ATAG ASSAULT No.2

[Kendy for the State]

Hey Kendy - i think there might be a thought to do an -88 raid after the -111 raid (not 100% sure though).

-111 is easy to fly but if you'd refer to fly the -88 i'm still happy if you want to join the -111 raid. We will be much slower than you though....

Ezzie

I can always throw out an anchor to slow me down!

[ATAG_Ezzie]

A big thanks to all who took part in today's event and as always big thanks to DRock for the initiative.

Here's a summary of the event as i saw it from the bomber leader's perspective

Our primary target was Willmington airfield with the secondary being Hasting Railyards. Our planned route was Liegerscort-St Omer-Manston-Ashford (IP) and then either Willimington or Hastings depending on situation (I would decide at the IP which tgt to go after depending on the tactical situation at the time). Mission was to be at high altitude (5-6K) with fighter support providing barrier CAP along the french coast, offensive fighter sweep out to England and then along our route and close escort at all times. DRock was our fighter liaison officer and coordinated the fighter escort via TS and chat). I didnt get a final count but we ended up with about 10 -111s in the main formation at take off.

As usual the plan didnt survive very long. I collided with an AAA gun placed near the runway during my take off roll - i suspect Col Klink was responsible for AAA at this base - and had to redo my take off. DRock and Wukits took control of the formation and lead them towards St Omer while i tried to catch up. First encounter with fighters occurred prior to St Omer but our fighter escort - who did an awesome job - took care of them. We may have lost 1 - 3 of our formation due to damage and aircraft 'malfunction' prior to going feet wet near Calais.

Some more red fighters tried to attack the formation as we crossed the coast and i think 1 Beaufighter (intel says flown by RAF Ace Zeb) managed to get thru the screen and did one pass before being shotdown. The 'Zeb is dead' call went out over the bomber comms with much cheering (respectful cheering of course - S! Zeb).

As i was trying to catch up i was attacked by a lone Hurricane as i was mid way between Calais and Manston. Knuckles took some shots at him from our turret however he took out my elevators and i had to ride the aircraft down into the water - S! Dazza 9 (I think). I then joined Pattle's aircraft as the top gunner and mission commander.

Wukits continued to lead the formation and turned at Manston towards the IP (Ashford). Red fighters were near us pretty much the whole time from Manston to Willmington and our fighter escort did an awesome job dealing with them. Most damage was caused by single Beaufighters who managed to blow thru the escorts but they typically only got 1 pass before being dealt with.

Wukits changed the flight path to extend away from the intense fighter activity - it was awesome sitting in the -111 top turret watching the contrails and 109s diving on red fighters trying to come up to our level, which by this stage was over 6+K (I think we got as high as 7K at one stage) - and came down the coast towards Hastings.

As we had about 5 - 6 -111s remaining in various states of damage the decision was made to proceed to our primary target and we managed to get it to about 84% destroyed via Pattle and Wukits using their bombsights from around 5500K ish and the rest dropping when they released their bombs. A couple of -111s didnt quite make it and had to detach from the formation and were unable to bomb any of the tgts.

After bomb release we turned from home and i think we still had 3 - 4 -111s still airborne when the server went kaput. Our goal was to get bombs on target and at least 1 bomber home despite the large number (maybe 40+) red fighters opposing us. So think we were well on our way to achieving our goal.

Big thanks to DRock and Wukits for leading our formation and to the fighter leaders and squads who did a fantastic job of escorting us. I hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as we did in the bomber group. Meyer told us they did scored pretty well but will let him post the details if he wishes to share them

And a big thanks to the Red fighters for providing a determined opposition - reaching our primary target in the face of such quality opposition was very satisfying/rewarding for the -111 flyers.

Just goes to show how much fun this sim can provide with a bit of coordination and planning and a strong community of players.

Looking fwd to the next one and remember - the bomber will always get thru!!!!

Ezzie

[69th_Zeb]

"The 'Zeb is dead' call went out over the bomber comms with much cheering (respectful cheering of course - S! Zeb)." LOL

It was quite daunting to be entering a formation of such exemplary gentlemen, not having rehearsed at the gun range for quite some time. Not sure if any of my shots made it, but it was a thrill boys!
Plus, it was a good death, having uncovered the sinister plan, as the entire RAF was dispatched towards Dieppe.

~S~

edit* how many people did we end up having on the server?

[ATAG_Pattle]

Hi Zeb,

I saw 98 on at one point

[DRock]

Amazing turnout, All. Thank you for that.


A huge thanks to our escorts in that 111 raid on Wilmington. We would have been torn to pieces before leaving France if it wasn’t for you guys. Coordinating with JG52 and JG4 was a game changer.

Great leadership from Commander Ezzie on this one, and Wukits, too.


