RAF_Louvert

Hello Olham, my old friend, glad to see you are still about! So you've moved from sailing ships to tanks, eh? That's quite the switch. I've not been doing much at all for the last bunch of months in terms of sims, but I am getting back to WOFF now with Raine's upcoming Deep Immersion DiD campaign, which starts in December. The IL-2 mod sounds intriguing and I will give it a look when it becomes available. I hope we will see you again in the WOFF skies, preferably sooner rather than later. Prost!

Awfully nice of you Erik, you're a gentleman and a scholar. Join us for a fresh cupp'a and we might even be able to locate a bottle of something single-malty to spice it up a bit. Lou

Hi ya Hasse! I agree, these still feel like our home digs. And right now we can't even get into our usual discussion forum over at SimHQ, it has been crashed for the last two days. Maybe we should just start having our daily meetings here regardless of the "official" forums.

. I seem to recall I was one of the moderators for this forum, once upon a time, and you may be right about Dej. Olham may have been one way back when too. Thanks again Eric for keeping the doors open and the lights on for us, it is much appreciated Sir. BTW, since I am here and looking at them right now, are than any new medals you need added to your board since I made the original batch for you? I'm sure I saved all the artwork as I don't tend to ever throw anything away.

I agree about the ghost image. I thought that hoop looked more pipe-like as well and I am wondering if the OAW-built machines used a different block at the back of the camshaft that had the tach drive coming out the top instead of the end. If so, a conduit with the cable running through it until it got below the decking would make sense, not only in terms of durability but also in terms of keeping the cable from flopping around directly in the pilot's forward line of sight. I'd love to see that drawing Jim.

Jim, those are excellent photos showing a lot of detail as regards this issue. It's obvious in that first pic that whatever the loop is it is attached via a nut at the forward end. Also in that pic it almost looks as if there are a pair of identical loops side-by-side, though it may just be some odd shadowing or reflection, perhaps even some "ghosting". In the second pic it certainly looks like a cable sweeping down in under the combing and heading directly towards the backside of the tachometer.

Upon further consideration and study my opinion is that the loop in question is the drive cable for the tachometer. Didn't said cable attach to the back of the Mercedes engine up at the rear of the camshaft? That would place things just about right for a cable that was supplied in too great a length to be, out of necessity, looped upward from the back of the engine before sweeping back down under the cockpit combing and attaching to the tachometer. EDIT: I was actually posting this as you were posting yours Jim - great minds think alike eh? :o) ADDITIONAL EDIT: Looks about right to me, but then I've been wrong before.

Jim, upon studying the photos you've provided here as well as those posted by Czech6, I must say that the way that thing loops is odd if it where in fact a gun cable. In the close-up showing the plate and cable fittings it is clear they are pointing towards the cockpit, i.e., rearward. So shouldn't excess cable coming from that point be sweeping up and back in a gentle curve before returning down into the bowels of the plane? However, in the photo examples shown it is precisely the opposite of that with the cable coming nearly straight up and out from somewhere between the guns then sweeping back down in a more gentle curve. More to chew on there as well I'd say.

Jim, the photo you posted appears to show two different cables/lines, (at least as far as my tired old eyes can tell): the one you pointed out that is well into the engine compartment and looping forward, and also the one coming up from between the guns and looping back that Czech6 notes as possibly being for the interrupter mechanism. Or am I seeing things?

Your most and least favourite planes in WOFF? This is an interesting question in that sometimes, (for me at least), the same plane can be both depending on what period of the war we are considering. The Airco DH.2 early on in the conflict is my favorite mount, but when the Albs make their appearance I want to be as far from the Spinning Incinerator as I can get.

A bit of pruning eh? I think it's a great idea and if I had a set of shears I'd jump in and lend a hand! Thank you Eric for your help and for letting us continue to hang around here. And thanks Hauksbee for taking on the task of tidying up the place for us. Much appreciated gents.

. Yes, we are rather silly, but not so much so that we would miss a free drink. Good to see you Olham! How's life on the virtual high seas? .

. Pieters' volume is THE definitive reference concerning the Belgian Air Service and its role in the Great War. Also, given the book's generous size and weight it makes for a handy weapon should an unwanted intruder attempt to enter your library. .

. Well, it's definitely easier to post pictures here, plus everyone can have their own avatars and signature images if they wish. I for one always preferred this camp. I say give it a go and see what happens. .

. The Lazarus Effect. . .

. OK guuruu, so you're obviously joking, but how in the world did you happen across this six-year-old thread? Must be a slow day, eh? Lou .

. Hasse, I would also be very surprised if the devs moved the official WOFF forums again. I always preferred the CA forums here and just like a lot of others was sad to see the move. And with the latest changes to the SimHQ forums - well. Perhaps folks should start posting their AARs and screenshots for WOFF UE here and provide links in the posts in the SimHQ forum to direct people over, might be a way to get things cooking around our old camp again. .

