Lt.Edward Eastwood RNAS4, Aug. 16, 1916 Flight Commander Halifax transferred in today bringing us up to a full compliment of pilots. What we need now is planes as we only have 3. Dawn patrol: 2 machines in A flight and I make up B flight by myself. Recon mission west of Messines. Flight to recon area uneventfull. As I turn to head home 6 machines come out of the clouds close enough that I can see they are EIII's. Dove into a cloud and played hide and seek in the clouds making it back over the mud but noticed one EIII and now a Roland still there and the Roland is gaining fast! I fire fleeting bursts at both during a spicy dance and finally get altitude on the Roland. As I turn to dive on him he goes into a spin and does not recover. Must have scored a lucky hit. About that time Capt. Drury opens up and the EIII is making his pass. I hear bullets striking my machine but nothing vital is hit. He makes one pass and makes for home. Being on our side of the lines I pursue and quickly get close enough for a distant shot. I fire two or three short bursts and he turns over and spins to the earth. I will take lucky over good any day. Returning to base I learn Hill will be claiming one himself. It will take a day to repair my machine so we are grounded again. That's fine with me as I can see this will not be over for a while.
Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear or a fool from either end. BOC Member since....I can't remember!
16 August 1916 Achille Coppens Quatrieme Escadrille (RFC 25), Belgium Farman F.40 Pusher (F.E.2b) - Back at Auchel/Lozinghem Airfield
Today I was released from the hospital along with my obs/gunner Capt. Bouckaert. The doctors have determined that we have recovered from our wounds sufficienty to return to full duty effective tomorrow!
Upon reporting back for duty my C.O. informed me that there was an opening in Esc 5 (RNAS-1) flying the Nieuport 11 if I was interested. I had hoped for the Sopwith Pup as I had heard the British flying men thought it was a better plane than the Nieuport 11 (but I'm sure the French flyers would differ!). But at my rank my C.O. was unable to find a slot for me in the new Pup, so I'll happily settle for the Nieuport!
My C.O. said he would submit my transfer request in the morning, so now it's on with the business of staying alive in my Farman until my transfer hopefully comes through!
Upon my discharge from the hospital I returned my Soldat Belge Hors Combat medal which is only carried by wounded soldiers during a period of recovery. And it did come in handy when I snuck out of the hospital last night for a glass of wine with Bernadette The MP's, always on the lookout for deserters, passed by our table but spotted the medal and moved on without any questions.
Dogfighting is what you do "after" you drop your bombs and blow something up! Can you say "JABO!"
MFair and Bucksnort. Thanks for the nice posts. I always enjoy hearing about other peoples experience in the DiD. Keep your tails up and the wheels down!
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The bombs might affect a dog fight. Of course, mine wasn't much of a fight just a gentle turn in a shallow dive then turns ( passes) to fire.. I did have to add power after the turns to catch and have a shooting position on the E/a. Additionally, I did notice that the AI attacks fighters with Bombs on board in most of my flights so I do wonder.?
I've flown in WOFF with a squad on a bombing mission, Strutters, and been pounced by EIIIs. I dropped my bombs and fought them. When I checked the after mission debrief my bombs of course hit nothing. My squadmates never dropped their bombs and df along side me.
I'm finding it a bit difficult to survive as an observer (just the guns with auto pilot) in either a BE2 or FE2b in the Flanders area. Every mission, I run into no less than 5 EIIIs who eat me alive. I can't seem to survive past 1-3 missions. It was a fluke one time that I managed to survive 6 missions.
It's kindda frustrating and I'm wondering if there is something I'm missing or am I playing it the wrong way?
I'm finding it a bit difficult to survive as an observer (just the guns with auto pilot) in either a BE2 or FE2b in the Flanders area. Every mission, I run into no less than 5 EIIIs who eat me alive. I can't seem to survive past 1-3 missions. It was a fluke one time that I managed to survive 6 missions.
It's kindda frustrating and I'm wondering if there is something I'm missing or am I playing it the wrong way?
I flew the FE2b looking over the wing backwards and that seemed to work. Didn't shoot anything down though, but we survived! Now on the 1½ Strutter and haven't tried being the observer (yet).
I'm finding it a bit difficult to survive as an observer (just the guns with auto pilot) in either a BE2 or FE2b in the Flanders area. Every mission, I run into no less than 5 EIIIs who eat me alive. I can't seem to survive past 1-3 missions. It was a fluke one time that I managed to survive 6 missions.
It's kindda frustrating and I'm wondering if there is something I'm missing or am I playing it the wrong way?
