Rick Rawlings 128 Posted June 5, 2021 Nice, HarryH! One is better than none. And still breathing is better than not...so I've heard! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HarryH 17 Posted June 5, 2021 https://youtu.be/xXZIntM3oTg Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HarryH 17 Posted June 5, 2021 5 minutes ago, Rick Rawlings said: Nice, HarryH! One is better than none. And still breathing is better than not...so I've heard! Definitely good to have survived week 1 :) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baldric 42 Posted June 5, 2021 (Journal entries, current) 14 November 1917- the squadron has suffered some losses over the past couple of days so the briefing this morning was a bit more intense, mainly with more emphasis on survival and tips to that end. Sector Patrol (British) of FF346. Forecast is for cloud, rain at low level. Not sure how we’re supposed to spot anyone. Mind you, same goes for Fritzy. Well, we dropped the puck at 0845h and the game was afoot. After five minutes of climbing through the muck my goggles left eyepiece fogged up. Wretched thing. Ruddy rain. Oh, and I was no longer ass-end charlie; that was Sanders, the newest pilot. We reached patrol altitude of 14000' with no mishaps although I’m pretty sure I saw someones wing tip really close to mine for a brief couple of seconds. I’m sure we were utterly useless to the boys down below; it was like flying through a mountain valley. We saw nothing. Landed safely at 0954h. Refuel and go again I suppose. 17 November 1917- ‘B’ Flight has changed again, the CO must have his hands full trying to spread us around like so much plum jam on a giant piece of toast. I’m inclined to take a grease pencil with me so I can make notes without worry, given the bags of rain lately. Again, some overcast, ‘broken’ to 12000' apparently. We took off from Bruay aerodrome at 0702h for an attempt at an interception. Observers suggesting enemy air headed for our sector at FF8303. I’ll eat breakfast when we get back. Last time I took a fried egg and bacon sarny up with me in my overcoat pocket. Didn’t mix well with the spray of crud off the engine. This was like the penny papers, a ‘Dawn Patrol’, so in a way a bit thrilling. Again the cloud was too thick. No one saw anything. The one brief respite we had was back near our aerodrome. ‘A’ Flight saw nothing as well. Tudhope was muttering about ‘3's’ and the unluck. Mind you he always mutters. Ending for now. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rick Rawlings 128 Posted June 5, 2021 Nice work, Baldric! Love the "business end" shot of the Vickers! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TROOPER117 146 Posted June 5, 2021 Well done H and Balders, and what a great shot of the Vickers, ready to dish out 'Rule .303' to Fritz! And Rick, you had pockets full of luck on your last flight... and did I duck when you had that first 'head on' with that albatros! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
catch 81 Posted June 5, 2021 Hearty congrats on your victory confirmations and your gongs Troops. A job well done! Rick, I thought you were a goner. Toast! I'd have a chat with your ack emmas if I were you! They must have seen the engine blow when you landed. And made themselves scarce once they saw the look on your face! And Harry, (The Red Harry, nice skin) a funny report lol. But why no sound on the vid? And Baldric, good God man, that Vickers! Don't worry, you will see action soon enough! All in all some very good reports coming through and may I be so bold as to congratulate you all and keep 'em coming chaps! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
catch 81 Posted June 5, 2021 23rd Nov. 1917 1505 Hours. Close air support. The battle of Cambrai has bogged down. 40 squadron has been charged with escorting Harry Tate's which are to bomb behind the enemy lines to create a diversion and support the campaign. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "To whom it may concern, Whilst engaged in a vital mission over Cambrai, it is my sad duty to inform you that 2nd Lt S. Taylor was severely wounded in action. Although losing blood and flying a damaged machine he managed to land at a friendly aerodrome and was immediately taken to the nearest field hospital. Our prayers are with this gallant young man. Yours, Commanding Officer Turdlington RFC 40, Bruay." 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TROOPER117 146 Posted June 5, 2021 Crikey catch... hope your man comes through! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TROOPER117 146 Posted June 5, 2021 (edited) 2nd Lt Pixie Turkington Smythe. 15 Nov 1917. Out on patrol once more, and full of enthusiasm after his recent victories, Pixie get's himself into the thick of it again. Pixie submitted three claims after the patrol. Two were confirmed, one denied... He begins to wonder if all patrols are going to be as hectic. Edited June 5, 2021 by TROOPER117 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
catch 81 Posted June 5, 2021 Blimey Troops that was hectic. I thought that German chap with the shredded upper wing would go down quicker! So three down I reckon. Of course, it depends on the ruddy CO dunnit. As for Spivvy, he's recovering in hospital and only just avoided septicemia. Fortunately, Nurse Gladys managed to keep his blood pressure, and morale shall we say, up from dangerously low levels and he is in recovery. He is however starting to miss the slums of Melbourne. This war is a bloody slaughterhouse! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stache 10 Posted June 5, 2021 Nice flight Trooper - that first Alb flew on for quite a while with only half an upper wing. Harry - was surprised you were left alone for that long going after that railyard. Reed too survived week one with yet another close call on mission 7. Videos will be posted later. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rick Rawlings 128 Posted June 5, 2021 7 hours ago, TROOPER117 said: And Rick, you had pockets full of luck on your last flight... and did I duck when you had that first 'head on' with that albatros! So did I! So much so that I ran off to the workshop right afterwards to make sure I hadn't accidentally turned collisions off. I think it was graphics lag, as you may have noticed I had a few minor stutters right around there. While I was in the workshop, I did notice that I had force encounters set to high and air activity set to medium, so for anyone not 'getting some action' as they...er, say, you might want to check that out. That was a great fight you had there, TROOPER117, it was almost like a perpetual Albatros generator! That first guy really did hang on that half wing forever! My first joystick had a bit of nose wiggle to it that my newer one seems to be better at. I was able to mitigate it somewhat in the config by playing with the deadzone and sensitivity settings, in case you haven't looked into that. catch, glad you are still hanging in there! Everyone, please fill out The Survey (even for our fallen) as soon as you can so I can post our first week exploits, and good luck on week 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HarryH 17 Posted June 5, 2021 10 hours ago, catch said: Hearty congrats on your victory confirmations and your gongs Troops. A job well done! Rick, I thought you were a goner. Toast! I'd have a chat with your ack emmas if I were you! They must have seen the engine blow when you landed. And made themselves scarce once they saw the look on your face! And Harry, (The Red Harry, nice skin) a funny report lol. But why no sound on the vid? And Baldric, good God man, that Vickers! Don't worry, you will see action soon enough! All in all some very good reports coming through and may I be so bold as to congratulate you all and keep 'em coming chaps! Ugh no sound? I'll check into it. Also I have no idea how to embed YT vids here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HarryH 17 Posted June 5, 2021 4 hours ago, Stache said: Nice flight Trooper - that first Alb flew on for quite a while with only half an upper wing. Harry - was surprised you were left alone for that long going after that railyard. Reed too survived week one with yet another close call on mission 7. Videos will be posted later. Wow 7 victories in one week. good stuff Stache. I dunno, the skies are very quiet for Monty. Probably for the best as far as my skills go :) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TROOPER117 146 Posted June 5, 2021 God, I only did the minimum, 3 missions I have to up my game! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stache 10 Posted June 5, 2021 Reed's last missions of week one. 5th Mission was airfield attack, but spent more time going after DV's, of which Reed. managed to bag two. 6th Mission - no video - was an escort mission - no enemy sighted. 7th Mission - attacked shortly after forming up. DV damaged the radiator. Managed to hang around long enough to put a few hits on an enemy just before it crashed, earning a seventh Victory. The almost bought the farm, trying to put her down, just missing some trees, but coming down hard. Still was able to walk away unscathed. Mission 5 https://studio.youtube.com/video/uVThiydDJLI/edit Mission 7 https://studio.youtube.com/video/4qvz5LHYIJY/edit Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rick Rawlings 128 Posted June 5, 2021 (edited) Stache, you posted the studio links instead of the direct video links TROOPER117: I promise I won't be a Stan... Edited June 5, 2021 by Rick Rawlings Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TROOPER117 146 Posted June 5, 2021 (edited) It's ok Rick... I just need to express myself more (by killing more Huns) But then again, I am one of the 20 minuters! Edited June 5, 2021 by TROOPER117 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mandrews_2 11 Posted June 5, 2021 17 November 1917. In which, oh bloody 'ell Well my claim from 15 November was denied due to lack of witnesses. I had rather assumed that would happened; but it's disappointing nevertheless. Oh well, I've got another mission today that I need to concentrate on. 