JonathanRL

Starys latest thread convinced me that there is probably more people then me and him here who has the particular hobby of photography (in my case, it is my profession). So I tough we could have a little thread of ourselves, show our best pictures, give constructive criticism and discuss equipment. So my first question to get this thread going, what is your equipment, and what picture means the most to you? My Camera bag is currently a Canon 600D. My lenses of choice are Tamron 17-50 2.8 and Canon 70-200 4L USM. Aside from the usual tripod, I also keep a Canon 1.4x Extender Mark II and a EX 430 II in the bag to keep the edge on my side. The picture that means the most to me is probably this one - and the others from the same series. During the spring, there was a lot of storms and bad weather along the coast of Sweden. Mixed with cold weather, this meant quite a few Seal Cubs was found, most in terrible state. Sweden does not have any rehabilitation centers and relies on local Zoo staff to use the resources of their workplaces to nurse the Seals back to health. I have always loved Seals, and keep a membership card at Skansen in order to be able to visit them often; and when I heard they had rescued a little Seal girl, I asked and was allowed to come by and take pictures. To see, and actually pet a small Seal Cub is still one of the greatest experiences I ever had.

Ljungbyhed, Southern Sweden. 6th of January, 1965 It was been a tough new year. All our time is spent rehearsing for our final series of tests. We can all master the J 28B Vampire by now, and that is the least that is expected of us. Some of the lads did not cut it and was thrown out, right on the finish line. I cannot imagine how that would feel. Yet, for all the worry amongst the lads that they will be the next to go, I feel confident that I will be here no matter what. It certainly helps that Captain Johansson has taken a liking to me. Maybe it is because I am the only one here from Gävle, or that I impressed him someway, I do not know. That does not mean he cuts me any slack tough, quite the opposite. Yet, instead of goading us to quit, or calling us stupid when we make mistakes, they are more keen to address them, make us learn from them. Today was our last fighter drill before we went on to live weapons on the range. The Captain says he got us something special this time and that the CO had to request it. This got us a little tense. Fighter drills was usually against other cadets or instructors but this was something else. As we stood on the flight line, the Captain addressed the briefing to us. This was another oddity, as he usually did this in a classroom. He stood rigid and ordered us to scramble as four unknowns was heading onto our vector. We ran to our aircraft and strapped in. Mission: Force the JAKTTRÄNING Flight to Retreat Mission Role: Combat Air Patrol The wingman is absolutely indispensable. I look after the wingman. The wingman looks after me. It's another set of eyes protecting you. That the defensive part. Offensively, it gives you a lot more firepower. We work together. We fight together. The wingman knows what his responsibilities are, and knows what mine are. Wars are not won by individuals. They're won by teams. — Lt. Col. Francis S. "Gabby" Gabreski, USAF, 28 victories in WWII and 6.5 MiGs over Korea The feeling of command is not a good one. You get worried sick for every little detail of your wing, and my wing was a little sore. As Number 2, I had Lars. The Captain had demanded that until he "grew up", he would fly Wingman and Lars was not happy one bit about it. He was certain that the Captain despised him and did not want him to score any simulated kills. My other pair was less restless. They where an oddity but did not look the part, two Twins from Stockholm who both sought themselves to the Air Force and nobody had ever thought they would get this far. Now they where some of the few people pegged as "certain" to pass. They where superior in teamwork and they where usually both addressed, rewarded and punished together and always referred to - even by themselves - as "they". Now, Mattias and Markus Berg would have to make up for Lars. Turning slowly, keeping my eyes on the map features where the next waypoint was, I found myself thinking on the task ahead. There was something special about this. We was usually briefed in a much more open manner - down to knowing exactly who we would be flying against. The only reason for withholding that information was if we was not supposed to know... or if the information did not give us any further knowledge. The last part seemed like utter truth once I tough it, and I ordered the wing to spread out a little further. Whatever we was facing, I was not sure we would see them first. Then No: 3 called out that they had spotted four bogeys incoming fast on our right. And Lars broke formation. Turning to face the bogeys head-to-head, I ordered him back but to no avail. Cursing under my breath, I ordered the twins into a Vee Formation. Ahead of me, I saw Lars pushing his Airframe in full speed towards our foes. I on the other hand slowed us down. What we where facing was not other J 28s and Lars was a fool to think he could take four of them by himself. Two of the enemies broke after him and the other two went for us. As we faced the J 29 Tunnans with black squares on the wing, I yelled "FIRE" and our gun cameras spew out film, that later would have shown if this tactic had worked or not. Ordering the Twins to break and chase the pair we just passed, I went after the aircraft chasing Lars. He flew fast, but not well and I was sure the Bogeys had more pictures of him then his own mother. As I came closer, the second one slowed down and broke right. This was either a trap or a diversion, but I decided to push the attack and see if I could force the other one to break. As I saw the J 29 turn in behind me, I slowed down. And was hit. A radio call echoed in my earphones that I was hit and supposed to return to base. I ordered Lars to follow, but my opponents informed me they had told him thrice and that he did not obey. I suddenly wondered how I had missed them telling him he was hit. Taking my Vampire in a shallow turn left back towards the strip, I watched how the twins defeated their pair but was defeated in turn by the second one. Teamwork had prevailed. And if Lars could not work with the team, I would have him chucked out, if it was in my power to even remotely arrange such a thing. The Captain would not be pleased.

