The Aviator's Chronicle

[NO.20_W_M_Thomson]

15 hours ago, SeaSerpent said:

If somebody is bothered enough by the historical imbalance of Germans having parachutes, and Entente not having parachutes, then they simply can fly German.

 

Edited May 18, 2020 by NO.20_W_M_Thomson

[J2_Drookasi]

Thanks to everyone for their condolences and to the dedicated journalist who has run a thorough investigation for describing my final battle to the public. I am very satisfied that I made it to 100, although I would prefer to never die! And yes I had to bail out 3 or 4 times during this life - it is hard to refrain from using your chute when you have one.

 

I can only make one promise - I shall raise from my grave and haunt the skies, aiming for 150!

[BMA_Hellbender]

6 hours ago, NO.20_W_M_Thomson said:

Real mature gamecock, Guess you think it's fair don't you? Of course you do your one of the ones benefiting from having parachutes, I don't know what the hell 1c1 was thinking when  they decided to put chutes on 1 side. Especially when 90% of the pilots work for their kill streak. Me personally don't care about kill streak, I know I'll never get one, too busy bombing and doing recon. That's just not why I play the game. Anyway I say put chutes on both side or get rid of them all together. Entente lives matter too.     

 

4 hours ago, NO.20_W_M_Thomson said:

Or maybe they can change the game so no one can complain, It's just a game after all. 

 

You say you don't care about kill streaks, but from your reaction in this thread it would appear that you do.

 

 

First of all, let's consider the historical reality: Prussian/German fighter pilots had access to parachutes from around Spring 1918 (where FC Vol.1 is set), whereas British pilots did not until late 1918.

 

 

Second, let's have a look at your record: http://stats.jasta5.org:8000/en/sorties/412/NO.20_W_M_Thomson/?tour=20

 

You're mostly flying the Bristol F.III, which would have appeared at the front around the summer of 1918 in any appreciable number as deliveries of the Rolls-Royce Falcon III were severely delayed and most active Bristol squadrons would have been flying the Bristol F.II still.

 

 

So let's go and find a sortie in which you're flying the F.II and where your air kill streak would have ended: http://stats.jasta5.org:8000/en/sortie/68295/?tour=20

 

Now I obviously don't have a recording of this sortie and I can only guess at what was happening, but it would appear that you were

 

• very heavily loaded:
  fuel: 76%
  payload: Vickers Mk.I AP [973], H.E.R.L. 112 lbs [4]
  modifications: Twin Lewis MG turret, Fuel Gauge, Cooper / H.E.R.L. bombs
   
• not actually doing recon or bombing, but rather ground attack - destroying machineguns, flak guns and a peniche:
  http://stats.jasta5.org:8000/en/sortie/log/68295/?tour=20
   
• eventually shot down by a Fokker D.VII(non-F) and a Halberstadt CL.II 200hp

 

My advice here is simple: don't use the Bristol for ground attack. It was seldom if ever used as such. Its historical role mainly consisted of recon, the odd high altitude bombing mission and mid-level escort of ground attack Camels. Even if you would have had access to a parachute under these circumstances, it wouldn't have done you much good.

 

 

Now we do know that the planeset is not entirely representative of Spring 1918, so let's consider a late war scenario in which you're flying a Bristol F.III as an actual recon and you're getting attacked by the infamous Fokker D.VIIF. In fact, this was the last time your air kill streak would have ended: http://stats.jasta5.org:8000/en/sortie/70346/?tour=20

 

Again I don't have a recording of this sortie, but it would appear that you were:

 

• carrying an appropriate load:
  fuel: 47%
  payload: Vickers Mk.I AP [973]
  modifications: Fuel Gauge, Camera
   
• actually doing recon (at least not anything else):
  http://stats.jasta5.org:8000/en/sortie/log/70346/?tour=20
   
• eventually shot down by multiple Fokker D.VIIF

 

 

So this is harder to give appropriate feedback for, and I'll have to make a number of general remarks:
 

• Were you flying alone? Recons should really be accompanied by several other Bristol and/or S.E.5a escorts.
   
• Did you have a human or an AI gunner? AI gunners are preferrable in FC compared to RoF, as spotting is much harder to do and AI acts as an early warning system.
   
• Where were you and at what altitude were you flying at when you made contact? If you are above enemy lines and you have at least 5,000ft of height with the terrain, you should be able to make an initial dive away from immediate danger and then transition into a shallow full power max RPM descent back to your own lines. Nothing can catch an F.III this way, not even a D.VIIF. Also, you have a rear gunner firing back at your pursuers. Once you've reached your own lines, you have every means at your disposal to call for reinforcements.
   