That first 111 sortie was one of the most epic of all for me. The view from my rear gunner made it hard to stay in formation, with images of slash attacks, fighter battles, planes catching on fire, damaged bombers falling out of formation, all burned into memory. Truly epic.


Thanks for the great memories.

[9./JG52_Meyer]

Salute all, thanks to the ATAG people for arranging this event and thanks to all the pilots both red and blue who turned up.
We had a most enjoyable sortie , and with our brothers in JG4 we had the satisfaction of getting bombers to primary target and back.
The red pilots done themselves pround in their determined attacks on the bomber formation and we expected nothing less.
It was pretty much constant action for us culminating in a massive running battle mid channel to Manston and all the way to the target area.
After the bombers released their load and headed out to the channel the red fighters petered out.
9./JG52 landed back at France with no losses and had some 8 odd kills to our tally.
But that is not the point , we had a great time and most of all a lot of fun which is what it is all about.

This was for you Zieglar , Horrido! my friend
So from all at 9./ JG52 many thanks

Hals und beinbruch

[ATAG_Kulea]

Deal seafront is awfully quiet after last night's carnage.
67438322_2347443558851010_8095245249598717952_n.jpg

[9./JG52 gr00ve]

very enjoyable sortie on Mae West map. While 1st schwarm of 9./JG52 tied up quite a few red fighters mid channel trying to get to bombers, 2nd schwarm escorted bombers from Liegescourt to Wilmington. I have to say that plan to go around worked very good and we didn't see any real opposition. Reds were attacking in ones or twos and were easily fended off. Too bad bombers didn't form up properly and there was quite a spread between them. Looking forward to next one!

[=gRiJ=Ganso]

Hola a todos.
Many thanks to the ATAG team for offering us yesterday's flight.
It was magnificent to see these great formations of bombers and fighters again.
I took off from Liegescourt, in an E3 escorting the bombers to Wilmington. For me it was short but intense fighting, from Manston to Wilmington.
Finally and back to Liegescourt I was offline. I think the server out.
I miss the participation of more Spanish squadrons, who have left CloD, which for me is still the best simulator, a shame.
Looking forward to the next one and I hope it's not like a freelance hunting.
Thanks again.

[Rostic]

Thanks for the event.
Few screenshots:

20190728165439_1.jpg 20190728165657_1.jpg 20190728165719_1.jpg 20190728165937_1.jpg

20190728170126_1.jpg 20190728170524_1.jpg 20190728170638_1.jpg 20190728171405_1.jpg

20190728171944_1.jpg 20190728172101_1.jpg 20190728172132_1.jpg 20190728172303_1.jpg

[DRock]

Thanks for the event.
Few screenshots:

20190728165439_1.jpg 20190728165657_1.jpg 20190728165719_1.jpg 20190728165937_1.jpg

20190728170126_1.jpg 20190728170524_1.jpg 20190728170638_1.jpg 20190728171405_1.jpg

20190728171944_1.jpg 20190728172101_1.jpg 20190728172132_1.jpg 20190728172303_1.jpg

Incredible screenshots, Rostic.

Thanks for those, I’m stealing one for my new desktop pic.

[Dazza]

A big thanks to all who took part in today's event and as always big thanks to DRock for the initiative.


As i was trying to catch up i was attacked by a lone Hurricane as i was mid way between Calais and Manston. Knuckles took some shots at him from our turret however he took out my elevators and i had to ride the aircraft down into the water - S! Dazza 9 (I think). I then joined Pattle's aircraft as the top gunner and mission commander.

Ezzie

Indeed it was me. In my humble Hurri I much appreciated your being so far ahead and below the main force !

As a more frequent Blennie pilot I'm well used to being on the receiving end of an interception. Your spiral into the channel without parachutes looked like clever evasion - so I had to follow you down. I did openly state I 'felt bad' knocking you down - they all laughed.

Great, great fun.
Dazza

[Ohms]

Thanks for the event.
Few screenshots:

20190728165439_1.jpg 20190728165657_1.jpg 20190728165719_1.jpg 20190728165937_1.jpg

20190728170126_1.jpg 20190728170524_1.jpg 20190728170638_1.jpg 20190728171405_1.jpg

20190728171944_1.jpg 20190728172101_1.jpg 20190728172132_1.jpg 20190728172303_1.jpg

Those are awesome, almost right out of a movie.

[ATAG_Lord Wukits]

Incredible screenshots, Rostic.

Thanks for those, I’m stealing one for my new desktop pic.

Ditto!

[ATAG_Lord Wukits]

Ezzie,

I personally think these events are incredible, and the more we have the better they become. Should this warrant a thread to "debrief" what worked, what did not, lessons learned, and input from those involved?

