I came across another secret weapon just now in a QC flight that I'm still stunned about! I took two of my wingman up in Camels and we met a flight of four DIIIs. We each peeled off an enemy and began peppering them. I got mine down after a bit (those DIIIs were sorely overmatched), and headed off after the others. There were only two left, and both my wingman were concentrating on the healthiest one, leaving one smoking to roller coaster out over the channel. He was doing the dip and dive like Nieuports or DIIs. His engine must have been giving him fits. I felt sorry for the bugger, but duty and all.... So I lined up behind him and waited until I was within 100 (feet? meters? what does the program measure in?) and laid into him. He took a lot of punishment. I have whatever the setting that tells you when you're hitting someone disabled, so I don't know the percentage, but stuff was flying off of him like debris in a tornado. Everytime he'd climb up a little, I'd hit him again, mostly from within 50 feet. Finally, I overflew him and turned to come around and try to finish him off.
As I was turning, I kept my eye on him, and THAT'S when I discovered a heretofore unknown quality of these AlbDIII's. Those ingenious Germans!!! I watched him settle onto the surface of the water, expecting to watch him sink, and instead, he started kicking up quite a wake as he slowly motored toward the coast of Normandy! Those DIIIs can convert to motor boats!!!! I watched him for 5 minutes while he made steady progress toward the coast. My two wingmen, who had downed the other enemy by then, just flew over him over and over again, deeply puzzled, apparently, about what to do. Fearing immanent invasion, I lined up on him and threw as much of a burst into him as I could before slapping the waves myself. That stopped him! He turned black on my little TAC screen and stopped moving. He didn't sink, mind you. But he ceased his naval activities.
What a hoot!