• Finally, if you make contact while climbing above friendly lines, where your typical D.VIIF should not wander as their parachutes are of little use there, don't forget that you DO have a parachute - it simply never visually deploys. Bail out and finish mission, and if you haven't hit the ground within 5 seconds of freefall, the game registers you as successfully bailed out.

 

 

So now that we've established how you can preserve your streak (don't do ground attack, fly in large numbers and dive away to safety if you do high-level recon), you can start thinking about how aggressively you can build up your streak when you're flying mid-level escort. I'll be sure to let you know once 4.006 hits.

Edited May 18, 2020 by J5_Hellbender

[ZachariasX]

47 minutes ago, J5_Hellbender said:

Bail out and finish mission, and if you haven't hit the ground within 5 seconds of freefall, the game registers you as successfully bailed out.

Every day, one can learn something new.

 

[1PL-Banzai-1Esk]

1 hour ago, ZachariasX said:

Every day, one can learn something new.

 

 

Yep, and then the angels carry you safely to the ground I guess. ?

Edited May 18, 2020 by 1PL-Banzai-1Esk

[J2_Drookasi]

1 hour ago, J5_Hellbender said:

Finally, if you make contact while climbing above friendly lines, where your typical D.VIIF should not wander as their parachutes are of little use there, don't forget that you DO have a parachute - it simply never visually deploys. Bail out and finish mission, and if you haven't hit the ground within 5 seconds of freefall, the game registers you as successfully bailed out

 

Really? I need to try that! I am sure that the 103rd boys have never heard of this if I am to judge by their grumbling on the chutes matter. Now they are going to have some wet dreams!

Edited May 18, 2020 by J2_Drookasi

[BMA_Hellbender]

2 minutes ago, J2_Drookasi said:

 

Really? I need to try that!

 

Absolutely, unless the finish mission countdown timer is high enough to kill you regardless (it could be 10 seconds on Flugpark, I don't remember).

[ZachariasX]

My average flight altitude:

[J5_Gamecock]

8 hours ago, NO.20_W_M_Thomson said:

Real mature gamecock, Guess you think it's fair don't you?

 

 There was nothing in your comment about fair or unfair, it was just funny. 

[Garven]

2 hours ago, J2_Drookasi said:

Really? I need to try that! I am sure that the 103rd boys have never heard of this if I am to judge by their grumbling on the chutes matter. Now they are going to have some wet dreams!

I knew about this but will not use it.

[No.23_Starling]

2 hours ago, J2_Drookasi said:

 

Really? I need to try that! I am sure that the 103rd boys have never heard of this if I am to judge by their grumbling on the chutes matter. Now they are going to have some wet dreams!

Most of the Entente guys I fly with know this trick but the majority of combats I’ve seen happen over enemy lines so it’s fairly academic. My grumble is that it encourages pilots to stay over their side, and also dangerously close turning often resulting in a collision. It’s turned me off dogfighting, that and the risk of wing collapse. Maybe half of my brawls in the SE end with someone ploughing into me then bailing. 

[BMA_Hellbender]

2 hours ago, J2_Drookasi said:

I am sure that the 103rd boys have never heard of this if I am to judge by their grumbling on the chutes matter. Now they are going to have some wet dreams!

 

1 minute ago, US93_Furlow said:

I knew about this but will not use it.

 

Just now, US_Rummell said:

Most of the Entente guys I fly with know this trick but the majority of combats I’ve seen happen over enemy lines so it’s fairly academic. My grumble is that it encourages pilots to stay over their side, and also dangerously close turning often resulting in a collision. It’s turned me off dogfighting, that and the risk of wing collapse. Maybe half of my brawls in the SE end with someone ploughing into me then bailing. 

 

Except for known war criminal @US93_Talbot who is wanted for several accounts of chute shooting innocent German A.I.rmen in his stupid sexy SPAD, I don't think that the boys are that interested in parachutes.

 

 

Historically, the action took place over Central lines by 1918.

 

Even if we'd like to go against history, the planeset doesn't give us much of a choice: there is no late war high altitude Central recon available that has a higher ceiling than Entente scouts (such as the Rumpler C.VII) and unless you want to allow unlimited Fokker D.VIIF, I think most Entente pilots understand how ridiculously outclassed other Prussian/Bavarian machines are compared to the SPAD, S.E.5a, Camel and Bristol.

