Flown and uploaded 25 April 2024 (ANZAC Day).
The Supermarine Spitfire Mk IXe entered service in June 1942 and remained in service until the end of WW2. It was powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine which could produce up to 1,750 hp and could reach speeds over 400 mph in level flight. Using the Type E wing, the Mk IXe could carry 2 x 20 mm Hispano Mk II cannons and 2 x 0.50 calibre M2 Browning machine guns.

RAAF 457 Squadron Pilot Career, 1 July 1944:
Mission: RAAF 457 Sqn has replaced RAAF 453 Sqn in the ETO. Flying in the bosses (Wg Cdr Bobby Gibbes) personally marked Spitfire, FL Scrimgeour leads Green Section on their first Rodeo. No flaffing about. WNHTFS!!
Debrief: FL Scrimgeour takes down 7 bombers during his first flight with 457 Sqn.

This simulated WW2 pilot career recreates the daily missions of an RAAF pilot flying Spitfire IXs assigned to 457 Squadron starting 1 July 1944. Weather permitting, a new mission will be tasked to our pilot on each day. Although 457 Sqn actually flew in the Pacific Theatre of Operations, these aircraft skins have been dressed for the European Theatre of Operations and these missions mirror RAAF 453 Sqn missions, who actually did serve in the ETO during 1944 and 1945.

FL George Scrimgeour flew for both RAAF 453 and 457 Sqn.
Regrettably not much is known about George. Born 12/12/1920 in Newcastle, NSW. Enlisted 11/11/1940. He was a Singapore veteran with No 453 squadron August 1941 to March 1942. Evacuated to Australia he was in No 24 Squadron between April and August 1942. He would have had to have been on an early EATS course, for he joined 453 Squadron R.A.A.F., in Singapore in 1941, when it was equipped with Brewster Buffalos, where he fought against the Japanese in the disastrous Malayan Campaign. George managed to return to Australia and served with 457 Spitfire Squadron, when it was based in the South West Pacific area in No 457 SQN in 1945. He was credited with two victories, one of them in Singapore. He was discharged 8/2/1946. In this simulated campaign, it is respectfully 'imagined' he served with 457 Sqn in the ETO. In real life, it is recorded that George achieved an aerial victory in Spitfire VIII A58-631/ZP-V (https://www.keymilitary.com/article/s.... In this on-line campaign, he flies a Spitfire IXe with markings A58-602/RG-V due to an administrative oversight (I loaded the wrong skin!). RG-V was his Wing Commanders plane (R.B. Gibbes). In future missions, he will be flying a Spitfire IXe with his proper markings (A58-631/ZP-V).

This campaign was created using the Pat Wilson Campaign Generator on the 'Bodenplatte map' for a July 1944 RAAF fighter pilot career. PWCG is a FREE mod that generates dynamic pilot campaigns for the IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles series (Battle of Stalingrad, Battle of Moscow, Battle of Kuban, Battle of Normandy and Battle of Bodenplatte). I don't know if there are any similar free dynamic campaign generators for DCS World, Microsoft Flight Simulator or War Thunder?

The enemy AI in a PWCG mission is randomly generated for each NPC to be either Novice, Average, Veteran or Ace. This specific pilot campaign is set to 'veteran' with a 40% chance of any AI encountered during the mission being Ace-level. The Ace AI NPCs are deadly shots and I usually find myself KIA before I even know one is close! The gist of it is, this is NOT set to 'Hold my hand Daddy/Easy' level. It's closer to 'Hurt Me Plenty/Hardcore' level but not quite 'Nightmare!'.

Hardware: Overclocked 24 core 3960x threadripper with a 3090 gpu.

Software: IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles https://il2sturmovik.com/ Pat Wilson Campaign Generator mod http://www.pwcampaignmanager.com/pwcg... Opentrack and AITrack for head tracking https://lars-bodin.dk/?page_id=3131 Logitech 3D Extreme Force Feedback joystick

00:00 Intro
00:04 Mission briefing
00:23 Engage flight of Ju 88s
06:47 Landing
07:30 Debrief