RAF_Louvert

. Iti, there is a wealth of info online about this kite. I suggest you do a Google and check out some of the model forums as they are often a great source for highly detailed photos. Here is just one that popped up on a search: http://ww1aircraftmodels.com/page4.html Good luck with what should prove to be a fine project for you Sir. .

. A beautiful Fee, Pol. You and Sandbagger and the rest of the devs have done Captain Grinnell-Milne and Sergeant MacMaster very proud. .

. Until your post Olham I knew very little about Jacobs, apart from he being listed as one of the higher scoring German aces. Thank you for sharing this link, it was quite informative. .

. "Hello, my name is Louvert, and I'm a buffoon." "HI, LOUVERT." .

. A deadly inheritence to be sure, and one that will continue on and on for generations. .

. Outstanding assessment Si, very well stated. As to MvR's 2-seater kills, IIRC it is somewhere around 48 of his total. .

. Well said, LIMA. The two-seaters were why the fighters were there in the first place. Olham, my reasons for leaving the Aerodrome had to do with the lifetime bannig of another member. A banning I felt was unfair and biased. .

. Olham, I know you are not intending a "who was better" debate here Sir, and neither am I. My only point with my post was to caution that there are a myriad of ways to interprut the information at our disposal. And I also prefer the term 'victory' to 'kill', however I used both above because so often folks look at them as interchangeable. I do not have the numbers you are requesting but I am sure they are available over at the Aerodorme in one of the numerous threads concerning this topic, (but I do not visit there anymore). .

. A most honourable Salute to Mr. Twiss: pioneer, hero, and adventurer. Truly a man who lived life to the fullest. .

. Very good graph Olham, nice and concise. This has always been an interesting, and sometimes heated, topic of discussion, and as folks can already see there are many variables that must be kept in mind when delving into it. Just to give a taste of what an elite British unit tallied during the War here are the stats for the illustrious 56 Squadron, (courtesy of Alex Revell's High in the Empty Blue) Victories: Enemy Aeroplanes Destroyed ... 210 EA Driven Down Out of Control .. 185 Obs Balloons Destroyed .............. 6 Total of 401 Squadron Victories Losses: KIA .......................................... 44 WIA and died of wounds ............. 3 WIA ......................................... 19 POW and died of wounds ........... 1 POW and wounded .................... 8 POW ....................................... 20 KIFA ......................................... 3 Injured IFA and died of wounds .... 1 Injured IFA ................................ 11 As can be seen by just this above example, how you decide to use this information affects the analysis. If you take 56 Squadron's total victories of 401 and place it against it's actual losses of 47 KIA, 29 POW, and 4 KIFA, you end up with just under a 20% loss-to-victory ratio, which puts this RFC unit in amongst the best Jastas, (just imagine how much lower the KIA and POW count would be if these pilots hadn't been working miles behind enemy lines with the wind in their faces when trying to make their escapes in a tough fight). Another particular point that must be kept in mind is that the Allies did not have the benefit of being able to verify the vast majority of their claims as the Central Powers flyers could, because over half of Allied 'kills' went down well behind enemy lines and were not seen to crash. Without a witness to note where the plane hit the ground it was not counted as destroyed but rather as driven down out of control. And this has been one of the points of contention that has started more than a few arguments on this subject: How to count a 'kill'. Great thread going here Gents, but be watchful of your steps navigating the minefield. .

