Leaning to fly B-17 2 diary

[Keith Heitmann]

Well, I got the game installed. I haven't applied any patches as yet. I'm just getting familiar with the sim and learning all the ins and outs of this complex bomber sim.

After setting all the graphics settings to "max", and adjusting the sound and input options. I decided it was time to try my hand at something real simple.

Armed with just the quick reference sheet I opened the sim and navigated to the taxiing tutorial. This looked like what I was hoping for. How far could I go wrong if I never left the groud, right?

Well after about an hour of trying and without cracking the manual (big mistake) I gave up for the first night. I just could not get my bomber to turn. I could get it to move but not turn.

I came back to it again this morning and quickly found out that I had failed to release the master wheel brake. Once I had that turned off the plane was much more responsive and I could finally turn.

I spent about an hour just leaving the hard stand and trying to takeoff. Using the keyboard for control proved too cumbersome. So I finally plugged in my USB joystick.

Unfortunately, it wasn't working quite right. I couldn't get the game to repsond to the joystick now. Frustrating. By renaming/deleting the old B17.opt file in the Options menu I could then reset the Options while the joystick was plugged in. Then modifying a few of the flight controls to recongnize some input from the joystick was simple. Banking, aeleron control, and fine pitch up/down adjustments were added.

Now with the joystick working it was much easier to control the plane without my fingers getting in the way of each other trying to press all the keys while attempting ot hold down others, etc.

The taxiiing part was now easy, it is the taking off part of the training mission so that I don't burn up engines and reach 100 feet flaps and wheels up before leaving the base area is the trick.

I must have tried two dozen times. Each time I was met with a failure message. If I let the plane take off I didn't meet the distance requirement being at 100 feet before leaving the base. If I applied more power, my engines began to burn up. I can get the Fortress up, but can't seem to meet the mission goal yet.

So I gave up on that for while and tried the rest of the training missions. After a dozen attempts I got the hang of landing the plane on the runway in the next training mission. I mastered this one much more quickly. In the original B-17 landing was something I was never good at. I guess the graphics never gave me that 3D feel where I could judge distances and altitudes all that well and landing in the old B-17 sim was very hairy and usually ended up in overshooting or a belly landing if I had to do it manually.

The feathering and restarting of a engine went even better. I mastered it on the third try.

So I moved on to bombing and gunnery missions. I spent extra time on the bombing missions even though I had very little problem getting the bombs on target in either the good or poor condition mission. I wanted the practice. I only missed the target 2 times out of good dozen in the poor bombing conditions mission where the target was totally obscured for most of the bomb run and only at the last second did it clear. A quick attempt to adjust the bomb site led to the bombs falling short.

The gunner training mission went very well. I flew that one severa times to get familiar with the guns and characteristics of the sim. That target B-17 didn't stand a chance. The hits from all the "paint round" left it highly mulit-colored.

Things were finally looking good so I decided to give a gunnery quick start mission a try. I selected one where I was in formation leaving the target area for home and under heavy attack by the Luftwaffe.

I did pretty well. I started out in the top turret but opted for the tail gunner spot instead. The fighter passes were just as realistic as they were in the old B-17 sim but more so now with the superior graphics on my current machine. I managed to actually shoot down three and damaged one. I blew the lright wing off one of the ones destroyed and it exploded close behing the B-17 with a thunderous explosion. I tried a couple of other gun positions, and ended backup in the top turret again for while and managed to shoot down one more fighter from there. By the end of the mission there were only three bombers left in the formation. That was fun!

I did a little more takeoff practic but still had the same problem, so I went back to the historical mission menu this time and selected the mission for Bremen 1943, the first one on the list. After one aborted attempt to get the rest of the squadron moving, I figured out how to "start the mission." Leaving the mission on computer control I road along in the external view watching as the bombers one by one started their engines and rolled out of their hard stands down to the runway. Mine being the lead bomber took off first and began circling the field waiting for the formation to join up.

After about three full circuits around the airfield all the bomber had joined up one by one and the formation started to head off on their mission. All of this was truly a impressive sight! Much more so than the old 4 bomber formations of the old sim.

Unfortunately, it was at this time it was time for lunch and I had to quit the mission and shut things down.

