SINNER'S DIVE

On 26 November 1944, Major Rudolf Sinner
of III./JG 7 took off from Lechfeld to
intercept a reconnaissance P-38 escorted
by three other P-38s. The photorecon P-38
had just finished a high-altitude run over
Munich when he spotted the ME262, so he
alerted his fighter escort, dropped his
drop tanks and turned to face the attack
head on (hoping to present a smaller
target).  The two aircraft passed by each
other head-on without a possible shot by
Sinner, and as Sinner wheeled around the
escorts were on him.  Escaping in a steep
dive, Sinner, to his horror, found himself
out of control as he had exceeded the
jet's compressability threshold.  When he
finally regained control, he looked up and
saw his prey's condensation trails high
above and to the north.  He resolved to
reengage, climbed unseen behind an escort,
and sent it burning.  Low on fuel, he
broke for home, and the American pilot, LT
Julius Thomas, was captured.

                 MISSION

Destroy the recon P-38 (represented by the
J model).  Killing the H-model escorts is
permitted, but the primary mission is to
stop the recon P-38 from delivering its
film.

                  NOTES

This would be a good mission to use the
P-38J "Droop-snoot" modified plane to
represent the Recon plane, as it would
then have no weapons.  If you get too
involved initially with the escorts and
lose any engine power, the P-38J may be
able to outrun you.

                 SOURCE

The German Jets in Combat, Ethell/Price,
Jane's 1979.

         SCENARIO DEVELOPMENT

Gregory M. "Sturmer" Smith
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