Jack Wall - Storm of War - No.54 Sqn - Sortie Report

Pilot: No.54 Joker (KL-J)

Storm of War 3.0 Campaign - Sortie #1

06 March 2016

Spitfire 1a 100 Octane - Serial # P9431

The following blog belongs to myself, Jack Wall, aka No.54 Sqn Joker (KL-J) and recounts my simulated flying experiences playing IL2 Sturmovik, Cliffs of Dover on the Storm of War Server.

Red and Blue are the designated identifies of the corresponding RAF and Luftwaffe teams in the simulation. History is not forgotten and in fact, this simulation encourages it to be remembered. The simulations centres around the Battle of Britain era of the WW2 air war history. It is in this context that you are invited to read and follow my progress as a virtual pilot. We have assumed a virtual identity of No.54 Squadron, and information about the real No.54 Squadron can be found here.

With the rising sun sitting just on the horizon, No.54 Sqn, aka Rabbit, comprising of four Hurricanes and three Spitfires, take off to patrol the South East of England in the opening encounters of Storm of War (SoW) 3.0.

After a hugely successful SoW 2.0, the break over the last couple of months had been both necessary and enjoyed by all. Many pilots from various Sqns, both Blue and Red could be seen flying during the intermission on other Il2 servers in preparation and now, on the 6th Mar 2016, we were all back on SoW for this 'shake down' opening mission of the SoW 3.0.

It was a shakedown not only for the Squadrons involved but also the server Admins, Reddog, Philstyle and Dietrich who has been very busy over the break developing SoW 3.0 complete with it's new features and improvements.

I was flying Spitfire 1a 100 Octane, Serial # P9431 having initially been assigned to a Hurricane. I'm always happy to fly the Spitfire but we only have a very limited number of them and much fewer than the also limited number of Hurricanes. So as a result, my new tasking, as is the SoW experience, added an increased sense of responsibility to my already giddy nervousness.

Start up check lists are from memory here. No paper lists to reference.

It typically goes as follows;

• Throttle full idle and then crack it forward an inch
• Propeller pitch full fine
• Magneto 1 on
• Magneto 2 on
• Radiator fully open
• Fuel fully open
• Confirm Chocks In
• Clear Prop
• Engine Start

With my canopy open, I'm engulfed in the sound of the Merlin engines 12 cylinders erupting into life.

I do a control surface check, Ailerons left & right, Elevators left & right, Rudder left & right. Gun sight check and then as I'm watching the water and oil temps rise, I also check around me getting ready to take position in my Flight's taxi to the runway. The radio is already coming to life from my Flight leader and I begin to taxi into position even as the engine warms. I keep the throttle just cracked enough not to overheat.

Today, No.54 Sqn Rabbit formation and organisation is as follows;

Red flight

• Fat Ben - Rabbit Flight Leader & Red1
• Moby - Red 2
• Roll_e  - Element lead & Red 3
• Merlin - Red4

Green flight

• Ghost - Green Flight lead & Green 1
• Reddog - Green 2
• Joker - Green 3

I left the canopy open as I rolled into Green 3 position behind Reddog and Ghost, our Green Flight Lead. The Hurricane four ship flight, led by FatBen, had just taken off before us. I only closed my canopy after I was wheels up and climbing. The noise is like a symphony but it gets too disturbing once your in flight. Besides, you cannot hear anything on the radio.

No.54 were vectored by TOPHAT, towards the Dover area of England. The SoW simulated RAF ground control borrows it reference in this simulation from history also. Other SoW players take on the challenging job of trying to correctly interrupt a radar simulation screen only they have access to. 

On SoW 3.0 the Blue team are coming across the channel with Bombers and fighter escorts with the aim to destroy Red's simulated radar sites, factories and airfields.

To have better chances to attack and destroy the Red's simulated manufacturing sites, supply yards and indeed airfields, they will use bluffs and mis direction to penetrate Reds defences.  TOPHAT has the unenviable task of coordinating all the various squadrons in the air to stop this simulated attack. It gets very tense very quickly.

Whilst there is no criteria for win or lose on SoW, the aim of the server is one of a more simulated teamwork orientation. This is not an individualistic personal score type of gaming experience, there are clear measures of success for each side.

If Blue can successfully bomb their designated targets, (they have active targets which they much focus on, which Red are not aware off initially)  then, they earn the ability to chose their next target and thereby, keep control of their experience and to an extent, the element of surprise. Red are predominately defending and by thwarting Blues attacks, RED's aim is to prevent Blue from gaining greater control. It's a very subtle by truly commanding tug of war (pun intended) that ensues.

So this is the background and the following video is my cockpit recording of my sortie.

Until the next time, go handy!

KVAirlines

KVAirlines ... Just what a sim pilot needs ....

... well, this flight sim fan at least !

