IL-2 1946 F6F-3 "Tarawa" Misión 7

#F6F
#takeoff
#rejoin
#groundattack
#ProtectfriendlyAirplane
#dogfight
#RTB
#landing
The Gilbert Islands, a group of 16 atolls near the equator, were viewed by the U.S. as a stepping stone to the Marshalls and became the first target of the Central Pacific Campaign. In November 1943, the U.S. launched an offensive code-named Operation Galvanic, in which the prime target was the tiny island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands. (As part of Operation Galvanic, the U.S. would also send a smaller force to the Gilberts’ Makin Atoll, some 100 miles north of Tarawa. Compared with the taking of Tarawa, the U.S. faced far less Japanese resistance at Makin and the Americans secured the atoll by November 23, 1943.) In late December 1941, Tarawa, a coral atoll located some 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii, had been seized by the Japanese, who heavily fortified Betio, Tarawa’s largest island.
By November 19, 1943, American warships had arrived near Tarawa. Naval and air bombardments were planned for the next morning with the goal of weakening Japan’s defenses and clearing the way for 18,000 U.S. Marines to seize the island. However, the taking of Tarawa would prove to be more difficult than the Americans had anticipated.
#il2sturmovik #dogfight #tarawawwII #flightsimulator #il2gb #grumman

[@lothar29]

Takeoff : 1:30
Rejoin : 7:00
Navigation : 10:00 to 17:53
Loss of altitude to attack : 21:05
Groundattack : 23:10
Protect friendly Airplanes : 26:24
Dogfight "Shoot down three zeros" : 27:23
RTB : 33:34
Searching my aircraft carrier : 40:03
Approach : 56:35
Landing : 58:02