Aircraft out of fuel

[W7LPNRICK]

Just a thought & a question at the same time.... All of us have done it. You have a perfectly good airplane with X amount of kills, no bad guys to be seen and ya run outa gas, land safe in an open field. Why can't a friend drop you supplies/gas and let ya fly home or if near a GV field get ya back up in the air. I real war time they wouldn't abandon a perfectly good aircraft, in fact I bet the sent an M-3 or equivalent to fuel it up & get it home. If so, would anyone really use it? If ya had a good friend & 6-7 kills? 2nd Q...why can't we carry one load of supplies on the back of each GV to help a partner out.  Hope this hasn't already been beat to death.   

[Imowface]

if an aircraft ran out of fuel and wasnt horribly mangled by landing in a field, they would put it on a truck and drive/tow it to base.

[guncrasher]

I dont think in ww2 planes who ran out of fuel went looking for a nice level place to land.  most pilots would rather bail out than crash land.  and even if they landed undamaged, they would ran away as far away from plane as they could.

just pay attention to your fuel level, if you  run out then either ditch or bail, other than that would be gamey.  this has been asked many times.  It really sucks sometimes to not see your name in lights, specially if you had some really awesome fite with somebody.


semp

[Imowface]

I was referring to if it was over friendly lines, and if you ran out of fuel over enemy territory, you would glide as far as you could to get as close to friendlies as possible

[vonKrimm]

Regardless if you trucked the plane back to base or sent-out a jeep with some AvGas; you were still gonna be ridiculed by your fellow pilots for a long, long time over the incident.  So......NO NAME IN LIGHTS FOR YOU!!!!!!

[Ack-Ack]

learn to manage your fuel resources better.

ack-ack

[W7LPNRICK]

learn to manage your fuel resources better.

ack-ack

Obviously.

[SectorNine50]

learn to manage your fuel resources better.

ack-ack

This doesn't contribute much... 

I don't think this will ever happen, due to the fact that, as stated before, part of landing kills is making it back safely to the base.  Realistically, it probably shouldn't be as easy as it is in-game to do safe off-runway landings in one piece.

[W7LPNRICK]

True, but as stated here on the forums many many times, ad nauseam , It really can't be realistic due to time constraints. Most folks are pressed to spend a couple hours a week on here. Anymore realism would take hours of boring effort and no one would play.  My suggestion was based on helping players get more, but then thinking waiting for a squadie to bring gas would actually be a hindrance to time factors. Easier to bail & re-up. 

[4deck]

-1

[uptown]

E6B is your friend.

[RTHolmes]

if an aircraft ran out of fuel and wasnt horribly mangled by landing in a field, they would put it on a truck and drive/tow it to base.

really? rather than refuelling a serviceable aircraft and just flying it out they would grab a team of engineers to disassemble the aircraft and trailer it? using very specialised trailers which were in short supply because they were being used to transport new fighters into service? and ... towed?

I dont think in ww2 planes who ran out of fuel went looking for a nice level place to land.  most pilots would rather bail out than crash land.  and even if they landed undamaged, they would ran away as far away from plane as they could.

really? despite the pressure on wartime production, pilots treated their planes as disposable and just grabbed one of the endless spare aircraft for the next sortie? and why would a pilot run away from an undamaged aircraft which has no fuel onboard?

Realistically, it probably shouldn't be as easy as it is in-game to do safe off-runway landings in one piece.

really? when most fighter sorties, and a large bulk of bomber sorties were flown off and landed on rough grass or dirt strips? ie. not on a concrete/asphalt runway.


are we just making this stuff up now?

[SEseph]

really? rather than refuelling a serviceable aircraft and just flying it out they would grab a team of engineers to disassemble the aircraft and trailer it? using very specialised trailers which were in short supply because they were being used to transport new fighters into service? and ... towed?

Depends on where it was. Best example of leaving good planes about are the 38's IN Greenland, or the B24 that was lost in Africa (can't remember the name for exact refference). They are best because they are the only specific ones I know. But if possible to recover, they would. Not with the pilot sitting there, but they would, or atleast salvage parts


really? despite the pressure on wartime production, pilots treated their planes as disposable and just grabbed one of the endless spare aircraft for the next sortie? and why would a pilot run away from an undamaged aircraft which has no fuel onboard?

Because they are a sitting duck screaming " IF YOU CAN FIND ME YOU CAN GET A FREE KILL ON THE GUY WHO SHOT DOWN A FEW OF YOUR FRIENDS" friendly territory or not.

really? when most fighter sorties, and a large bulk of bomber sorties were flown off and landed on rough grass or dirt strips? ie. not on a concrete/asphalt runway.

True, yet they were made flat as best as possible. Europe and the Pacific didn't have tons of flat easily landable areas. Lots of trees, ruts, and all sorts of nastiness could hobble the plane if out in the open field.


are we just making this stuff up now?

[RTHolmes]

well the OP was pretty specific - undamaged plane, no bad guys to be seen, safely landing in an open field, within range of friendly GVs.

Ive only really read the RAF accounts of this kind of thing and the biggest concern for landing on improvised strips/parks/grazing land/football pitches/country house lawns etc. wasnt the uneven ground but soggy patches where the undercarriage would dig in and cause the plane to do an endo.

Then again these accounts invariably end up with the pilot being recovered from the local pub in an advanced state of ... err ... relaxation

[Masherbrum]

Just a thought & a question at the same time.... All of us have done it. You have a perfectly good airplane with X amount of kills, no bad guys to be seen and ya run outa gas, land safe in an open field. Why can't a friend drop you supplies/gas and let ya fly home or if near a GV field get ya back up in the air. I real war time they wouldn't abandon a perfectly good aircraft, in fact I bet the sent an M-3 or equivalent to fuel it up & get it home. If so, would anyone really use it? If ya had a good friend & 6-7 kills? 2nd Q...why can't we carry one load of supplies on the back of each GV to help a partner out.  Hope this hasn't already been beat to death.   

Take more gas or learn to loiter and provide enough fuel for the egress to base.

No.