Hi everyone,
I hope this message finds you all well!
A couple of important messages in this one:
First up, the battle of Sicily has really heat up of late, it looks like we will be pulling back to Italy some time over the next few weeks. When we reach Italy it is very likely I will start opening up discussion regarding the possible change of theatre.
We have also had a large roster re-organisation, both within Stab and within Weisse. So congratulations to all those with new positions. It is also fantastic to see so many new recruits! Our numbers have certainly grown since some of veterans were last seen!It is also really encouraging to see these new recruits sticking around! Lets hope for continued growth and retentions of members!
It is also extremely encouraging to see some old members creeping out of the woodwork! It has been far too long since I saw some of you! Although there are stil la few of you out there that havent been heard from in a while.....
Rote is getting VERY close to being fully up and operational. We just need to iron out the last few bugs and then we are ready for Rote to be running their own missions in their own time zone! I hope to see a lot more of you American and Canadian chaps being active once that happens! Weisse turn outs have been around the 12-16 mark the past month but I am sure Rote will get similar numbers very quickly!
Gelbe is struggling right now since a lot fo chaps are busy with real life things, but I'd like to urge all members who are able to make the Gelbe flight times to turn up and give it a go flying with the lads down-under and help them engage the enemy on a bit more favourable odds!
I'd also like to congratulate all members on how well thigns are coming along, the comms and teamwork are steadily improving even with so many new chaps in the air, teamwork is especially strong in some of you so keep up the good work! And remember to invite any of your IL2 friends, associates, pets or loved ones if you feel they may enjoy what we do here at JG53. The more the merrier and all that!
I would also like to take this chance to mention that updates for the JG53 mod pack are currently under review, we are testing a LOT of new additions ranging from new sounds all the way to new aircraft, realistic wind and weather and a tonne more!
The next update will also be a complete package since several members experienced difficulty with the patching process - this will be one nice easy download and install rather than messing about with lots of seperate files. Watch the announcements for more detils in the near future!
Now onto something that is BRAND NEW:
For a little while now Otto and I have been working on gettings a pilot's manual put together, primarily for new pilots so that their first few weeks within the group are a bit smoother as they will have all the important info at their finger tips rather than having to search through countless forum stickies etc.
However, I got a wee bit carried away and have compiled a huge 10,000+ word Pilot's Manual that covers pretty much all aspects of flying with II./JG53.
Since we have gotten a lot of new recruits recently who are still getting settled into the group, and a few old hands who have returned after a period of absense, I would like to urge ALL members of JG53 take a look at the Pilot's Manual.
It is the first version of it, and it will definately be updated again when I next get a chance to do so - since even whilst typing this I have realised I've left out the landing pattern, TS Whisper mode setup and a few other things ontop of a few spelling mistakes, a few strange formating bits and the bit about experten skins being repeated twice!
It is only about 1.5mb I belive since it is in .pdf format - so please rather than keep opening from the website and using all of the bandwidth, SAVE a copy to your own computer for reference.
It makes for a good read and I am 100% certain that everyone who reads it will find out something they didnt know before!
So without further ado, I present to you all the:
First Edition of the II./Jagdgeschwader53 Pilot's Manual
I hope that this answers the vast majority of questions that people may have, but if not you are always mroe than welcome to ask either in the appropriate section on the forum or via PM to either myself or another member of Gruppe Stab.
This is to become standard issue to all new JG53 recruits.
Regards,
V