sinbad

The first thing I would add is the JonesSoft generic game mod http://www.users.on.net/~jscones/software/products.html It will be a great help as you add and delete, and will enable you to easily try variations of whatever you do. Having said that, apart from A/C I would do terrains, and Peter01 FMs. Peter is now working on a DL package for newbies, but I am not sure when it will be available. sinbad

As far as my research can tell, P10ppy had given us an authentic mod. The sources I find indicate that the rockets were fired by a single switch, that they were extremely inaccurate, with orders to attack in a steep dive and fire as close as possible to the target. US War Dept report noted in December 1916: "The fire is commenced at 100-150 meters whilst diving at an angle of 45 degrees. The steeper the dive the greater the trajectory and the more effective the attack. The attack should be made in the direction of the length of the balloon and against the wind... the ring of the front sight permits the pilot to calculate the distance at which the firing is to commence... the pilot should fire as soon as the balloon fills the front ring. The discharge of the rockets does not occur immediately the button is touched and the delay varies slightly from one rocket to another. It is absolutely necessary to continue to hold the target in sight and the dive until the last rocket has been discharged. If the pilot breaks off or pulls out of the dive too quickly the last rockets will go in different directions and give a dispersion which is altogether inadmissible. " BTW the orders also routinely instructed the pilots to machine gun any of the observers who might bail out. It seems the observers were very highly trained and difficult to replace --- more so than the "sausages." I read one account by James Hall (who later wrote "Mutiny on the Bounty") describing his attack, in a near vertical dive to within about two hundred yards of the balloon, a salvo fire of the rockets, and a total miss by all. This is an excerpt- "High Adventure A Narrative of Air Fighting in France James Norman Hall Orders- At 10.40 A.M. the four patrols of attack will leave the field, and will rendezvous as follows. [Here followed the directions.] At 10.55, precisely, they will start for the lines, crossing at an approximate altitude of sixteen hundred meters, each patrol making in a direct line for the balloon assigned to it. Numbers 1 and 2 of each of these patrols will carry rockets. Number 3 will fly immediately above them, offering further protection in case of attack by enemy aircraft. Number 1 of each patrol will first attack the balloon. If he fails, number 2 will attack. If number 1 is successful, number 2 will then attack the observers in their parachutes. If number 1 fails, and number 2 is successful, number 3 will attack the observers. The patrol will then proceed to the aerodrome by the shortest route. Commentary- “Our Spads were ready after luncheon. A large square of tin had been fastened over the fabric of each lower wing, under the rocket fittings, to prevent danger of fire from sparks. Racks for six rockets, three on a side, had been fastened to the struts. The rockets were tipped with sharp steel points to insure their pricking the silk balloon envelope. The batteries for igniting them were connected with a button inside the car, within easy reach of the pilot. Lieutenant Verdane, our French second-in-command, was to supervise our practice on the field. We were glad of this. If we failed to “spear our sausage,” it would not be through lack of efficient instruction. He explained to Drew how the thing was to be done. He was to come on the balloon into the wind, and preferably not more than four hundred meters above it. He was to let it pass from view under the wing; then, when he judged that he was directly over it, to reduce his motor and dive vertically, placing the bag within the line of his two circular sights, holding it there until the bag just filled the circle. At that second he would be about 250 meters distant from it, and it was then that the rockets should be fired. The instructions were simple enough, but in practicing on the target we found that they were not so easy to carry out. It was hard to judge accurately the moment for diving. Sometimes we overshot the target, but more often we were short of it. Owing to the angle at which the rockets were mounted on the struts, it was very important that the dive should be vertical.” The Attack A rocket sailed into the air and burst in a point of greenish white light, dazzling in its brilliancy, even in the full light of day. Immediately after this two white objects, so small as to be hardly visible, floated earthward: the parachutes of the observers. They had jumped. The balloon disappeared from view behind Drew's machine. It was being drawn down, of course, as fast as the motor could wind up the cable. It was an exciting moment for us. We were coming on at two hundred kilometers an hour, racing against time and very little time at that. “Sheridan, only five miles away,” could not have been more eager for his journey's end. Our throttles were wide open, the engines developing their highest capacity for power. I swerved out to one side for another glimpse of the target: it was almost on the ground, and directly under us. Drew made a steep virage and dived. I started after him in a tight spiral, to look for the observers; but they had both disappeared. The balloon was swaying from side to side under the tension of the cable. It was hard to keep it in view. I lost it under my wing. Tipping up on the other side, I saw Drew release his rockets. They spurted out in long wavering lines of smoke. He missed. The balloon lay close to the ground, looking larger, riper than ever. The sight of its smooth, sleek surface was the most tantalizing of invitations. Letting it pass under me again, I waited for a second or two, then shut down the motor, and pushed forward on the control-stick until I was falling vertically. Standing upright on the rudder-bar, I felt the tugging of the shoulder-straps. Getting the bag well within the sights, I held it there until it just filled the circle. Then I pushed the button. . . . The rockets leaped out, with a fine, blood-stirring roar. The mere sound ought to have been enough to make any balloon collapse. But when I turned, there it was, intact, a super-Brobdingnagian pumpkin, seen at close view, and still ripe, still ready for plucking. If I live to one hundred years, I shall never have a greater surprise or a more bitter disappointment.” sinbad

