CastelEtzwane

Checking one's six is a good rule of thumb to live by, but my opinion is that it is counterproductive to do this in those situations where you have a juicy target sitting right in front of you. Better to concentrate on the task ahead of you and finish it off as quickly as possible than worry about the possibility about a rear attack. I think that this is also what combat flyers did in real life, at least in the WWI and WWII. And when I speak of a fast, persistent attacker, an ideal situation describing this would be an Albatross V-strutter attacking a Pup or even better, a SPAD or SE5a attacking a Triplane. In these cases, the defender is capable of a tight loop while the attacker is not. In order for the attacker to hit that looping plane, he has to pull inside the defender's loop to acquire a shot. That is, he has to loop tighter than the defender himself, which he can't. So the looper is quite safe from attack if the attacker started at a reasonable distance behind. Of course, if the attacker was 200 yrds away when the defender started his loop, then the defender has most likely done the attacker a favor by looping, by allowing him to close the distance. Yeah, things get very confusing in a dogfight, and this applies especially when recovering from a loop. But I've looped a fair number of times now, and that scene at the end of the loop film clip was typical. When I perform a clean loop against an opponent, he ends up somewhere in front of me (and usually above) wallowing about cuz he is recovering from, or close to stalling. I'm guessing that the other SPAD which was flying away from the fight was my original victim, but I could be wrong. Who knows, maybe two SPADs had been chasing my pilot. Anyway, here is a recording I made last year of my Fokker Triplane pilot looping twice against Se5as. Both times he manages to turn the tables and lock onto his attacker. First loop at circa 00:45. Second loop at circa 01:53. Come on, people try out a loop and see for yourself - Its great fun !!

Personally, I use the loop once in a while when an enemy is on my tail. Most of the time performing a sudden turn will suffice to throw the enemy off your tail so I do that without thinking. But if that enemy is fast and persistent, I usually remember to try a loop against him. As a rule of thumb, I use the loop if there is an faster enemy on my tail and I am at looping speed or can achieve it in a hurry. Some planes are harder to loop than others but as a consolation in the case of pulling back too hard, a resulting high speed stall throws off the aim of the pursuing enemy so you don't take damage. Here is a video of my current Fokker DVII campaign pilot Randers looping against a SPAD XIII (no sound): At the 50 second mark my pilot is taking hits from an attacker behind him so he breaks off his attack. At the 1:08 mark he commences a loop and completes it about 10 seconds later - with the SPAD now in front of his gun sights !! (Note: I got so excited after this that I ended up mistaking the cockpit view for the gunsight view and used up all my ammo firing at the wrong spot so that the SPAD eventually just flew away. ) Pretty sure that I have another recording of one of my pilots looping against a pursuer and turning the tables.

I'm serious, RickRawlings - clothes are optional !!

Here is an amusing video of the conclusion of a combat between a Triplane and a Camel: HE BUMMED A RIDE !!? P.S. - this is an old video, at the time I was using EdTracker, which I had issues with.

I have the Thrustmaster T.16000M flightstick + TWCS throttle. Not only can you map about 10 keys to the throttle, it also has a rudder pedal shaped like outstretched wings just beyond where you normally rest your fingers over the keys (the throttle, which you wrap your hand around, has keys built into them. And just beyond where the fingers are resting is the rudder wing). I use the pedal wing instead of foot pedals and it works great. My main complaint with the throttle is that instead of sliding smoothly, it sticks and so requires a good push to get going. Before I got used to it, I sometimes pushed the whole device 6 inches forward instead of just the throttle. Btw it was too much trouble to get TrackIR where I live so I use a headtracking app on my Android phone called Smooth Track. Used in conjunction with OpenTrack, it is very cheap and does a great job !! You don't have to wear anything on your head or body in order to use Smooth Track.

Then congratulations are in store for Leftenant Nought !! He should try to live it up while he can, cuz the latest rumour is that the Huns are replacing their old Eindeckers with a speedy new scout called the Albatross . . .

