catch

Woo Hoo ! Now you're talkin'

Good Lord ! I'm fed up with these assumptions ! Just because the Hun like that sort of panties thing please don't tar us RFC lads with the same brush Blackdog

Scarmbled ! I like it ! Can I use it MK2

Those who've known me from the good old days back at SOH will attest to my penchant for the Morane Saulnier Type L Parasol. I do have a great admiration for French aviation design and innovation prior to and during WW1. So I have to agree with Gousy (who is also fond of the remarkable Se5a as am I ... so he's obviously a first class chap !). But I digress. The Parasol was a landmark aeroplane in my view. A high wing monoplane. Perfect for recon. Various Morane types were also fitted with Hotchkiss machine guns which fired through the prop using deflector plates attached to the prop to ... well ... deflect any bullet strikes. Crude but a step in the right direction. It was a little tricky to fly as anyone who's read Sagittarius Rising will understand but then it wouldn't be French would it lol ! I believe it was also built in single and 2-seater configurations for those who pine for more 2-seaters ! One of the more well known feats of the early years of WW1 involving the Parasol and resulting in a VC (Yes I am quite fond of the early days before it got really serious and deadly) is noted below. Coincidently {ahem}, my avatar is also the same gentleman. Type L Reg Warneford Sub-Lieutenant Reginald Warneford, 23, was awarded the Victoria Cross for outstanding valour when, like some real-life Indiana Jones, he single-handedly took on the pride of the German war machine. In 1915 the First World War had been raging for a year. Britain had suffered a series of demoralising defeats and then, in May, German zeppelin airships began bombing London. The capital was unprepared and unable to stop these silent assassins. Radar and anti-aircraft guns were yet to be invented. And the fledgling British air force could rarely reach the high-altitude airships. There appeared no way to stop the enemy crippling London. Sub-Lieut Warneford was born on October 15, 1891, in Darjeeling in the foothills of the Himalayas, where his parents were in the colonial service. By the start of the war his mother had moved back to Exmouth. She was living at 2 Morton Road when her son joined the Royal Naval Air Service - the forerunner of the Navy's Fleet Air Arm. Warneford had completed a dozen solo flights when, on June 7, 1915, he was ordered to a join a four-plane midnight attack on the zeppelin sheds in occupied Belgium. He was flying a single-seater Morane Parasol, armed with just a carbine gun and primitive bomb rack bolted to the fuselage. Warneford had never flown in the dark before and quickly lost his fellow pilots. Alone, he chanced upon an LZ-37 airship cruising at 7,000ft and kept airborne by 953,000 cubic feet of highly flammable hydrogen. The 521ft ship boasted a 28-man crew and was protected by four-machine gun posts along its sides. Warneford fired off a few rounds from his service revolver before the German gunners strafed his wings. He tried another few attacks, firing the carbine gun to little effect while the juggernaut airship gave chase. Warneford's foe then soared to 11,000ft, and he tried in vain to climb above the airship. Then the zeppelin made a fatal mistake. It dropped back to 7,000ft to find a gap in the clouds. Warneford manoeuvred his plane so that it was 200ft above the zeppelin. He dropped his bombs and a gigantic explosion ripped through the airship. Warneford's plane was enveloped in flames as chunks of burning metal exploded all around. The ship crashed to the ground, killing all but one of its crew. Warneford's plane spluttered out of control and he crash-landed 35 miles inside German lines. Warneford discovered that only his fuel line was broken. He fixed this with a cigarette holder and took off for home. By the time he returned to base at 10.30am the next day, his exploits were being celebrated across the Empire. George V awarded him the Victoria Cross that day, while France followed up with its Legion of Honour. But Warneford was to enjoy his fame for only 10 more days. He travelled to Paris to receive the French accolade and was to return to base in a new biplane yet to be fitted with safety belts. Immediately after take off, the plane inexplicably bucked and he was thrown out in mid-air and killed. Warneford was buried at London's Brompton Cemetery. His VC is on display at the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton.</H5>

