Rene Fonck: 'Ace Of Aces'. Parts 1 & 2

Updated 18/4/08.

Just a quick note to confirm that this mission will work with the expansion pack and

April 08 patch, as long as you have ALL required skins, terrain etc installed.

 

 

 

A Mission For First Eagles.

 

Bucky's Quick Mission No.5. Rene Fonck: 'Ace Of Aces'. Parts 1 & 2.

 

Released: 09/05/07... The 89th anniversary of the action depicted in this mission.

 

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Introduction:

 

Ask any student of the first air war to name their top ten WW1 fighter pilots and all the usual

names will crop up, plus maybe, a few lesser knowns. Chances are though, the name Rene

Fonck won't be among them... He's been largely forgotten... Even in his own country.

A true case of criminal neglect IMHO, because Rene Fonck was probably THE greatest fighter

pilot of WW1. The only problem is/was, Fonck knew how good he was and wouldn't let anyone

forget it...He was regarded as a boastful, boorish, braggart, and generally not well liked by

his comrades.

But when you talk the talk, you've got to be able to walk the walk...Fonck could and did!

 

This mission, which comes in two parts, depicts the events of Thursday, May 9th, 1918. This

was the date that Sous-Lt Rene Fonck of escadrille SPA103, shot down six German aircraft

in a single day...An outstanding feat in itself , but amazingly, he was to repeat it again on

September 26th!

In fact, he brought down two or more enemy planes in one day, an incredible eighteen times

in one year!

 

His marksmanship was of olympic gold medal standard. He usually expended very little

ammunition when bringing down enemy aircraft. About nine rounds on average.

 

His official end of war total was 75 confirmed victories, but in his book 'Ace Of Aces', he gave

all the dates for a further 52 unconfirmed victories, which would give him an actual score

of 127.

 

 

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To set the scene:

 

On May 9th, Fonck didn't even begin flying until 3:45pm because of bad weather, but soon

after crossing the allied lines with his two wingmen, he spotted three enemy two-seaters. He

shot down all three in a fight that lasted just 45 seconds...They all crashed within 400 metres

of each other!

 

After landing to refuel, he took off again at 5:30pm. It was very cloudy and eventually Fonck

became separated from his two wingmen. He emerged from a dense cloud and immediately

came across another German two-seater and shot that down.

Continuing his patrol, he spotted a flight of four Fokker D.VII's, escorted by five Albatros

D.V's flying slightly above, and ahead of the D.VII's. Weighing up the odds and feeling brave,

Fonck put his SPAD into a dive, positioned himself amongst the nine enemy planes and shot

down the rearmost D.VII.

Alerted by the machine gun noise, the remaining E/A attempted to turn and bring their guns

to bear on Fonck, but this manoeuvre slowed them down, and his momentum allowed him to

pass between them. He then shot down the leader of the patrol and bolted for home, with

seven enemy planes in hot pursuit!

 

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Mission guidelines:

 

As already stated, this mission comes in two parts to more accurately depict the events,

weather and timing of Thursday, May 9th, 1918.

 

PART 1.

You'll join the action at about 7500 feet, having just crossed the allied lines at 4:15pm. The

weather, which has kept you grounded for most of the day has cleared nicely, Although it's

still quite cloudy.

You're accompanied by your two able wingmen; Lt Fontaine and Cpt Battle. Suddenly, you

spot three specks in the distance...Bosche two-seaters!... Manouevre yourself into a

favourable position and dive into the fray!

Fonck managed to shoot down all three German two-seaters himself...Can you do the same?

 

Having achieved the mission goal, feel free to press 'ALT+N' to fast forward to your

aerodrome...You can then land, and wait while your ground crew refuel and re-arm your

SPAD...You may want to grab yourself a coffee and a croissant while you wait...

 

PART 2.

We join the action at 12,500 feet. It's 6:10pm, and you've been in the air for 40 minutes. It's

very cloudy and you've lost your two wingmen, and the light is fading...

You emerge from a dense cloud to find a German reconnaisance plane very close by...Once

you send him down, prepare yourself to dive into the midst of the Fokker D.VII's and

Albatros D.V's!

Fonck shot down two Fokker D.VII's before making a break for home, but do feel free to try

and better him if you think you can!

 

If you survive, you can navigate your way back to Villers Bretonneaux airfield (or press

ALT+N like I always do!) and land to a rapturous reception from your comrades...Just as

Fonck did.

 

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Compromises and game limitations:

 

1. During the spring and summer of 1918 the German offensive had pushed the allies back

much further than the actual front line depicted in the game. Also, the FE map is very sparsely

populated around the Montdidier area where these combats actually took place. This means

that I've not been able to place the action as accurately on the map as I would've liked.

 

2. FE won't allow multiple 'named wingmen' in the players flight. This means the game will

recognise only the players plane. consequently, there will be no record of your wingmen's

actions in the 'stats' screen at end of mission. It also means you can't issue orders via the

'tab' button.

The good news is; this doesn't stop your wingmen from participating in the action, although

for this mission you won't want any help anyway!

 

3. In Fonck's second patrol, about 45 minutes passed between him shooting down the

two-seater and the dogfight with the flight of German fighters...Here, I've condensed the

action to save you flying around aimlessly for the best part of an hour.

 

4. Again, in the second patrol, Fonck was able to dive into the German fighter formation

undetected before causing havoc...As far as I can tell, the AI in First Eagles is 'all seeing'...

This makes it impossible (I think!) to sneak up on 'em! You'll just have to take your chances

mixing it with 'em I'm afraid!

 

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Mission requirements:

 

To fly this mission as intended, you'll need:

 

Flanders terrain.

By Edward.

To be found in the Combat Ace, Downloads, 'Maps/Terrains' section.

 

Rene Fonck SPAD XIII skin.

By HerGr.

To be found in the Combat Ace, Downloads, 'WW1 Aircraft Skins' section

 

Many thanks to all the above artists for their most excellent contributions to this great game.

 

For maximum realism, the mission should be played with all gameplay settings set to 'Hard'.

 

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Installation instructions:

 

Install the mission by unzipping the downloaded file to the following path:

C:/Program Files/Thirdwire/WW1/Missions

 

Alternatively, you can drag and drop the unzipped MSN file directly into your 'Missions' folder.

 

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I hope you enjoy flying this mission and find it both challenging and enjoyable enough to play

it more than once...I've tried to make it as historically accurate and authentic as the game

will allow.

Feel free to change any of the parameters as you wish.

 

I would welcome any suggestions or general feedback, good, bad or indifferent, via any one

of the FE forums.

 

Bon chance!

 

Bucky.

 

9/5/07