It was good fun been in the air with a squad rather than flying alone tbh and it has got a lot of advantages going for it.
[ul]
[li]Intel on areas and scouting is sooo much quicker[/li]
[li]When called to an area we quite literally smashed pretty much everything[/li]
[li]When at the southern most plant (forgot name) we cleared the skies effectively[/li]
[li]The ability to call for assistance when in trouble (Scythe on a Lib) is easier to respond to[/li]
[li]2 - 3 aircraft hitting 1 Sundy tends to make sure it stays down[/li]
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Only issues been that cause this is something that is not certed in from the beginning the Liberator pilots were running low on resources quite often. We did discuss this tho on coms and having both pilot and gunners specing for Libs means that when 1 gets shot down and is on a timer the other can still pull another Liberator.
I know a few of us were rammed out of the sky by some random greenie couple of times, I lost 2 Mosquitoes roughly to that, but on the all I don't think anyone in the squad actually hit someone else... correct me if am wrong on that btw.
I do feel that this is a very real possibility in that the air can do a LOT of damage in a very short amount of time when focused like that. There was a couple of times when we had to be cautious and I recall 1 time when the AA was that heavy we couldn't really push in too far.
Couple of recommendations that I think may help. Tips I normally use myself when airborne:
[ol]
[li]The squad waypoint should not be placed directly upon the objective but rather just a bit past it.[/li]
[li]Setting your own personal waypoint as a means of locating the nearest tower to rearm and repair.[/li]
[li]Having set SOP's for particular scenarios.[/li]
[li]Learning when and where to over extend.[/li]
[li]Numerous target engagements.[/li]
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1: When I was giving some lessons to DLC about flying I made the point about waypoints. Setting the squad waypoint just past the objective gives a more "area of effect" to the air operations. As it should be seen as "this is the point that you don't go past". It's then a constant visual reminder of where the current area of operations extends to when in a given area.
2: personal waypoints been set on the nearest friendly tower for rearm and repair helps again with quick visual aids. Most of us are not 1090% familier with every aspect and terrain of all the continents yet. The only area I do know 100% is West side of Indar, excavation and southwards. The waypoint then gives a constant visual reference point.
3:SOP's, for those not knowing the term, stands for Standard Operating procedure, or what you are going to do in a certain situation.
For major bases this differs from smaller outposts and so on. De-clawing towers is quicker with numerous Mossys, as is taking out priority targets IE - sunderers. This SOP ranges from de-claw duty's, to neutralising hostile spawn points, to air patrol and escort roles - as well as pinpoint targetting when targets are called from the ground.
Maybe a future use for SL smoke effects on areas that need Air attention.
With set SOP's each pilot knows what to do in set situations.
4: The knowledge of when and where to extend and when not to push. This is generally learnt from experience and can mean difference from knowing where a hostile AA tower is to dying for a few more points. The Squad waypoint should be the set distance which not to push further than.
5: Numerous target engagements is when there is more targets in the air than you are capable of dealing with quickly. In short this means that you spend less time on chasing individual targets for a number of seconds and work on what I refer to as "point and shoot". This basiclly means that if I see 3 Reavers at variying distances I will engage the closest with a burst of the gun before manoeuvring towards the 2nd and another burst, same with 3rd target and so on.
The reason for this is that there is so little time for you to really STICK with 1 target and nail him good, unless he does something stupid early on, so imagine if 3-4 Mosquitoes follow the same role - the movement in the air automatically becomes evasive, multiple targets take damage and when done with more Mosquitoes it means that no 1 Reaver escapes damage, nor can do much about been hit from multiple directions at various times.
As inexperienced pilots WILL try to chase the first Mosquito they see - if that is the case it leaves the other Mosquitoes with chase down duty.
6: And final is that when a target is called and can be acted upon by numerous aircraft the target will not stay active for very long. Aircraft are a power - simple as that. Many like to think that moving 4-5 tanks up to deal with 1 target is key but aircraft operate in 3D terms. And are not limited by such things as low valleys and hills as much as armour is.
It takes 2-3 rocket pod volleys, past nerf, to take out a Sundy. 2 Mosquitoes already damage it to point of no return with 1 pass.
A surgical strike can be very effective when used correctly. It just needs to be learnt - both from the air and from the ground.
I really think about the SL smoke signals from the PL will help in this as the Air squad, Delta as in the case tonight, was a part of Reaper 1 but with it's own channel.
If SL/PL of reaper 1 put down smoke to indicate a location of interest for the air then that becomes a visual sign of "HIT HERE" and that makes the job easier.
Just my thoughts anyhow. Feedback appreciated.
