First Eagles - WWI and Early Years 1914 - 1920

The contents of this zip file are the sole property of their Author,Bortdafarm who has
granted me permission to upload them to CombatAce.
 
Bwf.
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ADDITIONAL SKIN PACK FOR MY ALBATROS DI
install to the aircraft/FokkerDIII folder
 
(yes to overwrite THE CFG)
 
 
 
Bortdafarm
 
notes# a couple of skins to add variety....
beat up average squadron aircraft camoflage

A mission for First Eagles.
 
Bucky's Quick Mission No.4: 'Billy Bishop's Dawn Raid'.
 
============================================================
 
Introduction:
 
This Mission is a re-enactment of an action that took place at around 5.00am on Saturday,
2nd June, 1917.
 
On this day, Canadian, Capt William Avery Bishop attacked an unknown German aerodrome
(Estourmel?) near Cambrai, single handed, shooting down three German planes that had
attempted to take off to intercept him, and inflicting damage on parked planes and equipment
on the ground. For this action he was awarded the Victoria Cross.
 
Bishop, was at this time in 60 Squadron, flying a Nieuport 17 (serial No.B1566). He had been
promoted to Captain and given command of a flight after just one month of flying at the front.
A remarkable feat in itself.
He survived the war as the leading British and Empire ace, with a total of 72 victories. It has
to be said though, that none of his claims have been verified by documented German losses.
Indeed, the action depicted in this mission can't be corroborated by any witnesses
whatsoever, and it's a strange fact that he was awarded the VC on just his word alone...
Something never achieved by any other VC winner, before or since!
 
I would recommend doing a Google search for the full story, then make up your own mind
about him...
 
============================================================
 
To set the scene:
 
At this time 60 Sqn was based at Filescamp Farm, on Le Hameau aerodrome, a few miles
west of Arras. Bishop had for some time been planning an audacious dawn attack on an
enemy aerodrome...Originally, he was to be escorted by another famous VC winner; Albert
Ball, but he had been killed (in controversial circumstances) on 7th may 1917, so now Bishop
planned to go alone...
 
At about 03.45 hours on Saturday, June 2nd, 1917, Bishop set off from Le Hameau in his
Nieuport 17. It was still dark, misty, and raining.
Soon after crossing the front lines he came across an enemy airfield but found it devoid of
activity, so flew on in search of a better target.
At about 5.am, just as the sun was rising and with the bad weather clearing, he found exactly
what he was looking for...Ahead was a German aerodrome with seven parked machines,
being made ready for the dawn patrol by several mechanics and groundcrew.
 
He made a low, sweeping pass, strafing the row of Albatros D.III's and generally causing
mayhem...As he turned to repeat the manoeuvre, he saw one D.III taking off to intercept
him. Bishop lined himself up behind the German and shot him down.
Moments later, another D.III was attempting the same thing... Bishop again manoeuvred
his Nieuport into position, but in his excitement, missed from quite close range. However, his
fire unnerved the German pilot, who lost control and steered his plane into a tree.
 
Bishop turned again toward the airfield and this time he saw two D.III's taking off at the
same time,...in opposite directions. One headed for Bishop while the other tried to gain
height to launch his attack. He was now in a turning fight with the nearest Albatros.
Managing to turn his more agile Nieuport inside, he fired a long burst into the enemy plane,
which then crashed to the ground just outside the airfield perimeter.
 
After an intense but indecisive combat with the fourth D.III, and worried that he was
dangerously low on ammo, Bishop hightailed it away quickly, even throwing his Lewis gun
overboard to gain speed. He was chased by more enemy fighters all the way back to the
front line, but got back safely to his aerodrome.
His mechanics couldn't believe his Nieuport had made it back with so many bullet holes...
It was literally riddled!
 
Bishop describes the action in great detail in his book 'Winged Warfare'. A WW1 air war
classic.
 
============================================================
 
Mission guidelines:
 
The mission starts a short time after Bishop had found the first inactive German airfield...
You'll be at about 1500 ft.
Keep to a heading of around 80 degrees. You'll see Cambrai on your right as you approach
the main Cambrai to Douai road. You should soon be able to see the aerodrome at the
1.00 O'clock position.
 
How you approach it is up to you, but Bishop descended to 300ft to achieve the maximum
surprise. Get to the airfield quick, and the action should pan out just as it happened to
Bishop.
A few last words of advice though...ZOOM 'N DIVE,...BOB 'N WEAVE...DO NOT FLY IN A
STRAIGHT LINE!!
 
If you find the mission too hard:
Go to the game's 'Missions' folder, open the Bishop mission, then find the line;
EnemyAirDefenseActivity= and change the 3 to 1 or 2. Then save and exit.
 
============================================================
 
Mission requirements:
 
To fly this mission as intended, you'll need:
 
Flanders terrain.
By Edward.
To be found in the Combat Ace, Downloads, 'Maps/Terrains section.
 
Nieuport 17
By Tex Murphy & Monty CZ
To be found in the Combat Ace, Downloads, 'Add On Aircraft' section.
 
