Enjoying the Eindecker in MFJ 1

[Hasse Wind 46]

Olham, the Strutter is a joy to fly. Even the 2-seater version is very quick and agile, you almost forget you're not flying a fighter but the Strutter. Comes in to service in the spring of 1916 with RNAS squadrons about the same time as the Roland for Germans. Roland is OK, but the Strutter is a lot of fun. And it kills Eindeckers like harmless flies. (Poor Einie, no match for anybody in OFF!)

[Olham 164]

Thanks you, Slart and Hasse - will give it a try soon.

[Slartibartfast 153]

Just be careful against 2 Seaters I remember flying side by side with one with both rear gunners taking pot shots at each other I had run out up the front... and the Kraut managed to get more into my plane than my gunner did into the Kraut plane...

[Olham 164]

Hihi - the kind of duell you want to avoid!

[Slartibartfast 153]

Yes old chap most definitely on that one... Lewis gun vs Parabellum MG14 no wonder I lost...

[Olham 164]

Reminds me of a book title - "Death is a Master from Germany" - shudder!

 

I have just managed to shoot down my first FE2b with the Eindecker - see "Reports from the Front" thread.

[Mr. Lucky 0]

That rear gunner has come in handy when you run out of ammo. I keep flying so as to give him a good shot and fairly often, he'll put down a few of the enemy. Sometimes you can't get him to shoot at all.

[+Johan217 5]

One thing I love about the Strutter is that you get a complete set of instruments, including a slip indicator. This makes it easier to learn how to handle the aircraft. On the downside, I find my AI wingmen are very passive (even though I selected a Fighter squadron).

[themightysrc 5]

"That rear gunner has come in handy when you run out of ammo. I keep flying so as to give him a good shot and fairly often, he'll put down a few of the enemy."

 

Actually, that's not just a good idea, but also replicates the situation of two seaters in the early war period - rear machine gun only. One of things that irritates me about the BHAH BE2c is that it's an amalgam of the BE12 and the various difference BE2 variants - by rights, the BE2c shouldn't have a front gun at all as far as I'm aware, whilst the BE12 was a rather lame attempt to turn the BE2 into a single seat scout, complete with front gun (with predictably dismal results). I hope they sort this out for P4.

 

Still, firing off all the ammo from the front gun before setting off would be a way of being more authentic (if not for the Strutter, then as though it was a generic RFC two seater). It would also be rather foolhardy, but if you wish to experience something more akin to what pilots of the time did, that's surely the way to go.

 

Personally, I've found that the BHAH BE2c is more than a match for the EIII. What a difference it would make if I was reliant on my observer for our defence.

[TrollBreath 0]

Still waiting for my copy, but I quickly ran through five pilots, all of whom crashed their eindeckers, before I finally have one that has survived a full year in RB3D. And the only reason it's been a year is because he was lucky enough to survive his crash behind enemy lines, was hospitalized for three months, and escaped after six more in the POW camp. Those damn eindeckers are hella tricky to fly, and almost as hard to land safely (two of those first pilots died on landing when the plane flipped forward).

 

Now he's got an Alb III.... and yes, it's JUST like Christmas!!! What a difference. Just ran a patrol mission, and when the Nieuports ran off the rest of my flight into a circle battle, I was left all alone with three recon planes (not sure the model). Three planes, three easy kills. I love watching them burn as they spiral to the ground, and seeing the gunner and pilot jumping out.

 

Maybe my copy of OFF will come today.... fingers and toes crossed, offering a toast to Saint Joseph....