In all, I spent about 4-5 hours with B-17 2 this monring and made some real progress. I must say that Microprose did an excellent job on B-17 2. The graphics and sound, even though the sim is years old now, is quite good.

If you passed on this sim because your old computer couldn't handle it back when it was first released and you now have a more capable machine it's definitely worth $10 from Chips 'n Bits bargain bin.

The copy I got is being distributed by Infogrames and comes with a nicely printed hard copy manual and a nices fold up glossy quick reference sheet with all the control panel layouts of all the flyable aircraft and a keyboard reference chart.

[Keith Heitmann]

I spent several hours in the Bremen 1943 historical mission tonight. The same one I had to quit earlier.

All went well, I let the AI handle the flying and formation keeping and I concentrated on navigation, gunnery, dropping the bombs, and rendering first aid.

I have to say that the flak is now quite impressive looking and sounding in the newer B-17 sim. Several wounds from flak during the half dozen flak zones I passed through.

Fighters weren't too tough, though did damage and it eventually cost the formation 4 bombers.

Navigation at 28,000 feet is not simple with the cloud cover and all but I made it to the target with the formation. Clobbered the primary target and exited the area.

I had some problem figuring out how to get the formatin down to land. I eventually discovered the Decrease formation alititude commands in the radio operators book. I also discovered that I had to use for eacn and every waypoint I reached. I'm sure there is a better way than dragging all waypoints I passed over to England then as I reach each one's new location instructing the formation to decrease altitude all over again.

I got every one down to 2500 feet and near the home airfield but the AI pilot left the formation at that point and started heading way off to the south leaving the rest of the formation orbiting the field. Strange.

I took control and did a 180 and eventually as I drew close to the airfield the plan assumed a glide path for landing but not on the runway!

I tried to correct and landed the plane off the runway and tried to taxi with the AI in control back to the hard stand. My mistake was putting the gam ein accelerated mode. Because my plane left the taxiway and rammed a nearby B-17 killing my entire crew and bringing a tremendous first mission to a tragic end.

It must have take close to 3-4 hours to fly the mission. It would have taken longer had I not used the skip time function.

[Keith Heitmann]

I gave the historical Bremen 1943 mission several more attempts today.

First attempt ended when I got rammed by a german fighter.

The second mission was ruined near the home airfield on approach when the computer locked up due to a power spike on the AC.

The last attempt ended in a crash and explsion during landing.

I did figure out how to change the waypoints and remove ones I've passed. So I don't have to go through the trouble of moving them and then ordering a descents by 1000 feet repeatedly

I also tried the quickstart limping home mission. I decided to opt for a wheels up belly landing but didn't quite pull it off. I did manage to get down very low and level but hit the ground from 20 feet up a bit too hard when I cut engines and the plane lost its wings and exploded into fire after the fusellage stopped moving.

I'm a pretty fair gunner at the current veteran level of difficulty. I've been averaging between 3-6 personal kills per mission.

[Keith Heitmann]

I gave Bremen another go. I finally made it back to base. I kept reducing altitude to 2000 feet as I crossed back over the ocean to England and when I got in range I had the radioman signal that we were leaving formation and took control of the plane manually I swing it around and brought the Fortress in to what I thought was a soft landing.

Must have been my angle of view from outside the aircraft because the props on my #1 and #2 engines were damaged. Must have nosed down a bit after touch down. I was pretty sure I was flaired for the landing. Oh well, I got down in one piece this time.

[Keith Heitmann]

Yeserday I hit Breman 1943 again. Bad luck on the bombing run. Ended up with a near miss at the last second. Engine #2 shut down due to flak over target and had to leave formation. Luckily the Germans ignored me as my plane descended to low altitude.

I had to learn how to trim the aircraft for flight to compensate for the lost engine. I got it balance well enough that I could use the time skip and accleration keys without too much fear of a sudden nose dive.

Made it home and landed safe after a long long flight.


Later I took on Ludwigshafen and the entire trip was obscured by clouds. Made it to the primary target with lots of navigational checks and course correctoins. But target was obscured for most of the bomb run giving me only one good sighting to lock on the bombsight. The bombs fell short once again. Tough mission with tons of flak deep inside Germany. Made the trip home safely. When I got hear the airfield at 1000 ft, I left formation dropped flaps and gear and hit the computer control and suddenly found myself sitting the debriefing shed after having successfully landed.

