FC Suggested Plane List

[PatrickAWlson]

Taking a queue from the WWII thread.  Name the plane and the merits of building it.

Really would love to see these:

Albatros C.III : there are NO German recon planes that a DH2 or Nieuport 11 can catch.  The Albatros C.III is viable throughout 1916 (although historically replaced earlier) until the DFW can take over the role.

 

LVG C.V: Less urgent but there really are no German late war recon planes in the game.  We are forced to use the DFW as the only dedicated recon plane through just about the entire war.

 

BE2c: Iconic aircraft missing form the lineup.  Could 1C model this one without having the gunner mercilessly blow the head off of his pilot?  

 

Farman F.40: There is no early war French recon plane.  

 

Nieuport 24: Would allow mid war Nieuports to be seen and flown in career instead of SPAD VII all the time.

 

Fokker D.VII with most common engine: IMHO Doesn't require explanation.  I know nothing is easy, but relatively speaking, this one is low hanging fruit.  Hopefully just a mod and not a new model or skin.

 

These would be nice too:

Dorand AR: Less urgent as we will eventually get the Strutter, but there is no mid war French recon plane.
 

Salmson 2: Would make a nice stable mate to the Breguet.

 

Roland D2: Produced in large numbers and an interesting plane.  Many of us like interesting, even if interesting does not equal good.

 

Airco Dh5: served in decent numbers

 

Vickers F.B.5: real early stuff.

 

Morane L: Parasol was made in huge numbers earl y in the war.  Used into 1917

 

I am coming from a Career point of view and not a dogfight server PoV.  Therefore I am more focused on aircraft that would fill important roles and served in numbers.

[RNAS10_Mitchell]

+1 on the N24.  I know you're focused on single player needs, but that one is really needed for Multiplayer as well.

Edited May 11, 2024 by RNAS10_Mitchell

[ST_Catchov]

Firstly, let me say, I'm a sucker for early war buses ....

 

So, thumbs up for the Morane L "Parasol". But if we have her, we must also have the Morane N "Bullet".

 

And if we're talking interesting crates, how about the AGO C.I (or C.II)

 

 

Then there's a swag of Italian kites .... but we need the map innit!

 

[Enceladus828]

Caudron G.4 — give the Eindecker a French plane to catch up with

 

 

Seaplanes for the Channel Map: Felixstowe F2A, Hanriot H.2 and Hansa Brandenburg W12

 

Austro-Hungarian planes for the Tarnopol, Romania and Italian Front maps — Hansa-Brandenburg C.I (early/late), Hansa-Brandenburg D.I Starstrutter, Oeffag D.II/D.III, Fokker A.III

Albatros C.I and Aviatik C.I

[Avimimus]

Some friendly comments:

  

On 5/10/2024 at 8:59 PM, PatrickAWlson said:

Taking a queue from the WWII thread.  Name the plane and the merits of building it.

Really would love to see these:

Albatros C.III : there are NO German recon planes that a DH2 or Nieuport 11 can catch.  The Albatros C.III is viable throughout 1916 (although historically replaced earlier) until the DFW can take over the role.

 

LVG C.V: Less urgent but there really are no German late war recon planes in the game.  We are forced to use the DFW as the only dedicated recon plane through just about the entire war.

 

Albatros C.III is a bit fast and modern, I would recommend the Albatros C.I or the LVG C.II as these designs are a bit slower, more transitional, and were in service earlier (good for extending the time-frame back to the Fokker E.III era). The C.III could work though.

 

LVG C.V only gains 10 km/h on the DFW C.V and can be represented well by the DFW. Instead I'd recommend considering a Rumpler C.IV. The Rumpler C.IV gives 15-20km/h increased speed, and increased altitude.

 

 

On 5/10/2024 at 8:59 PM, PatrickAWlson said:

Taking a queue from the WWII thread.  Name the plane and the merits of building it.

