Olham 164 Posted January 17, 2011 Today I had a fight over Arras; Jasta 2 met the French Escadrille with the vulture emblem. And when I had shot one craft down, I paused for screenshots. And I saw, that he had the Lewis gun retracted from the upper wing! Boy, this sim can still surprise me any time! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
foreigndevil 0 Posted January 17, 2011 Today I had a fight over Arras; Jasta 2 met the French Escadrille with the vulture emblem. And when I had shot one craft down, I paused for screenshots. And I saw, that he had the Lewis gun retracted from the upper wing! Boy, this sim can still surprise me any time! Must be the wind going down at such a steep angle! OFF is for real, not a simulation! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TaillyHo 2 Posted January 17, 2011 That, or his last firing action was from directly below an opponent! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Javito1986 14 Posted January 17, 2011 *sniff* Poor little Nieuport Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RAF_Louvert 101 Posted January 18, 2011 . Well that's another OFF first for me! This sim just keeps amazing us all. . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cameljockey 3 Posted January 18, 2011 He could have been reloading. With the Lewis, a job that takes some concentration. Definitely screws up your SA. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olham 164 Posted January 19, 2011 (edited) He could have been reloading. With the Lewis, a job that takes some concentration. Definitely screws up your SA. Yes, that's what I thought, CJ - but that would mean, that reloading is fully simulated, incl. the retracting of the gun. Which would cause some more awe for OFF in me. Edited January 19, 2011 by Olham Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TaillyHo 2 Posted January 19, 2011 Well we can't re-load 'in flight' (notwithstanding that if you look around the cockpit of, say a Bristol Scout, you can see drums of ammo for the Lewis stacked neatly either side of your seat!), so it would be a tad unfair if the AI pilots had that capability!?! Mind you, it would be an uber-cool feature to have in P4 - even if you just pressed a key, and then had to wait, say 30 seconds (to simulate the time to replace a drum - actually that must've taken a bit longer for the top-wing mounted Nieuports compared with the others where it's right beside or infront of you!) before you have a renewed load ready to go. Of course, there should be some limitation on control input during this re-load period to simulate the fact that while you were re-loading the drum, you could only steer with your knees!! I'm sure even 30 seconds would be a nerve-wrackingly long time in the midst of a frantic dog-fight. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rickitycrate 10 Posted January 19, 2011 Along these lines I was once flying a 1 1/2 Strutter and got shot up pretty badly. She was trailing smoke but I landed her gently and came to a stop. I went into outside camera mode to see the damage and take some pics. After a few pictures my crate caught fire while me and my mate got our short and curlies singed. You never know what you might see and there is much during the blur of combat that escapes our notice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bullethead 12 Posted January 19, 2011 *sniff* Poor little Nieuport The only good Nupe is a dead Nupe. And that's said by somebody who loves flying them. See, as Clint Eastwood said in Unforgiven, "We all got it coming." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olham 164 Posted January 19, 2011 TaillyHo, it's only unfair so far, that you can fire ALL the ammo they carry (500 rounds) WITHOUT doing the reload retraction. Possible drum fillings on the Lewis MG were either 47 or 97 rounds per drum. I believe, that the gliding-rail for the gun was tight enough to hold the gun in the loading-position, so you could attach a new drum with one hands, and steer with the other? Bullethead, I would go a little further and include a Nupe out of ammo would also be okay for me. But as long as they can fire, the best to do is fire from twin guns into the fragile parts. Easy - all on them is fragile! Mmuahahahahahahahaaaaa!!!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olham 164 Posted January 19, 2011 UncleAl: What I've wished for, but I was told I couldn't have, is moving ammo belts. Or workable cocking handle. Which craft are you thinking of? The German ones, as far as I can see, have metal sheet ammo tunnels, which would hide the belts? Cocking handles is another thing - that might be possible to do? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TaillyHo 2 Posted January 19, 2011 TaillyHo, it's only unfair so far, that you can fire ALL the ammo they carry (500 rounds) WITHOUT doing the reload retraction. Possible drum fillings on the Lewis MG were either 47 or 97 rounds per drum. I believe, that the gliding-rail for the gun was tight enough to hold the gun in the loading-position, so you could attach a new drum with one hands, and steer with the other? Thanks Olham, pardon my ignorance on that score. Given that, I'm very happy the AI are able to re-load in need. Now what's all this Niuep-bashing? I understand Olham, as most often a German OFF pilot would have it in for them - but I thought Bullethead was usually a (or even, "the") Fee pilot (?) Surely in that 'bus' and that time of the war, Nieuports would be your friends?!? