Dej

Addressing the original post, not sure if these count as 'nicknames' per se, but according to the Biggles books D.H. 4s were known as 'Fours' and D.H. 9s as 'Nines'...

This isn't a dig. As the title says, 'à chacun son goût'. But I've just watched the prize winning videos for the other sim's Steam début. Fine, lots of action, but, to my mind, ZERO immersion. I'm not saying you can't get immersion with ROF, but the fact that those particular videos have been chosen as the winners position the sim entirely. It's where you want to be in your WW1 pilot experience that dictates your preference, methinks. Being up against real human opponents would be great, and fecking awesome in OFF, a proper and so much more realistic test indeed, but not at the expense of the historical positioning and feeling so much part of a greater whole that OFF gives and WOFF will give, probably in spades (or should that be SPADs). 90% boredom, 10% bumhole-clenching terror (unless you're a late war Jasta pilot, in which case reverse) is what I want to experience, even with the 1000+ hour advantage. The music they've picked, OTOH, is just plain wrong... and that is a dig. SO glad that (W)OFF has Matt.

Okay, Clearly Winder, Pol and Co. are deep into beta testing, and I'd be the last to demand they interrupt that to bang out another preview movie. But, by now the music must be finished, yes? It's always been a big part of OFF/WOFF for me so how about something new to hum while we're waiting? Matt?

Coming from Lou, un créateur des médailles sans pareil (excepting Paarma of course) I'd expect nothing less than excellent and excellent is what we have. They have to feature a generic aircraft else folks would object to seeing a Camel/Albatros/Nieuport/SE5/SPAD/Pfalz/Fokker/Whatever always in the gunsight, plus no one round here would accept any such thing as a 'generic' WW1 machine!

Windsocks can normally easily be found by taxiing into them. Guaranteed to kill your pilot if you're playing DiD!

I'm keeping well, my friend, but, rather like you I think, on the road most of the week. Hope all's well with you too.

13th August 2014, 100 years to the day when 44 RFC machines crossed the Channel bound for Amiens.

Robert, Some more of Gould's autobiographical notes are to be found in 'Open Cockpit' which has recently been republished. I highly recommend that in addition to 'No Parachute'. Together they form the finest WW1 aviation autobiography, IMO.

Pet names and pet's names. That barking dog we hear in OFF is a pet you have to look after, Tamagochi-style, in WOFF. Bugger, given it away now, Pol's gonna be real mad at me.

Welcome to the ranks of the daisy-pushers, OldSimmer. For tips and techniques you may like to download and peruse the Flying and Air Fighting Guides here: http://combatace.com...-pilot-primers/

Precisely what I was going to say! As I may have remarked before, Pol's clearly from the Nelsonian school of air-fighting... 'Never mind the manoeuvres, just go STRAIGHT AT 'EM'

According to tJP, Jasta 29 D.IIIs were characterised by Black and White numerals on the fuselage... what it actually means is anybody's guess w/o a photograph.

He's got it easy, no Archie anywhere.

Only coincidentally. Those are the markings of Kurt Jentsch when he was in Jasta 61, 1918.

I would not think that any historian should mind being 'argued with'. Facts need constant practice and there's always the possibility of a non-historian turning up new stuff. BTW, I claim neither to be historian nor non-historian... 'interested amateur' would do for me.

I'm with Lou from my own experience of flying Camels in OFF. Never give up the height advantage in a rotary-engine machine against an inline-engined opponent of comparable speed. Personally, I might well wait until the Albatros attempts to climb back up before dropping onto its tail... assuming no other threats. However, there is a quasi-historical backup to Olham's proposition. In one of the Biggles stories he encounters an Albatros pilot who has perfected some sort of turn which has allied scout pilots baffled. Now, I know W. E. Johns wasn't a scout pilot, and the adventures he creates for Biggles weren't his own, but nevertheless I'd hazard there was some rumour of a camel-defeating tactic he'd heard of which was behind that particular story,

On a more positive note, at least we all survived 'Blue Monday'.

I second that view. The brass cornerpieces are a lovely touch and the two levels of drop-shadow on the RFC wings very well executed.

Yep. It's the one in the middle.

btw, HH, I think you can ignore Auritz for the Italian campaign. tJP lists Auritz/Veldes am See for that period, neither of which names are you likely to find in Italy. There is an Auritz in Saxony, near Bautzen and close to the conjunction on the modern borders of Germany, Czech Republic and Poland. Veldes am See is likely in Austria, north of the modern border with Slovenia. Both are feasible for a brief posting to the Austro-Hungarian side of the conflict, but not in Italy.

It having been my birthday recently and me not having properly maintained my Amazon wish list I find myself with two copies of Paulo Varriale's excellent 'Il Reparti dell' Aviazione Italiana nella Grande Guerra' (Italian Air Units in The Great War). It's in Italian of course but I'd venture to say that you don't have to speak Italian (I don't) to get something out of it and there's always Google Translate There is no better history of the Italian Air Force in WW1 and so I wondered if anyone here would be interested in the spare. Send me a PM me if you are and we can go from there.

The etymology of towns and cities is always interesting. I suspect the bear in the coat of arms is a play on the sound of the first syllable... or does a bear feature more prominently in Berlin's early history? Incidentally, on a previous point, I'd be inclined to say that you 'pluck the feathers' of your online opponents... thus disabling their flying abilities. In English too, though it's not a common expression you can 'lacquer' someone, meaning to give them a good going over, a beating. I DO love the parallels in idiomatic expressions as much as the contrasts... though they are generally less revealing.

I heartily agree, it's a great remake. As to selling gear, BH will have found out by now that you can only sell it to nations that ask for it, e.g. Nigeria might ask for a half dozen laser rifles and offer you $200 say. The change of emphasis re defending the planet vs. just defending XCOM is great, giving you the added need to build satellites and uplinks to improve coverage and lower panic levels plus generate income. Oooh, Carrier Command, I'd forgotten about that one.

Or the 'fingers of one foot', as we say in my family.

Hope all remains on the up. Our thoughts are with you both.