Albatros D.III
By Capun and his team at Skunkworks
To be found at the Skunkworks site. (Registration required)
 
Active Battlefield for First Eagles Version 2
By Heck.
To be found in the Combat Ace, Downloads, 'Maps/Terrains section.
Not sure if this is essential but it's a great mod and highly recommended
anyway!
 
PLEASE NOTE: I've tested this mission with Gr.Viper's excellent 'FE-Simple Machine Gun
Mod' installed, and found it exciting, but unfortunately, next to impossible!
So if you have this mod in your game, you may want to disable it to play this mission with
any chance of survival!...Or give it a try if you're feeling particularly brave!
 
For maximum realism, the mission should be played with all gameplay settings set to 'Hard'.
 
Many thanks to all the above artists for their most excellent contributions to this great game.
 
============================================================
 
Compromises and game limitations:
 
The only compromise to historical accuracy in this particular mission is that Bishop's Nieuport
17 was actually armed with a single overwing Lewis gun, as opposed to the Vickers supplied
with Tex Murphy and Monty CZ's excellent version. A bit of a shame because Bishop had to
reload a new drum onto his Lewis gun three or more times during the action, and it would
have been nice to be able to replicate that.
Never mind though, you should still have more than enough ammo to cause just as much
mayhem and destruction!
 
The good news: The RFC Nieuport actually depicts Bishop's Nieuport 17, serial No.B1566!
 
============================================================
 
Installation instructions:
 
Install the mission by unzipping the downloaded file to the following path:
C:/Program Files/Thirdwire/WW1/Missions
 
Alternatively, you can drag and drop the unzipped MSN file directly into your 'Missions' folder.
 
============================================================
 
I hope you enjoy flying this mission and find it both challenging and enjoyable enough to play
it more than once...I've tried to make it as historically accurate and authentic as the game
will allow.
Feel free to change any of the parameters as you wish.
 
I would welcome any suggestions or general feedback, good, bad or indifferent, via any one
of the FE forums.
 
Be Lucky!
 
Bucky. 3/5/07
 
============================================================
============================================================

Thanks to Laton for this stunning little aircraft, always been one of my favorites, and for his kind permission to upload it here.
Well its not really a real repaint, just brightened her up some to show the lovely modelling. Was'nt aware of it till asking for his blessings, but this was Latons first model..pretty darned impressive I must admit.
 
Hope you enjoy it, she struts quite nicely in the new clothes M-M

Thanks to Bort for giving me permission, given publicly on his blog site, to repaint this wonderful aircraft. It is always a pleasure working with him.....the idea behind this was to show thats Borts stuff could be made "museum " ready, for want of a better term, with out losing the wonderful character that he puts in all his craft, rather than just throwing a bucket of paint at it and hiding aforesaid character. To be honest I don't fly this skin, preferring Borts original, as his stuff has the quality of a well used, honest to goodness warplane about them..character in other words. But this one's a beauty in its own way and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did doing it.
 
 
Thanks again to Bort for this nice aircraft, hope I didn't mess it up too bad old man..LOL

This is a repaint by me of DMs PfalzEV for which he has kindly given me permission to share with you all. It is not historically correct but was such a beauty I decided to offer it anyway...many thanks to Laton for this fine aircraft ..and especially to DM for allowing me to do this..there is a small explanation in the readme, please have a look...M-M

(S!) ALL hi ;-)
 
This is a Pfalz EV 276 as seen in the Windsock Pfalz E’s datafile.
 
 
Special thank you to Laton for giving me the opportunity to work
With him again on this plane its been a great working with you.
 
 
Enjoy!!! ;-)
 
your friend in the FE sky
von Deutschmark

(S!) ALL hi ;-)
 
This is a Pfalz EIV Camo as seen in the Windsock Pfalz E’s datafile.
 
 
Special thank you to Laton for giving me the opportunity to work
With him again on this plane its been a great working with you.
 
 
Enjoy!!! ;-)
 
your friend in the FE sky
von Deutschmark

A Mission for First Eagles:
 
Bucky's Quick Mission No.3: 'Berthold: The 'Iron Knight' Of Jasta 15'.
 
============================================================
 
This mission is a re-enactment of an actual aerial combat that took place at about
6.30pm on Wednesday, 29th May, 1918, between Jasta 15 and two unknown French
Escadrilles.
 
During this action, Hptm Rudolf Berthold, leader of Jasta 15 and Kommandeur of
Jagdeschwader II, flying his new Fokker DVII, brought down two planes within ten minutes of
each other: A Spad XIII and a Breguet XIV of two unknown French units. These were his
victory numbers; 30 and 31.
However, he was lucky to survive the combat as his machine gun interrupter gear
malfunctioned and he almost shot his own propeller off!
 
