Interlocutor

Thanks for the sympathy, Dej & Olham :cray: . And yes, it does hurt. I had planned to retire Jacques if he got to 20 hours in the air, and send him to Pau to help train new pilots. But he died with only 15.45 hours flying time. My sympathies for Llewellyn, Dej. Collision is a pointless way to go, worse than being shot down in a straight-up fight. But the war goes on. I think, once I've observed a brief period of grieving, that I'll focus on my RFC Camel pilot now.

Thanks, Olham, I'll do it that way then. I appreciate the tip. But right now I need a break I think, my longest-living DiD pilot, Jacques LaRoy, 25 missions, was just killed in a mid-air collision with a fellow squadie . Sorry to hear of Marlowe's demise, my condolences...

BH, if you set your "AI Gun Fire (Range)" to "Normal" instead of "Realistic" this problem will go away, or at least be much diminished. I had the same experience on the "Realistic" setting, kept losing pilots to Archie and AA of all sorts. In another thread, Polovski said to re-set the above setting to "Normal" to fix the problem.

Thanks, Lou, that's what I thought. I've been so thoroughly infected by Siggi's "DiD-ness" that I don't want to trim-out an aircraft that didn't have that capability in real life .

Well, the "accompany the other flight" policy and the "use wingie eyes with "A" key" tactic are only really useful to those fanatics among us who have given up using the TAC and labels. With TAC to spot enemy formations at a distance, and/or labels to keep them in sight within 2 miles, there's not much need to practice the skill of neck-swiveling or to adopt the habit of deep, searching sky-gazing into the distance. And as Siggi says, I don't get the sense that there are that many BHAH pilots who have gone to TAC-less, label-less flying, so such strategems might not be of general interest. But sure, to keep this line of conversation going, here are a few other thoughts I've had on being a TAC-less/label-less DiD pilot. At first I thought "altitude is life", and in general I still think that's true. I try not to cross the lines or remain over German territory at less than 6,000 feet, and preferably 8,000 to 10,000. But I'm also coming to the conclusion that without TAC & labels, I can't really spot aircraft below me, against the ground clutter, at much less than a mile (call it 5,000 feet). And it's probably even less than that, given that most of us can't look "straight down" given fuselage, lower wing, etc. So I think I miss a lot of advantageous encounters by flying high. Lately, when flying in company with my squad's "other flight" (let's call it "Flight #1" or "F1" for short), I study the pre-flight briefing to see what altitude the mission is supposed to achieve. Then, if it's high, I fly with my own flight about 4K or 5K feet lower than F1, letting them be top cover. I'm then free to look down a lot, and closer to the ground so I can better spot targets beneath me. When my flight is on a "solo mission", i.e., when there is no F1 on a mission, and the mission is behind friendly lines, I'm now tending to top off at about 5,000 feet. There's more risk of getting jumped from a higher enemy doing this, but that's cancelled out a little, I think, in that it's generally easier to spot aircraft further out when they are above you than when they're lost in ground clutter below. If you turn immediately toward a higher enemy whom you plan to engage, you can reduce the risk further. If you don't like the odds, spotting them further off gives you a better chance of disengaging than if you don't see them until they're close. I'd be curious to hear other "flight leader strategies" from other DiD TAC-less/label-less pilots...

Griphos, when you fly as "always leads", another advantage to tagging along with your squadron's other flight is that the other flight's leader can act as another "pair of eyes" for the purpose of spotting enemy formations. On a number of such missions, I've first become aware of enemies in the vicinity when the "other flight" suddenly broke formation and headed off in an unexpected direction . Another "flight leader trick" is to use the "wingmen attack" command ("A" on the keyboard, but I've put all wingmen commands on my stick now) periodically when flying along in a seemingly empty sky. If there are any bad guys around that you yourself haven't spotted yet, your wingies will go for them, thus tipping you off. I think of this trick as "relying on younger eyes to spot baddies" . If your wingies don't peel off a few seconds after issuing the "A" command, then there's likely no one near, so just issue the "R" (Recall) command to make sure they stay with you while you look away from them. Before I hit on this trick, I used to regret the fact that when your wingies are flying in formation behind you, they don't "take off after" any baddies that you might have missed. I wanted to be able to use the real-life tactic of having the flight leader (me) spend his time scanning downwards for likely targets while the wingies looked up to make sure no one came down on the flight. Now I've discovered I can approximate this strategy by periodically using the "A" command. I look back at my wingies and hit "A"; if after a few seconds they don't peel off somewhere I know the immediate vicinity is likely clear, so I hit "R" (to keep them with me while my attention is elsewhere) and then look down searchingly for awhile before looking back at my wingies and hitting "A" again to see if they've spotted anything.

