane by a wall of flame. The ammo in Cormac’s gun starts exploding and firing through the fuselage. Smoke billows through the plane, rising thickly to the pilot’s compartment and the top turret.

The other two fire extinguishers sputter toward empty and the fire is massive now. Cursing liberally, Rain Man, choking on smoke, has no choice but to hit the bail out alarm.

Ball Turret Gunner DaKCMan AP (2) is the first one out, and he lands well. Unfortunately, the seas are rough and he drowns within minutes.

Tail Gunner The Rick (5) is the next one out, and he lands well. He is lost at sea.

Copilot Tk13 (5) and Braincase (2) bail out simultaneously. Both drown within minutes in the heavy seas.

Bombardier KC Jones (5), Navigator Duck Dog (5), Engineer DrNick (5) go out together through the bomb bay, thinking quickly and taking the plane’s life rafts with them. Their chutes work well, and KC Jones manages to locate a raft and inflate it. He finds DrNick and pulls him aboard, but Duck Dog is lost at sea. KCJones and Dr.Nick are picked up less than an hour later by a British launch, and suffer little more than seasickness and a case of the willies as they are transported back to England.

Pilot Rain Man (5) held the plane steady so the others could get out easily. Seeing the chutes, he makes his way out too, but blinded and choking from smoke, he stands no chance in the water and drowns immediately. The world loses a future Nobel laureate.

Unbeknownst to Rain Man, Left Waist Gunner JohnnyV13 (0) and Radio Op. Cormac (5) were still aboard when he bailed out. Cormac’s parachute was damaged in the fire, so JohnnyV13 took extra time to strap the injured Cormac to himself before bailing out. Unfortunately, the added weight was a problem and they hit the water hard. Stunned and injured, Cormac can’t stay afloat and JohnnyV13 can’t separate himself quickly enough. Both drown.

No bombing run.

Aftereffects

With two survivors, Gunther’s Thunder will fly again. It will just have a new crew for the most part.

Eligible for next mission

Pilot XXX
Copilot KC Jones (5)
Bombardier XXX
Navigator DrNick (5), promoted
Engineer XXX
Radio Op. XXX
Tail Gunner XXX
Ball Turret Gunner XXX
Right Waist Gunner XXX
Left Waist Gunner XXX

Two stinkin’ hits. A freaking fluke hit takes us down. Two stinkin’ hits.