well all them where very good pilots cause the rest crashed in training
This is misleading as the sole purpose of a fighter is to shoot down enemy aircraft - in the air, and not on the ground.
- Based on this the Bf 109 series is the most successful fighter aircraft of all time.
- The F6F has an alleged K/D of ~ 19:1 which is far lower that the Finnish B-239s with 33:1.
You confirmed the sole measurement of fighters (=kills) and referred to missing data of contemporary fighters.
Technically seen you have to consider that the total aircraft losses in WW 1 are estimated to be ~ 100.000 aircraft. The 3 major air powers have estimated combat related losses of 4.000 (UK), 3.000 (France) and 3.200 - 4.000 (depending if you want to count so called “walk away losses” for the German Empire).
You can find those figures in rather rare books like The Rand McNally Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft - i have one in my basement.
If you consider that the Albatros D Series fighters were just iterations of the D.I and being the most produced (by far) German fighter but produced in way smaller numbers than 5.000 Camels or 4.000 Spads you might be able to construct a case that the Albatros fighters might be even more successful.
Especially if you consider that data for the Germans showed that 78% of their combat losses were two-seaters or “more seaters” and another 15% related to AA fire and other causes.
This number is imho highly controversial as it would mean that the Camel would have been responsible for ~ 30 - 40% of all German aircraft losses of the entire war in just 12 months of being used as fighter (mid 17 - mid 18).
No offense but the French produced outstanding aircraft too and were reported to have downed more aircraft than the RFC - which had the S.E.5 available too. So even if you find this claim all over the web you might want to decide by your own if it holds water or not.
I saw over the years lots of comments referring to inflated kill numbers as killing observer balloons were counted as air-kills in order to encourage fighters to attack them.
If only it had featured in the Great War event :(
4 Likes
It would have been cool but honestly I’m kind of glad it isn’t in the event. Just because of not being able to keep the fighters. It’s bad enough as is not being able to keep the SPAD and Fokker but if the Sopwith Camel was there it would be much more heartbreaking for me personally.
1 Like
Absolutely, the same thought was in the back of my mind too. Here’s to hoping they all come (SPAD and Fokker included) somewhere down the line.
Yeah rn I’m hoping we see a re-run of the event with more of the fighters that we can keep when Aces of Thunder releases seeing as how that seems to be the main factor in not keeping the fighters.
Either that or an actual update featuring WW1 with a reshuffle of the TT’s to include them.
1 Like
Sopwith Tri-plane please <3
1 Like
Agreed. While Aces of Thunder looks interesting, an IL-2-esque VR combat sim doesn’t really take my fancy right now.
One of most interesting aspects of this aircraft is its engine, it was equiped with rotary(not wankel) engine, which means that whole engine is spinning with propeler