The WWI flight sim Rise of Flight, as it turns out, has the aircraft speeds within the game rather inaccurate. The aircraft descriptions, however, give a list of speeds at altitudes that do agree with generally accepted figures, and are given for all the planes within Rise of Flight. That said, there are some figures that lead to some suspicion that the numbers need to be taken with a grain of salt. It's also worth pointing out that several planes in Rise of Flight aren't in WoG, and not all the planes in WoG are in Rise of Flight.
That said, I made charts of the data. The horizontal lines correspond to WoG speed bands. (200 kph+: SPAD XIII for examole. 180-200 kph: most late war planes. 160-180 kph: many 1916-1917 planes; Albatross D.III, Fokker Dr. I for example;. 140-160 kph: DH.2 for example, slowest regular decks in the game for very early war aircraft.)
And here they are. All airspeeds are in true airspeed, and I consider that for WoG speed bands only the sea level to 3000 m range should be used.
First, the Brits:
WoG Rise of Flight data Brits.jpg Views: 136 Size: 54.0 KB" style="float: CONFIG" />
Not a lot of surprises. The Sopwith Triplane does deserve the U deck, and everything is where it should be. But the DH.2 actually should be a speed band slower than the current slowest one in the game. The VVS (very very slow) deck in the files section would be more accurate. Makes "Bloody April" make more sense; the Albatross D.III should be two speed bands faster, not one! Perhaps for a "Bloody April" themed game give the Albatross D.III the B deck with three sideslips each way to compensate?
Next, the French and other Entente aircraft:
WoG Rise of Flight data France.jpg Views: 135 Size: 54.0 KB" style="float: CONFIG" />
Again, I only consider the sea level to 3000 meters levels for speed. Turns out the 180 hp version of the SPAD VII does deserve the A deck. The Nieuport 17 is slow for it's speed band, but does deserve the one it has. The Nieuport 11 seems anomalously fast; either the data is suspect, or the aircraft was slowed by one speed band for much required game balance reasons. The Nieuport 28 almost deserves the fastest speed band, but actually does not. The whole "shedding fabric at high speeds" thing would tend to argue against high speeds as well.
Next up, two seaters and giants
WoG Rise of Flight data two seaters.jpg Views: 137 Size: 53.4 KB" style="float: CONFIG" />
Some interesting results. The 0/400 is a speedy giant as it should be, and the Gotha is a very slow giant, as it should be. If we get the DFW, it probably should use the Y deck. And it's easy to see why the DH.4 often didn't need fighter escort. But some surprises as well. Seems the Breguet should use the K deck. Certainly would help with gameplay, as now you can catch it! And the BE2c should have the speed the DH2 has now, but (as above) the DH2 should be a speed band slower. But there's also what gives me the most suspicion about the data - it gives the 1 1/2 strutter Comic as slower than the regular version; it almost certainly should be the other way around. So take all the figures with a grain of salt.
Finally, the Central Powers:
WoG Rise of Flight data central powers.jpg Views: 112 Size: 54.5 KB" style="float: CONFIG" />
It needs to be pointed out that in 1918 there were two major inline engines - the Mercedes and the BMW. The BMW was superior, especially at altitudes, but there were shortages. The Fokker D.VIIF was a Fokker D.VII with the BMW engine; apparently every third or fourth D.VII had one. Considering the sea level-3000 meters altitudes for speed bands, it seems the Fokker D.VIIF should have the same moves as the D.VII, except with the straights, sideslips and turns with A deck speed! It would be a super-fighter, and historically was. Just not enough of them to gain air superiority.
The Pfalz D.XII speeds given are for one fitted with the BMW engine, yet the Fokker DVII had priority for those, and likely few Pfalz's would be fitted with them. If we ever get the Pfalz D.XII, it would make a good variant for one of the three planes in a set compared to the other two.
The Fokker Dr.I should have the D deck. It almost qualifies for the U deck, but in fact does not. The Fokker E.III might deserve the Very Very Slow deck as well.
All in all, WoG gets things right, for this set of data. But the 1 1/2 strutter Comic issues leaves me wondering just how accurate the data is. If anybody's interested, the game descriptions gives equally comprehensive time to climb for multiple altitudes for each plane as well, if anybody's interested in rate of climb data for comparison to WoG.
Bookmarks