RAF_Louvert

. Well you're the fjord master, so get busy man! .

. No, sorry Slarti, it is in the 'other' sim whose name must n'er be spoken in these halls. If only OFF had an MP side. I'm afraid I've had some of the Kool-Aid. Glad you're still enjoying the Strutter, and let me know if you can't lay hands on that Pup, I can go digging through my paint files if need be. .

. It's a common enough name on Magrathea. Also, I hear he likes doing the little fiddly bits 'round the edges. To it being quiet here, I know for myself work has kept me very, very busy as of late. And, whilest waiting for WOFF a few of us have been meeting up online to fly WWI in the 'other' sim whose name must n'er be spoken in these halls. .

. Widowmaker and all, here in the US it is no different unfortunately. Many of our less-than-scrupulous politicians use past wars as fodder for patriotic rhetoric and self-enhancement in the public eye. WWI has been forgotten by nearly everyone in this country to the point where when Frank Buckles, (the last US WWI veteran, who past away February 27, 2011), lobbied during the final years of his life for a national Great War memorial in Washington DC, he was denied seeing it happen in his lifetime. IMHO, when and if such a memorial ever gets built it will be strictly a political move on the part of some up-and-coming wannabe. I loathe how corrupt our political, (and financial), systems have become. I know there are far more good people than bad in this tired old world, but unfortunately few of them want the hassles of trying to run it. John Dalberg-Acton had it dead right: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy also had it right, "... first against the wall when the revolution comes." Alright then, who's next for the soapbox? .

. Good on you HH! Your RL reasons for not being at the virtual front look far more enjoyable than mine have been. And a sidebar: I no longer partake of motorcycles as we came to an understanding quite some time ago. I do not try to ride them and they do not try to kill me. It has been an amicable agreement. .

. I can't take it any more. This is the year I return to my ideal weight, (i.e. the lean, mean, 186 pounds I was in the service back in the mid-1970's). Over the decades I have been close a number of times, and much farther away most others. But when I stepped on the scale this morning the shock damn near gave me a heart attack, (or perhaps it was the excess tonnage). I was at 247-and-a-half! No wonder none of my clothes fit worth crap. Soooooo, it's on to a program I go, with each day consisting of 1,200 calories of healthy food and an extra two miles of walking. I am also going to getting into some weight training as well. And, as a constant reminder of where I am at, I have created some OFF-inspired wallpaper for my flying computer. I have my man Georges there to inspire me as I chart my progress, and for a little added incentive I am going to award myself a medal each time I reach one of the blue lines, with a BIG old medal coming my way when I hit the red one! Also, I am approaching this not as a diet but as a lifestyle change as I honestly want to keep the weight off this time. Wish me luck Gents. Booya! .

. Good on you Jim! Quitting smoking has to be one of the toughest. Though I didn't have to do it myself, I lived with my father when he went cold turkey from a two-pack-a-day Camel straights habit. It was NOT pretty. I quit drinking back in 1986 and is likely why I am still alive and kicking today. I will say though that there are times when a really good dark ale sounds wonderful. Fortunately I still remember exactly how those tasted. .

. Olham, I count calories and try my best to eat healthy, and I walk three miles nearly every day now. I've found that 1,200 calories a day will cause me to lose weight while 1,500 calories a day will cause me to gain it back. A rather tight window to stay within, but I'm doing my best. . .

. Tranquillo, I am maintaining my program, and I'm very glad to see that you are getting back on track after your treatment and recovery. Thanks for keeping an eye on me Sir, I'll take all the help I can get. And don't worry about that bet, we called it off months ago as I recall. Thanks to everyone for the continued encouragement. It really does help keep a man on track. .

. Sort of Olham. I actually have three different 'flavors' currently in use. Vanillia, (standard OFF); Chocolate, (OFF/MAW), and now Tutti Frutti, (Italian Front). All I do is create a copy of the entire OBD folder, rename it to whatever I wish, and create a desktop shortcut to the exe file in the new version to launch it . Easy peasey. .

. HH, I would recommend you write the missions using the P3 aeroplanes and we can drop the custom skins into the appropriate texture folders as needed. That way you won't be in violation of any copyrights with OBD and we can have all the different kites at our disposal. I have a 2nd OFF folder set up just for the Italian Front so dropping the skins in to replace the defaults is no issue whatsoever as it will not affect my 'stock' OFF install. Thank you again for all your efforts on this project, along with stmpjumper's. It is much appreciated. Also thanks to the skinners knocking out a few custom paints for this as well. It should all add up to a fun add-on. Cheers! Lou . .

. Stumpjumper, even though I had to hit the road again early this week and won't be back home until tomorrow I did manage to get your Italy add-on downloaded and installed. I chose to copy my entire OBD folder and renamed it 'OFF Italian Front', then added in all your files and made the changes as you described. I can launch it from my desktop with the new shortcut and everything works great, and nothing in my 'stock' OFF install has been disturbed. I would recommend this same method to all the other IF testers. One item: I did have to go into all but one of your missions and change the names of the aeroplanes used to match the P3 folder names, but other than that all is well. Many thanks! Lou .

. Greetings All, I am back home for the weekend and had a chance this early AM to work on a SPAD VII template for the Italian squadrilia. Starting with one of the beautiful OFF skins already in the kit I reworked it and built one up that I can now use to create the various Italian skins that will be needed. Here is the first one I've completed: the SPAD VII of Italian ace Giorgio Pessi: I will get a few more ace skins put together and then make them available for download. Cheers! Lou .

. Thanks HH and Olham, nice to know these are looking good to others, (gets hard to tell after a long bout of skinning). The SPAD VII of Fulco Ruffo di Calabria is completed: While working on this one I noticed I had made an error on the first two yellow kites by painting all the front cowling. This should be left the stock tan color, and I've gone back and corrected this. .

. I did not know about that glitch on the Hannoever, but then I've never painted one either. Have logged a fair amount of stick time in them though, and I agree with your assessment BH of the flight characteristics of the bus. BTW, nice skin Bullethead, quickie or not. .

. BH and Olham, you can definitely fly any plane for any country. In MB it is just a matter of assigning the plane you want to the flight you want and specifying the country. To the skins for other plane tyes, I am VERY familiar with the Strutter and all its nasty wrap distortions so I can handle those if needed. I also plan to do some of the Nieups as well and will coordinate with folks here when I get to those. There is a very nice Hanriot HD.1 in stumpjumper's shed as well, and if memory serves it is fully flyable, with FM and DM, and is only lacking cockpit detail, (but you can bring up the generic guages and go with those for now). I am working on a skin template for that one too. .

. Alrighty then, the next kite I am skinning up for the Italian mod is the SPAD VII of Fulco Ruffo di Calabria: Should be fun. .

. Olham I have an original 1917 first English translation of this little volume, titled "An Aviator's Field Book". It is Boelcke's own field reports from 1 August 1914 to 28 October 1916. It's an excellent albeit brief read and is well worth the investment, IMHO. .

. Olham, the black griffin was the emblem of Squadriglia 91. However, the few examples of the SPAD VII I could find bearing this emblem all indicated it was flown by Lt. Colonel Piccio, who by the way was commander of 10th Group Squadriglie of which Sq 91 was a part. Also, to your question about the roundels: the Italian Air Service used both throughout WWI and did not standardize to the red-white-green version until the early 1920's. Here is the next completed skin, Francesco Barraca's SPAD VII #2489: .

. That would be a sweet kite to have in the mod. Too bad you lost the original file Olham, but I say "Build it again!" .

. WM, from my research on the Italian planes, while you will see both styles of roundels, the rudders should always have the green to the front. .

. Good idea WM. I've just posted my next completed skin, (Pier Ruggero Piccio's SPAD VII), and have Francesco Baracca's in the works as well. .

. Stumpjumper, as I mentioned in another one of the threads concerning this project, I'd be happy to help with testing. .

. Well done, WM. Very nice indeed. .

. Glad you like it Gents. Here's the next one, the SPAD VII of Italian ace Pier Ruggero Piccio: I'll get to the next one tomorrow morning. Cheers! Lou .