Frequently-Asked Questions

From Wings of Linen
What does this wiki cover?
Planes that flew in World War One. Excluded (currently) are planes that did not see action in the war, planes that were purely trainers, and -- unless the type was especially important or interesting -- planes were only one example or a few test prototypes were made. Some leeway is given to planes that may have seen limited or no service in the war, but they would have certainly seen service had the war last a few months or a couple years longer. Think of it as WWI plus "what if the war had gone a year or two longer?"
It is certainly okay to add short notes about prototype aircraft on the Manufacturer's page explaining -- for instance -- why we've never heard of an Albatros D.IV. In fact, the manufacturer's pages increasing carry such notes.


Who is responsible for Wings of Linen?
Daryl Poe (Reduced Aircraft Factory) is the primary contributor, but we have a few other people making additions as well. I would be thrilled to see more participation from the community. For one, my source materials are limited; a community has wider access to materials than any one person could ever have.


Why does it exist?
I was looking for a single reference source to cover the historical and gaming aspects of WWI aircraft. While Wikipedia does a good job, it is very hit-or-miss on the topic, sometimes waxing into page after page of text, too detailed for most people's interest; and sometimes skipping over important aircraft altogether. Also, Wikipedia does not cover the gaming aspects of WWI aircraft. Finally, I wanted a single place to gather statistic and facts that are now scattered across hundreds of books and booklets and web sites.


What are the rules for Wings of Linen content?
  • We must follow Miraheze guidelines, since they are our gracious host. That means that content must be free of copyright complications and follow the other Miraheze rules. (Though see below about external links.)
  • Unless a statement is a fairly uncontroversial topic (like "The Albatros D.III used a 160hp Mercedes D.III engine"), or a rough summary, all figures and statements should be sourced and their reference should be noted. This facilitates several good things: you can check for typos by going back to the original text, and when there is a dispute over something like a plane's ceiling, both sources can be referenced and the reader can choose which one he or she trusts the most. If it were just raw numbers, you'd never know whether it came from an official 1917 flight report or an individual just making a wild guess.
  • Our sources should be more authoritative than a random website. It's one thing to see a speed number quoted from a Jack Bruce book; it's another to say it was found on www.dubious-info.org.
  • We should be balanced with the use of external links. For instance, while I am a Shapeways designer, I try to link to the WWI plane designs of all other Shapeways designers rather than just my own designs.
  • The text sections should be fairly brief and to the point. We're not trying to create a new Windsock Datafile for each plane here. Just a paragraph or two or three is enough to give a quick overview of the aircraft's history and characteristics. The facts-box on the right hand side can cover most of the dry facts like speed and performance.


What is the format of the WIKI?
Miraheze wikis, including this one, are mediawiki format. That is the same format that drives wikipedia. There are probably a thousand references on the web about formatting and other topics. I won't try to repeat them here.


What about lighter-than-air aircraft?
They're not currently included, but they could be added.


What's with all the templates on the pages?
Templates are the things surrounded by curly brackets, e.g. "{{Davilla-French}}". The nice things about templates are:
  • They keep you from typing almost the same text over and over again, slightly different each time (like a book that is common in the references).
  • If you need to change what they do, you only have to change the template's page, rather than trying to change 500 individual pages.
  • They can take parameters and handle them in a regular way, e.g. adjusting the font or reordering items to be regular.
  • Some of them, like the plane type infobox, add some nice functionality to the wiki.
All of the templates borrowed from other wikis go by their normal names; all of the templates unique to this wiki start with "x".


How do I contribute?
  • Content: There is certainly a lot of work to do to remove all the stubs, add more references, add more plane cards, etc. Anyone can edit the wiki (see the How-to Pages), although there is a one-day cooling-off period for new accounts.
  • Costs: As far as costs go, Miraheze -- the physical host of Wings of Linen -- doesn't charge for wiki space, but they do take contributions to keep things running. You might consider throwing them a small contribution if you find Wings of Linen useful.


Why the emphasis on Wings of Glory?
It's currently the most widespread WWI aerial combat game out there. In July 2018, links to Blue Max/Canvas Eagles charts were added. If someone is a big fan of another gaming system, they could add plane stats for that game in the gaming section, following Wings of Glory.


Why are some Wings of Glory cards posted directly, while others are just links?
Many cards have been collected, with or without modifications, from others' artwork, so the provenance of the artwork (and therefore the copyright) is unclear. In other cases, the artist did not want to release the card under the Creative Commons - Share Alike - Attribution license (CC-BY-SA). In such cases, a link is a better choice than posting the card directly on this WIKI. The same thing can happen with pictures or drawings where the copyright is unclear. There are almost no restrictions to linking to outside pages and images -- it is only things shown directly on the WIKI that must be CC-BY-SA.


What about new Categories?
Categories should have sharp boundaries, where it it clear whether a plane belongs in the category or not. A good example is Flying Boats -- there can be little debate about whether a plane is a Flying Boat or not. Examples that do not make good categories are Fighters (what about an armed Farman M.F.11? The Sopwith Strutter was sometimes used as a fighter but usually not) or French Aircraft (what about the Hanriot H.D.1, which was designed and built in France (and Italy) but was never used by the French air forces?)


What about other scales?
For gaming purposes, most people use 1:144 or (on a smaller scale, no pun intended) 1:285/6mm/1:288. On the front page you can see all the scales for which we keep lists. 1:72 is difficult because there are so many plastic models in that scale. Other scales can be added it someone wants to put in the work.