Scenic flight through towering clouds

[Olham 164]

Just had a flight through towering January clouds; MvR and Constantin Krefft flying ahead.

When the flew right into a huge cloud, I went round it and lost them. But then I realised,

flying through the outer hazes wasn't whirling me around anymore. I would not go into a

cloud, but to go through it's outer veils, seems to have lost it's danger.

 

All was so scenic, I made lots of screeshots. Most of them are in the "Screenshots" department,

were they should be. But I couldn't resist to show two here, for those who never look into the

above thread.

[+Polovski 460]

Great pics

1 flight through a cloud and you didn't die doesn't mean they are all fine now Oldham lol but it is fun when you find some good ones.

[Rickitycrate 10]

This, my friend, is flying through clouds. Did this maybe 2 months and 3 or so patches ago.

[Olham 164]

Better not do that anymore, Rickity - I flew through the outer veils of haze.

I would not recommend to enter clouds. And certainly not in a Nupe!!.

[Rickitycrate 10]

Yes, I was a daredevil that day, haha.

[Test Pilot 0]

Yes, I was a daredevil that day, haha.

 

Just like M. v. Richthofen when he flew through a thunderstorm just to see what it was like.

[+Winder 32]

Not all clouds have updrafts...simple really.

 

Given that we have not uncovered the hardcode that controls this yet, I can assure you that it has never changed - it is in OFF as it is in CFS3.

 

HTH

 

WM

[Hasse Wind 46]

I've encountered deadly clouds twice, and on both occasions I wasn't even inside the bloody thing when it felt like a giant hand picked up my crate and shook it all over the sky. Fortunately I lost no pilots, but it did made me very careful when flying around them. But most of the time nothing has happened, and in QC I don't avoid clouds so I've flown through them many times. And the real pilots didn't try to fly in clouds all the time either, so I suppose it's only realistic to avoid them, even though the effect of that deadly vortex isn't exactly realistic.

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

It's pretty damn scary when it happens, but I have come out the other end alive a few times!..the important thing is Altitude!

(aint it always?) :yes:

Edited May 1, 2009 by UK_Widowmaker

[Guest Barnstorm]

Today, I was flying a bomber escort mission with my squad of Alb. DV's. One thing about being assigned to Seafrosta I in October is the weather=always cloudy& rainy. At about 12,000 ft the DFW's entered a cloud bank, I tried to skirt the outside wall of the cloud and found myself dropped 4,000 ft in a minuet or two. I tried to recover and was notified that my "Right control cable had failed". "No more Goals".

 

Trying to recover from "cloud attack" is baisiclly like recovering from a stall. Aat least that is my impression. I have tried several tactics, none of which are 100% sucessfull, in any aicraft. I have tried keeping the throttle Full and pulling hard back on the stick, cutting the throttle to idle and going neutral on the stick, and various combinations of the two. I am interested in hearing how you folks try to recover from stall/cloud attack.

Edited May 2, 2009 by Barnstorm

[Bullethead 12]

And if your flight is flying INTO a cloud bank . . remember AI is not effected by clouds . . next time let them follow you, avoiding clouds

 

If you're warping, you can go right through them just like the AI. But don't do it in normal flight.

 

But if you're in a Spad, never warp on the outward leg or you're sure to be stuck at some low altitude and bounced. I just got stuck with a mission that was 75 miles 1-way, on a really crappy day, so I actually probably flew 100 miles getting to the objective due to dodging clouds. On the way, I discovered that the Spad won't go higher than about 19.5k and that clouds go rather higher than that. Fortunately, they were in a friendly mood and let me pass through their fringes in peace.

[Olham 164]

Wow, Bullet, that's a posh cockpit - rather like a mediterranian millionaire's racing boat, eyh?

Man, these French - lifestyle always first. Instead of thinking a little the German engineer way,

and put that damn (cooling water / petrol ?) pipe a bit to the left, for better shooting...

[Bullethead 12]

Wow, Bullet, that's a posh cockpit - rather like a mediterranian millionaire's racing boat, eyh? Man, these French - lifestyle always first. Instead of thinking a little the German engineer way, and put that damn (cooling water / petrol ?) pipe a bit to the left, for better shooting...

