15 Rules of Mick Mannock (June 1915)

[yaan98]

While reading one of my WW1 books, I found this to be interesting.

 

1. Pilots must dive to attack with zest, and must hold their fire until they get within one hundred yards of their target.
2. Achieve surprise by approaching from the East. (From the German side of the front.)
3. Utilize the sun’s glare and clouds to achieve surprise.
4. Pilots must keep physically fit by exercise and the moderate use of stimulants.
5. Pilots must sight their guns and practice as much as possible as targets are normally fleeting.
6. Pilots must practice spotting machines in the air and recognizing them at long range, and every aeroplane is to be treated as an enemy until it is certain it is not.
7. Pilots must learn where the enemy’s blind spots are.
8. Scouts must be attacked from above and two-seaters from beneath their tails.
9. Pilots must practice quick turns, as this manoeuvre is more used than any other in a fight.
10. Pilot must practice judging distances in the air as these are very deceptive.
11. Decoys must be guarded against — a single enemy is often a decoy — therefore the air above should be searched before attacking.
12. If the day is sunny, machines should be turned with as little bank as possible, otherwise the sun glistening on the wings will give away their presence at a long range.
13. Pilots must keep turning in a dog fight and never fly straight except when firing.
14. Pilots must never, under any circumstances, dive away from an enemy, as he gives his opponent a non-deflection shot — bullets are faster than aeroplanes.
15. Pilots must keep their eye on their watches during patrols, and on the direction and strength of the wind.

[ZachariasX]

8 minutes ago, yaan98 said:

Pilots must keep physically fit by exercise and the moderate use of stimulants.

Thank God alcohol is a depressant.

[JGr2/J5_Hotlead]

A lot of those rules can be applied in this sim. Thanks for sharing!

[Cynic_Al]

2 hours ago, yaan98 said:

While reading one of my WW1 books, I found this to be interesting.

 

 

I thought it might be interesting to determine at what point the spelling error arose, but it's difficult to determine the earliest version of the quote and which may have been the source for another. This and this get it right, most others get it wrong.

[yaan98]

my source: The World War I Aviator’s Pocket Manual by Chris McNab (pages 59 & 60)

[No.23_Gaylion]

3 minutes ago, yaan98 said:

my source: The World War I Aviator’s Pocket Manual by Chris McNab (pages 59 & 60)

Yeah I picked that up too! Fun little read!

[yaan98]

30 minutes ago, Plank said:

 

What plane is he flying to come up with this? Not I SPAD I presume...

 

S! P.

 

He flew Nieuports and S.E. 5a

[yaan98]

31 minutes ago, US103_Talbot said:

Yeah I picked that up too! Fun little read!

 

Available at Rakuten Kobo as a digital book for $3 after new sign up discount.

[No.23_Gaylion]

3 hours ago, JG1_Hotlead_J10 said:

A lot of those rules can be applied in this sim. Thanks for sharing!

 

My favorite thing to do is look through old books and training manuals for tactics and techniques to apply in game (poorly  of course?)

[Guest deleted@83466]

I like the one where Richthofen asks Boelke, (pre Dicta Boelke) how to shoot down an enemy plane and he explains his tactic as something like "I get behind them, and then they fall."  ?

[TheOldCrow]

A two other good books to look at would be Lords of the Sky by Dan Hampton and Dog-Fight Aerial tactics of the Ace's of WW1 by Norman Franks. Both go super in depth about tactics and the mindset of ww1 pilots

[Garven]

2 hours ago, Plank said:

 

Cripes, I would pay cash money to fly the Se5a that lives up to those expectations.

 

S! P.

If I recall correctly those rules were written while he was flying nieuports.

[J2_Trupobaw]

The 4-blade, Hispano-Suiza S.E.5a were more of dogfighters and less of interceptors than Viper powered ones we have in RoF. 

Comparing with Dicta Boelcke, the emphasis on techniques and micro-managment is interesting. 

[unreasonable]

I do not think that it is micro-management so much, just more a more comprehensive list of concerns - but the list would have been better broken into two or three sections:

 

1) Training for the fight (4,5,6,7,9,10)

 

2) On Patrol (12,15)

 

3) The fight. (1,2,3,8,11,13,14): Which cover pretty much the same ground as the DB. 

[keeno]

"attack with zest"..... I love it!