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made some changes on Luftwaffe LAU-51A and LAU-32B/A rocket pods , the LAU-32B/A is a new model

Actually I’ve long considered exhaust smoke effects in WW2 sims to be a framerate-destroying, wholly inaccurate irrelevance, created by people seemingly unfamiliar with the real aeroplanes. Just look at any picture of an airborne Hurricane/Spitfire/Mosquito/Lancaster (is my RAF background showing here?) and observe the complete _absence_ of any smoke. Further, in relation to WW1 types, in my spare time in summer I volunteer as groundcrew at Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in New York State. Apart from an occasional brief burst of white smoke at startup as excess fuel is burnt off, none of our WW1 types trail any visible plumes of smoke either. For me then, these “exhaust smoke” effects as every bit as unrealistic as the “sun flare” effects also often offered by popular flightsims. Wherever possible therefore I always eliminate “exhaust smoke” from my WW1 & WW2 sims. Improves both realism and framerates. Now if one is talking about the “skidmarks in the sky” of Vietnam-era J79-powered Phantoms etc, then those are definitely realistic! In my own service I recall spotting types like Vulcans & Hercules from their smoke trails long before the actual ac was visible. Cheers Mike

Nana-Nana-Nana-Nana...Batman!!! ......................In Afghanistan.

Crab Fishing:

I have RoF, but removed it from my hard-drive due to requirements for space. It looks great up high, but I could never bring myself to like the terrain. Unfortunately, all the dogfights seemed to head downwards quickly and end up the same predictable turnfight every time. I just didn't find it as entertaining as FE2 or WOFF. Whatever about the future of First Eagles, its present is very fine indeed. The boost provided by Geezer's prolific burst of activity, VonS' sterling work on fm's and effects and the continuous generosity of Stephen and others keeps this game in rude health. I recently find myself playing with this and European Air War more than anything else, simply because both games load up quickly and one can get into the action promptly.

indeed, "CleanExhaustEmitter" would be the correct one; it's the one I've used for the last 12+ years.

Mirage IIIC Shahak with pod (special nose) recognition, which is loaded as a tank more than fuel

lol...yes Farmans Taubes and early birds are more of a hurry up and wait kind of deal lol lol lol ............otherwise known as ( taps observer on the shoulder ) "I say old chap, would you be so awfully good as to awaken me , once we reach 1500 feet, theres a stout fellah"

On last Sunday 4 russian MiG-31 fighter planes run out of fuel during a routine patrol mission. So they were forced to land on the civil airport of Ussinsk in Sibiria. The intention was to refuel the fighters at ground. But the procedures needed to much time, so that the engines were to cold for restart. Now the planes are sitting on the icy airfield and waiting for the ground crews and their starting equippment.

Tommorow. GR.1B for public beta tests.

This is an urban myth. Westberlin with 3 allied airfields was inside east german airspace. From a soviet or east german airfield to West Berlin it was a very short distance. It was impossible to fill up the plane fueltanks with so less fuel, that is was unable to reach West Berlin. From soviet airfields like Brandis or Köthen it were less than 150 km (less than 100 miles) to West Berlins Gatow airbase. And by the way, do you remember the crash of a soviet MiG-23ML in Belgium 1989? The plane came from the soviet base at Kolobreg (Kolberg) in Poland. And it had fuel enough to fly to Belgium. But end of OT. As far as i have understood the russian media correctly, the flight leader of the MiG-31 formation decided to extend the mission. He streched it to the maximum limits and thought, that the fuel status would be enough for this extra tour. A little miscalculation and the flight needed an emergency airstrip. Ussinsk was the closest airfield and this was used.

You're quite right. Air-starts are for when one is in a hurry for a quick dogfight and I'll not be doing too many of those in the Farmans.

Personally speaking, I always have my default setting to start on runway, dont see the point of starting mid flight , kind of defeats the object of the sim somewhat ( in my opinion , not everyone elses mind you ) the only time I would see the benefit of starting in the air is if you are doing a quick mission/dogfight , and if you just want to fur ball and not fly..........but I'm an opinionated git so sorry to stick my oar in lol.

