This is the hundred-tenth in a series of posts on the Vietnam War. See here for the previous post in the series and here to go back to the master post.
I tried my hand at a January, 1968 bombing mission. The attempt taught me that I am still not ready for such things.
Amidst my failure, one new experience that I did manage to get mostly right is that the mission plan called for met to come in at 100ft to avoid SAMs. I did manage to do so without crashing (although I couldn’t subsequently align correctly on my target). I also didn’t get hit by any SAMs. I did kill myself trying to land, so, that was the end of that.
![](https://ettubluto.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/bombsaway1.jpg?w=1024)
I also gave a new-to-me aircraft a spin, flying the Wings over ‘Nam scenario Bridgehunters (also January 1968). This introduces to me the Grumman A-6 Intruder with what seemed to be a fairly accessible mission for the non-veteran. My better performance may be due to the aircraft, the Jet Age aircraft model, or perhaps the scenario design. I didn’t try to understand the details. I was just really happy to find that the catapult was much easier to use than last time around and, all in all, the A-6 proved an easier aircraft for me to fly.
With a simpler mission profile, I actually managed (on my second run through) to get my bombs hitting the bridge… or at least they came really, really close – again I didn’t scrutinize. My enthusiasm dropped of quite a bit as I was getting ready for my landing approach and plowed straight into the ocean. I didn’t dwell on the replay.
![](https://ettubluto.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/bombsaway2.jpg?w=1024)
As smoothly as it went, I did trip over some oddities here and there. Going back to that easier-than-expected take-off sequence, I found myself wondering if a two-seater would help make the missions easier. You’d think my co-pilot, sitting right there, would be a real of help with bombing, spotting enemies and the like. As far as I can tell, though, he is just eye candy.
I also couldn’t figure out whether my canopy was opened or close.
![](https://ettubluto.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/bombsaway3.jpg?w=1024)
On my first try through, I ended up with a real mess as I was trying to engage the co-pilot’s function. When I noticed my canopy was open, I could think of multiple ways that might have happened. I replayed the mission being very careful to make sure my top was locked down tight. As you can see, it still shows open in the replay. I no longer believe it to be real.
The same glitch seem to extend to all the canopies on the attack squadrons, which proves its not something that I did. And despite every plane, my own and the AI’s, showing the canopies open, I did not notice flying problems that should have resulted if this was really happening. Flying problems? Should we all have been dead after trying to race our jets with the top down?
And while we are on the topic of analyzing replay… When I wrote before about my buying spree, I thought, based upon my read of the marketing materials, that I also would be able to use Tacview with IL-2. I’ve since come to realize that the Tacview program does not work with IL-2: 1946, the version that supports all the B.A.T. mods. I’ll tell you all that I’ve learned…
I didn’t buy Tacview to work with IL-2, I bought it to work with CMO. Nonethless, I got a little giddy when I saw IL-2 among the list of supported products. I should have read deeper before I got all excited. The documentation is clear explaining that Tacview only integrates with the IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles version of the game. This gets even a little more confusing for those of us who have been paying only peripheral attention to the latest in IL-2 releases. What was original IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad and IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Moscow when released have all been subsumed under the Great Battles label, used now indicate the current generation of the flight sim engine. To put it more simply, Tacview is compatible with the current version of IL-2, not the old one (which I fly).
I did wonder if maybe modding would eventually have Tacview working with B.A.T. After all, modders seem to have everything in the old version of IL-2 taken apart and analyzed – why not this? There is a good answer and a final one. What Tacview exploits is the data stream that allows virtual pilots to fly with each other across the internet. Twenty-two years ago, the data rates of today didn’t exists and therefore 1946 uses a very different, and much sparser, data structure. There just isn’t enough information there to recreate a flight sequence in the manner that Tacview needs to do.
Or so it is explained on the internet.
This may spur me on to try DCS or Falcon 4, as they are supported. I complain about the learning curve for IL-2. I can only shiver thinking about investment of time to jump into the “serious” flight sim world.
Return to the master post for the Vietnam War. Up next, if I keep practicing bombing runs might I finally be able to get it right?