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OK #VirtualB17 crew, buckle up for another #TargetforToday flight. Foxtrot is airborne and I'll post updates here over the next few days rather than run the mission in real time. @madpadre1
9 November, 1942. It's 09:21 and Foxtrot has successfully taken off along with the rest of the 92nd Boom Group from their base in Chelveston, England. All aircraft successfully airborne. After a few days of rain, the wintry skies have cleared.
Since the last mission on 28 October, when three aircraft were lost, the crew has received two replacement aircraft and crew, and one replacement aircraft for the crew of the written off Heidi Ho, which its crew has christened Heidi Ho Ho.
Two rookie crews have been added to @soonergrunt's Low Squadron - Inside Curve and Aint Miss B Havin'. The Group CO, @XOofXOs, has been working the Group hard, with several practice flights and simulated bomb drops over the North Sea. Today the Group has 17 of 18 planes up.
In the flight deck of Foxtrot are pilot @JamesManto4 and co-pilot @KsenoFox. This will be their first combat flight after engine trouble forced them to turn back from the last mission. They've benefitted from the practice flghts but know that their veteran crew is watching them.
In the nose, navigator @sabres_edge and bombardier @LaraTWhite review the course to the target, a major Lutftwaffe airfield near Amiens. The goal is to catch the Germans refuelling after another Group hits factories near Paris.
The gunners: @cindynorth1 in the top turret, @oldguard12 in the radio position, @JohnBuc08179594 and @dalemunk in the waist, @zappingzebra in the ball turret and "Swede" @Nissvik in the tail, are vigilant. They know that today there is no fighter escort available.
Also on the mission today is an extra crewman, @Thesuavetaco, a waist gunner by training but today he has been assigned to Foxtrot to do photographic assessment of the bomb run.
The Group climbs to mission altitude over the Channel. Pilot gives the ok to test fire guns. There are no problems, the pre-flight maintenance sees to that. "Crew go to oxygen." The engines are purring nicely.
The Old Man's voice comes over the headsets. "Gold Leader to Group. We are leaving contrails, folks, so we are visible to the eye and to their radar. Keep it tight and keep your eyes peeled for fighters."
"Navigator to pilot. Enemy coast ahead." Minutes later: "Fighters! Fighters! Jesus, there are swarms of them!"
First wave and here's an FW190 at 10:30 Hi. He's flying level and obviously a rookie, but even so the left waist and top turrets miss him. However @LaraTWhite is a steady hand on the left cheek .50 and nails him. His wing comes off and he bails out.
There's some loud whooping in the nose section. The rest of the German schwarm of single engine fighters appears hesitant, content to observe the B17 Group
But it's not over yet. As the FW190s pull back, a flight of ugly twin-engined ME110s comes in for an attack and they look much more determined. "Gold Leader to Group, earn your pay. Knock 'em down!" 
An ME110 makes a pass on Foxtrot's tail, doubtless choosing the tail end plane as a safe bet. Only Swede on the tail guns has the shot at 6 level. It's his first in combat since his head wound but his voice is as confident as ever. "Yah, I gots him."
@Nissvik hammers a burst and chunks fly off the German's right engine and wing. The ME110 abruptly aborts his attack in a turning dive, trailing a light plume of white smoke.
The rest of the German flight make some passes on @soonergrunt's Low Squadron and shots are exchanged, but it's inconclusive and they break off. All B17s are good, no damage or casualties.
On the flight deck, copilot @KsenoFox breathes a sigh of relief. "Reckon they left their A team on the ground today!" The Group ahead of them is flying tight. They are just south of Boulogne now, avoiding flak concentrations there.
The Group presses on unbothered, searching for the waypoint north of Abbeville in the Somme valley, but the cloud cover below is now total. @sabres_edge shrugs. "I hope Lead Nav knows where he's going, because all I know is that we're over France".
Everyone is half expecting orders to abort or go to the alternate target but the clouds thin suddenly. The Group picks up the nav point at Doullens and swings south for Amiens. "Navigator to pilot. Five minutes to bomb run."