WOFF BH&H Fokker DVII Campaign: Feldwebel Randers #7 In which Fw Randers jousts with French two-seaters and their gallant pilots.

Remember the Sopwith Dolphin ? It had, in addition to the 2 forward-firing Vickers MGs, a single fixed Lewis MG firing OVER the arc of the Dolphin propeller blade. If you look at a profile picture of the Dolphin, you can see that the Lewis is pointing aboug 45 degrees upward: I'm thinking that if we can get the Devs to program a flyable Dolphin for WOFF, then an offshoot of that would be an upward firing gun for the Nieuports and the SE5a. Kind of like killing two birds with one stone, if you get my drift.

Well if you do fly a DVII campaign, be sure to go easy on the quick maneuvers at high speed. You'll lose a wing before you know what's happened !!

Note: sorry, found out how to make a 'cleaner' video and so replaced the #2 Campaign video. Didn't realize I couldn't delete the old post with it. So made a new post. WOFF BH&H Fokker DVII Campaign: Feldwebel Randers #6 In which Fw Randers has chased after the French SPAD XIIIs which challenged his aerodrome as his flight prepared for the morning's dawn patrol. (The SPADS gave battle over the airfield but the results were inconclusive. ) Randers is slowly gaining on a SPAD 800+ yds in front of him when he glances back and spots an aircraft about to overtake him. What follows next is the subject of this video.

Another mission from my current Fokker DVII campaign. In which our hero Randers and his schwarm encounter some French 2-seaters. He shoots one down, then turns to deal with the SPAD XIII which has been attacking him. However, he soon realizes that his radiator is holed and that another SPAD has joined the fight. He then disengages by diving through a handy layer of cloud.

Another mission from my current Fokker DVII campaign. In which our hero Randers and his schwarm encounter some French 2-seaters. He shoots one down, then turns to deal with the SPAD XIII which has been attacking him. However, he soon realizes that his radiator is holed and that another SPAD has joined the fight. He then disengages by diving through a handy layer of cloud.

My experience is that just about every contemporary to the Halberstadt DII can run away from it. Also, I found that with the Halberstadt DII it is difficult to line up a shot and keep your bearings. Anyway, here is a video from my Jasta 10 June 1918 Fokker DVII campaign. The quality is not up to forum standards, but what the hey, it is my first public video. Background: Taking advice from this forum, I have used mods to tone down rear gunner accuracy. Still needed to put in a mod which shows tracers. P.S. - I have yet to jam my guns, which I kind of miss . . .

I have problems facing rear gunners in BH&H. When I engage a recon aircraft as a lone Hun, I seem to die 75% of the time. Does anyone else have similar trouble ? Please use this thread to tell us of your experiences in taking on 2-seaters. I used to be able to sneak up underneath the 2-seater and then pop up for at least one closeup burst before it began to fight back but that does not happen anymore. Instead, it seems as though as soon as I am eligible to be fired upon by the rear gunner, my aircraft engine is damaged and my pilot becomes wounded. Many times the recon plane banks as I approach under him, giving the gunner an opportunity to give me a broadside. Two times my pilot has been mortally wounded by the rear gunner as he flew past a two-seater following a head-on pass. My pilot's ac regularly receives hits on those occasions when he is circling under a two-seater while the two seater is circling overhead in the opposite direction about 100 yds up. That is some mighty goood deflection shooting, especially without tracers to help guide them !! Another problem is that the rear guns don't seem to use tracers so I have trouble seeing who the gunner is shooting at. I (think) I used to be able to see tracer when he shot back so I would know whether to evade or press home an attack. P.S - My Albatross DVa pilots lives in mortal fear of Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutters. Is this how things were supposed to be in scout-versus-2-seater confrontations ? Any advice is welcome.

This is what happened to my pilot as well !! A clean landing resulting in a flameout . . . Are there unseen objects on this airfield ??

What is the Mission Replay function ? When and how does it work ?

