4e Vickers Vernon 1st draught

[sgtcallistan]

Originally Posted by Azinctus

That's excellent information Sgtcallistan. Lightening the load is exactly the sort of survival decision I want them to have to make: "A B.A.R each is very useful, but something has to stay if we are going to take off from this field."

Thank you.
Something else to bear in mind; the fuel load for a trip back might be critical in these circumstances; enough to make the trip, not enough to prevent take-off with necesary load/passengers.
Not a few downed aircraft in this period had to have things like seats and straps removed to get the weight down as much as possible.

My mention of bumps on the field recalls a Handley-Page 0/400 bomber that broke it's undercarriage on a mooring block during landing (this at RAF Northolt in 1919, IIRC), resulting the in the airframe being unrepairable (as it was on it's home 'field, it was broken for parts).
Landing on a dirt country road is (just) practical for early fighter aircraft, but for a Vernon-sized beast, we are in the realm of Heroic Piloting. Of course, in a cinematic game...

Something like a tank of water, if you are flying over a desert, is both absolutely necesary in case of an emergency landing, and at the same time a major item of cargo, and therefore limits the fuel carried.

Another detail; it's a common trope in these types of aircraft to make take-offs very early in the day, when the air is stillest.
Play it for drama, I recommend; the dawn patrols on both sides will also take-off at first light; the enemy searchers have camped nearby overnight; the preparations in silence broken by the engine as it starts, and it must start first time... could be grand.

Also; a recent re-enactment of Bleriot's flight across the English Channel required a dawn take-off and wind from the south; a function of an underpowered, draggy airframe, a need for little crosswind (endurance/fuel limitations) and cool air actually making the engine more reliable and perhaps fuel-efficient.