Some gamers might remember playing the first editions of 
Blue Max, and recall how almost all the planes were of the same 
speed. This gave the game a good overall feel and balance. 
Eventually Blue Max evolved into the more advanced 
miniatures edition, and some of the aircraft maneuver schedules 
got modified. However, the effect was that the feeling of close 
speeds was removed from the game and balance was offset. My 
goal is to get that feeling of relative speeds back and introduce 
them into the miniatures edition. The focus is on the Late War 
charts (the original charts) because the Early War charts (added 
to miniatures edition) are in a category of their own and already 
have a good feel to them. The objective is to show relative 
speeds between planes and still display the plane's flight 
characteristics. Few changes to the aircraft schedules were 
actually needed to achieve this, and the results have been most 
rewarding.

A difference of one hex in speed between planes is roughly 
equal to 30mph to 40mph. Some planes in the game are 
separated by a two hex difference, which is roughly a 60mph to 
80mph difference in speed. The goal here is to make changes to 
the aircraft maneuver schedules so that they have a better feel. A 
slower plane in comparison to a faster plane will lack the ability 
to turn at a faster speed, but will still have that overall feeling 
of close speeds.

The speeds listed below were rounded to intervals of 5mph 
for easier reading and comparison, that is 106mph would be 
105mph, 114mph would be 115mph, 109mph would be 110mph, 
etc. In most cases, only a 5mph speed separates planes that 
are dramatically different in the miniatures edition of Blue 
Max. While doing the research on WW1 aircraft speeds, I 
compared data from multiple sources and never relying on just 
one data reference. Another feature to consider in a plane's 
speed were the multiple engine types used in the same plane. 
Planes of the same type sometimes had several different engines 
installed, and the speed shown below is for the most common 
engine for that plane. One more aspect to consider is that a 
speed margin of about 5mph (or more) should always be present 
due to the condition of the plane and/or plane's engine at the 
front. I also took into account pilot testimonies and their 
opinions (biased and unbiased) where available because they 
told the real story as to how their aircraft compared to one 
another. 
Aircraft Name:		Speed at 4K--6K feet:
Airco DH2		95mph	
Albatros DII		110mph
Albatros DIII		110mph
Albatros DV		115mph
Avaro 504		95mph
Bristol F2B		110mph**
Bristol Scout		95mph
DH4			115mph**
DH5			105mph
Fokker DR1		105mph
Fokker DVI		110mph
Fokker DVII		120mph
Fokker DVIII		115mph
Fokker EIII		85mph
Halberstadt CLII	105mph
Halberstadt DII		95mph
Morane Mono		90mph
Nieuport 11		95mph
Nieuport 12		90mph
Nieuport 17		110mph
Nieuport 28		115mph
Pfalz DIII		105mph
Pfalx DXII		115mph
Pfalz EIII		90mph
RE8			100mph
Roland CII		105mph
Roland DII		110mph
Roland DVI		115mph
SE5			115mph
SE5A			120mph**
Siemens DIII/DIV	115mph
Sop. Camel		115mph
Sop. Pup		105mph
Sop. Snipe		120mph
Sop. Stutter		105mph
Sop. Triplane		110mph
Spad 13			135mph**
Spad 7			115mph
SVA-5			135mph**
** Important note: The data for these planes in most 
books/references show post war speeds and not the actual 
speeds of the plane during World War One. The speeds I have 
listed are the speeds during World War One. Phil Hall, designer 
of Blue Max, once told me, "I have noticed that in many 
reference works there is a tendency to take the best possible 
performance without regard to when the aircraft was able to 
perform like that." and I completely agree with him. Special 
attention must be given to the SE5A. The actual combat speed 
of the production plane with the 200hp Wolseley Viper engine 
was approximately 122mph at 6,000 feet. Planes with the 200hp 
(not the 150hp) Hispano-Suiza engine performed better, but 
these were few in number. Most sources tend to lead the 
researcher to believe that the SE5A had a speed of more than 
135mph, which was a post war speed due to the installation of 
better and much improved engines.

Printing the PDF files:
For best results, I recommend using a laser printer with at least 
600dpi resolution and printing them on white paper. After 
printing a master set, you can take this to a copy center and get 
duplicates made. You can color code your duplicates by having 
the maneuver schedules copied on different color paper. For 
example, you can use light blue for late war charts and beige or 
buff color for early war charts.