Having been flying FSX for a years on and off but without necessarily a purpose, save for the fact that I like aviation, I found I reached a point where I wasn’t firing up the simulator very often at all and even, in recent months, was losing the motivation for it a little.

This was a bit of a concern given the time I’d already invested and to some extent the effort and money spent on making the experience more fun.

I fly IL2 Cliffs of Dover with No.54 Sqn. on Storm of War server and there is never any lack of motivation there. “So why is that?” I wondered. Sure, one is a more exciting, namely dog fighting but I recalled that dog-fighting as a lone wolf got old pretty quickly too. It was the group association that helped also!

Moreover, I had joined Know Vegas Trucking earlier in the year for the sole purpose of being part of the group of likeminded truck simulator fans. For me, February’s American Truck Simulator release had not blown my socks off and my expectations, even when reset, still left me underwhelmed. Having built a grand and successful solo career in ETS2, rather than rinse and repeat, on the ATS platform, I decided to look for a Virtual Trucking Company, a VTC. I wanted to pursue a different ATS career.

My timing was spot on, or should I say, the emergence of Know Vegas Trucking, KVT was. Still a new organisation barely a month old, I found them via a web search. I kept an eye on them whilst I looked around at others VTC’s but constantly returned to check them out again. Eventually and in short order, I applied to join and began trucking with a KVT paintjob on the side of the Kenworth W900. I’ve never looked back.

KVT provided the framework for me to enjoy ATS for sure. Being that it was a group effort and not a solo career, I found I was having an entirely different experience even if the actual action I performed was for all intent and purpose, the same as with my solo career in ETS2; sitting at the gaming PC driving a simulation of a truck!

Knox Vegas Trucking

Indeed, I would go so far as to say KVT saved ATS as far as I was concerned. I might just have dropped it early on, such was my lack of motivation for the title at the time. I’m sure I would have returned at some point later and it must be stated that the developer, SCS, has listened to their community and continues to invest significant improvements into the title.

Having been part of the online groups in the past, I knew what I wanted and conversely, what I wanted to avoid. KVT was new, fresh and hit the mark. I’ve never looked back. A friendly crew and with no dramas burning their forums.  Class!

So with the announcement of KVA or Knox Vegas Airlines, I had a surge of excitement as it dawned on me that FSX had all the potential ‘to be saved’ from the ‘once in a while ’ experience it had become. This was good news.

Of course joining a Virtual Airline was not a new idea to me for FSX but up until KVT, the fact is I’d not found a Trucking or FSX group that came close to the standard set by No.54 Sqn. As a founding member of No.54 Sqn. I can be charged with having a strong bias. No argument for me!

In true form, KVA was setup with just the right amount of procedure and control as the Trucking arm had earlier been. What tools were implemented were funded by the donations we all make

from time to time and this goes to show the ethics of re-investing into the group.

KVA uses the SmartCARs flight tracking software running. This is already leveraging standard solutions from the community. Starting with a small variety of airframes from which to choose, each pilot has a growing variety of routes by which to log their hours and help build the virtual company.

Being a new virtual entity (with world dominance as the goal of course), KVA’s management are mature group as are the current roster of pilots who understand that Rome was not built in a day. These early days see KVA operating out of KDEN (Denver Colorado) and KFLL (Fort Lauderdale, Florida).

In a similar vein, the airframe choice is starting off to suit the common sense rule of flying a balance between what pilots want and what is available that can easily be integrated into the Virtual Airline. Perhaps similar to real-world counterparts, decision are being taken on which platforms to begin KVA’s future with.Airbus 319s and Cessna Caravans are the initial platforms tkaing KVA pilots and their passengers to the skies.

Other planes can still be flown as charters so in principle, no one is penalised because they’re unfamiliar with a certain company airframe or that airframe has not yet been integrated into the company fleet.

The pilot count count grows daily and if it matches anything like the driver growth profile of the KV Trucking arm, KVA will announce it’s arrival as a serious contender in the virtual aviation world quite soon indeed.

KVA already sits comfortably inside the top 100 VTCs as reported on the SmartCARS Virtual flight tracking software!

My personal preferences are for the low and slow airframes so this means I have the opportunity to fly the Cessna C208b Caravan. I own the Carenado EX model and with a quick request to transfer to the Florida hub, I’ve been loving the warm weather and ocean air.

I’ve been busy flying the island route between The Bahamas and Florida.

Others prefer the high and fast jets capable of operating out of both hubs. East and West coast routes are active already and it is surely only a matter of time before hopping the ponds becomes part of the regular schedule. Routes are being added regularly by KVA marketing and sales and KVA is seeing a growing demand for it’s high quality service.

Indeed, I foresee the day when I may step to flying the bigger birds also ... but just like KVA, I’m happy to make smaller more sure steps.

Links:

Knox Vegas Trucking

http://www.knoxvtrucking.com/

Knox Vegas Airlines
http://www.kvairlines.com/

SmartCARs
https://tfdidesign.com/