JFM

Grabbed it but haven't had time to mess with it. Maybe I can sneak a flight late tonight.

Hitting 110--which is amazing--has nothing to do with it, and veteran does not have to see combat to be a veteran. I've seen at least three "last WW1 veterans" die within the last several months. I'm curious to see how many more "last WW1 veterans" we'll see. I keep thinking we've seen the last last veteran and then there's another... Edit: Dej, finally noticed that you posted "combat" veteran. I can't say that the last few last veterans that I've seen dying lately were labeled combat veterans. Your post was specific about the combat aspect and I overlooked it, so please forgive my intrusion.

Every month there's a "last WW1 veteran" dying. How many "last" veterans can there be?

Personally, I prefer him dead than captured so I am quite happy. I hope they release the photos of his body because I need some new wallpaper.

*DING*DING*DING*DING* We have two winners! 1. Albatros DVa (ID'd by lack of aileron cables coming up vertically in front of the cockpit) 2. Aux throttle, just as Lou described. 3. 0

I got lucky with the Pfalz C.I, as I was just looking at a photo/stats of that machine the other day. And I have not read The Way of the Eagle, so thanks for the recommendation! Okay, here we go: 1. What is the make/model of this machine? 2. What is the looped metal rod in the upper-left portion of the cockpit? 3. How many victories, if any, did Manfred von Richthofen attain while flying this particular make/model?

Hello, Okay: 1. Rumpler C.IV 2. Pfalz C.I. Had ailerons on all wings and "additional struts" bracing the vert stab. 3. Maj. Charles Biddle, 13th Aero Squadron

A few pilots flew that plane. Strobel is the one who added the Bavarian markings. Still, can't say definitively that is him in the cockpit because the plane could be flown by others and the face cannot be seen.

The thick mummery is because it is cold at altitude, even in summer! Pilot is unknown for sure but that plane in those markings was often flown by Ltn. Strobel.

Hasse, that would be great if sims could replicate that. Depending on power settings and RPM, there could be a significant drop in RoF. It would affect one's tactics and make one cognizant to attack via the "rpm sweet spot" for maximum RoF. Also add more to the "what it was like" immersion factor. (And, to light a backfire here, I'm not saying OFF doesn't already have a "what is was like" immersion factor.)

Jasta 5 goodness, Albatros D.III 2225/16. Note the extra cowl vents: Grainy, but fantastic nevertheless.

I speculate more than a few, based on "what-ifs" 21 years later.

Usually rate was set at 450 rounds per minute but that varied with the prop RPMs.

