JFM

Great shot.

Tornuss is the unsung man who is responsible for recording/compiling much information that was subsequently lost in WW2.

Over Flanders Fields II. Short. Simple. Classic. From what (little) I understand, Phases 1-3 were part of the original OFF and what was to be Phase 4 has, in essence, become an entirely new OFF. Thus, OFF2. IMO any other names after OFF are either way too lofty or corny. In any case, I hope they don't use "knights" () or "canvas" ( :rolleyes: ) anywhere.

redpiano, I'm well aware of what is historically accurate and what is not, thank you. My previous post was perhaps a bit too non sequitor, and for that I apologize for the distraction.

I'm not saying you can't have or use a gunsight, of course, but if you fly close enough to your quarry where his wingtips touch the left and right edges of your SE5a's windscreen, you won't need any sight. IMO (for what that's worth) snipers need sights; WW1 pilots need to be close.

I'm just puzzled (or not learned enough to understand) what they thought full aft control input was going to do for them within any flight parameter, unless they wanted to loop the plane or something. Although, via my aerobatic "experience" (one hour of SNJ time), even the loops didn't require full aft input. Yeah, I'm familiar with the demise of Flight 603. Helluva thing a piece of tape can lead to.

Great stuff. Even in a Cessna, as I'm sure you know, although it recovers itself from a stall as stated, it'll stay in one if you hold the yoke fully aft. But, why do that? This is what I don't understand with this particular accident. Night, confusion, weather, yadda, okay, but why hold the stick fully aft? My experience is flying recip ASEL/AMEL machines so I don't know: Is there ever a situation where full aft stick/yoke would be used for, well, any aspect of flying an airliner? (To be clear, that's an actual question, not a rhetorical one.)

I'm not doubting any of this but how--how??--could any pilot be so f***ing daft as to hold the stick all the way aft and not figure out what's causing the stall? That's just an unfathomable lack of basic stick-and-rudder aviating that every Cessna private pilot has drilled into his head WAY before his/her first solo. Again, how?? Even the worst pilots I've ever known--guys I wouldn't even taxi with--knew how to recognize and recover from a stall. As far as Airbus, IMO they're noisier than Boeings but I didn't mind them. Except for the A-340; that thing (at least the two I've been on) is a dutch rolling barge.

“Obscure” seaplanes? Perhaps to some people, maybe. The DH4, “forgettable”? Respectfully and without malice, perhaps put away the joystick and open a history book or two. Interesting how ROF is ripped for not having a complete and historical planeset—and then they are ripped for releasing planes that move toward having a complete and historical planeset. However, I agree that still not having the BE2 and FE2 in RoF is a glaring omission. And don't get me started on their lack of Albatros D.III. I agree with Bullethead that there is an large element of what he wrote concerning ROF. However, what’s been omitted is the giant single player career they’ve implemented, expanded, and are expanding that has nothing at all to do with “MMO”. 99% of my ROF flying is not multiplayer. So their are two faces to that sim. With the Channel map will come a Belgian career, which I fully endorse--an air force completely ignored by all sims heretofore. I'll buy their channel map--but I'll also buy P4/OFF2. I like both. When I'm flying one the last thing I'm thinking about is the other.

Voss had just returned from leave and was not about to depart on leave 23 Sept. Several books have this wrong.

Not to be (too) pedantic, 425/17 was not completely red. The rudder was white.

Everything "might be" anything. It's like "may or may not," which the media uses so much. "A plane crashed in the mountains and officials indicate the cause may or may not be linked to terrorism." No sh*t, Sherlock. Again, I'm not saying one way or the other, but my amusement remains. Not necessarily at you, Jarhead, but at flight simmers in general. Would love to explain why but I better wait until the NDA lapses.

BTW, the irony is that Du Doch Nicht was shot down from the front by a Breguet.

I'm a beta tester. I can't comment on anything but I'll just say I'm amused at what people "know."

