ORIGINAL: Jorge_Stanbury
ORIGINAL: PaxMondo
If you want to hoard good pilots, just put them into general reserve. No reason to send them to TC.
But why keep them in general reserve doing nothing, when they can help accelerate in TRACOM?
Moreover, I like to use general reserve as the placeholder for good, but not great pilots, then when a squadron needs replacements, I simply "request veteran", check pilot type, then sort by skill or experience and fill it up. This way I can control that no "superman" crack pilot ends in an irrelevant squadron [;)]
Accelerate 35 EXP pilots? Maybe I play a different game, but I am simply swimming in pilots by mid-42 and that's with a tempo that very, very few PBEM's even approximate. For example, in the first 30 days of the war, total losses are +3000 planes, and of course ~2000 pilots.
Even supporting my end of those losses, I still have plenty of pilots. Granted not experienced ones yet as the training program hasn't begun to catch up, but in terms of raw numbers, plenty.
And I did say "if you want to save" ... I don't. Use'em or lose'em is my motto. [:D]
PS: plus the fact that if I don't use them I'd have to fly 40exp/60skill pilots right now because that's where my training program is. I need another 20 -30 days before I can really start harvesting.
Also of course, still flying far too many pre-war airframes which results in higher than desired losses. Production expansion just kicking in so I will be able to start converting (slowly) air groups to modern equipment (Zero/Sally vs Claude/Ida).
this is all standard stuff for early war IJ ...