Flyby PC

It's off topic, but thinking about having the right girl beside you, I read last night about Squadron Leader Tom Gleave, shot down 4 Me109's on 30th August 1940, but shot down himself on 31st, and very badly burned. When his wife came to see him for the first time in hospital, her first words were "I don't know! Playing with matches again?" Sounds like quite a lady.

I hope Pink Panther's OFF DVD wasn't in it either.... My worst snow drive was driving from Edinburgh to Stirling after a good hogmanay. Being hogmanay, I didn't see any ploughs or gritters anywhere. I was sober, but still tired, and all I could see was 100% white. It was snowing hard, and there was a mound of snow or ground to the left and right, (couldn't tell which), and I tried to just stay in the middle all the way home. I knew the road pretty well, and that helped a lot. Only amusement was the girlfriend beside me, who was trying her best to stay awake but still falling asleep, and giving it the 'nodding donkey'. (That's not a euphimism for anything kinky - she was falling asleep). She'd also start mumbling a sentence but then just lose it as she drifted off. I suppose you had to be there, but it was funny at the time. It was only 30 miles thankfully, but took me an hour and a half. Felt like the only soul on the motorway, and for the most part we probably were. Forget the year, 86 - 89 or thereabouts.

Aaaah. I always wondered what he was screaming. Obviously it's SANTAAAAAAA!!!!!

DANGER! DANGER! WOOOOOOWOOOOOO!!!!! RUN FOR THE HILLS! HIDE!!!! SAVE YOURSELVES!!!! http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=151294978 Gimme a break.

If you've a 50 / 50 chance, why do you get it wrong 100% of the time? Who's the bright spark that invented fire? How do you confuse a navvy? Point to four shovels and tell him to take his pick. Wait til after Christmas. With all the 'jokes' inside crackers, there'll be a million of these. Oh joy.

Technically you're correct, but put your raw footage through virtualdub, and you can play about with it to some extent. The big problem is it only records what you see, as you see it. Miss something, and it's gone forever. Even when you get good footage, it's only recorded from a single viewpoint. But when you think about it, that's exactly what you get with a video camera. No better, but no worse either. I have been told there are remnants of a recording facility similar to Il2 somewhere inside CFS3, but never finished and wholly dysfunctional. It was a feature they disabled because it wasn't ready in time for release. There's more than one person reckon CFS3 was only fit for beta release... But don't give up CamelB6313, you can still have fun making movies, it's just more of a challenge... http://www.youtube.c...h?v=JTSthEjxecA

Just heard Richard Todd died this morning. In the Longest Day, he played the CO of the Para's who landed their gliders beside the Orne River Bridge. He played the part of a hero, but was a real hero who actually took past in the raid.

Sorry Ndicki, missed it when the thread got moved. Long time indeed.

On my wish list. It's the history of 56 squadron, the most successful British Squadron in WW1, with 427 kills. (Jasta 11, by comparison had 350 kills, although Jasta 11 lost only 17 pilots compared to 56 Sqd losing 40). It is out of print, but I can still buy it for £80. Badly tempted, but need to get all the Xmas bonuses and holiday pay sorted out and see what's left in the kitty for my own Christmas.....

Just to drop in a hum drum enquiry about the weather,.... Do you fellas have many stone buildings in your area? Despite what the BBC whines on about, Scotland hasn't an extreme climate in any way. Nevertheless, what winter we do get can still screw up schedules at work. Any frost at all can wreck a lime mortar until it's taken up enough, (they say 100 days for full hardness), and when I see such pictures of deep snow, it strikes me any stonemasons in your area must pack up for the winter and head South, or else find something else to do in the winter. Depending how many months you lose to such winters in a year, I reckon to carry out my trade properly would only be marginally possible. I try to schedule the building work to the Summer months, and dress stone when it's colder, - but it never seems to work out like that. More often than not, come December, I'm stuck fighting the wind and sleet, wrapping blankets round some chimney to keep the frost off. Sods Law I believe it's called, & a much more powerful law than logic... I expect people either avoid stonework altogether, or perhaps use cement based mortars? We also get a programme called 'Ice Road Truckers', about Canadian truckers driving seriously big loads over seriously thin ice. I'm game to try anything once,........... but maybe not that.

Boys of 60 had an add-on which made your tags and target aids semi transparent. I'm sure I've still got it on my old PC. Need to check.... I liked it. Boys of 60 used it, but I'm sure it was public.

Looks aside, I wonder how many pilots would have swapped their SE5a for a DR1. A good big'un is always better than a good little'un as they say. And I also have to defend the FE2. When this rolls out the hangar, it looks like a war plane. It doesn't look so frail as it does in drawings, but I think that's down to the fact it's bigger than you expect, & early. I kinda like it. (It might just be me though. I like machines, especially old ones with minimal electrics, where I can get my head around how it works. Hate to see old engines and impliments reaching the end of the line).

I'm sure this can't be the first time this has been posted, but this is an awesome video, and bang on topic.

