Fliegen gegen England

[Bullethead 12]

Gaffing off my briefed mission to hit a railyard, this evening I bombed Dover harbor with my Marinelandflieger DFW. Strike photos show the bombs landing on the docks. We're still waiting for the enemy newspapers to tell us the damage done, but at the very least it was propaganda fodder.

 

This mission of course had to be flown in real-time because it was WAY off the waypoint trail. It took about 2 hours of real time and would have taken a bit more if I hadn't landed at Vlisseghem, the 1st German field right on the coast, instead of going another 60km to my home drome. But I have to get up at 0500 to work tomorrow.... That's why you all will have to wait nearly 24 hours for a full write-up with screenshots.

 

The annoying thing is that I got ZERO credit for anything at all. As soon as I hit END FLIGHT, something in OFF crashed, but part of it kept working. After I cleared the "OFF BHaH has quite working" message, I was back at the main campaign screen with no info as to what had happened to the squadron in my absence, no option to replay the mission, and zero flight hours logged in my dossier. ARGH!!

 

But at least I've got the screenies to prove it happened. I'll post them tomorrow evening.

[Hasse Wind 46]

Hey, that was a daring attack. I hope some day we'll get to bomb the Englishmen with real Gothas, and the Huns with Handley Pages, for example.

 

The DFW is interesting because it seems to have an actual bomb sight. The view from the cockpit isn't the best possible, though... and bomb sight or no bomb sight, I doubt I'll ever hit anything I'm supposed to hit in my bomber careers, if not by accident.

[Hauksbee 103]

...instead of going another 60km to my home drome. But I have to get up at 0500 to work tomorrow....

Shocking! Utterly shocking that a pilot who displayed such iniative and daring should have to roust out at 0500 for a second job! Still...looking forward to the pics. Am attaching a poster for the mess. Keeps the lads focused on what they're fighting for.

 

.

Edited September 5, 2009 by Hauksbee

[Blue781 0]

good job!! well at least you went above and beyond the call of duty on that one... oh how the tommies will howl in the trenches knowing ol blighty was lit up like the 4th of july... hahahahaha ;) give em hell bullet!!

 

please do post the screenies im dying to see the action!

 

 

 

 

Gaffing off my briefed mission to hit a railyard, this evening I bombed Dover harbor with my Marinelandflieger DFW. Strike photos show the bombs landing on the docks. We're still waiting for the enemy newspapers to tell us the damage done, but at the very least it was propaganda fodder.

 

This mission of course had to be flown in real-time because it was WAY off the waypoint trail. It took about 2 hours of real time and would have taken a bit more if I hadn't landed at Vlisseghem, the 1st German field right on the coast, instead of going another 60km to my home drome. But I have to get up at 0500 to work tomorrow.... That's why you all will have to wait nearly 24 hours for a full write-up with screenshots.

 

The annoying thing is that I got ZERO credit for anything at all. As soon as I hit END FLIGHT, something in OFF crashed, but part of it kept working. After I cleared the "OFF BHaH has quite working" message, I was back at the main campaign screen with no info as to what had happened to the squadron in my absence, no option to replay the mission, and zero flight hours logged in my dossier. ARGH!!

 

But at least I've got the screenies to prove it happened. I'll post them tomorrow evening.

[Waldemar Kurtz 1]

nah, I completely believe that they didn't give you any sort of credit at all! I had a campaign where I finished my recon patrol ("mission objectives complete") and what did I see? I saw a flight of 6 FE2b lingering over German lines and I decided to see what my Roland C.II could do to them. I shot three of them down in flames in 10 minutes and I didn't even get a claims form. they all fell within 7 miles behind German lines. I was "off the beaten path" because of some CFS3 anomalies. I've even had the message posted "Mission objectives failed" in the middle of a sortie because all of my other wingmen got killed before we reached the front lines. my poor Sopwith Camel was forced to do battle with 7 Fokker D.VIIs and Pfalz D.IIIa. I got shot down in flames-- but the bizarre thing is, it booted me back to the campaign menu and congratulated me for another sortie-- I remember scratching my head and saying, "but I just got shot down in flames?!?!"

 

if you 'fai' or 'succeed' in hour mission objective it doesn't matter what happens afterwards. you could fly for another two hours, fire over 1,000 rounds of ammo, and drop 8 bombs-- but the game isn't going to record that in the least bit. you'll get it in the mission debriefing, but that's about it.

 

if you at least want to get credit for your flight hours you'll probably have to manually edit the pilot's log and change the minutes. otherwise, you're just out of luck. I tested this out on another mission-- where if the 'purple prose' shows up, I could fire 100 rounds and have 35% accuracy, but after that prose shows up, I could fire every last bullet into the air OR into enemy machines--but the logged bullets fired and the percentage of hits recorded will not change. it only documents the in-game flight time while it considers the mission 'active'. if you were supposed to fly to Ypres but fly all the way to England--well, it's definitely gonna say "you screwed up" and ignore you.

