Wels 2 Posted March 6, 2009 ... i have already died 5 times, my first death happend while ramming the only windsock pole around some 50 miles, just in front of the hangars. I was a bit slow for dying, but "accepted" it - D.I.D. lol. The 1 1/2 strutter exploded like running over a mine, maybe a bit less Hollywood ? But i did not want to go into details yet. I only flew the Sop 1 1/2 strutter, and then immediately went to the Fokker E.III, in the KEK which was to become Jasta (or Jagdstaffel=Hunting Squadron) 11 later in the war. Guess it was june 1st, 1916. Having already flown this one in phase 2 i knew i would be an ace soon, hehe. So battery on, magnetoes on, and cranking the starter. The usual coughing, and uneven revving until all cylinders fired, and then oops, off to the right i went, engine revving full, who put the throttle lever to full, and the rudder, where is !"§$%&!! ?? (ahh, replugged the joystick without centering) So i introduced myself, making some my silly dance in front of my squadron mates, who politely waited until i regained control, and had lined up with them again. We took off, and the E gained enough altitude to get over the houes and slope at the end of this field. The plane seemed to hop around more on the uneven ground, than in P2. This "dance" will sure cost me some bottles of champagne .. I usually have all warnings, chat, targeting cone etc, disabled, however this time i switched the HUD and target display "radar thing" to on. While still climbing there were two blips appearing, and cheating (switching to exterior view, and then to target view) i saw those were 3 Sopwith 1 1/2 strutters. ehe easy prey, so i immediately left my flight, wondering if my wingmen did not see them, and headed right for the enemy. Since i did not have to climb i indeed managed to cross their flight path, and they did not evade. Much too easy i thought, when i heard a strange sound from my engine - one of the observers had shot at me and there was something beginning to turn loose in the engine. reat sound b.t.w. - turned it to "realistic" in the workshop settings, you will only hear your very loud engine, and the wind at times, with some faint MG or other engine's sounds. Hrrmph I did hear the wind better now, but ignoring the engine i began firing at the last plane. Hmm, again i was hit, but not only from this observer ... there was someone behind me ?! One of the Sopwiths had managed to get on my tail, while the rest was flying on straight, observers firing at me, and i had not seen it. Ok, bank hard right, but hard banking is not a good idea in the "E", as well its warp wings do not react really fast, and the control cables also seemed to be damaged somehow. Losing condiderable altitude I managed to get away from the flight, and the bored attacker rejoined them without further firing at me. Meanwhile the engine sounded really bad, and i was looking for my aerodrome. Well, lesson learned, but at least the bird was in the air and i lived to fight another day. I throttled down a bit, and between the misfiring and grinding sounds the wind became louder. Strange, there also was another very faint noise, almost like a sewing machine - ah my own flight had found me, or so i thought when bullets started to whistle past me, again damaging my already shot-up bird. What the ...?! A flight of 5 Nieuports appearing from nowhere were going for me ?! Gun jammed, engine almost out, controls almost shot away, i swung the E to vertical and dove to the ground, one of the Nieuports following me. I managed to level the plane out before crashing (do not exceed 220 km/h, the plane will become a falling brick), still received some hits, but made an emergency landing between some trees. Pheww .. Then the OFF manager came to my rescue and brought me straight to my aerodrome. I had survived, but my shiny new E.III was declared destroyed. I was able to fill out a report, but it was neglected due to absent witnesses, and to be true i do not believe this 1 1/2 strutter went down before an intended soft landing at its aerodrome. After 4 more missions (pilot still alive) in the E.III i am now happy to survive - there is no chance against Nieuports or DH.2s, and running away is all that saves my life, don't know what my wingmates think about that. The only plane that can be shot down with the "E" is the BE2c, and maybe a 1 1/2 strutter, if you are lucky. There is some strange behaviour by the "E", sometimes i am not able to roll to the left, as if someone blocks the controls - not only when being damaged, but ... it is no always, and not reproducable (for me, that is). Throttling back or lifting the nose (or lowering it) does not change anything, but it will work again after some 10-20 seconds. If this happens during an escape (i would not call my behaviour a "dogfight" lol) you havethe chance of a snowball in hell - really scary. Well, i am am still learning the ropes, seems P3 is something entirely else - after those missions i have to realize i would most probably suck in a real fight, let alone becoming an ace , oh the shock ! Thanks and greetings, Catfish, Err Wels P.S: Who stole my name ? lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wels 2 Posted March 6, 2009 (edited) Hello, some evidence (seems to be vital to get a "kill" accepted .. ) Follow me or get shot ! So you won't .. he will go down, i am sure .. seems so .. the BE flew on at that angle !? continued in next reply .. Edited March 6, 2009 by Wels Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wels 2 Posted March 6, 2009 (edited) there he is - landed to have a closer look The wreck ... good job modeling the remnants, thanks to the dev team ! Then i was jumped by the Nieuports - sorry no pics, i had to survive and forget all else lol .. VERY close escape, they followed, but broke off when i had made it over my own lines .. engine held until ... This does not look good .. No, out of here, quick ! Well at least i survived, plane was written off. Now my new mount, finally a Halberstadt again - after more than 15 years !! Thanks for looking, greetings, Catfish Edited March 6, 2009 by Wels Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red-Dog 3 Posted March 6, 2009 Good work wels, you will go far. i have found to get a kill confirmed you need the name of a witness, then do a quick report stating, altitude,location,description of aicraft and markings,number of rounds fired etc... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nio48 0 Posted March 6, 2009 Hi Wels it is good to see you over here. I am sorry to hear that your normal tag "Catfish" is taken. As a fisherman, I understand, though some here may not, the change to Wels! best nio Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blue781 0 Posted March 6, 2009 This "dance" will sure cost me some bottles of champagne .. Yes i do believe the bottles are on you.. Im sure if you head to the village and beg some the jasta will not judge you to harshly for the little.. display on the field... ha,ha,ha ;) Hurra, Blue781 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rooster89 0 Posted March 7, 2009 This "dance" will sure cost me some bottles of champagne .. Awesome screenies Catfish. 1903 Champagne, I hope? -Rooster Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
