Dej

Interesting to hear, Fliegenhund, that you experienced your own 'Fokker Scourge' downing Bristol Scouts and BE2s. Shows that the devs have recreated WW1 in the air very well indeed.

Heh, my hero is Lanoe Hawker, six victories and dead in '16. Hardly features on the list, but an embodiment, for me, of the best of men that WW1 in the air produced. It's kinda fitting that MvR brought him down because I think they may have been quite alike. I wouldn't want to say whether the mercurial were better than the methodical or not. Voss had an opportunity wherein he proved he was a great 'bare knuckles fighter' in the air, Richthofen had several opportunities wherein he proved he was a great methodical fighter. They both faced the same basic difficulties, in the same aircraft. And who knows what they experienced and didn't speak of? Nearly half of Voss' victories were against two seaters and I'll bet Manfred was tested against better odds. Respect is surely due to all those early air fighters for whom staying aloft was an achievement in itself, let alone toting machine guns at each other.

Seeing as you're in flight , best thing I can wish is 'happy landings'

That's very often how a pilot 'goes West' once you've over 17 hours under your wings. Commiserations. You'll find plenty of pilots here as have suffered the same.

According to 'Under The Guns...' (granted not the definitive work any longer) Richthofen's first scout vs. scout victory was against Hawker, #11. If you discount the DH2 as inferior to the DII then MvR didn't down a 'comparable' scout until victory #16, Lieutenant Todd of Naval 8 in a Sopwith Pup. However, five of the two-seater victories up to that point were FE2b's, which as MvR was to experience more dramatically later, weren't a complete pushover. Moreover, although the DH2 was inferior, one of the DH2 victories was Hawker and another, whilst not truly a 'victory', may have been McCudden. Richthofen was obviously destined to be an ace and it doesn't detract from his skill to say that he had technology on his side in those early victories. In any case, destroying two-seaters to prevent their work was the scout pilot's proper job, if the RFC sent theirs up unable to fight back, that wasn't MvR's problem.

Just to add to the evidence re: the position of the Aerodrome at Roucourt, here's a 1918 1:20000 trench map of Roucourt from the McMasters collection overlaid on Google Earth. I didn't put it up yesterday because I haven't got to the 'R's yet in my Aerodrome Mapping Project so had to make an exception for this one. It shows that the aerodrome was as JFM (and Mike O'Connor in Airfields and Airmen: Arras) have shown it. The map reference at McMasters is Sector 51B 088WW1MAP I guess Schobinger must have mis-remembered.

I've had some success with the technique of continuing to attack as if I did have ammunition, forcing the enemy to go evasive, whilst calling in my wing and lining them up for the shot. I've not had it work againstt as many as five but it did work against three. Otherwise, if you're over your side of the lines, just land and ESC out. It may not be as immersive, but it always works as long as you land without breaking anything.

What really took nerves of steel was flying the DH2. The rotary engines were of very poor quality and quite often would just throw off a cylinder, which stood a good chance of cutting through a tail boom. So common was the problem that it was given a name 'Cylindritis'. Moreover, the only protection a DH2 pilot had against attack from behind was that same engine, which if hit by a bullet was even more likely to throw bits off. Be thankful that the DH2 in OFF at least doesn't do that, pig though it is in every other respect.

One thing my pet Google Earth WW1 Aerodrome Mapping Project is revealing, especially as I bring the trench map overlays in, is how few aerodromes have been built over. Admittedly there were a very great many aerodromes, but more often than not the field still has the same telltale triangular shape under the plough as it did under the wing, so to speak. In many cases I imagine one could probably take a metal detector to the area and determine where the hangers might have been, if not already known, by the unearthing of turnbuckles, nuts and bolts, bits of rigging cable etc. And, interestingly, the latitude and longitude coordinates on Shredward's list - N50*20'41.3076 E3*6'47.0690 - do not place Roucourt where you and that famous photo show, Olham, but 3.11 kilometres to the WNW, just off the N43. How big was the aerodrome, I wonder.

Whilst I can't say which of those I've heard and which I haven't, I'm certainly hearing similar sounds... with depressing regularity.

That's been exactly my experience too, especially the 3 mile mark and maybe not the 'returned to bounce them' bit... I've settled for keeping my distance I haven't used warp since early on, mainly because of DiD but now it'd be because it robs me of tactical initiative... or even reactiative , come to that...

