MK2

Werner Voss signed Sanke

if you get IL2 1946 please look into EnjoyR's mega patch, that adds an incredible amount of campaigns and even other nations you can fly (complete with accurate languages in the cockpit) etc. It combines a hundred diufferent mods into one massive install that works flawlessly. It really turns a great game into a super legendary one.

I think a museum exhibit would be great , I am currently working on getting my sons involved because that would be a natural progression to the collection's legacy.

Thanks for the comments guys. On the map you will notice he has some written notes about a car crash he must have had on the way to the squadron. I have some other stuff I will post soon inlcuding a beautiful signed Sanke of Max Immelmann.

I recently aquired this from the family of Frank Luke . It is his perosnal map that he used to navigate to his squadron upon landing in Europe. He has signed it twice. This map can also be seen in the book "The Stand" . It does not get rarer than this and would be the cornerstone of any museum quality collection. Other stuff in my collection I finally got around to scannning (much more to come): Hartmut Baldamus 18 victories killed in mid air collision with Nieuport 17.

I fly Americans but was waiting to survive a longer career, I have a 7 kill ace right now that I will post. He is the one that got the CMH award but have not wanted to use him and get him killed.

Great article. Thank you so much for posting it. His personality aside he might have been the greatest Ace ever IMHO. OVS, I think he meant that he knew which mechanics were the best. That is what he meant by knowing the entire "outfit". I think he was giving credit to them but I could be wrong.

Nice post, tell you what PM your address, I am sending off a present to you...enjoy the read...

Turn it around and see if you see the indentation of the pen and or ink seeping through. Hold it up in brigh lights and look for regular indentantations a pen makes on the signed side. If it is smooth and clear as glass, then it's probably a reprint. Can the armory give you the info? Also the amount you paid might be a clue or if there are other identical ones for sale etc

To sum up your post: You do not think Luke is a hero (your opinion, not shared by many, many Americans ...again including top aces like Eddie Rickenbacker, the Generals who were there and saw the inspiration he provided and I ahh...I dunno maybe the people who named an AIR FORCE BASE after him) You read some books on Luke (No idea which ones because the ones I have read recently both the Stand and Terror of the Autumn skies are full of facts). Your still wrong about his confirmations, no matter what you read on the internet. You think Lufberry deserves credit (I am not even sure what you mean since he has an aerial move named after him! Is a legend and a hero and plenty has been written about him, countless books dealing with the Lafayette escadrille). Maybe you should write a book about Turner! Stephen spent 15 years of his life writing whatever he wants to write! Oh and last but not least...its' mind boggling he is ranked 9th , after all he only had 2 1/2 weeks to do it!!! There is really no where else to go with this discussion. I encourage you to read the stand as I am fairly certain if you do you might change your opions on the subject.

OVs wow...I have to strongly disagree with your statements. I respectfully have to say you really do not know what you are talking about as far as his confirmations. Most of his kills were confirmed by signed affidavits. He often flew with Whener his trusted wingman and when he did get a a kill alone, he landed near freindly troops and got signed affidavits. When he socred a kill alone the first time it was not confirmed.....and that was it. Luke went through great trouble including landing at balloon batteries in order to get the confirmations and driving out to the wreck of the planes he brought down. I am not sure where you are getting your history on Luke but it is waaaaaaay off base. Luke had 18 kills , most in just a 17 day stretch, is an American hero and very much worth talking about. A brave flyer whom Eddie Rickenbacker called the best fighter pilot America had (I think Rickenbacker knows more than you or I when it comes to this subject, since he flew out of the same aerodrome he did and knew him personally and had 26 kills himself!!!) The book is amazing, worth every penny and a great read and Luke was a hero worth all the accolades. As far as the other comment which I take some exception to that Luke was not "a hero at all". I suggest you read up and find out how important Luke was to morale and how he set the pace for Balloon busting and the effects that had on the ground war being fought before you dismiss him as a hero. I know members of the Luke family. I know Stephen Skinner the author I have hundreds of books on aces and rank this as one of the best I have ever read. Stephen spent 15 years of his life uncovering new facts , it's his life's work and a masterpiece.

I liked the movie but it was hollywood all the way. The one thing I really could not get over is the fact that all German planes were the same color. It would have cost next to nothing to simply add different colors to all the DR1s. Even better wopuld have been period correct airplanes. That would have made the movie so much better. It's hard to believe a technical advisor could not bring that up. Also I saw the deleted scenes and wished they would have kept a few, especially the trench one....what a shame..