Cheer, you people, because Cadetebra is no longer a whelp, as he has reached the respectable age of 19 ! Congratulations my friend, and may much fly by your hand! Here, have some cake:

It usually helps to include some information about the item you are requesting.

Is... that.... Two-Six-Two.... flying? If I where you, I would have begged on my knees to sit in the cockpit :D

http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Spica_%28T121%29 When you have the time, my Swordwielding friend. When you have the time :)

Yes, he is getting older. Alot older *grins*

Most plots are. It all lies in the execution.

If you are a student, you can get it right now; student edition (aka giving it away). http://students.autodesk.com/ Studio Max 2009 is however needed for the Exporter, but I am sure some people here can assist with that.

The Campaign Engine would handle that with as many Recon Flights as you could do without puking.

In all likelyhood, SF2: NA patched the game for you. If so, you need to reinstall the mods.

I rather not check anything I cannot freely share with somebody else. Sharing is Caring.

The main problem is that Dept of Honours war was supposed to be low-intensive. It was pretty much only ships and aircraft firing on eachother. Without Ground Forces, declaring a Victor is rather difficult, even tough I do like the idea.

That looks absolutly stunning. I know now who I will ask to make a Saab 17/18 someday :D

So, that is why no templates was released? While I like the fact that the Tomcat gets more love, I can think of stuff I rather have TK work on.

This is absolutly not an issue at all. I run TSF with as few as three attacking regiments at the same time. I simply make them more plentiful. Depending on the year in question: Su 9/11 "Fishpot" - Early Missile Interceptor MiG 9 Yak 9U "Frank" - Late 40s Prop, used by WP Nations until 55 at least, prob held in storage. Soviets liked holding stuff in storage... Yak 25 Flashlight - Interceptor Tu 4 Bull - Heavy Bomber, B-29 Clone Amongst others. My personal ratio is 3 Reds for every 2 Blue. Just remember that time and dates also needs to be timed with the number of missions available. To adjust this, Maxmission command and mission ratio commands needs some experimenting with.

Heh, I knew. They are a flyable squadron in Il-2: 1946 ;-). Great addon at any rate. Hope we get to see more like this !

"When the Call "VAMPIRE VAMPIRE" came, none of us expected it to be so literal...."

Take care of your old man, Dave. We are only issued one !