Really would love to see these:

BE2c: Iconic aircraft missing form the lineup.  Could 1C model this one without having the gunner mercilessly blow the head off of his pilot?  

 

Farman F.40: There is no early war French recon plane.  

 

Morane L: Parasol was made in huge numbers earl y in the war.  Used into 1917

 

As a Canadian, I love the flying canoe. But I'd probably suggest the Caudron G.IV (as it gives the French a twin engined aircraft, and a bomber, and also had versions with fixed forward firing guns) over the Farman.

 

I definitely like the Morane-Saulnier L (as a fighter and two-seater) and the B.E.2c  (although the latter might be best as an AI aircraft). I believe the firing arcs could be set-up in engine btw.

 

 

On 5/10/2024 at 8:59 PM, PatrickAWlson said:

These would be nice too:

Dorand AR: Less urgent as we will eventually get the Strutter, but there is no mid war French recon plane.
 

Salmson 2: Would make a nice stable mate to the Breguet.

 

The 1917 French two-seaters overlap with the Strutter and the Breguet (mainly the latter). It is the early war which has the big gaps.

 

Ideally I'd go:

Morane-Saulnier L, Caudron G.IV, Sopwith Strutter (French version), Breguet Br.14

 

If I were adding another, I might consider one of the following:

- The Nieuport N.12 (two seat Nieuport) as it would overlap with the Caudron and the Strutter.

- The Voisin VIII, as it has a significant bombload, and has options for cannon armament, and served until the end of the war (albeit at night, fighting German two-seaters sent against it in a night fighter role).

 

Note: You might also consider the Caudron G.VI (as it fills more of a gap), but I personally find the Morane L and the Caudron G.IV to be higher priorities to add variety to the early war.

 

 

On 5/10/2024 at 8:59 PM, PatrickAWlson said:

Roland D2: Produced in large numbers and an interesting plane.  Many of us like interesting, even if interesting does not equal good.

 

Airco Dh5: served in decent numbers

 

Vickers F.B.5: real early stuff.

 

I am coming from a Career point of view and not a dogfight server PoV.  Therefore I am more focused on aircraft that would fill important roles and served in numbers.

 

The D.H.5 and Roland D.II are both interesting designs, which ended up being overlooked partly due to limited high altitude performance. Both were more historically significant than most people give them credit for (e.g. the Roland D.II was on the Western Front with five or so units for more than four months, it also led to the Pfalz D.III and Roland D.VI; the Airco D.H.5 became the first doctrinal fighter-bomber and was used in some of the earliest dive bombing attacks).

 

I'd also recommend considering the Fokker D.II - as early German fighter units usually had all three or four operational types (so a unit with the Albatros and the Halberstadt should really have Fokker biplanes as well). It should have a good power-to-weight ratio, and the fact that it is a wing-warping biplane gives it some novelty.

 

I'd suggest considering substituting the Morane Saulnier N for the Vickers F.B.5, as the F.B.5 was extremely slow, lacked a fixed gun, and is outwardly similar to the F.E.2b (if I was going for another pusher, I'd give the French one - probably a Voisin). The Morane Saulnier 'N' was extremely small (smaller than the Fokker E.III) and in service almost as early as the Vickers. It'd probably be a better opponent for the Eindecker.

 

For fighters, I'd also consider the Roland D.VIb and Hannover Cl.II (although less significant for the campaign - they are pretty designs, as well as high performance. The Hannover Cl.II was also different enough from the Halberstadt Cl.II, and numerous enough, to have some value to the campaign).

 

P.S. The Fokker D.III and E.IV are also interesting due to their very high power-to-weight ratios, but they were mainly allocated to aces and saw limited service due to their engine troubles.

 

[Avimimus]

 

On 5/11/2024 at 1:53 PM, Enceladus828 said:

Seaplanes for the Channel Map: Felixstowe F2A, Hanriot H.2 and Hansa Brandenburg W12

 

There are some more options to flesh this out:

- The Sopwith Baby is also a good choice, as a single-seat fighter and attack aircraft.