 

 

Again parachutes on Entente would be a nice-to-have, but by no means a game changer. Parachutes on most Central machines are almost essential, even if they're hardly always lifesavers for low altitude ground attack planes such as the Halberstadt, who fly too close to the ground to really benefit from them. On the Fokker D.VIIF, it simply cements the fact that it's the best plane of the war, and best approached with extreme caution, or better yet avoided.

[No.23_Triggers]

A few words from 'The Editor', for what it's worth: 

-The article on Drookasi's demise is not in any way intended to discredit his achievement of 100(!) victories, PvP and AI. The details included about Drookasi's 'last battle' are there purely for the reader's enjoyment, and the mention of 'not being able to bail out' are simply there to 'paint the picture' for the reader! The same goes for any mention of bailing / crashing / etc in the 'News of the Aces' article - it's more for the reader's excitement (if they're tracking the aces' progress). 

-It is true that Drookasi, on a couple occasions, was forced to use his parachute. Whatever your opinion on parachutes, this doesn't change the fact that 100 victories, with over 70 of them being PvP, is an incredible achievement - unmatched by any FC pilot thus far. I've always personally held him in the highest regard for his hunting ability, and a couple bail-outs hasn't changed that. It's worth noting that Drookasi was among the highest-scoring pilots in RoF as well, where, as we know, parachutes didn't exist. 

 

8 hours ago, J5_Hellbender said:

Finally, if you make contact while climbing above friendly lines, where your typical D.VIIF should not wander as their parachutes are of little use there, don't forget that you DO have a parachute - it simply never visually deploys. Bail out and finish mission, and if you haven't hit the ground within 5 seconds of freefall, the game registers you as successfully bailed out.

 

6 hours ago, J2_Drookasi said:

 

Really? I need to try that! I am sure that the 103rd boys have never heard of this if I am to judge by their grumbling on the chutes matter.

 

We are aware of the 'invisible chute' - we simply choose not to use it, as we think it's way too 'gamey' and, of course, historically wrong. My SPAD has caught fire twice in my current streak, and has been involved in two collisions (fortunately not fatal ones!). Believe you me, if we historically had parachutes, I would have used them as well . I know that there are some Entente pilots who will use the InvisiChute, and that's fair enough too. 

 

If the mention of 'chutes in the chronicle is going to lead to forum arguments I'll leave out that info from later editions.

Edited May 18, 2020 by US93_Larner

[J2_Drookasi]

There has been a heated discussion on the use of chutes in the game, no need to repeat it here I think. Larner is doing a wonderful job in my opinion, narrating in such a realistic way events he has not witnessed and giving a community feeling to us all.

 

Keep up the good job buddy, you cannot have everyone happy!

[NO.20_W_M_Thomson]

10 hours ago, J5_Hellbender said:

You say you don't care about kill streaks, but from your reaction in this thread it would appear that you do.

 

 

10 hours ago, J5_Hellbender said:

First of all, let's consider the historical reality: Prussian/German fighter pilots had access to parachutes from around Spring 1918 (where FC Vol.1 is set), whereas British pilots did not until late 1918

 

 

10 hours ago, J5_Hellbender said:

 

My advice here is simple: don't use the Bristol for ground attack. It was seldom if ever used as such. Its historical role mainly consisted of recon, the odd high altitude bombing mission and mid-level escort of ground attack Camels. Even if you would have had access to a parachute under these circumstances, it wouldn't have done you much good.

 

 

10 hours ago, J5_Hellbender said:

Were you flying alone? Recons should really be accompanied by several other Bristol and/or S.E.5a escorts.

 

 

10 hours ago, J5_Hellbender said:

My advice here is simple: don't use the Bristol for ground attack.

 

 

10 hours ago, J5_Hellbender said:

So now that we've established how you can preserve your streak (don't do ground attack, fly in large numbers and dive away to safety if you do high-level recon), you can start thinking about how aggressively you can build up your streak when you're flying mid-level escort. I'll be sure to let you know once 4.006 hits.

 

Edited May 18, 2020 by NO.20_W_M_Thomson

[No.23_Gaylion]

[NO.20_W_M_Thomson]

1 hour ago, US93_Larner said:

If the mention of 'chutes in the chronicle is going to lead to forum arguments I'll leave out that info from later editions.

