TXWard wrote:
HeadMMoid wrote:
As for shooting down the fuel issue, I (to repeat myself) have no doubt that actual changes to the rules are not going to occur on site, but still hold most firmly that the game overall could be improved by modifications to the fuel rules or by the replacement of the fuel rules with other, more historically accurate means of controlling the length of an engagement.
I thought the fuel boxes for each planes
was based on the historical aircraft designs. Are you saying that you know this is
not the case? That would certainly be a disappointment.
Not only is that
not even close to what I have been saying, it is completely unrelated to what I was discussing in the post to which you responded. Had you bothered to pay attention to the entire discussion and to what I have previously posted, you would have seen that in my first post within this thread I included a specific description of how the number of fuel boxes were determined.
What I have been and am saying is;
1) There is no meaningful relationship between the maximum theoretical endurance of an aircraft (which is the value from which the fuel boxes are derived) and its time in any individual combat.
2) There is no historical evidence of which I am aware to suggest that fuel was a primary consideration historically in the limitation of actual aerial combat in the First World War.
3) Therefore, even though limiting fuel does work as a game mechanic to place a restriction on the length of Blue Max games, it is not particularly valid historically.
4) If fuel is to be used as a limiting mechanism, then, since the effective flying and combat times of the aircraft were much closer in length than is suggested by their maximum endurance values, the fuel allowances should be correspondingly closer, which means that many German aircraft should have a greater number of fuel boxes.
5) There are other, more historically accurate means of controlling the length of an engagement.
Using as examples two aircraft mentioned in your post and elsewhere in this thread (and noting that this is a comparison of similar aircraft types - single seat fighters in this case);
The RAF S.E.5a had a technical maximum endurance approaching 2-1/2 hours. However, its effective flying time in formation and allowing for combat was about 1-1/2 hours. Further, its pilot instructions indicated that combat flights generally be limited to a maximum of about 1 hour.
The Fokker D.VII had a technical maximum endurance of about 1-1/2 hours. Its effective flying time in formation and allowing for combat was just under 1 hour.
This suggests that the ratio of the fuel amounts for these aircraft should not be 52 boxes to 37 boxes (or 140% advantage for the S.E.5a), but probably more like 65 minutes to 55 minutes (or 118% advantage for the S.E.5a), which would give the D.VII around 44 boxes of fuel. This, of course, assumes that one is only using the numerical fuel limitations for restricting engagement length, and not including other factors.