RAF_Louvert

. AAAAAAAAH HAAAA HAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !!! And no, my name is not Lederhosen, but then my German is atrocious so I probably just misread that bit. .

. I have not seen that film RC, but now I want to! Thanks for sharing the link Sir. .

. Was ist der Sinn des Lebens? .

. Thanks Gents, I am a bit of a fool for old books. Shiloh, I don't believe I have ever been disappointed by any of the writings I've purchased over the years, and I am sure your recommendation is sound. Also, I can appreciate living on the frugal side, I've been doing it most of my life. Now then, since you mentioned my WWI book collection, after these latest acquisitions it is looking like this: Personal Narratives and Biographies: "A Flying Fighter", E.M. Roberts, (1918 1st Edition) "Airmen O' War", Boyd Cable, (1918 1st Edition) "An Airman Marches", Harold Balfour, (Vintage Aviation Library Edition) "An Airman's Outings", Alan 'Contact' Bott, (1917 1st Edition) "An Aviator's Field-Book", Oswald Bolcke, English Translation, (1917 1st Edition) "A Poet Of The Air", Jack Morris Wright, (1918 1st Edition) "A Rattle Of Pebbles: The First World War Diaries Of Two Canadian Airmen", Brereton Greenhous, (1987 1st Edition) "Beyond the Tumult", Barry Winchester, (1971 1st Edition) "Cavalry of the Clouds", Alan 'Contact' Bott, (1918 1st Edition) "Cloud Country", Jimmie Mattern, (1936 Pure Oil 1st Edition) 3-volume set "Days on the Wing", Willy Coppens, English Translation, (1931 1st Edition) "Death in the Air", William Heinemann, (1933 Edition) (famous faked aerial photos) "Double-Decker C.666", Haupt Heydemarck, English Translation, (1931 1st Edition) "En L'air!", Bert Hall, (1918 1st Edition) "Fighting the Flying Circus", Edward Rickenbacker, (1919 1st Edition) "Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps", James McCudden, (1918 1st Edition) "Flying for France", James McConnell, (1917 1st Edition) "Go Get 'Em!", William Wellman, (1918 1st Edition) "Guynemer, Knight of the Air", Henry Bordeaux, English Translation, (1918 1st Edition) "Heaven High, Hell Deep", Norman Archibald, (1935 Signed 1st Edition) "High Adventure", James Norman Hall, (1918 1st Edition) "Horses Don’t Fly: A Memoir of World War I", Frederick Libby, (2000 1st US printing) "Immelmann: The Eagle of Lille", Franz Immelmann, English Translation, (1930 1st Edition) "In The Clouds Above Bagdad", J.E. Tennant, (1920 1st Edition) "Kitchener's Mob", James Norman Hall, (1916 1st Edition) "Letters From a Flying Officer", Rothsay Stuart Wortlrey, (1928 1st Edition) "Memories of World War 1", William Mitchell, (1960 Edition) "My Experiences in the World War", John J. Pershing, (1931 1st Edition) 2-volume set "Night Bombing with the Bedouins", Robert Reece, (Battery Press Edition) "Nocturne Militaire", Elliot White Springs, (1934 Edition) "No Parachute", Arthur Gould Lee, (1970 1st US printing) "Open Cockpit: A Pilot of the Royal Flying Corps", Arthur Gould Lee, (1969 1st Edition) "Rovers of the Night Sky", W.J. 'Night-Hawk' Harvey, (Vintage Aviation Library Edition) "Sagittarius Rising", Cecil Lewis, (1936 Edition, 1st US printing) "Stepchild Pilot", Joseph Doerflinger, (1959 1st Edition) "The Flying Poilu", Marcel Nadaud, English Translation (1918 1st Edition) "The Red Knight of Germany", Floyd Gibbons, (1927 1st Edition) "The Way of the Eagle", Charles Biddle, (1919 1st Edition) "Up And At 'Em", Harold Hartney, (1940 1st Edition) "War Birds; Diary of an Unknown Aviator", Elliot White Springs, (1926 1st Edition) "Whom The Gods Love", Lewis C. Merrill, (1953 1st Edition) "Wind in the Wires", Duncan Grinnell-Milne, (1918 1st Edition) "Winged Warfare", William Bishop, (1918 1st Edition) "Winged Peace", William Bishop, (1940 1st Edition) "With the Earth Beneath", A.R. Kingsford, (1936 1st Edition) "With the Flying Squadron", Harold