How many of us still fly WOFF?

[Hauksbee 103]

I notice that of all the things discussed, OFF/WOFF is never mentioned. I think I gave it up 'round about the time WOFF moved over to SimHQ; maybe a bit sooner. In truth, I never "gave it up", I just flew less and less, until I wasn't flying at all. But I remain very much interested in WWI aircraft, and want to preserve a connection with the people I met here at Combat Ace. I keep promising myself that I'll dust off my joystick (it sits on the floor by the computer ) strap on a D.V and get back to it. But other stuff gets in the way. Near the top of my 'Bucket List' is firing up ROF and flying on-line against real people. Soon. I keep promising myself.

 

What about the rest of us who wander through here?

[Burning Beard 14]

I only fly in the fall/winter/early spring,  The room I have my WOFF computer in gets to hot to run heavy graphics.  Upstate California gets toasty in the summer.

 

Beard

[33LIMA 972]

Not interested in playing any game or sim online, so the lack of that feature in WoFF, or its presence in RoF, is not a factor for me. At the moment I'm spending most of my sim time working on stuff for Britpack '44-x for Panzer Elite. Apart from firing up Atlantic Fleet for the odd sea battle, most of the rest of my sim time is being spent playing one of my current PWCG campaigns in RoF, which I find provides a different but not massively inferior SP campaign experience to WoFF. Will be back with WoFF when the fancy takes me and I have more time to spare.

[Olham 164]

I don't fly at all since months - I am sailing frigates in NAVAL ACTION. Never "gave up" on WOFF though  - I'm sure I'll fly it again, when the "wing virus" infects me once again.

 

 

 

 

 

[Dutch_P47M 9]

I'm still goingon, every weekend mornig 7:00h, so twice a week a campaign mission. Rof still on the disc only PW-CG is rather boring if being compared to Woff UE campaign. Online Rof did give it a try, but always the server list is complete empty, or blocked by a password.

[lederhosen 7]

Salute

 

I've moved downwards into submarines. Still an old game SH3 but with mods I like it. Even has mmp.

I keep thinking of firing up WOFF but can't make the time for it at the mo. I did try going back to ROF but the AI drives me nuts in career.

[CaptSopwith 23]

Well for me WOFF UE is still somewhat new. I'm still flying about 1-2 nights a week and sometimes more if time allows. I have posted less mostly because of time constraints.

[HumanDrone 4]

I haven't "given up" on WOFF at all.  I love the sim and the camaraderie; I disliked the move to SimHQ because it split us up.  WOFF Forum members have been far and away the most genteel and likeable folks I've ever had the pleasure to deal with, and the sim, in my view is a work of art, historically reverent, and actually a valuable tool to teach youngsters with, if you can nab them.  We all know this is no arcade game; if you cannot fly, if you don't know your craft, your opponent's craft, good tactics and airmanship, you're dead.  It feels real, it brings in the deadly perspective, at least for me, of that awful moment when you realize you've ended another man's life - or that yours is about to end.  Olham, I remember you writing about  your satisfaction of bringing your wingman home; I haven't had the pleasure yet, it's all I can do to get my own tailfeathers home, and my campaign pilot hasn't even seen any combat yet!  It amazes me how these guys even got to their assigned area and back, much less fought in these crates.

But real life has been just ludicrously busy for me for a long time.  I may snatch a few minutes here and there for a quick flight.  I have a single "throwaway" pilot that I trained and am flying early in the war, but in those few quick moments I generally go QS, don't fly a full mission, and it doesn't get logged.

I haven't been around here too much because it's tough to keep up with two fora when most of the "action" is over at the other, like it or not.

I just hope that by the time life actually settles down for me, that we still have a solid core group of "good guys" to hang out with and swap the stories, of which I've seen so many; get help, etc, maybe even contribute something for once.  I miss the action, to be sure.  And it's quite natural, after all  this time, for folks to move on.  But I love the sim, and all the good people that inhabit these forums.  Hauksbee, I remember our meet-up at Wright-Pat last year, with RAF_Louvert, Mike, Jenks, CW3SF, and all the others, good times!  I hope we can do it again sometime.

Best to you all, and Godspeed!

[Olham 164]

5 hours ago, HumanDrone said:

Olham, I remember you writing about  your satisfaction of bringing your wingman home; I haven't had the pleasure yet, it's all I can do to get my own tailfeathers home...

It is really hard to survive in WOFF, and I used to fly more and more defensive, to achieve that.
Try the Pup and fly as high as you can - the Albatros cannot follow you there! Good luck!

 

[JimAttrill 24]

I still fly occasionally in a Camel and some German two-seaters.   As an ex-member of 4 Squadron RAF ground crew on Harriers I had hoped to run a campaign through the whole war.  A bit boring though as they flew BE2s and RE8s.   I do miss the DiD campaign which was my main reason for going to the 'other' forum. 

