Wayfarer

They're nice ... I've never flown in the dark before ... I hadn't thought about there being an OFF Moon! I like the flame effects as well.

It is - the scaling of the OOB has been sorted....

 

WM

Oh dear ...I keep telling myself I'll get around to trying a scout, but with all these things that would improve a two seater campaign I can see myself ending up back in 1915 with BE2s again!

Only thing i don't like is when running in to larger Fokker Eindecker formations over own territory while i'm trying to reach the lines.

 

cheers

creaghorn

Creaghorn, that is one thing that bugged me when my I was in 1915/16. That issue seemed to fade in the second half of 1916 (as do the Eindeckers themselves, of course), but I hope it's something they might be able to address in P4.

Thanks for your replies everyone. There's a lot of useful information there. I hadn't realised how limited AI field of fire was, for instance.

I had been using both 'R' and 'H' to keep formation and had been pleased at how well the flight had stuck with me. Unfortunately, however, I had a fuel leak and it was just hitting the red as I got near enough to make an approach for the nearest friendly airfield. So I made a break for it and, sure enough, that was when our pursuer attacked.

As there was no sign of the remaining three members of the Albatros flight, it is possible that they were fired at by other flight members, but I didn't see it.

I recently 'transferred' my pilot to RFC5, which is equipped with RE8s (having come to the point where RFC2 would have received FK8s). This is the first time I have had a rear gun and I've only flown two missions with it so far.

A lone Albatros followed us and began to make attacks on me even though I was in front of the rest of the flight. I thought the other flight members might fire at it but I didn't see that happen. Husbanding my AA damaged engine, I tried selecting the Albatros on the TAC and pressing 'A' a number of times for flight members to attack but there appeared to be no response from them.

I realise that I don't even know if that command works with two seaters or, if it does, does it take the form of the observers firing or will they manoeuvre to bring the forward guns to bear?

I'm also not sure if my observer will open fire of his own accord, or do I always have to switch positions to take the gun over?

OFF: There and Back Again

For those long reconnaissance flights, always looking for the next threat, this would be very apt!

LIMA, very pleased you posted this link. It's really fascinating and , for me, very timely. I have just come to the point where RFC2 replaced their BE2s with FK8s, so I've 'transferred' to RFC5 who are equipped with RE8s.

I have only flown one 'training flight' (Quick Combat free flight) and one campaign mission so far. I wouldn't know how faithful the flight model is, but I noticed the torque effect and actually did spin it at one point, although it recovered quickly.

I also enjoyed the turn of phrase employed by some of the correspondents and the undramatic way they described what must have been some pretty hairy moments!

... The real problems began only in the air, when I was aiming,

or when I had to change the plates. You couldn't do both from

your seat; it was too far back.

So it had to be done like this. Arriving near the target, you

had to kneel on your seat, facing the pilot. Then you had to

attach the snap hook of a telegraph worker's safety belt onto

the main wing strut. With one leg you stood on the seat, and

with the other on the lower wing, as if you were stepping out.

Bending forward, you could then look down through the visor

of the camera quite well, and release it with the Bowden cable,

once you recognised the target.

Next came the change of the plates. To do this, the camera got

lifted up with the line, and now you had to use both hands.

During these critical seconds, the pilot had to stear the plane

with the left hand. With his right hand, he had to grip the

belt of the observer and pull him tight to the fuselage, so

he wouldn't swing off sideways.

The procedure was a bit laborious, but went fine.

Nothing for people with a weak set of nerves though.

(...)

This is just the sort of thing that makes me have such admiration for those two seater crews. You wouldn't have a chance to keep a look out for enemy aircraft whilst carrying out these procedures, or try and evade AA.

With Bletchley's mods, when you have a photoreconnaissance mission and have to keep straight and level for one minute, the feeling is very uncomfortable, especially if the AA has already opened up on you. I don't know what it must have felt like in real life.

.

 

HURRAH! Three cheers for the Quirk! Raise your glasses to the BE2!

 

Something along those lines Wayfarer?

That’s just the kind of thing. Perhaps also a BE2 week on the BBC. You know ... archive film, readings of aircrew reminiscences, Celebrity Artillery Registering; Justin Bieber attempts to direct fire onto a battery of 210 millimetres, while Anne Widdecombe tries to hold off the marauding Albatrosses of Jasta 4 with the Lewis.

crossing the lines sounds very good, but probably copyrighted.

 

how 'bout "OFF: Aura Nullius" which is latin and means the same like Terra nullius (no man's land) just in air, so no man's air.

Yes, I'd thought of No Man's Sky, but it didn't sound right. Sounds better in Latin!

I guess 'OFF: The Quirk Strikes Back' won't get a look in then (I just feel the BE2 should be celebrated more ...).

