Going purely by statistics in historical air battles, propeller fighters are generally at a profound disadvantage in most respects versus jet fighters. The Me 262 helped lead the way on that and everyone flying in a competitive multiplayer server where a few limited numbers of Me 262s are available will know how difficult it is to chase one down and get it. Even when flying the best propeller driven fighters around. That said, the Korean War has a number of high profile exceptions where jet fighters weren’t the automatic win and propeller driven fighters scored kills. MiG-15s were shot down by Sea Fury fighters and La-11s engaged and damaged F-86s on a couple of occasions. In the virtual world, things are a bit more variable and in this journal I want to use my errors as a teachable moment.

Sabre strike (interrupted)!

On Thursday night I took to the skies on the IL-2 Series Korea edition of the Combat Box server for the first time. The server has been online for about a week now and has already drawn in some significant player numbers – there were about 40 people on when we joined.

After a few less memorable sorties, we decided to get our team of four together to fly a four-ship Sabre strike on a rail yard target. The strike was pushing the limits of range without drop tanks but we figured we could fly the route and recover at one of our bases nearer the frontlines. So off we set in a four ship of Sabre’s with two 1000lb bombs under each wing.

The takeoff and cruise was another “pinch me” moments as the still new IL-2 Series Korea was showing off what it was capable of visually and thematically. Cruising in a flight of four Sabres climbing high over the Korean peninsula is still a novel and unique experience right now and that makes the whole thing special. Doing it with friends is, of course, even better!

Our strike mission was interrupted when a MiG-15 punched through the cloud layer and flew up above our formation. We jettisoned our bombs and split into two pairs. My lead was YouTuber Wolfpack345 and I backed him up. Our pairs became separated as the first pair attempted to track down the MiG-15 (the track revealed later had disengaged as quickly as he had engaged… no doubt the 4:1 odds were less than favourable). As we hunted for the MiG, a La-11 joined the fight, and Wolfpack345 and I became embroiled in trying to shoot it down.

The La-11 was head on with me and I fired a burst of .50cal in his direction. No hits but it forced the La-11 to break off a slightly advantageous head-on.

I climbed high above and made a diving pass at reduced throttle trying to get a shot off. I missed twice both on the way down and then again on the way up. I was doing my best to avoid turning too much and bleeding off speed.

Wolfpack345 made his move, throttle reduced and air brakes out, pulling lead and scoring a direct hit on the La-11’s fuel tank. Damaged but not out of the fight, one La-11 became two as a second fighter joined the fight and this is where my attempts at engaging the La-11 who drew me into lower altitudes came to bite me. The second La-11 dove at full throttle on me and scored a hit before I could evade.

That one hit was enough with the NS-23 cannon puncturing my jet engine and causing power to drop off significantly. Within two minutes, my engine was dead, and I was looking at how I might be able to glide to friendly lines.

But there was no chance of that as both La-11s swooped in behind me and despite my (and Wolfpack345’s) best efforts… they scored more hits. My Sabre became critically damaged and smoke turned to flame. Eject!

Situational awareness, altitude still matter

A jet as good as the F-86 is clearly superior in most respects over an La-11 but, as I was reminded, good positioning, opportunity, and a bit of luck makes a high performance, propeller driven, well armed fighter like the La-11 a force to be reckoned with.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that the fight will be easy with one of these fighters challenging you. The same will be the case should the series introduce a fighter like the Sea Fury, one of the fastest propeller driven fighters, which in the real world had at least one kill on a MiG-15.

Good positioning, situational awareness (which I lost), and sound tactics are still important even when the mismatch between technology and performance seem overwhelming.

I’ve got some more flying, more reading, and more practice needed to make myself competitive in the early jet arena. Being good at World War II match-ups and later Cold War jets isn’t enough, adapting to the tactical circumstances is going to take a bit of time!