[DerDa]

Thanks for the event.
Few screenshots:

20190728165439_1.jpg 20190728165657_1.jpg 20190728165719_1.jpg 20190728165937_1.jpg

20190728170126_1.jpg 20190728170524_1.jpg 20190728170638_1.jpg 20190728171405_1.jpg

20190728171944_1.jpg 20190728172101_1.jpg 20190728172132_1.jpg 20190728172303_1.jpg

They are all great,
but the last one: just WOW!

[ATAG_Laser]

Another great event last night

I was so close to coming over to The Dark side for this one, but decided at the last minute to stay in my comfort zone and fly a Spit.

Thank you to DRock for organising, and to all who took part

[ATAG_Noofy]

Thanks for the event.
Few screenshots:

20190728165439_1.jpg 20190728165657_1.jpg 20190728165719_1.jpg 20190728165937_1.jpg

20190728170126_1.jpg 20190728170524_1.jpg 20190728170638_1.jpg 20190728171405_1.jpg

20190728171944_1.jpg 20190728172101_1.jpg 20190728172132_1.jpg 20190728172303_1.jpg

Great shots. I love the 109 lost amid the 111’s in your first photo

[Rostic]

First I want to say again - thank you for such great event.

But now I want to express a bit of criticism.

1) Yesterday I tried to establish contact with the commander of the bomber to use the whisper function, but I did not succeed in it. Either my English is too bad, or it’s necessary to work a little bit better on organizing communication between groups in different channels (I know that communication was established with fighter groups). But I had to sit in the general channel and through the whisper to communicate with my two wingmans and several close escort fighters.

2) The flight speed and maneuvers of the leader were somewhat higher than comfortable for non-professional pilots of bombers. Personally, I managed to hold on to the lead group, but my wingmans constantly lagged behind.
a) Firstly, it would be useful for the leader to fly a littlebit slowly (it was some speed reserve, but very small), then it would be easier for some pilots to return to the formation, if they lose some speed or done bad move. For He111, I recommend for leader ATA to be maintained at 0.15 less than the maximum for the current flight altitude (but no less than ATA 0.85), and the engine speed is 2150-2200 rpm.
b) Secondly, there was too fast turns. It is much easier to turn the group if the speed of the turn does not exceed 2 degrees per second. This is easy to do using autopilot. And better turn in mode "course" because altitude will not change so dramatically, when using mode 22.
c) When flying in mode 22, the leader of the group must lower down the flaps slightly (1-2 degrees) to fly littlebit slower, if his wingmans should follow him and stay in tight formation to throw bombs by leader command. Since it is not recommended for wingmans to use autopilot to safely hold a position in tight formation they has to do some maneuvers, because of what they lose speed littlebit.

Anyway a great event. Let's do it regularly!

[ATAG_Noofy]

Last night was my second participation in such event, after last month’s.

Again what a blast!

Special thanks to DRock for the initiative, and to all participants from both sides. I am really thankful to be part of this great community.

Too bad bombers didn't form up properly and they was quite a spread between them.

I was one of the last to take off, and struggled really hard to catch up with the main formation. I must have pushed my engines too hard because I suffered an engine failure between St-Omer and Calais. Managed to land in Calais Marck, but that was the end of the formation flight for me. I could have jumped in someone’s gunner position, but thought it would be more efficient if I respawned in a Ju88 and go to Wilmington on a direct route while all reds were busy attacking the 111’s between Manston and Wilmington. Made it there without any opposition, unfortunately the server crashed just as I was about to release my bombs on target (bombsight was between 30 and 25 degrees...).

So I missed most of the direct fun although I could follow it all on comms, and boy must the adrenaline have been flowing. That sounded just epic.

I also wanted to say that as much as I enjoy formation flying, these require a minimum of theory and preparation, so perhaps we could jot in a few sessions this month, in preparation for next event, to go through these: types of formation, relative positions, how-to maintain formation, common mistakes, etc.

I saw 98 on at one point

Wow, this was a record for me, and brings me to my next question: where are all these people most of the time? There clearly is an interest alive out there, so why is it fading?

As a relative newcomer, I’d be interested to hear various opinions about this, and suggestions on what can be done to revive the passion. I know, TFS5.0 is coming, but still, there is so much potential fun in good old TFS4.5x, so why crave ourselves? It would be fantastic if we could get half as much show-up on a regular basis...

[ATAG_Marlow]

Gordon Bennet! This looks and reads like the fantastic event it obviously was. Congrats to Ezzie, DRock, Wukits and the other leaders for putting on an obviously inspirational evening. Real life duties conspired to keep me away again but after reading all the truly stirring accounts I almost feel I was there.

