RAF_Louvert

. I am still working on my map Olham. I started on it yesterday morning when I began a new DID career flying BE2's in January of 1915 up by St. Omer and decided it was time to have the aerodrome names right on the map I was using. I can post it when I have it finished. .

. chrispdm1, thanks for that great little map Sir! Very good. Olham, I had to chuckle when I saw your map project of the Lens to Laon area. I have been building the exact same thing from Albert all the way north to the coast! Check Six, I would very much like that map set as well Sir, and I will drop you an e-mail, if you don't mind. Cheers! Lou .

. You are more than welcome Olham, and you are oh so right Sir about the propaganda on all sides. Pol wrote: Umm, ok. I'm feeling a bit like I've stepped on official toes here by inadvertently recreating an historic skin that was already done before. I did check and found no example of it in the OFF folder, and I made sure to credit all you folks for the original skins that I tweaked and used bits from to build this one, (which I always make a point of doing). .

Good Morning All, I ran across this particular Sanke card last night whilest doing some research, and while I've seen it many times before I'd never run across a scan this large. So, I grabbed it, cleaned it up just a bit, and thought I'd share it here with those who are into these historic little items. Also, for those who are not already aware of it, here is the link to an outstanding online collection of these old cards: SANKE-CARDS.COM Enjoy! Lou .

. Von Paulus wrote: Why yes it is VP, and I completely missed Olham's posting of that link. Thanks for bringing it to my attention, that is a super online collection of Sanke card images. BTW, does anyone here collect these? I do not, but I've often considered it. Also, Paarma's list of the states of the German Empire illustrates vividly why there were so many different honours and medals available to the Central Powers pilots. Every Kingdom, Grand Duchy, Duchy, and Principality had at least a dozen they could bestow, and they all wanted to be sure and do so as a matter of local pride. Then you add the awards of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria into the mix and the list is nearly endless. Heck, a Hun ace probably needed two or three tunics just to hang all their bling-bling on. .

. Excellent screenshot Olham. And using the MvR approach, very smart. Let your wingmen do the dirty work whilest you wait on high for the golden opportunity to swoop in and finish off the poor blighter. .

. WOW! Great pics Widowmaker, those carriers really are massive! How long is the Ark Royal going to be anchored there and open to the public? Olham, the original carrier HMS Ark Royal was a converted tramp steamer that first served in the Dardanelles in early 1915. There is a very good "look-alike" of it for OFF in the form of the HMS Furious, as seen here: And for those who haven't already seen it and would like to watch a short clip of the carrier, as well as the Short seaplane from Phase I, click the following link: Dardanelles Campaign Project Video 1 Cheers! Lou .

. sandbagger, I went through all the N24 and N24 bis skins and did not find it. I used the N24 Esc 87 as my starting point and borrowed the black cat from the 'bis' version and tweaked that to look like the example shown in Bob Pearson's comprehensive work, "Aircraft Colours and Markings of the First World War Era". Many thanks for your outstanding work sandbagger, all I did was change the numbers and cat and add Wellman's personal ID, (his mother's name BTW, and the Roman numeral 5 denotes this was his fifth aircraft thus christened). Oh, I also tweaked the decking behind the cockpit ever so slightly so the ribs were centered front-to-back. Olham and Redkite, I recall you folks in Europe had this problem a while back which is what prompted me to build that first WWI book download. Wellman's books is one of the volumes in that collection, and here is the link again for that zip file: WWI Books Zip Download This download contains the following titles: Biogrophies, Diaries, Personal Writings “A Flying Fighter”, by E.M. Roberts, c.1918 ”A Happy Warrior”, the letters of William M. Russel, c.1918 ”Above the Battle”, by Vivian Drake, c.1918 “Air Men O'War”, by Boyd Cable, c.1918 ”An Aviator’s Field Book”, the field notes of Oswald Bolcke, English Edition c.1917 ”Cavalry of the Clouds”, by Alan Bott, c.1918 ”En l'air!”, by Bert Hall, c.1918 ”Fighting the Flying Circus”, by Eddie Rickenbacker, c.1919 ”Flying For France”, by James R. McConnell, c.1917 ”Go Get 'Em!”, by William Wellman, c.1918 ”Green Balls: The Adventures Of a Night-Bomber”, by Paul Bewsher, c.1919 ”High Adventure”, by James Norman Hall, c.1918 ”Night Bombing With the Bedouins”, by Robert H. Reece, c.1919 ”The Flying Poilu”, by Marcel Nadaud, c.1918 “The Red Battle Flyer”, by Manfred von Richthofen, English Edition c.1918 ”The Way of the Eagle”, by Charles J. Biddle, c.1919 ”Winged Warfare”, by William A. Bishop, c.1918 References: “Aircraft Mechanics Handbook”, c.1918 ”Heroes Of Aviation”, by Laurence La Tourette Driggs, c.1918 ”How To Fly”, by A. Frederick Collins, c.1918 “Learning To Fly in the U.S. Army”, by E.N. Fales, c.1917 “Practical Flying”, by W.G. McMinnies, c.1918 “The Aero Manual”, c.1909 “The German Air Force in the Great War”, by Georg Paul Neumann, c.1920 ”The Romance Of Aircraft”, by Laurence Smith, c.1919 I will caution you folks that Wellman was very hateful of the Germans and is quick to express that hatred in the course of his book. Not that it's unusual at all to find such sentiments expressed in writings of the period from all sides, but it can catch one a bit off guard, especially when one is accustom to the incredibly tolerant and understanding air that prevails in this forum. Cheers! Lou .