Red Dog, welcome to the French page of Siggi's killboard .

Hmmm. I do wonder if the PC's power has something to do with it, after reading these posts. I have a fairly high-end system, and I first tried the Camel several weeks ago. I could not get the knack of it. Flew it with my "test pilot" in QC for about an hour a day in QC for several days. On my system, the un-trimmed Camel is very tail heavy, I have to keep the stick pushed somewhat forward in level flight to keep her from nosing up to stalling speed. I couldn't get her to loop without stalling, no matter how many different tricks I tried. And if I tried a sharp right turn, she almost always spun. I gave up in despair. Then last week I decided to try again. Using my test pilot again, I started out trying sharp right turns. I discovered that if I ease over into a right bank (no quick snap right on the stick, just smoothly over until she's on her side), then gently apply left rudder to keep the nose up, and then cut throttle about half and pull back on the stick to use the elevator to quicken the turn, I can now make her turn on a dime, even applying nearly full throttle again once the turn is well underway. For me the trick was to get her turned vertical with some finesse before applying the necessary nose-up rudder, then chop throttle to about 50% and pull back fairly sharply on the stick to get her turning fast. But I find I also have to be careful not to apply so much nose-up rudderr that she tries to climb in the turn, otherwise uh-oh, here comes the flat spin again. For me, on my system, right turns must lose altitude somewhat to avoid spins. I've started a new DiD campaign pilot using the Camel, but I haven't yet mastered a loop without stalling. BH says his Camels loop as nicely as the Tripe, but either I haven't the knack yet, or the Camel flies differently on my PC than on his. Did the real-life Camel have adjustable trim?

Griphos, You ask an interesting question, about whether the sim models lower abilities for new/low rank squadmates. My assumption is "no", that all AI members of an "elite" squad have elite characteristics, but I may be wrong. In my 2nd mission with my 56 Squadron pilot, a mission just behind German lines near Lens, I was crusing along at about 10,000 feet leading my flight when I saw specks in the sky at about 1 o'clock above me. They got closer, and I saw they were a flight of Albatri, brightly colored, led by an all-red specimen ! Gulp! I won't recount the details of the ensuing fight beyond saying that my pilot survived, though his crate semi-crashlanded, riddled with bullets, just inside British lines. Rick, Yes, I find that when I'm flying with an elite squad, if I "stay high" for a moment to get my bearings and make sure no other e/a are about to come down on us, by the time I look below to the fight again, my squaddies have often polished off the enemy. In my missions with my Storks pilot, flying N17's versus EIII's over the Somme in July '16, this is especially true. Of his 24 missions, he's only seen Germans about 5 or 6 times, and in all but one of those scraps, his squaddies had finished off the EIII's by the time my guy got his bearings & tried to join the fight. AI to AI, a Fokker EIII has no chance in Hell against an N17 flown by an elite AI pilot...

Well, right now I'm flying one DiD pilot with 56 Squadron RFC (Elite) in the summer of '17, in SE5a's. Also another with 8 Squadron RNAS (Elite) in April '17, in the Tripe, and another with 70 Squadron RFC (Good) in Sept '17. My longest-living DiD pilot, Sous-Lieutenant Jacques LaRoy (24 missions/15 hours/1 kill) flies for Escadrille N3 (the "Storks", Elite) in N17's in the summer of '16. Whenever possible I make sure my flight accompanies any other flight from my squadron on missions. Since I don't use labels anymore, I can't tell which of my squadmates is in which other N17, but when my flight (usually "Flight #2") accompanies Flight #1 of the Storks on a mission, I can be sure that guys like Guynemer, "Pere" Dorme, & Deullin have my six ...