This week featured a reverse of last week's scenario. A low level (starting altitude 50 feet) aerodrome attack by the Germans against a British squadron. It consisted of the German players taking an Albatros DVa, a Pfalz XII and a Fokker DV 7 on an airfield attack mission. The Allies were flying Sopwith Camels for the British. The British had not yet scored a kill in the entire campaign while racking up a whopping 5 pilots Killed in action. We also play tested experimental wound location rules (which I will post in a seperate thread). The second turn of the game saw all planes firing on an opponent. Von Scrub (a 5/2 pilot flying Albatro DVa) was flying with a light wound (as he had not yet fully healed) and we had rolled the location of the injury (his leg) preventing him from more than one 45 degree click in the direction each turn of movement. As usual the Von Scrub luck held and he was not fired at for the first half of the game. Everything seemed to be going the British way as all three Camels took turns slamming the Fokker DV 7 (pilot Gustav Lieber 0/0) with bullets. Von Scrub quickly turned the tables and scored a pilot hit on Oliver Drake's camel (a 6/1 pilot)and he was critically wounded , he then passed out from the wound at an altitude of 200 feet and slammed into the ground going full speed. He died on impact and practically over his own airfield. Von Scrub was not done yet as he scored a critical engine hit on Adam Barker's plane (Squadron leader and a 10/2) and smoked filled the Camel's cockpit. At this point Alexander Fisher (5/1 pilot)) caught up to the Fokker Dv 7 and delivered 3 engine hits on one turn knocking the Fokker Dv 7 out of the sky. The pilot Gustav Lieber (0/0) had to land promptly and was subsequently captured. Alexander Fisher then turned the tables again on the Germans and scored a critical on the Pfalz flown by Emil Vogel (10/0). Von Scrub continued to pepper the Camel flown by Barker and Barker finally put her down on the ground. Although technically he was not shot down and landed on his own recognizance , Scrub claimed him as a plane forced down for his second kill of the night! Fisher then decided the odds were against him and broke off combat. The Germans went back home. Some notable facts. Von Scrub now has 4 kills and is one away from being an Ace.He was nominated for the Bavarian bravery awards and will be rolling for them as soon as he gets his next kill. My pilots have the distinction of socring a kill for each of the squadrons in the game, German, American, British and French. It was a fun night and a tight game that see sawed back and forth. Enjoy the pictures. The furball begins Von Scrub scores his 3rd victim and first of the night shooting Drake down out of control. Fisher scores a crtical engine hit on Vogel and barker has one scored on him by Scrub. (Barker eventually landed the next turn) Fisher forces down Lieber. Lieber is captured and spends the rest of the war as a POW (having failed his escape rolls). Updated kill board

I just came back from seeing it and I loved it start to finsh...talk about refrshing a franchise!

All right everyone please join me in congratulating the winner of the very first Combatace OFF skinning contest: Fubar45 His amazing Se5a of Lt A P F Rhys Davids of 56 Sqn was the winner. This skin was totally redone including all the details, wing ribbing stitching etc. He even redid some cockpit textures! It was a very close contest between several forum members and the voting was very close. There was even some thought in having several winners (that is how close it was). Fubar45 enjoy your new monitor! Please PM me your address and shipping details and we will have your prize on its way. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the members that submitted incredible skins. The OFF community is the real winner in this contest as we have so many new skins to play with. If you have not seen the new skins please proceed to the OFF download section and start enjoying them! http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?autoc...amp;showcat=350

Ok guys expect an announcement tomorrow...it has been a really, really, really tough decision. There are so many great skins uploaded right now.

The next update has been posted to this thread for all who are interested. http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?showtopic=37688

