I think that anyone who isnt enjoying (or simply marveling) at the HP400 is wierd.

There are few fun things to do than grab 3 mates, and fly off into hunland and wipe out a town, factory, or airbase and then fly back shooting down angry Hun as they buzz around you like angry wasps. The other good thing about it is that it means that other multicrew planes are now possible (the DH9, Brisfit, FE2B, Roland ect). Thats a milestone.

The next plane will be the gotha (thats been in the public domain for some while now) and youll have to see what follows.

Trust me, it will be good

Take the leap Trumps, it's a long way from complete, but still very good and it is improving in leaps and bounds.

On low settings you may be able to run it, although not sure what your specs are, main thing is we need more Aussies on line, it would be nice to not always have to fly on US, Japanese and German servers, not that there is anything wrong with the servers, but a good ping would be great.

Probably. But I do have real reasons for disliking "big planes." By "big planes" I mean the kind of aircraft you can stand up in, and which can carry a small crowd, and in which one can't safely do a split-S, and so on. Size is far from my only determinant, but a lumbering aerial barge is a lumbering aerial barge.

To me, aircraft are individual entities at heart. Every man should have his own set of wings, and he shouldn't have to carry someone else around with him. Flying, to me, is about beauty, freedom, and power. The airliners and the bombers deny all that. Controlling one of those giants is only technically flying; it's rather like driving a bus. Not at all graceful.

That all said, yes, the HP O/400 is pretty impressive. It sounds great. It makes big booms. And I darkly enjoy seeing it go down. But I fly it only to test things out. I don't really enjoy flying it. It's a departure from my reasons for loving aviation (which are more complex than the summary I gave in the previous paragraphs; a full explanation is too wordy to post at the moment). I am weird.

these ancient (with the old, not used gamengine) WIP shots are saying nothing.

the next will be 99% the Gotha bomber - to "balance" the HP. Hell, the FIRST flyable central plane that can carry bombs

than.............i hope for BristolFighter/Halberstadt CL.II for mid 1917+ and 1 1/2 Strutter/Roland C.II for 1916/early 17 as flyables.
after them they could release singleseaters again, Halberstadt D.II and Spad VII are comming to my mind.

and as already said, some "bred and butter" twoseaters would be stronlgy needed to fill at least the sky of the announced career mode with life ! I would guess as AI, because i doubt a lot of people would buy (sure , some, but not many IMHO !!) a flyable Morane Parasol, Be.2, Fe.2, Albatros C.I, Re.8, Salmson2 and so on ..................
But than there is the proplem, how 777 can earn money with AI planes......................................
my suggestion in the past was, they should release a payfor AdOn, focus on flyable and AI twoseaters. That idea was not very welcomed in the forum . WOW, to pay for -> sakrileg...... wondering myself what else we did , or not (like myself), with the last planes

Horses for courses, of course, but I've always loved the bombers - ever since I got to climb about in one of the BoB film Casa 2.111 (He111 subs) as an Air Cadet. I bought Il-2 because it was a sim for the Sturmovik. Great fun is to be had blowing stuff up. I like most of the fighters too, but a heavy bomber gives more edge in my book; the vulnerability factor is higher for one thing and that induces an uncertainty to missions. Also enjoy the teamwork factor to the big bombers. It's of a different sort to teamwork in fighters, more personal. If one of you screws up you all die!

What RoF really needs IMHO - after the Gotha is out - are some smaller Central Powers aircraft that can carry bombs. There's an imbalance at the moment by having the Camel and SE.5a bombed-up for the Entente, but nothing on the other side. Would have to be a two-seater I suppose; haven't heard of bombs on the German scouts but I could well be wrong.

Could be....but I'm guessing that means you have no interest in joining the Mile High Club, huh?



=MFC=Gunloon

I dislike teamwork. [smile ] I am a duellist by nature; what I love the most is duelling in Second World War fighters. Barring an equipment failure due to imperfect maintenance on the ground, the pilot's skills are the sole determinant of survival and victory. If both pilots do everything perfectly, then neither will be harmed, all other factors being equal. I love that dynamic. That isn't true in other situations such as ground attack. Ground attack is more like M.A.D. If both opponents do everything correctly, then both of them die. My very best fights have been duels in which I and my opponent both knew our aircraft well and, both being highly skilled, flew so well that neither could gain a decisive advantage. Those fights ended in a desperate truce after several incredible minutes. (For various reasons, which I will expound upon if anyone is curious, this dynamic doesn't quite exist in Great War duels. The latter are less M.A.D. than ground attack but more M.A.D than duels in Second World War fighters.)

YES!

I'm amazed at the fun I'm having with the HP. Setting up bombing solutions on the fly (so to speak) is my new fun activity. Goofing around with the turrets is fun, and of course there's the discipline needed to anticipate the movement and inertia of a large and heavy plane to fly it decently.