. This poll should prove enlightening, British_eh. I know I am always looking for ways to make this sim even more immersive than it already is. My roll-of-the-dice engine trouble emulator is one such idea and it works quite well. WM, as to those 'NO' votes on number 5: If there weren't such contradictory viewpoints in life we wouldn't have wars; and if we didn't have wars we wouldn't have this sim; and is that really the kind of world you want to live in? A world without OFF? Oh, the humanity! .

File Name: Celia V: N24 of William A. Wellman, Esc 87 File Submitter: RAF_Louvert File Submitted: 27 Feb 2010 File Category: Aircraft Skins 1917 Nieuport 24 "Celia V", belonging to Corporal William "Wild Bill" Wellman, American volunteer flying with Escadrille 87. Wellman went to France and joined the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps, later transferring to the French Foreign Legion, and then on to the French Air Service. After training on Bleriots and Nieuports he went into the Lafayette Flying Corps, assigned to Esc 87. Once he was assigned a mission to drop pamphlets on the Germans. While performing aerobatics over German lines his motor quit, but he managed to crash land and flipped upside down. He couldn't get loose and was rescued by French troops. Wellman was nicknamed "Wild Bill" by the French for his one-man dawn patrols over enemy lines where he would bomb and strafe the Germans. He had two confirmed kills and was eventually shot down by AA fire. In the crash he broke his back in two places, his control stick went into the roof of his mouth and he ended up with a permanent limp and a silver plate in his head. When Wellman was discharged as a sergeant from the French forces in March, 1918 he left with the Croix de Guerre with two Palms, the Medaille Militaire and the citations, A L'Ordre de L'Armee and Le Pilote Americain, Marshall de Logis. After the war Wellman went on to become one of Hollywood's leading directors. The initial success of his career was launched with the 1927 WWI aerial saga "Wings", the first film ever to win the Acadamy Award for Best Picture, (information courtesy of www.worldwar1.com). I wish to thank Polovski, Winder, OvS, and rabu for their outstanding skins and graphics that provide the starting point for these paint schemes. Click here to download this file

. Who wouldn't join the army? That's what we all inquire. Don't we pity the poor civilians sitting beside the fire. . WM, that is a moving song indeed, though I do prefer Eric Bogle's rendition to that of the Fureys. Like Dej, I have performed it myself on more than one occasion and for that reason I suppose it does not impact on me quite the same as it used to. .

. 12oh, from what I've observed flying many different campaigns, promotions appear to be contingent in some way on completing your missions and making all your waypoints, including landing back at your home aerodrome. I've had pilots who racked up quite a few kills and medals but were never promoted, and these were the ones that did not complete assigned missions, while others have had almost no kills at all but "stuck to the plan" and were bumped all the way up to Squadron Commander within 90 days. Also, when I am forced to land somewhere other than my home drome, I follow a very similar model to the one BH mentioned, and the farther away I am the longer I wait to fly the next mission. I recall being forced to land next to this little cabaret on the outskirts of St. Omer one evening due to a faulty instrument panel light and it was nearly a week before I found a ride back to camp. .

