RAF_Louvert

. Very nice! Also, as has been noted, it runs fine on XP Pro. .

. Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus! And Javito, it's Barmy OFFers Club, (not 'Officers'). With this latest news we may have to consider an amendment in the very near future. .

. igor, you may have a conflict with your one of your controllers, (i.e. joystick, pedals, throttle quadrant). If you haven't already done so, reload the drivers and software for your controllers. I don't run W7 but I had the exact same issue you are describing with XP Pro 64. Good Luck. Lou .

. Jim, how do you really feel about this entirely overwrought, overworked, overdone subject? Don't sugarcoat it. .

. That is a great virtual library you have going there RF. If you haven't grabbed them already you should stop by the 'Scenery and Ground Objects' section of the OFF downloads for the five book sets I put together a few years back. There are some excellent titles there as well and they are all free as they are in the public domain. .

. Thanks Gents, it is a very nice tunic and cap despite a few moth nips. Fortunately all but one them are under the arms of the tunic and the one that isn't is easily repaired. Now then, if I can just find an original one of these: http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/aviation-history-general/185th-pursuit-squadron-patch-17419/#post128324 .

. Olham, it would be my pleasure to share a few photos of my latest find. And yes, it is an original from all indications. I will start a new thread with the pics so as not to disrupt this one any further. .

. Hartney's book is an excellent read and one I have enjoyed several times over the years. I highly recommend it. On a related note, I've just acquired a beautiful original Great War US Army tunic sporting sergeant's stripes and the shoulder patch for the 185th Aero Squadron; the very first night intercept unit in the US Air Service and the one Hartney flew with when he brought down the Gotha mentioned in the article. .

. Albert was great. One of my favs is his explanation of relativity: “Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.” Even I can understand that. .

. Thanks for posting the link WM. I know you've shared it with us before in previous discussions but I'd forgotten so I fully enjoyed your father's fantastic story again. That is one advantage of a fading memory, I can enjoy the same books and articles over and over as if they were brand new to me. .

. I am sure I will Dej, your reading recommendations have always been gold. .

. Thanks Dej, but I say "bah" to those stairs. If I were a rich man I'd buy a house with either elevators or escalators. No, wait, both ... and SLIDES! To all who many not remember it, I went searching and found the original posting of the Santa letter from little Louie: http://combatace.com/topic/57929-what-id-like-to-see-in-phase-iv/page-2?do=findComment&comment=431976 It was so long ago I had to repair the image link as the address had changed. Is this the letter I once scribbled? Did I think I could draw at all? Sunrise, sunset, Sunrise, sunse...Dammit, now you've got me doing it von Baur! To the discussion about offering WOFF as either a download or a DVD, I would likely do the same as Hellshade and grab it immediately via the download, then purchase the disc to further thank the dev team with my wallet. . Oh, and by the way, it was you Dej. .

. Olham, family and reading always win out. I've lost count how many times I've sat down at the computer to paint a WWI kite only to have my wife suggest we go out, or to have one of the kids stop by for a visit, or to hear the siren's call from one of the old volumes resting on the shelves behind me. I wish everyone had such 'tough' choices to make about how to spend their free time. .

. Those prices are not that bad for a hard-to-find title such as this, and in fact I've located and purchased, (for $40.00 US), a near mint 1st of Taylor's book in it's original dust jacket. Should be waiting for me when I get home this weekend. To make things even sweeter I also nabbed copies of "Adventure's A Wench: The Autobiography of Charles Veil as told to Howard Marsh", in a 1934 1st, and a 1936 1st of the English translation of "An Airman Remembers ", by Hans Schröeder. When it rains it pours. .

