Dej

P4, a Rod for your own Backs, eh. When you give the best... we want the rest

It's faintly ridiculous to even contemplate it, considering none of us (excepting perhaps one or more of our resident militry veterans) has the least notion of what one would do in such a situation as Wodin's observer, but... 1) Face certain agonising death in a burning aircraft plummmeting to earth - NO 2) Leap to certain death with a fair amount of time to think about the forthcoming impact with Mother Earth - NO 3) Bodyslam your attacker's aircraft in hope of instant death (or miraculous and dramatic escape as you grab a strut and wrest the aircraft controls from him at point of your revolver) - Hmm, MAYBE The lesser of three weevils, perhaps.

Cyberball. It's not beyond the bounds of possibility... Although if you read the dates on the back of the Atari ST box things have a way to go yet.

I daresay he'd prefer Pilesner Over Wire! Next time, under guise of being drunk we'll lob some bottles over the fence to our incarcerated Demetrius and his 20 Sqn. fellows there... "Come, let's away to prison; We two alone will sing like birds I' th' cage." Wrong side, but near enough.

Very nice Lou. No need for Shakespearwean parody when it comes to the English and drinking though ... IAGO Some wine, ho! Sings And let me the canakin clink, clink; And let me the canakin clink A soldier's a man; A life's but a span; Why, then, let a soldier drink. Some wine, boys! CASSIO 'Fore God, an excellent song. IAGO I learned it in England, where, indeed, they are most potent in potting: your Dane, your German, and your swag-bellied Hollander--Drink, ho!--are nothing to your English. CASSIO Is your Englishman so expert in his drinking? IAGO Why, he drinks you, with facility, your Dane dead drunk; he sweats not to overthrow your Almain; he gives your Hollander a vomit, ere the next pottle can be filled. Othello, Act II Scene 3. He had the measure of his countrymen, Shakespeare did...

I'm the one one on the right in the front row... the one staring fixedly ahead with a pre-occupied expression... having discovered that Belgium beer has a solvent effect on the spirit gum sticking my false moustache to my upper lip. The situation is made worse by the otherwise jolly nice fellow next door linking arms with me and stopping me using both hands to stick it back on.

I have to say that I've never encountered the BH-type spin and am glad of it. The DH2's tendency to drop into a spin when you push the envelope just a little too much to nail the Einie that's so almost under your guns is quite common enough. From mine own DH2 combat experience I can only reinforce what it says in the Primer, shallow bank with lots of rudder, nose down by preference, level by exception and up only if you've airspeed to spare... and even then not for long. NEVER, EVER follow the enemy down unless he's definitely the last one. Stay aloft and let him come back up to you, lean over the side to see where he's zooming back up then track him round in a shallow bank using your rudder... you'll get him as he loses airspeed and levels out. Patience is a virtue in the DH2 that WILL give you victory IF the enemy affords you the luxury of time. The DH2 can be handled nimbly but only in the dive so use that tactic for evasion... and then be prepared to give up and make for home.

I say Olham, d'ya mind if I join you chaps on this jolly jaunt into Chimay? I'll borrow Baldrick's soap, therefore blacking up a bit, maybe you could pass me off at a visiting Turkish officer, Mustapha Bevi?

May I make the observation that, unlike other some other ernestly healthly individuals here, I still drink alcohol (regularly) and smoke (occasionally). HOWEVER, I gave up being offended by anything anyone says ten years ago, when my daughter became a teenager! Unlike the other two aforementioned poisons - the cessation of which can lead to unpleasant cravings - I have found that turning a deaf ear to offensive remarks, accidental or deliberate, has no ill-effects at all! I would therefore recommend this course of action - being as we are ALL gentlemen here - and the assumption adopted that no one of us ever means to give offence. And anyone suspected of such should be viewed as a bit 'under the weather' and treated kindly until they recover

Nailed! No further revision necessary. The hardest thing for an artist is to know when to stop. STOP! Like Olham, those will be replacing my medal folder. Great work, Lou.

Excellent work, Lou. Looks like you're a long way in to the medal project... there's certainly a lot of variations to cover, which is why I gave up on my revamp. Have you considered Bars too, like the attached?

