RAF_Louvert

. I have mine programmed to the portside lower button next to the hat switch on my Logitech Extreme 3D Pro. Works great for me. .

. Welcome to the OFF skies Wayfarer. New lads buy the drinks! You have it about right Sir on the mixture adjustment. My routine is to get my kite in the air, level off at the end of the field and lean the mixture until the engine begins to drop in RPMs and/or sputter and cough. I then richen it back up about 5 to 6 clicks. I repeat this procedure every 1'500 feet in altitude; leaning as I climb, and going richer as I descend. Now then, a cup of Irish coffee for me if you please, my good man. Cheers! Lou .

. BD, how ironically true about Orwell's writings becoming instructive material to so many in our age. As another BD once noted, "The times they are a changin", and he had something quite different in mind as well when he penned that. Your Irish pub tale reminds me of one of my own from back in my years spent in service to Uncle Sam. One outstanding night of pub crawling in Edinburgh found us in the wee hours drinking whiskeys and Guinness, singing songs, and taking turns reading from an old tome of Kipling's works, (have no idea to this day where that book materialized from). The one that really got the place wound up was when I launched into an extremely alcohol enhanced, over-the-top heartfelt reading of his "Irish Guards" : "We're not so old in the Army List, But we're not so young at our trade, For we had the honour at Fontenoy Of meeting the Guards' Brigade. 'Twas Lally, Dillon, Bulkeley, Clare, And Lee that led us then, And after a hundred and seventy years We're fighting for France again! Old Days! The wild geese are flighting, Head to the storm as they faced if before! For where there are Irish there's bound to be fighting, And when there's no fighting, it's Ireland no more! Ireland no more! ..." Good times...good times... Cheers! Lou .

. Aaaah Pips, I'm with you Sir. The Camel has been and will always be my favorite plane of the Great War. I had the rare opportunity to slip into the cockpit of a beautiful, museum quality, airworthy replica that was in for repairs at the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden way back in 1975. I sat in that wonderful kite for well over an hour before I had to climb back out, (after several very polite requests by one of the workers). I can only imagine what it must have been like to actually fly one of those temperamental yet incredibly agile war birds. .

. Ernest Hemingway, (I wouldn't get into the ring with Tolstoy either); Jean Paul Sartre, (let's get down and do the Existential Bop); George Orwell, (clearly Wall Street bankers are fans of his work); Louis-Ferdinand Celine, (a bit too misanthropic IMHO); Rudyard Kipling, (forever a better man than I am); Robert Service. Oh BD, we shall get along just swell, my well-read gentleman. "There are strange things done in the midnight sun By the men who moil for gold; The Arctic trails have their secret tales That would make your blood run cold..." .

. In my case you'll want to use a small pick, RF. .

. Running Windows XP Pro 64 here, and the mirrors and reflections have always worked fine for me as well. .

. BD and Trollbreath, sounds like you are definitely now in the club as you have both endured your intitial baptism by fire. As to the in-sim map, I don't use it. I fly with external maps and it works quite well. Here is a link to the very large Nat Geo Map I just pieced together a high res version of for folks who wanted another option: Nat Geo 1918 Western Front Map Download Also, be sure and grab Waldemar Kurtz's Alsace and Vosges maps and rabu's excellent map set in the downloads section. I have made use of them all with very good success. As an example here is a link to another thread where I posted one of my mission maps: Reports From The Front I have a second computer set up to port of my flying rig and I use that one to run my external map. Works out very slick, and it allows me to do one of the things I dearly love in a flight sim...navigating. I will be happy to share any info I have on this if you Gents are interested. Glad to read you two are enjoying the OFF experience. It only gets better from here. Cheers! Lou .

. Bullethead, great info on the aircraft numbering system used by the Central Powers during the Great War. Thanks for posting that, and I will add the following, (which I posted myself in the forums quite some time ago). As to the current exercise we have going here, I agree it would be nice to have a basic format for it. And, as Herr Olham has noted, it would be very good if those posting pictures for identification would check back in at least once a day to note if there is a correct answer. Now, that being said, and since we seem to have no takers on Red-Dog's post, allow me to elaborate: It is the Vickers E.S.1, designed by Harold Barnwell and first flown in August of 1915. For it's time it had remarkable performance and was dubbed the "Barnwell Bullet". It was fitted with the 100hp Gnome engine and had a top speed of 117 mph at sea level. The only example ever built, No. 7509, was sent over for trials in France, but was met with outspoken criticism from service pilots who complained about the poor view form the cockpit. Also, due to the first attempt at fully cowling an engine, the E.S.1 suffered from overheating. None-the-less, encouraged by the design, the E.S.2 was developed, (sometimes referred to as the E.S.1 MK II), and it first flew in September of 1915. Fitted with the 110hp Clerget in a shorter chord cowling, it also had a top wing cutout and window to improve the pilot's view. Armament was a single fixed Vickers mounted on the port side upper longeron forward of the cockpit and recessed into the nose decking, to fire forward through the propeller by means of the new Vickers-Challenger interrupter gear. Despite all the improvements the E.S.2 still met with opposition from pilots for its lack of donward visibility, and the E.S.2, (of which only two examples were produced), was abandoned. However, the experience gained by Vickers in this project led to development of later tractor scouts which began to replace the old pusher Gunbus formula by early 1916. Interestingly, both E.S.2's were assigned to service, with No. 7759 becoming the personal airplane of 32 Squadron's CO, Major Lionel W.B. Rees, at Oshel and Tressen airfields in France from May to June of 1916. (information courtesy of "The British Fighter Since 1912", by Francis K. Mason) And now you know. Cheers! Lou .

