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Ditto here. Nothing but astounding respect is due. ZZ. :yes:

This is simply another idea the Dev's might find useful in future upgrades. It may be too difficult to employ, but like I said, its just an idea. But may add some further historical realism. So...the jist is that quite often in combat not only was the engine damaged causing it to run funny or fail, (depending of course on the various degrees of damage), but Airscrews/- Propellors, were often shot away as well with similar results. I don't think this is already modelled in OFF (please correct me if I'm wrong), and I think this would be another really cool detail. Perhaps it could be added into the engine damage model with some sort of dice-roll occaisionality making it happen a small percentage of the time? Just a thought. ZZ.

Great Thread, and by the way MK2, your advice on techniques for flying the Spad worked beautifully. I'm now having fun with it and not getting blasted. Thanks for the pointers! As far as Camels v. Albitri, all the previous advice is good, and the first is namely, don't pick a fight you cant win. They are pretty evenly matched with the Camel I'd say having a slight advantage. My experience has been whoever has the most fighters in the air is usually gonna come out on top. If you are out numbered, make a run for it. I find there are numerous ways to do this. If I get into a slow turning fight down to ground level, and there is only one or two pursuers, I usually cut the throttle and dump the AC down to wheels skimming the ground right before they have a gun fix on me, this usually gives the Camels such a shock that they can't follow it down (usually dont get a shot) and have to pull up or overshoot me, either way you may then hit full throttle once they bank, turn and get a shot at them, or continue to try to escape. There are a lot of combinations of this you can use, but its a close thing by then, and my advice is dont get in that situation in the first place. If you are being pursued by a gang, this won't work as well and this will fool those closest to you, but you will still be disassembled bythose further back. However, if you are in a relatively fair fight up high, you can usually turn inside the camel if you've got plenty of altitude, by dropping your nose steeply inside the turn with aileron and rudder, sort of like a wingover, thereby lessening your turn and altitude, but gaining speed. You are sort of diving into the turn, which if done right will get you on his tail for a few seconds. Its important you make this shot count though, because you will only get a few before you both are out of altitude! ZZ.

Your mother was a Hamster, and your father smelt of Elderberries!! ZZ.

Wow, those really do sound like period Spad tactics MK2. :yes: Thanks...I'll give them a try. This will be my "challenging" plane. You do have to carefully pick and choose your situation, and method...you just cant rely on the AC's superiority to save your skin, and from what I've read, this was never more true than in the SPAD. So Dev's...good-on-ya again for getting things right yet again. ZZ. PS. I apologize Gous, I'll stop hijacking your thread.

Interesting Hoghead. I wonder if anyone here has read at-all extensively about the handling qualities of the Spad. If anyone has any info I'm sure it would be appreciated. I have the feeling that the Dev's have essentially got it right though, as the Spad was mainly touted from the little I've read on it as having the flying qualities of a Brick with an engine big enough to get it off the ground. Thats why Rickenbacker and others who employed it effectively always used superior numbers, or sneak zoom-n-boom attacks to get thier kills in it. I do also think that OFF phase-3 has very accurately placed all of these AC in thier proper handling niches. (maybe some minor tweaks will come like the roll rate tweak you mentioned, but all in all they are quite historically realistic) I mean the Fokker-DVII was the Vunder Veapon of the war, so with it against the Spad in a turning fight, there should be an advantage of the ratio you describe. At that point as the pilot of the Spad, its either time to develop some new tactics, or not get into that fight in the first place. Very similar to how Clair Chenault had to caution his pilots in P-40's in WWII not to engage the Zeros in a turning fight. That was THIER fight,do not enter THIER fight....attack them with YOURS...(again...zoom and boom or two-plane scissors) or leave. I also am eagerly awaiting the Nieuport28 for the American Squads in OFF, because this was truly an excellent turning and dogfighting plane. Many don't know it but quite a few of the Squads who were issued these planes were very upset and resisted when they began replacing them with the SPAD types, as they saw the SPAD as inferior for just the reasons listed above, it wasn't up to the true dogfighting aesthetic, and was simply heavy and fast. ZZ.

Hehe, I flew under the Eiffel Tower in an Albatros in a German campaign. That was one for the Jasta record books. We were in the area strafing a supply depot anyway, so I figured what the heck. Only problem was we were WELL behind enemy lines, so I ran out of gas juuuuuust as we passed over the trenches. I glided to safety on the right side though and wasn't captured. I'm sure I would-a-been reprimanded for that one. ZZ.

How do you fellows manage to fly the Spad, either VII or VIII. I'm spoiled by constantly using the German crates which I prefer for thier excellence in engineering and performance. To branch out a bit I tried a few of the oppositions ships. The camel, just fine...Se5a..ugly but effective, my fav...the sopwith tripe, quite nice!!.....but the SPAD!!! Bleeeeeeech!! Other than a zoom-n-boom sneak attack and quick escape, or in superior numbers, I don't see how you guys make this thing non-lethal!! (To its own pilot I mean) Any ideas as far as tricks of the trade for this bird? ZZ.

Excellent! Many thanks RC. ZZ.

Was wondering if anyone has experienced the same thing I have? (No this is not a nitpick or negative thread in any way, just trying to help the Dev's incorporate even more accuracy into the sim.) I've shot down over 77 planes with various pilots and in different campaigns, and the one thing I have never seen modeled is a quick kill. I think there was a seperate thread on this somewhere else, so if I'm beating an already addressed "dead Horse", please forgive me. I always and I mean always, no matter how accurately I pummel the engine or pilot with lead, get the slow long-term sink and final crash from the EA. Yes they flame, the engine explodes and flies out of the plane etc. etc., but they just continue to cruise on down, or at best stall and sink in. I mean, I don't expect a quick kill to happen even 10% of the time, but once in a while, say, when you dive on an unsuspecting EA from six oclock out of the sun, and he doesn't even evade you because he hasn't seen you and you simply thoroughly riddle the cockpit with flaming tracers as you pass by, once in a while it would be nice to see him simply lurch and spin in, without the multiple passes necessary and expending the rest of your entire load of ammo to down an already, technically "dead" pilot. This is historically accurate and did occurr once and awhile. Just a thought. ZZ. PS.....Still loving this Phase 3. It IS THE BEST!!! : )

Yes, veerrrrry nice. ZZ.