I have seen a slumped observer before in PE. In the back of an Aviatik.

Thanks. This guy was a stud then. Wasn’t shooting though.

Flight with Jasta 11 heading off to the front. Ended up in a wild dogfight (hence no pics) with a Spad at low level, with him being slippery as a snake trying to evade me, but I finally got him. Unfortunately "Unconfirmed by Army means unconfirmed.'

Having graduated to occasional Flight Leader I lead "B" Flight of 60 Squadron over the lines for a jaunt against the Huns on 22 January 1917 about 5 miles behind the lines.
One subject in Flight Leader School I must have missed was to avoid dogfights in the clouds during a snowstorm. I collide with my foe sustaining damage. Not sure what happened to him.
I recovered from the spin and found, at full throttle with maximum rudder and bank, I could fly level (sort of) and had to steer with the elevator with very minor altitude corrections with the rudder! I thought this was especially cool as I have read a historical account of a pilot having to do the same thing. Rickenbacker after losing wing fabric in a N28? How about that for a damage model eh?
Anyway, once recovering my wits, I began to ponder how in the world I was going to land at full throttle and all canted about in a some field. Figured I wasn't but if I was going to die I may as well get a decent burial by doing so in friendly territory. My boys, no doubt already planning on dividing up my gear, escort me across the lines to watch the fun. Crossing NML I choose what appears to be the largest open area and aim for it. Try cutting back on my throttle a bit to at least have a chance of surviving but cannot as the nose quickly drops. So, putting back on the gas, I try to "land" as flat and slow as possible. A smash-up follows of course complete with bloody goggles. Took a pic then exited to attend my funeral but reports of my death were premature. Hopefully when I return from the hospital in two weeks the February weather will be much nicer .

Great story Duke,

had some of such landing attemps myself. Surviving things like that is a much bigger reward that any kill one makes. You will also find out that the DM is probably more forgiving because of being much more finetuned regarding the pilot, what he survives and what not.
Only thing I would recommend to you, when flying rotaries, is to use the blip switch, not the throttle. and if the throttle, then only certain numbers, not the lever.

Thanks Creaghorn and it’s funny you mention the blip switch as I just looked up the command yesterday and was trying to figure where to assign the command. Think I may be out of buttons though!
Half of my favorite flyables are rotaries so I figured I would try to join the party.

100% agree with Creaghorn. Historically, it seems that some rotary throttles had limitations.

I often end up using throttle with rotary for landings, although occasionally (when the mood strikes) I land with full throttle and and the blip switch. In dogfights I use blip switch extensively to maneuver and manage my speed and I find myself missing it when I'm flying non-rotaries.

Here's a pic from my current campaign (Jasta 7, February 1917) to not go completely off topic:

Since everyone has a reason for everything why Jasta 7?
And does anyone ever use the “totally everything random” pilot generation feature in the Pilot Creation Screen?

I usually hand pick my squadron and starting date. The main criteria for my choice of unit is usually that hey have interesting and varying selection of aircraft.

I originally started in Jasta 17 because it had nice progression in plane types from late 1916 onward (Including the early Fokker D-types). However they had me flying Fokker E.III even when I was the top scoring pilot of the unit and that ended up almost ending my career as I was badly beaten in a dogfight by Strutter.

After six weeks in French military hospital (and completely missing the brief period where Fokker D-types were in use) I sought transfer to Jasta 7. The main reasons were that they had Abatros D.Is and D.IIs and I liked the unit's color scheme (turns out it's not used before June 1917 though).

So far in this campaign I have finished 47 missions and I have flown Fokker E.III, Halberstadt D.II, Halberstadt D.III, Albatros D.I and Albatros D.II so far. I just requested transfer to newly formed Jasta 29 as they have early Albatros D.IIIs for middle and high ranks to fly and they are positioned in a part of the front I have not been to before.

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Makes good sense, mvp7.

Duke, I'm surprised you haven't been using the blip switch before this, it's yet another level of immersion. Just remember to use it judiciously as you can load up the cylinders with raw fuel which could cause a fire. As for other throttle settings on the rotaries, they do vary depending on type and year. Some had no throttle settings at all apart from full on, while others had one, two, or three different rpm settings you could run at. Some would allow you to cut out 3 or 6 cylinders for short periods of time to give you 2/3 or 1/3 power respectively, while others had a limited range of mixture adjustment you could fiddle with in flight. Still, the blip switch was the main control for most of them.

