Slartibartfast 153 Posted November 9, 2009 (edited) Well I have uploaded OFF and now I have my own pilot see above. This was in full DiD tradition. This is without any practice apart from what I have flown before so be gentle oh weary souls of the air. Squadron A Sqn 1 Wing RNAS flying Nieuport 11's based at St Pol sur Mer His First Flight :- Mission to Defend an Observation Balloon 61.2 miles away. Max fuel load and ammo load. Finish my cup of tea and do a walk round of the kite. Un-fortunately Freddy didn't make it back got into a dogfight with 3 Eindeckers after 67 mins of flying. He died by stalling out his kite and plummeting into the ground tail first while fighting the 3 eindeckers from between 500ft and 2500ft... He managed to fire 14 rounds and hit an eindecker with 2 of those... His dog will have to find a new master now after it pines away awaiting his return... On a note about the game from my single flight this seems to have been an excellent decision. Just need to set it up to my tastes and away we go was interesting on the fact that I only noticed that there where 3 eindeckers below me by looking around and doing a few gentle turns... Edit was due to me using 2 screens and I hadn't read the report... Edited November 9, 2009 by PACMAN Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baldric 42 Posted November 9, 2009 Condolensces, Pacman Lost a bunch of pilots myself, most of mine don't make it to the 17 hour life expectancy mark, but its sure as hell fun trying! Absent friends, Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slartibartfast 153 Posted November 9, 2009 Indeed and thanks though I realised I had forgotten my first rule of Dogfighting... Never on your first game attempt more than 1 on 1 odds... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Duce Lewis 3 Posted November 9, 2009 Max fuel load and ammo load. PACMAN, the baptism of fire is sure a tough one in OFF Better luck next bloke It's good prctice to mange your fuel load every mission The aircraft performance with vary as the fuel load changes Good Rule that works well: 50% extra fuel when staying behind your lines 100% extra fuel when crossing over the lines HTH, Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bullethead 12 Posted November 10, 2009 Un-fortunately Freddy didn't make it back got into a dogfight with 3 Eindeckers after 67 mins of flying. He died by stalling out his kite and plummeting into the ground tail first while fighting the 3 eindeckers from between 500ft and 2500ft... He managed to fire 14 rounds and hit an eindecker with 2 of those... Whenever you're in a tail-first fall, gun the motor and push your nose down with all your might. Ignore any spin that's happening at the same time, just get the nose down. This will usually save you before too long, and once the nose is down you accelerate and this alone is usually sufficient to stop any spin you're in. Some planes, especially the ones from 1916 and before, are rather difficult to fly. I recommend starting with something more forgiving, like from 1917. Albatri and Pups are good candidates. Hell, even the Fee if you're not averse to dying a lot due to sheer lack of macho. If you prefer later in the war, do an SE5 or D.VII. Until you get the hang of something like this, I'd avoid planes like the Nupes, Dr.Is, and SPADs. These planes are fairly easy to fly, but either require special tactics or have very nasty habits just under the surface. But once you get the hang of these latter, too, you can move on to the really nasty planes, like Pfalzes, DH2s, and Eindeckers. It's good prctice to mange your fuel load every mission The aircraft performance with vary as the fuel load changes Good Rule that works well: 50% extra fuel when staying behind your lines 100% extra fuel when crossing over the lines HTH, My rule of thumb is, look at the round trip mileage shown in the briefing and take only enough fuel to go 30-50 miles further than that. 50 miles is if I've got a trip deep into Indian Country, 30 miles for anything else. You never know what detours you might have to make, plus it sucks to have to break off pursuit of easy meat deep on your side of the mud due to a fuel shortage. Besides, you might get a fuel leak, and that extra bit might just see you to friendly territory. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slartibartfast 153 Posted November 10, 2009 Unfortunately Freddie's tale first dart into the ground was no hope basic mistake I ran out of energy simple as and was down to around 200ft... As to flying the later planes thought about it but I am more interested in the development of the planes... I now have new pilot flying a Bristol Scout... and managed a good sortie of 45 minutes or so didn't see anything apart from 2 flak burst on my side of the lines couldn't spot a bad guy out there... Do your own guns shoot at you??? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bullethead 12 Posted November 10, 2009 Do your own guns shoot at you??? Not intentionally, but neither do they check fire because friendly planes are in the target area. And your wingmen and other "friendly" AI pilots will blissful bang away at the same enemy you're chasing despite you being in between. Thus, you need to be fairly wary of all friendly troops with guns. A few pointers: 1. Never get between a "friendly" AI pilot and an enemy plane. 2. Shoot any "friendly" AI planes between you and your rightful kill--they started the fratricide, you finish it 3. Never dive straight at a "friendly" AAMG with an enemy on your tail. Always approach at a big enough angle that the AAMGs bullets will miss you on their way to the enemy. 4. Never have a big fight low over friendly ground positions, because the numerous AAMGs will fire in all directions and one of them will hit you eventually. Instead, while maintaining a more or less constant altitude of at least several hundred feet, drag the enemy over the friendly AAMGs. Due to the angles involved, you'll be pretty safe but the enemy will suffer. Keep going until out of AAMG range, then reverse and fight the weakened enemy. 5. Follow enemy planes through "friendly" flak at your own risk. Usually you can get away with it, but sometimes you get blown to bits. 6. Regardless of the above, enemy planes, flak, and AAMGs are much more dangerous than the "friendly" ones. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites