RAF_Louvert

. "What'chew on'bout, Wida? There's no barney bout understandin' that rabbit n'pork. You keep on wif'at an I'll be the one what's knockin out your 'ampstead eaf I will! Cor, at'sa'kind aw charlie chalk what makes me mad." Hilarious vid BTW, thanks for sharing. .

. Olham, as Slarti said, there is nothing silly about that. Such writings can be very powerful and touch us in ways we can't imagine and in ways the writer never intended. They are a direct personal link to a time past and I don't know how someone couldn't be moved by them. And when we know what came after, as Shredward has illustrated, they become even more poignant. .

. WOW! That looks like an outstanding book, VP. And it will give you a excellent excuse to brush up on your French, oui? .

. BTW UnknownPilot, here is the link to an OFF movie I did a while ago. About half way into it I purposely put my Camel into a death spin for dramatic effect then flew back out of it. Enjoy. Duel In The Sun .

. UnknownPilot, I have been logging many hours in the OFF Camel as it is my kite of choice and I will say that you can get it into a nasty spin PDQ if you want to. But given enough alt you can get back out of it as well provided you don't do precisely what Creaghorn mentioned earlier. That being said, you can kill yourself very fast if you attempt something foolish like a hard turn to port immediately after take-off. That will screw you into the ground quite nicely. And IIRC that was how a large number of WWI Camel pilots died, attempting a climbing turn to port at too low a speed and too close to Mother Earth. .

. Roger that, Creaghorn. This last weekend I was again flying one of Olham's beloved Alb DIII's and was, again, completely enjoying it. It is such an even-tempered kite to fly and fight in, plus it looks as fine as any WWI mount could, and for style it beats nearly every British bus hands down...nearly. .

. hee, hee...not the first time I've been overlooked and it won't be the last. .

. Creaghorn, I have been in a few I did not recover from, but I chalked it up to my own inexperience. As my skills have improved with these kites I have not gotten into one I could not get back out of. And I agree about Greybeard's RB3D FM, that one was a killer if you did not stay on top of it. .

. But apparently you don't care that I do, Pol? Ain't that a kick in the head. .

. Creaghorn, I don't know that any of the OFF craft have an "unrecoverable" spin, and as you say if you do the right thing it is quite simple to get out of nearly every spin we run into here. UnknownPilot, welcome to the OFF forums Sir. I've been following your posts and I have to say your writing style and turn of a phrase, (as well as your moniker), remind me of one or two of my old RAF comrades from the RB3D 209 Squadron. You wouldn't happen to be one of them would you? .

. Greetings All, I've located and purchased another old medal to add to my collection; a vintage George V Military Cross. The fellow who was selling this knew nothing about it apart from the fact that it had been in his father's collection of military memorabilia for many years. He figured it was a copy, not an original, and I imagine he is quite correct. However, it is a high-quality medal with very crisp detail seldom found in newer copies. Also, the patina appears to be original and untouched. While it is sporting a few nicks and dings it is none-the-less a very good-looking old medal that is normally quite expensive to purchase in a vintage example, with HQ copies going in excess of $150 US and originals in the $1,500 to $3,000 range, (I'm a tad embarrassed to admit I gave only $25 for this one plus $8 for shipping from England, but it was after all an auction and others had the opportunity to pay more if they'd wanted to). It should look very nice on my French Air Service tunic project, and in perfect keeping as a fair number of MC's were presented by the King to French pilots in the Great War. I am very anxious for it to arrive so I can give it a close inspection. Anticipation...anticipa-ya-tion... .

. LOL! Well, I might care a little. But you're right uncleal, it would still look the same from the front regardless, and at a bargain price. .

. You are more than welcome, Paarma. I've had that book on my own shelf for years and refer to it often in the course of my readings. .

. Bullethead, I just spent about an hour taking the new and improved DH5 out, and I agree with your assessments. I went up against a couple of Alb DIII's and while it is a dog to fight in, it takes abuse and then some. Where I really love the lug is attacking ground targets. Had great fun tearing up a couple of Hun dromes and a railyard, and the fixed iron sights are excellent for that work. But, and this is a very big but, it appears I am unkillable in it. I tried a head-on collision with an Alb, and walked away from the wreckage. I hooked a tree and went over on my head...and walked away. I took it 5,000' and flew it straight into the ground at full throttle...and walked away. Now, I like a durable plane as much as the next man, but this might be a tad over the top. Other than that issue, I am going to really enjoy this kite as a ground attack weapon. .

Paarma wrote: Paarma, you should get yourself a copy of "Air Aces of the 1914-1918 War". It's an older book that was published by the Harleyford Press and is a compilation of the research done by many different folks. It is a very good, concise reference work with a lot of photos. Abe Books has numerous copies of it listed right now starting at $15.00 US, and here is the link: Abe Books listing for "Air Aces of the 1914-1918 War"

. I will have to give it a go again, BH. I was a fan of the beast before the patch, despite it's shortcomings. Sounds like I'm really going to enjoy it now. Think I'll go take it out for a few ground strafings and drome attacks. TKS for the heads-up. .

. Well done, Javy old boy! I'll ring over and put in a good word for you with nurse Yvette, she was the angel of mercy who watched over yours truly during my last stay at the infirmary. .

. I recommend using the historic approach. Come in with a lot of alt and facing back towards the friendly side of the mud; throttle back and dive down on the balloon; when you are about 200 to 150 yards out let fly all your rockets and start blasting away with your guns; continue firing until the sausage pops or you have run out of room and time: fly to the deck and hug the earth like it was your long lost dog all the way back across NML and hope for the best. Good luck Javy! .

. Roger that, uncleal. I know others have been using a dedicated kill switch on their JS for quite some time. I myself have had the throttle blip switch set up since I began flying BHaH so I can toggle between 10% and 100% throttle. However, I discovered this AM that with "shift-M" and "ctrl-M" also toggled as a mag blip that I have almost instantaneous control of engine power, (a far quicker response than throttle blipping gives). And this small change makes a very noticable difference in certain maneuvers. Live and learn. .

. Alright, so I went into my joystick profile and programmed a hot button that allows me to blip the magnetos on and off in order to simulate the action as mentioned repeatedly in my recent readings on this subject. I then went in and tried a few of the maneuvers as described in McMinnies instructions, both with engine on and off, and it does make a significant difference. For instance, where he describes the following: "To turn very quickly, switch off momentarily, kick on rudder without any bank, which will pull the machine up and twist its nose round in the desired direction. She will get into a spin if not righted immediately. Then switch on". If you do this you will come around much quicker with the engine blipped off for a moment. At least this is what I've discoverd so far flying my Tripehound. I will be testing other planes and maneuvers to see if it has similar effects. .

. Brings to mind the story of the outlaw Dennis Moore: It's all in how you look at it, really. Now, is that a Beech or a Hornbeam? .

. Very true Flyby, I know I too practiced drills repeatedly in the USAF for the "just in case" scenario. However, cutting the engine during flight in the WWI kites as an integral part of a maneuver seems to have been common practice rather than a rare and unexpected occurance. I spent some more time last night flipping through numerous old volumes and found mention of it everywhere. Charles Biddle talks about doing "vrilles", and the first step is to cut off the engine. E.M. Roberts recalls a time where he forgot to shut off fuel during a long glide and loaded up the cylinders with so much raw fuel and oil that he fouled out his plugs and couldn't restart the engine. A.R. Kingsford also mentions flipping the switch on and off during flight. And on and on. So, it is becoming evident to me that it was not the ultimate sin to shut off the engine in flight but rather a normal part of handling these old birds. Also, it looks as if the SOP was to flip off the mags first and then the fuel, unless you were blipping the engine off for only a few seconds, then you would leave the fuel on. .

. That is a great website Olham, and I have used it as a reference often in my readings. BTW, Wilhelm Reinhard looks like he could be the brother of French/American ace Raoul Lufbery. Reinhard Lufbery I mean, seriously! .

. I pulled out my 1918 copy of Flt. Commander W.G. McMinnies "Practical Flying: Complete Course of Flying Instructions" and did a bit of checking and found that the WWI pilot was being taught to cut his engine and restart it quite often during flight. Just this short excerpt from the Commander's recap at the end of the book illustrates the point, (and it is mentioned repeatedly throughout the 200+ pages of this text): It would appear that shutting off and restarting the engine was standard operating procedure for our RL counterparts in WWI. .

. Sorry uncleal, but I must disagree. The practice of cutting off the engine in flight and restarting it was taught at Avord and other flying schools even before the outbreak of the War and all the way through it. The "volplane" was a basic maneuver, mentioned in nearly every flight manual of the day, and one that had to be learned by the cadet in ordered to be breveted. You took your plane up to several thousand feet, cut the engine, went into a long, shallow dive, and then restarted it after several minutes of gliding. And yes, if it were done improperly with the air/fuel mixture incorrectly set you could catch fire. But it was none-the-less taught to the student pilots and considered a necessary part of their flying repertoire. .