Yup, you can stall from using rudder. A moderate amount of rudder creates yaw, which increases drag. If you're already close to stall speed, this can put you over the edge. Less common but more dangerous is the sudden application of a lot of rudder, causing a rapid yaw. This causes unequal lift and will roll you over due to the outboard wing speeding up and the inboard wing slowing down during the yaw. If you're already close to stall speed, the inboard wing can actually stall, resulting in a snaproll instead of a barrel roll. Neither is a good thing to do on final approach, especially because by then you don't have much aileron authority to stop the roll. But if you're out of speed and have some altitude, the stomp-induced snaproll can be a useful evasive tactic.

That's interesting Bullethead, I think it may explain some of my more entertaining landings!

OFF: Revenge Of The Quirk

Interesting Creaghorn, I hadn't registered that.

I actually love Lone Wolf missions (I put them on my log sheet as 'single machine' because it sounds less macho to me) and usually set my own routes, but this could be useful when I don't have the time to get lost!

...and low flying two seaters used as bait for enemy scouts who attack, only to find out, "It's a trap!"

Sorry, I guess I'm getting a little excited!

That's another one I would like to see as well.

Here's a tip for movie goers.

 

My wife, rather more than me, is a great movie fan, as in going to the cinema, which I tend to treat as slightly less unpleasant that attending a public execution.

 

My eyes, though, were opened recently when we went to watch the final Harry Potter film - don't, before you even say anything, just don't. We'd missed the non-subtitles showing and so had to watch the one with subtitles for the hard of hearing.

 

Tell you what - I'm doing that again. Absolutely no noise from the rest of the audience whatsoever, and you quickly ignore the subtitles. Bliss. No crisp packets, no colicky babies, no kids rabbiting, no adults questioning the script. Just silence, and the occasional waft of hands behind you as two deaf people argue frantically about some aspect of the plot.

 

Well recommended.

Hey, mightysrc, I ended up accompanying the rest of the family on one of their number of visits to see the last Harry Potter film myself, and I don't even like the books. Thought some of it made quite an impressive spectacle. So you are not alone!

My wife had this last Christmas, she also loved Tenko about the Japanese women's prison camp. She's also read a number of books about prisoners of war. Seems to have some sort of empathy with them, really.

We've been married thirty years next year you know ...

Err ...

BTW, on the subject of campaign and AI improvements, what are the odds of getting a command to put your flight into a Lufbery Circle?

 

I would like to second that one.

Or getting two-seaters to scrub their mission if they sight enemy scouts within interception range?

Yeah, me and my BE2s are always doing it (can' t form a Lufbery, see) so I shouldn't have to be shown up by everyone else!

Indeed it does!...I shall scan and upload that pic for you m8!

 

Brilliant! I'll look forward to seeing that again after all this time (hope you don't get into too much hot water from the Wife).

And Olham that is a splendid example of just the sort of thing that inspired my interest in history when I was a kid. As I found out that things were often not as depicted in books or films, it only made me more interested , but I've never lost my affection for those kinds of illustrations for the sheer atmosphere they conveyed to me when I was young.

Make that seven books Wayfarer!!

(might as well get hung for a Sheep, as a Lamb eh?)

Does that mean, by chance, that you have bought a copy of 'The Story of Flight'?

Yes, those Ladybird books gave you a great idea about historical figures when you were a kid ... they always looked so noble! I was really shocked when I found out that Bruce had killed one of his rivals in church. My exact reaction was, 'he wasn't like that in the Ladybird book'!

I had the 'Story of Flight' one as well. The illustration of early WW1 aerial combat was classic, with an observer in a British pusher type aiming a rifle at an inscrutable goggled pilot in an eindecker type holding some kind of carbine or such. Not that accurate, but a great atmosphere to the picture.

Of course, Wayfarer - if you're in May 1917 and you'd like to get your bum in a Brisfit before 1920(!), you could always apply for a transfer.

A transfer is, indeed, what I have in mind as I've historically nearly reached the point where the squadron would be flying a two-seater type with a rear observer.

Thanks both.

I remembered that there was a list of deployed aircraft at the bottom of the enlistment screen, I'd forgotten that the specific type for a specific time period was displayed further up.

Does anyone know if it Is possible to find out whether a squadron might be due a change of aircraft?

I have been flying in 2 Squadron RFC, and reached May 1917. Historically the squadron appear to have received F.K.8s in 1917 and Bristol F.2bs in 1920.

I imagined that, in OFF, they would probably stay with the BE2. Just wondered if there was any file you could check that would give you a clue.

Just a small part of the picture, but I love the silhouette of the observer in the first screenshot.

Thanks to everyone who has been working to get the site back up.