Mission: 680325 Ninh Binh Rail Spur
Weather: Broken Clouds 6000 VIS 20Nm
TOT: 08:30 Hrs
Aircraft: (4) A-4E (VA-86)
Flight Time: 45 Minutes.
As the YAP gurus advise: "This mission is straight forward but has many places to fail. Keep your situational awareness. Hit the tanker. Land on the carrier and hope your next cruise is in the Med."
After Action Report: Study the briefing, study it again. I try to visualise the combat zone from this crappy flat black and white recon photo. In which direction does everything orientate, how is it all laid out in reality? We shall soon see...
Launching from the waist cat off the USS Independence I have to wait my turn, following everyone else away last. I am loaded with 'Snake and Zunis', the rest of the flight is carrying regular Mk82s and Zunis. We form up and turn northwest, headed for the coast of North Vietnam.
It's a fairly short ingress and I drift into the lead of the formation. It has been agreed that I am going to take out the rolling stock that may be parked up near the rail-sheds we have identified from the recon photos. That's why I have the Snakes, with their high-drag fins so I can drop them low. I just hope I can recognise the place when we get near it. Enough thinking,
"Python is feet dry", here we go...
I start to take her down, low enough to skim the trees and low buildings of Ham Dihn. The Skyhawk turns south for the rail spur at Ninh Binh, I green up the Snakes.
The rail-shed is a large pale building which stands out quite clearly against the trees and foliage. Alongside the railway tracks run straight towards Ninh Binh. On the tracks beside the sheds I can see two large locos and rolling stock, jackpot!
At treetop height I pop the airbrakes and steady her up, perfectly aligned with the target as the scenery rushes beneath the Scooter, pickle!
With three measured mashes on the pickle, three pairs of snakeyes detach from the Scooter, popping their drag-fins to allow me to escape the blast. I lift the nose and start to turn as the flak booms and crashes around me. Listening for the ground explosions to follow, the roaring crescendo indicates some sort of hit for sure!
The flak chases me through the tight turn as I line up for a quick swipe at the remaining rolling stock with the Zunis.
Somehow a couple of carriages have escaped the inferno with fires burning on either side. My separation spread was too wide, should have grouped them closer together. I am very low now and easily see the offending trailer, a fuel bowser, swing into view as I bank around.
In the split second fly-by I unload all of the Zunis and climb out over the huge explosion that results. No doubt about it, that's a kill, the Scooter is over on one wing again as we dodge the flak and look for a way out.
Soon enough the A-4E is pointing east and skimming the trees again as we streak for the coast. I note too that the rest of the flight has also bombed the railyard and everyone is out and headed for the boat, great news!
Going feet wet I throttle back to save fuel and catch the KA-6D turning for the egress course just ahead of me, nice flight planning, he is in exactly the right place!
For the egress flight then, follow the tanker home as closely as you are able, not an easy task, but a thoroughly absorbing one! We seemed to cover the flight to Yankee Station in no time at all!
Breaking from the tanker I turn for the carrier with great relief. By staying joined for the whole ingress the Intruder crew kept me aloft and got me home. Consider this too; pumping gas into an airplane flying with a fuel leak from combat damage is way outside the safety regs.
Sure, they all know what they are doing, but the fact is our situation could easily and quickly have deteriorated into a flying bomb. Despite their expert assurance, the Intruder crew courted great personal danger to bring a fellow pilot home.
Try out that flak and do nail the trains! The sim knows what you are doing; I have many virtual medals from this mission. The score is irrelevant though, getting back on the boat is all that really mattered!*****
