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I was thinking of starting an Intrepid pilot.
Had one before, but screwed up the naming by not splitting the two time periods into their own alphabetical order system. So what letter should I start with IF I create a pilot for the earlier time period?

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Jump right in Hasse, the water is warm. biggrin There is plenty of room for another pilot and we would be glad to have you. You have two choices, you can start a pilot in the earlier group which still is in 1915 or in the later group which currently is in February 1916. I have a pilot in both groups and I'm really enjoying the slower pace. One interesting aspect of this DID that I've really enjoyed is the fact that you have to really learn your plane since they are all so weak and under-powered. There aren't really any super planes yet.


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Why not just start him with 'A' and we'll just act like it never happened. biggrin


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OK....that is easy enough for me to handle.

MFair....you and those two sweaters!!!!!!
Hope you get a pretty Nurse!

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Originally Posted By: MudWasp
OK....that is easy enough for me to handle.

MFair....you and those two sweaters!!!!!!
Hope you get a pretty Nurse!


Yep. I hate those things. I am really enjoying the EIII. Once you learn its habits, mostly bad, its a fun plane to fly. Like Banjoman says. You really have to learn it. Good to see you making another pilot.


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I want to fly the really old crates for a change, so I've decided to join the Intrepid Fliers group in October 1915. I still haven't decided my pilot's nationality, but hopefully I'll be having a stroke of inspiration soon. smile

I have a question about the rules: are points awarded for the first three training missions?


"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
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Yes, as long they show up in your logbook then you will get points for them.

Edit: We could use some more Germans in the Intrepid group, if that interests you.

Last edited by Banjoman; 02/12/16 04:14 PM.

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I'm trying to decide between a French and German pilot. smile


"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."

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French would also be good since we only have one in the Intrepid group.


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I have decided on a German pilot. It wasn't an easy choice, but I feel the most comfortable with the Huns, because I know their military and aviation history in the Great War much better than any other nation. I almost picked a French pilot though! Maybe next time. It's a long war, after all. smile

Another question regarding the rules: is it *absolutely* necessary to start in the NCO ranks? I wouldn't want all of my pilots to follow the same relatively uncommon route of climbing from the lowest grades up to a company/battalion officer. So I was thinking about starting as a Leutnant. As you know, this is allowed in the other DID campaign.

If that's not possible, I'll just do it by the book. smile


"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."

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I don't want to be a killjoy, but do you mind starting at the lower rank. I think it models nicely that this is a long war and your pilot is just starting out. One other benefit, is you won't automatically get the nicer planes and that has been fun simulating that as well. In all honesty, we should have started even lower because I can tell you that since I've maxed out the rank with my Warbirds pilot, there isn't anything to look forward to as far as promotions are concerned. Anyway, I hope you don't mind that too much.


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No, I don't mind it too much. smile

However, in real life, most pilots were officers to begin with. Some *did* start from the other ranks and managed to make considerable progress, mostly because casualties suffered during the war made the air forces look for suitable people in circles that wouldn't even have been considered in normal times (early 20th century world wasn't very egalitarian or democratic), but it wasn't nearly as common as it is in these flight sims. My thinking of starting as a Leutnant reflected this historical background.

In WOFF, promotion rate seems to depend on how many kills you can get. My experience is that two-seater pilots with few kills get promoted considerably slower than fighter pilots with plenty of victories. So in this campaign, I intend to keep flying two-seaters as long as my pilot lasts.

Anyway, I'll be joining the campaign tomorrow! smile


"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."

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Sgt. Arthur Much, RFC 18. February 12th 1916.

Long, long defensive patrol today. Yet again, no sign of the Bosch, except for a pair of two seaters over the lines west of Bapaume, and they were too bloody high above us to be worth the chase. Boring, boring, boring!





Dramatic skies over Flanders, February stormclouds gathering


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Thought I'm fighting Immelmann until second green Fokker showed up.



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The connecting rod out of my brain, my brain,
From out of my arse take the camshaft,
And assemble the engine again."
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Salute

well thats one down and one to go.





yes. Bazz bought it this morning. Silly thing war.


make mistakes and learn from them

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Meet Offizier-Stellvertreter August Ege from Stuttgart, Kingdom of Württemberg, the newest pilot of Feldflieger-Abteilung 71:



Ege is a native of Württemberg and comes from a lower middle class family living in Stuttgart. He became interested in all things mechanical already at a young age, and through his father secured a job at the automobile factory of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft in his home city, working and studying there to become a mechanic. Like countless other young German men, Ege joined the army to perform his compulsory military service. Ege discovered that the army way of life suited him, and thanks to his skills as a mechanic, he secured himself a position as a non-commissioned officer in the Kraftfahrtruppen (Motor Vehicle Troops), a brand new technical formation of the German army, which otherwise still relied almost completely on horse transport, like all the other European armies.

When the war broke out in August 1914 and the peacetime formations of the German army were mobilized into proper armies (Armee), Ege, now an experienced professional NCO, was sent to Etappen-Kraftwagen-Park 5 (Army Motor Vehicle Park 5) under the headquarters (AOK, Armee-Oberkommando) of 5. Armee. This army, under the command of General Wilhelm von Preußen, the Crown Prince of Prussia, participated in the German attack in the West from the very first days of the war and fought fierce battles against French forces in the Verdun sector.

