Well...

[luke313]

...it’s been a year since I installed FB and got online with you guys, and its been so damn good

So many good memories of flying our favourite game – as a team in VEF and when messing about in dogfight servers.

From beginning to play the game – taking off in a Lagg3 whilst Zak watched on externals, DangyBob recommending I try a Heinkel, to shooting 4 down in one sortie with Moby.

So much time spent playing this game, with sooo many people – Hat, Dak, Zak, Deckard, Tumble, Moby, Clingy, DangyBob, TiG, Rias, Nuts, Jase, Knoxeh...

One of my favourite missions was my first ground-pounding VEF. Me and Tumble saddled up in I16’s, the rest in Yak1’s IIRC. After taking off I realised that the I16 didn’t like automatic gear raising, so had to frantically configure a key to raise gear. The Yak’s were in a staggered formation, Clingy being at the top was all I could remember. We took a totally different route to target, and I must confess I was totally lost, but I just followed Tumble and we got to target – a depot. Those 5 minutes at target have never gone as fast as that, soon I was out of ammo, and I had only killed 2 cars. Tumble got killed by flak – came up as KIA twice I remember , and the Yak’s were being engaged from up high. I buggered out and haven’t hit Tab-8-2 ever as much as I did then. When I got near the airfield (Through luck and Tab-8-2-age more than judgement) I realised I needed to assign a key to lower gear also. Cue more frantic button-assigning and a *landing*. Like I said, my first groundpounding mission, and a landed too

There were many more missions like that in such a small period of time when I first joined you guys, and they were undoubtedly, some of the best.

Another with Dak and Moby later on in the year, when we had the uber La-7’s. We went in at 9k, and were dogfighting all the way down to 50m and below. Shot down 2 and kept Dak’s 6 clear whilst he cleared Moby’s. Good teamwork and good commswork all the way down – something we really did struggle with when I started.

Talking of comms heh – remember??

Thanks for not telling Yamangman – he’ll never let me off with it, plus he wants revenge for the ctrl+e’ing

[luke313]

You’ve all made me feel welcome (most of the time anyhow).

Hat, the CO – the scary one Trained me a lot through my first few weeks and months as a Marlin, taught me some of the skills I use now.

Dak, the cheeky sod, and XO Joking aside, if you did less reading and more flying, you’d shoot me down more Lots of good missions with you Dakky, gave me a lot of confidence when flying as a pair, and although we died shedloads of times, we flew well in formation.

Tumble, TiG, DangyBob – all of em mudmovers at heart, but with Tumble in his glad, TiG in his Spitty and Bob doing his Elvis impressions, you could all fly very well in a dogfight.

Moby cannot be beaten in the amount of hours per week he puts into flying, both simulated and real-life

Clingy has to be commended for his work with helping GSV cadets, the dedicated server, and for his substantial investments in pedals, sticks and the like

Trig, Deckard, Stoo and Nuts (aka Yamangman) are the funniest POS’s around. The Rhyn0 impression is, and will remain to be, legendary

Zak, although you believe you can’t fly that well, you are a good pilot – a good pilot isn’t one that can just fly well, he has to respect the other guys in his squadron, provide them help both within the sim and outside of it, and be prepared to stick it out when the times aren’t that great, and you do that. Who cares if you can’t hit a 50ftx50ft barn door when you miss in style?

Special thanks go to every single one of you – for making this game come to life for me, and many many others aswell – so give yourselves a pat on the back (except Trig )

Cheers,
MA_Luke.

[Clingy]

/me holds back the tears.



Nice One Luke. Your enthusiasm and help to get us old gits to navigate to where the actions is (and leave us there ) is appreciated.

[jeNK^]

I'm still new to IL2 and still new to flying with you lot, but already half of what has been said by Luke applies to me also, many thanks for the advice and so on given by just about everyone I have flown with

A big thanks to Hat for *almost* being my virgin kill:

[Zak33]

proud to have helped

Luke...its gotya....I can tell...we all know. Thanks fella. Your input is massive too. Your gunnery film is exceptional.

I wish...(really wish) that I had the time to be with you on more VEF stuff. I know I can fly. I can even hit stuff after the excitement goes

While we're at it: Deckard....you git....you brought me this sha ggin game...its all your fault

Made some good friends...and better still....met most of 'em Except you Luke.....and if there is anything we can do to help you get to a LAN next year...we will do it. Me and Rias will have a bigger house by then....so there'll be room for a cheeky little sh1t

S! fella.

[[GSV]Trig]

Luke, screw u hippy

[luke313]

I was waiting for a response like that tartwipe

Zak, you know that I know that I WILL be at a LAN next year, without fail - aslong as it aint in exam time, or I'm not on holiday

BTW, leave Vauxhall

[jeNK^]

Zak lives in Vauxhall?

:cringe:

[Stoo]

I shall make a return at some point, nicely settled into my new job now (4 Months already!), I've got PF installed and patched, I'm just trying to tweak things as it's running like a POS at the moment..

[yamangman]

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww..... breathe.... wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww....

[luke313]

Right, thats it - Yamangman, you've pulled tea duty for the next week - you know where the kettle is, and Trig likes his sweet and milky

[yamangman]

Not again!

[Nick]

No, Trig just likes it milky....

Btw, Clingy, Hat... I think the groooming is complete... time for stage two...

[TiG]

Erm Danglybob have you posted that mission report yet?

TiG

[MA_Moby]

hurray for Luke - the whippersnapper

he's got the head of an ace on him - no-one can snipe so accurate ('cept maybe a JU88 gunner)

[Dakaras]

You’ve all made me feel welcome (most of the time anyhow).

Dak, the cheeky sod, and XO Joking aside, if you did less reading and more flying, you’d shoot me down more Lots of good missions with you Dakky, gave me a lot of confidence when flying as a pair, and although we died shedloads of times, we flew well in formation.


Cheers,
MA_Luke.

Much as it pains me to say it but we do make a bloody good team. Good work again last night, shame we got the be jesus kicked outta us


Been a laugh mate most of the time