Lederhosen, very good points. I sometimes wonder if maybe the engine failures are turned up a little to high. I stated in another thread that I've read a lot of WWI memoirs and I don't remember anyone ever mentioning engines just bursting into flames.
I'm no WWI engine historian. I think too many failures occur, at least for my liking. Now I can understand a engine going bad, losing power, seizing up, and dieing. We get all flamers though with our Aviatiks. Like you mentioned, there sure are a lot of fires. Lost two Aviatiks yesterday in one mission that way. We've plenty of Aviatiks, but are down to 4 men again. We've lost 4 in about a weeks time, had 2 replacements come, and lost 2 again.