'Tud', 'Harry' and I are sent over to take down one of the sausages that seems to be giving a good look at our chaps to the artillery. Off we go. There's the usual archie as we cross the lines and as we start to approach the german balloon, we get jumped by a whole German Jasta. I start taking hits and as I dodge one set of tracers, another trace starts from a completely different direction. I count 4 on my tail. All I can think is "bloody 'ell what a mess this is". I rather quickly lose my lower wing (oh bloody 'ell) and I figure I'd best get to the ground -- better to some time with the gerries than to either crash or burn or both. I do quite well for myself. I dive under control; and get myself lined up on a clearing. Just as I think I'm going to make a smooth landing, I take some of the rudder away and the plane flips and catches fire. Lucky I'm relatively unhurt I manage to scramble free and I watch her burn. Just as I'm thinking the smoke might draw some attention, it does and my capturers show up. I get taken to the Jasta 30 airfield at Phalempin where they treat me well. Over dinner, the discussion kept coming back to who should get credit for my downing, and they kept wanted me to settle the matter. I kept telling them I had my hands full and couldn't judge "who was who" or "who shot what". At times, the discussion seemed to get quite animated; but also appeared good natured. The next morning I couldn't believe my luck. A squadron of 2 seaters came over and bombed the airfield. There were several direct hits. In the confusion, I saw an opportunity and ran off and managed to make it to our lines on foot. An infantry private took me back to the command station, and they rang the squadron. A few hours later, the car arrives to bring me back to the squadron. Boy were the lads glad to see me. Both 'Tud' and 'Harry' had made it back safely. Seems I drew most of the attention and the two of them managed to make their escapes relatively unscathed. We didn't get the balloon though, so I expect there'll be other mission to go after it again. Commander wants me "back on the horse" so-to-speak, so I expect I'll have another mission tomorrow. I just hope it's not that bloody balloon. N.B.: I've written the result of this flight up to match the debrief rather than trying to remember the "escape rules" for BEL. In fact, I was rather surprised to see that I'd survived and escaped. The debrief says my plane was "relatively intact" when the image above clearly shows that it wasn't. Anyway, I'll leave it in Ricks hands to say whether this was appropriate or not. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TROOPER117 146 Posted June 5, 2021 Well done old chap... you survived, that's what matters! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lofty_c 9 Posted June 5, 2021 mandrews, I'd say "welcome to the Escape Club," but Duncan Grinell-Milne already coined it for his -admittedly more severe- club. quite the mix of outcomes overall, bunches of kills vs no sightings, mission types, etc. and just all around great fun. I really do enjoy these challenges - thanks again, Rick! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stache 10 Posted June 5, 2021 2 hours ago, Rick Rawlings said: Stache, you posted the studio links instead of the direct video links Thanks - sure which we could edit posts... Lets try again Mission 5 WOFF BH&H II Rick Rawlings Challenge - Mission 5 - YouTube Mission 7 WOFF BH&H II Rick Rawlings Challenge - Mission 7 - YouTube Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mfair621 34 Posted June 5, 2021 Wow! We have some fine activity for the end of the week. It sure was close for a few of you. Drinks on the house. Week 2 is coming. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rick Rawlings 128 Posted June 5, 2021 16 hours ago, catch said: I just took a closer look at this picture catch, were you being attacked by the Death Star?!? mandrews_2, I've just consulted with the gods of thunder, and while they said that mandrews_1 was screwed, you were fine and escaped! Stache, I'm only, like, twelve posts away from editing privileges!!! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
