Pips

And they actually fly? Wow, after all that effort I wouldn't be surprised if the owner's didn't wrap them up in cotton wool. I bet landing them must be a nerve-racking time for the respective owners. Did you perchance get any film of them actually flying?

Here's the weather for the period in question. It's from the diary of No 5 Squadron RFC, which was based at Petite Synthe, Belgium. 18 May, 1917. Extremely windy (from the west), with gusts up to Force 7 and almost out of control below 4,000ft. Above 6,000ft the wind was strong but steady though one almost stood still against when flying into it. 19 May Same, with heavy low clouds. 20 May Thick clouds at 6,000ft. Wind westing at Force 4. 21 May Heavy rain, low clouds. Visibility less than 1/2 mile. 22 May Storms with strong west wind. Ceiling zero. 23 May Force 6 winds, cloud level 200ft. Intermittent showers. 24 May Wind howling, slashing rain almost horizontal. Mess shaking. 25 May Clear skies up to 10,000ft. Scattered above. Slight westing wind, visibility 15-20 miles. 26 May Opposite of yesterday. Thick clouds, strong west wind, ceiling 1,000ft. tried climbing above but aborted after reaching 17,000ft with no breaks in the cloud. 27 May Very warm and thick haze. Visibility less than 2 miles. Strong Force 5 west wind. 28 May Visibility good despite much cumulus at 10,000ft and above. Wind Force 4. 30 May Dud day with heavy clouds at 1,000ft. 31 May A fine clear morning but with a very strong west wind. At 1.00pm a heavy clud layer blew in from the sea, visibility dropping to less than 1 mile. 1 June Strong west wind, broken clouds all the way up to 16,000ft. Clear above. 2 June Wind eased overnight, but heavy clouds throught the day. 3 June Strong west wind, fluffy broken cloud. 4 June Visibility very good, being able to see the coast 30 miles to the north. Slight west wind. 5 June High scattered clouds, mild wind. 6 June Gusty winds from the north and heavy showers. 7 June Beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. Wind just a gentle breeze. 8 June Hazy all morning with rain after tea. 9 June Big cloud banks at 14,000ft, very hazy. Visibility less than 5 miles. 10 June Very hot and hazy day, no wind at all. 11 June Another hot roasting day. Visibility less than 1 mile, solid haze obscuring ground from 1,000ft. 12 June Hot oppressive day, hazy. Not a breath of wind. 13 June Very hot, extremely thick weather. 14 June Still hot and oppressive, but a coolng breeze from midday. Very clear evening. 15 June Westing wind, hazy with broken clouds. Visibility 5 miles. 16 June Extremely hot - 105 degrees. Very thick haze and from 6,000ft solid cloud cover over all of Belgium. 17 June Heat intense all day - 110 degrees. Thick haze, visibility poor. 18 June A very grilling morning, hotter than ever. A terrific storm blew up in the afternoon, the wind rising to hurricane fury. It passed quickly. Another big storm at 11pm.

Good for you Widowmaker. Now that you have a foot in the door, where do you hope to end up? Oh, and at what promotion level do you get your own private plane?

Outstanding clips. Thanks for posting them Olham. :) Iwamoto san has always been a favourite of mine. He was arguably the greatest of the Japanese aces, having fought for 8 years in almost all the major battles of the Pacific War. He first saw active service in China in 1938, where was was the top scoring ace of that conflict with 12 victories. He then went on to see service at Pearl Harbour, Indian Ocean, Darwin raid, Coral Sea, Rabaul, Truk, Philippines, Okinawa and the Home Islands. Amazing record, one never matched by any other surviving Japanese ace. Generally credited with 80 victories by historians (the IJNAF didn't officially keep scores for pilots), just behind the legendary Hiroyoshi Nishizawa at 87. Iwamoto himself claimed a staggering 202 air victories in his diary, which sadly has only been published in Japanese. Amazing fellow.

Excellent suggestions Hellshade. I already fly with both main and rear guns set to "less accurate". I'll add in the other mods you suggest as well. Anything to bring scoring, and dogfights in general, down to more realistic levels. The tougher it is the more I enjoy it. :)

Yes, it's a very enjoyable read. And if you liked that you should read 'Just For The Hell Of It' by Ken Collings. Similar vein.