 

Yeah, the Spad's cockpit is rather plush. Beautiful hardwood with brass accents, genuine leather around the combing and the trailing edge of the upper wing, and wide enough to share your seat with Nurse Suzette. It's even got an incense burner mounted just by your right shoulder. I find that a bit gauche, though, because it clashes with the rest of the decor. Still, the fumes from it are a nice pick-me-up when I'm sideslipping in to land after a couple of hours at high altitude. And the top is detachable for use as an absinthe spoon

[RAF_Louvert 101]

BH, don't forget to mention the Lilac Vegetal dispenser. Always nice to give a splash of that on your face after landing to dissolve away a bit of the grime and spruce you up for the m'selles that are sure to abound upon your return.

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

[Bullethead 12]

BH, don't forget to mention the Lilac Vegetal dispenser. Always nice to give a splash of that on your face after landing to dissolve away a bit of the grime and spruce you up for the m'selles that are sure to abound upon your return.

 

Yeah, they thought of everything when designing the Spad. My favorite feature, though, is that you can fill the radiator up with pinard and by the time you return home, it'll be full of brandy :yes:

[Hasse Wind 46]

Yes, it's a nice plane and makes me almost feel ashamed of the crappy German instruments in use at that time. You really feel like you're in some kind of a flying speedboat with all the luxuries in the Spad cockpit. :yes:

 

But it does have one major drawback: visibility! I'm now alternating between 3 different careers, one in the Alb D.V in Jasta 9, 1917, one in the Pfalz in Jasta 10, 1918 (my longest living pilot now) and then the Spad campaign in Esc. 3, late 1917. The visibility from both of those German scouts is excellent compared to the Spad. The Pfalz in particular gives a good view to every direction.

[Bullethead 12]

But it does have one major drawback: visibility!

 

I don't have that much trouble with it, but I'm used to flying Brit planes. I don't find the Spad any worse than a Pup or Camel in most directions, and actually better in others. You sesquiplane drivers with your tiny lower wings are spoiled. I hope they break off on you :yes: .

 

To me, the Spad just gives the impression that you can't see ahead because the upper wing is so low. However, this low upper wing actually gives it good visibility forwards and upwards. With the wing practically at eye level, it only blocks a very narrow strip of sky, and if you sit up straight, you can see right over the top quite easily (at least with TIR4). I only really notice the upper when when I'm looking up to the side, and then it's no worse than a Sopwith's.

 

The Spad, however, is worse a rotary bird when it comes to seeing below the nose. In the Pup or Camel, I can sit up straight, lean forward, and see below my nose, which helps me pull lead for shots during tight turns. But you're probably used to this from flying German inlines so don't notice this. And besides, you shouldn't turn the Spad hard after a target anyway, so it's no big loss. I only notice this being a problem when I'm trying to land.

[Olham 164]

Bullethead: It's even got an incense burner mounted just by your right shoulder. I find that a bit gauche, though, because it clashes with the rest of the decor. Still, the fumes from it are a nice pick-me-up when I'm sideslipping in to land after a couple of hours at high altitude. And the top is detachable for use as an absinthe spoon.

 

Are you sure, you're in a regular SPAD there, or does it belong to a French opium dealer.

 

Bullethead: You sesquiplane drivers with your tiny lower wings are spoiled. I hope they break off on you

 

That wasn't nice to say. The German planes really have a very good overall view. Worth more than a posh cockpit

(although I envy you for the inbuilt central heating). But what can a pilot know about good vision, who only flew the

Allied planes mostly, were they regard an attic window as progress (Lol!!!)

[Bullethead 12]

Are you sure, you're in a regular SPAD there, or does it belong to a French opium dealer.

 

Absolutely. Go fly a Spad XIII in QC with your nameless Brit test pilot. IIRC, you've got TIR now. So sit there on the ground and turn your head to the right. About the time you get to your right shoulder, you'll see what I'm talking about. Feel free to get baked , or just use the top part to dribble your lump of sugar into your absinthe.

 

What, you don't do absinthe? Geez, dude, this is Europe in 1918. EVERYBODY cool is still doing absinthe, even if it's under the radar these days after being wrongly blamed for some unfortunate incidents a few years ago . You think I got that autographed naked photo of Mata Hari in my Fee without absinthe? You thing Judge Roy Bean every had a chance with Lilly Lantry with out it? And now, in the 21st century, absinthe's been legal again for years in Europe, and recently, finally, has become so in much of the US. I'm having some right now, and I've still got both my ears . Of course, today's version doesn't have anywhere near the wormwood that the stuff of the the late 1800s did, but that was overkill. Just ask Van Gogh. The modern stuff works quite well, thank you very much :yes: . Even Hemmingway would agree. And just for the record, I hate them both .