Sounds pretty cool Siggi. But it's probably a fair bit of work for you if people want to update their stats after each mission ! Goodonya if you're willing to take it on. But, to be honest, I thought we'd only post when successfully reaching 17 hours ? As for cheating, surely we HAVE to provide a pic of our campaign mission stats (after reaching 17 hours) proving we are at 100% realism or higher ? For example, you CANNOT be at 100% or higher when setting guns to tightest/strongest as per Gous's post. Also WM has previously indicated he can tell if warp has been used via some kind of magician's sorcery so I presume you could also ? Now it's okay to use the tac and padlock right ? But labels are a no no (subject to debate with MK2) ? So which option(s) fall into the trust and honour bit ? For instance, I've still got the "bullet hit" text switched on purely out of habit and laziness in never having switched it off. Is this considered a cheat ? Should I do the honourable thing and turn it off ... or try and slip it in the backdoor while no-one's looking ! The trouble with trust and honour is it can soon degrade into a DID ! DID NOT ! DID SO ! DID NOT ! DID TOO ! etc etc although I hasten to add we are all probably way too gentlemanly here to resort to such petulance (we'll leave that to Fishingnut :whistling: )..... but one never know does one !

Thanks for the fyi Eric. I thought is was just regular maintenence as advised a few days ago.

Excellent to see OFF on its own forum here. Here's a vid I posted on the OFF SOH forum recently which (I hope) makes for pleasureable viewing for those interested.

It's been done Matt. I think it was Parky that used the classic Wagner piece in one of his vids back at SOH.

Wow ! You're dead right Otto. There are now 8 sub-forums (at time of posting) under Over Flanders Fields. Quick work ! Admin sure don't stuff around here. They just do it. It is most appreciated.

Yes quite ! A .... er .... good frickin show Rickety old thing ! Say, I'm getting used to this strange seppo lingo

Business as usual Gandi. Good to see you make the switch too Where's Nod ?

Tapari eh .... BLIMEY ! Thanks for the warning Dave

Sorry Rooster I have no idea what is causing this. I hope more technically minded people here will be able to help you out. Have you got any pc savvy mates that can come over and have a look ?

Definitely flying wires Hog. And the flat wires reduced wind resistance. Took a while for the French to cotton on to that. Not sure about the grain in the struts as well .... doesn't look like Spruce ?

So do I WF2 so do I :whistling:

LOL ! Smart fella SLIP !

Thanks fella's. I do like stumpy's modding work in progress on the seaplane stuff too. That has great potential. As for the "ballet of death" widowmaker, remember that tacky Battle of Britain movie from 1969 ..... all 60's hairdo's and cliches lol. Well .... I actually liked it when I first saw it as a kid but particularly the final "ballet" scene of dogfighting up high set to classical music. I guess that is what I tried to portray in this vid albeit in a far prettier WW1 setting (well I am biased). And to follow your wingies, keep an eye on them and protect them as much as possible whilst taking any opportunity that comes your way. They are your lifeline.

Looks great ! But why does the action always happen in swingin' Barnsley . What about us Antipodeans hmmmm ?

Normal shows damage, hi-res does not Thumper.

C'mon guys you know the rules here. No dirty 4 letter words allowed

That's nothing ! The thread size and the pin centre length on the Se5a's flying wires are incorrect according to the "Royal Aircraft Factory: Se5a Master Riggers Manual" circa 1917.

They show on the navigation list for me Rickity so I assume the OFF team can still retrieve what they want ? But password access has been blocked for mere mortals.

Lol ! uncle al returns ! The plug has indeed been pulled .... password access is denied although OFF 1&2 and OFF3 are still listed so perhaps the OFF team can still retrieve any info they may want ? At least I don't see why not as there was never an issue between the OFF team and SOH as far as I'm aware.

Something to do with resetting the bios perhaps Rooster ? Sorry I can't be more specific as I'm not technical about these things but I do recall my new rig (put together to my specs .... by someone else :yes: ) initially would not recognise the keyboard and would try to reboot .... unsuccessfully. It turned out to be an incorrect bios setting if memory serves. Good luck. P3 will rock when you get this thing working. Despite your frustrations now it will all be worth it in the end

A seamless transition ! Indeed well done and thanks MK2