On the 15th, 2nd Lt Esko Ruotsila was back in the thick of it with HC-452: “Air surveillance reported five fighters at Simola. We met a three-plane patrol coming from the east, at 1,000m altitude. We attacked with the sun behind our backs. After the pass we separated a little from each other and engaged enemy planes on every side of us.
“Finally I saw one evading in the direction of Merijoki. I chased it until my engine started to act up. I turned back towards home. Then I saw Sgt Aikala chasing one enemy aircraft in Vilajoki direction. I turned towards them, and then the enemy took an evasive action. Sgt Aikala’s engine was also acting up. Both engines had the supercharger loose. The oil was leaking to almost dry. Simola observation post confirmed two aircraft had crashed.”
Here's a bit more information culled from WW2Aircraft.net:
When the Continuation War began on 25th June 1941, HC452 had been assigned to Lentolaivue 30. In early July, 5 Aircraft including HC452 were transferred to Utti and incorporated into Lentolaivue 32.
HC452 was regularly flown by Vanrikki (Vanr. = Pilot Officer) Esko Ruotsila, he shot down an I-153 on 3rd and 15th July on patrols over the Karelian Istmuth followed by a shared victory on the 8th Jan.1942, an I-152, for a total of 2.5 victories out of the 5.5 claimed by Hurricanes.
This ticks all the solo scenario boxes and has that added bonus of being a bit different, featuring the Hawker Hurricane rather than the Curtiss Hawk-75, which otherwise dominated the scenarios that I've written. I particularly like the engine problems as a scenario twist, so will aim to incorporate that as a feature to make the game a bit more of a challenge for the Finns.
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