Mission Number 5: Da planes! Da planes!

[Rain Man]

The last of the "easy" missions. Good luck to you.

[Rain Man]

Either tonight or tomorrow night the other planes of Mission 5 will fly. I blame Lucy Quipment for not making sure everyone was buckled up before getting onto the runway.

Psicosis: "If everyone's not buckled up, the plane won't fly. Is everyone buckled up yet?"

[Talisman]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Either tonight or tomorrow night the other planes of Mission 5 will fly. I blame Lucy Quipment for not making sure everyone was buckled up before getting onto the runway.

Psicosis: "If everyone's not buckled up, the plane won't fly. Is everyone buckled up yet?"

And halfway through the mission it'll be: "Now you guys stop getting shot or I'm going to turn this plane around and go home. Is that what you want? Don't make me come back there..."

[Mark M]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

It's because BONG is my co-pilot.

(hey, I notice that something other than Mark M got bombed on the flight, too. maybe it was good to get him out of the 'bay -- he didn't get caught in an embarrasing moment with Coogs' corpse or any part thereof, did he?)

Hey now ... I ... um ... ohh, look. Ice cream!

MM
~~

[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.

[Rain Man]

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B-17 #15 – Sack Time

Pilot Special Ed (4)
Copilot KcMizzou (4)
Bombardier Bearcat (4)
Navigator alanm (4)
Engineer gh4chiefs (4)
Radio Op. seclark (4)
Tail Gunner Luzap (4)
Ball Turret Gunner redhed (4)
Right Waist Gunner ChiefGator (4)
Left Waist Gunner Hydrae

Target: St. Omer
Mid-formation horizontally and vertically (low vulnerability)

Zone 1 Out: Britain

No enemy

Zone 2 Out: English Channel (Entering Target Zone)

1 Fw190 driven off by fighters

1 Me109, 1 Me110 driven off by fighters

Entering Bomb Zone
Good Weather
Medium Flak – 4 hits
-tail – luzap’s heat is knocked out.
-starboard tail root is damaged
-superficial damage to waist
-superficial damage to radio room

Bearcat thrives on chaos – 20% score

Zone 2: English Channel (Leaving Target Zone)

3 Fw190s attack – 2 are driven off by fighters

alanm fires, damages Fw190
Chiefgator fires, misses
Gh4chiefs fires, hits Fw190
Chiefgator fires, misses

Badly damaged Fw190 misses, breaks off attack

1 Fw190 attacks

Gh4chiefs fires, misses
Seclark fires, misses

Fw scores 1 hit
-tail – tailwheel is damaged (looks like a taildragging landing

Fw circles, attacks again

Redhed fires, damages Fw190
Gh4chiefs fires, misses

Damaged Fw misses, breaks off attack

Zone 1: England

Good weather

Special Ed drops down below 10,000 feet so Luzap won’t freeze. Since the tailwheel is damaged, redhed leaves the ball turret and sits up with the waist gunners. Special Ed doesn’t fail, though, bringing the plane in for a solid landing amidst a shower of sparks.

Aftereffects

None

Eligible for next mission

Pilot Special Ed (4)
Copilot KcMizzou (4)
Bombardier Bearcat (4)
Navigator alanm (4)
Engineer gh4chiefs (4)
Radio Op. seclark (4)
Tail Gunner Luzap (4)
Ball Turret Gunner redhed (4)
Right Waist Gunner ChiefGator (4)
Left Waist Gunner Hydrae

Milk run.

[KCWolfman]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

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.

Cooooooooooooolllll!!! Did anyone get that on film? I know a television show will pay big money for that in about 45 years. Anyone know that mechanic, Ralph Saget? His kid, Robert, would be great introducing the clip.

[ExtremeChief]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

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B-17 #7 – Flyin’ Doublewide

Pilot htismaqe (4)
Copilot Bwana (4)
Bombardier jAZ (4)
Navigator 58Forever (4)
Engineer fbal4lif32 (4)
Radio Op. SDChiefsfan (4)
Tail Gunner KC Dan (4)
Ball Turret Gunner ExtremeChief (4)
Right Waist Gunner trndobrd (4)
Left Waist Gunner ROYC75 (2)

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

Zone 1 Out: Britain

No enemy

Zone 2 Out: English Channel

2 Fw190s attack – 1 is driven off by fighters

jAZ fires, misses
royc75 fires, misses

Fw misses, breaks off attack

Zone 3 Out: France (Entering Target Zone)