I agree completely. I focus on "completing my mission", though I'll admit that on airfield attack missions and railyard attack mission I do not linger to make multiple strafing runs on the targets, I just dive down from altitudue after passing "behind" the target airfield/railyard at height, make one strafing pass past the target, then head home. I find it helps to fly with "elite" or "good" squads; my wingmen are more able to account for enemy a/c themselves. One of the squads I fly with, the LafEsc, can be only "average", and my wingmen with the LafEsc often get themselves into trouble, leading me, as a conscientious flight leader , to risk myself more than I might otherwise. My one dead DiD pilot (so far, knock on wood ) was my LafEsc guy... If my flight sets out with only 2 or 3 of us, I'm even more cautious. But if I'm leading a flight of 4 or 5, I'll cross the lines more readily on patrol missions.

Hmmm. Well, for my part, I now fly DiD only, for about 2 hours every day. I'm currently spreading my DiD flying over 5 different DiD pilots, one of which I report to Siggi's killboard. Olham's post avove intrigues me. Since I started flying pure DiD (no TAC/labels/warp) 3+ weeks ago, I've created 5 DiD pilots. I fly them all: every day I fly at least one mission with the one I'm reporting to Siggi's killboard, and then spread the rest of my flying time out over the others in turn. So far I've lost only one pilot, the other 4 are all alive, with the "most experienced" guy up to 24 missions and 15 hours in the air. But he has only 1 claim and 1 kill, flying the N17 for the Storks over the Somme in the summer of 1916. My other 3 current DiD pilots have about 10 missions between them, with only 2 claims and none confirmed so far. So I'd be interested to hear of the experiences of other DiD pilots. Do thers "live fast & die quick" like Olham , or live longer but not see much action, like my guys. My 24 mission guys has only seen Germans in the air on 5 or 6 of his missions, but maybe that's because summer 1916 over the Somme doesn't have much German air activity? My other 3 current DiD pilots fly British: 1 RNAS in the Tripe in April '17, 1 SE5a in summer '17, and 1 Camel in Sept '17. These guys have gotten into scraps in about half of their missions so far, a much higher percentage than my main (French) 1916 pilot. I always lead my missions, and tend to fly at 8,000 to 10,000 feet when near or over the lines. I look up for Germans constantly, but probably miss targets by not looking down as much as I should?

Luiz, If you like flying the N11 and want to see action, try flying with the Lafayette Escadrille, for France, in May of 1916 from Behonne airfield near Verdun. Enlist a pilot flying fighters for France with the LafEsc, then click the date assignment forward until you get Behonne as a base for the squadron; I think it's May 21, 1916 when the LafEsc transfers to Behonne. I fly DiD, and even without TAC I run into more Germans than I can generally handle, contacts on about 50% of the missions.

Unfortunately for the French, the N28 did not serve with any French escadrilles, only with the Americans. So the only way to fly the N28 would be with one of the American squadrons. Since I love turn fighters so much, I'd like to see the N24/N27 in the game, but even these, the last of the Nieuport sesquiplane fighters, did not serve with many French escadrilles. I'd also like to see some French 2-seaters someday. An N12 for early war, and the Breguet & Salmsons for later.

