The R.E.8 toggle cockpit gunsight

[Grinseed 19]

I have two installations of FE2. One for Flanders and one for Palestine based on Stephen1918's terrain.
My preferred crate is the R.E.8...the revised version with the S.E.5 cockpit. Yes i am a masochist :).
I dont use the toggle cockpit option much as you might have guessed. I prefer to concentrate on the bombing and let the gunner do his business.

Recently I have discovered that beyond that enormous air scoop on top of the engine, the Flanders R.E.8 has no target sight with the cockpit toggle option, BUT the Palestine R.E.8 has. The Turks are really in for it now.
I have transferred the Palestine R.E.8 to the Flanders installation and the target sight does not show up. Something in that set up must prevent the sight from showing but I don't have any idea what.
Can anyone enlighten me how the Flanders version deletes the toggle cockpit gunsight, and what I would need to do to get it back, so that I can give the Huns some curry too?

Thanks for your time.

[Grinseed 19]

Well...that only took three hours to work out. The difference lay in the different AircraftObject.inis  in each installation.  I am not sure why they are different. They are both fairly recent builds. But the Flanders version did host the full Armchair Aces for a time, so its possible the longer, different AircraftObject.ini was modified from there. I removed it to clear up space to concentrate on modifying the Bloody April and Cambrai campaigns made by Charles. The Palestine install is a dedicated installation and its AircraftObject.ini allows for the gunsight to appear. 

So for the moment I have copied the gunsight-allowing ini to Flanders. Time will tell if it has any adverse effects. In the meantime I will prod and poke with both to see what I come up with. Sorry for the interuption, it appears to have been a purely local problem. 

Cheers.

[+Trotski 936]

You will find this with both FE and SF there are issues sometimes that just dont seem to make any sense at all, but there is usually a little hidden line in a .ini file that you cant see for looking , you will figure it out no doubt. It can be frustrating , but when you solve it it makes it all worth while.

[Grinseed 19]

As others have said before, there's as much interest, and satisfaction, in getting under the hood with the Thirdwire  series as flying and dying in it. "That you can't see for looking" is a very apt expression for the search for those "little hidden lines".

Further 'looking under the hood" reveals that the AircraftObject.ini that maintains the gun sight was Pete01's weapons fix which does not seem to affect the Flanders install. Further, the Armchair Aces Redux has nothing at all to do with the issue. Intrigue drives me to look for the relevant differences between the two differing inis.

And finally, I am happy to report that in my latest R.E.8 sortie, after a reasonable bomb run, I managed to do more than just dodge a particularly persistent Pfalz, who followed me home over the lines, I managed to put a few rounds up him and drove him off. Smoke me a kipper, I will be home in time for breakfast!

Edited April 30, 2019 by Grinseed
seeking clarity

[+Trotski 936]

Rather you than me flying around in a "Harry Tate" if you really want to be a glutton for punishment try it in a BE 2 .....Oh rapturous joy !! Lovely aircraft to fly, but about as useful as an ashtray on a motorcycle, Join the RFC they said, no more footslogging or muddy boots they said, it will be fun they said !!! 

[Grinseed 19]

I didn't mention I am flying the BE2C in Palestine did I? 

I really am a sick little bunny, but I do have a great deal of respect for the airmen of AFC 1 and 3. 

On the bright side, in Palestine I only got to wait til October 1917 for the R.E.8 and then December for the Bristol F2 Fighter and its only March now. Hope they send enough for me to have one. Happy days.

In Flanders, my word,  we can expect exchanging the ol' Harry Tates for the Bristol F2 somewhere around November 1918, that's only next year.

Yes, old chum, its all looking up on both fronts.

[+Trotski 936]

Yeah, thats all well and good, the upgrade from flying death trap, to a decent fast agile effective 2 seater, will be most appreciated by the chaps in the mess, however surviving until 1918 is maybe a little on the "not liable to be the case" side old boy  , now then there are these new fangled contraptions called "tanks" the PBI have been playing with, I'm sure those may be safer and more comfortable...........what could POSSIBLY go wrong eh wot wot !!