RAF_Louvert

Red-Dog, I would bet the tops of the wings and tail surfaces are also camo. Nearly every photo I have ever seen of WWI birds in experimental camo have those areas treated as well. Cheers! Lou

Well I voted for "OK" because in my opinion it's like all of baby bear's belongings were when Goldilocks found them...JUST RIGHT. Cheers! Lou

Rickitycrate, I am glad you like it Sir, but it is WAAAAY too early to even begin to imagine a winner of this competition. There are some outstanding designs already on the table and we still have a couple of weeks to go. Also, Widowmaker, I'm just trying to keep the contest interesting. Cheers! Lou

SWEET! It's looking very nice Widowmaker, and I bet you're having fun getting all those tapered lines to match up that well with the actual body taper. :yes: Cheers! Lou

Thanks Gents, I appreciate your feedback. Macklroy, having the actual wings of the dragon was my first thought as well, and I even mocked it up. But I chose instead to take the shape element of the dragon wings and use that to create the design and pull in the different colors from the body. I am still adjusting this whole thing and may try wrapping the wing design around the tops of the roundels and terminate it in a flared tip. The lower wings will have a similar treatment to the top, I just havent decided what that will be yet. And I am trying different ideas on the tail plane as well. But it's getting closer. Cheers! Lou

Good Morning All, In my spare time as of late I've been busy working on my entry for the OFF Plane Skinning Contest, and while I still have MUCH to do on it terms of tweaks, color adjustments, blending and such, I was able to take my new Camel up for a toodle over the lines this AM. Here are a couple of screen shots just to peak you interest. ENTER THE DRAGON I am again attempting to keep this looking as vintage as possible even though it is a complete fabrication on my part. But as with the Strutter project I have taken ideas and guidance from actual WWI aircraft in order to maintain the period feel of the overall design. I can't wait for this one to be completed. Even unfinished it is so very cool to fly it. Cheers! Lou

File Name: 1918 Bristol F2b RAF 139 Squadron File Submitter: RAF_Louvert File Submitted: 16 Apr 2009 File Category: Aircraft Skins Bristol F2b #D8084 flown by Capt Sydney Dalrymple of 139 Squadron RAF, based at Villavera aerodrome. Click here to download this file

Evening All, As I mentioned in a recent post I began work on my next new OFF skin, and as promised it is an historically accurate one this time. Here is a teaser of the project so far; Bristol F2b #D8084 of the 139 Squadron, RAF: I still have the top wing white and black longitudinal stripes to do as well as some final adjustments, but it is getting close, and I will post it for downloading when it is completed. Cheers! Lou

A full parade dress soldier's salute to Charles A Chaboud. Let us never forget those who have offered themselves up to protect the basic human rights of freedom and dignity. May they all find their eternal reward in God's kingdom. No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. Salute! Lou

Woo Hoo, another skinner! Rickitycrate, you will find it's very enjoyable to create new paints for these birds, and as others have warned it can be addictive. But addictive in a good way, as a hot cuppa' and an old WWI book are. I look forward to your offerings Sir. Cheers! Lou

Thanks Rickitycrate and Widowmaker. I had fun painting her up, and I hope you'll have even more fun flying her, and taking pot shots at her, (just remember there's a sting in that tail). Cheers! Lou

Hi Shredward, Actually Sir, you can see them in the photo in Red-Dog's post. They are inboard stripes on the lower planes, and if memory serves they are wide blue with narrow white edge stripes, with the blue being about the same hue as that in the roundels. Cheers! Lou

I had already looked there Tony, but thanks for the idea Sir. I'll give my question a google, I imagine I can find it that way. Cheers! Lou

That is very nice work fubar45. You will be making that available in the download section, yes? I began working on Bishop's blue-nosed SE5a myself last night and have the cowl paint sorted out and was planning to move on to the fuselage. However, Shredward mentioned in the "Indian Pilot in WWI" post in the General Forums that Sandbagger was working on the SE5a skins now as well, so I don't want to step on any toes here. I may move on to a custom Camel skin for now and wait to hear what the status is of the SE5a skins before I continue. Cheers! Lou

Sweet! I painted Laddie's plane for RB3D. There are lower inboard wing stripes on it as well, which are not shown on the model but are visible in the photo. Shredward, you noted that Sandbagger is working on the SE5a skins. So I imagine we should hold off painting up any of the ace's skins for these birds until those new skins are available. I was going to do up Bishop's plane for my next skinning project, but I can easily direct my attentions to other craft if these are already in the works. Man...this is a GREAT sim, with a GREAT bunch of folks who keep working to make it better, (my own company excepted). Cheers! Lou