[tanker]

Great to see you working out this really special flight (Sim?). It is a flight sim than can be everything from very simple to brutally complex. It can also be an opportunity to really experience Mission Planning, the challeges of Command, and really get inside of what it took to successfully deliver the destruction of the Third Reich. On the other hand the pilots of the Luftwaffe were pretty damn remarkable too. It is amazing what those very young men went through and accomplished 60+ years ago. Also think of the fact that this wonderful airplane was first flown less than 35 years after the Wright Brothers succesful first flight. This product really delivers from a historical standpoint and that is why I love it and fly it at least once a week. I wonder how Wayward Design managed to get all this on ONE CD, and make it this good right out of the box. ;D ;D

[Keith Heitmann]

tanker said:

Great to see you working out this really special flight (Sim?). It is a flight sim than can be everything from very simple to brutally complex. It can also be an opportunity to really experience Mission Planning, the challeges of Command, and really get inside of what it took to successfully deliver the destruction of the Third Reich. On the other hand the pilots of the Luftwaffe were pretty damn remarkable too. It is amazing what those very young men went through and accomplished 60+ years ago. Also think of the fact that this wonderful airplane was first flown less than 35 years after the Wright Brothers succesful first flight. This product really delivers from a historical standpoint and that is why I love it and fly it at least once a week. I wonder how Wayward Design managed to get all this on ONE CD, and make it this good right out of the box. ;D ;D

Well, they had a good starting point for reference. The original game was a good design but lacked the graphics and sound of the current game, and some of the cockpit complexity as well.

It would be nice if they did a companion sim based on the B-24, since more B-24s served during the war than B-17s. B-17s just got all the press because their bases were closer to London than those of the B-24 crews.

[Keith Heitmann]

Tonight I tried a squadron campaign. I selected the 306th (the actual squadron the movie and t.v. series "Twelve O'Clock High" was based on....they just multiplied 306 by 3 to get the 918 for the fictional bomb group.)

I scheduled a mission to Bois de l'Enfer V-1 site. Heavy cloud cover obscured the target site and the group got lost nearing the target and ended up bombing some trees at a distance from the primary target. Fighters were moderate, but the flak barrage was murder. Most of my squadron came back thoroughly ventilated. Lost three bombers due to enemy action.

The group successfully landed back at base, where a second mission was secheduled and flown to the same target. This time I chose a less direct route and faced fierce fighter attacks in the partly cloudy skies. Good thing I used a higher alititude this time, 30,000 ft because the flack while vicious over the target didn't do nearly as much damage as the previous mission flown at 25,000 ft.

Unfortunately, clouds moved in over the target at the wrong moment and left the target obscured for just a little too long and the bombs fell just off target in the trees a short distance away from the primary target. Lost three more bombers on this one and the squadron is starting to look a little thin.

Unfortunately, I tried to save the mission after I landed and did it wrong and will have to refly the second mission again next time around from the autosave file.

[Keith Heitmann]

Targets for selected for today were the Lienen Oil Production Facility, Marquise Special Weapons Site B, and the Roullers Rail Junction.

Cloud cover made bombing the primary target on the first mission less desirable and the secondary target Lienen Oil Production Facility nearby was selected instead. After the initial wave of fighters which were wiped out in their first pass the German fighters didn't seem interested in our formation. No flak until over the target and using a suggested manuever of changing altitude after the IP helped throw off the heavy flak barrage. The target was only slightly damaged with a near miss and all bombers exited the target area. However, after encountering another area of flak one bomber received a direct flak burst and exploded in flight. The rest of the group landed safely back at base after a uneventful trip across the channel and the English coast.

On the next mission the Marquise Special Weapons Site B was selected as the primary target. Flak was only encountered on the bomb run but on the run to the IP the Germans managed to down on B-17 that collided with a second bomber below it. Target destroyed, but on the run out of the area two more bombers were shot down by enemy fighters. One fo them was mine, when it was apparently rammed by another aircraft. I switched to one of the other aircraft after bailing out my crew over enemy territory. In my next plane on the landing run, with one feathered engine my plane suddenly banked sharply to the starboard side due to #3 being feathered at low altitude and went into a unrecoverable dive just shy of the airfield. Due to losses I got a warning from bomber command HQ.