Good Morning All, I have been working on another tweaked Belgian skin, this time for the OFF Bristol F2b Fighter, (the Brisfit). I ran across some excellent photos of one that is on display at the Brussels Air Museum. It was reconstructed using parts from several planes and painted as B4/66 of the Belgian Air Service: Here is my work so far: Still have more weathering and fine tuning to do, but it will be done soon and I will make it available in our downloads section once I have it where I want it. One more kite to add to brave little Belgium's air arsenal. The other project I have in progress is a Belgian Sopwith Strutter that I'm basing on some photos I gathered up a while back, and I will posted a pic of that one once I have it farther along. Many thanks as always to Rabu and Winder and OvS and all for the beautiful skins we all get to start with on these little ventures. Your work is appreciated more than you will ever know. Cheers! Lou .

. hmmm...not sure what to tell you, Morris. I checked it and it worked fine for me. Drop down menu, pick off_Bristol_F2b_t_Belgium_66_Penguin 1917, tick the personal skin box, and fly. Anyone else have any thoughts on why Morris isn't seeing the custom skin when he picks it? Are you positive you are picking the Bristol F2b in the plane list and not something like the Bristol Scout or FE2? I ask, because I've made that mistake myself. .

. LOL! Could be Olham. And WM, a Belgian gulag?! Now that conjures up images, eh? "Oh God, not again...waffles! It's all they ever feed us! How are we expected to survive on the same delicious, sweet, filling food day after day after day with only these pints of Westvleteren to choke it down? It's inhuman!" .

. HOLY COW! 280 views of my new Belgian Bristol paint in the download section in less than 20 hours! Only 5 downloads of it, but what is up with so many views in such a short time? Did I draw attention from some unknown sector? .

. All excellent points, and I should have remembered that the 17-hour figure was really only for the RFC in the first couple years of fighting. Another point to consider is that as the end of the War was looming the tables turned and it was the German Air Service that began to lose pilots at a faster rated than the Allies. They began sending up young flyers who simply weren't ready in an effort to try and keep up with the number of enemy planes in the sky, (exactly what the Brits did two years earlier). .

. A very valid point Olham, and I believe the 17 hours is an average across the board for all the air services in the Great War. I know that early in the conflict there were far too many British pilots killed on their first or second mission due to lack of training or supervision. Here is a quote from a post I made in another recent thread that hit on the subject of training: I've no doubt the Germans and Austrians, and also the French, had a much higher average survival rate due to their better schooling and diciplined flying that existed in their ranks from almost the beginning. .

File Name: The Penguin: Bristol F2b of the Belgian Air Service File Submitter: RAF_Louvert File Submitted: 22 Feb 2010 File Category: Aircraft Skins Bristol F2b, unit number B4/66, belonging to the Belgian Air Service. The original aircraft this OFF example is modeled after currently resides in the Brussels Air Museum. I wish to thank Polovski, Winder, OvS, and rabu for their outstanding skins and graphics that provide the starting point for these paint schemes. Click here to download this file

. You are more than welcome Crossbones. Best of luck in the 17th Aero Sir! Lou

. I've finished up this project and just uploaded it to the OFF Skins section over in the downloads, so it should be available quite soon to any and all who would like to give it a go. WM, I agree about the ease with which one can paint the Brisfit. I discovered that some time ago when I did the paint scheme for the RAF 139 Squadron example. No nasty tricks like the Camel pulls on you when you try to paint the cowl or top wing. Enjoy! Lou .

. Very neat Creaghorn! I will be downloading these and giving them a try this evening. .

. Thanks folks, I should have the Brisfit wrapped up in the next day or so. BTW, is there any new feedback on the set of Belgian Camels I did a few weeks back? Curious if anyone has flown them and if there were any glitches. Here is the link to that thread and download for those who may not recall it: Belgium 1ere 9eme Camels Cheers! Lou .