Does anyone know the number of missions a pilot might fly in WWI. Say Udet, or someone like him that flew for most of the war and survived. Thanks.

I know that Guyenmer had 666 hours of flight at the time of his death, in September 1917, he learn to fly in February 1915 and joined the front in June 1915.

I think it was different for British or German pilots.
From the British I read, that they were sent back home to serve as instructors or so,
when the doctors feared a man might "crack up" from the permanent strain.
The Germans, as far as I know, had to stay until the bitter end.

Thanks Gents. I was trying to get an idea of just how many hours one of those brave fellows racked up. Thank you very much

Someone posted here the numbers of "combat" flights that 12 different aces made to achieve their victories.
About 2 months ago. I think it was Bucksnort but I don't remember the thread title to assist with the weak SimHQ search feature.

In OFF3, IIRC, the Dev's said the average was 17 hours of flight time at the front and your goal should be to surpass that.

Well, there was a post about this last year in February.

http://SimHQ.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3911166/Re:_Historical_engagement_rate#Post3911166

Hello MFair, I think for the British there was a concept of a "tour" of duty that would usually be from 6 to 9 months at the Front - although, so far as I can make out, it was never quantified in terms of missions or hours flown. I think it was up to the Squadron commander to decide when a pilot had had 'enough' and should be returned to Home Service as an instructor, or with a Home Defence squadron. For pilots from Australia, Canada, South Africa etc. Home Leave could be substituted for this time spent in the UK. After several months a pilot might be posted back to the Front, often as a Flight Leader, for a second tour. If they survived another 6 to 9 months at the Front they would again go back to the UK for a 'rest' and if still considered to be fit for active service they might return to the Front after a few months either as a Flight leader or as a Squadron commander. Most pilots and observers survived at the Front for much longer than a few hours - on average for over a hundred hours - but WOFF tends to telescope this time as the rate of combat encounters is ahistorically high (necessarily so, as it is a game).

For the French and German air services I do not think they served 'tours' in the same way, although they both had less active Fronts for 'resting' a pilot, or more usually whole units. The number of hours or missions flown would vary, much depending on the activity at the Front and the season. Most of the major offensives were fought from spring through autumn, at least on the Western Front, whilst poor weather and shorter days would restrict flying in the winter months. In the last year of the war the German air service was also restricted by fuel and other shortages, which led to progressive rationing by Kogenluft (down from 1500 litres per jagdstaffel per day at the start of 1918 to as low as 320 litres per staffel per day for some jagdstaffeln) although the effect of this seemed to be very variable. I have just been going through the Bodenschatz diaries for JG I, and there is very little reference there to fuel rationing (just one single reference, on 26th May 1918 to the "guaranteeing of adequate reserves of fuel") and the jagdstaffeln of this unit appear to have flown intercept missions at a rate of 4 or 5 a day in the most active periods. If you read Rudolf Stark's memoir of a Bavarian jagdstaffel (Wings of War) however, they appear to have had only enough fuel during most of 1918 for one mission in the morning, and were then on 'standby' for the remainder of the day. Stark also refers to Kogenluft instructions not to use fuel for cleaning engines, and the replacement of motor transport with horses - although in both cases he appears to have got around these restrictions. These non-elite units were often short of aircraft and spare parts as well, so I guess this helped to mitigate the fuel restrictions placed on them. From January 1918 onwards Kogenluft restricted operational flights to a maximum duration of 90 minutes, and for test flights to a maximum of 60 minutes, and General von Hoeppner refers to photographic reconnaissance flights being reduced in frequency due to fuel shortages. The reason for the shortages is unclear, as both the supply and consumption of aviation fuel went up considerably in 1918 as compared to 1917 - it may have been a case of demand outstripping supply, or of distribution problems. It does seem to have been very variable though, with some elite units being almost unaffected, whilst others were effectively grounded at times. As a pilot, the opportunities to fly and to fight would therefore be dependent on the unit that they were asigned to.

Normal two year career would have about 600 flighthours if you fly the sorties as they come and take leave every now and then, so WOFF reflects that pretty well.

Where I disagree is: WOFF tends to telescope this time as the rate of combat encounters is ahistorically high (necessarily so, as it is a game).

That was in OFF the case. Not so in WOFF. Of course it depends on your settings and your attitude. Most flightsimmers want to have instant gratification and action and heroisms(which is understandable, it's a sim and there to have fun afterall) and are themselves the reason why there are more often and more intense fights.

If you have air activity low, encounters set at realistic, if you only attack when the leader attacks, or if you retreat from fights without taking more risks than you would do in real, if your goal is surviving, not necessarily killnumbers, then it reflects pretty much historical numbers. Depending on period I have encounters every 5-10 missions, and if there is a fight, very often indecisive and without casualties. So both ways are absolutely possible, which is great that WOFF offeres options for all types of players.

Thank you so much for the in depth reply Gents. Very informative Bletchley.I was going to give my pilot 30 days leave after his 100th mission which was 7 months service. Seems I was on the right track.

Creaghorn,it seems I need to set air activity to low. It is set as medium now. I am having encounters about every 3 missions now.

Thanks again!