RAF_Louvert

. The various nations' Unknown Soldier tombs and memorials are the most fitting tribute to all the fallen heros of all the wars around the world, IMHO. There is no need to know their names, they were all a part of us. "No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." (John Donne, 1624) .

. Love 'em all. The MP boys, (and Carol), are still in my top five favs of "British" humour. .

. The more the merrier, so join in Shiloh and Lewie and Hasse Wind, and all! Not to worry about HitR Lewie, I just won't use any of the N28 or DH-5 paints. I'm easy to work with. .

. In my experiences flying small aircraft I have been surprised more than once by another plane that just suddenly seemed to appear from nowhere within half a mile of me, (or less). I have also spotted other planes as far away as 6 to 8 miles on a nice clear day. But I would say the average likely distance for seeing a small plane in clear weather is probably around 2 miles and under. I am always amazed at just how hard they are to spot when I'm up in the air with them, (at least for me anyway). .

. Work has me away for the rest of the day, so I will instead post the next picture at 7:00 p.m. GMT, May 4, (that's about 25 hours from now). That gives you all a bit more time to brush up on your OFF paint ID skills. Cheers! Lou .

. There you go Olham and Dej! And, while technically May never flew for 9 Naval Squadron, I will allow the answer as OFF lists him in that unit. For whatever reason the sim does not show the RAF squadrons after the April 1, 1918 merger of the RFC and RNAS. You both gave excellent answers with good additional information. The standings after the first round: Dej.............3 points Olham........3 points Next picture will be posted at 7:00 p.m. GMT, May 3, (that's in little less than 7 hours from now). C'mon folks, join in. This should be more than a two-horse race! All you need is to look through the skins to find the bulk of the answers for this contest. Lou .

. Ah yes Herr Olham, I should have noted the time AND date for the posting to eliminate just such confusion. So, on this one, I will award points to anyone who gives the correct answers between now and 12:00 noon GMT, May 3rd, 2011 of the Gregorian calender. Consider this one a freebie to all those competing. However, I will not indicate if anyone's posted answers are correct or incorrect until the time I noted above. .

. Alrighty then, here we go Gents. It's time to play, "Who's Paint Is This" ! Here is the first picture: 1. Who was the pilot that flew this paint scheme? 2. Which squadron did he fly for in this paint scheme and during what time period? 3. What is historically significant about this pilot, and how did he come by his nickname? Remember the rules, have fun, and best of luck to all! Lou .

. Well Dej, I'll post the first picture at 11:00 a.m. GMT tomorrow, and see who shows up. If it turns out you're the lone player, then the book's a lock for your collection, Sir. .

. I'm afraid my budget is quite a bit thinner these days, so the prize will be the book I mentioned in the original post. I hope that will be something folks would want to compete for. I know it isn't a WWI order or medal, but still... .

. Oh I seriously doubt that Olham. I'm betting you will do just fine. . .

. Outstanding Dej! You've given not only the correct answers but also ideal examples of the kind of information that should be included in said answers. You've noted Mai's rank at the time he flew this kite, as well as it's ID number. And you've shown your sources. (Word of advice to all those competing: When in doubt it is always better to give more information rather than less.) Well done Dej, if this one had counted you would have been awarded three points for your efforts. I will give others some more time to read through everything here thus far and get familiar with the contest before posting the first of many pictures to come. .

. Greetings All, What say you to a new contest? I think it’s high time, as it’s been well over a year-and-a-half since the last one I hosted. Plus, it would be a fun diversion whilest we all wait patiently for the release of P4. Based on comments that have filtered in over the last few months, the popular idea looks to be one that requires the identification of a specific OFF paint scheme, and with over 4000 to choose from the fields are rich for such a contest. Therefore, I am beginning just such a new scramble for you all. Now then, as last time, I will post a picture with related questions and you will be required to answer those questions correctly to score. Points for each round can either go to a single player who answers all questions correctly, or they can be shared amongst several players who each give one or more right answers. Further, if you answer and are either incorrect or only answered a portion of the questions, you may try again on the same set 36 hours after the time stamp of your last answer, provided someone else hasn't already correctly answered the remaining questions in that group. There will also be occasional ‘Wild Card” postings just to keep things interesting. Over the next couple of months I will run a total of 50 pictures with their related questions, (not counting Wild Cards), and will post a tote board as well so that everyone can keep track of the standings as things progress. And the prize? Apart from garnering bragging rights, the winning player will also receive a nice ex libris copy of the 1968 Doubleday Press hard cover printing of Captain Duncan Grinnell-Milne’s classic, “Wind in the Wires”. This is a wonderful autobiography by a Great War ace who not only scored his first victory while flying in a BE2, but was also a POW for over two years before escaping and making his way back into the skies, where he scored his remaining kills while flying SE5a's with 56 Squadron. So then, to get you all up to speed, let’s have a test run, (no points for this one). Here is the first OFF paint scheme to identify: And here are the questions that relate to the above picture: 1. Who was the pilot that flew in this paint scheme? 2. What Jasta did he fly for while in this paint scheme, and what was the time period? 3. What plane type is this? There you have it. Once the correct answers for the test run are given, we can get started with the contest itself. Have fun folks, ask for clarification on anything if you need to, and good luck to all! Lou .

. Very good Javito, you will not be disappointed with that fine book. Now, drop Alex an email and I bet he sends you an autographed card you can place in the front of it. .