Gunners scan their arcs watchfully. They've heard the briefings and know that they are near the home base of the Abbeville Kids, the Luftwaffe's elite fighter group in their distinctive yellow-nosed planes, but apart from the Group the skies are empty.
The Luftwaffe aerodrome is partially obscured by cloud, but it's in sight. And so is the Group, made more visible by its contrails. The AA fire stats, it's not the worst the Group has seen, but there are enough black bursts to be uncomfortable.
"Pilot to bombardier. You're flying the plane." @LaraTWhite hunches over the bombsight, undeterred by the flak.
It's a decent drop, somewhere around half the bombs falling within 1000 feet of the target. The Group flights free of the flak zone, but the lead plane in Low Squadron, @soonergrunt's Yankee Fury, staggers from a near burst but manages to stay in formation.
From Yankee Fury: "Dog Flight Leader to Gold Leader, my left wing got chewed on but I've got all four engines. I can keep up." There is little cloud cover and the Group picks up the Somme Valley and the way home. Still no sign of the Luftwaffe.
The Group is near the coast, in clear conditions, when the Luftwaffe shows up. @cindynorth1 in the top turret: "Sonofabitchin fighters, coming down now!"
Foxtrot faces three attacks: an ME 109 (ace pilot) at 12H, an ME 110 (green pilot) at 9L and an ME 110 at 9H. Four guns (nose, top turret, L Waist and ball turret) can engage.
Well, that was some bad rolling. All four guns missed, some very narrowly. @cindynorth1 curses as the left gun in her top turret twin .50s jams hard.
Fortunately Jerry rolled just as badly but all three planes get a second pass, coming in from 6H (ME109), 6L (ME 110) and 9L. Left waist, ball and top turrets, tail gunner and radio room gun can engage.
"Yah, I gots him" says Swede in his laconic way. @nissvik nails the ME110 at 6 level, chewing off his port wing. No one bails out. @zappingzebra in the ball turret damages the other ME110 at 9 level, though it still comes on shooting.
@Oldguard12 and @cindynorth1 miss the ace in the ME109 at 6 high and he hits on a raking pass down the fuselage. One shell damages the left tail plane, and a second sends shrapnel through the cockpit. @KsenoFox yells in pain as a metal shatters his right forearm.
The Group fights its way through the swarm without loss. Near Foxtrot, God and Country can be seen with half her tail rudder shot away, but she still seems to be maneuverable and is keeping her place in formation.
@JamesManto4 gets the radio operator, @Oldguard12, to leave his position and bandage @KsenoFox's arm. The ulna is shattered, but the bleeding isn't too bad. Despite the pain, the copilot grits out a warning. "More of them ahead!"
Jerry has had time to stack up a massive interception. An Me 210 comes slashing in at 10:30 low and two ME 109s at 10:30 level and 12:00 level. Foxtrot can bring five guns to bear.
@zappingzebra in the ball turret misses the ME210. @sabres_edge tries for the ME109 with the left cheek gun and narrowly misses .However on the left waist gun @JohnBuc08179594 nails he ME109. "That's how we do it in Boston!" he whoops.
Between them, @cindynorth1 in the top turret and @LaraTWhite on the nose .50 damage and drive off the ME109 at 12 High, totally spoiling his shot. Now the ME210 at 10:30lo makes his pass, and narrowly misses. His peers shot up, he elects not to make another attack.
"Ball turret to pilot: B17 going down." It's Ragin Cajun 2 from the High Squadron, a popular veteran crew, spinning out of control. Only two chutes are seen.
@XOofXOs calm voice: “Gold Leader to Group. Here comes another wave. Tighten up. We’re almost home, folks, so Spray and Pray.” Spray and Pray is the instruction for max ammo usage. The gunners take note.
A swarm of yellow-nosed ME109s make a confident and daring attack on High Squadron. Without doubt they are the feared Abbeville Kids, a crack outfit. Foxtrot faces three ME109s in a head-in attack.