- The Albatros W.4 (a floatplane derivative of the D.I fighter) is also a candidate.

 

For two seaters there are some possible options too:

- The Type 184 floatplane bomber

- The Friedrichshafen F.33(the variant is a bit hard to choose - due to the fighter and bomber variants of the Friedrichshafen being very distinct - but I believe some 33L did carry bombs).

- The Hansa Brandenberg W.29 two-seat monoplane fighter is often considered quite attractive.

 

So one could create an eight aircraft plane set for the Channel Map (in theory at least). In reality, it might be good to use five or seven of the other slots to finish the land-based aircraft collection.

 

 

On 5/11/2024 at 1:53 PM, Enceladus828 said:

Austro-Hungarian planes for the Tarnopol, Romania and Italian Front maps — Hansa-Brandenburg C.I (early/late), Hansa-Brandenburg D.I Starstrutter, Oeffag D.II/D.III, Fokker A.III

Albatros C.I and Aviatik C.I

My list would be as follows:

 

Italy:
Advanced interceptor: Ansaldo S.V.A.5

Seaplane fighter: Macchi M.5

Earlier fighter: Nieuport N.27 (and/or Italian HD.1 variants)

Two seater: Pomilio PD/PE (and/or an early two seater such as a Caudron or Voisin)

Trimotor bomber: Caproni Ca.2

 

Austria-Hungary:

Advanced fighter: Aviatik D.I (Berg s.38 or possibly the rarer but faster s.138)

High-speed fighter: Albatros D.III (Oeffag s.153)

Earlier fighter: Hansa-Brandenburg D.I

Two-seater: Hansa-Brandenurg C.I (Phönix built s.129)

Seaplane bomber: Hansa-Brandenburg FB or possibly W.13. Alternatively, a seaplane fighter (Hansa-Brandenburg CC is the best counterpart to the Macchi - but might lack references for the cockpit, so a KDW is a bit more likely. As for the FB and W.13, they were more numerous than Austro-Hungarian land-based bombers).

 

I'd pick one of the two high performance fighters on each sides to be the Collector Planes (i.e. Aviatik D.I or Oeffag D.III and Ansaldo S.V.A.5 or Macchi M.5).

[Avimimus]

8 hours ago, Avimimus said:

Some friendly comments:

 

TLDR, my priorities for land based aircraft to augment the existing front would be:

 

Early two-seaters (1915-1917):

- An early German two-seater (LVG C.II or Albatros C.I or Albatros C.III)

- Caudron G.4 (and single seat version)

- Morane Saulnier L (and single seat version)

- B.E.2c (AI only?)

 

Other two seaters:

- Rumpler C.IV (1917-1918, high altitude)

- Nieuport N.12 (1915-1917, early two-seat fighter)

- Hannover Cl.II (1917-1918, two-seat fighter)

- Voisin VIII (1916-1918, mid-war night bomber, cannon armed)

 

Single-Seat Fighters:

-  Morane-Saulnier N (1915, opponent for the Fokker E.III)

-  Fokker D.II (1916, needed for realistic early mixed fighter units)

-  Airco D.H.5 (1917, medium altitude, fighter bomber)

-  Roland D.IIa (1917, medium altitude, predecessors to Pfalz)

-  Roland D.VIb (1918, only mass produced Fokker D.VII competitor)

-  Possibly a Fokker E.IV or Fokker D.III or Spad s.XII (limited production fighters for elite pilots)

 

An F.E.2d with a fixed forward firing gun (and the field mod with a swivel mounted cannon) would be a nice addition as well.

 

P.S. Yes, I've been overthinking this for a decade now. In any case, I think, if the criteria was having aircraft that are just as interesting as the ones already in the sim - there is enough for at least one or two modules more. Even if one required four fighters per module, and we are running low on unmodelled fighters - we could still get at least two more.