Maybe I should try an Albatros.  Which is the best one and what time is the best?   Olham will know that of course.

Hals und Bein bruch! 

[Hellshade 110]

I still fly!  I bounce around between various games and hobbies.   Skyrim, a couple MMOs (WoW or Rift, though not nearly as much anymore), table top role playing with Dungeons & Dragons (5e) and yes, absolutely WOFF UE.   There just isn't another WWI flight sim that comes close for single player campaigns, though Pat Wilson did much to improve RoF with his PWCG.  

I might not touch WOFF UE for a month sometimes, but then when I climb back into the cockpit, I'm often stuck there for an entire weekend and after hours on week days.   

 

[Olham 164]

On 19.8.2017 at 9:45 AM, JimAttrill said:

Maybe I should try an Albatros.  Which is the best one and what time is the best?   Olham will know that of course.

Sure, my friend!
The best time for the Albatros was probably the beginning, when the D.I and D.II arrived at the front.
At this time, the Albatros was a most effective war plane, which the Entente was not at all prepared for.

The twin Spandaus, both firing through the propeller circle, and the Albatros' ruggedness made it a great fighter of it's time.
The Pup was a nicer aircraft to fly I think after reading a lot, but with it's slow-firing single gun it could hardly kill an Albatros (this is pretty much distorted though in WOFF, where the Pup is too good as a weapon).
DH-2 and Nieuport 17 also had only one gun, and even the great SPAD VII.

Second best was the Albatros D.III, which was still a very good fighter in it's earlier time.
Its lower sequiplane wing (copied from Nieuport) was both, an advantage and a curse though.
An advantage for the much better downward vision, and a curse because of a construction weakness - due to the one-point fixation to the V-strut it allowed fluttering in steeper dives,
and the advice from the constructors was, not to perform steeper dives for more than 1000 meters.
An additional iron rod supplied the craft with better stability after early accidents, but I do not know, how effective this was.
Since the concept was kept for the D.V and D.Va, I can only assume, that it must have had some reasonable effectivity.

The D.V was still feared by Sopwith Triplane pilots from RNAS, as stated in Arthur G. Lee's "No Parachute!"
But von Richthofen was disappointed by too little overall improvement. The D.V could easily be outclimbed by the strong S.E.5a and SPAD VII 180hp and the SPAD XIII in combat,
and therefor could not force those aircraft to fight - the Entente pilots could break off and climb away at almost any point in a fight.
The Sopwith Pup could fly stable at much higher altitude, where the Albatros already lost it's lift.
In the hands of good pilots though, it was still a dangerous fighter - von Richthofen made 8 victories on the Albatros D.V. (source: James F. Miller: ACE PROFILES III "Manfred von Richthofen")

The D.Va, as an "improved" D.V, was then actually outdated meanwhile, by the S.E.5a Viper, the much more agile twin-gun Camel, the SPAD XIII and others.
The craft was mostly sent to less stressed Jasta, while the elite units used the Fokker Dr.I and D.VII.

 

But I guess it was a trick-question to tickle me awake, Jim - as an "old aircraft mechanic" you must have known all this.

 

PS: WOFF is distorting the historical truth in some parts; and so flying the Albatros is never as safe and superior in the sim, as it must have been at some (early) points in history.
(Too effective Pups, too early Sopwith Triplanes, too many of the other more dangerous aircraft at a too early stage.)

[JimAttrill 24]

Hi Olham, yes I was an old aircraft mechanic, but engines only.  To me the airframe was something that got in the way when trying to service the engine!  I had read that the V-strut allowed the lower wing to flex (obvious really).  So I reckon the best choice is the DII in 1916? 

From an engine point of view, the early DB and BMW straight-six engines were a good bet until the Hispano V8 in its various versions started to appear.   Of course the best engine of the first war was was most likely the RR Falcon V12 of 14 litres as used in the Bristol Fighter and the RR Eagle V12 of 20 litres capacity.   Unfortunately they were both hard to make in large quantities.   My father worked on RR Eagles from the Vimy and later the Napier W12 Lion in the Virginia.   He told me some amazing stories about how these engines were serviced in those days.   

[Olham 164]

16 hours ago, JimAttrill said:

... I reckon the best choice is the DII in 1916?   

Sturdiest one, and great in it's time! Lesser downward vision though. But I love the D.I and D.II.

Must be great, when the own father can tell from own experience of such details!

 

I guess the lower wing, wig-rib only fixed at one point, began to flutter in steeper dives - maybe like this:

 

 

[HumanDrone 4]

Sheesh, I can't keep up with things... Thanks , Olham for the recommendation up there a ways.  What you illustrate there could be a flutter resulting from vortex shedding.  If that connection point can pivot, it allows the flutter at a lower frequency than if they had made a stronger connection able to resist twisting.  But that may have its own problems, who knows?  They may have needed the flexibility for airframe twisting or shearing.

