Escort carrier aircraft
 

Historically, an Avenger and a Wildcat were usually paired up to attack a u-boat. In fact Avenger pilots were under orders not to attack without a Wildcat pairing. I don't know what British policy was.
The Wildcat would strafe the boat suppressing AA/crew followed by the Avenger bombing/depth charging and then a FIDO if/when the boat submerged. Bombing in any form was not a Wildcat function.
While I haven't run across the carriers too often, I've only seen an Avenger now and then.
I know the Wildcat wasn't part of the stock game; GWX has it, NYGM does not, i.e.
The Casablanca in GWX has an Avenger and Wildcat squadron while the Bogue is only Avenger.
Anyone seen both planes attack from an escort carrier, preferably together ?

Is it even possible ? :hmmm:

John,

That was some interesting information.:yeah: Anyway, I have not seen that type of pairing in NYGM, which I have played since it was RUB and the most often.

I am not a good gauge as I'm a scaredy cat when it comes to aircraft, and the times I have got caught on the surface, if paired, it was always the same type as I recall.

I do not think the historical application of the paired aircraft, one strafing the other bombing, could be made to work in SH3.

But thanks for that tactical nugget.

Good hunting,
FUBAR295

Thanks guys. Regarding two planes attacking together I found "Having received permission to use rubini's torpedo aircraft, I've also worked out how to use mixed squadrons so that while you're crash diving to avoid a bomb armed Fairey Swordfish there is another Swordfish dropping a Fido on you. Nasty!" from here but couldn't find the mod involved. AOD has them attacking together in pairs so maybe can be done in SH3 ?
Anyone had a Wildcat attack them ? I'm going to add them/squadron to the Bogue in NYGM. I noticed the Wildcat in GWX carries bombs so I removed those but have to see if it does anything without them.
Regarding a carrier I did sink the Bogue once in NYGM and it rolled over and capsized before it sunk which was impressive.
Saw a wolfpack sub sink one too, also in NYGM.

It does not appear that this mod was ever released in any form. Be great to know how far his research went.

I have a copy of Rubini's air torpedo mod if you need it. You may be able to figure it out.

Good hunting,
FUBAR295

Thanks Bob, I have Rubini's mod somewhere on this hard drive..........:)

Looking at Rubini's campaign files, it would be easy enough to add Wildcats to the Avenger RndGroups and they could use the same waypoints, etc.
But has anyone ever actually been attacked by a carrier spawned Wildcat, i.e., in GWX, with guns only ?

One late-war career I was attacked by what I think was a pair of carrier-based fighters. My boat was snorkelling through the Orkney-Faeroe's Gap when two planes appeared on the chart screen, very close and without radar detector indication. It was overcast and I had very little time to retract the snorkel and dive. It actually takes some time to dive dynamically to safety from snorkel depth, something that I imagine was true in the event.

I am certain that they were single-seat carrier-based fighters, as the attack occurred far from the closest land base (Lerwick in the Shetland's) and no bombs or torpedoes were dropped. The distance would imply that they were from a carrier and I had a convoy, which had appeared ~100 km away although in 1944, no intercept was possible because of the relative courses and the necessity to remain submerged. Each aircraft made two passes with what sounded like machine guns but my boat suffered no damage, which was fortunate since I had neglected to retract the sky periscope. Everything happened so very fast that it was impossible to get a visual ID but sadly I cannot recall if the career was being played in NYGM or GWX3.

It's a bit of a shocker to be snorkelling happily at x32 TC when suddenly a pair of aircraft icons appear right on top of you!

That said, AOD probably still does aircraft attacks better than SH3/4 I think, in its charming, chunky VGA way.

-C

Good question, John.

I certainly do not recall such.

Maybe check the Steel Sharks Campaign files to see if they might have something akin to that.

Good hunting,
FUBAR295

Another question; Rubini included single missions. I'd like to just add a Wildcat to one of those to test that plane.
I don't have much experience with the mission editor; how can I add a Wildcat to the Avenger single mission for testing ?
I can setup a blank .rnd file for testing but figured to try this method first.

Thanks ! It wouldn't have been NYGM as the Wildcat isn't in it. Yes, AOD handles many things better :) Btw, I think its charming, chunky SVGA !:haha: Thanks also FB.

FB, you able to get this mod to load in the GWX campaign ? Works fine for me in the single missions but the campaign ctds trying to load. With or without Wildcats added. Does load in an NYGM or stock install.
Double checked the .rnd file and the merge was done correctly.

John,

I'll give it a go and see what happens. Let you know.

Good hunting,
FUBAR295

Ok thanks. No rush at all. Strangely, even using the mod file with a blank .rnd file (saves loading time) doesn't work in GWX but does in NYGM and stock.
I have a campaign going with the GWX .rnd file so it does work without the mod.

Another interesting historical bit; u-boat combat ready Avengers needed 28 knots of "wind" to take off from an escort carrier. When it wasn't all there naturally higher carrier speed and catapult were used on take off.
The 15 m/s wind in the game is just over 29 knots.