RAF_Louvert

. Well Herr Prop-Wasche, I'll have to load this latest effort of yours up and give it a try Sir, thanks for putting it togther and sharing it with us all. Looks quite tantalizing. But I'm going to wait until my current campaign has ended before making the change. Cheers! Lou .

. Better late than never, I say. Well done Hellshade. Great PR for our much-beloved sim. I'm buying you a drink Sir. Cheers! Lou .

. WWI was, and remains, one of the most God Awful periods of all our civilizations' history, bar none, IMHO. And THIS still remains one of the most concise explanations of how it all came about: How The War Started All kidding aside, I pray to everything good and just that we never have to see it's kind again and I am sorry for all those throughout the ages who have had to endure and suffer war. I would hope we could leave something better to the generations to come, but I fear our nature will not allow it. I wish very much to be proven wrong on that last point. .

. Greetings All, I've been gone most of this week and got back late last night, so I will hopefully be getting caught up this weekend on all the latest happenings around here. In the meantime, I wanted to share with you my latest idea on how to improve the continuity of my current campaign pilot's ongoing story. As some of you know, I began several weeks ago documenting Paul Blum's career with FFA 48 over in the "Reports From The Front" thread and will continue to do so. But rather than inserting the new episodes and letters and such directly into my posts I will instead be inserting the following link, which will take you to an actual page I have built just for this pilot. Here it is: Paul Blum's Story I believe this gives a much better flow to the story and allows for a more traditional reading experience. Perhaps some of you other OFF writers have access to some web space that you could park a page on for this purpose. If so, you should consider this for your pilot's who survive long enough to have a fuller story fleshed out around them. It would be great for folks like me who enjoy reading through the entire storylines. Now, I hope you will enjoy the latest installment of Paul's ongoing adventure, and the new format it is being offered in. Cheers! Lou .

. Dej, that is without a doubt my favorite poem on the sheer joy of flying. And while it may not be WWI-related, it none-the-less should be shared here. Thanks for posting it Sir, and thank you as well for your kind words about my effort, glad to know you enjoyed it. Also, while I did bring in Hera, Greek goddess of the Sky, I purposely did not stick with just Greek mythology in my work. I made use of Mars, Roman god of War, as well as Ahriman, the Persian spirit of destruction responsible for introducing death into the world. And too, I added the Old Testament elements of God and the Devil and salvation and damnation, all in an attempt to have the reader hover throughout the poem between life and death and Heavan and Hell. .

. That's a good reference site in just so many ways. .

. Aaaah Olham, I can understand being hounded by the puzzlements of life. Glad to know you enjoyed the poem, many thanks for the comments Sir, and also for the timely anecdote and the quote from MvR. .

. Thank you Olham for posting that work of yours again, I was hoping you would since it most ceratinly belongs here for everyone to enjoy. Well done Sir. However, I couldn't help but notice that despite you making note of other folks posts here you did not comment on the work I posted to kick this thread off. Not to your liking, Herr Olham? .

. Bravo! Author! Bravo! Well done, Dej. Also, Mike, Baldric's two examples show classic English rhythmic variations on the iambic meter. Man's a genius. .

. hee, hee...apologies to you Olham, I know you know that Sir. I was having a bit of fun with my last post, (as I am prone to do, and likely too often). Was just imagining what a 1916 real estate agent might be saying about the region to potetnial clientele. Carrick, the scenery does provide a nice distraction as you're crashing, now doesn't it. I learned that a while back myself flying for N67, and if my luck runs as normal I imagine I'll be experiencing it again all too soon. .

. Oh you should by all means, Olham. It's a lovely area: mountain vistas, picture postcard valleys, beautiful blue rivers. And I hear property is very affordable. I intend to retire there if I happen to survive the current altercation. .

. Many thanks Si, WK, and Pol for the responses and information. As I said, I am not complaining a bit about having the added excitement. Only curious. Cheers! Lou .

. Si, I don't think any of us here who have written stories, prose, and/or poetry imagine it to be art. I know for me it is simply about attempting to document an experience, (granted a virtual one), and convey that via the written word. There is of course no way any of us can hope to understand precisely how it was for our Great War counterparts who actually lived, fought, and died in the process of enduring the adventure. However, I don't believe that means we cannot at least attempt to get under their skins, so to speak, and try best as we can to express what we feel on the subject, albeit 100 years removed and from the relative comforts of our various abodes. I say, "Write on, oh brave warriors, write on." .

. Absolutely spot on, rabu. Additionally, it was Student's first confirmed claim and it was shot down near Peronne. He then had a synchronised LMG 08 machine gun fitted and German markings applied, and apparently flew it in combat. Hmmmm...now I wonder which website I got this photo from? OK then, your turn rabu, and I will keep mum on it as well. I promise. Cheers! Lou .

. Greetings All, As some of you already know, my latest DiD campaign is with Paul Blum of FFA 48, flying the Walfisch, (a great 2-seater to fight in BTW). It began on 30 April, 1916, and it is now 4 June, 1916. In that amount of time Paul and his gunner Karl Weimerann have shot down 18 Nieuport Bebes from two different escadrilles, ten of which are now officially credited, (as of 3 June 1916), five others denied, and three pending. Our recce and arty spotting flights are being bounced at least 70 percent of the time by the pesky French flyers, and while this makes for exciting times it does seem a bit extreme in terms of historical aspect. Keep in mind I have air activity set for "light" and AI aggresiveness set at "historical", and I do not use any aids in order to try and locate the EA, (apart from EyeBall 20-20). I also do not go diving into fights unless absolutely necessary as I am attempting to follow mission plans whenever possible to keep things more accurate. But even at that several of the Nieuports will often climb up and engage me despite my wingmen being lower and battling it out with other EA. And this is all going on in the Alsace in the first half of 1916. Just seems a bit too much in this AO for this time period of the War. Now, I am not complaining mind you, but I am wondering if others have noticed this much action in a similar setting. Thoughts? Lou .

. Alrighty then Gents, ID this plane and give us it's story: Cheers! Lou .

. Olham, you are very close Sir. It is in fact the Pfalz DR2, the slightly smaller and lighter version of the Pfalz DR1. And you can see the two of them in this uncropped version of BB's photo: Cheers! Lou .

. Olham, what type of monitor are you running and what are your color settings? Your screenshots are always so vibrant. Very nice. .

. Hellshade, you really are a wonder with those videos of yours. A very hearty "Well done!" to you Sir for all your fine, quality efforts. .

. Aaaah TrollBreath, one of the best of the best right there Sir. I was hoping that McCrae classic would show up here soon. .

. WOW! Outstanding shots there Mike. Someone should let those slip over to the other WWI flight sims and their entusiasts so that they might see what they're missing. Well done. .

. appraiserfl, I say go for that next pair as well. You can never have too much fine artwork about, IMHO. I feel the same way towards good books too. .

. Thanks Mike, glad you enjoyed it Sir. Also, based on your outstanding combat reports, I am betting you'd have some spiffing poetry as well. And a pair of dittys from carrick and TrollBreath. Well done Gents. C'mon folks, don't be shy. .

. B-E-A-U-tiful appraiserfl! Those are going to look great in your office. .

. Two fingers of Tullamore Dew 12 should do me nicely, thank you very much. .