Flying on JG2 Dedicated Server...

One morning, not too many weeks ago, I feel like firing my HyperLobby up again. At the top of the Games in Progress list, in the left column, I see my favourite JG2 Dedicated Server (JG2~Dedicat-SRV). Difficulty settings: MAXIMUM!!! Complex engine management, limited ammo & fuel, no external views, no icons, no map icons, no minimap path, no speed bar etc...  The status of the server indicates 2/50, that is, apart from the server, there is one more human player. I've just had my first sip of coffee and I think that joining the server would be fun and one opponent wouldn't be much of a bother.

When playing IL-2, I  usually fly campaigns on my computer. I haven't used HyperLobby for months, because I don't like getting killed in dogfights that end on the deck, and because I still need to improve my flight skills... But that day will come! :D

 The map's name is something like Norway 44. I choose the Axis team, as usual, and pick a Fw-190        A-8, 1944, with 2xMk 108 Wing Cannons. I spawn on a taxi alley and, before starting my engine, I take a careful look at the gauges in my cockpit...

I start my engine and it takes me about five minutes to find the runway, because all I get is the cockpit view and I have to move my nose left and right every time I change my direction, to see if there is an obstacle in front of me.
Finally, I'm airborne and I need to take a good look at the location of the homebase on the map. Today, word is  that we have to patrol our area and even to free-hunt in the western islands, beyond the border line across the sea.

The claustrophobia feeling is overwhelming! The cockpit, although having good visibility, makes you feel enclosed in a strange coffin made of glass, metal and weird gauges... I have to look around all the time and avoid flying a straight path, in order to be able to spot any bogie intrusion in time . At 2,000 m, I'm already a little bit tired and slightly nervous, because of that enclosed cockpit view that makes you keep your eyes peeled all the time. When I reach 2,000 m I decide to fly westwards, across the sea, towards the islands and get myself a piece of the enemy.
After fifteen minutes of tiresome flying, I reach the islands and, almost instantaneously, I spot two bogies at 1 o'clock, slightly higher. The cool thing about JG2 Server is that you never know if you fight against a human or an AI opponent...

When I get closer, I find that those two planes were, in fact, bandits, but I'd never seen such strange type before. (Later, I was told that they were PBY's, and that particular type was Consolidated PBN-6 Nomad, 1943... This plane could land anywhere, on earth or on water.)

Anyhow, I decide to attack them and shortly, after dodging the rear gunner's bullets, I succed in damaging one PBY's tail.

The second PBY proves to be an easy prey, too, after its left engine catches fire when I attack from its 10 o'clock... I turn around and contemplate the flying torch.

My contemplation time is very short, because I see tracers above and, at the same time, a Spitfire overshoots by my right side. He must be a rookie, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to write these words today... I look behind and I see two more Spitfires! The ambush is perfect.

After a few seconds, the closest Spitfire at my 6 o'clock opens fire, but I manage to avoid its bullets.

I trade altitude for speed and I'm engaged by the rookie again. I avoid his furious attacks three times and I get on his tail, the other two Spitfire being at my six, but still away. My gun's convergence is set to 250 m for machine guns and 200 m for cannons, and, although the rookie is still away, at about 500 m, he's flying a straight path and I fire a two-second burst. We're already 300 m above the sea, and the rookie's Spitfire starts to smoke and hits the water... I've never been so lucky!

But I don't get the time to enjoy my last kill, since I have to engage the two Spits behind. But soon I find that these guys are no amateurs, and they fight like one. The first Spitfire hits my right wing and jams the cannon.

After a while, I get the chance to hit the enemy leader, but I miss... My luck seems to have vanished away.

And the fatal blow comes! My Fw-190 is a wreck.

Look what they have done to my cockpit! I'll file a complaint! My compass is gone, how am I supposed to get back home?!

I hide in a cloud and descend to 50 m above the sea. I look at my Tutima wrist watch and at the clock on my right side. After that, I observe the position of the sun in the sky and I figure out where the east is. The two Spits seem to have lost me...
But I'm hit pretty hard and my engine seems to lose power rapidly.

I eventually decide to bail out and wait for a better day. I gain some altitude and jump in the sea, after launching a May-Day.

After about three hours, I'm found by one of our ships and live to tell this story... After this awsome  and stressful experience, I feel so tired and all my muscles feel so sore, that I need a good rest...