Aircraft in Early War

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Andreson

Interesting if anyone got to see an enemy plane before 1942. Perhaps it's just a GWX thing.
But this mod seems rather solid and historically accurate.

I was almost beggining to think that it's too easy

As was pointed out earlier, using time compression higher that 128x makes contacts less likely. I use GWX, and I have run into many aircraft in 1939, mostly when transitting north of Scotland.

[Zosimus]

Agreed! Aircraft are common while rounding England from Wilhelmshaven.

Well, perhaps common is a bad term. However, I will say that once you shoot one down, more come.

[Andreson]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

As was pointed out earlier, using time compression higher that 128x makes contacts less likely. I use GWX, and I have run into many aircraft in 1939, mostly when transitting north of Scotland.

I tried on purpose to find some there in 1939 and didn't. Were you near Scapa Flow?

[CCIP]

Ah, the Swordfish! There's actually a good bit of truth to their suicidal-ness - as you can see in anything from the hunt for the Bismarck to the Channel Dash. In May 1943, the Swordfish of escort carrier HMS Biter actually had to be ordered to stop strafing U-boats after making their depth charge runs, because they were getting themselves badly shot up by flak. The crews' reaction? They were disappointed that they weren't allowed to go after the enemy - losses and risks be damned!

Stringbags indeed took a special suicidal kind of pilots, who were renowned for their paradoxically high morale despite the obsolete planes they flew - the problem with the game AI of course is that it doesn't know when to make them stop.

[UKönig]

friends of yours?

[sharkbit]

I've always disliked how aircraft seem impotent in the game. It has always been "aircraft spotted", crash dive, surface after 15 minutes or so. There is never any surprise.
I've recently been experimenting with a dice roll to randomly simulate the possibility of a surprise attack. When I get the aircraft spotted message, I roll 2 dice and multiply by 10. That is the number of seconds before I can dive. The dice are modified by some factors for year, night, etc.
It makes things a bit more chilling when you're watching a Sunderland coming at you and you're counting down the clock before you can dive.

[Aras]

After 1943, Allied aircraft were equipped with superior radar. They could locate a surfaced u-boot form high above and start their attack run. The anti-radar u-boots had that time were not enough to warn the u-boot about the incoming aircraft in time. Several u-boot commander (that survived off course) reported aircraft appearing suddenly and attacking leaving no time for them to submerge.

With the advance of the radar and other technologies, the surfaced time started to shorten because of the dangers. The u-boots back then were submersible meaning had limited oxygen supply to last submerged for extended period of time. (H.sie hardcoded fixes simulates this very well by the way)

A Hunter/Killer group waiting for them on the surface could mean inevitable death for a u-boot after 1943 since it couldn’t last enough submerged.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Andreson

I tried on purpose to find some there in 1939 and didn't. Were you near Scapa Flow?

Sorry I didn't see this earlier.

I adhere strictly to the rules as dictated by BdU. This means not using The Channel, but going around the north end of Scotland. I was returning from a First Patrol (sometime in October '39) and sighted an aircraft. I didn't wait to identify it, but dove immediately. A little cheating (external view) revealed it to be an Avro Anson. This was north of Scotland. Later the same thing happened, and this time it was a Swordfish. There isn't anything more than that, as I quit playing not long after that due to frustrations involving my old computer.

[Andreson]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Sorry I didn't see this earlier.

I adhere strictly to the rules as dictated by BdU. This means not using The Channel, but going around the north end of Scotland. I was returning from a First Patrol (sometime in October '39) and sighted an aircraft. I didn't wait to identify it, but dove immediately. A little cheating (external view) revealed it to be an Avro Anson. This was north of Scotland. Later the same thing happened, and this time it was a Swordfish. There isn't anything more than that, as I quit playing not long after that due to frustrations involving my old computer.

Thanks for the answer!
Looks like this game is pretty random, but air attacks should get more frequent with the comming of the radio and the ability of the enemy to discover you that way more quickly. Maybe it is in the game files but we'll see!

[Aras]

In one of my campaigns, I was at the Northern Tip of England and I was cruising towards St. Georg Canal. I hunted lots of Swordfishes between Loch Ewe and Tobermoray in 1939. I was inexperienced back then and wanted to kill every enemy: D One of the swordfish that was shot and was going down, hit my coning tower (yes the airplane itself hit me ). I lost my watch officer and my best flak gunner that day which I can never forget. However I learned a good lesson.

[Andreson]

Originally Posted by Aras

In one of my campaigns, I was at the Northern Tip of England and I was cruising towards St. Georg Canal. I hunted lots of Swordfishes between Loch Ewe and Tobermoray in 1939. I was inexperienced back then and wanted to kill every enemy: D One of the swordfish that was shot and was going down, hit my coning tower (yes the airplane itself hit me ). I lost my watch officer and my best flak gunner that day which I can never forget. However I learned a good lesson.

That happens sometimes! But it's usually pretty rare.