. Hello hello hello, is there anybody in there - just nod if you can hear me - is there anyone at home? It is indeed quite over here and I'm as guilty as can be about not stopping by more often. It's that time thingy that just keeps me from doing all I'd like to do every day. Good ideas Hellshade about ways to possibly get things looking more current around camp. However, I am deeply insulted, DEEPLY INSULTED I SAY, that I was not on your list of active WOFF modders. What am I, chopped liver? My 60 additional aerodromes in England, and 150 reworked factories all along the Western Front, and custom aerodromes, and functional bomb sights, and map sets - none a'that good enough for ya? Speaking of mods, Hauksbee how are your aeroplane models coming along? I am close to releasing Farnborough, (another mod that won't be good enough for Hellshade no doubt), and I'd love to be able to include some of them in it. OK then, off to work I go. I will try and stop by here more often, if for no other reason than to see what stock is left in the camp bar. Cheers! Lou .

. I'll remove my hat as well and will raise a glass with you Erik. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and comrades of Alexander Prokhorenko, a truly brave soul. As for the youth of today and the comments regarding them - well - we all know that's nothing new. As just one example here is a quote from Peter the Hermit from 1274: "The world is passing through troublous times. The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint. They talk as if they knew everything, and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for the girls, they are forward, immodest and unladylike in speech, behavior and dress." .

. Welcome back Soppy! Great to see you around camp again, though to be fair this camp has been fairly quiet for quite some time. I can appreciate RL keeping you far too busy, I'm in the same boat myself. Hope to read reports of your WOFF exploits in the very near future. Cheers, and new - er umm - returning lads buy the drinks! Lou .

. Hi Ya Olham, nice to 'see' you too my friend! .

. Hi ya Tamper, You are quite right, I haven't been around here lately. RL is busy - again. I will check my messages. Thanks! .

. "A Story for the Season" 1916: Christmas Eve at the Front. The War has dragged itself along on its steely, mud-caked claws for over two years, and the end seems no closer now than when it all began. At an RFC aerodrome not ten miles from the first line trenches, a group of airmen sit through the morning’s briefing, and prepare themselves for the day’s work. They are nearly all young men, at least in years. But with war comes age beyond a calendar’s mark, and one would find that each man is far older than first appearance would tell if a moment were taken to look into his eyes. As the meeting breaks the jovial banter can be heard amongst the group: the good-natured ribbing and warnings, the verbal jousting, the camaraderie and the closeness that bonds souls together in such tenuous and temporary times. Across the mud at a German aerodrome, a similar scene is being played out. The Jagdstaffel pilots there are also preparing themselves for the task at hand. To look at them, you might imagine they were schoolmates of their British counterparts, rather than enemies soon to be locked in mortal combat. For they too laugh and joke, and share that same bond. And they too are of the "old young". The hour is at hand. On each side the signal is given and the small, fast scout planes skim along the cold, icy ground, and one by one lift into a winter sky as grey as the earth below. They form up, and after climbing to their prescribed altitudes, they head towards No Man’s Land and on to do their best; for King and Country; für Kaiser und Vaterland. They meet, and there is the initial gun pass as each sizes up the other. A few moments later and the aerial battle begins in earnest. To those in the fight it is a mind-numbing blur of action that runs in both accelerated and slow motion simultaneously. A split second given to pull the trigger as a plane zips across the sights: an eternity spent to try and twist out of the path of the bullets. An entire lifetime won or lost in less than an eye blink. To those on the ground it appears as a graceful ballet of the sky, the canvas-feathered birds turning and rolling and climbing and diving. But it is a dance to the death more often than not, and it will end when one or more has fallen. And one has fallen. The long, slow, spiraling pirouette as the finale comes to the dance. The others have now tired and as if by mutual agreement or unseen signal the partners separate and turn away. The audience below does not understand how it can be over so quickly. They cannot see the fatigue and exhaustion of those in the air; cannot see their battered ships, or their bruised and aching bodies; or their tired, aging eyes. No, they can see none of these things, any more than the men in the air can see the pain or the agony endured by those who must fight on the ground. Each sees the other from afar, as through a glass darkly. It is an irony of war that in each case, either in the Sky or on the Earth, a man better understands and is more akin to the enemy he fights in his realm than to his own countrymen above or below. Christmas Eve at the Front. Night has fallen and the pilots sit about the dinner table at their respective aerodromes, and talk of flying and fighting, and of family and friends. Wishes of the Season are shared, letters from home are read. Songs of hope are sung and toasts are made to fellow flyers, and to mothers and sweethearts. At one of the tables an empty chair stands in remembrance of the comrade lost that day, and to whom the final toast is made. He will be missed, and to a loved one back home he will forever be a young man with bright, happy eyes; forever a photograph, a memory of a life that could have been. It matters not which side he fought for. He was a man, a part of human kind, and with his passing we are all the lesser for it. . May you have safe and blessed holidays wherever you are, and may we each remember the true message of this season: Peace on earth, good will toward men. .

. Hauksbee, I hope you can get all the tweaks sorted out and we can move ahead with finishing up Boistrancourt, and move on to a new project - like Roucourt. But I still think that the photo give the impression that Disney is building a new theme park. .

. That is a poignant photo Widowmaker. And about the incident annoying the brass hats? We can only hope. .