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bullethead 12 Posted January 20, 2011 Now what's all this Niuep-bashing? I understand Olham, as most often a German OFF pilot would have it in for them - but I thought Bullethead was usually a (or even, "the") Fee pilot (?) Surely in that 'bus' and that time of the war, Nieuports would be your friends?!? Well, when flying the Fee in Bloody April, I probably see 20-30 Albatri for 1 friendly scout of any type. Yet I know there are a bunch of them in the neighborhood, so I can only conclude that they spend their time avoiding the Huns, and yet they get all the publicity. So that's 1 reason to despise them. And on those very rare occasions when I do see them, the speedy little bastards steal my kills. So that's reason #2. I do enjoy flying Nupes myself, but I can't forget how much trouble they cause me in other lives. Thus, I shed no tears at their destruction Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TaillyHo 2 Posted January 20, 2011 fair enough. If it's good enough for you to be taking up the fight against Albatri in Bloody April ... in a Fee (!), I fully understand why you feel those lily-livered Nieup pilots should be there too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olham 164 Posted January 20, 2011 It was often said, the French pilots were a bit "lily-livered", but then some people said that about the Germans not crossing the lines much. In both cases, one would have to know the orders the pilots were given. For the German fighter pilots I know, that they should not cross the lines, but rather attack intruding craft. I don't know about the French, but it would make sense to assume, that their orders were more like: don't get into fights against fighters; attack the two-seaters? Maybe someone has better knowledge? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest British_eh Posted January 20, 2011 Hi there, Perhaps we're just seeing some of the handy work of a crack shot by Olham? Certainly it would be a great feature to have the Lewis pull down, to simulate reloading, but more importantly....to SHOOT at Olham! Cheers, British_eh Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hasse Wind 46 Posted January 20, 2011 It was often said, the French pilots were a bit "lily-livered", but then some people said that about the Germans not crossing the lines much. In both cases, one would have to know the orders the pilots were given. For the German fighter pilots I know, that they should not cross the lines, but rather attack intruding craft. I don't know about the French, but it would make sense to assume, that their orders were more like: don't get into fights against fighters; attack the two-seaters? Maybe someone has better knowledge? I hope P4 (or P5, P6...) will attempt to simulate the different doctrines of WW1 air forces, so that German fighter units would tend to stay behind their own lines and not go chasing after opponents dozens of kilometres behind enemy lines, etc. etc. That would be exciting, but I imagine quite challenging to program. One must remember that after the major operations of 1914, German armies stayed on the defensive in the west. The only exception to this was the battle of Verdun of 1916, which ended in a total disaster for Germany. After Verdun, the Germans started seriously attacking (of course there were always local counterattacks against Entente offensives) only in the spring of 1918, when Russia was finished and they were able to move lots of troops to the west. This defensive German strategy naturally had an impact on the air war in the west. As the Entente armies launched attacks more often, their air forces were also more active over enemy lines, aggressively pursuing German air units and giving support to the ground troops. Something like the Bloody April in 1917 wouldn't have happened without the ground forces being engaged in a major battle and the air forces giving them all the support under very difficult circumstances. The fighters were there to hunt the most important enemy aircraft, ie. the bombers and recon/observation aircraft. This is what all the fighter units tried to do, preferably without interference from enemy fighters. It's easy to forget this in a combat flight sim, when people aren't actually following any doctrine but just attack anything that they encounter (or are attacked themselves by ruthless AI pilots). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olham 164 Posted January 20, 2011 ... Perhaps we're just seeing some of the handy work of a crack shot by Olham? Certainly it would be a great feature to have the Lewis pull down, to simulate reloading, but more importantly....to SHOOT at Olham! Cheers, British_eh Tch! To shoot at me, they'd have to line up with me long enough to damage my robust aircraft. All they occasionally manage to do is some round hitting here, another there. Ce n'est pas suffisant, Messieurs! But UncleAl said above: you can lower the gun in a Nieuport 16 by pressing Shift + C - never done that; perhaps you try? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