Agree wholeheartedly HW. :)

Just luv that Be2. I'm really going to have a lot of fun in it. :)

I don't believe it. I truly don't believe it. Over at the ROF SimHQ forum those guys have really lost all perspective of the game. There's a thread there where they actually think that the new 'beta' campaign is on a par with OFF's. The mind boggles. http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3318149/1.html Don't get me wrong. ROF does some things very well, even better than OFF. And I do enjoy flying the aircraft - in multiplayer. But to compare OFF's classicly accurate and detailed campaign against the simplistic ROF Beta is nothing but absurd.

My partner works shift work, two weeks on days followed by two weeks on nights; whereas I work days. So whilst she is on nights I'm either flying OFF intensely or reading (history of course). Then when she is on days my time is spent with her. A happy balance. :)

It's funny how different Forums develop, the tone that gets set. Here, the pleasure of the game, the fun of flying, the quest for more information, the ability to respect opposing views and the overiding urge to improve things dominate. Rarely does one see a barney - and often that can be put down to misunderstanding. This Forum is civilised and fun. :) And just what brought his home to me I hear you ask? Well I'll tell you anyway. Out of interest I have kept an eye on ROF developments because I like WWI sims. But what has always stuck in my craw (and stopped me from buying said game) is the business model Studio 777 took with the product. It's a personal thing, but I do object to buying just a base game, and then having to pay for extra aeroplanes - which is the core of any sim. Buy new versions of a sim? Fine. But pay for just one plane? Sheesh. Anyways now that the demo is free I thought I would d/load it and give it a try. And if I was impressed with the 2 flyable aircraft and the game play I would buy more and go online. But after reading the various posts on the ROF SimHQ Forum I am just soooo disappointed with the tone of it's members. I've seen people literally crucified in threads who cast dispersion of the game. There's a hardcore of puffed-up sanctimonious bully fan-boys policing that Forum, acting like a pack of rabid dogs tearing into anyone who doesn't worship at the alter of Studio 777. So sad to see. Not surprising I've decided to give even the (new)free demo a miss. And come back to some civilised banter.

Looking at the level of progress in the screenies provided simply leaves me panting with anticipation. P4 has all the hallmarks of a real classic. I agree with Hasse Wind. I think the idea has great merit. An expansion pack to P4 just containing several additional two-seaters (and perhaps a campaign to go with them) at a reasonable cost would be a real bonus. Of course it would only follow after the release of P4, and time has passedfor a well deserved rest by the team! :) I'm about halfway through Schlachtflieger by Dan San Abbott (RIP) and Rick Duiven (RIP). One of the best books on two-seater actions in WWI. Really has whet my appetite for this sort of action. edit: http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/people/40005-rick-duiven-passed-away.html shredward

Those aircraft sims is a classic example of just how quickly graphics improved in that time. But no Red Baron? Shame on you!

What I find really surprising is the the membership of the 'rats' group at SimHQ. I've been an active member there since 2000, back in the glory days of RB3D, EAW and Rowans BOB. Many of the said bully's I've known and shared comments with since that time. It's only been the advent of ROF that seems to have drawn this surly behaviour to the surface. Rave about the sim (ROF) all you like - but thuggery? It's really sad to see. Where's the fun to be found in playing a sim if you can't share your thoughts and feelings?

Breathtaking scenery. A real eyeopener.

Ahhh, the stuff dreams are made of. Just the sort of project for a retiree. Personally I plan to try and build a Sop Triplane. It's quite amazing just how similar the description of that field is to what was looked for in France in WWI. Sounds the perfect spot.

It's more a case of Estourmel being the aerodrome considered to be the one that Bishop attacked, as it's reasonably accessible for 60 Squadron. However it wasn't the only one in the area, and as Josef says, it definitely wasn't attacked on that date. More to the point no aerodrome recorded any attacks on the date claimed by Bishop. And given such dramatic losses claimed by Bishop, if that in fact happened, it would have made it into the records of some Jasta.

