RAF_Louvert

. Yuppers WM, OFF will do that to you, and from my experience generally when you least expect it. I suggest a double, Sir. .

. I have played around with the AA and hi rez settings as well and will say that, with my nVidia card, I also find a much bigger difference is seen by adjusting the AA settings than I have ever been able to achieve with the hi rez settings. But I imagine there are a lot of system variables at play here so there is likely not a one-size-fits-all configuration that will yield best results. .

. A nice lot of photos there Duke. Thanks for sharing the link. And it looks to me like you have the spelling of Die Deutschen Luftstreitkräfte sorted out just fine already. .

. Thanks for the Happy Father's Day wishes Shiloh, mine was excellent. I was up early and flew several successful missions with 24 RFC in my trusty DH2, following which my two daughters stopped by and took me out to breakfast. Shortly thereafter I took a nap on the couch; then I woke up and watched "Sahara". Later, my lovely wife fixed me a wonderful supper, and after that we went for a walk down by the river. Came back home and watched a couple of "Law and Order" episodes, and by then it was just about time to call it a day. But not before reading a chapter of "Open Cockpit". A good day indeed. .

. Outstanding work and craftsmanship Flyby, well done Sir. As to coming over to the US in hopes of making more money with your offerings, this would not be a good time for such. Our economy is also in the toilet thanks to the bankers and crooked Wall Street types and the politicians who support both. Housing starts are the worst in decades, home foreclosures are through the roof, benefits and salaries are being slashed, and good healthcare is now affordable only to the aforementioned bankers, crooked Wall Street types, and politicians. But it's all fine and everything is getting better, it says so in the news media so it must be true. .

. I agree LIMA, your graphics card is just not big enough nor fast enough to keep up with the demands of OFF. If the budget is tight you could go with the GeForce 9800 GTX+, which is the card I've been running for a good long time now and it does a fine job for a cheap price. You can find them on eBay starting at around $35 or so, and Buy It Now offers for around $60. This card also overclocks very nicely using RivaTuner, (a free program), and will definitely give you a vast improvement over what you are seeing now. I run the sliders at 5-4-4-5-5 with my current set-up. CPU: Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0ghz Wolfdale 6mb 1333fsb 45nm with Arctic Cooler Memory: 8gb DDR2 PC2-6400 800mhz Mobo: ASUS P5QL Pro Hard Drive: 2 Western Digital 640 GB Caviar Black SATA Opti Drive: LG 22X DVD+/RW Dual Layer SATA Rewrite Video Card: Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512mb PS: Diablo 900 Watt Windows XP Pro 64-bit OS LG W2240T 21.5" flat screen LCD monitor .

. Many things posted here by you folks are so familiar to me as well. Work continues to keep me extremely busy and on the road a lot. However, home life has been a bit quieter as of late. It's just Jane and I now in the old farm house as all the kids are grown and on their own. My OFF flying is about three times a week, in the very early morning hours, when I can get in the odd campaign mission. Still doing the full immersion thing, with the 'paper map' pulled up on my second computer, so I require about two hours of real time for each mission I fly. .

. Very handy tables there Duke, well done Sir. I had posted the following some time back that dealt with the same little missing bit of immersion: OFF Calendar Topic It honestly does change how you write your reports and log entries when you know what day of the week it actually was. Lou .

. Pol, that is soooooooooo very neat! And the landscape details just keep getting better and better. P4 is going to be an amazing upgrade. .

. Greetings All, Been on the road like mad for the last few weeks and am home for a day so I thought I'd better check in with you lot and see how things are going in the OFF skies. Also wanted to share my latest find with you folks. A 1964 MGB with 59,000 original miles. I have loved these little sports cars since my tour in England in the mid 1970's where I banged about in a '67 model. This one is the earliest incarnation of the breed, with the steel disc wheels, three-main-bearing motor, pull handles, banjo steering wheel, Jaeger gauges, multi-piece grille, and a host of other little items that make it a most desirable B to have. It needs a total restoration, but it is complete and unaltered, (with the exception of a newer radio), and I am the fourth owner since it was built. The top is a new one that had not even been snapped in place until I got it home. The very best part is that I only paid $900 for the buggy and even though I will be spending $1,500 in sheet metal on the underside, plus another $2,500 on interior, paint, and trim work to get it all back to 100%, it is so worth it. It's been about 10 years since my last old vehicle restoration and I've been itching to get on to another one. Me so happy! Cheers! Lou .

. Alrighty then Olham and Dej, we shall restart the contest sometime in the future when perhaps more flyers will jump in and particiapte. Might even have an extra goodie or two to add to the prize package. Carrick, it will be a sweet ride and even now it just looks so good in my driveway. Muesli, it may be that certain British-built cars are of dubious quality, but then so am I. It seems a good pairing. Uncleal, the knee action shocks are just part of the charm. I'll keep the buggy just the way it was intended, less-than modern shocks, hinky electrical system and all. Olham, you are quite right, I do tend to take on lost causes, and I think they know it as they seem to seek me out. Hasse Wind, you are spot on, that is the whole point. John, I will be sure and post pictures of my progress. And I'll keep an eye open for your '67 Goat, (best looking GTO ever IMHO). VP, I like the British Racing Green a lot, but I will be sticking with the Tartan Red that the car came with. And even though I love the wire wheels, the steel disc wheels that are on the car are the very, VERY rare originals, and look quite sharp when they have the hubcaps on them, which they will again. Slarti, you have the right attitude concerning the old iron. That oil spot on the garage floor is a badge of honour to any owner of such old classic rides. Lewie, the tin worm has indeed had its way on the underside of the B, but it has met it's match. I've thwarted many such steel-munching pests in my day. Dej, a 'bit of work' is yet another beautiful example of English understatment. You're likely quite right about seeing less of me around the forums, at least while the weather is nice, but I will still be stopping in from time to time to scam a pinta' and swap stories. Now, as to a Naval 10 paint scheme --- hmmmm. Cheers! Lou .