I split my time between two pilots, about equally: 1. N11/N17 2. LafEsc, Behonne/Esc N3 (Storks), Cachy 3. 11/4 4. 17.2/11

This will sound somewhat like an AA meeting I suspect, "My name is Interlocutor, and I am an OFF3 addict" :yes: ... I started flying OFF3 when it first came out in January. Even with TrackIR I found it very difficult to stay alive at first, and so back then I used all the aids I could muster: enemy cones, TAC out to 8 miles radius, labels. I always kept the "Z" display up to know speed and altitude, and I warped through every mission. But other than using these aids, I've always flown at above 100% realism, though I have always used "automixture". I always fly campaign, never fly QC's. I always lead my flights. Being retired, I have lots of time to indulge my habit, so since January I suspect I've flown an average of 2 hours each day, 5 or 6 days each week. As time went on, I gradually became a better pilot. Sometime in February I stopped using the enemy cone, but until about a week ago I still used the other aids, though I had reduced TAC radius to 2 miles, taking it down altogether in dogfights. But a week ago I decided to go full DiD. I now fly all missions (no warp), use no TAC and no labels. I've turned messages, TAC & labels off in CFS3Config, and never use the "Z" key. I'm finding that I have to learn a whole new set of skills to fly DiD. Here's some things I'm finding out. When I used TAC & labels, I got lazy. Because of TAC, I didn't look around & scan the sky for enemies, instead I just used the TAC. In a dogfight, I just looked out for labels to know where enemy a/c were. Now, without TAC or labels, I've had to learn how to look intently all around me for little moving specks in the distance. It's been a matter of re-training my eyes. I particularly look above me, especially behind and above. I gaze hard at the sky, holding my focus on one area for several seconds before moving on. Even allowing for the fact that TrackIR doesn't require that I turn my head completely around, I get kinks in my neck... When looking downward now, I've trained my eyes to look for moving specks against the ground. This can be learned, for me it took awhile, but I can sense my "visual skills" are growing. Without the "Z" key display, I have no speedometer in either of the planes I fly (N11's & N17's). I now have to rely on my FF stick to warn me of approaching stalls when in dogfights, which makes me a little more cautious in using certain maneuvers, particularly climbing turns which bleed energy. The N17 does have an altimeter as well as a compass but the N11 has neither, so I'm learning to be a good judge of altitude by just looking down. I'm learning to navigate by using in-game geography as well. For instance, when I fly my N17 pilot with the Storks from Cachy in the Somme battle, my home airfield lies just east of a big forest, which itself lies next to a big lake. I can see this forest/lake feature from many miles away at altitude, and rarely need to use the "M" key to find my way home. I've totally reprogrammed my joystick. The buttons that used to manage TAC, warp, "Z" key & labels have now been re-set to manage zoom-in & zoom-out so I can better ID specks in the distance, and to give me all my "wingman commands" on the stick. So for those who think it's "too hard" to learn to fly without the crutches of TAC, labels, etc, I can say that it can be learned. It is a different "skill set", and well as a different mind set. It's harder to survive in some ways, but easier in others. For those seeking full immersion, I say "throw away the crutches" and give it a try...

Griphos, Rickity, I'm with Rickity here. When I was flying with "AI gunfire (range)" set to "Realistic", all of my dead pilots during that period fell to Archie! Now I have to qualify that by saying that I flew with that setting for only about 10 days or so, and lost maybe 4 or 5 pilots during that time. But each one of those was shot down by Archie behind German lines. Also, all of that flying was pre-DiD, so I was using 2-mile TAC, labels & warp then.

Interesting posts about various experiences with "AI gunfire (range)". Does this item affect only anti-aircraft? Or does it apply to other AI gunfire as well, such as ground-based MG's around airfields, or even aircraft MG's? I sent my first killboard DiD pilot to Siggi just now :yes: . Thanks Siggi, for developing & promoting DiD for OFF3, and for runn9ing the killboard !

Yeah, I've been tempted by the DH2, too :yes: . In fact, in the very first "mission" I flew when I got OFF3 back in January, I created a pilot based at North Weald near London, took off in a DH2 and flew to London, and flew under London bridge... Fun plane, the DH2. It makes me think of the epic duel between Hawker & Boelke.

