OTTED Mission 13 The Hunter in the sky
The Halb swooped low over the Bulldogs airfield, deliberately stalling its engine as it passed low over the Mess Hut in order to get the pilots attention. It worked a treat. Ron ,Pip and the rest of the Squadron came tumbling out of the main door in time to see the package the soggy turf that was the airstrip A slow barrel roll and he was gone , heading back to the safety of his lines.
Over lunch the Bulldogs mulled over the challenge set before them.
One of the French locals who supplied wine for the mess and was originally from the Alsace region had translated the message dropped earlier.
Ron Curtis was the first to break the silence
"So this Oblt Lange wants to joust it out with Jonty then,They must be ticked off about all those planes he brought down"
" Never heard of they man" Hall piped up "Must have a death wish with Jonty on form as he is"
A ripple of laughter broke out.
"Well seems the game is off ,mores the pity. Jonty is of on his jolly till the 21st and this chap wants to play knights of the sky on the 17th" The Mess let out a low groan of disappointment.
' Jonty might not be here but his kite is" Flinch commented . "Seems a shame to let the Bosche down after all the trouble they have gone to . They might think we were not up for it, Matter of Squadron pride eh what"
There was a murmur of approval from those present
"So who wants to fly his plane?" Curtis asked
The entire room erupted . each pilot trying to outbid his colleague for the chance to fly.
" Quiet " The Co s voice boomed above the din ."We will draw straws , that way its fair. Now back to business formation flying at 3.00"
Hibbet saw the river below and began to circle glancing nervously from side to side. Passing the destroyed bridge for the second time he saw it. The yellow fuselage and familiar shape of an Albatross closing in on his tail.
" This is it "he thought, " Hope he got a good look at Jontys plane.
The German had and iimmediatly began to change his course. Hibbet banked the Tripe right choosing not to go head to head this early in the fight. but Lange caught him as he turned (3)
Jamming the rudder hard Hibbet pulled the Tripe round and found himself at almost right angles to the Albatross Squeezing a long burst off he heard the dull click of his guns as they froze (2, 0+GJ)
In a effort to keep as close to Lange and therefore reduce his chances of firing Hibbet side slipped and watched as his opponant swept by in a graceful starboard turn. Hibbet mimicked Lange while working to free his guns.
Just as the damaged casing fell to the floor Hibbet saw the Albatross pass in front of him, he fired quickly without taking aim (1,0)
Unexpetedly Lange seemed to stall his plane and the Tripe was suddenly almost touching its tail before it banked right
Lang appeared to be flying very cautiously and Hibbet kept reminding himself of the Tripes only good point tight turns." that should keep me out of his way" he muttered They started to circle each other Hibbet tailing Lange the Tripes turns closing down the distance between them.
A burst from Hibbet and a resulting plume of oily smoke trailed from Lange's plane.(1+smoke)
a second squirt and fabric began to peel off the Yellow fuselage (0,3)
Hibbet side slipped though the smoke hoping for another crack at him but he was gone Instintivly Hibbet pulled right then sideslipped out of the smoke trail to see the Albatross turning towards him.
Hibbet fired The Albatross slewed to the right slowly, its wing dipping as it spirraled towards the river below Hibbet watched as it skidpanned into the low hedges beside a field its nose burrying itself in the soft mud and catapulting Lange free from the wreckage. (XP)
Hibbet flew low over the crash, seeing no movement from the splayed body on the ground. Reaching down in the cockpit Hibbit picked up a small package and aimed it at the prone body before swinging the Tripe back towards the Allied lines.
Result
RFC. Lt Peter Hibbet. RTD 1Kill
Central Powers
Obltn Franz Lange Ace. LG1, Ac pilot, Evasion 1+2, Deadly aim, DGC1,
SD/NML: Rolled 7 -3Exp -1NML = 3 Severely Injured - Skip 1D6 Scenarios; Rolled 4 - He'll be back !
Even an Ace cannot escape the boom card
Well well well it only goes to show that the as long as you keep out of the gunsights of an Ace you stand chance.
The Tripe really had the advantage with the tight right turns and if the Albatross had ever got on the Tripes tail I might have been able to shake him off.
A relatively short game of 8 turns but that kind of reflects what you might expect with a 1on1 fight.
I rolled for who would take Jontys place and young Peter Hibbet got the goggles. As for the random ace ability rolled and got evasive 2.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Flying Officer Kyte
Great flying there mate!
Bookmarks