. Hellshade, I installed them last night myself and noticed an improvement in "smoothness" over a lot of terrain and in large dogfights. I also tried the install method you described and have had no issues with them at this point, (I normally use a driver cleaner but thought I would try the simple approach one more time to see if I could get the results others have claimed doing it this way, and so far so good). I flew two missions with my latest campaign pilot Paul Blum in the Alsace. In one mission we had four Rolands fighting off six Nieuport Bebes over the mountains on a bright, sunny day. Graphics were crisp yet smooth, and TrackIR worked beautifully, (not that it was bad before, mind you). I am quite pleased with the new drivers and also recommend them. Cheers! Lou .

. Slartibartfast wrote: Well, I don't know about genius being the driving force on that letter Slarti, but I can tap into my inner child pretty easily given that he lies but faint microns below my supposed adult facade. BigAl56 wrote: BigAl, it makes sense the German version would have more information than it's English counterpart. You know how precise and accurate the Allamande mind tends to be. .

. Very neat video carrick, thanks for sharing, Sir. I had seen it once before but had lost track of it. And I agree, those French flyers were a rather flamboyant lot. .

. hee, hee, hee BD, say goodbye to life as you once knew it Sir. You are about to enter..."The OFF Zone" .

. Rugbyfan1972, start with the generic "smooth" profile and see how you like it. That is the one I've gone back to after a fair amount of fiddling over the last year or so. Cheers! Lou .

. Red-Dog wrote: Yes, yes, I know I'm not supposed to guess, but let me just say this about Red-Dog's plane. You folks go ask Francis K. Mason about it, he can fill you in on all the details of that kite. Back in August of 1915 that bad boy was #1 with a bullet. And that's all I'm going to say about it...well...probably not, but it's all I'm going to say about it for now. .

. TKS Beard, and I forgot to mention, it is a Nieuport 27. .

. BB, the pilot is Captain K.G. Pulliam Jr., and his Nieuport seen in that photo at Issoudun, France, May 21, 1918, is called "Jazbo". Even though I'm not allowed to guess. RedDog, I'm leaving yours alone at fear of being pounced on again by rabu...hee, hee. .

. Good Morning All, Thought I would post a few screenshots from Flieger Paul Blum's DiD campaign, (flying the Walfisch with FFA 48 in the Alsace, spring of 1916), which I started a few weeks ago. Paul Blum and his gunner/obs Kurt Weimerann, preparing to take to the skies with their flight: In the mountain valleys up near Luneville: I've discovered that taking the fight low into this terrain gives an edge when battleing several N11's at once. One of may favorite viewe as of late: If you would like to read Paul's letters home to his Mother as well as the first "report" for this campaign, they begin in the following link to the "Reports From The Front" thread: Flieger Paul Blum Letters and Reports Just keep moving ahead in the thread to find the other letters and report. Hope you enjoy them. Cheers! Lou .

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. hee, hee...got myself tripped up in your trick question too Sir. I had originally posted my answer as the 97-round as I knew that's what it was by the thickness of the case. But then I saw you had noted a 94-round and thought, "Well, Shredward would know of what he speaks in this instance", so I changed it to read 94. Then I thought, "Now hold on here, I KNOW it's a 97-round load, not a 94", so I deleted my entry and reposted my original. You sneaky devil you. .

. Actually Olham, he sent me TWO crates of that dark elixir of the gods, so I've been well paid. And, since I am a firm believer in giving full measure... Snipe Snipe Snipe Snipe, Snipe Snipe Snipe Snipe, lovely Snipe, wonderful Snipe! .

. Waldemar, that does sound like an excellent book Sir. I've only ever read excerpts from it myself, but I have seen it referenced often enough that I should look into a copy of my own. I noticed several on Abe Books for under $40. I might just go and spring for one. .

. That is a great old film clip carrick, I even have a copy of it saved in my personal library. TKS for sharing. Shredward, those are the 97-round drums, Sir. .

. BurningDaylight, welcome to the OFF skies, and a big welcome also to TrollBreath. New lads buy the drinks! Good to read that you've both gone ahead and made the purchase, you will not be disappointed. Parky wrote: Hee, hee...eager anticipation is not what gets my wings shot off, I can assure you. Now then, since we have two fine gentlemen with open bar tabs I believe I'll have a black-and-tan and three fingers of Tullamore Dew 12. You can divide the cost up twixt the two tabs however you wish. Cheers! Lou .

. jlan5031, if you would like some more bits of wisdom on this subject from Bletchley here is the link to a related thread I started some time back: Setting Up And Using Magneto Blip Switches Hope you find the info useful. Cheers! Lou .