Opps was in the middle of a reply, delete it all if you want

[No.23_Triggers]

[J2_Drookasi]

One month of silence. Is everything OK with Larner?

[NO.20_W_M_Thomson]

7 hours ago, J2_Drookasi said:

One month of silence. Is everything OK with Larner?

The DM has DM'ed him I think.

[No.23_Triggers]

23 hours ago, J2_Drookasi said:

One month of silence. Is everything OK with Larner?

That pesky "Real World" has been getting in the way! Things over here are starting to stir back into life as the Covid lockdown has been easing, so I've had some catching up to do  

That being said - I've finally gotten around to getting issue No. 30 of the Chronicle ready! Apologies for the delay, all! 

Edited June 26, 2020 by US93_Larner

[1PL-KJ-1Esk]

we are already in July and there is no news

[NO.20_W_M_Thomson]

13 hours ago, 1PL-KJ-1Esk said:

we are already in July and there is no news

Things are at a stale mate, lines haven't moved in a while. Plus our reporter from the AC is on stress leave, PTSD caused by DM.

[1PL-KJ-1Esk]

i can see that ?

 

[No.23_Triggers]

It's as Thomson says - I've been off on home establishment...the brass hats have been 'giving me a rest'  

[1PL-KJ-1Esk]

Larner....We anxiously wait for the newspaper...August is soon over   

[No.23_Gaylion]

No typewriters allowed for those on latrine duty....

[ST_Catchov]

Hope he didn't get caught short with said copy in hand 

[1PL-KJ-1Esk]

The September is almost gone and no news from the front?!

[No.23_Gaylion]

[1PL-KJ-1Esk]

no more news from the front? The war is over, the game is dead ;(

[No.23_Gaylion]

[JGr2/J5_Klugermann]

[No.23_Gaylion]

Hey some news from the front! 

 

 

[JGr2/J5_Mueller]

ah this is good news, i see Larner has been put in charge of shoveling crap at the stables, i always knew he was full of shite.

The news from the front for September is that the Black September campaign was a huge success with 186 players flying on the server, the Central forces managed to barely hold the lines in the center and north section, however the southern sector was heavily pressed by the 1PL squadron and taken over on the last 2 weeks.The time ran out on the last mission just as Entente armored forces were about to take the sector, if the mission had gone another minute the campaign outcome would have been a draw.So many good fights, and a great map with a new style of asyemetrical warfare developed by J99_Sizzlor. Congratulations to the Central forces and their commander J2_Drookasi, and much respect to the Entente forces and their commander 1PL_Lucas. After 4 weeks of fierce fighting an opportunity for a respite is on the horizon with the Jasta5 Oktoberfest approaching, a friendly day of navigation, obstacles courses, and racing, with copious amounts of drinking will be a welcome break from all the fighting.Until the next sortie, that is all.

[1PL-KJ-1Esk]

2 hours ago, J5_Mueller said:

ah this is good news, i see Larner has been put in charge of shoveling crap at the stables, i always knew he was full of shite.

The news from the front for September is that the Black September campaign was a huge success with 186 players flying on the server, the Central forces managed to barely hold the lines in the center and north section, however the southern sector was heavily pressed by the 1PL squadron and taken over on the last 2 weeks.The time ran out on the last mission just as Entente armored forces were about to take the sector, if the mission had gone another minute the campaign outcome would have been a draw.So many good fights, and a great map with a new style of asyemetrical warfare developed by J99_Sizzlor. Congratulations to the Central forces and their commander J2_Drookasi, and much respect to the Entente forces and their commander 1PL_Lucas. After 4 weeks of fierce fighting an opportunity for a respite is on the horizon with the Jasta5 Oktoberfest approaching, a friendly day of navigation, obstacles courses, and racing, with copious amounts of drinking will be a welcome break from all the fighting.Until the next sortie, that is all.

when i sthe October fest flight fun?

[J99_Sizzlorr]

Another news is that Jasta 99 celebrates its 20th birthday...

Edited October 1, 2020 by J99_Sizzlorr

[JGr2/J5_Klugermann]

https://www.captiongenerator.com/1986472/Searching-for-Capt-Larner

Edited October 5, 2020 by J5_Klugermann

[No.23_Gaylion]

https://captiongenerator.com/1988452/Happy-good-talbot-aviator-news

[ST_Catchov]

Lol. A very happy, shiny moment of impassioned aviator news. Where did you find her? She's great. And Baer is an Aussie.