Modding all the FM would be a really daunting project, especially since all the work to date has been directed at making the FM authentic. If you slowed down the speeds and stalls, may other flight characteristics would be affected. Perhaps an easier approach (and more fun) would be to try flying the really early war birds which were slower. You have a really great stable of crates to choose from. sinbad

Thanks HerGr, DL now. sinbad

Well some things are in the works. I can report that these hearing devices were misled when the Staakens first appeared. It seems the noise levels were so high that the observers thought the aircraft were much closer than they were, and the reports were off by miles. This contributed to the amazing success of the Staakens over England, where none were ever shot down, either by aircraft or flak. Stay tuned - more to come. sinbad

I stumbled across this site today. http://ww1-aircraft.info/ It is very well done and growing. There are cockpit photos drawings, and color charts in addition to photos and source. references. sinbad

Firefox will take you there. Explorer works to navigate. sinbad

I think the Farman is an MF-20, and we do not have that yet. Perhaps someone will become inspired. I suppose rockets could be mounted on the MF-11, but I have no evidence that this was actually done. Use appeared to require the attack to commence above the target with a fairly steep dive, so there is some question that the early Farmans could handle that. I have started a post which is more complete but that project is dragging a bit. sinbad

After the April patch with a light tap I can get partial salvo of 4 - 5 with remainder on next click. There must be something changed in the control coding.

Rather a small batch of well executed planes with what appear to be well rendered cockpits (N-17, Avro 504, Sopwith Pup and DRI). Only one German, the MvR DRI (not to mention the incredible Zepp). No apparent way to tell about the AI, or what terrain adaptations, if any were done for the period. It seems a bit thin. When the stable gets larger it may be interesting, but for the forseeable future, I'm keeping my wallet closed on this one. sinbad

All this is good news indeed. The early war years are a real strength of FE. That's why I run two installs. I'll help with skins if more are needed. I am especially interested in the AH planes and the Adriatic theater. One day I hope we will have terrain modeled for that area. Who will be doing the FMs for these birds? sinbad

The Salmsons in my install are flyable after installing the mod pcpilot but the, but the ailerons are offset. It may even be a glitch from the original install. It does not affect flying characteristics, but it certainly looks dumb. There must be a way to correct the nominal setting, but it is beyond my poor powers. Any guidance? Thanks. sinbad

AOK now. Thanks P10ppy! sinbad

This may be of interest. http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=5gwcl9jgG6M sinbad

As I suspected. It seems that if we want to fly in the Adriatic it will require new terrain. Thanks for the tests. sinbad

I DK about from FE to others, but I would like to know about migration in to FE. There are some very nice mountain terrrains that would do nicely for Italy and the Adriatic. sinbad

Thanks for this one ( and your other work as well). Historically based missions are especially appealing to me. Historical accuracy (AC/skins/FMs, etc.) seems to be the whole point of it, nicht wahr? No one can do it all so we need this sort of teamwork. sinbad

The most direct way is to use the ammo weight mod (it lowers the weight of the shells by about 40% ) from Peter01. It was in his most recent FM packages, but I have it as a stand alone if you cannot find it. sinbad

I think I am going to revert (again) to two installations. One for late war (mid 1916 - 1918) with EP and all updated object.ini and FMs and another pre EP early war (up to mid 1916) with as many ancillary patches for terrain etc. as can sensibly be loaded. There is an entirely different feeling to engaging the early war A/C, and this sim has a very diverse inventory for the early war period. Not all of the early birds are up to the same quality levels for cockpits, LOD's and skins, but the early war install offers something particularly appealing, IMHO. That late war EP version fully patched has more eye candy and on odd numbered days I may prefer it. I really cannot see any way to effectively balance the two periods without two installs, especially since the FMs for the early war are not compatible with the EP version. If anyone has advice about getting the most out of the non EP "early war" version, I would be grateful.

I vote for 1, but 2 would be OK. I am a compulsive upgrader and have no problem making changes. After all the pilots and crews constantly tweaked the planes, some to get the basics stable and correct, some (e.g. McCudden) to significantly improve performance. It is a real part of the game. IMHO, for those that just want to jump in and go, they can do that without any fuss, so no real need to do a "full service patch." That is something TK must do, not you.

A thousand thanks. -- Now if I can only get the rest of the mods to run properly . . . sinbad

Thanks for hanging in there Peter01. I'm using your previous (most recent) FMs now, and will stand by for the revisions. I fully understand what you mean regarding the time involved. I tried and quickly abandoned an effort to mod the Bort Alb DI FM using a file compare/revise program. Since I absolutely know nothing about it, and had that demonstrated as I installed my abortive attempt, waiting is the prudent thing to do.

Ok - I'm curious. What Cambrai mods, please tell?

As I was preparing the data enties to install the FM mods for each aircraft, I was again reminded of the tremendous amount of detailed, work that went into these mods. Then I thought of the hours of testing necessary to tweak them. Flying is what the sim is all about and these FMs are a strong contribution. Thanks again Peter01! sinbad