Dej

Oi! Sure, just send back the flights we sent to help keep the Jastas off your pongo butts and we'll keep our aces to ourselves, thank you very much Winder, I'm sure you guys have your own ideas about what constitutes a 'new' Phase and there are probably mechanics of the game engine need a good seeing to that we know nothing about. I don't expect any one the various stuff noted to be promised or otherwise. I'm more worried that you think support is waning... as far as I'm concerned just tell me when to start a monthly subscription to OBD and I'll do it.

Change of underwear... THEN a couple of beers for him too. Very evocative writing CW, had me willing him down safely too.

I retract the statement. Questioning Tallman's praise of the SPAD vs. the SE was out on a limb enough for me... I'm not going to argue with Lewis and McCudden to boot! One does begin to see where all these sometimes heated exchanges over FMs arise.

Hmm, I should have remembered that bit since I only read SR again a month or so back. Does reinforce the questions about the SPAD FMs. Perhaps the SE is better at turning than it should be, I didn't have a real problem turnfighting with it in OFF - which is as close as I'll get to flying the real thing - so long as I turned early. But that was before I tried the Tripe and realised what 'turning' meant! I'll have to give the SPADs a go if the FMs are revised And thanks again for posting this, Pips, I tried the SE out in QC last night mindful of the speeds Tallman mentioned above and it does roll consistently after all... obviously my prior experience was a case of machine performance negated by pilot ignorance.

I wouldn't want to criticise Mr. Tallman but I wonder if his comparison suffers a little from the perceived lightness of the SPAD vs. what he described as the muscle-power required to throw the SE about. I admit I haven't flown SPADs all that much apart from a lot of QC when creating the webcomic, but I do agree it seems more sluggish than it's popularity implies. Whether it's a better turn fighter than the SE, I don't know, but SE pilots used both BZ and turn fighting tactics whereas the SPAD aces would seem predominently BZ? Need a SPAD ace expert. OTOH the famous Guynemer vs. Udet incident must have been a turnfight, methinks Hmm, so.... no useful or informative conclusion reached, why did I bother? But I've typed it now so I'll leave it.

Ooooh... Twin Vickers Tripe... bagsies.... Great photos, thanks for posting them Must get myself along there again haven't been for yonks, it's criminal.

You see! I said she was beautiful and Frank Tallman agrees. Do keep posting these, Pips, I'm finding them hugely enjoyable. Flying the OFF Tripe though, I'd have to disagree with Tallman about turn-fighting. If your opponent is flying level or better still shallow diving then you can stand the Tripe on her right wing and track him round all day practically. And if you don't mind losing some height she can almost reverse turn at the speed of Voss... at least it feels like it... used to throw Albs. off my tail easily that way.

I agree with Hasse Wind. That piece was particulalrly interesting as the SE5a was the first machine I flew in OFF and I cursed the fact that it couldn't seem to roll in a consistent fashion... now I know why. I'll have to go back to it.

You'd better get used to the single Vickers if you fancy flying the Tripe in campaign mode. For the longest Tripe career you'd need to be with 1 RNAS who flew it from January to December 1917. You'll have the twin Vickers for a month in July. Alternatively, try 10 RNAS where you'll fly a Tripe from February to August 1917, again having the twin Vickers for a month in July but instead of going back to the single Vickers you'll trade up to the Camel.

Well, at least you survived. Allmenroeder didn't (debatedly). Whether Collishaw shot him down or not, what a horrible way to die, trapped in a crashed machine and surrounded by decomposing bodies. WikiLink. And now not honoured in his home town, unless that has changed Olham? Creaghorn? Sorry, bit OT, was looking again at Tripehound aces and WWILFed my way to Allmenroeder's death... and was moved, seemed like a decent guy. [EDIT ... no reason he shouldn't have been, of course [/EDIT]

Lovely. I've a great deal of respect for the SE5, too. Thanks Olham.

There were only six twin Vickers Tripes, a hundred forty odd of the single Vickers though... for the RNAS at least. The poor bleeding RFC having to struggle on with outdated fighters when they could have had these babies was criminal - albeit the Camel was 'on the horizon'. I reckon there were RFC pilots killed that might well not have been if the Army and Navy hadn't cocked up on the contract and the Army hadn't swapped for the SPAD VII instead. The Jastas gave the Tripe a wide berth and preferred to fight further south than face her. The Tripe wasn't without her weaknesses though, impossibly hard to maintain or repair in the field and short on spares. Inadequate bracing on some of those built meant the wings were likely to collapse in a steep dive. But I'll forgive her all that.