What is the "ArmingTime=" set to on those ALARM's in the video? Increasing the time on that may allow the missile to clear the aircraft before it starts guiding. Note that I checked in my SF2:NA folder and I have three different ALARM variants their, each with a different arming time. ALARM: ArmingTime=0.300000 ALARM_NP: ArmingTime=3.000000 ALARM_Up: ArmingTime=0.050000

Slightly OT but I'm back flying FE2 after a bit of a gap and still rate it alongside WoFF...if you take the mods into account, in particular the fact that with the aircraft now available, FE/FE2 leaves very little to be desired in terms of planeset...apart from an AW FK8 and a 1918 German general-purpose two-seater like an LVG C.VI or Albatros C.X/XII. More planes are promised for WoFF UE but I doubt they will ever come close to FE for the Western Front, let alone other theatres. For must-have mods, if interested in the Western Front, I would include the A Team Skunkworks. Modders who host their creations here at CombatAce have made better BE series planes. Halberstadt and Fokker D-types and there's now Geezer's Pfalz D.III; but as well as many other useful gap-fillers like the Pfalz D.XII, FE8 and SSW D.III, the A Team have the Pup, Strutter, Dolphin, Brisfit and FE2, all really must-haves for 1917-18. You do need to be patient and respect their rules to get access. Where else but in FE/FE2 will you see sights like these: For me the feeling of flight, combined with the stall indications, and the air-to-air combat, is actually significantly better than WoFF, on balance. Also better is the implementation of Flak/Archie. Not only can you see the guns firing (and strafe them if you feel bold!) but their activity is a vastly better indication of the presence of other aircraft - this is a big plus for FE. The one thing I think is significantly worse in FE2 is the way enemy aircraft will follow you down and home, in packs to boot. If there was an AI or campaign mission tweak that would reduce this significantly - even a kludge of some description - well that would be top of my improvements list for this excellent and abiding sim

I am not sure about the exact model of the MiG-31s that are involved in the incident. I think a safe guess would be a variant of at least having MiG-31BM-equivalent standards. If that's the case I don't understand why the entire flight of 4 MiGs that EACH had used up a typical mission load of internal fuel of 13,700 litres of jet fuel without anyone noticing sth were wrong... 31BM has some reasonably good avionics; Even the 1st Gen planes have fuel indications like the Mirage F1s, 2000s. tiles for empty tanks would light up. Note MiG-29 like fuel gauge

Thanks, gentlemen. The formations are the source of my problem, I would think. However, since you have been so diligent and historical in compiling these formations, VonS, I hesitate to alter them and will make a point of starting on the ground with these Farmans.

Looking for Iranian bombers

IAI-Dagger B & Mirage IIIED

I believe you. Although in fairness it must be said that "Anasal" did not take any part in combat actions of the WWI. In fact, the Anatra plant began to produce this aircraft, when the Russian army was already falling apart. Until November 1917, only a few machines were distributed among the front-line squadrons. But not all of them were at least taken out of Odessa ... The planes that later went to the Austrians were used only in the rear training units.

