Klaiber

PS: I did like it! A lot! Please don't view my observations as anything other than constructive.

Very nicely done! I enjoyed reading it. Overall, I think your conclusions are solid. And you do mention survivor bias, which is essential to factor into any combat report. Some helpful thoughts: You have very few primary German or French sources in your article, relying primarily on the USAS sources provided by the 3PG. While you do include Guynemer and Richthofen, both are edited and translated accounts into English. And both of these men are super aces, who (as you rightly mention) have vainglorious reputations amongst historians and armchair historians alike. Since both died in the war, it's hard to determine what they thought of their real battle experiences, once removed from the necessity of propaganda and esprit de corps. It would be great if someone could help you locate accounts from average German and French pilots within the Bundesarchiv (German Federal Archives) or the various French military archives. I think this information would strengthen your argument immeasurably. One of the other problems that I think exists with this topic is that you're forced to generalize to get usable data. One of these areas is the structural weakness of the aircraft. The section on the B.E.2d is excellent because you show that the plane could have structural problems and then show how an expert sharpshooter can aim for those areas of weakness to cause failure. It would be good if you had more of that, as I think the more specific you get, the more useable data you'll find. Another area of generalization that's hard to overcome is the discussion of aircraft fires. For example, most of the aircraft Manfred von Richthofen burned were in the mid to later part of his career, victories 49 and above. They are: 2x SPAD VII 1x FE2d 1x Sopwith Triplane 2x S.E.5a 4x Sopwith Camel 4x R.E.8 1x Sopwith Dolphin 2x AWFK8. Why were these aircraft more susceptible to burning than the earlier aircraft he shot down? Is it because Richthofen started reporting his victories differently? Could it be a translation error or a translator's confusion regarding a slang German term? Is it because Richthofen was a better shot at this point in his career and knew where to hit the enemy to get them to fire? Is it because they were tractor configured aircraft, not pushers? Was it the phasing out of the Schwarzlose machine guns in favor of the LMG 08/15? Similarly, was there a munition change to those MGs? Was there a design issue with these specific British types that caused them to burn? To overcome this, if you ever wanted to expand on your article, you may need to concentrate on one specific period and eliminate all of the super aces from your data pool, concentrating only on regular pilots and regular aces (5 kills and above). You might even need to focus on specific aircraft types. Or even particular services. I would concentrate on Summer and Fall 1918, as this is the most modern period regarding the air war. And it should have the most surviving data. Plus, you could then include the post-war evaluation data regarding the German aircraft, like the Fokker D.VII.

Cool, thanks! When the skins are added to the paint pack, the names will be changed to: v_!_JG1_[aircraft folder]_[pilot name].dds I've already converted your Albatros and Fokker D.VII over to this format. Just an FYI, so you can changed them on your end.

@Rotermann, will you have a separate D.VIIF? Or is this for both versions?

It should. At least, it's supposed to. Right now, the refly times are "honor rules." Meaning, the server can't enforce them. People are supposed to police themselves and their teammates. So, it would be hard to enforce a 5 minute refly for landing/crashing/disco and a 10 minute refly for bailing. However, if we could enforce it, what you're proposing is what Butzzell and I would probably want. We've tried adding in a server-controlled refly system to automatically handle things, and it works. However, doing so would eliminate the possibility of dead pilots acting as gunners, as it would autokick them when they entered a slot. Honestly, IL-2 needs to work on this and make these server-side controls more robust. That's a good point. Attrition is a real thing in FIF.

This is very nice stuff! Thanks for posting!

If an Entente pilot bails out while in the air, it's an automatic KIA. If I see a bail in the stats, and then a second or third sortie, I'll contact them about violating the dead-is-dead rules.

Got you. You've been assigned to the Blue Team with the rest of Jasta 5. Welcome!

FIF 2021 "Fall Campaign" - A1 Results (Saturday, 23 October 2021) Blue (Central) Objectives Completed: 10 Artillery completed Aerodrome destroyed Train destroyed Factory destroyed Bridge destroyed Rescue completed Strategic ship completed Reserve Unit destroyed Front line Unit destroyed Wreath Drop completed Red (Entente) Objectives Completed: 8 Factory destroyed Artillery completed Front Line Recon completed (Trench Map) Recon completed Bridge destroyed Aerodrome completed HQ completed Front line unit completed Total "Phase A" Objectives Completed (to date): Blue Team = 10 Red Team = 8 . . . Server Stat Information: http://fif.jg1.org:8000/en/mission/8277/ . . . Server Screenshots:

Hi REDMAN, it's great to have you back with us! I'll send you an email to your forum account address.

Got you. Blue Team.

Hi @Reiher, Welcome! I'll send you an email to the account you registered with. Looking forward to talking with you more soon!

All, if you're interested in getting something for DCS World, now is a great time. There is currently a Halloween Sale. Almost everything is marked down. So if you've had an aircraft in mind, now is a great chance to purchase. https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/newsletters/newsletter22102021-b9cdx4euq1jmnyqa5jzzjw2o5v2ovtxs.html

Thanks! I have you assigned to the Blue Team. Welcome

Thanks so much!

Thanks!

Great pics, Goat! Looks like you guys had a great time!

These look great Vonrd! A quick thing on mine - to the upper wing, could you add the pink chevron?

Hi @TCW_Welsh78 and @US_Williams, you've both been added to the Red Team. As above in the previous post, please make sure to joint the FIF Discord: https://discord.gg/HVmET2AmbZ

Hi @J5_Ragnutz-Sch27b, @J5_Josef_Tabone, @Nedo - you've been added to the Blue Team. If you haven't done so, please make sure to joint the FIF Discord: https://discord.gg/HVmET2AmbZ

Sie wurden in das Blaue Team aufgenommen.

Red Team.

Hi @Chewie, welcome! I send you an email to the address you registered with. Looking forward to talking with you more soon!

Hi Banzaii, you're all set for the Blue Team. I've flipped you on the FIF discord.

Aw shucks.