Will never do THAT again!

[Olham 164]

This evening I broke my own rules:

1. not to use a good pilot, when in a bad mood.

2. not to post about the great successes of a pilot, cause next day he usually dies

 

I had travelled through half Berlin for two hours to visit a customer, who had asked for an offer.

When I arrived, he had changed his mind and decided to do come back to it later sometime.

I was really angry and thought I'd get into a better mood, if I had some success with my best

pilot.

Lt. Werner Mahlo, Jasta 15, July 1917, had 12 confirms out of 13 claims, and two Iron Crosses -

he was on the best way to get the Blue Max. We had a scramble, and like usual I checked who

was knocking, cause I break off impossible scrambles. There where 6 Nieuport 17 against our

5 Albatros D V.

I thought, okay, let's take them on. Only one came down on us, and I chased him around, until -

he crashed into me!!!

 

Now I made it even worse and started my second best pilot, Lt. Karl Alfred Mahlo, Jasta 40,

May 1918. He had 9 claims, no confirms yet, but promising. Over the frontline, he and his flight

took on 4 Camels, which turned out to be six really, and all aces from RNAS-1.

He managed to shoot down Charles Dawson Booker, but then he got hunted. He went back over

the line with a badly damaged craft, and landed - according to his map - on German terrain.

But what happened? "You will spend the rest of the war in captivity!"

 

Some days are really totally unfair!

 

PS: my chance now to join Bullethead and Duce Lewis in Jasta 4 - coming, chaps, coming!

[Ryan H 0]

This evening I broke my own rules:

1. not to use a good pilot, when in a bad mood.

2. not to post about the great successes of a pilot, cause next day he usually dies

 

I had travelled through half Berlin for two hours to visit a customer, who had asked for an offer.

When I arrived, he had changed his mind and decided to do come back to it later sometime.

I was really angry and thought I'd get into a better mood, if I had some success with my best

pilot.

Lt. Werner Mahlo, Jasta 15, July 1917, had 12 confirms out of 13 claims, and two Iron Crosses -

he was on the best way to get the Blue Max. We had a scramble, and like usual I checked who

was knocking, cause I break off impossible scrambles. There where 6 Nieuport 17 against our

5 Albatros D V.

I thought, okay, let's take them on. Only one came down on us, and I chased him around, until -

he crashed into me!!!

 

Now I made it even worse and started my second best pilot, Lt. Karl Alfred Mahlo, Jasta 40,

May 1918. He had 9 claims, no confirms yet, but promising. Over the frontline, he and his flight

took on 4 Camels, which turned out to be six really, and all aces from RNAS-1.

He managed to shoot down Charles Dawson Booker, but then he got hunted. He went back over

the line with a badly damaged craft, and landed - according to his map - on German terrain.

But what happened? "You will spend the rest of the war in captivity!"

 

Some days are really totally unfair!

 

PS: my chance now to join Bullethead and Duce Lewis in Jasta 4 - coming, chaps, coming!

 

 

You could come join me in Jasta 2 (December 1916) Flying the DII! Things are getting interesting now, mostly a lot of bombers and strutters; but recently we've been comming across Nieuports and Bristol Scouts! This is getting intense! Sorry to hear about Werner and Karl Alfred :(

Edited September 25, 2009 by Ryan H

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

Bad crack Olham...customers eh?...right pain in the ass sometimes.

Like you say, flying in a bad mood using good pilots can be a recipe for disaster!...There's always tomorrow though

 

Chin up old bean!

[Von Paulus 8]

In this sim we're always saying these things like "I'll not do it again".

But in the end, we all know that we will be caught by the cruelty of the war.

[Olham 164]

Ha, Ryan, I AM in Jasta 2 with a yet unused pilot, Juergen Harms. He will fly the Albatros D.I in September 1916.

By the time you are there, you may find him on the board of killed pilots though. But I'll try to survive - see you!

 

Thanks for the heads-up, Widowmaker. I have overcome the first rage, and made a new skin for an Albatros D.V,

the one with the hunchback - haven't flown that type much. But it's very tough there at Jasta 10 in Heule.

My first mission was a scramble, where no less than 16 Nieuport 17 Lewis came falling down on the four of us.

I shot ace Arthur Gordon off the tail of my wingman (a heroic deed I REALLY like to do!) and down; but after that

the chaps from the tea-side where a bit upset and chased and peppered me, until I had to land in a forrest way.

But I survived that one.