Here, Olham, photos from that prang last summer will show it better:

Well, sure, MvR had mishaps with Dr.Is that didn't end as well as the one described above! Here's a photo of one: That's 114/17. MvR wrote about this event in his autobiography, albeit vaguely. It appears as if the engine cowling departed prior to landing, perhaps via an engine failure or mismanaged rotary operation. If MvR did have an engine failure it's not unreasonable to further speculate the failure was castrophic and departing pieces or even an entire cylinder removed the cowling, as had happened with other triplanes. Unknown if the gear was damaged as well (possible, considering MvR wrote he was surprised by the crash landing) but for whatever reason the machine ended up on its nose--damage to the upper wingtip like that is a hallmark of that having happened, and the plane had been lowered prior to the photo or perhaps wound up on its nose and then immediately tipped back down again. Note the wire or cable around the starboard wing interplanes struts. Unknown if MvR flew through a phone or power line while deadsticking or it was just some line used to pull the plane down or what.

Garros' steel wedges were in fact backups for the interrupter gear that Morane-Saulnier had developed. Gunnery tests had revealed hang fires and an irregular firing rate of the open-bolt machine guns they used caused bullets to strike the prop, hence the backup wedges. The gear was still on the plane when it went down. That Fokker designed syncro gear in two weeks is a myth propagated by Fokker himself, via his autobiography. He was given contract to come up with syncro gear but he had already been working on it for months, believed based on a 1913 patent held by Franz Schneider, a Swiss with Luftverkehrsgesellschaft (LVG). To back up what OVS said, the Albatros B.II was one of the war's great planes. The pilot sat in the rear cockpit.

I don't know; that guy they carried away didn't look to be in too good condition. Better than dead, for sure, though. Had a friend who got his plane into a flat spin. Rode it down from 3,000 feet until terrain impact. He lived, but his spinal column was compressed by the impact and he was left in wheelchair. One wonders if these guys suffered similar injuries.

Also, on Johannisthal-built D.Va's the weights table is situated with the first line on the horizontal reference datum, with most of it below. The D.Va(OAW)'s weights table is situated entirely above this line, much closer to the cockpit, as seen on that screenshot. Furthermore, with a weights table that high--i.e., an OAW machine--the Leergewicht would be 717kg, not 680. I'll gladly post photos later but right now I have to dash the kids off to soccer.

Yes, I am of the opinion he definitely flew 481/16. 491/16 came from Nowarra and Brown's 1958 book von Richthofen and the Flying Circus, but there is no source credit for this serial number. Where did it come from? I can't find mention of 491/16 anywhere. However, I found 481/16 in MvR's translated combat reports. Not to say MvR didn't also fly 491/16, but I haven't found any source for this. Regardless, his DII flown with Jasta 2 was painted either green or brown--appears similar to many other Jasta 2 Albs known to be brown. Something like this: It doesn't appear as such in my book, alas. I didn't piece this together until after publication.

Not everyone uses/blames testosterone to drive foolishly, fight, etc. I never did any of that stuff; I used mine to nail chicks. As far as war, I'll bring it down to base level: As long as we have politics and religion and finite space, there will always be war.

Speaking of Tumult in the Clouds: http://www.aeronautbooks.com/product/978-1-935881-02-5 I like that title, but searching on Amazon you'll see a zillion other books with that title. Seems many have already dipped in that well. Creaghorn, I swear I read all the posts in this thread but I dropped the ball somewhere because I overlooked that one! Love the latest comedic names. Over Flanders Fields IV. Like Led Zeppelin IV, only without the rock music.

Whatever too-long name is used, IMO "Eagle," "Canvas," "Knight," "Angel," and "Falcon," should not be used to avoid The Screaming Cliché Factor.

Hello, My take is it already has a name: Over Flanders Fields. All these names... "What are you playing?" "Oh, Over Flanders Fields Beyond Heaven and Hell Ace in the Ring." If anything, my two cents is "IV." Over Flanders Fields IV. Short. Sweet. Classic. You're welcome.

The Fee is beautiful, especially the /d, no matter how it's painted. :yes: