RAF_Louvert

. That is what I had in mind when I began this little project, though it will be sans Penguins. Using one of the OFF airfield facilities as a template I have a good portion of the area put together, (circa early 1915), and have built a "scenario" so that you folks can start in Quick Missions with your early-War pilot candidate. I plan to have a map for you that you can use for your training flights, and once you've successfully completed all those you could then "move on". .

. Oh yes, free beers all around, to be sure. And for those who would like a bit of reading on the subject whilst enjoying said beers, here you go: Ecoles de Pau Hope you've brushed up on your French, elsewise you shall have to resort to Google Translate. .

. DING DING DING! It is Pau! l'école d'aviation de Pau, to use the vernacular. . By the end of WWI it was a massive pilot training complex. .

. Yes indeed, Herr Prop-Wasche! It is a school for prospective pilots. Now then, which facility might it be? Hmmmm. Hint: The manufacturer of the plane ID above had its school there, as did the Wright Brothers, and others. .

. That is precisely the plane I mean LIMA, and yes it is too obvious. However, the locale to which I allude is neither Le Mans nor Reims. Try looking about 450 km due south of Le Mans. .

. No, not the Exposition or Paris, Olham. Quite some distance southwest of there actually, and somewhere often mentioned in the writings of WWI French, British, and US pilots, (and even a few Italian and German WWI pilots as well). .

. Tranquillo, sorry to read of your temporary setback, but you're on track again despite that, so good for you Sir! Olham, good for you as well Sir! Looks like your diet is working too. I am still right in the groove and was at 213.8 pounds as of this Monday morning: We're all going to be so damned svelte when we're done. .

. Well ... in a way ... though not quite like that movie. But definitely early aviation / early war period. .

. Well, I'll jump onboard here and throw in a big "THANKS!" to our CA hosts too. Great digs, nice atmosphere, and a well-stocked bar. Who could ask for more? .

. Wonderful research work here Olham. Very well done, Sir! .

. Olham, I have seen hedges from time to time in OFF, but only when scenery is on 4 or 5, (as noted by Pol). Also, I've never seen that many in one spot before. Where is that, just out of curiosity? .

. Lucky you, Widowmaker! And you as well, Mikeymead. Such sharing of stories from WWII veterans gets rarer with each passing year. I also had the good fortune of 'discovering' an aging veteran and his stories shorlty after I moved to Lester Prairie back in 1987. This little old fellow, Les Baumann, worked part-time at the town hardware store. One day I came in to pick up some supplies and he noticed the 8th Air Force pin on my jacket and asked if I had been in the service. I said I had and a moment later he just opened up and began to tell me about his time in the Army Air Corps in WWII. He was a B-24 navigator and had flown 30 missions in Europe, many of which were night drops of supplies to resistance forces behind enemy lines. He told of how they would come in about 400 feet off the ground in their all-black Liberator, being guided to the drop zone by flashlights on the ground. He also talked about various times when his group flew with British squadrons during joint operations. In particular, he told of one of the '1,000 Plane' bombing missions over Germany where he was in the number 2 plane. As they were nearing their primary target the lead plane was blown out of the sky by flak and it suddenly fell upon him to take over and guide the entire group to their destination. He was 21 years old at that point, and ended up surviving three full years of war service. Utterly amazing to consider the things these kids went through and did over and over until the war was over or until they were disabled, or dead. .

. I purchased HITR for the splashscreen of the N28 being piloted by the tiny little madman. Sorry ... couldn't resist. I love OFF and all its add-ons dearly, but that particular piece of artwork is gawd-aweful. .

. As you wish. .

. I love to fly with this group from it's beginnings and I am hopeful that the many personal paint schemes of the various flyers will be included in OFF2. I've painted most of the Nieups myself for P3 and some will show up on the field when several of the aces are flying. But it would be great to have them all there from the get-go. Two weeks can't come fast enough. .

. Thanks Olham, glad you like it. Now to those clouds, it might simply be a card difference. I have the cloud slider at '5' and in-cloud fog turned on. I also have all the cloud and fog effects enabled in the CFS3 config file. .

. Nothing terribly special here folks, just one of those classic OFF shots. Sergent Langdon Alberts in his N11 engaged with an EIII above the Alsace, May 1916: Still the best WWI combat flight sim ever. .

. Hasse Wind, I can't remember exactly anymore myself how things worked with this in RB3D, though I seem to recall that you were transferred to the US Air Service automatically sometime in early 1918. Olham, a fair number of the French escadrilles early in the war did not paint the "ox eyes" on the fuselage or on the tops of the wings, but only on the undersides. Here is a famous shot of some of the Esc 124 planes showing this lack of markings: .

. Thanks for the kudos Hasse Wind, Olham, and Carrick. It is nice to look out across the field and see the historical markings of the various pilots. And Hasse Wind, I've wondered the same thing about how such things will be handled in the new sim as concerns this rather unique squadron. I keep holding off getting too deep into detailing all the Esc 124 planes as I would prefer to do that work in OFF 2. However, I have spent a fair amount of painting time on the N11 and am hoping that I will be able to use some of the bits and pieces in OFF 2. BTW, here is my current mount in the Escadrille Americaine: It has the pale bluish cream outline on the wings and elevator as well as the pale blue underside. Sergent Langdon Alberts looks mighty fine flying about in this spiffy little kite. .

. Nicely done, Olham. When will you be releasing the album? . . Oh wait, I can answer my own question. Two weeks! .

. hel·i·cop·ter /ˈheliˌkäptər/ - 10,000 moving parts surrounding a hydraulic leak, all trying to get away from each other. .

. Buddy, I missed your post about getting your flying system dialed in and running with sliders way up at the top end. That is a great feeling indeed Sir. Enjoy! .

. Oooo, very handy! Thanks for sharing, Olham. .

. Umm, Carrick, it's "23 Skidoo. Oh, you kid!" and "Tippecanoe and Tyler too." Now back to our regularly scheduled Skin Club. .

. Just remember RP, loaded questions, like loaded guns, have been known to backfire on occasion. But to your issue, it seems odd, and I have not had the same problem. Each kite in OFF tends to react differently to different types of damage. I've gotten hit by the magic bullet many times of course, but more often than not if I do get hit it does nothing more than show a few bullet holes in the wing cloth or tail feathers. Roll rate is not diminished in these instances. Over the many missions flown I've experienced engine failure, loss of fuel and/or oil, damage to any and all controls to varying degrees, and total airframe collapse. I've actually been rather impressed by the diversity of damage modelled into this sim. So I am puzzled by what you are encountering. .