Eleventh DiD Mission for Ltn. Fritz Müller, Palestine theater, following the 20 Rules for DiD --- October 17, 1918 "Slightly windy weather and with broken cloud cover this morning. Was assigned a lengthy defensive patrol about 40 kilometers south of our aerodrome at Aleppo. We ascended to approximately 1800 meters and proceeded as planned, to oversee for enemy ground activity that was creeping further northwards, and to spot for enemy aeroplanes. A young fellow, Vzfw. Otto Krepps, was also accompanying us, in an Albatros D.III with Ottoman markings. We flew southwest as per usual directions. Near our destination point we circled for a few minutes and were then approached by two Martinsydes. Krepps followed one of the Martinsydes further south while I tangled with the other one. Two Voisans had also appeared soon after. I was busy with the Martinsyde for a good 10 minutes but managed to notice one of the Voisans slipping back south over its own lines. Krepps was nowhere to be seen and was likely chasing after the other Martinsyde, I assumed. Our flight leader was in the meantime involved in a very prolonged kurvenkampf with the other Voisan, likely flown by a seasoned airman for I had intermittent opportunity to observe that this character was extremely maneuverable and practiced very tight turns. While still engaged with the Martinsyde, I looked to the east and noticed that the flight leader had now gotten the Voisan, with a thin stream of smoke following it. However, when I looked again the Voisan had somehow turned into our leader and both began descending rather alarmingly, with the flight leader losing most of his wings and disappearing in the region of some marshland that was nested among the hilly terrain below. After dispatching the Martinsyde, I proceeded to do several wide circles but only spotted the crash site of the Voisan that was embedded below near some foliage, with its fuselage burning and wings separated from the wreckage. Neither the flight leader nor his Albatros was anywhere to be found. I returned to base stupefied! 'And what kind of a flight report is this, Nowotny?,' asked Brüker that afternoon, 'and where in the world is Krepps - most likely flew over the British lines and was pounced?' 'It's possible, sir,' replied Nowotny, 'for he was rather keen on getting his first victory.' 'Well then, you will be credited with your eighth victory, for the other Martinsyde. Fortunately some of our retreating soldiers were in the vicinity to confirm. Also to be confirmed is Ltn. Müller's 28th victory over the Voisan,' commented flight officer Brüker. 'And now to this business of Müller - are you sure he went down?' 'Yes sir,' responded Nowotny, 'I saw some of his wings break off as he plummeted into the marshland fenced in by some hills.' 'But could you spot the location of the crash?,' asked the flight officer. 'No, you see sir, I did several wide circles above the area and there was nothing, except for the burning remnants of the Voisan.' 'That will be all Nowotny, thank you.' 'Thank you, sir,' was Nowotny's reply, before he departed for his tent. 'What to do with this nasty business,' thought Brüker to himself. 'I will report this as a case of missing in action, and for good measure Ltn. Müller will be awarded a wound badge - he was a stellar flier that one, and there will certainly be less aerial action now at Aleppo as we return to a slower pace,' ruminated the flight officer while puffing on his cigarette and adjusting his monocle. Meanwhile, at the British field hospital located just on the other side of the lines, about seven kilometers south of that morning's engagement with the Voisans and Martinsydes, in a corner of the room - and with his entire body in a cast - was a strange sight of a patient. 'What's wrong with this one,' asked the doctor while staring at the nurse's healthy proportions. 'Oh, he's not one of ours doc, was picked up by our patrol in the afternoon; three broken ribs, a dislocated ankle, broken arm, and concussion, pulled him out of what was left of his crate, stuck in some mud, the poor fellow - should be able to survive, lucky this chap, I'd say.' 'I know a bit of German nurse,' uttered the doctor, 'and will try to ask him a question.' The doctor then whispered something through the cast covering this fellow's head. A muffled response was heard; the doctor was silently contemplating the answer. 'Well, what did he say, I just adore his accent behind that cast,' was the nurse's reply.* 'We have to wait for the effects of his concussion to wear off; let him rest for a day or two. I think he mumbled something about a certain Pfalz - but I don't know any such fellow.' The doctor concluded that Pfalz was another doctor or perhaps a medical intern, and didn't give the comment much thought as he went off to attend to other patients." ----- * We will assume that Ltn. Fritz Müller survived and returned to the Weimar Republic after spending a few years in Istanbul, where he trained young pilots. For further narrative warmth, as we unexpectedly complete this series of adventures cut short by an aggressive Voisan, let us conclude that Ltn. Müller married the buxom nurse too, and that he grew an aversion for Albatroses while always fondly remembering his two Pfalzes that he flew earlier in the theater. Nowotny, by the way, also survived and went to South America to do stunt flying. Steinmann, after recovering and being discharged from the field hospital near Aleppo once the war was already over, went back to Baden-Baden and became an excellent chemist and professor of chemistry at a local college, doing research in octane ratings and gasoline supplements well into the 1950s.

Tenth DiD Mission for Ltn. Fritz Müller, Palestine theater, following the 20 Rules for DiD --- October 12, 1918 "On the 10th of the month I had some time in the morning to visit Steinmann at the field hospital and presented to him, in delicate terms, what had happened to our flight officer from Jenin, and Logan-Ritzer. Steinmann himself was most surprised and commented that the Rumpler should have been abandoned long ago, for it had previously gone through two or three series of extensive repairs. We also discussed further activities at the aerodrome south of Aleppo, over a bag of oranges that I had brought, and he made me promise to greet everyone at the 'drome and to mention that he is recovering well. For my part, I made it known to him that I was sure of his return to the air, perhaps even in a fortnight at the latest. Also, yesterday we had been buzzed by three lumbering types and three Voisans that had emerged from the southwest, and that had dropped a few grenades over our base, fortunately without any serious damage. The weather had however become overcast rather quickly and so we abandoned the idea of pursuing them. This was the first time that we were harassed in such a way. This morning I was busy helping my rigger and fitter to get as much power as possible out of the improved Albatros, and in this confident state I was assigned an evening defensive patrol, around our balloon post and barracks, also the field hospital that were located nearby. Nowotny and I ascended into the sky patched with pretty, scattered clouds, and leveled out at around 1200 meters. We did a wide turn and pushed slightly east of the aerodrome when, not more than three or four kilometers away, we were jumped by a flight of nine Martinsydes that came in at a higher altitude, and from the south.* We accepted the challenge and round and round we went in the middle of this chaotic pattern of aeroplanes. Two fellows, perhaps not trusting their piloting skills, immediately turned towards their own lines and slowly disappeared. The other seven fellows remained and it took us a good 20 minutes, possibly longer, to dispatch them all. Nowotny managed to light up three of these lumberers, but he was then out of rounds and proceeded back to the aerodrome at half-throttle. I had in the meantime disabled the engines on two of the Martinsydes, and eventually sent the other two hurtling into the ground, with a thick column of black smoke trailing them. As I turned and accelerated to catch up with Nowotny, who was already a few kilometers south of our 'drome, I observed two Voisans, the cannon-armed variant, descending from a cloud and trying to position themselves behind his tail. Nowotny had also spotted them and was making a wide ascending turn, while I flew into the fray and danced a while with these pesky Voisans. At first one fellow went spiraling down, with one of his bottom wings missing, and then I hit the other fellow too, who was now emitting an engine fire and thin stream of gray smoke as he turned on his back and descended in the vicinity of our barracks and field hospital. Nowotny had already landed by the time I, now exhausted, rolled up to my hangar and clambered down from the cockpit of the Albatros. 'Well done Fritz, I'd say this was our best show yet!,' said Nowotny, who had been talking to one of the mechanics. 'And what has Brüker to say, I wonder,' was my response. We proceeded to the flight officer's tent and were cordially greeted. Nowotny was credited with his three Martinsydes, bringing his total to seven, and was to be awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class. I was credited with the two Voisans that had been observed plummeting down by some fellows at the barracks slightly south of the aerodrome, and also with three of the four lumbering types I had downed (one would remain unconfirmed since I had chased it too far south before it was dispatched). 'Congratulations gentlemen,' was Brüker's response; 'and with your total now standing at 27, Müller, I am pleased to inform you that you will be receiving the Saxon Order of Albert, Knight's Cross 2nd Class.' A pretty little medal, I thought to myself that night in bed, and a rare one, although I was more pleased to see Steinmann two days ago and to hear that he is recovering quickly. I was also, on a more grim note, being troubled by images of Voisans fluttering by me, in a sort of half-sleeping dream in which I was trying to maneuver between them but also was attempting to stay out of the reach of their cannons. No matter how slow, these types were proving more and more troublesome to bring down; and I remembered Von Wincklermann's words to avoid them if too many were approaching, or if they were too close for a proper melee to begin." --- * The formation.ini file was removed from the Flight folder in FE2 for this particular mission, which, even with light aircraft activity set in the main menu, produced a larger sweep of enemy planes, as typical of the British buildup for the final large battle, of Aleppo, in this theater. The formation.ini file was then placed back in the Flight folder for subsequent missions, and for variety.

don't forget the Gnat cockpit I made!