Second mission was an airfield defense at Wasquehal, where I shot down 4 Nieuport Lewis from RFC-60 !

You see, at the beginning I am quite good, but the further I get, the more nervous I become about not to loose

my pilot - I'm sure you know that feeling. Will be more careful with him now.

 

I wish you a nice weekend - let's forget the customers for two fine days. And although I know you'll pepper some

of my side, I wish you all the success you want.

[itifonhom 6]

Sorry to hear about your pilots Olham, you must be feeling really "scheise" now! I have to say I follow your rule, fly only in good mood. I'm still in Jasta 2 end of September '16 and looks really great! Fees and Bees, some strutters and Scouts, some Nieuports. Burry your pilots and start over, I'm sure the next one will make it to the Max!

 

itifonhom

[Olham 164]

Oh yes, I will carry on! My new chap at Jasta 10 has shot 5 down already.

 

I also have one in Jasta 2 in your same month; I'll see you in the mess. This weekend,

I'll do some intensive flying.

You can fly in a not so good mood, but never with a good pilot with many kills - use a

new one, then it's not so hard to loose him. I always have 7 - 8 pilots enlisted, and

fly, where I just like to be. Feel like hills - fly Marne region or Alsace. Some fresh salty

breeze perhaps? Pick MFJ-1 at Aertrycke near the north sea. That way, I have fun.

[itifonhom 6]

Jasta 2 is really a great place to be mid September '16, I even made it to stay alive to get the transfer to Riencourt! Don't know if the aerodromes looks the same for everybody but named the house next to the flugplatz my own residence! Also enlisted Herr Manfred Pechvogel with Jasta 13 at '15, let's see how long he'll make it!

 

Kopf hoch mein Herr, der Kaiser ruft!!

 

itifonhom

[Olham 164]

Yes, Jasta 2 in that time is great, but be careful, Iti, when you begin to feel comfortable,

you should sharpen your sixth sense, and go through the Dicta Boelcke again.

Even the grand master himself collided with an own Jasta mate and crashed fatally.

 

M. Pechvogel in Jasta 13 - that's so cheeky, he MUST be lucky. Must check that Jasta

myself some day.

[Baldric 42]

Ugh, I feel for you Olham. Sounded like a long day that got even longer :( Very sorry to hear of the demise of Herr Mahlo as I was following your writings of his exploits with great interest (now looking forwards to more great stories of your other pilots!).

 

!S! To missing friends,

[Duce Lewis 3]

Some days are really totally unfair!

 

PS: my chance now to join Bullethead and Duce Lewis in Jasta 4 - coming, chaps, coming!

Oh bad luck there Olham!

OFF can lift you to new heights and send you crashing back down too

Many a long memory of OFF pilots who've flown over the horizon

A toast to the newly dead from those soon to die!

 

Yes, yes, come join Bullett & I at Jasta 4

We go to the train station daily in anticipation

 

I must say though my time here has been much the opposite of yours

I care absolutely nothing for this pilot as I'm more concerned with testing

He is a lucky sot though

1st mission was a CAP of our front lines

Saw many HA up high as we flew towards our patrol line

None seem interested in our presense though

Our 5 turned towards the lines nd ended up parallel to 6 Spad's, port side, high

We flew to the next waypoint which was a turn to port

All logic said to ignore the turn and seek tactical advantage

But I just wanted to end the mission and made the turn

 

They came down and we had a wonderful dogfight

I got 4, but lost all the wingies

Had a fifth lined up in my sights, "CLICK" ...nothing ...no more ammo!

Those 2 Spadhounds chased me up, down, & all around

Finally decided I should feign attacks to scare them into dives

Dallied a little too long chasing 1 and his M8 shot my engine up

 

Gig was up so I pushed the nose down and sought mother earth

Pulled up the map to orientate myself as we were over the front

Rolled 180^o and spotted 4 more Spads that I was diving into

Looked back and the 1 on my tail was peppering me too

Tried to turn and jink but then my engine coughed it's last

Found a field just behind our lines with the Spad still shooting me up on roll out

Engine started sprouting flames and cfs3 finally mercifully exited

...and the lucky fool lived without a scratch!

 

So come join our hapless Jasta

Banished to the doorstep of Hades

Our cause is hopeless, our destiny a speeding furnace

But there are none who can party like those who accept their fiery fate

[RAF_Louvert 101]

.

 

Olham, I feel your pain Sir. But as you note, you can take some solace in the fact that you are in good company.