1 Fw190, 2 Me109s attack – 2 Me109s are driven off by fighters

fal4lif32 fires, misses
kc dan fires, misses

Fw scores 1 hit
-superficial damage to tail

Fw circles, attacks again

58forever fires, misses

Fw misses, breaks off attack

Entering Bomb Zone
Good Weather
Heavy Flak – 2 hits
-superficial damage to starboard wing
-bomb bay – life rafts damaged

Despite the flak, jAZ’s bombs hit home – 20% score

Zone 3 Back: France (Leaving Target Zone)

1 Fw190, 2 Me109s attack – 1 Fw190 and 1 Me109 are driven off by fighters

58forever fires, misses

Me scores two hits
-superficial damage to nose
-superficial damage to pilot compartment

Me circles, attacks again

Kcdan fires, misses

Me misses, breaks off attack

Zone 2: English Channel

1 Me109, 1 Me110 driven off by fighters

Zone 1: England

Good weather
Good landing

Aftereffects

None

Eligible for next mission

Pilot htismaqe (4)
Copilot Bwana (4)
Bombardier jAZ (4)
Navigator 58Forever (4)
Engineer fbal4lif32 (4)
Radio Op. SDChiefsfan (4)
Tail Gunner KC Dan (4)
Ball Turret Gunner ExtremeChief (4)
Right Waist Gunner trndobrd (4)
Left Waist Gunner ROYC75 (2)

They’re like a well-oiled machine, they are.

thanks Yoda! We live to fight another day...

[old_geezer]

Dang! If I'd known how pissed off that fighter would get when I hit it I'd just missed like everybody else. On a side note, first bad bombing run by our bombadier; I hope he got a cram course in piloting or he's at least good at passing out the drinks and peanuts.
Rest in peace brave members (or is it embers?) of the ill-fated Lucy Quipment.

[Rain Man]

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B-17 #16 – Fire Below

Pilot BIG_DADDY (4)
Copilot Skip Towne (4)
Bombardier RedNeckRaider (4)
Navigator CHIEF4EVER (4)
Engineer Jcroft (4)
Radio Op. Misplaced_Chiefs_Fan (4)
Tail Gunner Cannibal (4)
Ball Turret Gunner Over-Head (4)
Right Waist Gunner bishop_74 (4)
Left Waist Gunner CanadaKC (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)

2 Me109s driven off by fighters

Entering Bomb Zone
Good Weather
Heavy Flak – 3 hits
-nose – chief4ever sustains a light wound to the back of his head.
-port wing landing gear damaged (won’t deploy)
-starboard wing flap knocked out of commission

When in need, call RedNeckRaider – 60% score!

Zone 3 Back: France (Leaving Target Zone)

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

redneckraider fires, misses
chief4ever fires, misses
cannibal fires, kills Me109
jcroft fires, misses
over-head fires, misses

2 Fws miss, break off attack

Zone 2: English Channel

3 Me109s attack – 2 are driven off by fighters
chief4ever fires, misses
cannibal fires, misses

Me misses, breaks off attack

Zone 1: England

Good weather
Skip towne can’t manually crank down the port landing gear, and jcroft and misplaced_chiefs_fan can’t diagnose the problem from inside the plane. Big_Daddy’s challenge is that he’ll need to make a belly landing, but with one flap out he’ll either have trouble maintaining control (keeping the plane from rolling) or he’ll have to come in much faster than normal. The crew discusses bailing out and letting Fire Below fly out over the Atlantic, but Big_Daddy and Skip Towne are confident that they can make the landing. Over-head kisses his gun goodbye, and comes up and straps himself in with the waist gunners.

The runway is cleared, and Fire Below comes in about 50 percent faster than the ground crews are accustomed to seeing, flaps up and landing gear tucked away. In a crush of metal, the plane hits the runway, skipping off like a stone. It lands again the second time, and the increased friction grinds the plane to a stop quickly, albeit throwing the crew members around in the plane. The crew piles out as the fire trucks inspect the damage, but have only bumps and bruises to show for the landing. Fire Below will fly another day.

Aftereffects

None

Eligible for next mission

Pilot BIG_DADDY (4)
Copilot Skip Towne (4)
Bombardier RedNeckRaider (4)
Navigator CHIEF4EVER (4)
Engineer Jcroft (4)
Radio Op. Misplaced_Chiefs_Fan (4)
Tail Gunner Cannibal (4)
Ball Turret Gunner Over-Head (4)
Right Waist Gunner bishop_74 (4)
Left Waist Gunner CanadaKC (4)

Check out the intact crew there.

