Lt. Stanley Winfield Vejtasa
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Thread: Lt. Stanley Winfield Vejtasa

  1. #1

    Lt. Stanley Winfield Vejtasa

    Better know as"Swede Vejtasa".

    He was a Dauntless pilot on Yorktown during the Salamaua Raids and got a hit on a Transport.Later at Coral Sea he was jumped by 7 Zeroes,while flying a Dauntless,Destroying 4 of them and damaging a 4th.

    October 26,1942 in the Battle of Santa Cruz,while flying a Wildcat of VF-10 ( USS Enterprise ) he shot down 2 Vals that were attacking USS Hornet.Later that day he shot down 5 Kate torpedo planes attacking USS Enterprise and damaging another as his ammo ran out.

    That's 10 planes in 2 days.He later got .25 credit for a Mavis.

    He was sent back home to train other pilots and never flew in combat again.

    Any interest in making missions of his exploits?They could be challenging.

    TheBookie

  2. #2
    Senior Administrator Rami's Avatar
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    TheBookie,

    Stanley "Swede" Vejtasa is an awesome story and would be a great set of missions. I found out about his exploits from the Dogfights Episode "Long Odds."

    But you can find a shortened version here:
    "Rami"

    "Me? I'm just a Sea of Tranquility in an Ocean of Storms, babe."

    My campaign site: http://www.box.net/shared/0k1e1rz29h
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  3. #3
    Senior Administrator Rami's Avatar
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    TheBookie and others,

    Here is the Dogfights "Long Odds" episode: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3qhcjy
    "Rami"

    "Me? I'm just a Sea of Tranquility in an Ocean of Storms, babe."

    My campaign site: http://www.box.net/shared/0k1e1rz29h
    My missions site: http://www.box.net/shared/ueh4kazk3v
    My scenery site: http://www.box.net/shared/knb1l0ztobhs2esb14rb

  4. #4
    Count me in Bookie. After reading of his combat actions I think it would be an asset indeed to have combat sorties representing this true hero. I really look forward to flying your missions.

    For those who wish to read more of this man and his military exploits:

    https://www.history.navy.mil/researc...-winfield.html

  5. #5
    It would probably be 4 or 5 missions.Since I'm on vacation I won't be working on it just yet,I just wanted to get some others thoughts on it.
    While I'm working on it I'll be doing the Yorktown Early Raids thru Midway also.


    TheBookie

  6. #6
    His is an amazing story. Ever try shooting down a Zero in a Dauntless? I've tried to emulate him; it is hard as hell to get one, and he got 4 in reality.
    Cheers,

    Captain Kurt
    ------------------------------------------------------
    "Fly, you fools!" Gandalf the Gray

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rami View Post
    TheBookie and others,

    Here is the Dogfights "Long Odds" episode: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3qhcjy
    Pretty good story in there as well re: Jay Zeamer and Lt. Sarnoski and their B-17 taking on 17 Zeroes - and whipping them.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Captain Kurt View Post
    His is an amazing story. Ever try shooting down a Zero in a Dauntless? I've tried to emulate him; it is hard as hell to get one, and he got 4 in reality.
    He relied more on solid tactics than just trying to match the agility of the Zeroes, as any Wildcat jock would have been tempted to do in the merge. He said that knew that all he had to do was keep the numbers in front of his plane as much as possible.

    He basically took the fight out of his gunner's hands and in doing so forced the Zero pilots out of their 'tail-hunting' agility strengths and into losing head to head confrontations, which was a major weakness for the lightly armored Zero. And if they got sloppy and slow in their turns he was a good enough marksman to lead and drop them. He forced them to play his game...

    The Dauntless was a lot more robust for taking head shots. One of the reasons for its distinction in having the highest score of all allied planes in tonnage sunk during the ENTIRE war. It could dive vertically out of the sun, take frontal hits from anything between 30 cal to 20mm, deliver its payload and still stand a good chance of getting a crew home as long as it didn't collide with the heavier AAA ordnance.

    I have personally attempted to replicate his success with the Dauntless using his tactics against multiple bogies and I can attest that even with the lame flight modeling for the stock Dauntless verses the UFO-like agility of the stock Zero, I still hold an undefeated record.

    I just focus on the simple rule of keeping the fight in front of me at all times. If I sense that one is baiting me into pursuit to allow the others to get a tail shot I disengage everything and re-engage to put them all in my windshield again. I then focus first on the one with the stones to take me head-on and secondly on any wide turning target with a long deflection shot. Hit the throttle to zoom out, put everything else behind in pursuit, then quick turn to repeat the process again.

    "If you're in a fair fight, you didn't plan it right"


  9. #9
    +1 for interest in this.


  10. #10
    When doing the CV-5 USS Yorktown Campaign these missions will be added to it.

    TheBookie

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