Suggestion for improving plane management

This is what my current DID campaign plane setup looks like in KEK Nord, late June 1916:



Somewhat demoralizing, wouldn't you say?

I know this is not a bug, but a feature of WOFF. However, I'm sure most people agree with me that it makes no sense to find your pilot in a situation similar to the one shown in my screenshot. If the squadron has enough new airplanes available for every pilot, and some of those new planes are even kept in reserve, with nobody flying them, why can't my pilot get one?

Could the plane management system be changed so that such completely unrealistic situations would be avoided in WOFF?

Yep starting at a low rank I've been annoyed at being given "the old rust bucket up the corner"
What can be annoying though is trying to keep up with the faster craft in your squadron/Jasta.. I must admit to liking OBD,S attention to detail and I believe this was how it was?
If you use Triple J,s Me though Hasse you can change your craft in there to what the other lads are flying..It really is an incredible piece of work that IMO enhances WOFF to a even greater level.

It would make sense if the squadron had only a couple of new machines available. Then they would of course give priority to the most experienced pilots. But when there are more than enough new machines available for everybody, and in fact so many that some of them are even put in the reserve, things cease to be realistic.

I may have to give this mod a try.

Yep, why not?

Best to enlist as a higher rank if you want the better aircraft. It works based on rank "slots" so anyone with a low rank will get the lowest aircraft. Browse through dates using the manual enlistment option in player creation. That way you can see if the rank you are thinking of using for a particular squad will at some point get a better aircraft.

We can't change it currently as it would be a lot of work with all sorts of ramifications in the campaign system - it's already rather complex to handle multiple aircraft in the squads.

And that’s how it was. An enlisted pilot wasn’t permitted in the Mess with the gentlemen, was quartered and ate with the other enlisted men, and flew the oldest aircraft in the Jasta. The Fliegertruppe was at least as class conscious as the RFC, if not more so
Cheers
Shredward

You're missing the point. In the pic above a lowly Vizefeldwebel is flying a better plane than the player with a higher rank. All we're asking for is some justice! Mutiny is just around the corner!

Mutineers will be shot !

Beatings will continue until morale improves, eh?

I wouldn't say the German air force was more class-conscious than the British. An NCO pilot was an anomaly in British units, but they were quite common in German and Austro-Hungarian squadrons. Austrians actually had only a couple of flying officers in each squadron, the rest of the pilots were all NCOs. However, observers in both German and Austrian air forces were always officers. The French and Italians also had plenty of NCO pilots, but I think the Americans only accepted officers as pilots during WW1.

Anyway, I understand if this is something that can't be changed by the devs at this point in WOFF's life cycle. Fortunately there's a mod available.

If they keep flying the old planes they will definitely get shot. That’s not a threat, that’s a guarantee.

Yes, Stachel... that's what you will fly here... the out of date Pfalz!

The opposite of this also seems to be true at least in specific circumstances. I was flying in FFA 32 from November 1915 to early January 1916. When the only ace of the unit left at start of December (due to database error Ernst von Althaus is assigned to 32 rather than 23 during November), no one was flying the Fokker E.III anymore using the Aviatik C.I instead. The two Eindeckers of the squadron collected dust in reserve through December and January.

Not sure if this can happen with any FFA even without scripted ace leaving the squadron but it could explain why I never saw a single Fokker (from any squadron) during the two months I was in the unit.

If it also varies maybe just play the game as if this is what the commander of this squadron has decided and get on with it. Or transfer.
We like you to feel how desperate and scared to go up, as it was in WW1 when sometimes you are stuck with an inferior aircraft against a better equiped enemy.