Berthold (44 victories), was a strict disciplinarian and was dubbed; 'The Iron Knight' by his
men. He accepted no excuses from them...Not even a gun jam or engine trouble was reason
enough to withdraw from a fight as far as he was concerned!
Although suffering many horrendous injuries during the war, he refused to stop flying...
Enduring agonising pain caused by an injury to his right arm that was so bad he had to fly
one handed!.
He survived the war, only to be killed by his own countrymen in 1920. Courageous to the
point of foolhardiness, his combat career makes interesting reading. Do a Google search and
be amazed!
 
============================================================
 
To set the scene:
 
At this time Berthold's Jasta 15 were based at Mesnil-Bruntel, a few miles east of Amiens.
Their Fokker DVII's were so new, it's doubtful if the red and blue paint used to decorate them
was totally dry! They had received them just a couple of days before.
The Aisne offensive had been launched by the Germans on the 27th, and was proving
successful, forcing the allies back about 20 miles. Jasta 15 were very much in the thick of the
action, opposed as they were, by three allied air forces: British, French and American.
 
============================================================
 
Mission guidelines:
 
Flying as Berthold, you're leading five wingmen of your jasta on the evening patrol. You're
approaching the front at approximately 9000 ft.
While busy contemplating how truly splendid your freshly painted, spanking new DVII's look
in the evening sunshine, you suddenly notice a group of aeroplanes about a kilometre away
and 1500 meters below, heading toward a German airfield....FRENCH BOMBERS!...
 
============================================================
 
Mission Requirements:
 
To fly this mission as intended, you'll need:
 
Flanders Terrain.
By Edward.
 
Jasta 15 skins X6
By Warbirds and JFM.
 
Breguet 14
By Capun and his team at Skunkworks.
 
Many thanks to all the above artists for their most excellent contributions to this great game.
 
============================================================
 
Compromises and game limitations:
 
1. During the spring and summer of 1918 the German offensive had pushed the allies back
much further than the actual front line depicted in the game. Also, the FE map is very
sparsely populated around the Soissons area where this combat actually took place. This
means that I've not been able to place the action as accurately on the map as I would've liked.
Never mind, it isn't that far away.
 
3. FE won't allow multiple 'named wingmen' in the players flight. This means the game will
recognise only the players plane. consequently, there will be no record of your wingmen's
actions in the 'stats' screen at end of mission. It also means you can't issue orders via the
'tab' button.
The good news is; this doesn't stop your wingmen from participating in the furball!
 
============================================================
 
Installation Instructions:
 
Install the mission by unzipping the downloaded file to the following path:
C:/Program Files/Thirdwire/WW1/Missions
 
Alternatively, you can drag and drop the MSN file directly into your 'Missions' folder.
 
============================================================
 
I hope you enjoy flying this mission and find it challenging enough to play it more than once...
I've tried to make it as accurate and authentic as the game will allow.
Feel free to change any of the parameters as you wish. In fact, if you have a low to medium
spec PC, you may wish to lower the number of aircraft used in the mission, to achieve
smoother frame rates.
 
I would welcome any suggestions or feedback, good or bad, via any one of the FE forums.
 
Happy hunting!
 
Bucky.
 
========================================================================================================================

(S!) ALL hi ;-)
 
This is a Fokker EV of Jasta 36 Chambly aerodrome August 1918 pilot unknown.
Harry von Bülow, who flew with Jasta 36, wrote to historian W R Puglisi around 1961:
"The English pursuit pilots called our group 'The Blue Noses'
And from that statement you can conclude that the noses of Jasta 36 planes were painted blue.
 
 
 
Special thank you to Laton for giving me the opportunity to work
With him again on this plane its been a great working with you.
 
 
Enjoy!!! ;-)
 
your friend in the FE sky
von Deutschmark

(S!) ALL hi ;-)
 
These are replacement Pfalz E I # 479 & Stock Pfalz E 1.
 
Just put this Pfalz E I s folder into your Pfalz E I 479 folder & the one for
Stock Pfalz E1 folder and let it over write the BMP that is there.
 
When I did the originals I went by one Profile and time was a factor, since
Then I have come to know that most all Pfalz E 1’s where bleach linen and
Therefore had an over all white appearance, as to the sand/ crime color of
The MS H and I found out that the profile I used was out of date, now with
The new info I have redone both planes to their correct color.
 
 
Special thank you to Laton for giving me the opportunity to work
With him again on this plane its been a great working with you.
 
 
Enjoy!!! ;-)
 
your friend in the FE sky
von Deutschmark

(S!) ALL hi ;-)
 
This is a Pfalz E I # 479 pilot unknown.
 
 
Special thank you to Laton for giving me the opportunity to work
With him again on this plane its been a great working with you.
 
Special thank you to my friend Bob Pearson for allowing me to put his
Profile in of this plane.
 
Enjoy!!! ;-)
 
your friend in the FE sky
von Deutschmark

(S!) ALL hi ;-)
 
This is a MS H early Escadrille markings
 
 
 
Special thank you to Laton for giving me the opportunity to work
With him again on this plane its been a great working with you.
 
 
 
Enjoy!!! ;-)
 
your friend in the FE sky
von Deutschmark