And here are some words form pilots actually around at the tiem of Bishop's claim. The first concerns commenst by Josef Mai. " Jasta 5 strafed by Billy Bishop on 02 Jun 1917: (The other side of the coin) On 02 Jun 1979, the Estourmel Air Marshal William Avery Bishop (VC) is depicted on a Post card in which he is attacking Jasta 5 on 02 Jun 1917. This cover was flown from London (RAF Northolt) to Germany (RAF Wildenrath) by No. 60 Squadron to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of this attack. It is personally signed (and then scratched out) by Ltn. Josef Mai who joined the German Air Force in 1915 and became a pilot the following year. He achieved his first eleven victories flying an Albatros D.V easily identified by his personal insignia: a star and a crescent. Mai was commissioned in Sept 1918 and wounded in the upper left leg on 03 Sept 1918. Joseph Mai‘s has put a pen mark through his signature as he disagreed with William Avery Bishop‘s account of events of his 30th Victory. Below is a copy of the letter he typed in response as to why he (Herr Mai) lined through his name after signing it: (there are copies of the letters in my book 'Ltn. der Reserve Werner Voss and the pilots of Jasta 10') ―I could not sign the errors of Mr. Bishops, as I would have jeopardized the honor of the Jasta 5. The whole mater is easily explained.– Information Courtesy of ‗Derek Reynolds‘; ‗Royal Air Force Museum He continues: ―Dear Mr. Rossback Unfortunately I must disappoint you today. I had already started to sign when my nephew translated the heroic deed of Mr. Bishop (I do not know English) and with my signature I would confirm something that does not correspond with the facts. According to my logbook the Jasta 5 (hunter formation Jagdstaffel) flew on 02 Jun 1917 at 17.00 – 18.00 at a level of 1500m (approximately 4650 feet) above Cambrai – Blécourt, France and had no contact with the enemy, and landed safely after one hour. The attack could therefore not have taken place on the Jasta 5 airfield. The plane shown on the picture has two Struts (Stiele) whilst the German one man planes only had one. Capt Bishop‘s 60 Squadron received the Victoria Cross for the attack on the 2nd of Jun 1917 above Estourmel near Cambrai. This must be a mistake. Another Squadron must have been attacked. The Jasta 5 flew over Blécourt. The time has not been mentioned either. I cannot sign the envelope unfortunately and I apologize for the one that I did sign and crossed out again. – Information Courtesy of Derek Reynolds; Royal Air Force Museum." The second is by Grid Caldwell, a member of 60 Squadron at the time of Bishop's claim. "Surviving 60 Squadron pilots of the era where also invited to sign. Of the four men contacted, only one agreed to do so, the others flatly refused. One of the men who would not sign was Keith "Grid" Caldwell. He explained in a letter to Willie Fry, "I cannot do what they wish,sign and endorse the picture of Bishop doing his V.C. act,when I have to doubt its authenticity...I do not expect you to do anything about it as it would put you in a similar difficult spot, as I think we hold alike views on the V.C. incident".

Like all things with Bishop, even his number of claims is in dispute. A very detailed study by Russ Gannon determined that 59 of Bishops' ultimate 72 claims were made when he was flying alone. The 13 remaining claims were made in the presence of other pilots, and are broken down as follows: 8 OOC 5 destroyed (of which 2 were shared) There's no argument that Bishop was a capable pilot and reasonable combat leader. 13 victories pretty well sums up his abilities. But he was immensly ambitious and self-seeking - and somewhere along the way he obviously caught the eye of senior officers who, for whatever reason, decided to promote him to the level of a hero.

The Jury still seems to be out on the matter. Both sides have argued strongly for their own view. However to my mind the strongest evidence regarding Bishop's failing as a credible man lies in the fact that both Grid Caldwell and Willie Fry (who both served with him in 60 Squadron) never backed him up. Indeed both remained close-lipped on commenting on his character for the remainder of their lives. That speaks volumes.

Don't apologise TSmoke. That spelling is the correct English. Another example is humour, not humor. You can thank the Yanks for corrupting the English language.

I came across this facinating site of the above name. Contains a brilliant video of various WWI aeroplanes being repaired, bombed up, starting process, pilots, off on a mission and so on. Marvellous. There are several films in the series, just click on 'previous' to roll back through them. http://www3.nfb.ca/ww1/wartime-film.php?id=538490

Spectacular!

Yes, The Aerodrome has been rather ruthless lately. But good grief, doesn't that david lee love the sound of his own voice. That alone is good enough reason to stay away from there.

Such a shock to read of his death. It was only the day before that news of his good progress to recovery was announced. Dan will be greatly missed for his amazing depth of knowledge, his willingness to share that knowledge to all and sundry, his patience and kindness. He has left his mark on this world as indelibly as those men from a bygone era he held in such great respect. He has indeed earned his place amongst them.