 

this is why I almost never fly "Dead is Dead". (which I think requires you to turn off the in-flight information display) the alternative is manually altering the pilot's log and dossier afterwards to match the actual in-game flight time, ghost claims (that the campaign manager ignores, but I could have easily made in real life), or even whether I get killed or not. if I see that purple text saying if the mission objective is 'complete' or 'failed' it helps me figure out if I'm getting 'credit' for anything I do-- or if I'm just doing it all for the thrill of living dangerously.

 

by chance, what was your 'recorded' flight time for this mission as opposed to your 'actual' flight time?

[Waldemar Kurtz 1]

y'know, I was just thinking... the next time you want to bomb London you should go into Free Flight. just make sure you have the option of logging all flights instead of just the campaign missions. bombing during the day would be suicidal, so just see if you can change the time of day to the night and you'd probably be okay. it was fiendishly difficult to intercept two-seaters at night-- so the odds of you ever having met an enemy scout were pretty low until later in the war. maybe that would be a decent 'work-around' for you. sure, it'll dock some points from that career--but if you really want to do that--and you want it to count for something towards your flight hours, or if you actually HIT something--that's the best option I can think of.

[Bullethead 12]

OK, here's the story and pics:

 

30 April 1917, Marinelandkampflieger Abteilung, central occupied Flanders.

 

I've heard rumors that the army is putting together a Grosskampffluzeug Abteilung to conduct daylight raids on England, but are having trouble with their huge beasts. Sounds like a job of Leutnant zur See Gesundheit Geschosskopf! I'll steal the army's thunder and show them the navy is already capable of doing such things. I think this will be the cure for my "sore throat". At the very least, this will give Scheer some leverage to get better land planes for MKF, and perhaps more besides, even if I die in the attempt. Wir fliegen gegen England! Now, I just have to wait for the right moment, like a stupid, futile, deep-penetration bombing mission without escorts.

 

(later) WHAT LUCK!!! Tomorrow morning's mission is just what I had in mind. Just me and 2 wingmen to attack a railyard somewhere in the vincinity of Paris, of all places. Screw that! England's not much further away and of immensely greater material, moral, and propaganda value. My lads will follow me anywhere!

 

 

 

1 May 1917, evening....

 

Well, things didn't go as planned. Of course, I hadn't told anybody of my plan, and when I headed NW far from the briefed flight plan, my wingmen apparently thought I was starved of oxygen and eventually broke off to follow the official mission. No matter! "Press on regardless", as the Tommies say. More Blue Maxes for me!

 

 

 

I climbed steadily on course 320 to get well to seaward of the RNAS fighters along the coast, then steered about 250 for Dover. I had enough fuel to go for London, but being by myself and utterly ignorant of the defenses, I thought it best to forego the propaganda value of an attack there for the concrete military value of disrupting the Tommies' cross-Channel shipping, if only for a little whle. With 3x 50kg bombs, my DFW would go no higher than 4000m anyway, which I considered too low to brave what were surely the strong defenses of the enemy capital. It was a very long flight without sight of land, but eventually I raised the English coast, not far out of my dead reckoning.

 

 

 

Only minor corrections were needed to bring me in over the White Cliffs, after which I would follow the coastline to Dover harbor.

 

 

 

On the bomb run, I was extremely nervous, expecting the full wrath of the English defenses to concentrate on my lone DFW. But not only was I not intercepted, but not a single round of Flak disturbed me. We had taken the Tommies completely by surprise. I made the most of this opportunity and lined up carefully to bomb the docks, carefully missing the civilian housing immediately adjacent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still unmolested by the defenses, we reversed course and went home the way we'd come. As I turned around, I glanced at my map, which bore the notes of the mission we'd received at the briefing. Looking at it, I figured my erstwhile commrades, if they were still alive, were by now recrossing the lines on their way home. Ah, they don't know what they missed! The thought of gloating to them upon my return made it easier to bear the intense cold of the long flight home.

 

 

 

I essentially retraced my steps and fully intended to return to base. However, about 2/3 of the way back, we ran out of canned liquid oxygen, and I began to get extremely tired controlling the heavy DFW. Thus, I decided to land at the first German aerodrome I came across. Fortunately, my navigation was still good enough and we regained the friendly coast nearly at the same place we left it a lifetime before.

 

 

 

As soon as the friendly coast came in sight, I began my descent and landed uneventfully at Vlisseghem aerodrome. WHAT A RELIEF to get back into warmer, breathable air! Nobody was expecting me at this field, of course, but by the time I arrived, the personnel there had already heard that I'd bombed Dover, so I received a hero's welcome and was soon roaring drunk at their expense.

