Calling all Alb Drivers!

[Duce Lewis]

A short while back Olham posted some nice screenies of Jasta 34 Dr1's and Albatross

They had a white tail with blue fusalage bands ...real sweet lookin

Thought I must try that squad out, but in my beloved DVII of course

 

Got my chance, Jasta 34 was posted in Flanders, June 1918 ...even better

I was getting a steady diet of Camels, Se5's, and Spad's, and the Biffs hadn't shown up yet

Everything was jolly good til I landed and got a special pop-up a few days ago

It was a one liner some I thought a special citation maybe???

But no, OFF had something in store for me ...Jasta 34 is transitioning to Albatross DVa200's

 

I'm a Fokker guy and have no clue how to fight in an Albatross!!!

So this is my call for help

What are her strengths/weaknesses?

What should I what out for in opponents?

[UK_Widowmaker]

 

What should I what out for in opponents?

 

Anything that has a Roundal...or the word 'UK_Widowmaker' on it!

[+Olham]

Duce, avoid steep diving or hard pulling out of a dive - the lower wings are fragile there,

although they have added a little stabilizer on the D V a and the 200 PS versions.

 

The 200 has good power. She's a rugged plane with good ammo - 1.100 rounds!

Make good use of that. Your shooting should be more precise after the D VII, cause the

Albatros is not so "nervous" on the stick.

 

Your easiest (fighter meat" should be the SPAD XIII. When they dive, don't follow too steep -

they'll come again, so fly to that point, when you see them climbing again.

 

The second easiest should be Nieuport 17. Don't turn with them tight - go to and fro, and shredder

them. They break like butterflies.

 

Nastier is the S.E.5a. A hell of a fast fighter, and turns good. But I always managed to turn with

them long enough to damage them. That is a tactic I would use anyway on all opponents:

damage them early on. The more craft you have hit early, the less high quality opposes you.

Then get them, one after the other.

 

The most difficult opponent is the Camel - a fast craft with great turnability. Attack ONLY after full

Dicta Boelcke (that's for the S.E.5 as well). You can't outrun them, nor outdive them, nor outclimb

them - you can only hit and destroy them, before they get any chance to act.

As you never know, if they are flown by aces, I would only fight them, when your advantage is

very good, like: you're higher and outnumber them 2:1 or at least 3:2.

 

Hope it will help. Do some test flying with intentional attempts to break the wings - so you will

know, where to stop. It may happen still sometimes, though.

[Duce Lewis]

Hope it will help. Do some test flying with intentional attempts to break the wings - so you will

know, where to stop. It may happen still sometimes, though.

It is kaput!

I took her up in Freeflight 10 min ago

I warped initially and she climbed over enemy lines

Turning for home I thought I'd attempt a barrel roll

She only got about 1/4 way up then I had to add a lot of rudder to coax her around

Nose dropped, but as I completed the manuever, both lower wings snapped off

...Much too easily I thought

Alas, Franz Blucher will survive the war in captivity

He was a good pilot 5 1/2 hours and a 38% shooter

Thanks for the input!

[Wels]

.

 

oops, i posted a lengthy text, but it's all gone grrr.

Sorry

 

 

It should be able to perform barrel rolls without problems, it wasn't THAT bad.

 

Breaking lower wings did not happen due to too excessive g loads, but due to very high speeds in a dive, when the surface of the lower wing would start to "wobble" due to harmonic vibrations, around the point where the lower V-strut was attached to the wing.

 

Maybe you received a monday production piece ?

 

I never come as far as to sometimes get the D.Va, i usually die months earlier in a D.III lol

 

Greetings,

Catfish

Edited November 8, 2009 by Wels

[+Olham]

Duce, for test flying, you need to create a special test pilot, not to loose your campaign pilot.

Mine is called "Flieger Test Dummy", so I can't use him wrongly. Sorry for yours.

 

Yes, I still find that the wings break too easily on the Albatros. She can't have been that bad.

[UK_Widowmaker]

I must fly a little bit cautiously then..I have never snapped an Alb Wing (yet)

[Duce Lewis]

It should be able to perform barrel rolls without problems, it wasn't THAT bad.

She rolled about as fast as a walrus rolling to sun her other side

I got her round but not anything I'd try in combat

 

I'm starting to suspect my install

One of the BH&H Segments wouldn't install when I 1st purchased

The Devs sent me the missing parts but I've seen weird things happen

For Example my greatest killer is friendly Ack-Ack

This pilot got hit too ...but he survived

Can't remeber being hit by enemy Ack-Ack

No wonder, as I watch the angry bursts, they seem to lag behind and below their intended target

...usually where I'm chasing him

 

Maybe time to do a complete re-install

 

Duce, for test flying, you need to create a special test pilot, not to loose your campaign pilot.

Yeah, that thought crossed my mind just after take-off

But I thought it's only a test flight

I hardly ever do any QC

IIRC there's a "QC Pilot never Dies" option there too

[+RAF_Louvert]

.

 

Olham wrote:

Duce, for test flying, you need to create a special test pilot, not to loose your campaign pilot.

Mine is called "Flieger Test Dummy", so I can't use him wrongly.

 

Mine is called "Testy McTesterson". Seriously.

 

.

[Bullethead]

Mine is called "Testy McTesterson". Seriously.

 

Not "McTestosterone"?

[+RAF_Louvert]

.

 

BH, isn't "McTestosterone" that new steroid-enhanced chicken sandwich at McDonald's?

 

.

[Bullethead]

BH, isn't "McTestosterone" that new steroid-enhanced chicken sandwich at McDonald's?

 

Maybe in Europe, but in the US, you'll never find anything testosterone-inducing, let alone testosteron-containing, in any Micky D's product.

[Dutch_P47M]

Sounds like complete OT inhere but during my Holiday couple of weeks ago, I read the book  "Black Fokker leader" by P. Kilduff. Carl Degelow selected the Pfalz DIII for him and not the Albatros DVa because of the tendency to break under stress. 

 

from this book: "The defect was eventually corrected by encasing the spar in a metal sleeve, but pilots were instructed to avoid going into a very stressfull dive".  

 

According to "Albatros Aces" Fritz von Roth had installed an extra small strut on his Albatros lower wing.     

 

 

 

 

BTW Bullethead, no testosterone or fast grower pills in EC-meat, the law here is very strict on this. 

 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2009 by Dutch_P47M