What do you think would be the best way to get back into playing a game properly? Maybe some of you are thinking about going to a training mission, or playing something simple to get reacquainted with the mechanics; and both are sane and responsible options.
Not me, though. No. I decided that, to get back into the loop, that it would be great to drag some of my best friends with me on a blind, over 250 mile strike mission in DCS with no prior warning. A mission that also ended up being a nighttime operation, the first one we have flown in more than a year. Admittedly, I was a bit hesitant to get us to do this op, but with a bit of reassurance from one of our friends, Wyvern, I decided that we could do it. The mission would be simple: We were to fly into enemy territory, way behind enemy lines and strike a group of stationary targets of strategic importance (factories, outposts, etc.) and then come back. We would take up from Liwa AFB and head north to rendezvous with a pair of tankers, then head into the objective area once we had all topped off.
While all of this sounds nice and dandy, the main issue lies in the time of day this op was going to take place: nighttime. For many of us, this would have been our first flightsim op at night in ages, and the first for at least one. While the sane of mind would have called off this strike, we all decided to go ahead and commit to it.
We lost one of ours, Erika, on take-off, while the rest got up in the air. We all got up to speed and headed towards our first waypoint, which was our rendezvous with the tankers. By the time we get to the tankers, it is pitch black. I briefly lost connection, so I missed the chaos that was air-to-air refueling at night with two mentally unstable tankers.
I was told they drifted left and right, going over 400kts IAS, banking as if they were at an airshow in the 70s. It was absolute madness, but somehow my friends Hueman and RibbonBlue managed to do a full transfer despite these circumstances. Because the server was close to its reset, we decided to divert and hit an alternative target. We hit an oil refinery and barracks at one of the islands under enemy control. Because I was on my trusty Phantom, I lacked self-lasing capabilities, so I teamed up with Aaron to get warheads on foreheads. Four 2000lbs bombs were dropped, and four hits were achieved.
The others also dropped their ordinance and managed to get moderate success. Because of changes in the way laser guided bombs are programmed, for good or bad, Hueman missed the mark despite doing the delivery procedure correctly. VTail overshot a couple of bombs, but some did hit their mark. As we all exhausted our stores, we proceeded to RTB. I went to Sirri Island, since it was the closest one to me and due to the fact that my fuel state was borderline critical. I managed to land with well over 3,700lbs of fuel left, which was plenty to spare.
VTail, on the other hand, decided to divert his land-based Phantom into the deck of a Nimitz-class carrier. He, somehow, succeeded and landed his Phantom on the deck and in one piece. I was, genuinely, astonished at this. Overall, it was a fun night. We all got back together for a night of flying, quite literally. It was quite the skill check as well, as those more used to their aircraft showed higher proficiency levels, but overall, we all struggled quite a bit under nighttime conditions.
About the Author
Santiago "Cubeboy" Cuberos
Longtime aviation fanatic with particular preference towards military aviation and its history. Said interests date back to the early 2000s, leading into his livelong dive into civil and combat flight simulators. He has been involved in a few communities, but only started being active around the mid 2010s. Joined as a Spanish to English translator in 2017, he has been active as a writer and the co-founder of Skyward ever since. Twitter | Discord: Cubeboy
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