Wow, Louvert, I love your idea! I'll start trying it out with my DiD missions later today. How did you arrive at the "odds" of the various occurences? About your comments on Archie: what setting in Workshop do you use for "AI Gunfire (range)"? I do try to follow your altitude/evasive action recommendations. But if I get a balloon busting, railyard attack, or airfield attack mission, I feel I have to come down to get it done. If a real-life pilot kept dodging such missions, I suspect he'd be cashiered for cowardice, or at least sent back to become a flight instructor due to loss of nerves . So given that, when I have "AI Gunfire (range)" set to "Normal", I've only rarely lost a pilot to Archie above 5,000 feet, maybe less than 5% or 10% of such missions when I can stay above 5,000 (e.g., a patrol behind enemy lines). But even on "Normal", when I come down below 5,000 to attack ground targets (balloons/airfields/railyards), goundfire gets me much more often, perhaps 20% to 25% of the time. Now when I tried "AI Gunfire (range)" = "Realistic", I lost pilots above 5,000 feet over enemy lines as much as 75% of the time! Maybe it was just a fluke, I'm talking 3 or 4 campaign pilots killed on such missions over the course of the week or 10 days in which I tried the "Realistic" setting, but it was too much for me. No amount of bobbing & weaving seemed to save me. I was also losing wingmen to Archie on "Realistic" as well, and I feel very paternal toward my squadmates. My best LafEsc pilot's longtime wingman, Charles Selden (I'm a Falcons of France fan :yes: , and I change my LafEsc wingmen's names in PilotDossier to reflect real & fictional American flyers who flew for France) was lost to Archie over German lines, going down in flames, and as I sat there in my cockpit crying softly for Charlie, my own pilot, himself himself, was blown up by Archie on the same damn mission :angry2: ! I was sooo upset I switched back to normal immediately after, and swore a pox upon "Realistic" Archie...

BirdDog, yes, TIR does make all the difference, doesn't it . In my old RB3D days a decade ago, with just the hat switch, I had zero situational awareness, could never survive long. But with TIR, I find I actually have a sense of what's happening up there over the lines... BTW, you can go in to the CFS3Config file and "switch off" the TAC, HUD, labels and tracking cone so that you just can't get at them while in the air. That removes all temptation to "have a slip" while in a DiD mission . In fact, if you start to post your DiD pilots on Siggi's kill board, I think it's a requirement to turn these items, plus messages and some others, off in CFS3Config. With messages off, you don't get the blue text telling you when you've hit someone or shot someone down. In one particularly hectic DiD mission yesterday, my LafEsc pilot got into a dogfight & put some rounds into a German plane, but with all the twisting and turning I never saw him crash. When I got back to base, I was told to "file a claim", but since I never saw him go down, I didn't bother. I kind of figured that a real pilot wouldn't get that kind of hint from his C/O when he got home, but maybe I should think of it as a comment from a wingmate, like "I saw that German go down just after to shot at him". What do you think? How should an immersion freak think about this ?

Yes Olham, I think the real-life Camel turned quickest to the right. About a month ago I spent about 2 hours in QC free flights trying to learn the Camel. I wanted to master right turns, climbing lefts, and loops. I never could get any of these maneuvers right, stalling and/or spinning most of the time. If you figure out the technique, take notes & let me know :yes: .

Siggi, that's great! After I fly today, I'll send you the scoop on my two French DiD pilots, assuming thet survive today's missions . They are both early in their careers now, so there's not much to report yet, but we'll see...

Interesting. Then Siggi must be right, it's probably just random.

Olham, you are right, and I've considered it. But I prefer to fly turn fighters, not energy fighters. By 1917/1918 the French have mostly converted to Spads (I hate flying Spads ). For the RFC/RNAS, I have a similar aversion to the SE5, and though the Camel is attractive in theory, I tried to learn how to fly it in QC's several weeks ago, and failed miserably :blush2: , kept stalling out whenever I tried a tight turn or a loop. So it's Nieuports for me. That's okay, I love them, but by late 1917 or definitely by 1918 they are outclassed by the latest German types, and are no longer in service with many squadrons. I did fly the Sopwith Tripe with the RNAS in 1917 a lot, about a month ago or so, but one of the patches changed its flight model, and I just didn't take the time to "re-learn" how to fly it. Maybe I'll try it again soon. But to reiterate by paraphrasing Sam Sturgis' bon mot about John Pope, I don't give a pinch of owl dung for Spads...