VF-17
"The Jolly Rogers"
The Japanese called the F4U Corsair in its many versions the "Whistling Death" during World War II. For VF-17 this aircraft and the pilots who flew it were responsible for shooting down 154 enemy aircraft in 76 days. By doing this they surpassed the record set by VMF-214 "Black Sheep" under the command of Maj. Greg "Pappy" Boyington.
VF-17 had an unusual unit symbol painted on the noses of their Corsairs. The skull and crossbones, or Jolly Roger. This symbol was once associated with the pirates and pirate ships that once sailed the ocean looking for treasure fighting for fun. Also this was the last flag/symbol that many sailors saw before they died in battle. This was also the case of the Japanese pilots who came under the guns of "Fighting 17" during their combat tour from October 1943 to March 1944. It has been said, that VF-17 so utterly demoralized the once proud Japanese Air Force in their operating area. That upon seeing the approaching Corsairs, one Japanese pilot wrote in his diary after an encounter, "here come the wolves again".
Now for a little bit about this online squadron.
VF-17 was founded in Ace's High on September 19th of 2002. Aces High 2 is our primary game although we have a presence in some many online games. Some of us play on the Targetware engine and the mod for it called Target: Rabaul along with Pacific Fighters and Wings over Vietnam. We hope at that time that we can wing up with the already existing VF-17 squadron there.
We have structured ourselves in the same way as the US Navy squadrons of WW2. The rankings and force structure mimic the same from the US Navy of that era. We are also looking to start an intra-squadron competition called "The Battle E Series" that will be a tournament type competition based on the US Air Force William Tell competition to allow squadrons to showcase their talents in every phase of the game.
If you would like to join VF-17 please check out our Recruiting page and while you are there drop over to our Roster page and have a look and give us a shout in Ace's High. Below are some links to parts of our site that have information we like to share with other players wishing to learn a bit more about flight operations and such for AH. We are small but tenacious right now (HAHA!). Thanks for taking the time to stop by and look us over.
Founder VF-17 "The Jolly Rogers"
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