I repost what I said a month ago.......
So, Training! as Bart asked, what does everyone know and more importantly how
often do they get to practice what they know? I decided to make a list of
things we need to have done/know.
Trying to work out a training package around that list I found I had to work backwards
from where, I think, "we all" need to be at the end. That being, we are able to
fly a formation of multiple flights of four, and those flights are made up of experienced
pairs, the flights are able to attack and defend themselves, on the attack the pairs
within a flight know when to attack with a single pair and the other pair provides top
cover, and when they attack as 2 pairs at the same time, also the pair know when to
switch between Double Attack and Loose Deuce.
To get to that stage each pair needs to be experienced at that entirely on it's
own, so that the pair is the smallest unit we break down into. It's at this
level they'll learn when to switch between Double Attack and Loose Deuce, also
which formation suits them best for patrolling and scanning around for the
enemy.
So the most important training then is pairs training. They must be able to provide mutual support which starts with good
lookout, they must be able to perform 90' turns and 180' turns. When on the defensive they must be able to carry out a
"sandwich" or "Thach Weave". When offensive they must be able to spot enemy aircraft, bear in mind the
position of the Sun and then position for an attack, they should be able to carry out a successful "Bounce", when the
enemy is near the same altitude how to us the "Bracket" and, especially when in Loose Deuce, how to "rope a
dope" as part of the Loose Deuce.
But to get that position they need individual flying a fighting skills. Each pilot must know when to use one
of the 3 "Pursuit curves", And, now that we have "G effects" also how use of the throttle
effects turn rate and turn radius which brings on G. Along with pursuit curves they must know how to maneuver
their plane with Velocity vector and Lift Vector in the vertical at all times in preference to the
horizontal, particularly used in the "lead turn". And above all they must be able to shoot.
"Good flying never killed an enemy yet". Major Edward "Mick" Mannock RAF, VC,
DSO 2 bars, DFC 1 bar, WWI.
So, to make sure you can do all that you need to make sure you have the right guns convergence, ideally,
separate triggers for each weapon type, the Spitfire's guns have different velocities and trajectories! have
you got all the settings needed to control the engine, the aircraft, i.e. to prevent "G" Blackout
Bart and I have 50% pitch trim. Do you take the "correct" fuel load for the mission and the same as
the rest of your flight, do you have your TrackIR or VR setup so you can see and is your "head
position" in the right place to help you see through the gun-sight AND as far back as possible.
Now there will be at least a dozen different answers to all these questions and
each of us fits into a certain position in this list of things to tick off.
So yes, Bart and I can help facilitate the training and we can do it at
whatever point in the list above people need help/refreshing with. We can
probably only take on a couple of people each at a time, so four between us.
Now I would suggest a great way of practicing the individual fighting and shooting
skills, the "BFM foundations", is, in my recent experience, to have 1 on 1
duels, against Moose, I did this the other day and it would be pointless for me or Bart
to do this while we have Moose. Remember to debrief each other at the end of each duel,
we must learn from the little mistakes so as not to repeat them, we should also pass this
on to others within the squad so we can all learn from each others mistakes, so as not to
repeat them.
Doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result is a sign
of madness.
On 2 April 2020 at 7:48, "klem56" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
IMHO, for Squad nights we really shouldn't be trying to be too clever with the
training or even the actual missions. Thinking over the servers we use we could
cover most needs with the Tempest, SpitV/IX and Yak1b/Yak7. We are an RAF
Squad so shouldn't be bothering with Axis a/c. I know some guys like the P-38
but it isn't in many servers and bombing isn't always an objective but where it
is there are enough who already know it for bombing (and the Pe-2). We should
leave it aside for fighter operations to reduce the number of aircraft
*everyone* has to learn. Even on bombing objectives at least one of the three
fighter types are usually available for escort.
I enjoyed the brief training session last night, scraping the rust off the
head-on bracket. How often do we employ such tactics these days? We used to
train in all of those situations. I get the impression that some of the newer
guys are already getting some training which is great.
