One Of Our Planes Is Missing

I admit, I was tempted.... 

With this weekend's March of Nations: U.S.S.R event, premium aircraft (but oddly, not the regular tech tree offerings) went on sale. Although I wasn't overly interested in the lower tiered stuff, my eyes did fall on the last four planes on the list.

The P-39Q-15 has always called to me, but with the recent acquisition of the American P-39-N, that call has been answered by another. The La-9RD struck me as something different to try, however the Kostikov 302 rips through the sky and distracts me. For a fleeting moment, I consider the I-260, then the very similar in role and specification Me 109TL taps me on the shoulder and that thought passes. Finally, the RB-17 could bring a very big change in playstyle, racing at the upper limits of the atmosphere, dropping explosive packages to earthbound targets. I pass on this too, since I have this strange feeling that something has happened with bombers that certain folks aren't discussing (I could be wrong).

Despite all of that, there is a premium plane from the former Soviet Union I would like to get my hands on..

It was called the La-150.

During Update 0.4.3, back in May 2013, the La-9 was moved to Tier VIII (the La-7 was introduced to tier VII, previously a La-5 upgrade) and the La-150 was pulled from the game, never to be seen again. Rumors have been circulating ever since about the La-150 possibly returning as a premium, still sporting 250 hitpoints and armed with 2X 23mm cannons.

Perhaps someday....

A Lack Of The Attack In The Yak

I think I was pushing my luck in World of Warplanes this morning.

After a few successful warm up battles under my belt in other Soviet aircraft, I decided to take a trip to the upper tiers with the Yak-19. Turns out that lead to a disappointing experience....

Operation Westwall Attrition

The second gamemode being offered for the Operation Westwall event in World of Warplanes is called Attrition.

I decide the Soviet Tier VII Lavochkin La-7 Fighter might be a good choice to try things out with....

Victory Doesn't Have To Kostikov Alot

In keeping with this March of Nations: U.S.S.R weekend, I take to the skies in a plane I don't see others fly very often in World of Warplanes these days, the tier VII Soviet Kostikov 302 premium fighter.

Curtiss XF15C First Flight and Review

An excerpt from my Twitch stream, where I take out this new tier VIII premium fighter for a seat of the pants test flight....

No Boogeyman Today

Have a look at this screenshot from World of Warplanes and take note on some of the more obvious things you might see.

Perhaps you noticed this Spitfire is above it's optimal operational altitude, or it is attacking one of the most fearsome, new planes in the game, the tier VIII premium Myasishchev RB-17 Soviet jet bomber. Maybe it's the healthbars on both aircraft that caught your eye or some other detail worth mentioning. In any case, some players might call this a "foolhardy venture (or another term that better sums up "You'll be sorry" or "What where you thinking?"), while others could make the claim, "Pfft, I do this sort of thing everyday" or similar comments along those same lines.

In the end, I finished off the task that was presented to me, with credit to the help I received to do it.

Granted, it wasn't a player controlled aircraft and that alone could prompt certain remarks from those in the community. However, that doesn't diminish two things, taking one down with a Supermarine Spitfire XIV flown by me and literally living to tell the tale. In fact, I would repeat this twice more before the end of this sortie, for a total of three RB-17 kills/assists to add to my tally wall.

My point? Yes, I do have one. 

I viewed the RB-17 as a menacing, almost "untouchable" Boogeyman, since everytime I attacked one before, it didn't end well for me. There were a few times since it was just introduced that I survived it's powerful and very long ranged rear cannon, but that was enough to instill a "leave that one alone" attitude when I saw them on the enemy team. Today, I wanted to make things different and pushed my plane past it's limits in altitude, performance and durability.

If only for today and during that one battle, I scared the Boogeyman back into the darkness.

The Flying Lazy Tiger

John Wayne made it look good for Hollywood, Claire L. Chennault made them real legends versus the Japanese and I just fly it for making credits in World of Warplanes.