Rosher, (1916 1st Edition) History, Reference, and General Interest Books: "A World Undone: The Story of the Great War 1914 to 1918", G.J. Meyer, (2006 Edition) "Air Aces of the 1914-1918 War", Bruce Robertson, (1964 Edition) "Aircraft of Today", Charles Turner, (1917 1st Edition) "Aviation in Canada 1917-18", Alan Sullivan, (1919 1st Edition) "Capronis, Farmans, and Sias: U.S. Army Aviation Training and Combat in Italy With Fiorello LaGuardia 1917-1918 ", Jack B. Hilliard, (2006 1st Edition) "Colliers New Photographic History of the World War", (1917 Edition) "Decisive Air Battles of the First World War", Arch Whitehouse, (1963 1st Edition) "Fighter Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War", W.M. Lamberton, (1964 Edition) "Flying The Old Planes", Frank Tallman, (1973 Edition) "Fragments From France", Bruce Bairnsfather, (1917 1st Edition) (Great War cartoons by the master of the genre) "Heros of Aviation", Laurence La Tourette Driggs, (1919 1st Edition) "High in the Empty Blue", Alex Revell, (1995 1st Edition with author's signature card) "Historic Airships", Rupert Holland, (1928 1st Edition) "History and Rhymes of the Lost Battalion", L.C. McCollum, (1929 Edition) "History of the World War", Francis March, (1918 1st Edition) "History of the Great World War", Rolt-Wheeler and Drinker, (1919 1st Edition) "Land and Water" Magazine, (entire April through September 1917 series, hard bound, ex-library copy) "Ludendorff's Own Story", Erich Ludendorff, (1919 1st Edition) "National Geographic" Magazine, (entire 1918 series, hard bound, ex-library copy) "Reconnaissance & Bomber Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War", W.M. Lamberton, (1962 Edition) "Rhymes of a Red Cross Man", Robert W. Service, (1916 1st Edition) "Source Records of the Great War", (1923 1st Edition) 7-volume set "The First War Planes", William Barrett, (1960 Edition) (the one that started it all for me) "The Great Air War", Aaron Norman, (1968 Edition) "The Great War", George H. Allen, (1919 1st Edition) 5-volume set "The Great War in the Air", Edgar Middleton, (1920 1st Edition) 4-volume set "The Imperial Russian Air Service, Famous Pilots and Aircraft of World War One", Alan Durkota, (1996 1st Edition) "The Lafayette Flying Corps", by James Hall and Charles Nordhoff, (1964 Kennikat Press limited edition two-volume set) "The People's War Book and Atlas", (1920 1st Edition, signed by Lt. Col. William A. Bishop) "The United States in the Great War", Willis Abbot, (1919 1st Edition) "The U.S. Air Service in World War I", Maurer Maurer, (1978 1st Edition) 4-volume set "The War in the Air", Raleigh and Jones, (1st Edition) 9-volume set with map cases, (originally in the military library at Whitehall; my personal Jewel of the Crown) "The Western Front from the Air", Nicholas C. Watkis, (1999 1st Edition) "Time-Life Epic of Flight", 23-volume set, (not old and not strictly WWI but still a lot of good info and photos) "True Stories of the Great War", (1918 1st Edition) 6-volume set "U.S. Official Pictures of the World War", Moore and Russell, (1924 1st Edition) 4-volume set "1920 World Book Encyclopedia", (entire set with addendums, great for cross-referencing in a contemporary context) Instructional Books: "Aeroplane Construction and Operation", John Rathbun, (1918 1st Edition) "English-French War Guide for Americans in France", Eugene Maloubier, (1918 Edition) "Learning to Fly in the U.S. Army", E.N. Fales, (1917 1st Edition) "Lewis Machine Gun 'Airplane Type' Service and Operation Manual", (1918 Edition) "Manual Of Rigging Notes Technical Data", (1918, possible reprint) "Practical Flying", W.G. Minnies, (1918 1st Edition) "The Art of Reconnaissance", David Henderson, (1916 1st Edition) "Science of Pre-Flight Aeronautics", (1942 Edition) "Self-Help for the Citizen Soldier", Moss and Stewart, (1915 1st Edition) .