 

 

 

Unfortunately, that was the extent of my glory. Apparently, Scheer had taken a special train to my home field and was quite miffed when I didn't return there. So the whole thing went off half-cocked to the highers-up, and became just another minor factor in the continuous squabble between the army and the navy. I doubt I'll get my Blue Max now....

Edited September 6, 2009 by Bullethead

[Waldemar Kurtz 1]

hey, that's pretty cool there. I like the screen-shots and the fact that you used visual navigation.

 

I tried the "Free Flight" experiment by taking off at 4:30 in the morning so as to bomb La Gorgue aerodrome at the crack of dawn (with the sun at my back). the mission ended up lasting over an hour (I used compressed time to speed things up a bit). just to test the waters. it only counted the first 30 minutes of that sortie... so you're probably just as well off doing what you already did. the only thing that it DID do better is that it acknowledged that I hit some ground targets and factored that into my pilots vital statistics.

 

I was wrong about the daylight though. on 11.28.1916 Leutnant Walther Ilges (with pilot Deck Offizier Paul Brandt) in broad daylight with clear skies took off in LVG C.IV No.272/16 flew into centraol London and dropped six 22 pound bombs between Brompton Road and Victoria Station. he took off from Markiakerke near Ostend and arrived at London about 11.50. unfortunately for these two daring aviators they suffered an engine failure and put down near Boulogne and were taken prisoner!

 

end results: 10 people injured and 1,585L worth of damage.

 

this was at least the second of one of Ilges daring lone-wolf daylight attacks into London. the first one was not a success--as it only cost 20L worth of damage!

 

(source, "the Air Defence of Britain 1914-1918")

 

 

[Bullethead 12]

hey, that's pretty cool there. I like the screen-shots and the fact that you used visual navigation.

 

I admit to some "cheating", as in the use of the HUD VSI and artificial horizon, plus the trim controls. It was a VERY long flight and I did a lot of the over-water part AFK both ways. I ate supper, took a shower, brushed my fangs, etc., all with the DFW droning on perfectly trimmed out, just hoping I wasn't attacked in the meantime :).

 

For the navigation, I estimated the winds aloft while I was still over land on the way out and could judge the drift by looking down. Once I got far enough out to sea to feel safe, I hit F6 to look at the wing-mounted compass (which you can't see with TIR), turned to my estimated course with the wind correction factored in, checked the HUD instruments to make sure I was flying level, watched the compass for a while to make sure I was trimmed to hold my intended course, and then went AFK for up to 10 minutes at a time without checking on the plane. When I did look in on her, it was just to make sure she was still level, on course, and not under attack. I didn't make any course changes unless the wind had changed and taken me off course.

 

Once I spotted England, I took over the controls and used visual naviation to find Dover and line up the bomb run. Then I turned around and repeated the instrument dead-reckoning to get back home. I'd timed how long it took me to get from my 1st turning point to Dover, so I guesstimated that amount of time + wind difference for the return leg and then made and instrument turn toward the beach. I tried to warp home at this turn point, but it said "warp disabled". By then it was getting very late considering my early reveille this morning, which is what decided me to land at the 1st available field.

 

I WAS rather proud of myself for regaining German territory so close to where I intended . But I didn't have time to savor it--I had to get down so I could go to bed.

 

I tried the "Free Flight" experiment by taking off at 4:30 in the morning so as to bomb La Gorgue aerodrome at the crack of dawn (with the sun at my back). the mission ended up lasting over an hour (I used compressed time to speed things up a bit). just to test the waters. it only counted the first 30 minutes of that sortie... so you're probably just as well off doing what you already did. the only thing that it DID do better is that it acknowledged that I hit some ground targets and factored that into my pilots vital statistics.

 

My bombs landed in the water right next to the beach, which is where I aimed them. Hence, nothing destroyed. The docks and such that were there in real life ain't in OFF, it seems.

 

This was my 1st time to use the DFW's bomb sight so I was impressed that I came anywhere near where I was aiming, espeically given the lack of cross hairs. I'd been assuming that the sight was calibrated for a specific speed and altitude (both unknown to us end-users), and would be badly off anywhere else. But maybe the sight automatically adjusts to your speed and altitude?

 

I was wrong about the daylight though. on 11.28.1916 Leutnant Walther Ilges (with pilot Deck Offizier Paul Brandt) in broad daylight with clear skies took off in LVG C.IV No.272/16 flew into centraol London and dropped six 22 pound bombs between Brompton Road and Victoria Station. he took off from Markiakerke near Ostend and arrived at London about 11.50. unfortunately for these two daring aviators they suffered an engine failure and put down near Boulogne and were taken prisoner!

