The Rumbling Rumpler

**Sam Urai** · 05-12-2021 07:13

Rittmeister Hanz Vogel, newly transferred from the Kaiser's Horse Cavalry, was enjoying his first combat foray over the front lines. His mission was simple. Get his Observer, Franz Vogel (no relation) close enough to view the movements of the enemy supply trains. He was being escorted by a pair of his Scout brethren. The weather was warm, the skies were clear. A beautiful day of flying. Unfortunately, the French in their petite Nieuports could not leave well enough alone, and three of them quickly climbed up to meet them.

Hanz pulled the nose of his noisy steed, allowing the pair of scouts to take the lead. He and Franz would cover their backs. This plan worked right up until the formations broke apart and began to resemble swarming bees instead of organized military formations. Hanz watched in awe as the nimble French planes turned, banked, and even flipped over on their backs - only to right themselves up and now flying in the complete opposite direction. No matter how hard Hanz pushed his steed, it would not turn over. It did however, fly quickly, and turned nimble enough to sufficiently watch over the backs if his escorts. Franz even managed to squeeze off a few bursts at the pesky Frenchmen from time to time. Then, as Hanz banked to his left, an unaware Nieuport flew over his head, seemingly unaware, and it was Hanz's turn to squeeze the trigger of his single Parabellum machine gun. His aim was true, and it began to spew a dark grey trail of smoke!

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The startled enemy pilot began to bank and zig zag, but Hanz kept on his tail. The nimble enemy scout was slowly pulling away. Fighting off his frustration at his plane's lack of power, Hanz kept his finger on the trigger as long as he could. Then it happened. The nimble little kite began to pull its nose up steeply, but before it could even get vertical, Hanz saw the pilot go slack in his little office, and the plane slid over on its side, and began a long, slow spiral back to Earth.

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When he brought his attention back to the air around them. Franz had a goofy grin on his face, and was patting him on the shoulder. The two escorts were no longer to be seen, and after a few minutes, and now low on fuel, he turned back home to his squadron.

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While the Rumpler is not a dog fighter (no Immelmann or Split-S) it has decent speed, and turning for a 2-Seater. I got lucky and was able to anticipate the other player's maneuvers. If i had been in his position, i think i might have done a few things differently. One one turn he climbed and i got a shot at 'long' range, he then anticipated i would climb after him, but i stayed the course, and he dropped right back to my altitude. I got experience the slight speed advantage his Scout had over the Rumpler as well. I only got one shot (barely) in short range, but all of the others he inched further away. In the end, i was able to wear him down with 7 or 8 consecutive shots in a row! The first was from the rear gunner, but all of the rest was from the pilot. Half of them were 0's.

I have no delusions of glory with this plane, i enjoyed 'flying' it very much.

My two escorts did well for themselves, but at the end of the game, we were all over the "map".

I am planning on repainting this plane to a dull black. I am thinking about using a horse as the customization, and of course, my favorite number - 13. Would the markings still be in black, outlined in white?

**monse** · 05-12-2021 09:20

The Vogel team has made the Rumpler deadly.
Thanks for posting.

**Sam Urai** · 05-12-2021 09:37

Originally Posted by monse

The Vogel team has made the Rumpler deadly.
Thanks for posting.

Thank you for reading.

**mikeemagnus** · 05-12-2021 09:48

Nice one John. I enjoyed that. Thanks for sharing

**Sam Urai** · 05-12-2021 09:59

Originally Posted by mikeemagnus

Nice one John. I enjoyed that. Thanks for sharing

Thank you for reading.

**Baxter** · 05-12-2021 17:25

Excellent photography. Loved the close ups of the Rumpler.

**Flying Helmut** · 05-13-2021 00:33

Nice little AAR!

Thanks for posting it.

**gully_raker** · 05-13-2021 17:40

Always good to see some 2 seater action!

**Sam Urai** · 05-14-2021 06:41

Thank you. I am enjoying all of the planes i play. Learning how to use each of them. Unless the altitude rules are used, the 2-seaters have a real advantage.