On the third and last mission, I was stuck with mostly rookie crews so I picked a softer target at Roullers Rail Junction. Sky virtually clear with very little cloud cover. However, flak over the target took its toll and the target only suffered a near miss as the altitude change at the IP threw off the bombsight somewhat. My plane came through unscathed save for a few minor holes and some minor wounds, but several other bombers sufferered some crew loses. In one the bombardier and radio operator were killed by flak out right and the navigator had to be bailed out over England when he could not be patched up and wouldn't wake up.

One bomber lost to unknown causes on this mission. Landed back at base successfully, albeit, I bent the prop on #2 engine during the landing when I came in a little nose down.

I've already permanently lost at least 4-5 bombers in the squadron so far and have one bomber at maintenance status level B at the moment. The squdron has also suffered large numbers of crew losses from shot down aircraft and wounds.

[Keith Heitmann]

Three more mission tonight to destroy "softer" targets in France in an attempt to build up some experience and expertise in the crew.

Targets tonight where special weapons facilities closer to the coast. The first two attempts had problems with cloud cover and only scored near misses while losing one bomber on each mission. The third attempt was made on one of the previous targets at a lower altitude and by just skirting the edge of the marked flak area the group came through the barrage unscathed. However on landing one bomber crashed.

I seem to draw a lot of missions that seem to have a lot of cloud cover. I would say that 4-5 missions is usually complicated by 6-7 tenths cloud cover obscuring the target alway at some critical moment. Frustrating. Secondary and tertiary targets don't seem to fair any better.

At least on the third low level attack we clobber the target and can mark it totally destroyed.

[Keith Heitmann]

I've decided to switch over to the Bomber Commander campaign. I don't have to plan the missions, just fly them with the group. I'm on my third try. THe first mission is usually not too bad, usually Brest Harbor, but the second mission is always the killer.

The next time the second mission was to Schweinfurt. I've had a hard time completing it. I've been shot down twice over Germany (once by ramming from a damaged fighter.) Then I reflew that same mission from a save two more times, and got almost to the IP when my computer locked up. One time I got through the mission and was about to land and I made the mistake of turning on time acceleration and my pilots just lost control of the aircraft as it came near the airfield and went into a slow dive. The last time I got lost in the cloud cover at the IP near Schweinfurt. And flak must have nailed my plane as it dropped out of formation and just started heading straight down.

This mission takes you through a vicious flak zone, on the way to the IP and I manage to avoid it by changing altitude just as I see the first black puffs up ahead. In my last attempt the formation lost 5 bombers including my own due to fighter or flak action.

[Keith Heitmann]

Aaarrgh! Dead again. Tried the Schweinfurt mission again and made it to the primary target this time without too much trouble but cloud cover at the critical moment prevented any adjustments in the bombsight, and I was not about to make the mistake of going around on the bomb run like I did earlier. Several planes collided and I got shot down by flak that time.

So after about an hour of careful navigation and fighting off fighters and dodging flak I ended up killing noting but a bunch of trees.

Then on the way out of the target area my waypoint path suddenly jumped from the rally point to a waypoint further along the path. Ok no problem. I when with it and it didn't seem to be major problem until I got hear clear of the enemy territory, just a few hundred miles short of the coast my bomber suddenly fell out of formation and my crew began bailing out. Turn out my fuel was gone probably from damage to the #3 engine that began windmilling a while back. Must have had a hole in the tank, but I would have thought that the pilot and copilot would tend to it or the engineer as far as switching tanks. I didn't pay attention, as I rarely check the instruments and tend to man the guns, navigation and bombsights.

[Keith Heitmann]

Success! Well, sort of. After attempting to re-fly the Schweinfurt Ball Bearing Plant mission numerous times I gave it another shot this morning. Unfortuantely my first attempt got ruined after about 30 mins when my computer locked up. I've been having power related lockups for quite some time and plan on getting a line filiter/backup power supply that will provide pure syne wave AC to my computer and fix this problem once and for all.