I would love to give this and other new kites a go, and since I've had no experience installing new aircraft in this sim I will ask the noobie question. How does one go about installing new aircraft? I'm sure this has been answered elsewhere around here, so if someone could direct me it would be much appreciated. Cheers! Lou

WM wrote: You have painted the area on the top fuselage wrap strip the same yellow as you have painted on the side wraps...yes? Great looking Pfalz by the way Widowmaker. And Red-Dog, I like your "leopard". Very spotty. Cheers! Lou

Interlocuter, as with most of the WWI planes, the Camel has no in-flight trim controls. Also, you will need to build up a bit of speed before trying the loop, but in a dogfight the loop is really wasted motion. What you CAN do with the Camel quicker than with any other OFF plane I have flown is to pull it into the loop and then roll out at the top, (the classic Immelman). It will do this trick so fast your enemy won't know what hit him...but you'll know. Cheers! Lou

Dej, the Camel has been my favorite plane for years, and the OFF version is as close as I have come across in terms of the reports given on its RL counterpart, but even at that I doubt seriously its as hard to fly here in the virtual skies as it was in the real world, (as noted by Bullethead). Here is another brief synopsis of its traits: "The Camel was not considered pleasant to fly. The Camel owed both its extreme manoeuverability and its difficult handling characteristics to the grouping of the engine, pilot, guns, and fuel tank within the first seven feet of the aircraft, coupled with the strong gyroscopic effect of the rotary engine. The Camel soon gained an unfortunate reputation with student pilots. The Clerget engine was particularly sensitive to fuel mixture control, and incorrect settings often caused the engine to choke and cut out during takeoff. Many crashed due to mishandling on takeoff when a full fuel tank affected the center of gravity. In level flight, the Camel was markedly tail-heavy. Unlike the Triplane, the Camel lacked a variable incidence tailplane, so that the pilot had to apply constant forward pressure on the control stick to maintain a level attitude at low altitude. However the machine could also be rigged in such a way that at higher altitudes it could be flown "hands off." A stall immediately resulted in a spin and the Camel was particularly noted for its vicious spinning characteristics. The Camel was, however, a superlative fighter, and offered heavier armament and better performance than the Pup and Triplane. In the hands of an experienced pilot, its manoeuvrability was unmatched by any contemporary type. Its controls were light and sensitive. The Camel turned rather slowly to the left which resulted in a nose up attitude due to the torque of the rotary engine, but turned very sharply to the right which resulted in a nose down attitude. Many pilots preferred to turn left by turning 270 degrees to the right. Because it was tail heavy, the plane also looped quickly." Also, in the book "Flying the Old Planes", Frank Tallman gives his critique on the Camel's quirks, and supports everything outlined in the Wikipedia quote above. For those who are not familiar with him, Frank Tallman was a veteran pilot who ended up as a stunt flyer in Hollywood, and in his long career logged many, many hours in vintage aircraft. By the way, I often use the "270 degree right-hand" left turn when flying the OFF Camel. It works very well. Cheers! Lou

This looks like a very good improvement Winston, much better trails on those rounds. I am going to give it a go when I fly this evening. Thanks Sir. Cheers! Lou

In one of the WWI pilot diaries I read, (might have been Norman Archibald's), he talks about when one of the spent cartridges fell down in between the control stick and its mounting bracket and jambed it so that he could not push it forward. Nearly cost him his life. And James McCudden tells of the time when one of his ammo drums flipped out of its holder on his DH-2 and took off one of his prop blades. He too nearly bought it trying to set his plane down as it attemped to shake itself to bits. BTW PrairieFlcn, I am guessing you are referring to the FE2b in your post, as the DH-2 was a single seter scout and therefore would have no observer position. Cheers! Lou

Thanks Dej, and for those who are interested and would like to give it a fly, I have just uploaded the file for Captain Sydney Dalrymple's F2b. Let me know if it works for you all. Enjoy. BTW, cool screenies Sir. Cheers! Lou

Morning All, For those who are interested and would like to give it a fly, I have just uploaded the file for Captain Sydney Dalrymple's F2b. Let me know if it works for you. Enjoy. Cheers! Lou

Just an update on my latest paint project. I am almost finished now with the RAF 139 Squadron's Bristol F2b and will be posting it for download soon. Here are photos of the actual plane and of the new OFF paint for comparision: I repainted the underside of the fuselage in the clear doped linen and dirtied it up a bit, and redid the wheels as well to match the actual plane. Cheers! Lou