Sometimes you can simply be lost in the OFF moment

[RAF_Louvert 101]

.

 

After dinner this evening I started up my flying computer and sat down to a recce of the Hun positions up near Ostende. It was 14:32, St. Omer time, when the Quirk coughed to life, and as it warmed I made my usual check of the controls. A short two minutes later and we were rising slowly into the cold gray February sky of 1915. My observer sat ahead of me and turned his head ever so slightly each time we banked. I came around to the east-northeast and put our bus into the long slow climb towards the Belgian coast. Wintry clouds hung silently in the air as the 90hp RAF engine in front of us droned a steady tune, pulling us ever higher, ever higher. I leveled out at 8,000 feet and watched as the woods and rivers crept below us at an almost imperceptible rate. No Man’s Land came into view and we inched our way towards it, and watched the flashes of the shells from the big guns as they found their targets along the trench lines. The PBI was catching hell down there. When our mount finally slipped across to the Boche side of the mud Archie came calling. The first few ugly black puffs were well below us, so far in fact you could hardly hear them. But they worked their way closer and soon had our height. I began a lazy bob-and-weave pattern that seemed to sufficiently throw off their aim and we continued on with no more thought to the gunners’ efforts below. Time seemed to stand still as we made our rounds above the enemy positions near the coast. The dusty blue sea was quiet and looked as if it could stretch on forever. For a moment I considered bringing our bus around and setting a course for England, but only for a moment. And anyway, it was time to make our way back to the aerodrome and report in with our intel. HQ would be needing it for their planning of the next push, whenever that might be. The sky was darkening; night was coming on. The sun was beginning to slide below the western horizon and was now little more than a cold dingy orb glowing through the winter haze. St. Omer came once more into our view and I throttled down, and dropped into a long slow glide towards the field. The wheels settled lightly onto the frigid, dead grass and I guided our bus back to the shed, shutting of the mags and cutting the fuel at just the right moment so that we coasted gently to a stop not twenty feet from the hanger doors. Now all was quiet, save for the occasional barking of the camp dog. I looked at my watch. It had been two hours and forty-seven minutes. Two hours and forty-seven minutes in the virtual skies of this amazing sim. Two hours and forty-seven minutes wandering above the Western Front, in the visage of a machine that existed nearly a century ago. Two hours and forty-seven minutes. I never would have guessed it; it seemed timeless.

 

 

.

[Wayfarer 5]

Flying long two seater missions, I have had similar experiences sometimes. I always say I find OFF a good form of therapy.

 

 

[Flyby PC 23]

It is a different world.

 

It calls to mind the days I used to fly lots of multiplayer missions online. You'd sit there, cranking up the machine and seting up teamspeak etc, then immerse yourself in another world. Kick off was 6 or 7 o'clock, and three or four hours might pass in minutes. To be honest, the mission was a big factor which sucked in your concentration, but with OFF, you can indeed lose yourself in the serenity of the flight alone.

[Olham 164]

A report - a description to illustrate the word "immersion", using the best example for it: OFF.

I've been up there with you, Lou, for the minutes of the reading, like in a dream.

Edited August 10, 2011 by Olham

[Hasse Wind 46]

Yeah, that kind of stuff happens all the time when playing OFF. You need more imagination in 1915 though, as things are pretty quiet compared to later years and only a few squadrons are modelled so early in the war.

 

Enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasts. I'm now approaching 1917 in my Fee career, began in early 1915, and peaceful missions are becoming very rare.

[Rickitycrate 10]

I am fortunate to say I can relate Lou. When I fly missions I take the long way (no warp) and take in all OFF offers. The patience is worth the experience I find because I want to relate to how it was in R/L. I recall while flying with a long time career in a DFW CV how tense I felt when E/A were spotted and made thier approach. My flight holding together as the Nupes dove through our formation. Anticipation and then a kind of awe as we are so close as to shake hands and the crates looked beautiful but deadly. Then after the skirmish the flight home, maybe sputtering and knowing you are not able to withstand another attack, watching the skies with fear. Then setting down and cutting the engine. I linger in the relative quiet of the aerodrome sounds before climbing out.

 

It is an experience not to be forgotten.

[Javito1986 14]

Lucky lucky. I never get such moments anymore in October 1918. Each time you even think about relaxing and enjoying the scenery there's another Fokker DVII diving down on you.

[Olham 164]

"Yesss! Der Dsherrmann Luftstreitkräfte are doink all zey can to keep you entertained -

even in zeir downfall! Mmuahahahahahahahaaaaaaa!!!!!!"

[Lewie 7]

"Yesss! Der Dsherrmann Luftstreitkräfte are doink all zey can to keep you entertained -

even in zeir downfall! Mmuahahahahahahahaaaaaaa!!!!!!"

 

 

Jah, Und where were da Eindekkers when Herr Lou was flying uber da front?

[lederhosen 7]

Salute

 

Wish I had time like that. Thats the one thing that sometimes gets in the way. To fly full real and not warp takes dedication...and time, which a lot of us probebly don't have.

Since the baby has arrived and my son is now into internet, the wife with ebay..etc.

 

e.g. Its 23:00 for me, and I just got the computer to myself...oh well.

 

Led

[Olham 164]

Enjoy the rare flying time, Lederhosen! Congrats to the "little new Lederhose" !

 

Jah, Und where were da Eindekkers when Herr Lou was flying uber da front?

"For Herr Lou - who iss der Präsident of der Barmy OFFers Club - we make ssertain allowanzes.

But not zatt you rely on ziss, Herr Louvert - evertzink wizzin it'z limitz!"

 

[Shiloh 12]

I know exactly what you mean Lou. Sometimes I just get lost in my thoughts up there and I feel truly free from life's daily worries. As a full-time dad the kids really wear on me sometimes but when I sit down to fly, they know that it's "daddy's time" and typically give me wide berth. They know it's my time to relax and I always seem to feel much better when my flight is over - it's freeing in a way.

 

Happy flights men.