I am running a 20 plane mission and all four of my bombers either crash on takeoff or shortly after..the other 16 planes take off just fine. what could be causing this?

Lots of things so so not to delay you endlessly if you dropped your mission in we could look at it and see what's happening for you. There are possiblities for attaching (zipped) files over at the RoF site's forums (some of them only though)

Flights need to be instructed how to form up carefully, that's usually the problem: are they four-flights? Works for 16 though so you know what you're doing by the sound of it

Ming

yes I have all my commands and triggers setup properly. one thing I had forgotten to do was link their first waypoint to the mission begin MCU so I fixed that and now maybe they will work properly. I do have one other question Ming....say I want the bombers to fly to a waypoint first then the target area....how do I set that up? do I put a commanf "after takeoff" then ID the waypoint? after they reach the waypoint, how do I tell them to then fly to the "attack area"?

I want the bombers to fly to a waypoint first then the target area

The target area will have its own waypoint, Waypoint2 or something, ActionPoint: you can rename the waypoints (and the planes)

Tip. Put the first waypoint quite a bit away from the takeoff point, to allow the flights to assemble before the first turn (to the next waypoint) - and fly in a straight line to the first waypoint, again to minimise dangers of collisions

Get down near the planes in the 3D viewport and move the first waypoint so it's clear of trees around the airfield

do I put a commanf "after takeoff" then ID the waypoint?

Target the initial waypoint by way of an OnTakeoff message, or you can simply Target the initial waypoint from the Mission Begin object (icon) with the plane as the Object of that waypoint. The Mission Begin control triggers the waypoint as the mission begins, and the plane responds by flying towards the waypoint (when it's in the air)

after they reach the waypoint, how do I tell them to then fly to the "attack area"?

Add another waypoint. This should help-

(link on next line)
http://riseofflight.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=348&hilit=basic+circuit

It can take a while for all this to sink in atlanta, don't be disappointed or frustrated if you're not getting anywhere immediately, come back and ask again it's no bother. It's only because we have so many more options than in Il-2's FMB that it takes more time to get going

Ming

thanks ming!!