Just downed a bottle of Spitfire on your recommendation. Not bad. Not bad at all. OK, it is obvious now, but I didn't realise they only started it in 1990 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

I'm with Lou. Certain amount of deja vue regarding this sale. I'm sure it was mentioned months ago. Regarding the kill 'scores', I feel my blood beginning to boil that so many Brits were sent into action in obsolete aircraft with minimal training. I am priviliged in being able to express my outrage about it now, but my heart breaks for those poor lads who knew what was going to happen but just had to get on with it. I forget who added the excellent quote to their sig, but it went along the lines " ....instead of parachutes, they send us schoolboys with 15 hours flying". Surely, it didn't have to be that way.

I wouldn't argue the Fokker DR1 is the most famous, but probably not by name. Ask the man in the street what a Fokker DR1 was, and I'm guessing a fair number wouldn't know. Call it a Fokker triplane, or show them a picture, and I would guess they'd all know it at once. Mention Sopwith Camel, even Sopwith Pup, and most folks will know exactly what you're talking about right away, but I'll bet they couldn't identify one in a picture. Edit - You might also misinterpret the word 'most'. It doesn't have to mean the actual most famous. The word most stresses the fame, not the aircraft. It's hard to explain, but say you have vistors calling and you say, "Come in, you're most welcome". - It's the welcome you're stressing, but it doesn't mean they are the most welcome of the guests.

While on the subject of AI manouvres, would it be possible to create an AI target that doesn't react until it comes under fire? Be nice to simulate a pilot being caught napping, allowing you to sneak up, but then he suddenly dives away, - as if he's only just seen you. I'd love to dive into a flight of aircraft, and watch them break formation 'realistically'. Be even cooler if the 'secret' was transferrable to CFS3, especially for a nightfighter. If a bomber actually 'corkscrewed' to escape a nightfighter attack, it would be a massive step forward in realism. (Especially if you have a thing for Mosquitos err, timber built De Havillands, cough, cough). I sort of know the short answer is 'no', but you guys are the masters, and if it can be done, I'll bet you're already there....

I noticed that too. I wasn't aware that British and French forces would share an aerodrome. I wonder if that was for the benefit of the camera, - close allies and all that... Excellent footage. I've seen some of it on Youtube, but not at that quality. It's easy to think of the FE2 as a bit delicate, but when you actually see it, for all it's frailty, it does look quite menacing.

Global warming or freak weather? Bit close to home either way.

It's not what's been said or posted, but said or posted here. Take it to the pub gentlemen. - http://forum.combatace.com/forum/5-the-pub/

I hear the pitter patter of little feet coming to close the thread.... Sorry admin, my fault, taking us off an already off topic subject. No politics gents, we know the rules. Let's all behave.

I'm not defending Iran Uncleal, but count how many continents there are speaking Arabic vs a European language. 'Western culture' has a track record of colonisation which scares the s**t out of Asia, because there's only Asia / Middle East left. How canny would you feel with Iraqi or Chinese carriers patrolling your coasts and skies whether you liked it or not? As a culture, I think we forget how threatening we appear. The Middle East has it's Israel, and China it's Taiwan. From their perspective, the enemy is already at the gate.

But if you could clean up the world, I don't understand why you wouldn't. What's the down side? Puffins are just an example, and the problem definitely is that we now hoover up sand eels on a commercial scale far in excess of the rate they can recover. There's not enough left to go around, and they starve. If there is new competition from seagulls, and they've lived side by side for generations, then ask yourself what was it which drove seagulls from their traditional feeding habits. The whole ecosystem is in trouble. We all need farming, but something we're doing to the environment is killing off our bees, but we charge on regardless doing the same things without taking the time out to learn what's going wrong. We don't have to stop doing anything we do currently, but we do need to learn how do it sustainably. Right now, collectively as a species, we're running out of control. If we can't feed ourselves, then maybe we need to count how many of us we can feed and conduct ourselves accordingly. The alternative is grim.

Hate to say it gents, but I find it kind of depressing to see so many people setting themselves against environmental issues. You're presumeably seeing the same evidence I do, but I've seen nothing to convince me that Environmental changes are nothing to worry about, just as I'm equally unconvinced by the current arguments that the world is doomed. Personally, I think you're both wrong, but the underlying message is we cannot continue as we are. I don't buy the 'everything is fine' argument, but nor do I accept 'We're f!!**ed and it's all your fault!' argument either. I don't know if it's us who's changing the climate, but we are most certainly changing our world by plundering our wilnernesses to drive species to extinction by hunting them to the brink, destroying natural habitats, taking out important links in the food chain. It's everywhere. Even our cute little Puffins are in trouble because we harvest the sandworms they eat for fertiliser. I like the world as it is, complete with it's tigers, whales, eagles, bears, gorillas, rhinos, snow leopards, polar bears and every other critter who's only crime against us was being born. I've never seen a wild tiger, whale, bear etc, but that's why they're so amazing. In the UK, we used to have bison, beaver, boars, bears, wolves, and eagles. The only predator we didn't exterminate was the fox, which we still hunt. Just as well we've got nice scenery because there's fk all else to look at. Can we exist without these animals? Probably, but I rather hope we shouldn't have to. One of the most forceful arguments the Environmentalists have is that 'We've screwed up everything else in our ignorance, what makes you think the climate escaped?". Even the most ardent pro-consumer would have to admit they have got a point.

The only certainty I have regarding the Environment is that SOMEBODY is lying to me - big style! Problem is, I don't know who it is. Second problem is, with our hysterical media sensationalising everything and calling it news, the chances of me working out who the liars are, are actually pretty slim.