Alfred
Posts: 6685
Joined: 9/28/2006 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: crsutton quote:
ORIGINAL: Alfred It is misleading to rely upon the unit classification as that is not used by the program. Whether a plane is certified for flight operations off carriers is determined solely on the basis of aircraft model. Some aircraft models are carrier capable, most are not. There is no carrier trained aircraft model in the game. The squadron classification is only of assistance to a human player in determining how efficient the unit will be in conducting flight operations off carriers. For the Allies, only aircraft models from the following two aircraft production nationalities might be carrier capable The same aircraft model supplied to another nationality will not be carrier capable. For example, the SBD-5 Dauntless model is carrier capable if it is USN nationality production build but it is not carrier capable if it is NZ nationality production build. Also note there is no USMC nationality aircraft production build. All USMC squadrons are equipped only with USN nationality production. Sort the aircraft database (key press "D") into nationality order. Choose and examine a USN or Brit aircraft model and on the individual aircraft model info screen a carrier capable model is identified in white lettering directly underneath the yellow lettering of the model name. No white lettering means that particular aircraft model is not carrier capable and placing that model in a carrier capable/carrier trained squadron will never make the aircraft certified for flight operations off carriers. Knowing which squadrons are carrier capable or carrier trained is very simple. If a USN nationality squadron enters the game aboard a carrier, it is already carrier capable. If the USN nationality squadron enters the game at a land base, it is only carrier trained at best. A good example is USN nationality squadron VF-17. It arrives at a land base and is classified as carrier trained. It is however equipped with the F4U-1 Corsair which is not a carrier capable aircraft model. Therefore, even though the squadron says it is carrier trained, because of the particular aircraft model, that unit will not be able to conduct flight operations off carriers whilst it remains equipped with the F4U-1 Corsair. British air units are slightly more complicated in that there is only a single Brit nationality production build, there is no FAA nationality production build. The game does not track pilot certifications for particular aircraft models at all. Any pilot can be placed in any squadron. There are only 4 broad pilot categories which the program tracks: - bomber
- aircraft
- patrol
- transport
From the pilot reserve pool send a "fighter" classified pilot to a bomber unit and the only malus is that the pilot drops some experience points because he is moving from one broad classification to another. He does not lose any points in any of his skills. It is immaterial whether the bomber unit specialises in low level naval attack, or ASW or high altitude city attack missions. Nor is it important which aircraft model the bomber squadron operates. How effective the newly transferred pilot will be is largely determined by his skill levels. This entire matter is just another demonstration of the game abstractions which are necessary due to legacy code and in order to make the game playable. Alfred There is one New Zealand FAA fighter squadron that will take the NZ corsair. This one unit is carrier capable but that is about it. Doesn't invalidate what I posted. It does however highlight the point made by my opening sentence in post #13. The NZ Corsair nationality production model is not carrier capable. Therefore if you equip the New Zealand FAA fighter squadron with that particular aircraft model, the squadron will not be able to operate from carrier flight decks irrespective of what the squadron classification says. NZ FAA squadrons must be equipped (and enter the game so equipped) with Brit nationality production aircraft models which are carrier capable. As I said in the earlier post, the British situation is more complicated because there is no in-game FAA nationality; neither for production purposes nor for squadron purposes. The further complication is that FAA units: (a) don't necessarily arrive on board carriers, and (b) are treated as a ghost Brit nationality squadron, hence why they are equipped with Brit nationality production, but the squadron pilots might be drawn from another in game nationality (Aust, NZ, Cth or Can) Alfred
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