If you're still practicing for DiD then might as well just jump in. You'll never really master the BE2 or FE2b but you may survive long enough to transfer to a scout squad You can also start in the Strutter where you will have a much better chance of survival as it can fight.
WOFF throws more fighters at you than in real life as it would be a boring game if it modeled reality exactly. But what you're experiencing is why pilots only survived an average of 17 hours of combat flying in WW1. It was really dangerous out there, and maybe even a little more so in WOFF.
So if you want to start DiD in a BE2 or FE2b then I would start now with the goal of logging your 3 hours of flight time (about 4 missions) and then transferring to a scout squad. You never know, you might make it! And if not WOFF will have another pilot ready for you the next day
Dogfighting is what you do "after" you drop your bombs and blow something up! Can you say "JABO!"
As has been noted many times, WOFF is much more dangerous to our virtual pilots than the Great War in the air was to the real pilots. Combat takes place much more often than it did in real life, which explains the horrible casualties our virtual squadrons regularly suffer. I suspect most people would complain of not seeing enough action if the combat encounters happened as rarely as they did in real life, especially in the early years of the air war, so for commercial reasons we have lots of action going on.
Being a pilot or an observer in WW1 was probably one of the safest and most comfortable ways to spend the years of that bloody conflict and still participate in the fighting (of course having a nice desk job in some HQ chateau behind the lines was even safer). There were some more dangerous periods, like Bloody April, when some squadrons suffered abnormally high casualties, but generally speaking it was nothing like what the infantrymen had to endure in the trenches. Most pilots and observers survived the war more or less unscathed, at least physically.
In WOFF, don't be afraid to flee the battle! If the sim throws too many enemies against you, run away to fight another day. You don't have to fight every battle to the last man and bullet. That's the key to surviving longer periods of time in WOFF.
"Upon my word I've had as much excitement on a car as in the air, especially since the R.F.C. have had women drivers."
James McCudden, Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps
That last tip is important and good, Hasse. Pol said some time ago, that a sim like this would probably be boring for most simmers if it was as eventless as real life was often - and I guess he is right there.
But since I am not ashamed to run from a fight (or at least know that nobody can see my shame! ), I am surviving even beginning scraps, where we are hopelessly outnumber and "out-aced".
I remember a case where two SPAD VII chased me all the way down from 3000 Meter, and they were really furious. But at ca. 1000 Meter they decided not to give up all of their height, and let me go.
So, run away more, everybody, and you shall live. Better a night without sleep from all the shame, than eternal sleep, I say.
Vice-President of the BOC (Barmy OFFers Club) Member of the 'Albatros Aviators Club' - "We know how to die with Style!"
I understand and appreciate the advice. I've read the combat reports and posts in this thread and the information I gathered from it helped me to survive pretty long as a pilot in a two-seater, however, I was actually referring to just limiting your role for the first 3 hours as an observer without taking the pilot's seat. Has anyone sucessfully done this in the DiD campaign or is it not possible in WOFF?
You can't control the aircraft as an observer, so I imagine it's going to be very tough to survive being flown around by an AI pilot. They aren't nearly as good at avoiding dangerous situations as experienced human players.
"Upon my word I've had as much excitement on a car as in the air, especially since the R.F.C. have had women drivers."
James McCudden, Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps
They aren't nearly as good at avoiding dangerous situations as experienced human players.
Yeah, that has been my experience so far. By the time the AI pilot figures out that it needs to escape and run away from the fight, it's usually too late and we both get killed.
You can't control the aircraft as an observer, so I imagine it's going to be very tough to survive being flown around by an AI pilot. They aren't nearly as good at avoiding dangerous situations as experienced human players.
Well I\m not so sure. My escorts seem to be pretty good at avoiding a scrap quite frequently, but I realize that is not the point you are making and I accept that.
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Pilot quality probably plays a large role in how well the AI planes handle such situations. Two-seater squadrons with better than average rating are rare in WOFF, but if you're lucky enough to find yourself in such a squadron, you may well have better results than usual.
"Upon my word I've had as much excitement on a car as in the air, especially since the R.F.C. have had women drivers."
James McCudden, Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps
Being a pilot or an observer in WW1 was probably one of the safest and most comfortable ways to spend the years of that bloody conflict and still participate in the fighting (of course having a nice desk job in some HQ chateau behind the lines was even safer). There were some more dangerous periods, like Bloody April, when some squadrons suffered abnormally high casualties, but generally speaking it was nothing like what the infantrymen had to endure in the trenches. Most pilots and observers survived the war more or less unscathed, at least physically.
It seems that 90% of the PBI actually survived the war - less for the junior orficers though. It is true that a whole lot of trainee pilots were killed in training before the PTB (Powers That Be) changed the training courses altogether.
