Dej

I second both of those recommendations. I have yet to find one of the WW1 Aircraft of the Aces books that hasn't been worth the expense... and I have most of them.

What I've done is to copy and convert all the .DDS skins to .JPGs and file them by aircrat type. I've then gone through and written down each Jasta's markings by year and month so I can just look it up quickly. I only look it up however if I've encountered the same bunch more than once... immersion-wise I'm comparing notes with other pilots and listening to the scuttlebutt going up and down the squadrons in the line. So, no you're far from being the only one...

Never mind Lufbery lookalikes, Otto Marquardt, 29th-ish row down... he's Dick Emery to an absolute 'T' (one for the Brits maybe)!!! Looking at that site I'm struck by how many survived, but also how many met their death in 1918... the skies must really have been a killing ground. I'm reminded of Peter Hart' book 'Falling Aces'.

Taube, Farman MF7 and M-S H. No machine guns. Grappling hooks, flechettes, revolvers and hunting rifles are all allowed. I'm voting for those in the absence of OFF's resident combat sim masochist, Creaghorn.

Thanks, iti. I do like yours a lot, reminds me of pictures on porcelain. Another from me... hand tinted photo.

Cool idea itifonhom. I often grab screenshots from the screenshots thread to use as wallpaper... there are some really good images. One of my favourite ways of mucking about is to turn 'em into pastel or pencil sketches... as my sig might indicate. Here's an example (no built-in Photoshop filters used, just different blends, adjustment layers and textures)...

Albatri, eh? I prefer them with the fabric off. They don't fly, so we don't end up shooting 'em down. Better for the German pilots and better for our conscience.

Just to point out, quite unnecessarily I'm sure, that you don't need aviation art for a good wallpaper. Our favourite combat flight sim is perfectly capable of some stunning images... with a bit of 'processing' as itifonhom puts it. Here's one from way back...

Yeah. They resize and crop to 1680x1050 really nicely too and the grainy filter hides any artifacts. I've d/l them all.

Well, this is my wallpaper at the moment (except better because it's not a jpg). Taken from the Virtual Aviation Website and a 'grainy' filter added... 'cos I like the effect. Lots of other images there WW1 and WW2. Well worth a visit if you haven't seen it before.

Ah, Robert Taylor. Aviation artist sans pareil. I do wish he'd do more WW1 paintings, especially as he says they hold a special magic for him, being partway between his first love, sailing ships, and his greatest, aircraft. Mind you, that's a damn fine painting you opened with Olham, superb composition. Now, can one of our American members answer this question... how did Rickenbacker manage to fly if he so rarely took his hands out of his pockets?

Hold on there Olham , discussion (howsoever chauvinistic) about women is all very well but don't bring a fine bitter into the argument. Besides, after several pints of Spitfire even the first picture of Ms. Beinhorn (which really doesn't do her justice) would seem that of a goddess.

I think the fact that the DVII was specifically named as part of the terms of Germany's capitulation shows in what respect the Allies held it. Yeates in 'Winged Victory' alludes to the ability of the DVII to outfight the Camel in the hands of a skilled pilot but also to how few of those there were and the reluctance of German pilots to engage otherwise. I suspect that, all other things being equal, a Snipe would lose out to a DVII. But Germany hadn't a chance by then... a situation repeated in WW2, of course... superior technology, inferior manpower... and inferior infrastructure and support.

Dunno about the SE and DH, that Spad shot is a masterwork. The play of light on Spad's planes, the varied foliage of the trees, the German balloon beneath and the silhouetted aricraft in the background. Awesome. Beautiful composition, SB, beautiful.

Good call VP, the thread has gone OT and I apologise for my part in that. The parallel is though, that many British soldiers (NOT commanders) saw the aftermath of the cataclysm of WW1 as an opportunity to finish the change in British Society that the Industrial Revolution had begun... to finally throw off the last vestiges of the feudal system and emerge into a new dawn of equality of respect... because upper, middle and lower class had suffered together in the trenches (not to the same degree but together nonetheless). A society governed by veterans (or at least guided), a la Heinlein, was their dream. It didn't happen. Yes, there was a definite shift, but nothing that honoured the magnitude of loss. I doubt the analysis of the social impact of WW1 is yet finished. I fear we today can never find the mindset to understand adjusting to the sheer horror of what had happened. And that without anyone's hand, in hindsight, being properly 'on the tiller'. It was the war to end all wars, in a sense. For the concept of war as essentially tribal and pragmatically limited was forever gone. Ironically, I think, one of the unfortunate and unnecessary exacerbators of WW1, i.e. mobilisation as a counter to threatened mobilisation was validated in its absence by the collapse of Europe in the face of the German onslaught of 1939/40. 'Damned if we do... damned if we don't' - the legacy of two world wars.

I don't disagree at all. It's simplistic, though, I would humbly offer, to ignore the fact that, by virtue of having served a veteran's view of the world is not necessarily always going to be aligned with the good of those who haven't. I used the term Fascism in it's debased modern sense. The original fasces, an axe in a bundle of firewood was a symbol that implied that you must serve the state in order to have a say in the state and that I'd wouldn't argue with. TBH, it's a long time since I read it too, but the although the History & Moral Philosophy teacher's (was his name Dubois?) lectures are sound moral reading, they paint a picture, IIRC, of an almost totalitarian society, which, by my personal definition is heading for it's own demise... once the Bugs have ceased to be a rallying point - lots of parallels there, if you agree with that interpretation.