OK thanks for all the answers ! - In the Workshop, my rear gun accuracy was set to Normal so I have now set it to Less Accurate. - Have now set up JSGME and the tracer mod activated so I saw some tracers from the Breguets my pilot fought in the mission I just flew. - I have no experience with the MultiMod but I will sure take a look at it now. - Practicing is a good idea but frustrating since I already have tons of hours of WOFF flying time already.

OK, thanks ! Still couldn't find it and then later looked at Rick Rawlings 'Cracker Jack Rolands' video, and lo and behold, there it was being demonstrated in all its glory.

I have noticed that when my pilot is assigned a 'Ground Forces Support' mission, the patrol height is almost always 10 000+ ft. Does anybody know why this is ? My thinking is that a 'Ground Forces Support' mission should consist of flying top cover for the ground forces and thus defend them in case they are targeted for attack from the air or ground. But How can this be done from 10 000 ft ? One cannot spot aircraft flying below 6000 ft if the defensive patrol one is flying with is at 10 000 ft. This means that any low-level attacks on ground forces go unnoticed. Only bombing attacks at high altitudes have a chance to be detected. Detecting strafing attacks is out of the question at 10 000 ft and I think that ground forces were in much greater danger of low-level attacks than 'strategic' bombings. The same problem exissts to a lesser degree for the other 'defense' type missions like balloon- and airfield- defense missions. So does anyone know why 'Ground Forces Support' mission patrol altitudes are set so high ? Is there something I'm missing or is this a mistake ?

OK, thanks for your replies. I agree that flying low over enemy ground forces seems to have been dangerous work. But if you can get a hold of Bill Lambert's combat memoirs (an American who shot down about 20 ac for the RFC), he relates how his No.24 Squadron (Se5a in 1918), along with several other squadrons (Dolphins, Camels) was ordered to carry out ground attack missions, beginning at the end of July 1918. This was in conjunction with a big 'push' in August 1918, can't remember what it was called. It seems as though they came in over the enemy ground forces at 2000-3000 ft, visually picked out targets and then dove down to strafe/bomb. I don't know remember how long they kept up with these attacks but they were so harrowing that poor Lambert became traumatized and had to be hospitalized for nerves and a broken ear drum. He didn't remember what happened after the 1st few ground attack missions, only that he started to 'come to' and got a few flashbacks while convalescing later in a hospital. So it did happen that RFC squadrons conducted intensive ground attack operations in 1918. But in this case the German ground forces seemed to be on the retreat and not occupying trenches. RFC casualty rate was high but orders were orders. It seems that these type of missions could be created for WOFF and that corresponding German 'low altitude' ground forces support missions could be created in return. Sounds like it would be fun and historically correct as well. Can someone make this happen ?

It is my sad duty to inform you that 2nd Lt. Fisticuffs Finney, RFC 40, has died in the service his country. Lt Finney flew a defensive patrol over the front lines when his formation encountered a formation of Albatross DVs. In the ensuing combat, he downed an enemy scout without injury to himself. Upon his return to Bruay, Finney was observed to abort his first two landing attempts. On his third approach, the Se5a was in a good position and landed normally. However, witnesses report that 2 seconds later there was a tremendous crash and the Se5 was then seen wreathed in flames. The accident is still under investigation but it is speculated that Lt. Finney was unfortunate enough to have collided with an errant fire barrel just after touching down . . . Finney was credited with 2 victories and is to be awarded a posthumous Military Cross. For King and Country !!

Another defensive patrol mission for Fisticuffs Finney. Heavy clouds with rain. Patrol point was an Army base, patrol height 13 000+ ft. At this altitude little happens more often than not, and such was the case. No action.