 

.

[Hasse Wind 46]

We all know that feeling, Olham. And it really is unwise to fly your best DiD pilots when you're not in the best possible mood and condition - a single mistake is all it takes to become yet another casualty of war.

[Olham 164]

Thank you all - it was one of these "I should have known better" days.

But we are lucky blighters - we can learn of this and use, what we learnt in the next carreer.

Until we are as cool as Creaghorn, who really doesn't care about success and medals, but

wants mainly to survive first of all - like we would in real life.

 

Duce, as far as I saw, when entering Jasta 4, you and Bullet must be flying the D VII?

Cause, I entered them in an earlier time, with a D.V or D.Va (haven't flown him yet).

I think I should also enter one in your time, to really join you there.

 

Please give me your current war time date.

Edited September 26, 2009 by Olham

[carrick58 23]

A bad day, and it gets worst. I am sure that they were good chaps. Be of good cheer

[Hasse Wind 46]

Thank you all - it was one of these "I should have known better" days.

But we are lucky blighters - we can learn of this and use, what we learnt in the next carreer.

Until we are as cool as Creaghorn, who really doesn't care about success and medals, but

wants mainly to survive first of all - like we would in real life.

 

Duce, as far as I saw, when entering Jasta 4, you and Bullet must be flying the D VII?

Cause, I entered them in an earlier time, with a D.V or D.Va (haven't flown him yet).

I think I should also enter one in your time, to really join you there.

 

Please give me your current war time date.

 

For some intense D.VII action in 1918, I recommend Jasta 5. They are an elite squadron and are situated right in the midst of the great offensives. Though not quite in the frontline trenches, like some other Jastas seem to be.

[carrick58 23]

Olham: It took a while to find a good comment about loseing pilots in OFF. This remark made by a unknown person was said to be of Italian pilots talking about fallen enemy aircraft in 1916. Sometimes with a salute Oggi a te, domani a me ---- You today me tomorrow. and , " Hals und Beinbruch " a German Pilots send off during the War according to Haupt Heydemarck war flying in Macedonia p. 122 , sykes, london 1935. and Lee Kennett s Book The First Air War. Free Press N. Y. 1991.

[Duce Lewis 3]

Duce, as far as I saw, when entering Jasta 4, you and Bullet must be flying the D VII?

Cause, I entered them in an earlier time, with a D.V or D.Va (haven't flown him yet).

I think I should also enter one in your time, to really join you there.

 

Please give me your current war time date.

Willkommen to our horde Olham,

We enlisted on June 30th

Please fill your Albatross with alcohol before departing

We'll polish up a fine DVII for you

 

For some intense D.VII action in 1918, I recommend Jasta 5. They are an elite squadron and are situated right in the midst of the great offensives.

Yes, I've just come from there

Their base at Cappy is fine indeed

Just watch out for the exploding Hangers!

[Olham 164]

Jasta 4, Jasta 5 - so much to do, still !

[Duce Lewis 3]

Jasta 4, Jasta 5 - so much to do, still !

Well Jasta 4 has 1 things going for it

...in 5.3 hours I haven't met a Biff yet

[themightysrc 5]

Olham,

 

You have my sympathies...

 

I'm afraid I rather let hubris get the better of me the other evening. Started a September 1916 campaign with Jasta 6 or 8 (I forget; I've killed so many pilots), and swore I'd be more careful this time. Reasons to be confident though, were abundant:

 

• An excellent scout plane in a period when the Allies were still using bicycles and feathery wings strapped to their arms
• Most of the fighting on my side of the lines
• My hitherto appalling gunnery skills have come on leaps and bounds of late
• I can now actually follow foes in dogfights, and don't immediately run for home instinctively

What could go wrong?

 

So, set off with 3 wingmen, and sure enough, ran into a group of Bristol Scouts. Ha. Victims!

 

Well, to cut a long story short, Kurt and his merry men tore their way through the Brizzles, and Kurt himself bagged one of them without problems, the survivors scattering....I know what I should have done at that moment: gather the chaps together and continue the patrol. But, oh no, I saw one of the Tommies trying to sneak away, and with plenty of ammo left and without a single bullet in my aircraft, thought I'd be clever and return to base able to boast not just one but two Tommies downed in my first mission!