Hello, The movements of Jasta 2 are so well known and documented that I need not say any more about it. From the JGI logbook, 31 May 1918: "Advance landing field near Beugneux could not be occupied yet on account of artillery fire." They should have just planted some trees then to hide it. ;) UncleAl wrote: "Accurate Photos of airfields are taken all the time by aircraft being utilized as Recon Birds that can accomplish their mission in a single pass, not on an Artillery Spotting Mission were they would need to circle the field, constantly relaying information back to the guns" [JFM emphasis] Really? Read on. Herman Becker, describing the French artillery bombardment of Balatre aerodrome on the night of 12/13 April: "Because it had brightened up towards the end of the day, we had already reckoned we might be greeted by a nightly bombing. We had hardly gone to bed at 1030 hrs, when outside the flak fire began, and you could hear the noise of an aircraft. Some cautious men got up in order to go to the shelters (the trenches), but most of us--me included--stayed in bed, for most likely the fellow wouldn't drop his 'eggs' exactly on our barracks. It did not take long until the first explosion. The thing could not have been far off, for the whole building shook and pieces of dirt clattered on the roof. One simply crawled a bit deeper under the covers and waited for the second 'egg'. But that one took a long time coming, although the machine was right over our heads [JFM emphasis]. Perhaps five minutes had passed, then we heard another crash, this time a bit more to the side, but also between our sheds and the airfield. Strange, that whining sound, which had already struck us as odd the first time, for bombs usually announce their arrival with a rush, especially such big ones as these seemed to be according to the noise of their explosions. However, we trusted to our fate, until it dawned on us that the sound of the aircraft was no longer audible, and that the explosions followed each other faster and faster. Then someone rushed into our shed and yelled, "The field is being shelled with heavy artillery with aerial observation!" [JFM emphasis] Later: "The bastards systematically worked over the entire airfield. The fire didn't lessen until 0500 hrs. We once left our trench, after midnight, because a shell had ignited a shed between our barracks in which 500 litres of fuel had been stored and also our two pigs and fifteen hens. There was nothing to be saved. The fuel was lost and only a few carbonised hunks of our hens remained." And: "In spite of the continuous rain of shells, our main concern was to save the horses and cattle in the next shed, as well as equipment and luggage. This work went well, although we constantly had to lay down in the mud as soon as the shells roared over. When we had finished the salvage of everything, and were again crouching in our trench, a shell exploded right in the hangar of another Staffel, which was immediately set ablaze. Exploding ammunition and signal-lights produced a crackling bonfire. There was no chance of saving the machines, which had been filled with fuel. Six valuable Albatros were burnt there." The field was hit by ca. 200 shells. The results were many hangars were damaged (photos show them with huge holes in the roofs, etc), fuel lost, and JGII lost 25 airplanes. In Greg VanWyngarden's book Jagdgeschwader NrII, page 32, he writes: "The Geschwader was largely out of action for the next three weeks, claiming only two victories during the rest of the month. An airfield relocation was of obvious necessity, and the group moved to Bonneuil Ferme on the 13th..." "What would you accomplish?" That's what they did accomplish with artillery. The virtual shutdown of an entire Jagdgeschwader. Your debate is circular. On one hand you say they used trees to "hide" aerodromes from artillery, then on the other hand you say little would be accomplished with artillery and that there was a more productive use for the cannon than attacking aerodromes. If so, why "hide" them with trees then? Since all the aerdorome locations were known precisely, an even greater and more frequent problem was aerial bombing because it far outranged artillery. And, like with artillery, a few scraggedy trees supposedly planted adjacent and across the width of a landing ground wasn't going to conceal anything. These airfields were bombed regularly and damage varied. I might be wrong and please correct me--I'm sure you will try--but I get the impression that you believe airfield attacks in WW1 presented the same near-suicide risk as does an airfield attack in OFF. It didn't. Many attacks came at night for obvious reasons and were met unopposed, such as No. 100 Squadron's first attack on LaBrayelle in early April 1917. The JG1 logbook is full of entries regarding aerial bombing and the overwhelming majority of attackers got away. By the late war the British had perfected it to an art with what the Germans called Lukas. For instance, in the early morning hours of 17 August 60 planes dropped 104 25-lb and two 40-lb bombs on Lomme aerodrome from an average height of 200 feet. One plane was shot down. Germans lost hangars and workshops and mechanics and German PoWs revealed 17 planes were destroyed. Carl Degelow was there and described the event; it was coordinated perfection. He wrote that "following the devastating Lukas, Jasta 40 went into a temporary quiet period while we waited for replacement aircraft and the various repairs needed to make us operational again."

