Question about Energy Conservation

[Kilo33 0]

Ok,

New to OFF, RABID fan of the era - beautiful looking game so far.

That said -

I have configured my game to DiD standard.

Aside from ripping my wings off a couple of times and having the unlucky happenstance of yet another pilot knock his left wheel off against a tree... (so a lot of dead pilots) - I finally managed to get around a complete set of waypoints to get to a mission objective area and begin my encounter with the enemy...

 

I'm flying Sept. 1915 in an E.III (though the roster says E.II) - I get jumped at 5k by three Scouts and quickly try to turn and burn in greatest Fokker Scourge tradition... problem is, I keep sending my little Eindecker into a sideways slip that maintains my airspeed, but drops my altitude QUICKLY and sucks all the energy out of my plane, leaving me to flop the ground like a rock.

 

Is it just a modelled problem with tolerences and I need to really nurse the thing around? (which makes it difficult to outmanuever the Scout) Can anyone give me a couple of simple tips on what I need to do with the E.III to conserve energy in a fight. As the Scouts appeared practically on top of me - they were able to dive onto my tail. We quickly resolve into a 'climbing whirlwind' in good ole Boelke fashion - the problem is, I cannot even turn into the arc of tail end charlie scout without losing energy and sideslipping into the dirt :(

 

Thanks!

Kilo33

[Olham 164]

Hi, Kilo33

Welcome to the skies over Flanders fields.

Starting the rough way, eyh? Full DiD is what we maxed out to make it full hard realistic,

but for a newbie, I would recommend to switch TAC on (so you see better, what happens around you),

and the simulation warnings and chat etc., to help you through the first learning. With Labels "on", you

would recognise other aircraft, friend or foe.

If you still want the Full DiD settings first - why not do some flying training first, before enemy contact?

 

The E.II and E.III are represented in OFF by the same model, as long as they don't have all models built.

 

I haven't flown the Eindecker much (I'm an Albatros pilot through and through), but I remember, that I

could do softly banked turns with full rudder, or hard banked turns with addition of elevator up instead of

rudder. But the Eindecker is one of the most difficult planes to begin with, and has a longer learning

curve. Those craft were so underpowered, that you only gain energy in giving up altitude, and then you

need to regain altitude again. Very hard to do in the face of enemy

 

 

If you want immediate action, here are the easiest fighters to fly:

 

German: all Albatros, Fokker D.VII

British: Sopwith Pup, Sopwith Triplane, S.E.5a

French: both SPAD

 

If you start in an Albatros D.I (represented here by the D.II) as early as it appeared, you could start with

Boelke and von Richthofen in Jasta 2 in September 1916. You'll find that craft much easier to fight with,

and your firepower, ruggedness and speed make you very strong against Nieuports (but beware of

their tight turning!).

I hope someone gives you more detailed info about flying the E.III

 

Would you please send me a PM with your hometown and country/state? I'll add you to our OFF Forum

Pilots Maps then. Thanks!

Edited July 23, 2010 by Olham

[Kilo33 0]

Thanks for the pointers!

Also just purchased HitR and updated...

Chocks away, back in time for Tea and Medals...

 

Salute

Kilo33

[Flyby PC 23]

I agree with Olham.

 

The EIII is an early plane and iconic of it's era, but it's perhaps one of the hardest planes to fly.

 

Full marks for jumping in at the deep end, but you'll probably learn more, and learn it faster, flying something else. It's very dispiriting being killed every mission.

[von Baur 54]

Welcome, Kilo.

 

I'm with you, start at the beginning. Unfortunately, I've never made it past about 14 or 15 missions. Personally I find the E-III well-suited against the BE2 and even the Bristol Scout. I've run across the odd Sopwith Strutter, but my experience is they are one of the more deadly two-seaters with a rear gunner who could put Annie Oakley to shame, so I tend to steer clear of them.

 

Tips:

First and foremost, never fly alone.

The enemy doesn't so you shouldn't. Doing so is an invitation to disaster.

 

Second (and this goes directly to what you've noted), maintain your energy.

As Olham said, the Eindekker is possibly the most underpowered plane in OFF. Always remember to stay inside the envelope, especially down low..enemy bullets may miss but gravity never does. If the choice is evasive maneuvers or maintaining airspeed, choose airspeed. If you're on the deck already and in friendly territory, set it down and exit out of the mission as quickly as possible..these guys will straffe you. As far as going into an unintentional sideslip, I have no idea. You might check your controller calibration. You could also be making inputs unconsciously, pressing harder on one rudder pedal or twisting your wrist just enough without realizing due to the stress of the situation. A big help IMO is a forcefeedback joystick. You'll get used to the backpressure and learn to use it to help you gauge how your plane is behaving. It will also give you a tactile warning moments before you stall which will allow you to correct and not enter the stall.

 

Third (and this is kind of dovetails into the first tip), know what your flight mates will do in a given situation and fly accordingly.

I've set flight lead to 'by rank' but always end up as the leader even though I'm a leutnant and there are other officers, and even oberleutnants, in the flight. My fellow FA members always seem to takle and outfly the Scouts (I've only managed to keep them from poaching a very few in several incarnations) but I can't even bribe them to attack a BE. Therefore I rarely take a significant role in dogfights, since I'll just blow a lot of ammo setting a Scout up for someone else to finish off. Sure, I'll throw the odd burst at an enemy who may be gaining the upper hand against one of my friends, and I'll even keep someone occupied to give my partners a chance to team up against his, but I don't anticipate filling out claim forms for downed Bristols. OTOH, even though I constantly stab the 'attack' key when we have a flight of nice fat BE2's in front of us I plan my approach in such a way that I can efficiently move through them without assistance.

 

As far as specific tactics, it's pretty basic. The Eindekker is a flying machine, not an aerobatics platform. Don't expect to do a lot of fancy maneuvering. Gentle turns will allow you to keep your energy up, radical ones and it will bleed away faster than a severed femoral artery. The same is true with climbs. Gain altutude with the wings, not the engine. The Bristol Scout has one fixed gun which fires obliquely to the left. So if you maintain the tightest safe right turn you can he can't bring it to bear on you. Throw in the occassional turn to the left and then back to the right and he will follow. This will sap some of his energy and you can slowly gain an advantage over him. Of course, if you're taking on more than one by yourself his buddies can separate and position themselves to get you (see tip number one). And if you're scissoring collision avoidance is 100% up to you. Every time I've expected the AI to take some responsibility for it has resulted in a mid-air. For BE2's it's very easy. They don't take evasive action and they don't shoot back. Be patient and, as Boelcke told von Richtofen, fly close to your man, aim well, fire and he will fall down. I've lit up BE's with as few as 25 rounds (I always shoot just behind the engine) and it rarely takes more than 50. Of course I just installed Creaghorn's 'no tracer' mod, so I expect that to go up somewhat.

 

And the first time I see a Nieuport I'm going on leave until September of 1916.

 

 

*edit*

BTW, you forgot the "Hoo-rah!!"

Edited July 25, 2010 by von Baur

[Waldemar Kurtz 1]

http://combatace.com/topic/54322-help-me-not-suck-at-flying-the-eiii/page__p__398105__hl__fokker+e.iii__fromsearch__1?do=findComment&comment=398105

 

I think this will cover most of what you're looking for