Wodin 0 Posted February 10, 2011 I was up close behind an RE8 and after several burst the Bus caught fire....the next thing I see is the rear gunner leap right out of the Bus.............and then WHAM he went straight into my top right wing taking the damn thing off and I span to my doom....trying to work out whether that rear gunner never knew what hit him and was leaping from the flames...or was the bravest most stubborn man I've ever seen...who in a fit of rage\determination and revenge stood up and leaped right out of his bus into the path of his killer, which was me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hellshade 110 Posted February 10, 2011 I think he just couldn't take the wait for P4 any longer. Just kidding, of course. Hellshade Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+elephant 36 Posted February 10, 2011 It happened to me too once... "And it's great frustration when a good pilot dies in vain as this one of mine, named Oskar Zeiss, flying for Jasta 5 in 1917... He and fellow Jasta 5 pilots bounced a formation of British FE2s. He managed to set one ablaze but when passing over the flaming plane a crew member jumped off taking half of his port wing with him! Anyway "he" managed to nurse the plane to the closest airfield and conducted a textbook emergency landing...all of a sudden the landing gear collapsed, (I guess it would have been damaged from the impact with the unfortunate Brit), the plane crawled on it's belly and I got the message that your pilot is dead! Come on! How can this be happening to me?" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wodin 0 Posted February 10, 2011 I wish the game had a replay so I could have youtubed it! The sickening thud.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wodin 0 Posted February 10, 2011 At first I thought he hit the prop...as he seemed to come right at me!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dej 17 Posted February 10, 2011 It's faintly ridiculous to even contemplate it, considering none of us (excepting perhaps one or more of our resident militry veterans) has the least notion of what one would do in such a situation as Wodin's observer, but... 1) Face certain agonising death in a burning aircraft plummmeting to earth - NO 2) Leap to certain death with a fair amount of time to think about the forthcoming impact with Mother Earth - NO 3) Bodyslam your attacker's aircraft in hope of instant death (or miraculous and dramatic escape as you grab a strut and wrest the aircraft controls from him at point of your revolver) - Hmm, MAYBE The lesser of three weevils, perhaps. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wodin 0 Posted February 11, 2011 (edited) Hmm...putting it that way it seems the best course of action. I'd do what Mannock(think it was Mannock) did...have a loaded revolver with me every flight somewhere close to hand and make sure it couldn't fall out the Bus. Edited February 11, 2011 by Wodin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
von Baur 54 Posted February 11, 2011 The bailout isn't certain death. In fact I doubt any of them die. It's a holdover from CFS3. I've watched them and they assume a "modified frog" position, which is a basic stable freefall body position. They hold this for a few seconds, then pull a ripcod that isn't there and descend slowly under a non-existant parachute. Sorry, no Raoul Lufbery's. Elephant, I don't know what setting you have but that's why I dropped "Dead on roll of dice" in favor of "Dead is dead"...too many simple landings resulting in, "Like many pilots in The Great War you have died." Since switching I haven't had a single instance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bullethead 12 Posted February 11, 2011 It's faintly ridiculous to even contemplate it, considering none of us (excepting perhaps one or more of our resident militry veterans) has the least notion of what one would do in such a situation as Wodin's observer, but... Every Tuesday night, I play poker with a guy who flew P38s in North Africa in 1942. One day he got the worst of it, being on fire and with an MG bullet through the face across the cheekbones, so he bailed out. As you all probably know, the P38's horizontal tail required special precautions when bailing out, but this guy didn't have time for that. Thus, he hit the tailplane. Fortunately, the impact knocked his chute open, because it also knocked him out. It also broke his back. He woke up in a DAK field hospital. It wasn't until the 2nd day that they took the bandage off his face and he realized he wasn't blind, after which he felt he could deal with the rest. Soon afterwards, the DAK retreated and left him behind with the other serious casualties, so he was picked up by advancing US troops. He spent the rest of the war and the better part of a year afterwards in a US hospital. Today, at nearly 90 years of age, he gets around better than most his age (not needing a cane, driving a Mustang, and going several times a year to Florida to compete in big poker tournaments), although his face looks like he skidded on it down several miles of gravel road. The only personal experience I have that comes close isn't from war but from the fire service. I've jumped from a window just ahead of a flashover, and have seen several others do the same but from the 2nd floor. Of course, these were all cases of bad judgment--we shouldn't have been in there at all. Perhaps my old P38 friend shouldn't have been in his fight, either. But anyway, IMHO, if you're in immediate danger of burning up, you'll jump. Just like the folks above the fire at the World Trade Center on 9/11. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DukeIronHand 8 Posted February 11, 2011 (edited) I guess what fascinates me here is the game mechanics (physics?) in action that put the whole thing in play. Plane catches fire so the AI observer decides to jump - or a CFS3 bail out to be more precise. The body is still tracked by the computer, has "mass", and then hits the players aircraft that registers this mass and then inflicts what would appear to be "realistic" (appropriate is probably a better word) damage to the aircraft. At least based on elephants screenshots. Very interesting to me and it shows the depth/sophistication of the OFF (CFS3?) programing. Very interesting! Edited February 12, 2011 by DukeIronHand Share this post Link to post Share on other sites