Just 2 historical questions xD

Mess Room
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  1. Hey, does anyone knows what that blue oval thing on the plane engine is? Im curious about it. To me it seems like some kind of a mirror but then I cant come up with a purpose of it.

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  2. Could anyone explain to me why some of the planes have those explosions nearby when flying? Like Paratrooper planes for example. I was actually searching for it but I couldnt find anything maybe due to bad phrasing. Im just very curious of the purpose, as first thing that comes to my mind is some kind of a technology to prevent heat guided rockets from hitting the target, but hey WW2 didnt had those!
    So could anyone explain to me what it is all about? :slight_smile:

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No sure about number 1. I’m sure some of our resident experts can tell you.

But number 2 is flak (or ack-ack as it’s sometimes known). Flak was essentially shells shot into the air that explode after a set time. This would send shrapnel outwards and rip through planes. Most anti-air guns used flak (but not all).

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Hmm I know what flak is, but if so, it is meant to visualize the ground anti air forces shooting the plane? I thought of it before too, but it always seemed to me that those explosions were being “released” from the plane just like flares are for example

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Yeah, it’s just a simulation of flak.

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Understood, thanks for telling me as Im sure I have seen same effect in some videos and games other than Enlisted and It always bothered me why I couldnt find antything about it, now I understand why :smiley:

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Its just for show and has no effect. There are no AA guns on the ground firing them so its just an illusion which looks good in the transport plane while waiting for deployment, but looks very poor from outside.

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Okay It does make sense, thank you as well

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would it be possible to make that a flak a bit less predictable?
An invisible flak always alternating between missing to the left and missing to the right without even a break to reload is a bit silly.
So maybe randomise the pattern a bit or extend the current fixed loop pattern by a few shoots instead of looping again after only the second shoot.

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  1. It’s a mirror.
    The P-38 Lightning have an oval shaped mirror mounted on the engine nacelles so the pilot could visually check whether the landing gear was fully retracted or extended.

  2. The explosion is only a visual effect.
    There were no operational heat seeking missile during WWII.
    The first concept of heat seeking missile was thought up by the German with the surface to air missile Enzian E-4. The project failed because in the 1940s, infrared sensors were extremely primitive, lacking the range, accuracy, and sensitivity needed to reliably track a moving aircraft.
    The first country to successfully developed heat seeking missile is the USA with the successful test flight of the AIM-9 Sidewinder in September 11 1953 at China Lake, California.

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Well thats a very detailed description, big thank you for satisfying my curiosity with that!

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As it’s a visual thing, for “immersion”, I doubt that anything will change.

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Flak