[Rain Man]

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B-17 #18 – Fooooo Fighter

Pilot NaptownChief (4)
Copilot Tommykat (4)
Bombardier PastorMikH (4)
Navigator Mr. Christopher (4)
Engineer B2chiefsfan (4)
Radio Op. Adam (4)
Tail Gunner Amnorix (4)
Ball Turret Gunner KC Kings (4)
Right Waist Gunner el borracho (4)
Left Waist Gunner NewChief (4)

Target: Cherbourg
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)

4 Me109s attack – 3 are driven away by fighters

B2chiefsfan fires, misses
Kckings fires, misses
Mr. Christopher fires, misses

Me misses, breaks off attack

1 Me109, 1 Me110 attack – 1 Me109 is driven off by fighters

Amnorix fires, misses

Me misses, breaks off attack

Entering Bomb Zone
Good Weather
Medium Flak - misses
Pastormikh plants his bombs more or less on target – 20% score

Zone 3 Back: France (Leaving Target Zone)

1 Fw190, 3 Me109s attack – 1 Fw190, 1 Me109 driven off by fighters

Mr. Christopher fires, misses
B2chiefsfan fires, misses
Newchief fires, hits Me109

Hit Me misses, breaks off attack

Me scores 3 hits
-pilot compartment – control cables damaged, but still functional
-radio room – radio knocked out of commission
-waist – el borracho sustains light wound to left pinkie finger (he’s going to get a cheap purple heart out of that)

Me circles, attacks again

Mr. Christopher fires, misses

Me misses, breaks off attack

3 Fw190s attack – 2 are driven off by fighters

B2chiefsfan fires, misses
pastormikh fires, misses

Fw misses, breaks off attack

Zone 2: English Channel

No enemy

Zone 1: England

Good weather
Good landing

Aftereffects

None

Eligible for next mission

Pilot NaptownChief (4)
Copilot Tommykat (4)
Bombardier PastorMikH (4)
Navigator Mr. Christopher (4)
Engineer B2chiefsfan (4)
Radio Op. Adam (4)
Tail Gunner Amnorix (4)
Ball Turret Gunner KC Kings (4)
Right Waist Gunner el borracho (4)
Left Waist Gunner NewChief (4)

Check it out – another completely intact crew, other than el borracho’s pinkie.

[Misplaced_Chiefs_Fan]

Whew!!!!

Slap some new paint on there and we're good to go!

Nice landing, Big Daddy!!!

[Rain Man]

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B-17 #19 – War Dog

Pilot Baby Lee (4)
Copilot Brock Landers (4)
Bombardier Boozer (4)
Navigator Sure-Oz (4)
Engineer BigOlChiefsfan (4)
Radio Op. Gunther_Fan (4)
Tail Gunner Lightning Rod (4)
Ball Turret Gunner chi3fs (3)
Right Waist Gunner Chief Faithful (4)
Left Waist Gunner dtebbe (3)

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

Zone 1 Out: Britain

No enemy

Zone 2 Out: English Channel

No enemy

Zone 3 Out: France (Entering Target Zone)

2 Fw190s attack – 1 is driven off by fighters

lightning rod fires, misses
boozer fires, misses

Fw misses, breaks off attack

Entering Bomb Zone
Good Weather
Light Flak - misses
Boozer does his job – 30% score

Zone 3 Back: France (Leaving Target Zone)

3 Fw190s attack – 2 are driven off by fighters

sure-oz fires, misses
chi3fs fires, misses

Fw misses, breaks off attack

2 Me110s attack – 1 is driven off by fighters

chi3fs fires, damages Me110
lightning rod fires, misses
bigolchiefsfan fires, misses

Damaged Me misses, breaks off attack

Zone 2: English Channel

2 Me109s, 1 Me110 attack

chi3fs fires, misses
lightning rod fires, misses
sure-oz fires, misses
bigolchiefsfan fires, kills Me109
dtebbe fires, misses
boozer fires, misses

Me 109, Me110 miss amid the hail of War Dog bullets, break off attack

Zone 1: England

Poor weather – drizzle and fog
The weather isn’t an issue to baby lee as he brings War Dog to an elegant stop.