[A/N: If you want the SK 16 for yourself, you can find it enclosed: Swedish Trainer.7z ] Ljungbyhed, Southern Sweden. 1th of October, 1964 We already had two accidents with the Jets so far. The first one just lost us the aircraft and the trainee, a lad from Stockholm named Hans was crying openly in his bunk that night. He was sure he would be chucked out. His instructor however seemed to speak in favour of him, because he was not chucked out. Not even reprimanded. At the beginning of the course, this would probably have been subject to many harsh comments or jeers, but we are a smaller group now, more sure of each other, and united in a dedication to become pilots in the Air Force. The Second one was a ill omen for all of us. A lad on his first Solo in the J 28B crashed on takeoff and was sent home with a medical discharge. In time, he will be alight, but he will never be able to fly a plane again. Lars is keeping getting into trouble. Half of us wonders how he actually manages to stay here at all. He seems to have a nack for annoying the people in charge, and that is not really a good sign. More then once, Captain Johansson had to pull his neck collar to try and straighten him out. I wonder if he will be the next one to disappear. So, now it was my turn. I knew my cockpit. I knew the Airplane. I knew what I should think of, the differences between 28C and 28B. My first solo in a Jet Fighter. Mission: Take-off, go to Waypoint 1, 2 and 3, then land. Mission Role: Solo Pilot The waiting was the worst thing. It was before my first solo in the SK 16 as well, but the J 28B is a Jet Fighter. It is not designed to be easy to fly, it is designed to be a lean, mean machine of war. We already had the basics between Jet flight and Prop, and now we was to put them to the test. Gently, I pushed the throttle forward and my Aircraft started moving forward across the runway. It was a great feeling, a feeling of power. This was the aircraft that helped turn the tide on the Soviets in Finland back in ´56 and now it was under my complete command. Adding merely a slow pull on the joystick, I allowed the aircraft to gracefully lift of the ground and almost at once raised my landing gear. It almost cannot be described, the feeling to have such a powerful machine at your literal fingertips. I could not resist, raising my nose slightly more, I made a roll, only to be rewarded with Johanssons sour comment that I was an Air Force Pilot, not a member of the flying circus. It was the first time he had called any of us an Air Force Pilot. I felt invincible. I almost wished the Soviets would send a MiG my way, I was sure I could handle it. The feeling of joy, of power, of taming the Jet on my first solo was overwhelming. I had to force myself back to the reality and focus on where my waypoints where. It was no good if I let the euphoria of flying fill me so I missed what I was actually supposed to do. Carefully remembering what the Captain had said, I made sure my manoeuvres was as graceful as possible and high above Sweden I soared. The flight ended way too soon for my taste. I reached Waypoint 3 and had to put the aircraft back onto the ground. The landing went almost perfect, only a gust of wind to disturb me on the last 100 meters. When the aircraft had landed and the cockpit opened, I put my fist into the air in jubilation. The Captain stood below the Aircraft, smiling up at me. "Can I go again?" was the first thing that blurted out of me. He climbed up to the cockpit and checked my fuel gage, then nodded.

Looks great! Denmark taking a more active stance in the defence of Greenland then? :D

The way I see it, the best way would be to use a weapon, kinda like the douglas refueling pod. But then AI wont fire at the target, and hits will not be registred. The second way is to make it a part of the aircraft, but only making the target part of the tug able to take the hits. It would be fun to have at any rate :)

Is there anybody who have added target tugs to the game? Would be nice to have some old school shooting of targets and not trying to hit the tug itself. I suppose a weapon addon with a line to the target itself would be one way to do it, but my speciality is campaigns, so I do not really know how. Anybody having clues on how it can be done?

Hey lads. Let us just agree to disagree on this one. We are getting out of topic anyhow. I am sorry for bringing KAL up :) At any rate, Historic Wings asked me for some input on their story about The Catalina Affair and they have published two parts about it: http://fly.historicwings.com/2012/06/the-catalina-affair/ http://fly.historicwings.com/2012/06/the-catalina-affair-part-2-of-3/

I have actually seen no proof that KAL 007 was an intelligence trap. Rather, considering what secrets the US Military had to leak to prevent it happening again, I would say all Soviet got was badwill, and they already had much of that in the West. Also, I feel that the fact that the Aircraft was shot down - after visual contact no less - is the main catch of the story. You do not fire upon a unknown unless you know it will present a clear and present danger to you or anything around you.