I have skins on 5, but not high res. I see bulletholes, wing structural framework and flapping fabric... unfortunately, all too often

Ah, well. They might have been waiting to see what the Tripes would do... but 'A' Flight has warned me in the past. Glad it went better for you, Olham. I'd hate to think one of OFF's staunchest advocates wasn't having fun with it anymore.

Some nasty looking graphics glitches you got there. Is that P3?

Hell, YES! Always lead your flight and stay with the other flight - THE ONE WITH THE ACES IN! - as long as you can without missing your mission target completely. If you're flying after the first four months of 1917 then the days of the lone wolf are drawing to a close. The only safety in OFF is safety in numbers... combined with a healthy respect for the maxim 'he who fights and runs way, lives to fight another day'. Besides, 'A' Flight has better eyesight than you and if you stick with them you'll spot the enemy sooner, giving you the option to decide whether to engage and risk your wingies' lives, or not.

Couldn't put a precise value on how often outnumbered. I normally fly for the RFC and the way it seems to pan out it that we're more often than not evenly matched in numbers, especially if we're bounced. We may be outnumbered if the first flight buggers off and leaves us with the enemy stacked up to take them on too. OTOH, whenever we gatecrash someone else's party we seem always to outnumber the Hun, even if some other blighters turn up, some more Brits will arrive very shortly afterwards. I've had running dogfights across miles and miles of the Front, almost seamlessly going from one encounter to the next. Highly atmospheric, and realistic, from some of the reports I've read anyway.

Meeting MvR is fine, but I absolutely don't want to be able to dictate whether I meet him. I like the idea of knowing that he's in my area, if, historically, he was. That equates to inter-squadron gossip and general scuttlebutt up and down the Line. I know then that I may encounter him, but I still want the 'heart in mouth' moment and the adrenaline rush of leading my flight onto an 'apparently' even number of enemy scouts and realising suddenly... 'Oh s**t! It's Richthofen's Circus!'. 'Twould be a neat feature if the newpapers carried reports of prominent Jasta/Squadron moves. It would add a bit of spice to going up in a previously quiet area if you know that Jasta 11 just moved in next door... especially if you're playing full-on DiD. And I definitely advocate 'running away' as a tactic, Olham... it's approved by Richthofen and Boelcke... you should try it

Ah, thanks for the clarification, Winder. I was worried when you said it was your ultimate goal... or at least I read it that way.

LOL, don't get me started on how wonderful the Tripe is. She's an absolute dream, handles well, no vices and is a match for any other machine in the sky in the whole period of the war... as long a she can catch 'em. Against her commonest contemporary enemy the DIII, she's unbeatable one on one and has a damn good chance three or more on one... unless Olham's flying the Alb. of course. As I've said before, it's criminal that the RFC didn't get them... 'Bloody April' would never have happened... 'Blutiger April' might have though

Forgive my ignorance if I'm misunderstanding, but wouldn't 100% simulation of the daily OOB potentially remove the 'Fog of War' for the player? That is to say, if I know that historically Jasta N with their inferior machines were in Location X at HH:MM today, I can lead my flight over and bag some easy kills... likewise I can avoid running into MvR and his cronies because I sure as heck can have read about where they were operating... using knowledge the contemporary pilots didn't have. Isn't it wiser to retain a certain random factor, e.g. historic time and date +/- 2 hours or +/- 1 day, so the activity profile is correct but shifted randomly left or right.

BUMP! Just to get Matt's music on the front page again... and because I think it's a fitting soundtrack to remember Messrs. Allingham and Patch by. Harry's funeral is next week, hope he gets as good a send off as Henry did.

You'd be lucky to these days! And if you did you'd probably be admiring the classic car rather than complaining about the accident. Gosh! Nostalgia. Glad to hear you're ok BH, these fora wouldn't be the same without yah.

Quite the des res you've built there Lou, stunning sea views etc. Taking shape very well. Sorry to hear of your loss, I guess we're most of us now of an age where Life is not so much giving us things as starting to take them away.

You're right, choked me up that did - as if the funeral footage weren't enough to shed a tear over. She can certainly write powerfully, that woman. I think she expressed what I imagine all veterans would wish... to rewind war. For Henry, and for Harry too and all those souls whom bloody conflict robbed of youth and innocence.

Outstanding, simply outstanding the service we get from these guys.