. As many of you know I have, for a long time, been reading and collecting books on WWI aviation and in particular 1st editions, (when I can find affordable examples of such). V.M. Yeates' suburb classic "Winged Victory" is one that has eluded me. On the rare occasions I've run across a 1st of this tome it is either so expensive I'd need to take out a loan to purchase it, or so beat up and falling apart that it's not worth bringing home. Well, this last weekend the search ended when I happened upon a beautiful, minty example of the 1934 Smith and Haas 1st Edition for $75. It is gorgeous in it's dark blue covers with small silver aeroplane silhouette on the front. No damage of any kind and not a hint of mustiness or cigarette smoke odor. Simply a beautiful book which I am already well into and thoroughly enjoying, (despite having read this work numerous times in years past). Me so happy! And with this latest addition my WWI library is now as follows: Personal Narratives, Biographies, and Novels: "Ace of the Iron Cross", Ernst Udet, (1970 English translation, 1st Edition) "Ace With One Eye: The Story of ‘Mick’ Mannock VC", Frederick Oughton, (1963 1st Edition) "A Flying Fighter", E.M. Roberts, (1918 1st Edition) "Airmen O' War", Boyd Cable, (1918 1st Edition) "All Quiet on the Western Front", Erich Remarque, (1929 English Edition) "An Airman Marches", Harold Balfour, (Vintage Aviation Library Edition) "An Airman's Outings", Alan 'Contact' Bott, (1917 1st Edition) "An Aviator's Field-Book", Oswald Boelcke, English translation, (1917 1st Edition) "An Explorer in the Air Service", Hiram Bingham, (1920 1st Edition) "A Poet of the Air", Jack Morris Wright, (1918 1st Edition) "A Rattle of Pebbles: The First World War Diaries Of Two Canadian Airmen", Brereton Greenhous, (1987 1st Edition) "Beyond the Tumult", Barry Winchester, (1971 1st Edition) "Black Fokker Leader", Peter Kilduff, (2007 1st Edition) "Cavalry of the Clouds", Alan 'Contact' Bott, (1918 1st Edition) "Cloud Country", Jimmie Mattern, (1936 Pure Oil 1st Edition) 3-volume set "Days on the Wing", Willy Coppens, English translation, (1931 1st Edition) "Death in the Air", William Heinemann, (1933 Edition) (famous faked aerial photos) "Double-Decker C.666", Haupt Heydemarck, English translation, (1931 1st Edition) "Eastern Nights and Flights: A Record of Oriental Adventure", Alan 'Contact' Bott, (1920 1st Edition) "En L'air!", Bert Hall, (1918 1st Edition) "Extracts From the Letters of George Clark Moseley", (1923 1st Edition) "Fighting the Flying Circus", Edward Rickenbacker, (1919 1st Edition) "Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps", James McCudden, (1918 1st Edition) "Flying Corps Headquarters 1914-1918", Maurice Baring, (1968 1st Edition with supplementary notes) "Flying for France", James McConnell, (1917 1st Edition) "Flying Minnows", VEE Roger, (1935 1st Edition) "Flying Section 17", Haupt Heydemarck, English translation, (1934 1st Edition) "Go Get 'Em!", William Wellman, (1918 1st Edition) "Guynemer, Knight of the Air", Henry Bordeaux, English translation, (1918 1st Edition) "Heaven High, Hell Deep", Norman Archibald, (1935 Signed 1st Edition) "High Adventure", James Norman Hall, (1918 1st Edition) "Horses Don’t Fly: A Memoir of World War I", Frederick Libby, (2000 1st US Edition) "I Flew For the Lafayette Escadrille", Edwin C. Parsons, (1962 1st Edition) "Immelmann: The Eagle of Lille", Franz Immelmann, English translation, (1930 1st Edition) "In the Clouds Above Bagdad", J.E. Tennant, (1920 1st Edition) "In the Teeth of the Wind: The Story of a Naval Pilot on the Western Front 1916-1918", C.P.O. Bartlett, (1994 1st Edition) "Into The Blue", Norman MacMillan, (1929 1st Edition) "Jagdstaffel 356", M.E. Kahnert, (1939 1st English Edition) "Kitchener's Mob", James Norman Hall, (1916 1st Edition) "Letters From a Flying Officer", Rothsay Stuart Wortley, (1928 1st Edition) "Letters From a World War I Aviator", Josiah P. Rowe Jr., (1987 Edition) "Malaula! The Battle Cry of Jasta 17", Julius Buckler, (2007 1st Edition) "Memories of World War 1", William Mitchell, (1960 Edition) "My Experiences in the World War", John J. Pershing, (1931 1st Edition) 2-volume set "Night Bombing with the Bedouins", Robert Reece, (Battery Press Edition) "Night Raiders of the Air", A.R. Kingsford, (1939 Edition) "Nocturne Militaire", Elliot White Springs, (1934 Edition) "No Parachute", Arthur Gould Lee, (1970 1st US printing) "Open Cockpit: A Pilot of the Royal Flying Corps", Arthur Gould Lee, (1969 1st Edition) "Rovers of the Night Sky", W.J. 'Night-Hawk' Harvey, (Vintage Aviation Library Edition) "Sagittarius Rising", Cecil Lewis, (1936 1st US Edition) "Stepchild Pilot", Joseph Doerflinger, (1959 1st Edition) "That’s My Bloody Plane: The World War I experiences of Major Cecil Montgomery-Moore, as told to Peter Kilduff", (1975 1st Edition) "The Balloon Buster: Frank Luke of Arizona", Norman S. Hall, (1928 1st Edition) "The Diary of a P.B.O.