Pilot shortage

Gary Grigsby’s War in the West 1943-45 is the most ambitious and detailed computer wargame on the Western Front of World War II ever made. Starting with the Summer 1943 invasions of Sicily and Italy and proceeding through the invasions of France and the drive into Germany, War in the West brings you all the Allied campaigns in Western Europe and the capability to re-fight the Western Front according to your plan.

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Kumppi
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Pilot shortage

Post by Kumppi »

I'm having some problems finding enough pilots for the Canadian air groups. At the moment the pool is empty and I only get 8 each turn. Looking at the manual in section 20.6.2 it says...

"If there are not enough of these (trained) pilots available, then remaining vacancies will be filled with new pilots with experience level half of the current air national morale."

What are these new pilots? At the moment it seems that the only pilots I get are trained pilots. I also have all my air groups set to normal replacements which should accept these new pilots what ever they may be.

I have now put all my Canadian air groups to rest and hopefully the brave Canadians at some point put down their hockey sticks and join the Royal Canadian Air Force en masse.
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Q-Ball
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RE: Pilot shortage

Post by Q-Ball »

I have the same problem, in June '44. At this point in the war, the RAF has 3781 aircraft, with 240 new pilots per turn, enough to sustain a 6.3% loss rate per turn

The RCAF has 581 aircraft, but only receives 8 pilots per turn, enough to sustain a loss rate of 1.3%

Unless in the war there was a documented shortage of RCAF pilots, the number trained should be bumped-up, probably to 30-40 or so. Poles should also be looked at.

Until that's addressed or confirmed as a shortage, you pretty much have to ground most of the RCAF......
Smirfy
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RE: Pilot shortage

Post by Smirfy »


That sounds low I believe 6 Group of Bomber Command was Canadian and 8 pilots a week would never have sustained that. Especially after June 44 when pilots actually started finishing their tours and not getting killed.
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Helpless
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RE: Pilot shortage

Post by Helpless »

It could be too low, but you are getting 8 trained pilots which are on the level of national air morale, but otherwise you should get unlimited amount of "untrained" pilots. I.e. there should be no shortage.
Pavel Zagzin
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Jajusha
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RE: Pilot shortage

Post by Jajusha »

I might be wrong, but I think if you go into the commanders report, select the canadian airwings, press "Add Pilots", and when it asks you if you want to add only trained ones, press "no". Your airwings should be filled with pilots (rookies).
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Q-Ball
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RE: Pilot shortage

Post by Q-Ball »

ORIGINAL: Jajusha

I might be wrong, but I think if you go into the commanders report, select the canadian airwings, press "Add Pilots", and when it asks you if you want to add only trained ones, press "no". Your airwings should be filled with pilots (rookies).

That's correct, you can pull as many rookies as you need to.

However, couple questions on that:
1. Is there a design or historical reason why Canada is far more likely to have to do this than the other Allies, or is that an oversight that needs to be looked at?

2. What are the consequences of using alot of rookies in the RCAF?
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Helpless
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RE: Pilot shortage

Post by Helpless »

1. Is there a design or historical reason why Canada is far more likely to have to do this than the other Allies, or is that an oversight that needs to be looked at?

RCAF has the same multiplier as other CW nations and it depends on national air morale and amount of air groups. We can look at it, but iirc there was no any shortages in the test games we ran.
2. What are the consequences of using alot of rookies in the RCAF?

Decreased performance.
Pavel Zagzin
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warshipbuilder
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RE: Pilot shortage

Post by warshipbuilder »

The BCATP which was in operation from April 1940 to March 1945 turned out 25,747 pilots for the RCAF. I think 8 a month is a tad low. Apparently by October 1943 production was far outstripping demand.

Source:The Royal Canadian Air Force at War 1939-1945

Also according to the book

RAF 17,796
RAAF 4,045
RNZAF 2,220

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Kumppi
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RE: Pilot shortage

Post by Kumppi »

ORIGINAL: Jajusha

I might be wrong, but I think if you go into the commanders report, select the canadian airwings, press "Add Pilots", and when it asks you if you want to add only trained ones, press "no". Your airwings should be filled with pilots (rookies).

I did not know that. I should RTFM. Thanks!

It would be great if you could do this from the air group unit detail window under the pilots tab too.
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Helpless
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RE: Pilot shortage

Post by Helpless »

You get pilot crews, not pilots. Some crews are >10 pilots.
Pavel Zagzin
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Helpless
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RE: Pilot shortage

Post by Helpless »

Another thing to remember that all replacements come fully equipped with pilot crews and don't consume any from pool.
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marion61
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RE: Pilot shortage

Post by marion61 »

I put in a bug report about not getting new pilots into my air gourps during the logistics phase. At one point I had over 7k US aircrews in the pool, but the majority of my air groups weren't getting pilots and the planes all went into reserve. Not sure if you saw my post or not. I know it's the holidays [8D] tm.asp?m=3774660
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