In some ways it's almost lucky that the first attempt got ruined, because the first group of fighter attacks I faced took out four of my bombers through collisions. I must have been facing some Luftwaffe Rammjaeger squadron from they way the seemed to be attracked to the bombers in my formation. My plane was shot up and there was heavy cloud cover making navigation difficult.

On my second attempt, the was less cloud cover and luckily virtually no Luftwaffe! Flak was vicious as ever but I planned ahead this time putting waypoints on the inbound and outbound routes just shy of the flak zone and then raising the altitude of the those at the edge of the flak zone that were part of the original course layout to 21,000 feet from 15,000 feet. This caused my formation to go into a automatic climb just before the flak zone and maintain it until the barrage ended leaving my squadron realtively unscathed.

On to the target. Sky was clear and navigation was made a little more difficult by wind drift requiring muliple manual corrections through new waypoints to bring the squadron back on course.

Target weather was stormy at the primary with 9/10ths cloud cover, 6/10ths cover at the secondary, and only 4/10ths at the tertiary target. The tertiary target was selected byt on the bomb run a whole in the clouds revealed the secondary and primary targets just off the the right and using manual control of the bombsight I swung the plane and squadron onto a course that would take it to the primary target.

Bombs away in heavy flak and exited the area untouched. The primary target received muliple direct bomb hits leaving it heavily damaged as revealed later on.

After manually removing the first waypoint after the rally point and placing a new one that would not take the formation way out of the way in my opinion the formation skirted between multiple flak zones on the way home and again climbed through the heavy flak area that the course was laid through.

Only one bomber lost on this mission due to flak damage as it turned out and 4 German fighters destroyed.

[Keith Heitmann]

Almost a milkrun today.... the Brest U-Boat pens. No Luftwaffe, only light cloud cover and no flak until the target area.

I am not sure how this game selects the target, but I aimed for the largest building and did hit it, but the mission was scored a near miss. I guess I have to aim at the center even if nothing is actually there to get a higher bomb score.

Flak hits wounded three crewmen and it was a fight to keep them on their feet for the rest of the mission and one bomber was lost at the rally point course change. I'm not sure how, it looked like two planes going down, one in pieces and another in a uncontrollable spin but the after mission reports only showed one bomber lost. By my count the formation seemed to be missiong three bombers from just observing things from the external view.

The long flight home was un eventful otherwise and only multiple course corrects for wind drift brought the group home on a direct course.

[Keith Heitmann]

Mission for today Heide Oil Facility, Lubeck, Germany located in the north central area.

The flight in was almost a cruise. Light cloud cover, navigation was easy, and made one waypoint adjustment so as to avoid one flak zone area entirely by skirting past it to the north and making the turn out over the Baltic Sea just off the coast of Germany.

No enemy activity to report until the squadron reached the bomb run IP. Priary target was selected and only had three tenths cloud cover. Flak was moderate but did do some damage to the plane, wounding the pilot, radio operator, tail gunner, and port waist gunner. The bomb run proceeded and bombs were dropped on target, and despite lacing the the string right across the target, it was later only scored at a near miss. My only conclusion is that despite damaging half the oil tanks and two of the largest building, unless the bomb run is made so that the bombs run the length of the target instead of across the target the score will always be a near miss. The mission default IP point sets up the bomb run from the north to the south, and the oil facility length lies east and west.

On exiting the area, the squadron was engaged by a lone group of 109s causing one bomber to fall out of formation and head downwards below the cloud cover.

The waypoints on the the return trip were adjusted so the group would pass between several flak zones without harm.

The trip home was spent patching up collapsing crew members as they reported problems and using the time skip function to get back to the airbase. Once over the English coast a decent from 15,000 to 1,000 feet was ordered.

Upon finally gaining visual on the home airfield a quick "Leave formation" order was given and a rapid decent from 1,000 feet to 100 feet was executed while deploying flaps and landing gear. Only the left landing gear came down and a one wheel landing was made on the runway easing the starboard wingtip down as the plane lost speed and engine throttles were cut. The plane slid safely to a stop in a shower of sparks off the starboard wing tip ending the mission.

My crew were credited with one air victory and given 4 purple heart citations.