 

It sort of worked: Got in behind him, blasted the poor sap out of the sky at about 500 feet and chuckled gleefully as he plummetted to his timely demise. Then I heard the THUNK of an almost infinitessimaly short burst of (presumably, as there were no other red dots around) ground based machine gun fire. No problem - only one or two hits, ha, time to continue the patrol - so I check the map to find that I've inadvertently strayed into Tommyland. Still not an issue, except my plane's caughting and spluttering: where's all my sodding fuel gone!

 

I did, to my credit, manage an almost perfect 3 point landing. On the wrong side of the lines. Tea and crumpets for the next 2 bleedin' years then......rats.....

[CaptSopwith 23]

This evening I broke my own rules:

1. not to use a good pilot, when in a bad mood.

2. not to post about the great successes of a pilot, cause next day he usually dies

 

I had travelled through half Berlin for two hours to visit a customer, who had asked for an offer.

When I arrived, he had changed his mind and decided to do come back to it later sometime.

I was really angry and thought I'd get into a better mood, if I had some success with my best

pilot.

Lt. Werner Mahlo, Jasta 15, July 1917, had 12 confirms out of 13 claims, and two Iron Crosses -

he was on the best way to get the Blue Max. We had a scramble, and like usual I checked who

was knocking, cause I break off impossible scrambles. There where 6 Nieuport 17 against our

5 Albatros D V.

I thought, okay, let's take them on. Only one came down on us, and I chased him around, until -

he crashed into me!!!

 

Now I made it even worse and started my second best pilot, Lt. Karl Alfred Mahlo, Jasta 40,

May 1918. He had 9 claims, no confirms yet, but promising. Over the frontline, he and his flight

took on 4 Camels, which turned out to be six really, and all aces from RNAS-1.

He managed to shoot down Charles Dawson Booker, but then he got hunted. He went back over

the line with a badly damaged craft, and landed - according to his map - on German terrain.

But what happened? "You will spend the rest of the war in captivity!"

 

Some days are really totally unfair!

 

PS: my chance now to join Bullethead and Duce Lewis in Jasta 4 - coming, chaps, coming!

 

Funny, Olham. I had a very similar experience on the other side of the pond just yesterday.

 

My first semester of grad school has left me precious little free time. At last I decided to take a few hours out and play some OFF. Sadly, Reinhart died months ago, but his wingman - Max-Wilhelm Lammertz, became my new pilot - starting him back a year in 1916 flying an Eindecker. He had had success - nearly 8 hours of seat time and 4 victories. A good start. Alas, I was tired and out of practice on the EIII and wound up writing off poor Lammertz when, while engaging a flight of quirks, he was attacked by three Bristol scouts and was shot up pretty badly. He survived, and knocked two of the scouts down, even with damage to his control wires, resulting in an even slower rate of turn than normal.

 

But alas, as he was rolling his plane with all of the speed of the Titanic trying to avoid an iceberg - one of his wingman turned right into his flight path and killed him instantly in a head on collision.

 

My second, third, and fourth string pilots were all written off in the next hour. Flak killed one, ground collision killed another, and a flock of angry Albatros DV's overwhelmed my namesake in an SE5.

 

I have no more pilots and mountains of reading waiting for me as a result of my "relaxation" time.

 

Cheers mate. I feel your pain!

[Olham 164]

themightyscr: Tea and crumpets for the next 2 bleedin' years then......rats.....

 

Hahaha! Mighty, that sounds familiar, but could have been worse. Actually, tea is one thing these Limeys

can brew, crumpets I don't know, but when they ask, if you want scones with clotted cream and raspberry

jam, DON'T say "no" - they're delicious! Oh, and their beer is also very good!

 

You can analyse your actions to find your mistakes. The most you did was okay, right?

But you had no situational awareness - you didn't realise, you crossed the lines. That should never happen.

Secondly, if you cross the lines to get the Tommy, you can't do that at 500 feet.

Next time follow him much higher, zigzag over the lines, and go lower, when out of reach of the front line

gunnery.

Believe me, I'm always still learning.

And it gives me the greatest respect for all the long life aces and mostly those, who survived the war,

that they got it right in their their first one and only attempt they had.

[zoomzoom 2]

My condolances Olham. Hate when that happens...talk about throwing a coniption fit!

 

And, on that note.....I'm not mentioning a blinking thing about what my current DID pilot is up to.

 

ZZ.

[themightysrc 5]

"But you had no situational awareness - you didn't realise, you crossed the lines. That should never happen."

 

Well, I looked over the side of the DII, but I never saw a big red line receding behind me...