You're welcome. Glad someone else is loving her as much as I did. Don't know whether you've found this but I discovered that on right hand turns if you throttle back, bank sharply, slap on full right rudder and let her nose drop she'll almost spin out but then turn on a sixpence/dime if you immediately whack up the throttle and pull back on the stick to keep hauling her round. It's tricky to catch the moment consistently but if you get it right I'd swear she turns faster then the Camel. She's an absolute dream in my opinion. Unfortunately campaign life in the Tripe doesn't last long enough before the RNAS foist the Camel on you.

Jean Marie Dominique Navarre – France – 12 victories. Légion d'Honneur, Medaille Militaire, Croix de Guerre Rank: Sous Lieutenant. Units: MF8, MS12, N67 Born: 8th August 1895 in Jouy-en-Morin, France. Died: Killed in a flying accident, 10th July 1919. Navarre was the first French pilot to be officially declared an ace in an army dispatch. Assigned to MS12, he began the war by shooting at enemy aircraft with a rifle from his Morane-Saulnier L. On 1 April 1915, he scored his first victory in the Fismes sector, bringing down an Aviatik with three well placed shots. On 25 February 1916, he became the first French pilot to shoot down two enemy aircraft in a single day. He was also the first French fighting pilot to be cited in orders. Flying above the lines in a red "Bébé," Navarre was easily identified by the poilus in the trenches who witnessed several of his victories. Shot down over the Argonne on 17 June 1916, Navarre suffered a head wound from which he never fully recovered. Following a two year stay at an asylum in Paris, he returned to the front but flew no more combat missions. Information courtesy of "The Aerodrome" ( www.theaerodrome.com )

Are you telling us that you shot at an Albatross Olham? How could you even bring yourself to press the trigger!?

Yes please from me too. I tried it before I had TrackIR and didn't find it a problem tbh. I certainly preferred to be 1 notch in most of the time and zoom out if I needed to.

I've been doing that since Creaghorn first suggested it months ago and it does improve things in so many ways... including between +5 and +10 FPS.

I'm pretty certain DukeIronHand meant the 'Historical' text that appears next to an aces name on the Duty Roster board etc. I see wher he's coming from on the immersion thing, although it's no big deal at all for me. Whilst it's great for OFF that someone playing it can see that these aces are there where and when they should be, if you're living your time with that squadron or Jasta then to you they're just Mick, or Manfred, or Georges, or Eddie... whatever.

Edmund ‘Ed’ Pierce – Great Britain – 9 victories. Rank: Flight Lieutenant. Units: Naval 3, Naval 9, RNAS; No. 203 Squadron, RAF. Born: 22 October 1896 in York, England. Died: April 1985. Information courtesy of "The Aerodrome" ( www.theaerodrome.com )

The view from the Sopwith Tripe is very good... my favourite... I love that machine. As far as the Camel goes I feel I have its measure at last but its tail-heaviness is a bind. I almost never climb steeply after an enemy because of the fear of stalling and slipping into a tailspin, which I've found to be unrecoverable. Instead I use the opportunity to check my tail, then throttle back and wait for the enemy machine to drop back down, which they invariably do... at which point they are mine. The Camel is also excellent at following the AI down in the spiral dive they do to try to lose you and because she turns to the right so tightly I can normally keep the bugger in my sights and either damage him a bit or apply the coup de grace.

You guys are the best. If ever there were a to be a model for software support, I'd vote you guys first prize.

Well said, Hellshade. DiD or no DiD, everyone playing in OFF, even Creaghorn - who has gone further than most, is just farting about compared with those that did it for real. Doesn't hurt to remember that everytime you shoot down an AI. But, on the other hand, this IS a game so I wouldn't want to be too maudlin.

Bah! Feels like we have those already. And when a blasted HA follows you down through some CCCCRRRRRAAAAZZZZYYYY cloud-induced aerobatics and still peppers your tail... that really takes the biscuit. Sorry, Olham, I mean '... that really takes the crumpet'

Beautiful. As we say around these parts... they don't write 'em like that any more. Happy Independence Day. *mutter... colonial rabble-rousers... mutter... ungrateful lackeys... mutter

Slightly aside but still germane, are we likely to hear any more of Matt Milne's excellent work in future releases, whether packs or phases? Just asking because I was playing the OFF theme on my PC whilst working and I'd like more.