I think the worst casualty rates in ANY war were those of RAF Bomber Command in WWII - closely followed by the U-Boats and the Waffen SS.
I suppose one of the safest jobs in both wars was to be in Aircraft Maintenance - after all it takes 2-3 years to train a decent technician whereas you can train a pilot in a few months
17 Aug 1916 @ 07h19 Bomb enemy front lines north of Ypres
I lead the flight with Sheely, Parsons and Chadwick accompanying. “A” flight sent three strutters to follow flown by Soar, Hervey and Mesurier. We had thick scattered cumulous between 5000 to 7000 ft. The flight to the front lines was quiet. We bombed the target and returned without encountering enemy flak or scouts. Our C.O said we had a very successful bombing run.
YouTube Video: Video Not Taken
17 Aug 1916 @ 14h53 Artillery spotting for shot fall and enemy troop movement east of armentieres.
Escort of 2 DH.2’s from RFC-29 out of Abeele.
I lead the flight with Soar, Mesurier and Hervey accompanying. The flight to the spotting area was uneventful but our DH.2 cover was falling behind so as we approached the lines I turned back to greet them as they arrived. I then swung onto their tail and led the squadron on a circuit for spotting. We quickly encountered three enemy scouts flying EIII’s. It seems the DH.2’s were not interested and since the EIII’s had their eye on us I turned into one and gave the order to attack. I downed one, Soar got 2 and Hervey got one. We flew back to the base successfully and upon landing we all talked about the encounter. I explained I saw only three EIII’s but Hervey identified that while I was in a mix-up with two and Soar with another, he say a fourth arriving on the scene and intercepted it. The first one I damaged heavily was finished off by Soar when I had to turn to attack the second EIII. All in all a very successful outing as we all returned safely.
YouTube Video:
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Offzstv. Bernhard Harms, Kampfeinsitzer-Kommando Nord - Bertincourt, 17. August 1916
Geliebte Eltern
My dedication for our fatherland and my five victories at Kasta 18 came to fruition yesterday - my transfer to a single-seater unit took place after lunch. I now belong to Kampfeinsitzerkommando Nord, which is based at Bertincourt. That came faster than I had expected, and there was a great Hallo for my farewell. Everybody wished me well for my new work, which now is the hunting and shooting- down of intruding two-seaters. It was not easy to say goodbye, and our Hauptmann held a short speech, and then they all toasted to me with Champaign, and I felt a bit bashful. Especially saying "goodbye" to Leutnant Klein, my observer, was hard. But I am not far away from them - they drove me here by car, and it was a short tour of only 15 kilometers. I had to promise that I will visit them with my new Fokker Eindecker, and I will do, as soon as our new Staffelführer, Hptm. Zander, allows it.
Yesterday afternoon and this morning, I familiarised myself with the Fokker E.III. I had flown the craft before, when we had visited the Armeeflugpark, and so I didn't feel like a stranger. Then, after lunchtime, I was among the flyers on alert. At 14 h we were called to take off - three British two-seaters without escort came in, flying along the road Bapaume-Cambrai. All the other four pilots were flying the new Halberstadt, and so I thought I had not much of a chance to even get close at those Englishmen. But then Fortuna was with me - while the others climbed faster, to reach the highest flyers, one two-seater split off and came down lower. Perhaps he was hit by Flak, or one of our pilots had hit them - however, he was coming exactly my way! And what should I say: I engaged them and hit the big craft with several good bursts. The gunner was hit with the first rounds and sunk into his pit; my next bursts cut out the engine, and now the whole big sandcoloured plane glided down westwards. The pilot could put it down on a field, and the Englishmen were taken prisoners. Hptm. Zander was a bit upset about my early engagement; he would have prefered, that I would have hung back a bit longer. He asked all other pilots, if it couldn't be, that one of them had demolished the Bleriot Experimental. But our flight leader, Lt. von Mulzer, insisted that I had brought the Tommi down alone, and so my claim was forwarded. It got even better - it was confirmed before dinner time! There had been so many witnesses, that it was plain sailing! That was great of Lt. von Mulzer - and yes: he is the ace you must have read about, with no less but 10 vitories!
Now don't know right now if and when I could come home, but we will see - perhaps they will give me two weeks leave soon. After all I am an ace now with my 6 victories!
You will soon receive a longer letter. I love you, and my thoughts are with you every day!
Bernhard
[all correspondence from military personnel was of course censored in the war - my crossing out is meant to show, what would in real life be blackened out unreadable.]
Vice-President of the BOC (Barmy OFFers Club) Member of the 'Albatros Aviators Club' - "We know how to die with Style!"