The Red Splat Raiders

GoldenRivet · 06-13-10, 01:31 AM

Early summer... June 12th to be exact.

Our Flight Crews drag their planes out of the hangar, fuel them up and gather around for a briefing of procedures, rules and objectives for releasing our ordinance on target. Strategies are discussed, reporting points and emergency procedures are established... the mission planned out well.

In today's raid, 20 aircraft will be bombing... My bombardier Joe and I would man the third aircraft in the first wave of the raid this afternoon.

Once the briefing is completed, we report to the ordinance chief who will provide us with our bomb load.

Within minutes, the airplanes are manned and with the flick of a switch the engines eagerly roar to life.

A conga line of aircraft taxi out to a waiting runway and one by one take to the sky with their arsenal aboard.

An arsenal... of tomatoes.

For these ripe red projectiles, this flight is a one way ticket.

The event: The Tomato Festival - Tomato Bombing Competition

The Mission: From a height of 100 ft, release one "bomb" per each pass above the target in an attempt to hit a 4' square bulls eye on the ground surrounded by a 10 ft circle of traffic cones. Whoever lands their bomb closest... will win 20 gallons of free fuel for their aircraft.

There was a bit of wind and turbulence on the bomb run, and the Texas heat was sweltering even with the windows open on the cockpit of the Cessna 150 Tomato Bomber.

5 times i did my best to maintain a straight track above the target despite the crosswind... and 5 times my trusty bombardier Joe peered past the wing strut using it as a makeshift bomb sight.

Joe's senses were keenly in tune with the rhythmic pounding of the prop wash against his face as his head leaned out the window... his outstretched arm grasped the tomato firmly as we closed in on the target.

"A little right!" he exclaimed... the rush of wind through the open windows made the use of headsets impossible.

With the slightest tweak of the ailerons and rudder, I convinced the airplane to drift just a few feet to the right.

"Hold it there! Thats good!" he exclaimed

my responses were not verbal, they didnt need to be my responses came in the form of appropriate control inputs as per the needs of the bombardier. I did my best to anticipate each gust of wind and each swirl of air.. bringing the aircraft in at the 100 ft mark with half flaps, cutting the power back and bringing the nose up slightly to maintain 60-70 mph above the target.

One pass after the other we released our tomatoes down toward the target. Pouring on the power and bringing up the flaps we waited in what seemed like perfect silence for the ground crew to radio in our impact point relative to the target so we could make the required corrections on the next pass.

The radio crackled to life

"25 feet long right on the center line... you need to release it a little earlier"

After several aircraft gave it their best, we made our second pass, Joe guiding me verbally as he peered out the side window straight down to the taxiway center stripe below.

Again, as Joes grip instantly loosened, a brave home grown shiny red tomato surrendered itself for the cause.

And again the radio crackled to life as we pulled away from the target clawing for altitude as the flaps crept upward.

"13 feet long, right on the center line, very close"

We circled around for our 3rd and 4th passes on the target... yielding near misses of 9ft and 12 ft respectively.

We circled around for our 5th and final pass.

Joe reached back into the little plastic box for the last of his ammunition.

Again i set the flaps to 10 degrees and turned to align the aircraft with the runway at 80 mph. On the final leg of the bomb run, i set the flaps to 20 degrees and established the aircraft at its required height of 100 ft... allowing the speed to settle in at 60 mph. I finely tuned the throttle, and constantly tweaked the ailerons and rudder to keep us on a good approach.

Using the center line outstretched before the aircraft as a reference, the nose slightly angled to the right "crabbing" into the wind to maintain a straight ground track.

As i glanced over at the airspeed, i noticed a single bead of sweat roll down the side of Joe's face... a face of concentration in its most pure and unrefined form.

Like the gears of a fine Swiss watch my left hand fire-walled the throttle at the very second Joe released his bomb. His attention never left the tomato as his eyes followed it downward in its arc into oblivion.

His eyes filled with excitement at the sight of the little red orb's disintegration against the asphalt.

The ground crew reported in with their measurements.

"seven foot six inches, inside the circle, closest hit for the first wave"

with that we brought the airplane safely down for landing so we could observe the remaining aircraft making their passes.

Seven Feet, Six Inches, inside the circle...

Pass after pass

drop after drop

tomato after tomato exploding against the asphalt...

Seven feet, Six Inches inside the circle continued to be the number to beat.

Patiently we watched each of the next 75+ approaches and drops, some close, some not.

When the smoke of this little war had settled... we had been named the clear winners of the competition!

And all of our glory was immortalized by the cameras from the Food Network TV show "Glutton for Punishment" as they plan to feature the event in an upcoming episode.

