RAF_Louvert

. 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. .

. This last week I picked up another three wonderful tomes to add to my collection. The first is an original private printing of Jack Morris Wright's letters home, entitled 'A Poet of the Air'. Collected together by his mother and published through the Houghton Mifflin Company in 1918 shortly after Jack's death, these intimate letters to family and friends give a wonderfully bittersweet insight into the personal thoughts and hopes and dreams of a young man who volunteered for service in France in April of 1917. Shortly after earning his wings and commission as a 1st Lieutenant in the US Army Air Service, he was killed in a crash during advanced combat flight tactics training in January of 1918. I've read this work before and find Jack's letters to be superb in the way they show the excitement, the self-examination, the vanity, the insight, the joy, and the idealism of youth in a time of war. The second is 'Capronis, Farmans, and Sias: U.S. Army Aviation Training and Combat in Italy With Fiorello LaGuardia 1917-1918' by Jack B. Hilliard. This gorgeous 616-page volume incorporates entries from the diaries and letters of the first 46 US Army flyers to go to Italy in 1917 to train under the command of Fiorello LaGuardia, and to battle the Germans along the Italian front. FIlled with many rare photos of the pilots and their planes, along with numerous maps, it is an incredible resource detailing the first American flyers at this oft-forgotten front. And the third, (following Shiloh's report on how much he enjoyed the book), a fine hardcover 1st U.S. printing of 'Horses Don't Fly: A Memoir of World War I', by Frederick Libby. So many books, so little time. .

. 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. .

. 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. .

. Led, I've not found much in the way of good images of French items apart from the pilot ID certificates. The logbooks and AAR's that I have seen though are more or less just like those of the other flying services, except they're in French. .

. Slarti, you should pop over to the BOC thread and post your qualifications: The Barmy OFFers Club You'll be a shoe in. .

. Welcome back, Schlissefahrt! I don't really have much to add to all the helpful comments already posted here, other than to say that returning OFF flyers buy the drinks! Cheers! Lou .

. Actually, all you have to do to get full credit for an airfield attack is to 'kill' just one of the soldiers on the field who's popping away at you with his rifle. That being said, I normally go for a plane or two on the ground myself. .

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