witchbottles
Forum Guru
Iron Hand
Chapter 1
Jim Wilcox had spent the last three weeks since losing his flight leader over Thud Ridge with cold sweats every night. Constant nightmares replaying the scene of the previously unknown SA-2 missile site firing and in the dreams, that white telephone pole would twist and turn with every maneuver Jim tried to make. It was hopeless. Sleep was not going to happen, so Jim would get up and walk out to the veranda, smoking another Pall Mall, as he watched the airmen bustle to prepare the next day's airstrikes.
Ever since TacAirOps got his photos of the SAM site armed and functional, all hell had broken loose on the base. The on again, off again strikes on Kep and Phuc Yen had been terminated, and nearly constant planning meetings had been going with all the top brass over at the Base Tower. Scuttlebutt was that tomorrow they would find out what the whiz kids had dreamed up this time.....
Chapter 2
0600, 24 July, 1965.
Lt Jim Wilcox looked around the noisy Ready Room, but few of the faces were familiar. Jimboy wondered if anyone from else from the 341st TFW had been drafted for this party. He was sure the only reason he had been was because he had been checked out in F-105s before becoming a Phantom driver this last summer. That and the brass was super-pissed at him for rocking the boat, so he was going "Downtown" on every trip from now on, whether he liked it or not.
The Major came in and took the cloth off the map board. Blue and red strings indicated ingress and egress routes for the strike package. There were 24 pilots listening as he told them that the grey string racetrack over Laos was a tanker and Sandy flight would be orbiting just east of the Dragon's Jaw ridge off the coast, in case they were needed. 16 Thuds were detailed to the alpha strike - targeted for that SAM site Jimboy had identified. the other 8 were flying TarCAP, and would carry CBUs to suppress any flak nearby before switching to their 20mm cannons to keep any MiGs off the strike birds.
Everyone got quiet when the Major said "MiGs". Jim felt as if every pair of eyes in the room were boring right through his skull. No one had ever said it, but he felt the entire base blamed him for the loss of the well-liked and respected XO of the 341st.
"Shit" he said under his breath, and pulled out his knee-board.
"I'm gonna fly this strike, and those NVA screwballs are gonna eat my 500 pounders. The rest of these guys can just blow off." he whispered to himself.
It was going to be another long day up in Route Pack 5.............
______________________________________________________
Jackson and I are moving into the chronological order of the scenarios now that his flight training has ended with his gold wings...
D1 Here, there and Everywhere is first up. I gave up 2 VP right away to get another MiG 17 flight so there are possibly 3 or 4 of them ,and some Hidden Flak and Fire Can guided flak around as well.
Looking forward to another fine day above North Vietnam in this one!
Chapter 1
Jim Wilcox had spent the last three weeks since losing his flight leader over Thud Ridge with cold sweats every night. Constant nightmares replaying the scene of the previously unknown SA-2 missile site firing and in the dreams, that white telephone pole would twist and turn with every maneuver Jim tried to make. It was hopeless. Sleep was not going to happen, so Jim would get up and walk out to the veranda, smoking another Pall Mall, as he watched the airmen bustle to prepare the next day's airstrikes.
Ever since TacAirOps got his photos of the SAM site armed and functional, all hell had broken loose on the base. The on again, off again strikes on Kep and Phuc Yen had been terminated, and nearly constant planning meetings had been going with all the top brass over at the Base Tower. Scuttlebutt was that tomorrow they would find out what the whiz kids had dreamed up this time.....
Chapter 2
0600, 24 July, 1965.
Lt Jim Wilcox looked around the noisy Ready Room, but few of the faces were familiar. Jimboy wondered if anyone from else from the 341st TFW had been drafted for this party. He was sure the only reason he had been was because he had been checked out in F-105s before becoming a Phantom driver this last summer. That and the brass was super-pissed at him for rocking the boat, so he was going "Downtown" on every trip from now on, whether he liked it or not.
The Major came in and took the cloth off the map board. Blue and red strings indicated ingress and egress routes for the strike package. There were 24 pilots listening as he told them that the grey string racetrack over Laos was a tanker and Sandy flight would be orbiting just east of the Dragon's Jaw ridge off the coast, in case they were needed. 16 Thuds were detailed to the alpha strike - targeted for that SAM site Jimboy had identified. the other 8 were flying TarCAP, and would carry CBUs to suppress any flak nearby before switching to their 20mm cannons to keep any MiGs off the strike birds.
Everyone got quiet when the Major said "MiGs". Jim felt as if every pair of eyes in the room were boring right through his skull. No one had ever said it, but he felt the entire base blamed him for the loss of the well-liked and respected XO of the 341st.
"Shit" he said under his breath, and pulled out his knee-board.
"I'm gonna fly this strike, and those NVA screwballs are gonna eat my 500 pounders. The rest of these guys can just blow off." he whispered to himself.
It was going to be another long day up in Route Pack 5.............
______________________________________________________
Jackson and I are moving into the chronological order of the scenarios now that his flight training has ended with his gold wings...
D1 Here, there and Everywhere is first up. I gave up 2 VP right away to get another MiG 17 flight so there are possibly 3 or 4 of them ,and some Hidden Flak and Fire Can guided flak around as well.
Looking forward to another fine day above North Vietnam in this one!