FIREWALL · 06-13-10, 02:09 AM

YEE !!! HAW !!!

UnderseaLcpl · 06-13-10, 04:09 AM

Awesome, John

Of course, since you're a bomber pilot now we'll need to get you some nose art. I think this one is particularly fitting:

Or we can go for something racier. Just airbrush Whistlin' Dixie on this on and you're good to go.

Girls riding bombs are always popular for some reason. Maybe it's a Clockwork Orange thing.

And if the wife doesn't approve of those we can always do a cartoon character:

If you're not happy with those, I can do custom nose-art as well. This is one of my finer pieces:

The custom artwork costs a bit more, but as you can see it is well worth the investment. Get back to me when you've made a selection or want a sketch and an estimate.

Jimbuna · 06-13-10, 06:54 AM

Congratulations John, I remember you making reference to the competition last year

SteamWake · 06-13-10, 08:16 AM

Hey good luck with this sounds like a lot of fun.

I know it sounds easy.. toss a tomatoe out the window and hit something but believe me I know it aint easy at all !!

Sailor Steve · 06-13-10, 10:05 AM

GOOD JOB! Now that you're a famous war hero, are you going to start charging us to read your posts?

krashkart · 06-13-10, 11:17 AM

Congratulations.

I hear that "toss" bombing is a very fine art. *snurk snurk* I'll have to try to remember to ask the folks to keep an eye out for that episode. Then I can brag, "I met that guy! *cough* Online"

GoldenRivet · 06-13-10, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

GOOD JOB! Now that you're a famous war hero, are you going to start charging us to read your posts?

LOL good idea.

and no... its not nearly as easy as it seems.

one guy missed by a good 200+ feet!

CaptainHaplo · 06-13-10, 10:02 PM

Well done. Next time, try dive bombing! Just have to install some speed brakes first!

GoldenRivet · 06-13-10, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainHaplo

Well done. Next time, try dive bombing! Just have to install some speed brakes first!

wanted to

but it was against the rules

Weiss Pinguin · 06-13-10, 10:38 PM

I'll be expecting your wartime memors

06-13-10, 01:31 AM	#1
GoldenRivet Subsim Aviator Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 8,726 Downloads: 146 Uploads: 0	The Red Splat Raiders Early summer... June 12th to be exact. Our Flight Crews drag their planes out of the hangar, fuel them up and gather around for a briefing of procedures, rules and objectives for releasing our ordinance on target. Strategies are discussed, reporting points and emergency procedures are established... the mission planned out well. In today's raid, 20 aircraft will be bombing... My bombardier Joe and I would man the third aircraft in the first wave of the raid this afternoon. Once the briefing is completed, we report to the ordinance chief who will provide us with our bomb load. Within minutes, the airplanes are manned and with the flick of a switch the engines eagerly roar to life. A conga line of aircraft taxi out to a waiting runway and one by one take to the sky with their arsenal aboard. An arsenal... of tomatoes. For these ripe red projectiles, this flight is a one way ticket. The event: The Tomato Festival - Tomato Bombing Competition The Mission: From a height of 100 ft, release one "bomb" per each pass above the target in an attempt to hit a 4' square bulls eye on the ground surrounded by a 10 ft circle of traffic cones. Whoever lands their bomb closest... will win 20 gallons of free fuel for their aircraft. There was a bit of wind and turbulence on the bomb run, and the Texas heat was sweltering even with the windows open on the cockpit of the Cessna 150 Tomato Bomber. 5 times i did my best to maintain a straight track above the target despite the crosswind... and 5 times my trusty bombardier Joe peered past the wing strut using it as a makeshift bomb sight. Joe's senses were keenly in tune with the rhythmic pounding of the prop wash against his face as his head leaned out the window... his outstretched arm grasped the tomato firmly as we closed in on the target. "A little right!" he exclaimed... the rush of wind through the open windows made the use of headsets impossible. With the slightest tweak of the ailerons and rudder, I convinced the airplane to drift just a few feet to the right. "Hold it there! Thats good!" he exclaimed my responses were not verbal, they didnt need to be my responses came in the form of appropriate control inputs as per the needs of the bombardier. I did my best to anticipate each gust of wind and each swirl of air.. bringing the aircraft in at the 100 ft mark with half flaps, cutting the power back and bringing the nose up slightly to maintain 60-70 mph above the target. One pass after the other we released our tomatoes down toward the target. Pouring on the power and bringing up the flaps we waited in what seemed like perfect silence for the ground crew to radio in our impact point relative to the target so we could make the required corrections on the next pass. The radio crackled to life "25 feet long right on the center line... you need to release it a little earlier" After several aircraft gave it their best, we made our second pass, Joe guiding me verbally as he peered out the side window straight down to the taxiway center stripe below. Again, as Joes grip instantly loosened, a brave home grown shiny red tomato surrendered itself for the cause. And again the radio crackled to life as we pulled away from the target clawing for altitude as the flaps crept upward. "13 feet long, right on the center line, very close" We circled around for our 3rd and 4th passes on the target... yielding near misses of 9ft and 12 ft respectively. We circled around for our 5th and final pass. Joe reached back into the little plastic box for the last of his ammunition. Again i set the flaps to 10 degrees and turned to align the aircraft with the runway at 80 mph. On the final leg of the bomb run, i set the flaps to 20 degrees and established the aircraft at its required height of 100 ft... allowing the speed to settle in at 60 mph. I finely tuned the throttle, and constantly tweaked the ailerons and rudder to keep us on a good approach. Using the center line outstretched before the aircraft as a reference, the nose slightly angled to the right "crabbing" into the wind to maintain a straight ground track. As i glanced over at the airspeed, i noticed a single bead of sweat roll down the side of Joe's face... a face of concentration in its most pure and unrefined form. Like the gears of a fine Swiss watch my left hand fire-walled the throttle at the very second Joe released his bomb. His attention never left the tomato as his eyes followed it downward in its arc into oblivion. His eyes filled with excitement at the sight of the little red orb's disintegration against the asphalt. The ground crew reported in with their measurements. "seven foot six inches, inside the circle, closest hit for the first wave" with that we brought the airplane safely down for landing so we could observe the remaining aircraft making their passes. Seven Feet, Six Inches, inside the circle... Pass after pass drop after drop tomato after tomato exploding against the asphalt... Seven feet, Six Inches inside the circle continued to be the number to beat. Patiently we watched each of the next 75+ approaches and drops, some close, some not. When the smoke of this little war had settled... we had been named the clear winners of the competition! And all of our glory was immortalized by the cameras from the Food Network TV show "Glutton for Punishment" as they plan to feature the event in an upcoming episode. __________________