. OK Parky, now THAT'S funny. .

. It is an excellent idea, and one we have tried more than once around the old place. Here is the link to the most recent attempt started by yours truly about a year ago: The OFF Poetry Corner See how great minds think alike. .

. Well done Slarti, I find your prose here has a fine, honest quality. Never compare your work to others, but only to the standards you yourself have set for it. Your voice is yours and yours alone Sir, it should never be an echo of anyone else's. You say you know not where the inspiration came from, and yet it came. Simply be thankful for it. A muse is a muse, we don't always need to know by what name it is called. Keep writing Slarti, and do so for no one but you. .

. Oh yes,very nice Slarti! I love the Sopwiths, just love 'em. .

. Not quite as keen as a Camel, but she will certainly do. Beautiful. .

. They are actual WWI diaries entered into the blogs on the same days as when they were first written. .

. Dieter's blog appears to be a German complement to this Englishman's diary: War Diary of Harry Lamin .

. No wait, I am in error. They are transcripts from an actual soldier's diary entered in a day-by-day fashion on that blog. Very interesting. .

. Olham, I am relatively certain that is someone's online character blog and not an actual WWI diary. Pretty well done though. .

. Bugger indeed WM. I feel your pain Sir. I dare not even mention where my current RFC pilot is in the numbers at the moment for fear of throwing the evil mojo on him. .

. . BACK ISSUES: The Illustrated BOC News, July 9, 2011 The Illustrated BOC News, July 4, 2011 .

. Uncleal is indeed a gruff character, and could definitely rub folks the wrong way. But as you say Olham, he was honest about it, and he was also quite helpful on many osccasions. Now, while I don't think a person's past should forgive them their bad behaviour it does certainly help to explain it. Uncleal is who he is, and I suspect he finally crossed the line with those who have the power to do something about it. Too bad though, I'll miss him too. .

. Right-o Flyby, so more like 'I Dream of Jeannie' then. She was a spirit inside a...oh wait, I'll wager you meant something else. .

. Not just banned Olham, as his old posts would still be viewable. His entire presence has been deleted. .

. You're right Wayfarer, his posts are gone. Only search results that come up are for his name mentioned in other member's posts. What the... .

. Indeed HW, I wish my French was better as well. 'Les Escadrilles Francaise de la Guerre 1914-1918' has been one of my go-to sources for the French side of the conflict for a long time now, and it is one of the best. Nice find too Olham on that DVII site, well done. .

. Let's hope you have it finally sorted out Wayfarer. We'll keep our fingers crossed. .

. Olham, good point about Bletchley's mission mods for the various time periods of the war. They do a fine job of giving a more realistic line-up of missions and an excellent outline. .

. It has been quite some time since his last post Olham. Like you Sir, I hope everything is OK with our seasoned OFFer. .

. A nice lively discussion going here Gents, it's proof of how much folks are invested in this fine sim. Flyby, to your comment above about how the AI perfom in a fight, that is about how it should be from the many accounts I've read by flyers who were there. The tactics you mention did not come along to any extent until after WWI. Apart from the formation flying done enroute, it really did boil down to more or less an "every man for himself" melee. I don't recall seeing the term 'wingman' in any of the first-hand accounts of the day, only mention along the lines of "so-and-so was flying my portside wing that day". New lads were generally told to stay high and watch the fight rather than joining in, and there are many tales of the more senior pilots jumping in to brush an EA of a new fellow's six. Apart from that, no real wingman tactics of any kind in the Great War, at least none that I've ever seen eluded to. Lou .

. Thanks Gents, glad you're enjoying the BOC News. And apologies to E.A. Poe fans everywhere for my blatant pilfering of Annabel Lee. .