Halberstadts happily landing

[Olham 164]

If you find me childish now, well, I may often be just like a big boy;

but it really makes me SO HAPPY, when after a stressful flight, our planes land safe again.

 

We had attacked an Allied airfield near Albert, and we got pretty shaken by Flak. But only one

Albatros DII was missing later; an outcome, that I think is quite good for that sort of attack.

 

And despite the stuff I read about crash landings, I must say, that 7 from 8 planes returning,

made the landing absolutely great and well! (One Halberstadt crashed into a tree).

 

Hope, you may enjoy other but combat pics here - just pictures of a safe landing.

[Wels 2]

Hello,

yes, great feeling to see 'em all back safely ! And ... how do you like the Halberstadt's FM ?

Greetings,

Wels

[Olham 164]

I-LIKE-THEM!

Hadn't tried them much, as they only have one gun.

But then I thought, well, the Allied have only one, so why not?

I like the plane's stability and it's good climb. When you do the right tactics and

are not too outnumbered, you'll manage to kill Nupe 11s with this plane!

One of my five campaign pilots flies Halberstadt now.

[Hasse Wind 46]

The Halberstadt must feel like a gift from God when you get one in a campaign game after the Eindecker! I tried the Halb once in QC against DH2's and found it to be a surprisingly effective fighter. The "gunsight" was terrible though...

[Olham 164]

The gunsight isn't really worse than on the early Nupes, and the overall view is wonderful.

You must let go any idea of aiming over a gunsight, a crosshair or such.

Learn to know, were your bullets go, and then get the enemy plane into that spot.

When you got that understood, you will be able to do an incredible deflection shooting.

[Hasse Wind 46]

The gunsight isn't really worse than on the early Nupes, and the overall view is wonderful.

You must let go any idea of aiming over a gunsight, a crosshair or such.

Learn to know, were your bullets go, and then get the enemy plane into that spot.

When you got that understood, you will be able to do an incredible deflection shooting.

 

Yes, the view is good! But I've so used to the excellent Vickers gunsight in Nieuport 17 that flying without one in a scout with only one MG feels strange somehow.

[Rickitycrate 10]

I think the landing of the sqaud would make for a nice change as part of someone's You Tube vid. I agree about going from the EIII to the Halb. I struggled my way through a long DiD EIII pilot and made it to the change to the Halb. So I thought the Halbie was just awesome by that time. Can't say I've ever used the gunsights very much. I do a lot of deflection shooting. Tracers are helping with that more lately. I must try to wait for the group landing with my current Roland CII pilot Dieter Siefert.

[Olham 164]

RC: I struggled my way through a long DiD EIII pilot and made it to the change to the Halb.

Wow, Rickitycrate, that's quite an achievement! Surviving the Eindecker phase! In Udet's footsteps, eyh?

[Rickitycrate 10]

Well it was what seems a long time ago. As a matter of fact I was in the same Jasta as Udet. To the south. Not much action there during the period but I was able to come to grips with flying the EIII. I lost a lot of them at first.

[Olham 164]

Well, anyway - who needs enemies, when flying the Eindecker?

I tried a campaign with it once, but when I came across a British fighter (Bristol Scout?),

I had no chance really. I did anything to get behind him - even Immelmann turns -

but he was just flying his loops around me. And then he shot me down.

 

I think, Wels won several dogfights in an Eindecker. Impressive!

[Bullethead 12]

Hadn't tried them much, as they only have one gun.

 

2 guns are for girly-men . If you've only got 1, especially if it's synchronized so you only get like 10 shots in a 2-second burst, then you have to learn to shoot accurately, and fly well enough to have a chance to shoot that accurately. Of course, most of my guys do neither, so they don't last long. But how do you get better without the angst and Hate of having a very difficult goal?

[Olham 164]

Well, one gun plus good deflection shooting is definitely something for calming down Nupes.