. Oh yes Si, AGL's "No Parachute" is one of the best of the personal WWI pilot writings. Javito, AbeBooks has a fair number of offerings on this one in the $40 to $50 price range. The work of Lee's that is nearly impossible to find at any price is "Open Cockpit: A Pilot of the Royal Flying Corps", which yours truly manged to finally snag an old ex-libris copy of, (and for a very low amount too). I have not read it for over 30 years, and am really looking forward to enjoying it again once more. .

. That's because they are usually having to take off from and land on paved runways. It's likely the exception at the old airshows hosted on grass strips where they are actually back in their element. Good footage BTW, thanks for posting it Carrick. .

. Good luck Javito, I hope you can get it for that opening price. If you do it will be the bargain supreme for that volume. .

. Soppy, all very sound advice here, and I agree completely with the above suggestions. I will also add that if you do need a PS, the Diablotek RPM series offer excellent features and a lot of bang for the buck, although you couldn't really do better than Plug Nickel's generous offer. Free is the best deal of all. .

. Stefnuts, another excellent book that gives a very good historic overview in a more literary style is Aaron Norman's "The Great Air War". Published in 1968, you can usually find original hard cover copies at eBay or AbeBooks for under $10. Cheers! Lou .

. Creaghorn, I think your NASA-tested pedal fixation device / disposable flight extender storage unit makes perfect sense. Plus, when you're wearing those you don't need to be quite as concerned when that crafty enemy suddenly appear from nowhere with guns blazing and scares the crap out of you. I know they work quite well for me in that situation; much tidier. .

. Soppy, I congratulate you most heartily on attaining you MA in History, well done Sir. Best of luck on your PhD. Very sorry to learn of your bad relationship luck however, and I hope you will be able to bounce back from the wreck without too many scars, (though such scars can give one character over the course of one's life). My pleasure to treat you to a round to help repair the damages. Barkeep! Another Jameson for our Captain here. And three fingers of Tullamore Dew for me, next to a fresh cup of hot coffee with just a touch of cream. Cheers! Lou .

. That is great Dej! Now, if you send an email to Alex he will, I am sure, send you a signed card you can place in the front of your new treasure Sir. He did that for me, and for JFM, and for many others no doubt. He is a very decent chap. .

. HEE HAW! Fun thread WM, and I'm back just in time to claim my Royal Wedding moniker before the big event. I shall be Lord Lewis Bella Argonne, (it's true, the lane I grew up on in Minnesota was called 'Argonne Road' and it ran through an area that was plotted in the 1920's and named 'Argonne Woods' in honour of the famed WWI battle sight). Cheers! Lou .

. No Lewie, I think you did quite well in that very brief summary of a rather complex interplay of different forces as regards an aeroplane in flight. And yes, you may also have confused the discussion somewhat, but I don't know how you could avoid all confusion when getting into this discussion. It can get rather thorny trying to explain just how this all works together. Let me give a go at outlining what was happening when one of our WWI counterparts attempted to simply lift off in his trusty Camel: The engine is ticking over nicely, all warmed up and ready to go, so our brave flyer gives the Clerget full power and the Camel starts to move down field. Because it is quite tail heavy, the pilot is pushing forward on the stick to try and get the skid off the ground as soon as possible, and as he does so gyroscopic precession begins to take affect and twists the plane to the left, so the pilot applies right rudder to compensate. By now the kite leaves the field becasue of its large wing surface, even though it's air speed is still rather slow. The pilot at this point starts to ease back on the stick slightly which causes the bird to not only nose up but to twist instead towards the right, (again due to gyroscopic precession), so left rudder is applied. Also, the torque of that monsterous prop, (and a bit from the spinning engine), is now wanting to roll the Camel to the left, so the pilot must contend with that by giving a bit of opposite aileron input to correct for the roll. Unfortunately, right about now, (around 200' off the ground), the Clerget starts to get bucky because it needs the mixture readjusted slightly, and if our pilot is not familiar with the controls he has to duck his head into the cockpit long enough to locate the lever and fiddle with it, and in that amount of time the Camel has again started to roll to the left due to the pilot's preoccupation with the engine settings. At this point, due to the climb angle, and the roll, and the application of left rudder, there is a bit of yawing to the left as well, which in turn increases lift on the right wing tip while decreasing it on the left wing tip and accelerating the rate of roll, as well as causing gyroscopic precession to the pull the nose higher, and...if the pilot does not catch all of this mad cycle very quickly, he stalls and drops into a spin and his career as an RFC flyer is over. This whole process is made even more tricky by the small control surfaces the Camel was blessed with, (which provided less stability and feedback to the pilot), as well as it's lack of top wing dihedral, (which added further to it's twitchiness), and the aforementioned concentration of its mass at or near its center of gravity, (which allowed it to change attitudes very quickly with little effort). Suffice it to say, it could be a beast to fly because of all these things, but also a beauty. It really depended on the pilot. . Oh Crikey! Just realized I forgot to mention P-Factor as pointed out by Lewie. This would have been playing it's part in the above scenario as well until the tail skid got off the ground and sufficient forward speed was built up, requiring the pilot to give rudder input to compensate for that too. See, this can all get confusing even if you do have an idea of what the hell's going on. .

. Actually, it isn't just engine torque Olham, but 102" prop torque as well. And torque is not at all like the gyroscopic precession you've already mentioned. Torque is indeed the other factor I was looking for that, in the right hands, makes the Camel just that much more agile and lethal a fighter, and in the wrong hands makes it's own pilot dead just that much quicker. Your turn Sir. .