I do think the training should be structured. Last night I think it was Bo or
Pod who joined for a quick training session on the bracket and although told
what to do at the merge it became clear he didn't actually know what a bracket
was so there needs to be some structure. I was digging back into some old
files and found a set of 'Fast track' training notes from over ten years ago. I
used it with the young lad who's name I forget but he joined at 15 yrs old and
I may have used it with Dutch. I've attached it. I'm not saying we should use
those particular notes but it shows a structured approach rather than
cherry-picking Shaw where some things might fall down the cracks. If we had an
up to date and relevant version the guys could see where they are on the curve
and perhaps fill in some gaps as well as giving structure to further training.
When training with witch and Bart last night, witch was telling Bo how
important it is to know some 1v1 fighting manoeuvres ('use the vertical' etc)
which feed into pairs fighting, which Bo didn't know so there was one crack. My
notes do refer to my old Firebirds website (still on my hard drive) but
essentially that would be diagrams like the ones witch recently sent out plus
the narrative for the manoeuvre. All I'm saying is there should be some
structured basic training and progressive combat training rather than jumping
in at some arbitrary level. A lot of basics can be self-taught, especially with
some guide notes. Some of that old stuff we don't do any more, e.g. we've
largely abandoned finger four for separate pairs like last night (not 'squad'
flying btw), sometimes detached pairs, and so on.
Colin's collecting the data. IMHO we just need to structure how it will be used.
Again, just my 2p.
Cheers
klem
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On 01/04/2020 18:21, Colin Pack (Redacted sender bart_56 for DMARC) wrote:
Hi guys many thanks to those who replied, I think from the answers we can see
that people are confident on using different aircraft. Maybe it highlights that
we need to concentrate on a few dedicated aircraft, and maybe not just what the
servers provide us?
So how do we maybe get around the servers not providing our needs at certain
times. Which gave me the idea which has been mentioned before, we could host a
server for ourselves. That would provide us the option to practice and fly the
aircraft we want to fly. So I thought one of the easiest maps to use would be
the Mitchell’s men map as it had the AI B-25s, already setup.
So that is why I thought I would ask the question I did so to see what changes
I needed to make to the map. Thinking of a preferred aircraft that 56 uses or
can use, also we need some opfor, and maybe long term option for the bomber
boys.
Unfortunately I ran out of time this afternoon, but hope to get it sorted soon,
if people are interested. It will give us the option to run practice escort
missions and tactics.
We will go with 2nd TAF B-25s and MkIX’s as escorts, up against either G14s or
A8s.
Unless anyone has a major issue with those choices, they are a good match up to
be honest.
Colin
Sent from my iPad
On 1 Apr 2020, at 15:42, Rob (Redacted sender robinhj for DMARC)
<dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
If it was a high altitude 'Mitchells Men' then it would vote for P51s. Some
people will say they are not familiar with it but it would be a good
opportunity for them to learn :-) I am not that familiar myself but I can
get it off the ground and keep the engine from exploding :-)
On the other hand, I agree that it would be nice if we concentrated on one aircraft as
much as possible though with switching between Finnish & CB all the time that may
have to be 'two' fighters eg Yak-1b/7b & Tempest.
On Wednesday, 1 April 2020, 13:52:26 BST, Lee Fisher
<dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Can you answer Colin's question?
He is thinking of hosting our own version of "Mitchells Men", for the very
reasons you mentioned.
Witch
On 1 April 2020 at 13:47, "Michael Colby" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I find what I want and would like gets overtaken by what is available on the
server, how many of them are available at the time we want to fly and who can
fly them. Also, what the bomber pilots are flying and are doing in terms of
route, attack profile and altitude, etc. My favourite pure escort is not
available yet and that is the Spit XIV. The only German I fly is the G2, as
its simples.
We have a couple of pilots who can level bomb but cant do it myself, although I
can tuck in and release bombs when told to.
Talisman
On 01/04/2020 12:52, Colin (Redacted sender bart_56 for DMARC) wrote:
If 56 were going to do an pure escort mission what fighter would it want to use:
P-38, P-47, P-51, MkIX, Tempest ?
As an individual pilot what would you say from the above selection of aircraft
you can fly the most competently ?
Any of the bomber boys that can fly an A20 can you fly formation and bomb from
level bombing, if you preferred to bomb instead of escort?
Any of 56 competent at flying any of the following Bf109G-14/K4 or Fw190A8/D9,
again please state the aircraft.
Please all answer ASAP, it could lead to some really good fun ;).
Colin
Sent from my iPad