Ezzie's description of the Heinkel's running battle reminded me of Martin Middlebrook's account of the 'Scweinfurt/Regansburg Raid! Top stuff!

Congrats to Rostic for some amazing stills........I don't think I've seen so many Heinkel's together since.....'The Battle of Britain Film......and ours weren't sporting Rolls Royce engines! Salute!

[ATAG_Freya]

+1 !!!!

This is fantastic, I'm stoked to get in on one of these. Loving the after action reports and the screenies, keep er going people!!!! Hats off to you all for getting involved!

~S~

[ATAG_Lord Wukits]

where are all these people most of the time? There clearly is an interest alive out there, so why is it fading?

As a relative newcomer, I’d be interested to hear various opinions about this, and suggestions on what can be done to revive the passion. I know, TFS5.0 is coming, but still, there is so much potential fun in good old TFS4.5x, so why crave ourselves? It would be fantastic if we could get half as much show-up on a regular basis...

From what I have seen, is when the server is empty, no one wants to be the first person putting around on the server alone. Though when there are 2-3 players on you often see quite a few jump on. My only suggestion is do what TGIF MAS does, jump on as a bomber, and bomb. Practice 6km+ bombing, as a blue you can set your sight to compensate by adjusting sight speed above the max height limit. People will join.

[ATAG_Laser]

From what I have seen, is when the server is empty, no one wants to be the first person putting around on the server alone. Though when there are 2-3 players on you often see quite a few jump on. My only suggestion is do what TGIF MAS does, jump on as a bomber, and bomb. Practice 6km+ bombing, as a blue you can set your sight to compensate by adjusting sight speed above the max height limit. People will join.

I sometimes do just that. Jump in a Blennie or Hurri bomber and bomb stuff. Sometimes people join, sometimes they do not.

My own thoughts about the low server numbers are that as good as Cliffs still is, I think some folks and squads who have been here from the start have just played it and the maps to death and have moved on to other sims like DCS, BoX or whatever. Hopefully events such as these, and the updates on the progress of TFS 5.0 will keep some interest in Cliffs, and when TFS 5.0 is released hopefully the numbers will return

[9./JG52 gr00ve]

[ATAG_Pattle]

Thanks for the event.
Few screenshots:

20190728165439_1.jpg 20190728165657_1.jpg 20190728165719_1.jpg 20190728165937_1.jpg

20190728170126_1.jpg 20190728170524_1.jpg 20190728170638_1.jpg 20190728171405_1.jpg

20190728171944_1.jpg 20190728172101_1.jpg 20190728172132_1.jpg 20190728172303_1.jpg

Hi Rostic,

Do you mind if I post your pics on the TFS, ATAG and Cliffs community FB pages? I put some of mine on yesterday, as has Wuckitts, and they are getting a lot of positive comments.

Yours are brilliant and worthy of a broader audience.

Cheers,

Pattle

[ATAG_Ezzie]

Deal seafront is awfully quiet after last night's carnage.
67438322_2347443558851010_8095245249598717952_n.jpg

My -111 is out there underwater somewhere with knuckles and i still strapped into our seats...

[ATAG_Ezzie]

Hola a todos.
Many thanks to the ATAG team for offering us yesterday's flight.
It was magnificent to see these great formations of bombers and fighters again.
I took off from Liegescourt, in an E3 escorting the bombers to Wilmington. For me it was short but intense fighting, from Manston to Wilmington.
Finally and back to Liegescourt I was offline. I think the server out.
I miss the participation of more Spanish squadrons, who have left CloD, which for me is still the best simulator, a shame.
Looking forward to the next one and I hope it's not like a freelance hunting.
Thanks again.

Thanks for your escort Ganso. Look fwd to doing it again and hopefully we can get some of your Spanish comrades back.

Ezzie

[ATAG_Ezzie]

Indeed it was me. In my humble Hurri I much appreciated your being so far ahead and below the main force !

As a more frequent Blennie pilot I'm well used to being on the receiving end of an interception. Your spiral into the channel without parachutes looked like clever evasion - so I had to follow you down. I did openly state I 'felt bad' knocking you down - they all laughed.

Great, great fun.
Dazza

S Dazza!

Re no parachutes - for some reason ive forgotten how to bail out of the -111 (my usual procedure from the -110 doesnt work for some reason) and thought it would be rsther unsporting if i hit esc before i hit the water thus potentially depriving you of the kill. Your first pass pretty much doomed me - nice shooting.

[ATAG_Ezzie]

Ezzie,

I personally think these events are incredible, and the more we have the better they become. Should this warrant a thread to "debrief" what worked, what did not, lessons learned, and input from those involved?

Great idea Wukits and i see you've created a threat - good stuff. Ill try and add to it this week.

Ezzie