. I haven't forgotten about the contest, I've simply been out so much that I couldn't post entries and be around to respond to answers in a timely fashion, (sorry about that). Perhaps it would be best to restart it again at a later date when more folks might have a go at it, if that's OK with you Gents. .

. An open tab at the pub all day Gents. The drinks are most assuredly on me! Cheers! Lou (OFF veteran of 4000 posts, aviateur extraordinaire, great adventurer, grand amateur de femmes, poet laureate, and humble man) .

LIMA, from what I've read over the years, the contact patrol was meant to locate your troops AND the enemy's. In fact, the first basic outline of instructions to pilots concerning the contact patrol was something along the lines of, "Fly low over the front, reconnoiter the situation, fly back and report immediately". As to nipping across and strafing enemy troops, while it may not have been in the official instructions, it appears to be something that was condoned, at least on occasion, as evidenced by numerous MID's for that very action during contact patrols. .

. Oh indeed 'wasted' has that meaning over here across the Pond as well Dej, (as does bombed, blitzed, crocked, hammered, looped, loaded, plastered, plowed, ripped, sauced, snockered, tanked, wrecked, zoned, and a host of others), and I assumed you meant such in your comment. I simply chose to take a different tack concerning our crew being three sheets to the wind. .

. Yes, they'll do that. Very ungentlemanly of them. .

. Many thanks Dej. Sorry you missed the soirée my friend, but it sounds as if you had a fine time anyway. And wasted our leave you say? I think not! We came back from our little recon with valuable information. We now know just how many pilots and show girls you can fit on a double-decker bus in a pinch. And, we also discovered that mixing French champagne with Irish whiskey and German beer can create a situation in one's gizzard akin to the Battle of the Somme. .

. BH, you forgot to mention the brave crews of loyal runner dogs that brought messages back and forth to the frontline troops throughout the War. Unsung heros the lot of them. I agree the primary breakdown in communication was still between offensive, (and defensive), army HQ's and their forward ground units, however the situation was still greatly improved over what it was before the aeroplane. Indeed radio made THE difference in later years, but the ability to fly immediately over battles in action and relay information back within minutes rather than hours did alter the War, (regardless of how imperfect that information may have been on occasion, or how slowly the HQ's may have chosen to react to it, or how long it may have taken the information to work it's way back up to the troops fighting). .

. Wayfarer, somewhere between 800' and 1,200' is historically correct for such patrols, (so Hasse Wind you are right in there Sir), with the occasional swoop down to 500' or so to machine gun the trenches. Just remember, your primary task is to take note of troop locations and movements and the like, and get back with the needed information for the brass hats at HQ. .

. Welcome to the OFF skies Trackpad. While you may be the new lad here, it sounds from Shredwards' comment that you are a veteran to WWI aviation interests in other genre. As mentioned, the new man buys the drinks. However, as has also been mentioned, we did tie one on this last Friday eve and I am still limiting my intake, so a nice hot cuppa' coffee for me with just a touch of fresh cream. There's a good man. .

. ...coincidentally 4000 is also the number of drinks we downed VP...oh, me achin' head...and we pranged more than our kites last night Macky old boy...quite the bender in Amiens...by the time everyone signed on we had to abandon the tenders for larger transport... ...only half the crew's accounted for at this point but I imagine they'll be straggling back throughout the course of the day...coffee...where's the damned valet with my coffee...I'm supposed to be on patrol in 20 minutes...oh God, I hope I won't have to fire off the Lewis... .

. Magneto switch key...BOOYAH! Me ol' memory still comes up with the proper tidbit every now and again. Great photos Jim, many thanks for sharing them here. I've already saved them to the proper folder in my computer. .

. Duke, I seem to recall reading somewhere that the Albatros had a 'key' to the ignition switch and this key was often attached to a small chain. Not being able to see the item in the photo I can't really be sure if it is key-like or not. The only other item that comes to mind that might be attached to a chain and found in the cockpit would be the little hammer to unjam the guns. .

. Duke, I don't believe that is Billy Bishop either. However, the man may be wearing a British uniform. The upper and lower pocket flaps on the tunic are not typical of a US outfit, but rather look exactly like those on a British item. However, the collar isn't right with the button front for the British. The wings also don't look quite right for a Brit, though there were many variants of said wings. On second thought, perhaps it is a British-made US tunic. .

. Without a doubt Olham, one of the richest archives on the net. Thanks for posting the link for our new members who may not be aware of this must-see collection. .