I love the early career and my E III. I have no trouble downing Newports, it is the balloon attacks with flack that I find interesting.

I was under the impression that balloons were usually 'escorted' by a few scouts - yet in the campaign, you can shoot them down without being bothered at all. It's a bit too easy to complete balloon attack missions right now.



@Teddy: Can you provide me with a link to this mod and a guide as to how to tweak it? Sounds like it's just what the campaign needs. Will it work with the current campaign?

also it is written in my printed game manual - the game would take place from late 1917 to 1918.

But the mistake was done already at gamerelease, with the N.17 as first AdOn aircraft..........

I don't know if there has been another release since THIS thread.

Don't know about you guys, but I definitely prefer flying the EIII to the DH2. The latter just feels a lot more fragile to me.

The EIII is faster (81mph to 88mph) and climbs better than the DH2, the ROF DH2 is very very slow, its by far the slowest plane in ROF currently. Rightly or wrongly the EIII is way easier to fly than the DH2. Being able to haul the stick all the way back and drive round in tight circles with no fear of a nasty stall is a big advantage to the EIII flyer. Of course the EIII's problem is its glacial roll rate.

In his diary McCudden, while flying the DH2, talks about being driven really hard by a well flown Eindecker. I don't think the Eindecker was that bad a plane.

No argument there - the EIII's roll couldn't be better described than glacially slow! Is that down to the wing warping (it hasn't got any ailerons!!) I love the detail 777 have lavished upon these planes - the EIII is basically flown by some sort of pulley system!!!!

Most early aircraft prior to WW1 used wing warping via a pulley system to achieve roll. It was far more simple than rigging ailerons at the time. Also, early aircraft needed more wire bracing for ridgidity so they used what was already going to have to be there for the bracing. Funnier still, some even performed BETTER with wing warping than with ailerons due to the increased weight and drag you got with early ailerons.

I would love to actually find some Eindeckers in my Oct 1916 campaign in my Dh2 but all I find is Albatrosses that can run circles around me. Id love to know how the AI manages to get so high up so quickly as well I always end up miles behind my flight because they are so much more efficient at climbing. I would like them to be a bit more rubbish. And yes I definitely vote yet again for more early 1916 2 seater recon planes to shoot down. I actually love flying my DH2 (dunno why) but its pointless because it cant catch anything or win against Albatrosses. Amazes me how it stayed around so long in real life. I've had to move onto a Pup squadron because the DH2 is so useless.

It's all about fuel mixture and how much you take up.

I certainly don't agree with that statement. I am flying a Nieuport 17c in 1916 and am constantly being left behind by my flights.
IN RL I have 600 hours in tail dragger biplanes so I think we can rule out poor handling. I have reduced fuel to 30% to improve weight and since mixture can be a problem after experimenting with settings I have flown the last few missions with auto mixture. Still being left on my little ownsome. Odd thing is that some who fly SE5as have no problems.

I think with the early rotaries the AI flies at full throttle constantly (as they should) combine that with perfect mix, trim and the exact best climb rate for each plane and I suspect it gives them a slight advantage over 99% of human players.

With the inlines the AI seems to use lower throttle settings as in my SE5 career using full throttle I out pace them quite easily. I'm not sure about the other planes, my only career is in the SE5.

It must be the mixture. I'm cheating and using AI radiator and fuel mixture and I generally keep up as long as I make the first couple of turns as soon as we have taken off. I find the flight leader tends to turn quite sharply to cross the river (sorry, I've only flown for Jasta 11 near Douai) but if I anticipate it I end up alongside or sometimes overtaking. Anyway, once I make it at that point I'm usually okay until cloud or I get distracted etc.

Mind you, I have two introductory flights under my belt totalling maybe 70 minutes, so that may be the difference.

Mogster, I have even tried climbing at a lower rate than the AI's so angle of attack is also eliminated as a reason. Naturally I fly with full throttle. Under those conditions I should actually be faster than the AI's. Believe me I tried every combination before making a complaint.

Yeah, there is something about the AI . . . seems it could be simply fixed by setting a slightly slower target speed for the AI in the generated flight plan . . . hopefully next patch?

Nimits, is the trouble like mine-- with the N17C.
F_S_M you are flying Central planes. As the SE5a seems OK, it might be a N17C problem.

As there was no trouble before the latest patch it might be something that is easily fixed. Let's hope so as I'm getting tired of flying each mission on my own.

About the E.III's roll - it was really meant to be rolled with the rudder. The wing warping "aelerons" were there to fine tune the roll. If you want to turn in an E.III try kicking the rudder.

Two other "real life" notes. While the E.III did soldier on for probably far too long, when the Albatros came out the Germans very aggressively upgraded squadrons. Jastas were flying Albs in a very short time. Oddly, the British did notdo the same. Despite having the much improved Pup in the stable from late 1916 (never mind the N.17 with which other squadrons were equipped) they continued to fly the DH.2 into a the first third of 1917.

The other point about the E.III's longevity is that by June/July of 1916 it was already being replaced by the Halberstadt D.II, Fokker D.II, and the Fokker E.IV. None of them were world beaters but they were an upgrade - especially the Halb.

Just started an N17 career to see if I can catch up. Again, I'm still cheating and using automatic mixture and radiator so it'll be interesting to see if that accounts for the difference. It certainly won't be my piloting. Still working out how to get the thing back on the ground without snapping a spar or two, and diving is positively lethal - who built that rudder?
I must say that after six straight weeks of Eindekker action, having a throttle again is a bit overwhelming. Forgetting this fact has nearly done me in a couple of times and I'm only up to mission 2 (following a brief sojourn chez l'hopital).

While not being particularly concerned about the field mods - you know, is it fair or is it scandalous - I must say that the thought of having a compass is quite tempting. It's a good thing the map and the terrain are actually distinctive enough to be easily navigable.

"Despite having the much improved Pup in the stable from late 1916 (never mind the N.17 with which other squadrons were equipped) they continued to fly the DH.2 into a the first third of 1917."

I might be wrong, Patrick, but I believe that much of that was down to the farce that was the RFC's procurement procedures compared to those of the RNAS - from whom they effectively ended up begging aircraft.