Then there's the ability 777 gave us to take anyone in ROF up with us, even if they don't own the license to fly it.

I'm kind of appalled that no one's talking much about this feature. Given that it's revolutionary due to the combination of everyone having all the planes as part of the business model plus 777 giving open permission for gunners to join in, I thought more people would be pleased to go for a ride and run the guns in a plane they didn't have to pay a cent for.

Guess they're too busy looking for things in ROF to gripe about. A shame.

=MFC=Gunloon

My guess is a Gotha, although I too am looking forward to the Biff.

My mates have almost all bought it, so if that's true in all squads then maybe that's why we don't hear much about it. There's no-one to give that free ride to. And the individual who might jump into one online won't be on the squads comms etc. It's a great feature though, nonetheless.

I thought everyone had bought the bomber, if not just to have it. It was the price of a meal at McDonalds and twice as filling (and fattening).

The same quality of plane for MS FSX would cost three or more times as much and be much less fun. I am planning on buying all planes they produce because they are works of art showing some of the best model and texure work I have seen. Also to help support ROF in their continuing effort to bring us the best of the best.

As for the next plane I am betting (hoping) for the Gotha.

I'm not sure why people want the DH9 with its crap engine...

Why not the much better DH4, full of Rolls Royce goodness? Faster much better altitude performance and still used to the end of the war. The DH9 deserves to be in a crap planes thread

Agree with Mogster, the DH9 was never considered to be a natural replacement for the DH4. It was one of those situations where the development money had been spent, and there was no political will to do the right thing.

FE, DH4, or Salmson, Whalefisch or Aviatik for two seaters.

SPAD VII, Halberstadt DII are a must for mid years to get a rounder plane set

I'd love two pre-June 1917 two-seaters for the AI to use.

I'll buy any two seater (or the Roland for that matter). However, I need a faster computer for the O/400...

Really I think the problem was from mid 1917 RR needed to produce engines for the Brisfit, the DH day bomber crews lost out.

The DH9 has always been a misunderstood creature. A far as airframes goes, the DH9 is the superior machine. Without being heavier, it was stronger, carried more fuel, had an internal bomb bay and placed the pilot and gunner back to back for optimum communications. The problem was getting quality engines in sufficient numbers.

The DH4 had suffered from the same lack of suitable engines. Of the six front line RFC squadrons equipped with the DH4 in 1918, 3 had early model RR Eagles (Mk 250-275hp I-VII), 2 had the 230hp Puma and 1 had the 260hp Fiat A.12. With plans for 1000's of DH9 instead of 100's of DH4's at the front, there was no way massive over-stretched Rolls Royce company could produce 1000's of extra Eagle engines. It was either Puma's or Fiat's and with the contract for the first 1000 Fiat A.12 engines months and months behind schedule, the Puma was the only engine that could be produced in the numbers needed. While the Puma never gave the 300hp initially expected, by 1918 it was a reasonably reliable engine it handled correctly.

What always surprises me is, as the DH9 was a vastly superior machine to the RE8 and FK8 and was available in large numbers, why the Brits didn't replace the corps machines with the DH9?

Spoon

Don't get me wrong, it's a really well modeled aircraft. But I allocated so much to the monthly gaming budget, and with the sale I decided to get the rest of the scouts instead. I figured I could always just play gunner. I was an NFO in a previous life, I'm used to running weapons whilst praying the PIC doesn't kill us all.

Understandable, I'm intimately familiar with having a budget to contend with. I've been collecting the planes since they started releasing them and taking advantage of the periodic sales so the pre-release price wasn't a big deal. The HP isn't going anywhere, but it's such a different experience flying it I can't recommend it enough.

I'm sure the Gotha will be a hoot once it comes out too...wouldn't miss any of these, of course

=MFC=Gunloon

According to Jane's "All the World's Aircraft" at the time, the main alterations to the DH4 were the move of the pilot's cockpit rearwards, making space for the internal carriage of bombs in the fuselage. In comparison to the DH4 the total empty weight was reduced by 100 lbs, the fuel tank size increased and the load carriage increased by 500 lbs, at the cost however of "a slight loss of speed and climb and an increase in the landing speed".

What was not said at the time was that at full load, the service ceiling of the aircraft was about 14,000 ft, some 2,000 ft lower than the DH4, meaning that enemy fighters were able to reach the DH9 formations more easily. Other sources characterize the DH.9's performance in action over the Western Front as a disaster, with heavy losses due both to its low performance, and engine failures. Not an ideal replacement.

Besides, the DH9 comes online in March 1918, the DH4 in August 1916 and was still being used in 1918. The DH4 is the better choice for RoF as it covers more time and will be the better aircraft for players.

While I'm not in a hurry to purchase the big girl I'm thinking how much fun it would be to have just HP's and Gothas' flying against each other making long ponderous broadside runs against one another.