. Harrowing stories here folks, and much too common I fear. WM, I am glad you and your family were among the lucky. Gascan, sorry to read of the loss of your coworker. Olham, your heroic story is one for the telling indeed, and another happy ending too. Slarti, I swear 70% of the drivers on the road never see bikers, which makes it just that much more dangerous to be a rider. Herr Prop-Wasche, glad you didn't have an ender in that incident you described, and also yours Typhoon and Flyby. So many close calls every day on the roadways. In my tens-of-thousands of hours of windshield time over the years I have accrued more such stories than I even care to remember, much less relate. I will say that the worst did not involve my vehicle in the accident but rather one that was attempting to cross a rural highway and another on the main road. I watched in horror as the young man across from me pulled out right in front of an oncoming car that was moving at 65 mph. The woman driving did not even have time to touch the brakes. She hit him directly in his passenger side door: the whole thing happening in slow-motion right in front of me. I shut down my truck, turned on the flashers, and jumped out to help. Another driver sitting behind me did the same and as he ran to the woman's car I ran to the man's. I heard someone yelling, "I'll call 911!" It was a warm summer's afternoon and the young man had his windows open, I saw he was spasming as he attempted to undo his seatbelt. Because it had been a side impact for him the airbag had not deployed. When I got next to the driver's door he stopped his spasms and slumped down into the seat. I could see blood running from his ears and I knew he had sustained massive brain injuries when his head had snapped back in forth in the impact. His eyes were trying to focus but to no avail and I told him to hang in there and that help was coming soon. I placed my hand on his shoulder and kept looking into his fearful, sad eyes, trying to reassure him. I honestly don't know how long it took the first responders to arrive, time ceased to exist at that point. But all at once there were three of them there working to ease the man out of the seat and onto a stretcher. I'd had some emergency training so I stayed with to assist as best I could and kept talking to the fellow, still telling him to "hang in there", when he let out a soft moan as they laid him down...and I watched as the life left his eyes. No more fear, or sadness, or pain. He was simply gone. I looked down at his left hand, he was wearing a wedding ring. I had also noticed a child seat in the backseat of his car. Daddy would not becoming home. I walked back to my truck, drove another mile down the road, pulled over, and cried. I weep even now as I type this. I will never forget that man's eyes. Drive carefully my friends. Make it home to your loved ones safe and sound. .

. Excellent info Hauksbee, albeit on a truly horrendous film. Just think how much more could have been done, given the planes they had to work with, if the film had dealt with Werner Voss and Arthur Rhys Davids. And if they would have engaged in even a modicum of research. Lima, you have missed almost nothing Sir. .

. Sorry, duplicate response. .

. I believe Olham will be able to help you with this one Lima, as well as several other here. .

. What a wonderful snippet of history from a long-forgotten region of imperial contention. That is one boat that definitely deserves a restoration. Thanks for sharing Slarti. .

. Glad to learn that you and yours are OK, Shiloh. So then, from those photos you posted I take it you're considering a career as a storm chaser. .

. . No Wayfarer, I have yet to see any enemy air activity. However, I've been assigned several balloon busting missions and airfield attacks since starting with 4 RFC. The Captain and I successfully knocked down a Hun sausage on one such outing, and destroyed two enemy planes on the runway of an aerodrome sitting right on the edge of the mud during another. We were allowed to turn in claims for those, and frontline ground troops provided witnesses that earned us confirmation of these three 'kills'. We also hit another Boche aerodrome and destroyed two more planes on the ground but did not receive confirmation of those as they were well into enemy territory, even though we had photos of the destruction we had caused, (HQ said it wasn't proof enough...brass hats...feh). .

. Aaaah, so it wasn't the same flyer throughout all those months, but rather a reincarnation. Well then, here's hoping he ultimately reaches Nirvana. .

. Thanks for posting this Olham, I just keep thinking how much fun it would be to get involved in such a project. It certainly is a fine thing that there is such an avid core of craftsmen devoting their time to this. Wayfarer, you have been very fortunate Sir in your stint with the two-seaters. I hope your good fortune continues right on through to the Armistice. .

. And over the landscape of Egypt to boot! Very nice. .

. My son called a couple of hours ago to say that he and his wife are doing fine and riding it out in their apartment in Brooklyn. I sure hope everyone else fares as well out there. .

. Olham, I have felt exactly what you describe when one of my pilots begins to climb into the 'veteran' range. I've reached a point where I try to fly every mission as if it were the very first and the very last for any particular pilot. If I can fly in the moment and work to strike a balance between surviving the mission and giving it my all I seem to have the best luck of staying alive while still "doing my duty". None the less, once my virtual self has 50+ hours under his belt I can get a tad fidgety. Here's Havard's logbook as of about fifteen minutes ago: It takes me a few moments to get into the proper mindset each time the young Lieutenant heads out on his next mission, and it's still very early in the war, and relatively quiet. Imagine the mantra chanting I'll be up to when and if this lad makes it to the arrival of the Fokkers. .

. Personally, Slarti old chap, I think something like this will help make your current woes more palatable, and aid in increasing the speed of the learning curve in your new kite: You've got mail Sir. .

. Ooo, there's an interesting one Olham. The Gourdou-Leseurre GL.a / C1 fitted with the 150hp Hispano Suiza, (or maybe it was the 180hp). Post WWI models of GL aircraft were very fine aeroplanes, not that this version didn't also have good performance for a late-War plane. Not sure why it didn't see combat service. .

. Yuppers, moderately famous about says it Hauksbee. Also moderately humorous as I recall. I'll have to watch it again as it's been many, many moons since I've seen it. .