* * poor bloody observer", Frank J. Shrive, (1981 1st Edition) "The Escaping Club", A.J. Evans, (1936 Edition) "The Flying Poilu", Marcel Nadaud, English translation (1918 1st Edition) "The Red Knight of Germany", Floyd Gibbons, (1927 1st Edition) "The Spider Web", T.D. Hallam (P.I.X.), (1979 Edition) "The Way of the Eagle", Charles Biddle, (1919 1st Edition) "Up And At 'Em", Harold Hartney, (1940 1st Edition) "Victor Chapman’s Letters From France", John Jay Chapman, (1917 1st Edition, signed by his father) "War Birds; Diary of an Unknown Aviator", Elliot White Springs, (1926 1st Edition) "War Flying in Macedonia", Haupt Heydemarck, English translation, (1936 1st Edition) "Whom The Gods Love", Lewis C. Merrill, (1953 1st Edition) "Wind in the Wires", Duncan Grinnell-Milne, (1918 1st Edition) "Winged Peace", William Bishop, (1940 1st Edition) "Winged Victory", V.M. Yeates, (1934 1st US Edition) "Winged Warfare", William Bishop, (1918 1st Edition) "With the Earth Beneath", A.R. Kingsford, (1936 1st Edition) "With the Flying Squadron", Harold Rosher, (1916 1st Edition) History, Reference, and General Interest Books: "A World Undone: The Story of the Great War 1914 to 1918", G.J. Meyer, (2006 Edition) "Air Aces of the 1914-1918 War", Bruce Robertson, (1964 Edition) "Aircraft of World War I, 1914-1918", Jack Herris & Bob Pearson, (2010 1st Edition) "Aircraft of Today", Charles Turner, (1917 1st Edition) "Aviation in Canada 1917-18", Alan Sullivan, (1919 1st Edition) "Bristol F2B Fighter: King of Two-Seaters", Chaz Bowyer, (1985 1st Edition) "Capronis, Farmans, and Sias: U.S. Army Aviation Training and Combat in Italy With Fiorello LaGuardia 1917-1918 ", Jack B. Hilliard, (2006 1st Edition) "Colliers New Photographic History of the World War", (1917 Edition) "Color Profiles of World War 1 Combat Planes", Giorgio Apostolo, (1974 1st Edition) "Decisive Air Battles of the First World War", Arch Whitehouse, (1963 1st Edition) "Fighter Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War", W.M. Lamberton, (1964 Edition) "Flying The Old Planes", Frank Tallman, (1973 Edition) "Fragments From France", Bruce Bairnsfather, (1917 1st Edition) (Great War cartoons by the master of the genre) "German Air Power in World War 1", John H. Morrow, Jr., (1982 1st Edition) "Heroes of Aviation", Laurence La Tourette Driggs, (1919 1st Edition) "High Flew the Falcons", Herbert Molloy Mason Jr., (1965 1st Edition) "High in the Empty Blue", Alex Revell, (1995 1st Edition with author's signature card) "Historic Airships", Rupert Holland, (1928 1st Edition) "History and Rhymes of the Lost Battalion", L.C. McCollum, (1929 Edition) "History of the World War", Francis March, (1918 1st Edition) "History of the Great World War", Rolt-Wheeler and Drinker, (1919 1st Edition) "Italian Aces of World War I and their Aircraft", Roberto Gentilli, Antonio Iozzi, Paolo Varriale, (2003 1st Edition) "Land and Water" Magazine, (entire April through September 1917 series, hard bound, ex-library copy) "Ludendorff's Own Story", Erich Ludendorff, (1919 1st Edition) 2-volume set "Marine Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War", Heinz J. Nowarra, (1960 Edition) "Naval Aviation in World War I", Naval Aviation News, (1969 1st Edition) "National Geographic" Magazine, (entire 1918 series, hard bound, ex-library copy) "New England Aviators 1914-1918: Their Portraits and Their Records", (1919-20 1st Edition) 2-volume set "Reconnaissance & Bomber Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War", W.M. Lamberton, (1962 Edition) "Rhymes of a Red Cross Man", Robert W. Service, (1916 1st Edition) "Schlachtflieger! Germany and the Origins of Air/Ground Support 1916-1918", Rick Duiven and Dan-San Abbott, (2006 1st Edition) "Source Records of the Great War", (1923 1st Edition) 7-volume set "The Air Defence of Britain 1914-1918", Christopher Cole and E.F. Cheeseman, (1984 1st Edition) "The Fighting Triplanes", Evan Hadingham, (1969 1st Edition) "The First War Planes", William Barrett, (1960 Edition) (the one that started it all for me) "The Great Air War", Aaron Norman, (1968 Edition) "The Great War", George H. Allen, (1919 1st Edition) 5-volume set "The Great War in the Air", Edgar Middleton, (1920 1st Edition) 4-volume set "The Imperial Russian Air Service, Famous Pilots and Aircraft of World War One", Alan Durkota, (1996 1st Edition) "The Lafayette Flying Corps", by James Hall and Charles Nordhoff, (1964 Kennikat Press limited edition two-volume set) "The People's War Book and Atlas", (1920 1st Edition, signed by Lt. Col. William A. Bishop) "The Sky On Fire: The First Battle of Britain", Raymond H. Fredette, (1966 1st Edition) "The Story of a North Sea Air Station", C.F. Snowden Gamble, (1967 Edition with supplementary notes) "The United States in the Great War", Willis Abbot, (1919 1st Edition) "The U.S. Air Service in World War I", Maurer Maurer, (1978 1st Edition) 4-volume set "The War in the Air", Raleigh and Jones, (1st Edition) 9-volume set including map cases, (originally in the military library at Whitehall; my personal Jewel of the Crown) "The Western Front from the Air", Nicholas C. Watkis, (1999 1st Edition) "Time-Life Epic of Flight", 23-volume set, (not old and not strictly WWI but still a lot of good info and photos) "True Stories of the Great War", (1918 1st Edition) 6-volume set "U.S. Official Pictures of the World War", Moore and Russell, (1924 1st Edition) 4-volume set "1920 World Book Encyclopedia", (entire set with addendums, great for cross-referencing in a contemporary context) Instructional Books: "Aeroplane Construction and Operation", John Rathbun, (1918 1st Edition) "English-French War Guide for Americans in France", Eugene Maloubier, (1918 Edition) "Learning to Fly in the U.S. Army", E.N. Fales, (1917 1st Edition) "Lewis Machine Gun 'Airplane Type' Service and Operation Manual", (1918 Edition) "Manual Of Rigging Notes Technical Data", (1918, possible reprint) "Practical Flying", W.G. McMinnies, (1918 1st Edition) "The Art of Reconnaissance", David Henderson, (1916 1st Edition) "Technical Notes: Royal Flying Corps", (1916 1st Edition) "Science of Pre-Flight Aeronautics", (1942 Edition) "Self-Help for the Citizen Soldier", Moss and Stewart, (1915 1st Edition) .

