Monday, May 14, 2012

The Learning Curve...

It's a known fact that the Sopwith Camel killed more pilots in trainng than were shot down flying it. And I've just spend an hour and a half training to learn a tempermental, difficult-to-fly biplane. And this is what is referred to as a steep learning curve. NO, I didn't crash these planes deliberately for the picture. YES, I'm still playing on novice.

failure to pull up after strafing run

Failure to pull up after a strafing run.

tree encounter

Thwacking a tree during a low-level strafe.

No lift=no flight

What happens when I fail to gain altitude during take off.

Cockpit view of...

What it looked like inside the cockpit about half a second before...

Yes, I snapped the wings off

I concentrated too much on the target, not enough on my altitude.

authentic pilots mostly did this on landing.

This is what happens when I overconpensate for the engine's radial precession.

*sigh*

For this one, I tried to take off before I really had enough speed for sufficient lift.

I was parking it, officer!  Really!  I'm not drunk!

Failure to gain altitude over hangar.

With pilots like me, there really don't need to be too many enemies about

Rocking the plane too much on take off damages the wings.

BURN BABY BURN!!

Target Destroyed! But it turns out I have difficulty recovering the plane if I'm ground-strafing from ground level.

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