Very nice, Lou. I reckon RNAS fans like myself might appreciate one of these included in the collection... the British Distinguished Service Cross The above is from the medal revamp I did for myself many moons ago. For Olham's information and anyone else who has distortion the resolution I used was 160x262. I get no distortion at all on a 1680x1050 display... haven't tested whether that ratio scales up without issue though. [EDIT] I saved the above as 'Distinguished Service Cross.bmp', i.e. with two spaces after 'Distinguished'. You don't notice in the dossier because 'Service Cross' is on the next line.[/EDIT]

Both sides had developed electrical heating for flying gear by 1917, powered by small strut-mounted propeller-driven genreators. The British had also developed the Sidcot suit, a one-piece fur- or fleece-lined outfit that did a far better job of keeping the wearer warm than previous attempts. So effective was it in fact that a German pilot who brought down a British pilot alive would be quick to claim his Sidcot suit, von Schliech and Rudolf Stark each had one from such a victory

There you go, Olham. If this sim wasn't immersive enough for you already (which it is, I'd guess) you now have a whole new area of involvement with your fellow Jasta pilots. I'd prefer to check the duty room before every mission, but can't always because of RL pressures - but I do more often than not. I like to hear the buzz of voices; see who's on leave; imagine where they are; see who's joined; look at their rank; imagine what they might be like - gives me a sense of belonging before I set off on what may be mine or one of my squadron mates' last flight. And I'm always intrigued, when the OFF manager tells me that n members of my squadron made a claim today, to know who those members were.

Looking forward to that as much as P4 itself... well, almost. I have the track off SoundClick on my mp3 player and take it with when working away. I quite often listen to it before going to sleep... although it does make me wish to be at home and playing OFF.

If you don't mind buying your WW1 books second-hand (but in 'good' or 'like new' condition), and you've any interest in aerial reconnaissance during the Great War then Nick Watkis' 'The Western Front From The Air' is selling dirt cheap on Amazon in the UK ans US... literally for less than the cost of a packet of smokes. The book is 'A contemporary bird's-eye view of the five major Western front battlefields of the First World War, immediately before, during and after the actions. The illustrative materials focuses on specially annotated aerial photographs from the Imperial War Museum's collection. With an introduction and a brief description accompanying each battle chapter.' Amazon UK Amazon US Apologies to non-UK and non-US OFFers but I haven't checked .de .nl etc. Worth having? Up to you...

Probably not Slarti But I'll take a K4 over a piece of software any day of the week

That's very bad luck, Wodin, I feel for you. But at least you can be comforted by the fact that it wasn't your fault. You didn't take a favourite pilot up when you were tired after a long day; should've gone to bed; trusted that a short mission your side of the lines wouldn't result in a problem and forgot to load your joystick profile... ahem!

What has begun to interest me about the whole 'spark and powder keg' situation is the 'greater Slavonic nation' aspect of Russia's leap into the Serbian created abyss. Empire-expanding desires aside, none of the diplomatic particpants (if worth the pay cheque) could fail to extrapolate any of their actions. But why did Russia leap to Serbia's defence... no offence meant but she was ever a troublesome nation for any empire to govern, proud and fiercely independent... what did Russia stand to gain?

Indeed he does RF, and names O'Gorman among others he holds responsible. In AGL's own experience with No. 46 squadron, his was one of those RFC units who only acquired a decent scout when the RNAS had tired of it and moved onto better. I think the scale of the 'betrayal' (for want of a better word) in the provision of a decent fighting machine can be judged by the anger clearly evident in Gould Lee's writing, 20 years after the event. On the matter of parachutes, the title Gould Lee chose for his autobiography (the best in WW1 aviation, IMO) says it all.

Mervyn O'Gorman had 'blood on his hands' I'll warrant. As Superindent at Farnborough and coincidentally (hah!) Head of the Supply Directorate he actively stifled the availability of designs othe than the out-dated death traps the R.A.F. were producing. How many pilots and observrs died in machines whose 'inherehnt stability' meant they were outclassed by their German counterparts (if they even stood comparison)? Does the SE5 redeem the Harry Tate? You be the judge.

Beautiful. You should add it to your sig.

Enthralling. One of your best ones there, HS. IMHO anyway. I must say you have a lot of faith in your wingmen not colliding with you. I generally don't interfere with their combats unless it's going badly for them or they've definitely broken off. Otherwise they either crash into me or I get caught in their long-distance 'spray and pray' attempts!

I'm entirely with Louvert in his advice, terser is truer. The 'swords and sorcery' stuff I admit is these days only appealing to me if Terry Pratchett is sending up the clichés. I spent too long immersed in it in my youth, so I may be a biased judge. To add to Lou's remarks: you should double check that your prose does not exceed your point. For example: 'Danethi pulled back his hood and let the moonlight reveal the look of wonder upon his face.' implies a deliberate act - extending to the moonlight's revelation; whereas I suspect doffing the hood was deliberate and the moonlight's effect involuntary. Seems picky I grant you, but these build up over time if you are not careful and can make the prose turgid and self-indulgent. Still, Tolkien too was occasionally guilty of that, probably why he edited to the point of paralysis! As to anything that qualifies me to criticise: none beyond the fact that you invited same, plus being an English scholar and erstwhile avid reader of anything and everything. A good start, it shows definite promise. Above all though, kudos for the courage to post it and ask for advice!