Pfalz D.XIII what make it so good (or bad) - and what about Roland D.VIa?

[Gallo Rojo]

Cheers!
firstly, I have to recognize I know very little about WWI aircraft. WWII have been my thing until I ran into this game a few years ago.
Anyway, trying to add new planes to my team games I step into the Pfalz D.XIII and Roland D.VIa ... the information I've collected here and there (i.e.: google research) says they were both really good fighters that had the 'bad luck' of having to compete with the most excellent, top-notch, ultimate-bad-ass, and biggest predator in the last years of WWI sky: the Fokker D.VII ... and that's why neither Pfalz D.XIII nor Roland D.VI saw much combat

good

however... in pure game terms I can see why Roland D.VIa is a good scout: it has an F Maneuver Deck, A Damage, and a healthy 16 points resistance.

Pfalz D.XIII, on the other hand, has just R or B* maneuver deck (B deck less one wave to either side), and yes, 17 damage points to live another day... that makes for game purposes the plane looks just a more muscular Albatros D.V and nothing else.
My google research on Pfalz D.XIII game me some contradictory data: some sources describe it as 'highly maneuverable' while others refers to it as being 'heavy for turns' (I'm guessing that the later is right since our experts here gave it a limited maneuvering deck).

In the war only a few Roland D.VI saw combat, while it seems Pfalz D.XIII did it in significant numbers...

So, to sum up: what made the Pfalz D.XIII a 'good' plane in the actual war?

[Baldrick62]

First up, the 195hp BMW IIIa engine, although the Fokker D.VII, as a favourite of both pilots and groundcrew who already had experience with and were therefore supporters, received the majority of these engines while most Pfalz D.XIIs had to make do with the 160hp Mercedes D.IIIa. From Windsock DF41 - 'Fokker received 223 engines from BMW from April through October 1918, while Pfalz received 84 engines from July through October. Most were installed in the Pfalz D.XII, leaving a few for the Pfalz D.XV development programme.'

From Ltn Rudolf Stark, CO of Jasta 35 - '... it (Pfalz D.XII) climbed well and could fly along with the Fokker D.VII in all respects, and in a dive it was a bit faster. But in turns and combat it was slow and could not compare with the Fokkers.' Rather than the single-bay, semi-cantilever wing on the Fokker D.VII, the Pfalz D.XII was a two-bay aircraft with traditional interplane bracing, which greatly increased drag.

From Pfalz Aircraft of WWI - '... the D.XII needed the superior BMW D.IIIa engine to reach its full potential, and it had the misfortune to reach the front after the exceptional Fokker D.VII, to whcih it was inferior in maneuverablity'.

Your analogy to a more robust Albatros D.V/Pfalz D.III is pretty accurate.

[Gallo Rojo]

I guess my question is given that LGF Roland D.VI seems to have been (?) a better fighter than the Pfalz D.XIII, why only a few of the former were delivered to the front while much more significant numbers of the later saw action?

In pure game terms (and I'm fully aware that what happens in wargames not always reflects what did happen in reality) I would rather fly a Roland D.VI rather than a Pfalz D.XIII* -- and of course I would prefer a Fokker D.VII over both of them, fully agreement with German evaluation teams and pilots about this

* in game terms I would also prefer a two-machinegun armed Hanriot HD.1 over a SPAD XIII, but the later seems to have been a better plane in the real world

[Zoe Brain]

I guess my question is given that LGF Roland D.VI seems to have been (?) a better fighter than the Pfalz D.XIII, why only a few of the former were delivered to the front while much more significant numbers of the later saw action?

The clinker-built construction made them slower and more difficult to produce. One of the few fighters whose production wasn't primarily limited by the number of engines available for them.

[Baldrick62]

Yep, as Zoe says, the Roland D.VIa/b was far closer to 'craftsman-built' because of the fuselage construction, so took longer to produce, was difficult to out-source or sub-contract for mass production, and in terms of man-hours and materials was, I'd assume, far more expensive to build. Consequently, it loses out on every element of 'resource' in the procurement and delivery process for only minimal 'user' gain in operation.

Additionally, with the Pfalz D.XII v Roland D.VIa/b competition, you have the interest of the Bavarian government in trying to protect its 'home-grown' military-industrial base with Pfalz, which is why the bulk of the D.XIIs ended up in Bavarian jastas; having been ordered by the Bavarian rather than Imperial German administration.

[Gallo Rojo]

thanks guys! great answers!

[phililphall]

vRichthofen had a bit to play in the Pflaz acquisition. He tested one in Berlin and generally liked it but complained that it lost 50 feet in a tight 180 turn.