In FC, "on fire" should equal "dead"

[AeroCrab]

... or at least "dead-ish". As things stand, I can light up an enemy plane and then have it fly around for a few minutes (sometimes attacking things). Then one of my wingmen will show up and do a "last bullet" operation and steal my kill. I'm aware that the game itself seems to operate on a "you, as player, shot it once so we award you the kill" basis, but the log output tells a different story, and that's all PWCG has to operate on.

Not that I want to harp too much on "realism," but I'd expect everybody to "see" an aircraft on fire and recognize it as "combat ineffective" and move on to something else.

(Yes, I'm just salty that my kills are being "stolen" by non-existent computer people. The struggle is real )

[Nealg49]

Oh, I can feel your frustration.  Recently, I had lit up a FW 190, flying a Tempest MkV, and the engine burst gloriously into flames!  Then a member of my AI flight shot past me on my left, fired off a burst, and did I get credit for the ill?  No. 

I have a hard enough time even hitting anything, so, I'd like credit for my kills when I do accidentally get one!😂

Edited May 27 by Nealg49

[jokash]

The reverse is true also....someone butchers an plane,you swoop in - fire a burst and get a kill.

[Catch]

8 hours ago, jokash said:

The reverse is true also....someone butchers an plane,you swoop in - fire a burst and get a kill.

Yes, but that is merely taking advantage of an opportunity. When the reverse occurs, it is damn bad form.

[Nealg49]

On 5/28/2026 at 7:54 AM, jokash said:

The reverse is true also....someone butchers an plane,you swoop in - fire a burst and get a kill.

I have actually tried that. Missed every darn time!🥸

[elephant]

AeroCrab is right, not only because of the stolen kills, but it is ridiculous to see a plane on fire acting as normal and fighing, for several minutes.

Upon fire the plane should be written off immediately and the pilot should try to make procedures in order to cease the fire if possible (stopping the engine and diving)

 

Edited May 30 by elephant

[AeroCrab]

Folks have noted that this is a thing for WWII as well, and that is certainly true. I posted about FC specifically because "an aircraft made of highly-flammable materials should not fly around fighting for minutes on end" seems like a particularly uncontroversial take. I would expect the AI pilot to have about seven seconds to curse a cruel fate and/or utilize a parachute should he be so fortunate as to have one. Certainly not line up a revenge attack, or shlep off towards home while (presumably) roasting marshmallows.

Since this does seem entirely uncontroversial to me, and since I know the game has the "on fire" information (based on the plaintive cries of my WWII wingmen), I have to assume there is something making handling this sort of thing difficult that I haven't thought of. Probably some "if you do this, it implies that" sort of deal, where "that" is really difficult to deal with. Not knowing the internals, I have no idea.

But if there's some way to have the on-fire SPAD not keep flying around shooting things for another three minutes, that would indeed be swell. 

[Aapje]

I would think that this is also fairly simply to implement, since it would just be:

if fire -> bail out right away. 

[elephant]

23 hours ago, AeroCrab said:

But if there's some way to have the on-fire SPAD not keep flying around shooting things for another three minutes, that would indeed be swell. 

Spads can stay "alive" under water too! 😁

 

[J18]

Rear gunners also keep on firing even though their plane is engulfed in flames. Another bit of suspect realism is how long planes can fly with a holed radiator or oil tank. Flying for around 20 minutes or more in FC before the engine seizes. Is that viable?