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There’s a feature I’ve never used: Request Transfer. Mainly because I tailor my careers at the start for time, unit, aircraft, and location. Probably why I end up in the same 5-6 squadrons/Jastas.
You’ve kind of inspired me. I may try the “totally random” pilot feature. Always wanted to try a “real two-seater career” to learn to bomb and see what the missions are like then maybe use the transfer feature. Give me an excuse to (hopefully) start in a Fee and not the Quirk. The b-model Fee of course!

You are correct Lou. I’ve kind of slagged off on the blip switch mainly for “ease of joystick settings.”
I may get back to my “one career only” thing and remap some buttons. And which rotaries are what with power settings is another excuse I have told myself.
And you timing is impeccable. I’m guessing your bombsight mod should work with PE?

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Yes Duke, I am fairly certain that Jara's updated version of my original mod that is available on Mike's mod download page should be fully compatible with PE. I would try it as a stand-alone first just to make sure, then see if it plays nice with the other mods you normally have installed.

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There's a pretty complete list of various throttle/mixture features of WOFF aircraft in FAQ section: https://SimHQ.com/forum/ubbthreads....y-each-plane-in-woff-credit-to-bletchley

Also in the FAQ's

21) *Gameplay* ‘Rotary Engine blip’ function – how to use in WOFF.For those who want to fly it realistically and it’s fun too  you can use the B key (default setting) in flightto blip your engine off temporarily;Of course for those who want, they can fly rotaries, using throttle like in previous versions of ‘OFF’, butthat is not realistic and not how it was. Or to add a joystick button too. To do this ;1. Map the "B" key via the tool in Workshop. In Workshop click “Re Map Keys”. The Wings: Over FlandersFields Function Bindings tool should open.2. Now in the tool top right under Filter Functions selectEngineControls from the drop down menu.3. Next look down the keys that appear in the 2nd column from the left.4. Find the “Rotary Engine Blip” key (which by default is assigned to the “B” key) and select it.5. Now a re-assign binding window appears. Instead of a key, press a button (not your usual triggerbutton of course, but another spare button).6. Now the blip will be on the “B” key AND the joystick button you chose.7. If you now fly a rotary engine aircraft (example Sopwith Camel), you no longer would use the throttlelever anymore when flying rotaries. Inline engine aircraft cannot be used with the blip switch and use anormal throttle.8. Once you have started the engine (E), you can hit the 0 key (zero) to set your engine at 100% throttle.The engine roars up, but while you keep the blip button pressed, the engine is interrupted. Then whenyou release the button again, it roars up again to 100%. Now using the blip switch you can control taxi-speed, landing-speed, you can use it for manouvering etc. Many rotary engines were Full on or OFF, witha blip switch to temporarily kill the engine power.If you press it for too long, depending on AC, your engine might die and need restarting (use the ‘E’ key)There are some rotaries where you had also partial throttles so rather than 100% power always + blip ,you could also set them to say ¼, ½, ¾ power. i.e. reduce the overall power and then still blip it down. InWOFF you can use the top row keyboard numbers and select 1, 4, 7 or 0, for engine basic settings only to mimic this, but best would be for the beginning just using 0 for 100%.Have fun. Especially while landing.

Well. So much for my “which engine does what” excuse. Thanks mvp7. I think.

And thanks too Lou and Creaghorn. Always a new frontier to discover with WOFF.

I finally got around to adapting one of my favorite old-time Red Baron 3D skins into the Wings Over Flanders Fields game. obviously all of the original artwork was done by the OBD crew. I was thinking of making up a new imaginary Japanese pilot to fly with France and see how long I can last. I find that I'm less likely to go 'crazy' in a campaign if I like how my airplane looks. ;-)

I know that the new Platinum Edition is out... but I guess I still plan to get some more miles out of the Ultimate Edition for awhile. I've been working so much that I haven't really had as much time to fly as I'd like

right now the Nieuport 11 feels a bit like a "One Kill Wonder". it does everything better and faster than the Fokker Eindecker… including running out of ammo!

Let's bump up the screenies thread - a few more assorted pics. from ver. 4.18 of WOFFue, "deadly trees and fences" edition , with razor sharp graphics via the sweetFX mod. Will eventually pick up PE by the New Year.

Happy flying,
Von S

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