But as well as vortex shedding, the faster you go, the more the streamlines want to "jump" that camber under the wing, as well, and perhaps that leads to buffeting as the flow comes "unglued" from the bottom of the wing - I'm not an aerodynamicist, but I've had some training that way.

This whole thread is what scares me, though.  By the time I can actually get some flying time, all of you good, knowledgeable, helpful and kind folks will have moved on to other things.  Cie la vie, I guess, but gee willikers...

[jeanba 1,920]

On 20/08/2017 at 2:14 PM, Olham said:

 

 

PS: WOFF is distorting the historical truth in some parts; and so flying the Albatros is never as safe and superior in the sim, as it must have been at some (early) points in history.
(Too effective Pups, too early Sopwith Triplanes, too many of the other more dangerous aircraft at a too early stage.)

Yes, I agree

The worse problem is for the Spad :

Spad VII 150 hp and Spad VII 180 hp were very different :

The firts one had lower performances than the early Alvatros (DII and III) while the second was better

Worse for the the Spad XIII : the 200 hp was hardly more than an unreliable VII 180hp with 2 Machine guns, the 220 hp was better in performances, while the 235 hp was better overall (and especially in reliability).

Add to this that machine giuns also changed heavily (especially synchronisation systems)

 

 

[JimAttrill 24]

Hi Olham, it shows the differences between aircraft that took place in a very short period, from first flight to Mach 3 or so.   My father was 'old school' RAF served from 1922 to 1958 with some time off in the 30s after his first enlistment ran out.   He never really understood jet engines so although we were both the same trade we had little in common.  He was still in the RAF when there was conscription and couldn't understand the modern all-volunteer service that I was in.  That I would leave work on Friday afternoon and only have to be back on Monday evening without a 'leave pass' to my name he found very strange.  (This was when I was going from day shift to night shift and gave a long weekend).   I could even leave Germany, go back to the UK for the weekend and then be back at work on Monday.  I don't think he had much to do with aircraft in his last years and was senior by that stage so didn't do any spannerwork.   In fact he ended as the NCO in charge of the Para training hangar at Abingdon, watching army paras being thrown about in harnesses etc.   They also used to throw them out of an ex WWII barrage balloon with a basket underneath and I as a kid used to watch this.  He did tell me some interesting things sometimes, like this one:

How do you grind the crank on a RR Eagle V12 engine with nothing but a big block of lead, two long bolts with nuts and two long pieces of wood?   I found that hard to believe but it showed how things had changed since those days.   

[JimAttrill 24]

Well I am going off to fly WOFFUE or whatever it is called.   I may try some of the new aircraft as well.  

[Andy73 3]

I don't fly WOFF UE anymore, because I've lost my Copy on my External Hard-Drive. My Hard-Drive fell down from the Table and was "destroyed". Everything is lost on this HD. I do still own WOFF 2, but after Installing it on my brand new System (i7-7700k, ASUS Geforce GTX 1060 6GB and 16 GB RAM), WOFF was still stuttering. Always had technical Problems with WOFF on my different Computer-Systems.

But I still fly Campaigns in good old OFF Phase 3 and Rise of Flight with PWCG. And I still do also play Campaigns in IL2 Sturmovik 1946.

Very sad I can't Play WOFF UE anymore, I would for sure try to work with this very good Game, but as I said, my Copy of WOFF UE ist lost. So I play some "older" Flight-Sims, being happy with the things I have...

[rjw 48]

Been some time since I logged on to CA. Nice to see some old friends still active here. Since it is getting close to Christmas, let me extend best wishes to you all and all your families. May you all have some great social times with your families and friends.

That said, I still actively fly WOFF UE and participate in the DiD campaigns over at SIMHQ. I am still active building facilites for the sim. My latest is a rebuild of Filescamp Farm which has occupied most of my free time for the past week.

Special hello to Olham, Hauksbee, and Attril, HUmanDrone and Andy73.

I wonder how many of you have the latest WOFF UE installed.

 

Best Regards to all.

[Olham 164]

Hey, Robert and all - I also wish you guys a nice Xmas, with plenty of food and good drinks, and warmth around you!

[Hauksbee 103]

14 hours ago, rjw said:

Special hello to Olham, Hauksbee, and Attril, HUmanDrone and Andy73

Greetings to you, Robert. And a Merrie  Christmas.

[Hauksbee 103]

10 hours ago, Olham said:

Hey, Robert and all - I also wish you guys a nice Xmas, with plenty of food and good drinks, and warmth around you!

Same to you, Detlev! Will you be spending it with your Mum, again, this year?

[Olham 164]

Not sure yet. We are "at war" right now.

[Hauksbee 103]

On 12/10/2017 at 5:03 AM, Olham said:

Not sure yet. We are "at war" right now.

Ah, yes...bickering with Mum. I remember it well.