I feel like the typical Bosch Barbarian there:

these Nupes look and fly beautiful like a butterfly, they do their dancing and turning around

me like little Degas-drawn ballet dancers - until I shoot them up. Or down, better. Kaputt!

[Bullethead 12]

I feel like the typical Bosch Barbarian there

 

Oh bah! All of us on the front lines are equally barbaric. What matters is how much we can drink together afterwards . I've bought countless lunches and drinks for guys on my side who saved my bacon, and more than a few for guys who'd been on the other side. Even Moslems drink if none of their coreligionists are there to see it .

 

You all were and are known as Huns, Bosche, and whatnot, because you all had pathetic public relations. How many on our side know of the hardships inflicted on German civilians by the Brit blockade, for instance?

[Duce Lewis 3]

How many on our side know of the hardships inflicted on German civilians by the Brit blockade, for instance?

Great point

My dad has a WWI DVD series that gave great insights on the not so commonly known aspects of WWI

It showed water pipes being pulled up in towns so they could get the lead for bullets

Gives insights into the effect of the British blockade and the troubles on the German homefront

[Olham 164]

Yes, our public relations were only top notch under Goebbels - but were did that again get us? (Lol!!)

 

I often wondered, that British people sometimes behave, as if the Germans had declared war to them.

On a flight from London to Berlin, a British lady talked about the German attacks on England in WW2,

until we got the facts right (I got help from her husband there; very fair of him), that England had

declared war to Germany.

 

But, to come back to air combat sim: I am very glad, that we can in our days PLAY war, instead of

fighting it, and enjoy this all together. Cheers to that!

[Wels 2]

Hello,

 

the time from 1914 on (and most probably before) is poisened by propaganda, from all sides. However even if in WW1 the british blockade was considered as a kind of war crime, or at least breaking international law, it did at least not kill any neutrals - which was not so with the U-boat war - if "unintentional". All sides had lost their innocence from day one on, and the truth is and will be the first victim in every war.

 

Yes, our public relations were only top notch under Goebbels - but were did that again get us? (Lol!!)

 

Ahem, there are indeed some incidents that are NOT propaganda, like concentration camps and organized killing on a scale unheard of before. If there ever was a war that really dealt with "good" against "bad" it must have been WW2. I will never understand how this kind of barbary could have been possible in Germany.

 

Greetings,

Catfish

[shredward 12]

And some think us superficial because we play games...

[Rickitycrate 10]

Games are for kids don't you know. That's why I like to call OFF a sim. But if the little buggers played our game they would learn a thing or two about history. Maybe OFF BH&H should be in the college curriculum haha!

 

 

By the way I am a gamer. I play playstation, xbox and whatever, so no snobbery from this 51 year old.

Edited April 27, 2009 by Rickitycrate

[Cameljockey 3]

Not to hijack the thread, but OFF is more than just a game, it's a history lesson. Even someone not that into WWI aviation may find themselves wanting to know more about the things they see in OFF. I used to think I knew a lot about WWI but since joining the OFF Community I've at least doubled my personal knowledge base on the subject. OFF and the Community inspired me to learn how to build my own PC, which is something I thought I'd never be able to do. All of this, while not even mentioning the hours and hours of sheer enjoyment I've gotten from it. Salute to Winder, the OFF Team, and the OFF Community!

 

 

CJ

[Olham 164]

Wels, my remark about the Propagandaminister was meant to be a (bitter) joke -

I hope that was understood.

 

I will never understand how this kind of barbary could have been possible in Germany.

 

It can be possible everywere, were fear reigns over all.

[Olham 164]

Well, now I got pretty far off my own topic - but it was worth it.

 

Anyone anything to add about Halberstadts? Perhaps?

[Hasse Wind 46]

I was browsing through the Jastas of late 1916 in search of a squadron that receives the Alb. D.II's early when I noticed Halberstadt D.III's mentioned in some plane lists. I suppose it uses the same model as the D.II in OFF. And isn't it the same with Alb. D.I's, which use D.II models?