Are you asking why trees are "planted" in a straight line in OFF? On the pretend aerodromes? That don't resemble their historical counterparts? (That latter is not intended as OFF criticism.) Aerodromes in range of artillery moved out of range; case in point, Jasta 2's move from Bertincourt to Lagnicourt in September 1916. "Surely they served..." Statement of speculation, although I agree with it. Trees like that would serve no pupose but to hamper flight operations. Of course there were trees around; these guys were operating out of literal fields. But planted in a row across the end of a the field in which planes operated routinely? Never might be too strong but it certainly wasn't an operational norm. No, aircraft was used for artillery spotting AND observation. The latter pinpointed locations and thus everybody knew where the airfields were; they often knew which units flew from them. Briefly after relocation a new field would enjoy momentary anonymity but the aerial photography never stopped and they would be located--and not before populars magically grew 30 feet in a month and "hid" them. Airfield locations were well known. There are only thousands of aerial photographs of them--proof that airplanes DID operate over aerodromes and were NOT shot down--and I have reams of British reports discussing the locations of everything from ammo dumps to troops to aerodromes; the British even knew when MvR had taken leave, and he wasn't reporting to Trenchard. Much of this information--such as aerodrome locations--was gleaned from interrogating PoWs, the reports of which are also in the British records. It's all in the NA in London, go look for yourself: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ EDIT: Here's a German recon photo high above the British aerodrome Lechelle, taken 22 September 1917, six months before the Germans arrived. Note that the photo was taken by an airplane directly over an enemy field. Note that this plane was not shot down. Note the absence of scraggedy trees around the aerodrome's periphery; photos taken when the Germans occupied the field show no recently-planted rows of extremly fast growing poplars--which would be ridiculous to do if they were to hide an aerodrome from artillery, since the British were just run out of there and could probably remember where the field was. Anybody think this was the only aerodrome the Germans 1) knew about, 2) photographed? Beyond these fun discussions I want to be clear that I'm not impuning OFF. I think historically accurate airfields in OFF would be a great immersion boost to a sim already brimming with it, and seeing a few trees immediately adjacent and perpindicular to the common landing grounds in OFF does make me yearn for a saw, but hey I can deal with it without problem. I have for years. Getting over those trees in a sim environment is easy since we don't have to worry about density altitude, old engines, carb ice, wet grass, tall grass, dense haze or fog, so if/since the trees are there, c'est le vie.

Artillery spotting was accurately conducted via aerial photography and aerial arty spotting. A couple scraggler trees wouldn't hide an aerodrome.

I find that most annoying. Were I in charge of those aerodromes I'd have PoW's out there cutting them down. I can clear them and I have no problems at all with landing but seeing straggler trees at the ends of the field makes me yearn for a saw.

I've only had two missions in my DH5 campaign and it's a miracle I survived both.

I've just fired up a DH5 campaign.

Usually I buy any sim that interests me and to hell what people say. Not this time. :no2:

Hitler's primary interest was Lebensraum in the east; i.e., Russia. War with Britain and France was unexpected; after Munich, Hitler believed their resolve weak and they would not honor their Anglo/Franco-Polish Alliances. After attacking Poland, to Hitler's great surprise, they did honor them and declared war on Germany. Still, months of negotiation followed during the "Phoney War" where, in effect, Hitler said to them "Hey, we want no troubles with you. Let's talk and work this out," to which Chamberlain said "Okay, but get your troops out of Poland first and then we'll talk." Of course, Hitler wasn't going to do that. In the end he had to take care of France and England before he could focus on Russia. He did that pretty effectively in the short term, booting the English off the continent and back across the channel, and then defeating France. Britain fought valiantly during the subsequent Battle of Britain but Hitler was not able to overcome the English channel, which prevented the Wermacht Blitzkrieg from rolling north all the way to Dunnett Head. In my mind this is most crucial because with England overrun and occupied, imagine the military hardships. Japanese attacks the US in late 1941 and it takes time to get our production rolling, so it's not until 1943 the B-17s and B-24s start rolling into England and we start to help in the air in that theatre--only in this scenario there is no England from which to operate the bombers, and the RAF bombers are gone. Now where? North Africa? Perhaps, but with England defeated who was going to stop Rommel? And with the Normandy invasion, where would the prepatory staging area be with England gone? North Africa? Again, it's in German hands, too. Probably have to come in from the East with the Soviets. I don't know. In the end I don't believe Germany could have overcome US and USSR production. It's not a stretch to speculate that in such a scenario the war would have dragged on longer until after VJ day, at which point the Allies would be free to move all that manpower and weaponry to Europe. Also, nuclear weapons were available by then; not many, but more were being built. Nukes on Berlin? Possible. (Edited for typo; probably missed others, too.)

Seemed obvious to me they meant CoD.

+1 I mention this often to the "the French owe us" idiots I see online and invariably they have no idea what I am talking about. It's almost as embarrassing as "Freedom Fries."

I gotcha, Lou. I was just saying. And, yes, to the Brits and to the Germans. Love 'em both.

Fantastic!