 

Yup, he's the guy who inspired me to do this. Someday, if I've got nothing better to do, I might make an attack on London, too. But it takes SO LONG to get there and back, and most of the trip is EXTREMELY boring, that it's hard for a fighterpilot to stand. I'd much rather go get into a furball over the trenches. I leave it to some other daring aviator to be the 1st to bomb London :).

[Blue781 0]

Good Show Bullethead!!

 

must have been a slooooow and looong flight, but interesting to note that the bombs pretty much fell where u dropped them.. The propoganda value of your raid has sent shockwaves throuought the trenches.. sehr gut ;)

 

hahahahahaha!!!

 

Blue

 

 

 

 

I admit to some "cheating", as in the use of the HUD VSI and artificial horizon, plus the trim controls. It was a VERY long flight and I did a lot of the over-water part AFK both ways. I ate supper, took a shower, brushed my fangs, etc., all with the DFW droning on perfectly trimmed out, just hoping I wasn't attacked in the meantime :).

 

For the navigation, I estimated the winds aloft while I was still over land on the way out and could judge the drift by looking down. Once I got far enough out to sea to feel safe, I hit F6 to look at the wing-mounted compass (which you can't see with TIR), turned to my estimated course with the wind correction factored in, checked the HUD instruments to make sure I was flying level, watched the compass for a while to make sure I was trimmed to hold my intended course, and then went AFK for up to 10 minutes at a time without checking on the plane. When I did look in on her, it was just to make sure she was still level, on course, and not under attack. I didn't make any course changes unless the wind had changed and taken me off course.

 

Once I spotted England, I took over the controls and used visual naviation to find Dover and line up the bomb run. Then I turned around and repeated the instrument dead-reckoning to get back home. I'd timed how long it took me to get from my 1st turning point to Dover, so I guesstimated that amount of time + wind difference for the return leg and then made and instrument turn toward the beach. I tried to warp home at this turn point, but it said "warp disabled". By then it was getting very late considering my early reveille this morning, which is what decided me to land at the 1st available field.

 

I WAS rather proud of myself for regaining German territory so close to where I intended . But I didn't have time to savor it--I had to get down so I could go to bed.

 

 

 

My bombs landed in the water right next to the beach, which is where I aimed them. Hence, nothing destroyed. The docks and such that were there in real life ain't in OFF, it seems.

 

This was my 1st time to use the DFW's bomb sight so I was impressed that I came anywhere near where I was aiming, espeically given the lack of cross hairs. I'd been assuming that the sight was calibrated for a specific speed and altitude (both unknown to us end-users), and would be badly off anywhere else. But maybe the sight automatically adjusts to your speed and altitude?

 

 

Yup, he's the guy who inspired me to do this. Someday, if I've got nothing better to do, I might make an attack on London, too. But it takes SO LONG to get there and back, and most of the trip is EXTREMELY boring, that it's hard for a fighterpilot to stand. I'd much rather go get into a furball over the trenches. I leave it to some other daring aviator to be the 1st to bomb London :).

[Olham 164]

Outstanding story, Bullet!

The frontal look of your crate is a nice shot - unfortunately those Marineflieger

communicate with those big white panels, which cut the looks a bit.

[RAF_Louvert 101]

Now that was a fun read Bullethead. Being a bomber puke at heart I was rooting for you the whole time, despite the fact that you were attacking dear old England. :smile;

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

[Bullethead 12]

Now that was a fun read Bullethead. Being a bomber puke at heart I was rooting for you the whole time, despite the fact that you were attacking dear old England. :smile;

 

Thanks .

 

I was a bit worried myself. Observe in the screenshots how the DFW makes 2 trails of smoke. One is where you'd expect, from the over-wing exhaust pipe, but the other is in line with the fuselage. I had never noticed this myself until I was flying this mission, despite having fought DFWs a number of times, not to mention all the time I spent looking at it to make this skin.

 

I 1st noticed the fuselage smoke when taking some of these screenshots, when I was well out over the water. My immediate thought was that I had some sort of engine damage, which would force me down. So I worried and stewed over how it might have happened. I thought I'd flown well away from all Brit flak. I'd heard some explosions a couple of times as I was leaving the coast, although I hadn't seen any bursts, so had put it down to the rumble of the Front. But maybe I'd flown over an enemy ship--are there any? Also, I'd never flown this high for this long before, the DFW took off at max gross weight, and I'd been flying with full power on since leaving the ground. So alternatively, I wondered if the game might model overtaxing your engine just as it models overstressing the airframe.

 

Anyway, for a while there, I thought I was going to end up like Igles or worse. But apparently the fuselage smoke was really coming from a camp stove that my observer was using to try to keep us warm and brew up some coffee