Flying Circus Aircraft Guide — by Bender, Larnedras & Trupo [UPDATED 28/12/2021]

[BMA_Hellbender]

10 hours ago, GregP said:

This guide really is fantastic, the perfect resource for a newcomer to FC like myself! Love both the humor and the tips.  I may as well ask the obvious question: any plans to update with the full FC2 plane set? Pretty please?

 

Hey GregP,

 

I think we do owe you an apology and an explanation on why the guide hasn't been updated in so long, and has apparently been unpinned -- which also makes sense considering it no longer really reflects the current state of the sim.

 

I can think of two main reasons:

 

1. For at least two of the three editors (myself included), life seriously got in the way of spending enough time with the sim to accurately (re)evaluate these planes. It's a perfectly valid excuse, but also one that is quickly remedied by making an effort to make time for things that matter. This brings us right to point 2.
    
2. The guide was basically turning into a place to vent about frustrations regarding the damage and flight models that were ported straight over from Rise of Flight to FC1 and FC2, warts and all. While the problems with the damage model have been mostly addressed (or at least been made less apparent), the FM issues remain. Some of the latest FC2 additions in particular, such as the Nieuport 28, SPAD VII and Pfalz D.XII reopened some old wounds. The recent release of @Holtzauge's book on WWI aircraft performance further confirms through one of the most empirical datasets ever created that these old RoF flight models, most of which are over 10 years old, are badly in need of a rework. To add to that, the release of the Sopwith Snipe collector plane, which comes with its own brand new flight model, again illustrates how many of the older FMs appear to lack refinement compared to it. It's a problem pretty much across the board. We still eagerly await the release of the second collector plane, the Siemens-Schuckert D.IV, to voice a final verdict.
   
   In any case, the discussion concerning the direction development should take with regards to the old FMs can be found here:
    

[Raptorattacker]

1 hour ago, =IRFC=Hellbender said:

The guide was basically turning into a place to vent about frustrations regarding the damage and flight models that were ported straight over from Rise of Flight to FC1 and FC2, warts and all.

Fair point...

[GregP]

Hellbender, thanks for the detailed reply, and that does indeed help provide the context on how we got here.  Lots of interesting discussion in that thread, and I'm hopeful that changes for the better in FM modeling will be forthcoming.  

[FeuerFliegen]

On 8/30/2021 at 10:59 AM, J2_Trupobaw said:

Hello everyone, Trupo here with news:
Bender is taking a step back from writing this guide for time being because real life happened . But we are neither closing the guide or turning it into platform for unfiltered Trupobiases - @US93_Larner (who was our  sometimes consultant and voice of reason) has stepped up as co-author, providing very different point of view to mine. We believe the things we can agree on are as close to balanced opinion as possible ?.
Since the thread belongs to Bender and we cannot edit it directly, I have couple of requests for @SYN_Haashashin :
1) Please alter thread title to add Larnedras second author (after Bender, before me - in alphabetic order)
2) Please add below entry to the "Silver" tier of review in the first post.  

Pfalz D.XII (FC Vol. 2)

 

the cart horse

 

Pros:

▲ Altitude Throttle
✓ Very good climb rate
✓ Great high altitude performance

✓ Very good climb rate
✓ Good visibility

✓Fast at altitude
✓One of fastest German planes on the deck

✓Parachute

 

Cons:
▼ very poor dive characteristics
⨯ low maneuverability
⨯ reaches flutter speed very quickly in dive
⨯ spins difficult to recover from

It's hard to talk of the Pfalz D.XII without comparing it to other planes. Historically it was seen as "The Poor Man’s Fokker D.VII” - offering the same speed, climb rate and performance but none of maneuverability and ease of handling at all speeds. The BMW-equipped FC2 Pfalz D.XII has a similar relationship with FC's Fokker D.VII F. Alternatively, it can be thought of as an attempt to build a German Spad, sharing the French plane's speed, climb and limited maneuverability but failing to reproduce the handling, dive performance and adding nasty high speed behaviour on top.

Although not nimble enough to be a turn-fighter, and handicapped in its handling qualities outside it's speed comfort zone (going either too slow or too fast), the D.XII has no equal in top speed at higher altitudes. Its high-compression BMW IIIa makes it an excellent pursuit plane and affords the D.XII a competitive edge as an energy fighter against any high-flying Entente scouts...but be careful not to stall her out, or you may find yourself in a near-unrecoverable spin!

 

 

 

Incase you forgot, the information for the D.XII on the main page has much less info than the one here.