Ege and his comrades were terribly busy in those bloody weeks of late summer and autumn of 1914. The army didn't have enough motor vehicles available, and the ones that they had were soon breaking down under the constant strain of almost round-the-clock use in difficult wartime conditions. After the first four or five weeks of warfare, over half of the army's motor vehicles were out of action due to mechanical failures. Factories were not making enough replacement parts and new vehicles, and in late 1914, the first fuel shortages also occurred.



As the weeks went by and the war showed no signs of being over anytime soon, Ege became more and more frustrated in his work at the Motor Vehicle Park. He became acquainted with some men serving in Flugzeug-Park 5 (5th Army Aircraft Park) who sparked in Ege an interest in military aviation. He had been fascinated by airplanes since first hearing about them many years ago, but until now automobiles had been his main interest. However, with the war in the West turning into a muddy struggle in the trenches and the motor vehicle troops being thus reduced to an even lesser role than before, a frustrated Ege was soon writing his first application for a transfer into pilot training.

It took some time before his superiors accepted Ege's application. They were reluctant to let a capable mechanic out of their hands, but Ege made a good case and finally his transfer to the Fliegertruppen (Flying Troops) of the German army was accepted in the spring of 1915.

The next stop in Ege's military career was the flying school (Fliegerschule) of the Deutsche Flugzeug-Werke (DFW) at Leipzig-Lindenthal. Ege spent several months there learning the basic skills of a military pilot, flying different types of two-seaters, mostly DFW types, as befitted the factory's own flying school. He was a good student (though not the best in his class) and was promoted to the warrant officer rank of Offizier-Stellvertreter when he finally graduated as a pilot in October 1915.


A DFW B.I trainer.

Things were looking pretty good for August Ege as he started with his brand new Aviatik C.I two-seater on his transfer flight to his new unit, Feldflieger-Abteilung 71, which was based at Frescaty in the Verdun sector, under AOK 5, his old command...


"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."

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Welcome aboard Hasse, it's going to be really nice reading your well written stories. Lederhosen, I'm sorry to see Basil finally met his match. At this time the Fee is a formidable plane, you must have been outnumbered.


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wave Hi August

RIP Basil salute

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The Diary of August Ege.

16.X.15 Frescaty - Metz. Evening.

What a day! I was ordered to get a new Aviatik C.I from the factory at Freiburg, then fetch a passenger (an important staff officer that needed to get to Metz ASAP) and fly to Frescaty field, my new home with FFA 71. I was on the move at 5 AM and boarded the Aviatik, which was still smelling of fresh paint, having been cleared for use only yesterday. It was exciting to get a chance to fly a brand new airplane (and it was about to get even more exciting very soon...)!

The staff officer (a Hauptmann Berger - he didn't say much, but I got the impression that he's an intelligence officer) joined me at the field and soon we were up in the air, heading towards Metz. The weather was partly cloudy and pretty good for this time of year, with no strong winds or anything.

Everything went well for about an hour. I was avoiding the front and approaching Metz on a circuitous route from the east. I stayed slightly below 2000 metres to avoid the clouds and get a better view of the terrain. I could already see Metz in the distance when suddenly the engine began to lose power. I noticed the oil pressure was going down quickly, and soon the engine stopped altogether. So there I was with the important staff officer, my Aviatik turned into a heavy glider!

It was quiet with the engine now off, and I explained our predicament to Hauptmann Berger. There was no choice but to bring the machine down as quickly as possible and hope for the best. There was a suitable field on the eastern side of Metz and we glided towards it. The Aviatik touched down, bounced a couple of times and then ended up on its nose into a muddy ditch next to a wooden fence. We were both scared as hell, but the gods of war looked favourably on us, and we weren't hurt.

I helped Berger out of the Aviatik and we moved away from the wreck just in case it would catch fire. It didn't. Our accident had been observed by the Metz garrison, and soon a whole battalion (or so it seemed!) of soldiers was surrounding the crash site, with more arriving by horse and automobiles.

FFA 71 was informed of my crash, and they sent lorries to fetch me and the wrecked Aviatik. Hauptmann Berger had already left to Metz by one of the automobiles. He shook my hand as he departed, though I don't think my piloting skills left a very positive impression on him!

I received a friendly welcome at Frescaty, even though I felt (and feel!) like a complete idiot for managing to wreck a brand new airplane on my very first mission as a military pilot! It happens a lot, they told me. Maybe so, but it doesn't make my embarrassment any easier to bear.

Tomorrow I'll be flying my first mission from Frescaty. It will only be an orientation flight around Metz - they don't take new pilots straight to the lion's den! I don't have confidence in the Aviatik after today's troubles; hopefully things will go smoothly tomorrow.

***

What an interesting first mission for Ege! In real life, I started from Köln as per rules of the DID campaign. But for role-playing purposes, I wrote about Ege flying from Freiburg, since Aviatik had a factory there and I couldn't come up with a good reason for why he should have been at Köln (Cologne).

Everything else happened as described. smile


"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
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