The biggest Risk in Combat - Collision

[Olham]

This photo must be fake or from a movie, but it shows quite well, how fragile an aircraft was,

and what happened in a collision. Without a parachute, you were lost after this.

 

 

[RAF_Louvert]

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Actually Olham, that is one photo from a very famous group of faked combat shots that were published in the book 'Death in the Air'. I have a copy.

 

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[Olham]

Ah, alright, thank you. But isn't it faked quite well? Looks very severe to me; very convincing. Maybe they should have added a bit of motion, like this?

 

 

[RAF_Louvert]

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Yes, they are quite convincing, some more so than others. Also Olham, your point about having a bit of motion blur in them was one of the factors that led folks to realize the photos were fakes.

 

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[Stingray72]

And yes, on the original subject of collision being a very real problem in the disorientation of combat, Oswald Boelke knew of it enough to make it one of his key points in aircraft combat. As if to prove a point, he was also killed while colliding with his wingman.....

 

~Gunfighter

[Olham]

Yeah, poor Erwin Böhme - it must have almost killed him too - mentaly.

[Bullethead]

Still, I can agree that collisions are the biggest threat in combat. I'd say 80-90% of my careers end that way.

[carrick58]

I Agree, Diving into a gaggle of airplanes is risky.

[SirMike1983]

Still, I can agree that collisions are the biggest threat in combat. I'd say 80-90% of my careers end that way.

 

Mine as well- it seems like the AI wingmen almost have no awareness of the player and will fly right into him while chasing an enemy. Some of mine were legit collisions that would happen even with another person, but some I chalk up to the AI apparently not paying any attention to my presence and just flying into me outright. The AI pilots aren't bad, but they still don't have the same sort of "back of the mind" awareness a person with a little experience has. I think they call it "situational" awareness, where you have in the back of your mind your position in relation to wingmen.

Edited November 16, 2011 by SirMike1983

[Capitaine Vengeur]

I know none Allied top ace lost that way, but Erich Löwenhardt, Fritz Rumey, and Oswald Boelcke, German top aces #3, #6 and #10, died from air collisions (from "friendly" collisions for Löwenhardt and Boelcke, with the other guy surviving, and also from failing parachutes for Löwenhardt and Rumey). Enough said about the danger of collisions.