Lost My First Pilot

[CaptSopwith 18]

Poor Gerhard Roth...

I suppose he didn't stand much of a chance, what with being the first "Skip Training and Deploy Straight to the Front" pilot of the lot. No take off and landing training. No flying circuits. No chance, really, to even enjoy a little peace and quiet - unlike his British counter-part: Cecil Coles, who just finished flight training around London in 1915.

Straight into the meat grinder - that was poor Roth's fate.

And he fared well. Our pilot entered the war at the worst possible time: 1918, just before the Michael Offensive. His unit, Jasta 74, was often outclassed in machinery and the unit's airmen lacked a certain... how should I put it gently: situational awareness.

But Roth not only survived, he thrived. He shot down two Sopwith Strutters that invaded German airspace near his own field. But, as the saying goes, "Unconfirmed by Army means unconfirmed." The weather that day was atrocious and, given the state of the lines at that point, Army Command simply didn't have time to go rummaging through some woods for a few wayward Strutter carcasses.

Roth finally earned his goblet, however, with a third Strutter, this time bagged over friendly lines, with a squadron witness. It took just eight missions. Already he had been wounded once, with a nasty gunshot wound that left him in hospital a fortnight.

But Roth got a bit impatient and started to time compress during his missions. And it was the compression that killed him...

His final mission, just three weeks since he joined Jasta 74, took him near the front lines again on a line patrol with only two wing men who, as I mentioned, often to fail to catch the small details.

As he came out of time compression, three dots rapidly grew clearer at his 6 o'clock. Three SPAD VII's with the fangs out. It was not only Roth's final mission, but that of one of his wing men.

They came in fast and opened fire. Before Roth's flight could even break, he was hit. Roth, the lowest rank in the group was flying at the rear of the formation, leaving his comrades clueless as to the fate about to descend upon them.

The sounds were awful. Gunfire ripped his Albatros DIII OAW to shreds in a matter of a few seconds. Wood shattered, support wires snapped violently and then, with the sickening thud and thwack that will stay with me, the rounds hit Roth. The screen flashed red, the Albatros slipped out of control, and crash landed about a minute later. Smoke trailing as Roth slowly faded while strapped in the shattered remains of his craft.

Four days later, he died in hospital. So the telegram says.

WOFF is indeed an enhancement in every respect. It models the flight characteristics, the tactics employed, the history from the period, and the horrific end that so many pilots faced. Even after all these years of playing WWI sims, and all of the fatalities along the way. Roth's death felt especially hard to take. You cannot help but care much more for these virtual pilots than any that preceded it. WOFF is a holistic sim - everything you see and interact with forges a connection with your pilot. You feel invested before they ever get off the ground. Even the simple act of picking a birth date and place of birth changes your attachment to them.

Well done OBD. WOFF is the first sim where I truly "get" the sort of loss experienced in this war.

RIP, young Roth.


 

Edited September 28, 2015 by _CaptSopwith

[Skyviper 1,101]

That was a good mission report ... do you write books or something?

[Hauksbee 103]

 

 

...everything you see and interact with forges a connection with your pilot. You feel invested before they ever get off the ground. Even the simple act of picking a birth date and place of birth changes your attachment to them.

True enough. Even as a QC pilot, you fly in their skin, look out through their eyes, dread the enemy's attack as it gets closer, cringe as the sound of bullets ripping canvas get louder and closer.