Back on one of the IL-2 communities more popular servers, my first two flights of the new year in multiplayer turned into surprising and surprisingly fun experiences. This is how it went!

Spitfire recce

Flying solo for these sorties, I decided that a good solo mission would be to take a designated reconnaissance Spitfire out on a mission. Objective? Climb and fly north towards Rotterdam and scout the area to the east looking for targets.

On Combat Box, designated reconnaissance aircraft can reveal target zones by flying into the vicinity of said targets and hold for long enough to get some “photos” (simulated of course) before the zone becomes revealed for everyone.

After taking off, I swept northwards towards the Atlantic climbing through the mist and rain.

On first pass I found a couple of Allied ship convoys but I missed the U-boat facilities. Someone else nabbed those! Inland, however, I was much more successful and I managed to spot enemy ships, barges and an enemy troop concentration.

Things were going well… and then yellow tracers flashed across the sky!

A Bf109K-4 had snuck up on me while I was circling around the target. Fortunately, my tight turn and his aim gave me an opportunity to escape. I rolled hard and pulled into a tight turn. Something the Spitfire is very adept at with the right amount of effort on the controls.

The Bf109 flashed past and went vertical looking to reposition for another strike.

Now carrying a tremendous amount of speed, as he came down, I went vertical myself pulling tightly. Then, as he came up after me, I was turning tightly and pointing my nose down recovering lost energy and tightening the turn.

The Spitfire IX is quite adept at both turn and energy fighting and here I was dragging this Bf109 pilot into a trap.

The next time around, as he came down with speed, he crossed infront of my gunsight. Realizing that I had him in my gunsight, he tried to push into the negative G but it was too late. A least one cannon round went through the tail section and the 109 began to tumble. As he recovered, I followed up with more cannon and machine gun.

Down he went!

I later learned that another Bf109 had entered the fight but was unable to draw lead and in the vertical chase had pulled away and lost me in the rain. Just as well, I had already spotted my targets and was ready to head home.

I arrived back at base having revealed three targets and having shot down one Bf109. A great start!

Mosquito strike

With a little more flight sim time to spare, I loaded up in the Mosquito FB.VI for a strike on one of the targets revealed by our earlier recce flights. For this one I decided that the U-Boat facilities on the coast were a safer target for a solo striker… so off I went into the rain and haze!

Coming up on the coast I went out over the water before setting up on a diving pass on the target.

Not pictured in the screenshots but three other Allied fighters were also bombing and strafing the same target zone which did make deconfliction a little challenging at times. Still, I managed to release all eight rockets onto the target… to good effect!

With rockets expended, I turned back in and began strafing the vehicles. Several trucks and two AA guns went up in flames and smoke.

Unfortunately, as you’ll see, the nearby ships began bracketing my Mosquito with flak and my elevator and starboard engine were damaged.

With RPM fluctuating and the aircraft feeling a bit unsteady at times, I decided it was time to head for home.

I made a dash across the water and into the safety of some trees. Flak kept on exploding around me as I did. But I made it away safely!

I began to climb and this is when I spotted the Allied ships and landing craft being attacked by a Ju88. I had cannons, both engines were still running, and I figured I’d make a go for it! So I did!

Rolling in behind the Ju88, I let loose with a less than stellar series of shots. A few cannon shells hit on the starboard wing root and light machine gun fire raked across the fuselage. I saw fuel leaks and oil coming out of the engine. He was damaged but not completely destroyed. At this point I decided to make a run for it. My cannons had dried up, the engine was running rough, and I was already damaged enough.

As I turned away, the Ju88 dropped his bomb load on the target zone and also turned for home. As it turned out, he would crash a little while later and I was credited with that kill too!

I headed for home but at this point the starboard engine decided it had nothing more to give and it cut out. I feathered it and shut it down.

The landing was dicey but I kept my speed up and made a reasonably good landing all the same. The score? 17 ground targets destroyed and one bomber.

All in all, two very successful sorties with a couple of good stories to tell! A good way to ring in 2026 on Combat Box!