A tear came to my eye...

[Rooster89]

when Ol' Rudolf Spaatz bought the farm this afternoon. A simple "scramble" mission and my best DiD pilot is gone.

 

Flieger (should've been a Feldwebel by now, but some paper pusher hates him) Spaatz took of this afternoon with the rest of Jasta 2 to intercept inbound French N.11s. No match for his trusty Albatros D.I. However as he swung around to attack the nearest Nieuport, he found that trees were indeed a worthy opponent. A not so glamorous end to a glorious career.

 

 

 

Oh and he had an Iron Cross but for some reason it isnt showing up after he died.

 

-Rooster

Edited March 21, 2009 by Rooster89

[Olham]

Leutnant Mahlo, Jasta 2, Bertincourt; 1. Oktober 1916

 

Kameraden!

I have the sordid task, to inform you all here, that our Kamerad, Flieger Rudolf Spaatz,

did not return from the Alarmstart, some of our Jasta made this afternoon.

Groundcrew saw him perform a tight turn towards a Nieuport, but due to bad view, he

hit trees besides the runway and crashed fataly.

I am particularly sad, cause I made several sorties with him as a wingman, and I can

say, he never failed me there.

With seven confirmed kills, he was one of our best aces. Two more confirmations, and

his promotion to Feldwebel were in my post from the Hauptquartier, half an hour ago.

He would have been proud to receive both.

I know, that you all - that we will always remember him as a most friendly Kamerad and

one of our heroic fighter pilots.

Meine Herren! Please raise your Glass with me now, and when we've emptied it, smash

it on the floor. Salut!!

Edited March 21, 2009 by Olham

[Rickitycrate]

Excellent career Rooster a real accomplishment and a wonderful tribute Olham.

[Rooster89]

Thanks guys. Especially for that tribute Olham. Maybe you could write the letter home to the next unfortunate fellow's parents? I suppose I'll start off on a two-seater career now....

 

-Rooster

[commander]

SO Spaatz defected to the germans, then came back?

[UK_Widowmaker]

"Horrah to the Next man who dies"

 

(that awfully true to life song in "Aces High")

[Guest British_eh]

"Horrah to the Next man who dies"

 

(that awfully true to life song in "Aces High")

 

Mr. UK:

 

I say olde chap, I do believe that that was the mess song sung in the Classic WW1 Dawn Patrol, with David Niven!

 

 

Cheers,

 

British_eh

[Olham]

ROOSTER, 21 missions flown is a helluvalot - at least for me!

So, don't give up! You made a mistake, and in war, one mistake could end your life.

In your case, it "only" spoiled one sim pilot's carrer.

Spaatz's kills-to-mission relation shows, that he was already one of the more careful pilots.

He didn't make one or two kills per mission. He could have lasted longer.

Learn from the incident. And climb back into your cockpit.

 

I wish I could show a log with 20 and more missions yet. (I'm working on it!)

[Rooster89]

Oh I'm not giving up Olham, it was just an unfortunate incident. I try to play all my pilots like my life is really on the line. Always careful and not picking any fights I cant win (when I have a choice). The best dogfight I had in that career was with 4 Sopwith Pups against our 4 Albatros D.Is. The Pups knocked out 2 of my wingmen before we even had a chance to spin around and engage. What a fight! Pups and Albs zooming all over the place. What an explosion those Pups make too! But finally we cleared the skies of them. Otto Gund got 2 and I got 2. He was a really good wingman. He stayed with me 'till the end of that career.

 

-Rooster

[Olham]

That was a real great fight! I had a similar one against aces in Pups, with a D III.

I managed to survive it, and kill three of the six. But, as I had lost all my men, or they had got

carried away by their opponents/fights, I didn't get a single claim allowed (errenious)! That was hard!

My new wingman with Jasta 15 may be like your Otto Gund - I'll report, when we reached the first 10 flights.