RAF_Louvert

. Yes, quite right Olham, and thank you. I thought it best that you Central fliegers draw your own angebracht correlations for this exercise. I was only providing some for the Allied pilots. .

. Think of it folks, with SimHQ now being OFF's "Official" forum locale and Combat Ace back in the fray we now have an even more realistic WWI feel. I find myself imagining our forums at SimHQ as our very own St. Omer, where all the Brass Hats are situated and from where all official despatches and orders disseminate. While our good old forums here at Combat Ace are rather like Bailleul aerodrome, our long-standing base of actual operations and where we all hang our collective flying caps. I'll be making the regular runs up to St. Omer to pick up the odd new aeroplane from the depot, and to get the latest official news from the powers-that-be, perhaps even pop into town for a bite to eat. See, it will be just that much more like it was for our RL counterparts. Lou .

. The Alsace is a very interesting region of Europe indeed and I've been learning a great deal about it over the last year or so as I've done research for my OFF pilot's bio and background. There some good material about the area in Doerflinger's book "Stepchild Pilot". Thanks for sharing the pics Sir. .

. Lucky indeed! No such school trips when I was a boy. "Today children I have something very special planned for you. We're going to take a tour of the cardboard box factory ... again." .

. Outstanding discussion here and excellent points being made by all. My opinion about MvR's actions that day is that he had hit that point which so many of the WWI flyers seemed to have hit after being in the thick of it for months and years. The ones who kept notes or diaries nearly all expressed the same thing, though each in their own way, and I suppose 'resigned' comes as close as any word to summing it up. Resigned: to the idea that they were not going to survive the war; to the fear that the situation wasn't going to change; to the realization that the whims of the gods had far more to do with their life or death than their own actions; to the fact that above all else they were just tired. Once that thing gets stuck in your brain it sits there. You might push it back and try to work around it, but it is still there, just waiting. The few long-serving veteran pilots who outlived the war were simply lucky. Lucky that when the moment came and that thing came creeping out from it's hiding place, affecting their actions in battle, it didn't get them killed. Just my opinion, based on my own readings over the years, and my observations of human nature. .

. Dej, the info posted earlier in this thread by LIMA is all I've ever come across myself as concerns this plane. Wish there was more. It is a good-looking bird. .

. Loved Procol Harum back in the day. Still do actually. Lost count how many times back in the late '60s and ealry '70s I slow danced with some comely lass to "A Whiter Shade of Pale". Good times. Some hazy ones as well, but still good. .

. C'mon Jim, don't beat around the bush. Tell us what you really think. But seriously, erudite as always Sir. .

. I know what it is Olham, but I won't say. I will say however that the Brits also set up a few planes for trench strafing in a similar fashion. There were some Camels that packed a set of MGs angled down below the fuselage. To that Russian 'D' ? Just copy and paste, mein Freund. .

. Gesundheit, Pips. My oh my ... Olham drooling ... Pips sneezing ... seems like there may be a touch of the OFF2 flu going around. Glad I haven't been affe-affe-affected by it. .

. Wouldn't that make it a д.1 then, Olham? .

. Ah yes, I am familiar with that particular Jane's publication, though I do not have a copy of it on my own shelves ... yet. .

. Just ask Shredward, he knows. Thanks for the detailed info Sir. .

. Yes Olham, in the scant information that still exists concerning this plane, there is noted that it did not perform notably better than the Albatros Scout and so it was passed on for production. Also, if you had clicked through the Friedrichshafen pics listed on Rosebud's you would have found the very photo, albeit a much smaller and lower quality version. .

. Hasse Wind, I said it was obscure. Maeran, did that photo you posted come from W.M. Lamberton's, "Fighter Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War" ? RugbyFan, meant to say earlier, I'd love to see a few of those same two-seaters as well in OFF2. We live in hope. .

. And there you have it: A Friedrichshafen FF 46 (D.I) fighter/scout. Well done Cody, LIMA, and Maeran. .

. VP and Olham, it is not an Albatros, Halberstadt, Pfalz, or Roland of any kind. Nor is it a Fokker. Think about companies far more noted for producing bombers ... heavy bombers. .

. VP, the Halb D.II was a workhorse of the WWI German Air Service. Remember, I mentioned this was an unusual single-seater, and IIRC not one that ever ended up going into production. .

. No no, not a Roland of any kind Olham, I only meant that LFG was licensed to build planes for the company that actually designed the one in the photo. Also, to the best of my recollection, the kite shown never went into production as it was not seen as an improvement over the Albatros of the day. .

. Wayfarer, historically you should be seeing quite a lot of German two-seaters flying support for the advancing ground troops, and therefore German fighters flying cover for said two-seaters. .

. No Olham, not a Sablatnig model. However, Luft-Fahrzeug-Gesellschaft, (better known as LFG and/or Roland), was under contract to build aeroplanes for both Sablatnig and the company responsible for the above design. .

. Here's a fine HQ photo of an unusual Great War German single-seater. I've run across smaller examples of this particular photo, however never one this large. So who here can ID this particular craft? Enjoy! .

. I would need a much larger room with far more corners, Hasse Wind. .

. Olham, yes Sir, an original medal, ribbon, and bars. While original US WWI Victory Medals are still relatively easy to find in this country, and at affordable prices, the Army 'Aviation' bar is VERY hard to come across. Probably a good idea too about the shoe shopping. Jarhead, there was an official Navy 'Aviation' bar which is rectangular with the rope edging, (like all the Navy bars are for this medal). The Army version however was an unofficial item that US soldiers either purchased in France and added to their medal on their own, or did the same thing once they got back to the states, buying the bar through the American Legion or VFW. Also, the ribbon on this one is the original silk item, and as you say is still in amazingly good shape after all this time. .

. Here's the latest addition to my gathering of Great War remembrances: A US WWI Victory Medal with the oft seen 'St. Mihiel' and "Meuse-Argonne' bars, AND the ultra rare, (and unofficial), Army 'Aviation' bar. Me so happy! .