 

That wasn't nice to say. The German planes really have a very good overall view. Worth more than a posh cockpit (although I envy you for the inbuilt central heating). But what can a pilot know about good vision, who only flew the Allied planes mostly, were they regard an attic window as progress (Lol!!!)

 

I've flown Noops (some) and Albatri (very little), so I can appreciate the downwards view of the non-D.II German fighers, which after all were copied from the Noop. But no tractor plane can equal the pilot view of the DH2 or FE2. Go ahead and hate us, call us ugly, and it still doesn't change the fact none of the tractor prop figthers, and very few jets, have equalled the amount of unblocked sky to greet the eyes of a Fee driver. But what wouldn't I give for a 400hp Liberty in a Fee, along with a fixed gun for me.....

[Hasse Wind 46]

Are you sure, you're in a regular SPAD there, or does it belong to a French opium dealer.

 

GTA: Over Flanders Fields?

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

Yeah, the Spad's cockpit is rather plush. Beautiful hardwood with brass accents, genuine leather around the combing and the trailing edge of the upper wing, and wide enough to share your seat with Nurse Suzette. It's even got an incense burner mounted just by your right shoulder. I find that a bit gauche, though, because it clashes with the rest of the decor. Still, the fumes from it are a nice pick-me-up when I'm sideslipping in to land after a couple of hours at high altitude. And the top is detachable for use as an absinthe spoon

 

Hahahahahaa.... I love reading your posts Bullet!...You're sense of Humour cracks me up! :biggrin:

[Olham 164]

Drinking Absinth in the cockpit of a Fee - the nerve, this man has!

No, I never had that stuff; and you saw what it did with Johnny Depp. After he drank it in "From Hell",

he made these screwed up pirate films (well, the first one was alright). In Germany, Absinth was called

the "Green Fairy", by the way.

Yeah, Widow, with Bullet you always got a good laugh, and something to think about.

An artillery man, in a WW1 Fee, drinking Absinth and dreaming of Mata Hari, reciting Latin wisdom (Lol!)

[Bullethead 12]

Drinking Absinth in the cockpit of a Fee - the nerve, this man has! No, I never had that stuff; and you saw what it did with Johnny Depp. After he drank it in "From Hell", he made these screwed up pirate films (well, the first one was alright). In Germany, Absinth was called the "Green Fairy", by the way.

 

Hehehe, I guess you didn't see Johnny Depp in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" when he was playing Hunter S. Thompson, and was doing stuff WAY more potent than absinthe .

 

The thing that gave absinthe its bad reputation was wormwood, but wormwood itself has never been illegal. For instance, if you drink a martini, you get about the same amount as if you drank a reasonable amount of absinthe. Marinis are full of vermouth, and "vermouth" is Old German for "wormwood". You could even buy vermouth and this pseudo-absinthe stuff that was all the other herbs and spices except wormwood, mix them together, and make your own absinthe. And there's a common linament for sore muscles that's got ALL of absinthe's herbs and spices, including wormwood (and is green, and turns milky if you add water, just like absinthe), that's also always been legal.

 

Now, granted, once folks realized back in the day that wormwood was what gave absinthe it's special characteristics, they started jacking up the amount of that to dangerous levels, and so you had guys cutting off their ears. But the newly legalized absinthes are back at the original levels and no more evil than vermouth, although they taste like licorice instead of stale sweat :yes: .

 

An artillery man, in a WW1 Fee, drinking Absinth and dreaming of Mata Hari, reciting Latin wisdom (Lol!)

 

In odium spoliatoris omnis praesumuntur.

[Olham 164]

Thank you for explaining the kids, what they shouldn't try, Professor D. Lirium.

 

The last line for non-latins?

[Bullethead 12]

The last line for non-latins?

 

"In hatred of the despoiler/evil-doer, all is presumed."

 

It's one of those old legal maxims that, sadly, lawyers rarely say anymore, even though they still operate under them. At 1st glance might seem to mean something like "guilty until proven innocent", which is how I was using it. However, it actually has to do with the destruction (spoliation) of evidence. For example, if there was some piece of paper that Party A wanted to use as evidence to prove his case, but Party B destroyed it, then the court presumes as a matter of law that the paper was absolutely damning to Party B.