[dragoon500ly]

Few working aircraft survived the war. What few that did exist were used until they fell apart. But having planes is useful and so the Free State looked for designs of proven ruggedness and utility. Originally, the intention was to build jet fighters, but two factors prevented this. First, none of their neighbor's, indeed, no one else in the world as far as the know, had jet aircraft. Second, the technical problems of manufacturing jet engines were simply to great. Instead, the Free State duplicated four aircraft that they had prototypes of, courtesy of a Confederate Air Force air show at Bowling Green. The standard fighter of the Free State is the P-47D Thunderbolt, a proven design (max air speed of 428 mph and a combat radius of 450 miles on internal fuel) noted for its extreme ruggedness and its heavy firepower (eight .50 caliber machine guns and a 2,000lb bomb load). For the air support mission that the SSF would need, it was perfect. Currently, sixteen squadrons of eight aircraft each are in service.

The second aircraft is the B-25 medium bomber. This twin engine aircraft is built in two versions, the first is the B-25H ground assault aircraft, which is armed with a 75mm cannon, fourteen .50-caliber machineguns (mounted in twin tail and dorsal turrets, two single side mounts and eight fixed in the nose) and a 3,200lb bomb load. Two squadrons of eight aircraft are in service.

The second version is the B-25J medium bomber, which is armed with eighteen .50-caliber machine guns (mounted in twin dorsal and tail turrets, two single side mounts and twelve fixed in the nose) and a 4,000lb bomb load. Four squadrons of eight aircraft each are in service. Both versions have a maximum air speed of 275mph and a combat radius of 675 miles.

The fourth and final aircraft is the C-47 transport. This twin engine aircraft has a max speed of 227 mph and a combat radius of 773 miles with a useful payload of 4,000lbs. Ten squadons of eight aircraft each are in service.

The SSF-A is a status service and its pilots are chosen only from the ranks of Citizens. This has a detrimental effect on the quality of its pilots since many marginal pilots stay in due to their political connections. Further the SSF-A has a somewhat callous attitude towards the SSF-L in that whn calls for support are received, the pilots tend to be somewhat careless as to where they dump their ordnance. This has the effect of making the SSF-L reluctant to call in air strikes under any but the most desperate situations.