Aftereffects

None

Eligible for next mission

Pilot Baby Lee (4)
Copilot Brock Landers (4)
Bombardier Boozer (4)
Navigator Sure-Oz (4)
Engineer BigOlChiefsfan (4)
Radio Op. Gunther_Fan (4)
Tail Gunner Lightning Rod (4)
Ball Turret Gunner chi3fs (3)
Right Waist Gunner Chief Faithful (4)
Left Waist Gunner dtebbe (3)

One of those missions that you dream about. Just a wash and wax and War Dog is ready to roll again.

[Rain Man]

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B-17 #20 – Sky Chief

Pilot DenverChief (4)
Copilot Iowanian (4)
Bombardier Sky (4)
Navigator Lzen (4)
Engineer AustinChief (4)
Radio Op. Michael Michigan (4)
Tail Gunner DJay23 (4)
Ball Turret Gunner UMKC 1L (4)
Right Waist Gunner mlyonsd (4)
Left Waist Gunner PennyWise (4)

Target: St. Omer’s fighter base
Mid-formation horizontally, low vertically (high vulnerability)

Zone 1 Out: Britain

No enemy

Zone 2 Out: English Channel (Entering Target Zone)

It rapidly becomes apparent that the Germans were expecting this raid. The sky is boiling with German fighters, and the Allied fighters have their hands full. Get ready for some shooting!

5 Fw190s attack – 3 are driven away by fighters

Lzen fires, misses
Michael Michigan fires, hits Fw190
Djay23 fires, misses
Sky fires, misses

2 Fws miss, break off attack

3 Fw190s are driven off by fighters

Entering Bomb Zone
Good Weather
Light Flak - misses
Sky delivers the goods – 30% score

Zone 2: English Channel (Leaving Target Zone)

5 Fw190s attack – 1 is driven away by fighters

Djay23 fires, kills Fw190
Pennywise fires, misses
Austinchief fires, misses
Umkc1L fires, misses
Sky fires, misses
Lzen fires, misses

Fw misses, breaks off attack

Fw scores 1 hit
-superficial damage to radio room

Fw scores 3 hits
-superficial damage to waist
-superficial damage to nose
-pilot compartment – Denverchief loses oxygen, switches to portable supply

2 Fws circle, attack again

Mlyonsd fires, misses
Austinchief fires, misses
Sky fires, misses
Djay23 fires, misses

Fw misses, breaks off attack

Fw scores 2 hits
-superficial damage to port wing
-port wing – inboard fuel tank is hit, begins leaking fuel. As long as no fire starts, it won’t be a problem since this is a short mission

Fw circles, attacks again

Austinchief fires, hits Fw190
Lzen fires, misses
Austinchief fires, misses

1 Me109 attacks in a vertical dive

Michael Michigan fires, misses

Me scores 1 hit
-radio room - Michael Michigan sustains a serious wound to the left thigh

Me circles attacks again

Austinchief fires, misses

Me misses, breaks off attack

4 Fw190s attack – 2 are driven off by fighters

Pennywise fires, kills Fw190
Djay23 fires, misses
Sky fires, misses

Fw misses, breaks off attack

Zone 1: England

Good weather
Good landing

Aftereffects

Michael Michigan will have to sit out the next mission while he heals, but can then resume his position.

Eligible for next mission

Pilot DenverChief (4)
Copilot Iowanian (4)
Bombardier Sky (4)
Navigator Lzen (4)
Engineer AustinChief (4)
Radio Op. Michael Michigan (4) will miss the next mission, but can come back after that.
Tail Gunner DJay23 (4)
Ball Turret Gunner UMKC 1L (4)
Right Waist Gunner mlyonsd (4)
Left Waist Gunner PennyWise (4)

18 enemy fighters in a 1.5 hour flight. That makes for a busy day.

[Hydrae]

Eligible for next mission

Pilot Special Ed (4)
Copilot KcMizzou (4)
Bombardier Bearcat (4)
Navigator alanm (4)
Engineer gh4chiefs (4)
Radio Op. seclark (4)
Tail Gunner Luzap (4)
Ball Turret Gunner redhed (4)
Right Waist Gunner ChiefGator (4)
Left Waist Gunner Hydrae

Woohoo!!! I live to fly again!

[Ultra Peanut]

The plane explodes as the wings shear off and the nose is crushed, killing both Fat Elvis and Psicosis.

You ****ing asshole!

He crushing my head.