06-13-10, 02:09 AM	#2
FIREWALL Eternal Patrol Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: CATALINA IS. SO . CAL USA Posts: 10,108 Downloads: 511 Uploads: 0	YEE !!! HAW !!! __________________ RIP FIREWALL I Play GWX. Silent Hunter Who ???

06-13-10, 04:09 AM	#3
UnderseaLcpl Silent Hunter Join Date: May 2008 Location: Storming the beaches! Posts: 4,254 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Awesome, John Of course, since you're a bomber pilot now we'll need to get you some nose art. I think this one is particularly fitting: Or we can go for something racier. Just airbrush Whistlin' Dixie on this on and you're good to go. Girls riding bombs are always popular for some reason. Maybe it's a Clockwork Orange thing. And if the wife doesn't approve of those we can always do a cartoon character: If you're not happy with those, I can do custom nose-art as well. This is one of my finer pieces: The custom artwork costs a bit more, but as you can see it is well worth the investment. Get back to me when you've made a selection or want a sketch and an estimate. __________________ I stole this sig from Task Force Last edited by UnderseaLcpl; 06-13-10 at 04:20 AM.

06-13-10, 06:54 AM	#4
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 190,461 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	Congratulations John, I remember you making reference to the competition last year __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!!

06-13-10, 08:16 AM	#5
SteamWake Rear Admiral Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 13,224 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Hey good luck with this sounds like a lot of fun. I know it sounds easy.. toss a tomatoe out the window and hit something but believe me I know it aint easy at all !! __________________ Follow the progress of Mr. Mulligan : http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=147648

06-13-10, 10:05 AM	#6
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	GOOD JOB! Now that you're a famous war hero, are you going to start charging us to read your posts? __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo

06-13-10, 11:17 AM	#7
krashkart Navy Seal Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 5,292 Downloads: 100 Uploads: 0	Congratulations. I hear that "toss" bombing is a very fine art. snurk snurk I'll have to try to remember to ask the folks to keep an eye out for that episode. Then I can brag, "I met that guy! cough Online" __________________ sent from my fingertips using a cheap keyboard

06-13-10, 10:02 PM	#9
CaptainHaplo Silent Hunter Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 4,404 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 0	Well done. Next time, try dive bombing! Just have to install some speed brakes first! __________________ Good Hunting! Captain Haplo

06-13-10, 10:38 PM	#11
Weiss Pinguin Ocean Warrior Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Auburn, Alabama Posts: 3,333 Downloads: 101 Uploads: 0	I'll be expecting your wartime memors __________________