OTT Early Doors Mission 3 Knackering the knockwurst.
From this altitude Max could easily make out the island where they would change course. Balloons, Christ he hated them, he and Gusty had tried on several occasions to de-wind one, 90% of the time the tommis had managed to get them down before they could do any lasting damage. The moment the observers took to the air, you knew you were living on borrowed time. Parachutes would appear almost as soon as your first rounds hit home and who could blame them. Why weren't pilots issued chutes, the brass gave us the excuse that the fng's would take to the air like a lot of daisy seeds, and it would spook older hands make them jittery and unfocused. They should try three tommi pushers dropping on them like a lot of boulders in an avalanche, then they'd know about the jitters...
Cloud bank coming up, Gusty looked towards his wingman, caught his eye and gestured to go above. If there wasn't a break they could descend through and spot their island, climb again and head inland towards their balloon, as long as they stuck to this plan finding the knockwurst would be a synch.
When it came to balloon hunting staying out of range of the ack ack, then encountering fighter cover, an if you had to swing to low some idiot would start up with his m.g. or some bored tommi would take a pot shot with his rifle, all of that was the easy bit, trying to take the beast out was next. If you were lucky enough to light it up, there was always the chance of being engulfed in a mass of flame, just like Piotr. The week after Rudi had bought it, he and Piotr had headed out to tackle a gas bag. After getting past the defences, Gusty had made a pass igniting something, the observers jumped, Piotr went after them, missing one and riddling the other. Just as she went up Piotr was passing underneath a mass of burning canvas dropped, shrouding Piotrs EIII like an unwelcomed blanket, Gusty couldn't imagine the horror and prayed that Piotr got to his mauser in time.
It had been a week since the French had loaned out their new kite and the bulldogs had been chosen as one of the recipients, an he Charley Barker as the test pilot. Boy she was a dream, nippy enough and she could turn on a penny. Some might see it as a waste patrolling the balloon line, but Chas knew he could throw her through her paces an blunt the nose of any Hun who thought he could take a shot at his charge.
He spun under the obs balloon and decided to give the engine a breather. A wide sweep along the front, a tight turn, full stretch behind to complete the circuit. Then time for tea. It wasn't to be , as he scanned the sky before making his first manoeuvre a gap appeared in the clouds above the coast he could clearly make out the silhouettes of two monoplanes, straining his eyes the crosses began to take shape on the Hun machines, they were heading south hugging the beach. Keeping his eyes on jerry as they banked towards his balloon, the calculations stormed around his brain, he could traverse the cloud to his east and come in on their tails.
With a gap emerging in the cloud Max could make out the blimp to the west, he gestured to Gusty and they turned in.
Descending towards their target speed increasing, quick glances tells them they haven't been spotted. Short bursts tell them their guns are ready an barrels are clear. Faster now towards the balloon they drop, still no response from tommi. Gusty unleashes a hail of lead in the direction of the basket swinging below the giant gas bag. Max's spandau lights up as he closes with the yellow monster, the tommis have kindly left an enormous target symbol emblazoned along it's side for him. Still no ack ack or chaperone maybe they would be lucky.
Gusty was in the mood for giant killing, he looped and came back in on the behemoth, loosing more hot death into the beast, this time maybe give himself a little more room an thus a few more rounds, he looped again. And as he did he he spotted the scout, emerging from the cloud...
Charley had timed it just right, the nieuport banked perfectly. He was on the fokkers tail an pulled the trigger cord on the Lewis gun, the rounds exploded from the barrel, red hot cartridges spilled past, then silence, a deathly silence, one that could spell his doom.
A look over at his pal told Max the trap had been sprung. There was a tommi on Gustys tail. Gusty knew the drill, they both did, fly cover and ignore the balloon. Concentrate on the knockwurst until contact, then reassess. In a split second Max had made his decision, he was to close to the balloon to go to the aid of his pal. He thumbed the trigger, surely he couldn't miss from this range. A stream of holes appeared along the side of the gas bag as he banked to the left.
Damn that low flying cloud had hid his enemy's presence and now gusty was a sitting duck! He saw the rounds peppering his left wing then nothing, was the tommi lining up the killing blow, he wouldn't hear it next thing he'd be slumped over his controls, unable to move, then blackness. Still nothing, his heart was almost bursting from his chest, the world slowed, his mind raced.
Open fire on the balloon, into an Immelmann back in the face of the tommi, scare him witless an with luck rake him with the spandau. As Gusty pulled out of the manoeuvre, he could see his enemy wrestling with his gun atop the wing. Who was the sitting duck now, Gusty could make out pieces of the biplanes engine cowling tearing off as his rounds headed home.
Believing he'd be safe, Chas was trying to remove the magazine as the first rounds pumped into his engine, the mag was torn from his fingers as shrapnel struck it's side. The armourer would have his guts for garters this time. It was time Chas returned to his seat and shake this Hun.
Max decided this observation balloon must have been floated in a hurry, with no puffs of sudden Black Death or bored foot soldiers taking pot shots defences were at a low. As soon as he'd taken care of this, he could go to his wingmans aid. The only worry he had was running out of ammo, as she was taking a lot of rounds. At this rate he may well carve the rear off the gas bag.
Chas was back in his chair just in time as the blur of the eindekker rushed past, a bit too close for his liking. Good, time enough to sweep round and replace the magazine.
With a tight turn to his right Gusty was on course to meet his foe once again and this time he would have him, well so he believed. He'd got his timing right, the biplane presented itself in his sights. As he depressed the button, the look of horror on the tommis face told Gusty the story.
The Tommi had blundered and would pay dearly, the rounds peppered the cowling again, tearing a hole along the biplanes midriff about half it's length, a flash, a plume of smoke, then she started to go down.
Chas was in a spot, he'd been in some bad ones, however this could turn out to be terrible. The panic started to rise as he wrestled to control his kite, he'd put her through her paces, and believed that if she behaved the pair of them could pull through, they started to pull out of the dive...
As Max pulled out of his Immelman, he could make out the smoke coming from the tommi's machine, Gusty wouldn't need his help after all. Max unleashed another hail of rounds into the balloon, she was burning now, maybe they could make a clean sweep.
Gusty prayed it was quick for the tommi, nobody should burn. The sausage however was beginning to roast, maybe it would do the honourable and give up. He could make out Max far to the west turning in again, then he felt the heat blast just as the sound of the gong going off in the depths reached his ears. Afraid to look again, the vision of another burning plane to horrible to comprehend, he was instead greeted by sight of the flaming sausage falling to earth and his wingman turning for home. At this rate they might make it home for dinner...
Ltn. Gustav Landauer. RTB. 1 Kill
Ltn. Maximilian Nettlau. RTB. 1 kill
Bertha the balloon. Flaming wreck 22 cards later...
Flt. Charley Barker. Out for 6 weeks.
Sorry it took so long to get it posted, apologies.
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Well that was a disaster for the Brits.
Originally Posted by flash
The ground forces were there but never got anything in. The most exciting part was the AI battle, it panned out brilliantly (and luckily for Gusty) I definitely couldn't have written it and that was all thanks to you and your charts. 
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