This week brought us stuff that have never been seen before in this campaign The scenario was a low level aerodrome attack by British Se5a airplanes . The board used is the 8 x 4 hand painted recreation of the original dawn patrol board. It starts with 2 German planes that have managed to get up in the air pass all the carnage occurring on the ground (the aerodrome is partially on fire, wrecked airplanes etc. liter the runway). 2 of the tail end Se5as decide to turn back and attack the German planes that just got off the ground and table is now set for the encounter. Keep in mind that altitudes designated on the board do count, in other words there are hills in some places that are at higher altitude than the 50 feet starting altitude etc. So extreme care must be taken if you are staying low. Here is where the game got a little surreal. The allied Se5as never once won initiative in the first 9 consecutive turns of the game. The allied planes either lost the rolls outright or were successfully tailed every single turn....for 9 turns....both of them... Kalman Berthold flying his all black Fokker Dr1 triplane literally had his guns almost melt from all the firing. Berthold fired on all turns except one where both guns were jammed (he unjammed one the following turn and continued firing). Oswald Wittowski , who had previously flown one mission and had one kill, got behind a pilot by the name of Tubby Jenkins and managed to fire on 7 of the 9 turns. On the last turn he fired he managed to tear the wing of the Se5a at only 150 feet in the air and the plane crashed killing the pilot. Wittowski now has the distinction of getting one kill each in his first two missions ...this also gives the Albatros DVa (against all odds) the lead as far as the plane "type" that has shot down the most enemy planes ,flown by player controlled characters, 2 by Von Scrub and now 2 by Wittowski)...amazing...the weakest statistical plane has gotten great results. This led up to possibly the most interesting part of the night. The other Se5a used the final turn to break off the attack and dove as he did so...the only problem was that there was a hill in the way......Berthold graciously offered Tompkins a chance to make it over the hill if he rolled a 4-6 on a 6 sided die....a 1 was rolled and the pilot Earl Tompkins died on impact...Berthold claiming the kill. enjoy the pictures!

The game system (book form one you mention ) is "Ace of Aces". They also had WW2 version and even a Jet version that came in a blue box called "Ace of Aces Jet Eagles".

Thank you so much guys, that is just great info! Rudel actually writes one more sentence and signs it on the reverse side.

Fight in the skies is the same game as Dawn Patrol (it use to be called fight in the skies, the named changed when Avalon Hill published the game). Dawn Patrol is currently in it's seventh edition. It was last printed in the 1980s. You can get a copy from eBay if your pateint for a few weeks. The 8th edition has been rumored to be due out for the last few years but the creator of game (Mike Carr) has had some difficulties getting it published. It's an incredibly fun WW1 flying role playing game. Even if you do not use fancy models and terrain, you can use the cut out counters and flat map (that are included) and it's a blast to play.

another update http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?showtopic=37688

another update http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?showtopic=37688

New update August 12 1918 has proven to be a very exciting day in the annals of dawn patrol. The ebb and flow of battle has rarely been put so on display. The scenario consisted of a damaged Albatros trying to make it back to friendly territory. German ace Helmut Steiner and Martin Von Scrub crossed allied lines to defend the wounded bird and they were opposed by Erwin (1 Kill pilot) Del Vechhio (very experienced ace level pilot but with no kills) and James Cunningham (the current top allied ace with 5 kills) of the 94th aero squadron. Martin Von scrub set the pace with aggressive play. Helmut Steiner scored first blood by severely damaging Erwin's plane with a double critical. James Cunningham lost initiative and was besieged by Von Scrub. Cuningham( even though a top ace ) could not shake the determined German pilot as he scored hits (they were scary moments) . Steiner also shot at Cunningham all seemed lost for the allies (every time Steiner shot there was unease on the allied side as they still remembered the brutal double pilot kill from the previous game) . Del Vechhio scored an amazing 17 bullets through two turns on the wounded bird (piloted by Wilhelm Outof-luck ) but the Albatros would not go down. Del Vechhio also found the time to score 3 engine hits on Steiner's plane on a single turn. Wilhelm Outof-luck flew back into the fight and managed to throw his wounded plane into an out of control spin. Von Scrub maneuvered the Red albatros with expert ease and managed to score a the third critical on Erwin's machine.....Erwin snapped into a spin and burned all the way to the ground...Von Scrub had scored his second kill. Cunningham (on the same turn) shot Von Scrub with one 3 bullet short burst , it had the patented Cunningham luck , the burst scored a possible pilot hit. Cunningham promptly rolled double threes and Von Scrub was critically wounded. Scrub left the battle on his way to being shot down. At this point Steiner retreated with the engine hits, Cunningham had jammed a gun and felt that caution was better part of valor and after his unbelievable lucky kill of Scrub decided to also retreat . Del Vechhio faced off with Wilhelm Outof-luck. Del Vechhio shot his wings off and scored the kill (congrats on your first kill!) but the most amazing part of the night was the die rolling display by Martin Von Scrub. He plummeted through allied lines , crashing just a few hundred feet in German territory , surviving going unconscious , unfriendly territory, height, and crash landing safely ....he will live to fight another day. what a game.

I also have Hans Ulrich Rudel, maybe the greatest individual warrior in history (with 500 tanks destroyed, a battleship, 11 planes ...etc...and and an award just made for him..) . Both in difficult hand writing to read. Rudel