, Thanks again Gents for you congratulatory wishes. I always enjoy sharing news of such acquisitions with you folks because of our shared interest. I've made the offer before and it still stands: If any of you ever find yourselves near Lester Prairie, Minnesota you are invited to stop by. I'll put the coffee pot on and we can talk about pilots and planes, war and peace, life, the universe, and everything. .

. I have looked at doing this one several times. Even started doing up the fuselage. Perhaps with the long, grey winter months now setting in here I'll give it another go. It's just that there are so many good books to read, and then of course WOFF to jump into in two weeks. .

. Tony, I can only echo the heartfelt comments already posted here. God's speed my friend, I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. .

. The war to end all wars. If only that had been true. .

. What, was that confusing? .

. So ... perhaps you could tag it OOWT/OWWIAT to make it clear to everyone that it is off the topic of OFF and WOFF but on the topic of WWI aviation. .

. Really Widowmaker? You a fan of the Snipe are you? .

. That is so cool WM. Details man, details! .

. Wowzers vB, you do have brass ones! I went through jump training as a lark so that I could take the leap just once. The day I went up to do my first jump the ground winds picked up after take-off and they wouldn't give us the green light. I was literally standing at the door ready to go when the instructor pulled me back and said no. I shipped out overseas the next day and never got myself screwed up tight enough again to try it. I have very, very few regrets in my life, but that's one of 'em. .