Was not the Second World War effectively guaranteed in 1919? Surely there was only one way such humiliation of Germany could end? Disregarding the moral impositions, such as having to accept sole responsibility for the First World War, the annexation of German territory sometimes by nations with no greater claim on it than Germany herself was hard to bear, being effectively the subjugation of German-speaking peoples by foreign nations and few German colonies to flee to. Britain and France, whilst losing little in the way of territory, especially after the Treaty, had lost moral authority in their colonies... the mother countries owed it to their colonies, big time. Australia and Canada in particular had pulled England's and possibly the Empire's arse out of the fire, and were disinclined to 'tug the forelock' without question any more. There was indeed a vacuum too, if not a power-vacuum as BH says, then a willpower vacuum or a languidness that allowed Fascism to arise. Totalitarianism and Democracy will always eventually go to war... each finds the other too ideologically offensive. But Britain and France were too terrified of a repeat of four years of barbaric slaughter to effect an early forceful but moderated regime-change in Germany that might have prevented the Second World War (although that latter is speculation on my part). The other major power of the First World War, Russia, was of course by then in the grip of its own totalitarian and utterly selfish regime - leading to it becoming, after the second defeat of German attempts at lebensraum, the next spectre haunting Democracy... this time with the threat of total annihilation to add to the hysteria. Why do wars happen? Because there are those who have and those who have not, whatever the scale of the thing in question, and one side or other seeks to effect a reversal. As BH points out - it's humanity's natural state. Bring on the alien invasion, I say. Give Humanity a cause! Although, having said what I've said about totalitarianism, Terra in Heinlein's Starship Troopers is within kicking distance of being a neo-Fascist superpower... which regrettably is likely the only ideology with which it can beat the Bugs. Bit of an odd cove, Heinlein.

HiTR is great. I've got my rig sorted so it's flying as it was before plus all the extra goodies. So, given the quality of this 'expansion pack'. Will there be another? Or is all effort turned now towards P4? Happy either way... you'll have my money either way... just wondered.

Lou, That uniform is really coming along, fully enough to impress my other half sufficiently to say she'd not object to something like that in the study! Now I've heard everything! Awesome work, doubly well done.

That's very kind, Steve, thank you. However, I have to say that what I'm working on will (hopefully) enrich a little the knowledge gained from Hugh Wynne's epic work rather than enhance OFF per se. Although I may be able to pinpoint an aerodrome from a 1918 trench map and nudge Hugh's co-ordinates along a bit, it'll only benefit OFF if Winder can put an aerodrome smack where the trench map indictates... the limitations of CFS3 world modelling may not allow that. The difference is, therefore, that when I release the Google Earth file it'll be historically more accurate but not necessarily of use to this sim. What Rabu, chrispdm1 and Mr. Lucky have done is position the current OFF aerodrome locations on paper maps... hence usable in-game. OTOH, I'm hoping to pin down some of Hugh Wynne's 'assumed' locations as well as 'missing' aerodromes whose location is forgotten... that'll potentially be of benefit in both areas. Cross-correlating all the various sources is a bloody long job though.

Very good indeed, Lou... and everyone. I did my poetry splurge (well, parody) in the K vs. C thread, so I'll not essay those unfamiliar skies again... lest I lose my way... or insult more Canadians Heh, they say war has no rhyme nor reason to it... half correct, then, by this thread.

Those accolades are well given and well deserved OvS. Therefore thank you to those named for your enriching contribution, particularly Siggi for DiD if I were to be selfish... the high and lows it's given me... hmm, thanks May I give mention to another possible title though, that of most gentlemanly member of these fora... namely RAF_Louvert, by my vote.

Hey Lou, What happened with that campaign? Did I miss you finishing it or did it stall? It was looking pretty good.

That's very odd... I have it in my GermanyAirfieldsFlanders.txt sitting pretty between Varsenaere and Villers-au-Tertre, thus Varsenaere Varsenaere N51*11'21.0000 E3*08'32.0000 N51*12'17.2125 E3*11'2 N51*11'15.3788 E3*8'17 Null Null Null Null Null EOR Vaux-en-Vermandois Vaux-en-Vermandois N49*49'12.0000 E3*08'31.0000 N49*50'8.2125 E3*11'1 N49*49'6.3788 E3*8'16 Null Null Null Null Null EOR Villers-au-Tertre Villers-au-Tertre N50*19'01.0000 E3*12'05.0000 N50*19'57.2125 E3*14'35 N50*18'55.3788 E3*11'50 Null Null Null Null Null EOR I'm worried now that I've a less than complete install of HitR... . I could post my GermanyAirfieldsFlanders.txt file if anyone wants it but you'd use it at your own risk and if any of the dev team advise against I'll retract the offer.

Okay, not truly not interactive but Escadrille locations are listed on This Site, again a wealth of additional information on the site... si on peut parler un peu de français