Sunday the 30th of October 1940

A few observations:

I think we did pretty well with the first engagement as there were at least 5 109s against just our 2 Spits, so 1 kill without any notable damage is a good result - you need to be careful when energy fighting to not turn to sharply, however, as you lose a lot of energy, which is what happened when you tried to turn after that first 109 Razy, which let the 3 other 109s behind get dangerously close. Try to imagine you're flying down a river, going with the flow - you can turn a little without too much trouble, but if you turn into the flow you slow down a lot, which is when you get bitten by the snappers, so try not to turn more than about 80 degrees or so unless you really have to.

Here are the videos of each of our head on attacks from the second engagement:

MJ



Note that I extend quite far ahead before turning to engage, you have to consider that you're dealing with the combined closing speed of both you and the bombers, so you need a lot of space to get lined up and aim.

Also note that I'm aiming ahead of the bombers rather than at the bombers themselves, and never really get dangerously close to the bombers before breaking away, the third pass wasn't a good one, however, as I didn't lead enough, and should have probably come in further to the sides as in the previous ones (though the second one was a bit too far to the side).

Razy



Razy you need to lead the bombers a lot longer for the ranges that you're opening fire at, as all of your shots were going far behind the target, and also try to get more space ahead of the bombers before you turn back to engage - that last attack was far too early, and didn't give you time to line up and aim ahead of the target, which resulted in a collision.

Also, Razy - I noticed that when you were having trouble catching the Heinkels for the second attack you were above them and kept rolling to the right to keep visual on them, which might be why you weren't going as fast as you could have been.

Speedy



Your got a good distance ahead of the bombers for your first attack, though your turn in was perhaps a little leisurely as you're turning for a long time after the initial break, which leaves you less time to get lined up - also you don't really aim until the last moment, and also need to lead the bomber rather than aim at him, though given the angle you came in at that might have put you at risk of collision, so maybe try to come in a bit further to the sides, or a bit higher or lower.

Your second pass would have been a good one if you'd waited until you were a bit more ahead of the bombers, but as it was you didn't have much time to line up and aim, though that was when we switched to rear attacks on the last two bombers, so might have been more of an opportunistic head on?

All in all I'm pleased with the effectiveness of the head on attacks though, as we reduced a formation of 5 bombers in formation down to just 2 using only head on attacks (plus a bit of ramming) without receiving too much return fire from the gunners.

Nice reports once again MJ.

It was good to try some head on attacks as it is something we've practiced in the past. I take your point about getting further ahead of the bombers, as it is easier to line up. We were fortunate not to have any snappers to worry about last night, so were able get set up again. However, it is surprising how long it takes to get ahead of the 'slower' bombers after one pass, so my second head on was more of a rushed affair, more like a slash attack really. I was pleased with the flammer kill as I often struggle to concentrate my fire in one area, and tend to spray around.