>The Bristol was intended to be armed with two Lewis guns for >the observer, but was more commonly flown with only one to >save weight. A decision was made to use both guns since that >was what was intended by the design, but it is perfectly >acceptable to fly with only one since that was the prefered >method at squadron level. As for speed,British tests show it to >have the same speed performance at 15000 feet as the Camel.
The top speed for the Bristols does not specify single or twin guns, however, the text in Bruce's book did say the Bristol was typically armed with one or two lewis guns AND 12 20lb cooper bombs. So, taking off the bombs and/or one lewis gun would reflect a very dramatic increase in top speed.
The Bristol flew with 14 different engines. Two versions of the Falcon, the Arab, three different Hisso's, two different Puma's, the Viper, the Liberty, the Wright, and the Packard. Performance ranged from 94 for the Arab to 105 for the Falcon III. This was a major problem with British aircraft of the time. They didn't have a large aircraft engine industry so bought from other countries. France was the major supplier but had problems of her own as far as shipping engines to Britain. Most test data show multiple engines with widely varying performance levels. As far as doing that kind of thing for a game you make a choice that represents and average of the data and go with that.
One thing I have noticed about the data is, where multiple altitudes are listed, performance falls off at and average of 1mph per thousand feet for rotaries (this is very consistent regardless of manufacturer or horsepower) and averages the same for inline engines but is much less consistent based on manufacturer, probably due to differences in carburation.
>The Pfalz D-III information came from an article in either Over >the Front or Cross and Cockade, I don't recall which, and my >Cross and Cockade has disappeared along with my Over the >Front. The article was an interview with a Pfalz pilot who flew >on the front near Switzerland. He stated that the aircraft would >snap into a left turn, but was sluggish turning to the right, and >that was incorporated into the game.
The Pfalz DIII was powered by the same 160hp Mercedes DIII engine as the Albatros DIII. All control surfaces on the Pfalz DIII are symmetrical, like the Albatros DIII. So, why does the Pfalz spin to the left and the Albatros doesn't? Mechanically, it makes no sense whatsoever, and is not substantiated by the tests done on the captured airframe.
Engines have to do more with speed and torque. Two WWI aircraft with the same engine could show markedly differnt performance. The D.III had a smaller vertical stabilizer than the D.IIIa and I suspect the size of the stabilizer combined with engine torque had something to do with the snap turn ability. If sudden power is applied with a sharp turn and a lack of stability in that plane it would be possible to snap the aircraft. I also suspect that it involved a considerable loss of altitude. It may also have contributed to the loss of pilots much as the Camel did and may explain why the D.IIIa had an larger vertical stabilizer. The smaller stabilizer would also have meant more right rudder input while in flight to keep the aircraft straight. One of the best quotes about control input involves the Camel and went something like this. "The Camel is the only aircraft I ever flew that required me to use left rudder to make a right turn, and left rudder to make a left turn. You never used right rudder. Therefore my left leg is much larger than my right".
>Three quotes about the Pfalz D.XII:
>"During larger operations we flew the Fokker D.VII and Pfalz >D.XII mostly together. Both types were similar, but the Fokker >was more maneuverable. Therefore the Pfalz pilots had orders >from me, during attacks by the enemy, to fly below the >Fokkers." Ltn Rudolph Stark, C.O. Jasta 35.
>"In fact it climbed well and could fly along with the Fokker D.VII >in all respects and in a dive it was a bit faster. But in turns and >in combat it was slow and could not compare with the Fokkers. >The Pfalz was a sluggish workhorse which fought the bridle >and had to be controlled with a strong halter". Ltn Stark in > Jagdstaffel Unsere Heimat
>"When banking the aircraft into a turn, normal altitude can not >be maintained since the sluggishnes of the controls in the turn >causes the aircraft to lose 150 metres (490 feet). Ltn von >Hippel, technical officer, Jasta 71
So, sounds like Rudy can't even get his story straight. One big complaint with the DXII was with ground crews as the DXII had an abundance of rigging and strut work that the DVII did not. One other point tending to demerit the Pfalz was politics. Prussians were in power (Idfleig, too) at this time, and all Prussians had viewed the Bavarians as German speaking slavs. There was quite a disdain for anyone or anything Bavarian. So, any aircraft coming out of the Pfalz factory was inherently poor.
The two Starks are not the same person. For any WWI a/c the rigger was perhaps the most important member of the ground crew. A good rigger could improve the flying qualities of an a/c while a poor one could degrade it significantly.
Sounds to me like the Pfalz DXII was clearly superior to the Albatros DV, but not equal to the Fokker DVII. There has to be some way to reflect this in the game.
Pilots seem to think it was better than the Albatros. You have to remember that part of the problem in showing differences in maneuverability is constrained by the coarseness of the system. There are only six hex-sides to use and when the performance is so close it becomes difficult to show differences which aren't that great. The D.XII has a slightly better performance in the skid turn, but isn't capable of the "stall" right and "stall" left maneuver since pilots reported that it entered the stall suddenly and without warning and would snap into a flat spin that it was nearly impossible to recover from.
For a long-winded discussion on designing games and why decisions are made see my reply to kduke on this thread.
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