 

Historically speaking the Halberstadt is an interesting crate. I remember having read from some book or website that the first ever German air to air rockets were fired from the Halb, but can't remember the model. And when the Halberstadt became too obsolete for Western front use, many planes were sold to Turkey. I don't much about the Ottoman air force though.

[Olham 164]

As far as I know, the Halberstadt D II and D III are the same plane in OFF.

Also are the Abatros D I and D II the same model - a D II in fact (the D I had much worse forward view).

 

Rockets - on German planes? I hadn't heard of that.

[Hasse Wind 46]

Rockets - on German planes? I hadn't heard of that.

 

Yes, they were definitely tested, but as far as I know saw no widespread use because they were seen as far too inaccurate and ineffective weapons. Germans had always been eager to build rockets, but that "hobby" came to fruition only later in WW2... and ultimately helped mankind go to space, so something positive did come out of it in the end.

 

And the real Le Prieur rockets in Entente use certainly weren't the weapons of mass destruction we now have in OFF.

[shredward 12]

I was browsing through the Jastas of late 1916 in search of a squadron that receives the Alb. D.II's early when I noticed Halberstadt D.III's mentioned in some plane lists. I suppose it uses the same model as the D.II in OFF. And isn't it the same with Alb. D.I's, which use D.II models?

Historically speaking the Halberstadt is an interesting crate. I remember having read from some book or website that the first ever German air to air rockets were fired from the Halb, but can't remember the model. And when the Halberstadt became too obsolete for Western front use, many planes were sold to Turkey. I don't much about the Ottoman air force though.

 

From the Halberstadt Fighters Datafile, Peter Grosz:

 

With the exception of the engine and machine gun installation, there was little difference between the Halb DI, DII, and DIII.

DI 100hp Mercedes DI - one or two built and tested

DII 120hp Mercedes DII - 96 production a/c

DIII 120hp Argus ASII - 50 production a/c

Of the 57 DV fighters built, 31 were sent to Turkey, including all of the last production batch D3500-3024/17...Halberstadt fighters served in Palestine well into 1918.

 

Leutnant Rudolf Nebel of Ja 5, the noted German rocket pioneer, recorded how he wanted to increase the distance at which HA could be attacked. He mounted two stovepipes under each wing, installed four signal rockets and attached ignition cables connected to a firing button. As Ja5 took off to intercept, Nebel recalled:

Twenty-five HA closing from the west. I no longer paid any attention to my squadron mates, who could climb faster than my a/c with its four stovepipes. There was no time to reflect. I flew directly at the enemy squadron and automatically pressed the small button on the steering column. The distance about 100m was an enormous one compared to the accepted machine-gun range. Under my wings a woosh of fireworks, then a giant smoke trail shot through the English squadron. Was I successful? As a matter of fact, yes! An English pilot put his biplane into a dive and landed on the nearest field. Throttling down, I dived after him, landing some 20m away. The Tommy did not try the trick of surrendering and then at the last minute taking-off to escape. The new weapon had frightened him to such an extent that he surrendered without a fight. Eight days later I was to discover that the stovepipes had more than a mere morale effect. During this mission I shot the airscrew off an enemy machine. It crashed on the ground.

 

A week later, the fiery exhaust of the rockets, now mounted on an Alb DIII, ignited the wings, but fortunately the slipstream extinguished the flames. Nebel was lucky to escape serious injury when his a/c crash-landed.

 

A second Halberstadt fighter-rocket combination was less successful. On October 16, 1916, a Raketentrupp equipped with one Halb DII armed with four stick-stabilised rockets mounted on the outer wing struts for attacking balloons (an idea that had been copied from the French) left Berlin for the First Armée on the Western Front. Two weeks later the Raketentrupp was back in Berlin due to 'difficulty with the rocket system.' ...In any event, rocket attacks on balloons appear to have been a totally useless exercise, spectacular to be sure but incendiary bullets proved far more accurate.

 

Cheers,

shredward