Phil Hall wrote:


Again there is no discrepancy between the game and history, only between game and myth. The Camel remains capable until the end of the game time. It will more than hold its own against the D-VII, although in real life it had a problem with it. It isn't going to hold out against the SS series or the D-VIII's, one more powerful and the other "sleeker". And keep in mind that while the SE soldiered on for quite a period after the war, the Camel didn't, being phased out for the Snipe. Notice that most rotary engines used by the British are French. Britain pressed the auto industry into engine production,(as did France. Their auto industry was second only to the U.S. in production capability) and during the war produced nearly 41000 aircraft engines, but 45000 aircraft. Bently redesigned the Clerget with aluminum cylinders to increase the horse power, but the industry as a whole had a very bad time producing engines, so Britain needed to obtain them from the French, who produced 88000 aircraft engines during the war while producing 52000 aircraft. This created a slowdown in aircraft production in Britain, and also meant that specs issued for new aircraft had to take in to account what was available to power them, the French keeping their newer designs for themselves. The Sopwith Snipe was designed to use the same power plants as the Camel. One of the reasons the Camel was credited with shooting down more a/c than other types is the simple fact that when it went into service it was the first twin gun Brit fighter and it equipped the bulk of the fighter squadrons, reaching the front a few months before the SE series,( which had production problems due to the lack of available H-S engines, the French using them for themselves. 1200 SE's were to be built by the end of 1917 but only 800 were completed). 15 squadrons on the western front were equipped with SE's and 26 with Camels. The Camel comprised nearly 1/2 of the squadrons on the front, with the SE's and other types comprising the rest. That's why the Camel shot down more enemy aircraft than other types. More chances.


Actually, it was. A bank angle of 30 deg. in either direction is dangerous in a Camel. To the left you risk a high speed stall, to the right a snap spin. The rudder area isn't great enough to overcome the forces of the spinning engine. This info comes from a fellow who flew the reproduction Camel at Old Rhinebeck, which had a slightly better engine, being a 160 hp Le Rhone.( As an aside, he also flew the 80 hp rotary Sop Tripe. When looping the Tripe he found out an interesting thing about looping a rotary engine a/c. As the plane looses airspeed at the top of the loop, but the engine keeps spinning at top speed, (1200 rpm), the a/c flat turns 90 deg to the right. So, if you are facing north when you begin the loop, at the top, inverted, you will flat turn east and come out of the loop facing west. Happened every time. Since he did the first loops in the Tripe, he refused to loop the Camel since he didn't know just where it was going to go with all the weight concetrated in such a small area). Basically, although you can't see it in the game, the Camel is getting more turn at a shallower angle than the other a/c.
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2. Leave out the "speed 3 or 4" malus on the firing table. So "slow" crates won't be restricted to three hexes to move in if they want to have any chance of a decent shot.
This seems interesting to me, as it will make everybody crank their engines and zoom. It should be real fun!

3. (Less likely of all) Make speeds right. It makes no sense that travelling 3 hexes is speed 3 for a Camel and speed 2 for an S.E. This issue is not only about the Camel, but I'm afraid is the most difficult to implement.

Now, I'm goin' to test the Camel against everybody else...