Just reflecting a bit on this DID campaign thus far.
1915...few aircraft and lots of space to fly in. It's a cheery time for both sides as war flying isn't very dangerous. If you stick to your mission only then conflicts with the other side are rare indeed, allowing pilots and observers time to improve their skills. Shoots and recce must of been very good by Sep 15. A first taste of what's to come in the form of Mg's being mounted to Be's etc.. the arms race has began.
Thus far my biggest "HUN" has been the engines errupting into fireballs. For the past 5 months Alfred has whatched at least 3 members of his flight go west this way and had three fires himself too! I found myself looking at the Rev&oil indicators and listening to the engine more than looking for beastly Huns. Alas one moment of overconfidence and even the tame Be2 can become a Hun on landing. So far No.16 Sqn has had 3 crews dead due to fire, I crashed as have a few others, and some just never returned. Except for the ones lost over Hunland, due to ?????, almost all casualties have been due to accidents.....and that sounds about correct.
I can see now were the mess traditions of these very young crews started. They had plenty of time in the evenings to drink and play at the mess, after all this war aint so bad is it?