Racing, not fighting

[Windy Jack]

Inspired by the AAR "Gritty Goblin Games Wings of War/Glory 4 Nov 2021", I decided to try racing planes but without the shooting. I was intrigued as to whether manoeuvrability would trump outright speed. However, my choice of planes didn't really let me test my theory, because the fast planes I chose were also manoeuvrable. Der!
The first race was between a Neiuport 17 and Siemens-Schukert D.III. The second was between an RAF SE5a and a Hannover CL.III. I took photographs at the end of each set of 3 manoeuvres to record progress. If anyone is interested, I can post them as an AAR.

[Spoonfrog]

Yes, post them!

[camel crew]

I'll second that

[CrashCraig]

We Gritty Goblins would also like to enjoy them. Thanks and Happy New Year !

[Windy Jack]

Thanks for your responses. I'll prepare the photographs, and then post the results.

You may be interested in this comment in the Thread that I mentioned at the start.
"Part of the 18th Reply, from Flying Helmut (Tim).
Personally, I'm against using the superfast Allied planes in the context of a race; in one of my "Christmas Specials" one of the players picked an SE5a, and at around the half-way point everyone realised that since it was no longer in anyone's gun range, and it was so much faster than every other plane, there was little point in continuing (apart from sorting out the runners-up positions).

Since then, I have limited the field to aircraft of the same speed (arrow length) as each other, to level the playing field."

In my experiment, I was surprised at how little I needed to use any extreme manoeuvres to be successful. Straights, simple turns, and gentle side slips seemed to do the trick quite well.

[Windy Jack]

I have now prepared the after action reports. Due to the number of photographs, I have done race 1 and race 2 as separate posts.

[Windy Jack]

Since I am in isolation at the moment courtesy of COVID, I used the time to play two more races. Taking heed of Tim's advice, mentioned earlier in this thread, I chose planes with the same length straights.
The first race was between a SPAD VII and an Aviatik D.I. I applied the penalty of a missed manoeuvre if a plane collided with a marker. The Aviatik won by one manoeuvre card, after the SPAD took a penalty at the last marker before the finish line.
The second race was between a Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter and a Roland C.II. Again, because of penalties, the Roland won by two manoeuvre cards. Their manoeuvre decks are identical except that the Sopwith has an immelmann. Being that it is highly unlikely in a race that a plane would want to immelmann, they are the same for this game.

[Biggles downunder]

Oh wow. I hope you don’t actually get sick Doug! Take care my friend.

[Windy Jack]

Oh wow. I hope you don’t actually get sick Doug! Take care my friend.

My wife has come to the end of her isolation time tonight. She is free tomorrow. So far, I have not shown any symptoms, but I have to stay isolated for four more days - I guess in case I have caught it from her but the symptoms haven't shown up yet. We've been taking care - lots of hand washing and sanitising.

[Flying Helmut]

My wife has come to the end of her isolation time tonight. She is free tomorrow. So far, I have not shown any symptoms, but I have to stay isolated for four more days - I guess in case I have caught it from her but the symptoms haven't shown up yet. We've been taking care - lots of hand washing and sanitising.

Good to hear.

As per your Races, I'd be interested in seeing AARs, if you took any pictures.

[Windy Jack]

As per your Races, I'd be interested in seeing AARs, if you took any pictures.

As it happens, I did take pictures, so I can prepare them and AARs to post. Thanks for your interest.

[Windy Jack]

The illustrated AARs are in After Action Reports section now.