11 November 2017 - Flew my first combat mission with RFC 40 as part of a 7-plane gaggle led by Mannock, assigned to fly a defensive patrol. Weather was overcast with rain. Flying conditions above the rainclouds though were fine. I was not optimistic about our chances to see any action. The Germans are usually loathe to send aircraft over the British lines and when they do, they are usually bloody two-seaters. I do not relish the thought of engaging two-seaters, as they shoot back when attacked from the rear. As our formation flew along its assigned patrol route, I spotted 3+ aircraft to the west and so broke off to investigate. As I bored in I counted 7 puffs, a mixture of Archie and aircraft. These aircraft prøved to be Albatross V-strutters, perhaps 3 in number. I think at this time we were at 8000 ft. The one I picked to attack was on the ball and turned into me and fired head-on. I fired back but was nervous and missed. Then we began going round and round. And round. I could hear the engines of other enemy scouts buzzing behind me but did not care to look back. I was convinced the Se5a could outfly any Albatross in the skies and so concentrated solely on my target. To my chagrin, catching the enemy V-strutter proved quite a struggle. My mount was not getting nearly as many RPMs as it had been when flying safely in formation with Mr. McElroy and Mannock. Had the Albatross hit my Se5a in the head-on attack ? At last I achieved a firing position at medium distance and commenced, getting in 2-3 bursts while the Albatross executed a wide climbing turn. All the while I struggled to keep my Se5a from stalling. I then began hearing the sound of machine guns behind me, but dismissed this as a ruse to get me to break off my attack on their comrade. I had been told that the Albatross could not turn with an Se5a as long as the Se5a maintained a climbing attitude at the same time. However, as I lined up another burst at the V-strutter I was chasing, the machine guns behind me chattered yet again, this time scoring hits on the wings and airframe of my craft. I jerked the nose of my Se5a down and dove, the machine guns behind me chattering occasionally. When I judged I had built up enough speed, I jerked the joystick back into my stomach and my mount shot up and around until we hung upside down in the air. However, after this things did not go as planned as my attempted loop sputtered at its apex and my aircraft flopped down into a stall. Fortunately, the Se5 is a forgiving ride and stalls gently. I righted her and then tried to look in every direction at once. There ! I spied two dots against the clouds, one towards the sun and the other away. I coaxed my mount towards the nearest one, this time glancing over my shoulder occasionally to avoid being surpised again by a rear attack. As I gradually closed the distance on the lone V-strutter, I noticed for the first time that the Albatross had a golden diamond shape on the fuselage and a gold diamond gracing the horizontal stabilizers/elevators. Quite fetching, I thought. After a sufficient period (I had thought the Se5a could catch up to anything in an instant), I lined up a long-range shot thru my distance sights, thumped my rabbitsfoot hanging around my neck, and let fly. My second burst must have hit him, for the scout seemed to squirm and then commenced to hopping about like a cat trying to avoid a broom. This allowed me to close to a reasonable and I now began peppering the fellow nicely. While I fired, at the same time I willed the enemy machine to begin falling but it did not cooperate. Instead it soldiered on towards its own lines. It seemed I had just begun when suddenly the firing stopped. I was out of ammunition! What next, I thought as I followed along after the V-strutter. Then I remembered that my Lewis MG should have another canister left and that I should re-arm the Lewis. However, just as I realized this the Albatross dropped its nose to the left, and began to spin downward. I followed after it at a leisurely pace and was rewarded with the sight of it crashing inside our lines. Jubilant, I consulted the onboard compass and set a course for Bruay, our airfield. After a minute or two, I noticed blood on the floor of the cockpit. ??? For the first time I noticed that the flying leathers of my right leg were bloody. I then made a beeline for the nearest aerodrome and landed, not wanting to take any chances. After a small bit of medical attention, I called No. 40 Squadron and they promised to pick me up after 1 PM. By 4 PM I was back home at Bruay, in time to be debriefed and then eat supper with the rest of my flight.

I just realized that it is misleading to write 'recent skin jobs'. To make things clear, these are embellishments of existing skin jobs done by someone else for WOFF. I have merely added personal markings to these skin jobs. Hats off to the guys who make skins from scratch !!