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Olham

In the Rear Gunner's Seat

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A video by HAFU / The Vintage Aviator:

 

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I've come to the conclusion that there are wormholes which simply allow areas of New Zealand to continue existing in the years of 1914 through 1918. I want to go to there.

 

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I hate Brisfits in OFF when I'm flying a German career. The two main reasons for my hatred are clearly visible in that video. Having two rear guns is almost like cheating!

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now that was cool.

 

you can see that the gunlayer also has to fight the air too at that speed. If they could get that into ROF, wind always putting your aim off.

 

Led.

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Cool, but a bit disappointing. I kept watching the two other planes stalk him. One seems to have been a Dr.I. I kept waiting for our guy to shoot. How can you make a rear-gunner movie with no shooting?

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I think it was filmed at an air show.

I thought I heard distant gun sounds. Maybe over the amps/speakers on the ground for the public?

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Yeah, I was also expecting him to open fire with those Lewises:

I was waiting for a view over the top. Also, the very 'sepia' look to the opening frames made me assume that this was actually WWI footage and I figured, "OK, it's WWI and cameras are bulky; maybe he has to hold it between his knees." then it turned to color and I thought, "Well, there was some color photography in 1917", but when I could see the airport below...the game was up. The only thing to wait for was the guns going off. Still interesting. Sure was windy back there.

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.I've come to the conclusion that there are wormholes which simply allow areas of New Zealand to continue existing in the years of 1914 through 1918. I want to go to there.

Drop us a line when you get there. Expect house guests.

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The effect of wind is something that unfortunately is difficult to model accurately in flight sims. The film shows well just how different it is to be in an open cockpit compared to sitting comfortably inside a modern jet. No matter how realistically we try to fly our crates in OFF, it'll never be the same as in real life.

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Drop us a line when you get there. Expect house guests.

 

 

Oh, most definitely, the more the merrier! I'll be sure to stock the fridge with Steinlager, and I''ll have the locals cater us a proper hāngi dinner. And I'll also have a Conchords album spinning on the record player when you all arrive. :grin:

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The Bristol Fighter had the added advantage of being able to easily run away from the DRI. "Bye bye Manfred ol' bean."

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Don't forget altitude advantage, Lewie. A steep diving Fokker Dr.1 could catch a straight flying Bristol Fighter.

Von Richthofen shot down 2 F.2A, flying the Albatros D.III; and at least 1 F.2B (according to James F. Miller),

or even 3 F.2B (according to Peter Kilduff) flying the Fokker Dr.1.

Edited by Olham

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Don't forget altitude advantage, Lewie. A steep diving Fokker Dr.1 could catch a straight flying Bristol Fighter.

Von Richthofen shot down 2 F.2A, flying the Albatros D.III; and at least 1 F.2B (according to James F. Miller),

or even 3 F.2B (according to Peter Kilduff) flying the Fokker Dr.1.

I've read from several sources that when the RFC discovered how dangerous it was to go head-to-head with the Dr.i's, they simply ignored them. If the Dr.i's weren't in the right position with an altitude advantage, they couldn't engage.

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This has become my favorite channel Thanks All

Looks like California hills to me. Impressive tank, tho'.

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I'm not sure what 'viewpoint' that's meant to be. For a gun cam, I'd strap the camera to the gun, and for a gunners eye, I'd strap it to the gunners helmet. This looks like gunners chest cam, or perhaps, and quite logically, - 'hold the camera tight and don't drop it if the wind catches it' cam.

 

I wasn't confused by the brown footage, but more, how can you see any targets if that's the gunners view? I at first thought the film started as the gunner sitting down and he'd stand up to shoot.

 

I don't want to be harsh because those fellas have some cracking aircraft and footage, and loads of other good stuff. This was a bit confusing, but I forgive them.

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Lou, here is the wormhole - arhm - channel for all the HAFU Videos (Historical Aviation Film Unit Videos):

 

http://www.youtube.c...6/4/kf0IleR8l-M

 

Olham, thanks for posting this link. These are superb. I had come across some of these videos individually but had not realised there was a dedicated site.

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... 'hold the camera tight and don't drop it if the wind catches it' cam.

:rofl:

You're right - for a professional video company working with such marvellous aircraft,

this was simply made in a very imperfect way. Let's hope they will do it again, but better.

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