Air Start?

[DukeIronHand 8]

Did a Forum search and had no luck.

 

Had little time so I thought I would check the "Air Start" box on the Briefing Screen. Tried this twice and both times ended poorly for my poor pilot.

 

I started in the air alright but was totally confused about where I was. I was assigned a Balloon Busting mission and apparently was in the air behind enemy lines - at least per the map. Except I never a waypoint line as to where I was supposed to go next so while gadding about I was shot down.

 

Is there a set format as to where an "Air Start" places you?

 

Thanks!

 

EDIT: Upon further reflection the lack of a waypoint line means I am being "Air Started" right over my target?

Edited February 28, 2011 by DukeIronHand

[+Polovski 460]

Yep right near your target.

[Lewie 7]

Does hitting "T" repeatedly show where the nearest balloon targets are? I have a hell of a time finding balloons in FS-WWI when air spawned, unless they're somewhat inline with the horizon or slightly above it. Can you spawn at a lower altitude? I noice that CFS3 limits you to 2500 and 5000, most balloons seem to about 3000' to 5000' up.

[DukeIronHand 8]

Yep right near your target.

 

Thanks for the info.

Forewarned is forearmed!

[Bullethead 12]

Does hitting "T" repeatedly show where the nearest balloon targets are?

 

Note unless you look very closely in external view.

 

For TAC and targeting purposes, balloons are classified as some sort of ground object and show up on the same TAC layer as guns. Thus, when balloons are on the active TAC layer, they're swamped by all the dozens of guns around them and any other enemy installations in the neighborhood. The only way to assign the actual balloon as a target to your wingmen is to pause the game, go into target-player view, and flip through all the possible targets out there until you find the balloon.

 

What makes this even more time-consuming is that the camera doesn't snap to the balloon itself up in the air, but to its anchor on the ground. This anchor is pretty nondescript most of the time--you might mistake it for a pillbox or something--except that it always has a thin black cable running up off the top of your screen. So look for the cable and you'll know where the balloon is and can send your wingmen after it.

 

Also note that if you're relatively high up and not far distant horizontally, often the camera will show nothing of the ground at all as you cycle through the targets. You'll just get a view of the sky with your plane as a distant dot. In this case, you won't see any guns or the actual balloon anchor, but you will USUALLY see the cable running up through the middle of the screen. However, because some guns are very close to the anchor, you might see the cable when your current target is a gun. Thus, it's best to zoom in and out and try to make sure the cable is really part of your current target and not coincidentally along the LOS back to your plane.

 

Because of all this, it's usually best just to go for the balloon yourself and have your wingmen follow and protect you. The best tactic I've found is to NOT fly directly towards the balloon but to pass it off the side, then turn in some miles behind it so it's between me and my route home. Then I dive steeply down in the balloon's direction but aiming to be well short of it. On the way down, I'm looking up and ahead. When I see the balloon (usually when it pops above the horizon), I level off and come screaming in at it. Just 1 pass and straight on home, climbing as I go, whether I get it or not. And if during my dive I get down to 2000-3000 feet and still haven't seen the balloon, I abort the attack and pull up then, turning away from the balloon's defenses.

 

The whole secret of successful balloon attacks is achieving surprise. If you have surprise, the balloon will be up high and out of reach of the deadly AAMGs, and even the heavy flak won't shoot at you until you're very close. If you don't have surprise, the balloon will be low and the defenses fully alerted. And if you make a vertical attack on a low balloon with angry defenders, the defenders will often shoot the balloon down while aiming at you, so you don't get any credit for it.

[+Polovski 460]

Also helps to narrow "awareness" radar range and target type before cycling with T.

 

Lewie you will start in the air at the mission height at that place, (you can change it somewhat in workshop options). Just for the record "Spawns" are not used in OFF. All craft follow their real mission.

[Bullethead 12]

Only the Gas Bag assigned to you in the balloon mission, will earn you a claim form

And since the target balloon is normally over enemy territory, and You Need a Witness. Your wingman better make it back alive . . .Dead wingmen are very bad witnesses

 

Actually, if you kill your assigned target balloon, you'll get a message saying that ground troops on your side saw it happen so you can get the claim form even if your wingmen all buy it, and such thing have a pretty high chance of being confirmed and that quickly (haven't had one denied yet). However, you're right about other balloons--no credit or even a claim form unless it's your target.