Rick Rawlings

Got a fun mission or campaign going? Tell us about it here! Pics/Vids are great, but plain old reports are too! I have a bunch of standard pilots that I run and have been since way back in Red Baron 1 when I was in college. Rother Nought is my standard RNAS guy who takes the Sopwith path through the war (or as far as he gets!) My first attempt with him ended in a shredded N11 wing, so here is try #2! Rother Nought C Sqn 1 Wing RNAS B flight Today we went up in support of the Strutters, which is absurd as they are much faster than us and always leave us behind. Anyway, Cleaver and I made our way to the front and tried to clear the area where the Sopwiths would be artillery spotting. I spied a brace of Eindeckers below us trying to come up to our level and moved to stay above them so we could strike if they got too close. This seemed a good idea until I noticed three more of the blighters to the south, at our level! Matters were made worse when the Sopwith decided to attack them instead of retreating! We immediately moved to intervene: I got credit for one of them with the pilot apparently killed, but the one I drove down with a dead engine the boys on the ground insisted on getting credit for, even though he was a glider long before he got down to where they can hit anything! Unfortunately, we lost Cleaver in the melee and one of the strutters was forced down with the observer, a kid named Thompson, killed. We need faster planes! Or the strutters need to stick to the plan!

Sub Lt. Rother Nought No. 4 RNAS 27 miles behind the front Coudekerque, July 1916 Well, I'm in for it now. I thought joining the air services would be a good way to avoid the war for a long while. Who knew they could train pilots so fast now? The last few days I have been up in a Sopwith Strutter ferrying 2nd Lt. Norton from one bomb-hole to another to photograph each one in turn. Of course, I would be all for firing off all the plates at once and getting out of there and back for a brandy like some anticipatory Yossarian, but Norton insisted on being at the right spot at the right time at the right altitude for every photo, regardless of how familiar Archibald was trying to become with all the sensitive spots of our bus. To make matters worse, every now and again he would jerk the Lewis gun around and stare intently at a spot in the sky as if to intimate that a hun was about to attack before glancing over with that inscrutable look of his, the berk... I can't wait for tomorrow...

Nice! Est-ce que c'est une rotarie vraiment?

Heh, it was the Hi Ho I was worried about... My family is well, thanks for asking! Kids are growing up as they are wont to do, WOFF keeps getting better, we are (sorta) back to the more modern-featured forum; what's not to like? How's everything going with you?

Ho. Now we get sued by Disney. Way to go, Beanie!

They actually are, thanks for asking! Lots of folks are around, just a bit quiet as it's been awhile since BH&HII dropped!

Heh, glad you had fun! Personally, I hate dark missions...

Welcome back, Captain! You are sorely needed at the front!

Yeah, I tried composing a new message and in a grim red font it says: I think it's a conspiracy. Where did he mention me? 'Cause he certainly hasn't responded to my message!

It says you cannot receive messages...

I PM'd him but have not heard back...

Nice work, and great paint schemes! I always cringe when I try to wrap something around the fuselage top and bottom but that looks like it came out ok...

Rick Rawlings No. 24 Sqn, November 1916 Bertangles Aerodrome My promotion to full Lieutenant came through the other day, close on the heels of my tenth air victory. More importantly, the promotion came with two weeks of leave. Lately, it has all been Halberstadts and Albatroses, which means that every fight is a near thing, no matter what our initial advantage may be, and my nerves are shot. There are few of the men left from when I joined, having lost Garfield on the attack on Bertincourt and Rogers was killed while I was recuperating from when an Albatros scout rammed my plane... Fortunately, the last flight we took on was of Fokker biplanes, which are not as dangerous and I was able to bring one down. The Major, if course, is still a source of inspiration for us, but I wonder if even he is getting discouraged? It is a sobering thought to remember that with these new German scouts, however many rounds you send after them, twice as many will come back you way...

Rick Rawlings No. 24 Sqn, August 1916 Bertangles Aerodrome We were taking off for a line patrol a few days back when I realized that after our breakfast sausages, I really needed to attend to some operations in the latrine, so I told the fellows I would catch up to them at the lines... When I got there, they had already ran into some of the new Halberstadt scouts, so I jumped right in! I tried to stay on top of the fight, as that was what the Major recommends: "Altitude is easy to lose and hard to gain, so don't give it up without good reason!" he says. However, he and Garfield were having an easy go with the upper Hun, so I dove down on the one attacking Ashford. Unfortunately, I was too late and saw him wrecked in No Man's Land! Furious, I used the speed of my dive and closed on Ashford's killer, giving him a good burst and sending him down! As I worked my way back up (man, altitude is hard to gain!) I had to flee myself from what appeared to be three Rolands, the wound in my leg from a couple weeks back aching at the mere sight of them! I went further south along the patrol route and came upon some Eindeckers attacking the remnant of our flight. One came after me but I was able to get around on him and give him a good crack, which must have snapped a control wire as the poor fellow went down four thousand feet in a nasty spin to his death! Being well-observed, both claims were confirmed, making me a baker's ace! And I was awarded the D.S.O. as well!

Always kills me with the Lewis gun RIGHT OVER YOUR HEAD! If the War doesn't kill you, there's little hope your hearing will survive!

Nice post, Lou! I missed that one in the other thread, but sounds like my experience wasn't unique! catch, I just hope that if someone offers you the brown acid in the future that you Won't Get Fooled Again...

Hmm. Perhaps... Under impulse power, however, they should still emit gas. That's how we'll get them! Care to operate on a torpedo with me, doctor?

Rick Rawlings No. 24 Sqn, June 1916 Bertangles Aerodrome Had a big tangle with a bunch of Eindeckers last week. We were doing a line patrol at 7000 feet when we ran into a bunch of them escorting a recon flight. For a bit, it was just avoiding collisions and clearing each other's tails. Then the fight broke up and were on our own for a moment before we found another flight. Then the fight was joined in earnest. I put in claims for two but as they went down over the lines at low altitude, no one else saw them, so no confirmation for old Rick Rawlings! Oh well, I know I did my part in my heart! Winding my way back on my own, I was amazed to see a train racing full steam across the front, right through No Man's Land! When I landed, I told the others about it, but they said it was very hush-hush... called it "Olham's Express" and said it was doing "God's work"...they advised me not to speak of it again... * Right after that flight, we learned that Max Immelman had been shot down. Now this is weird, but some pilots started reporting of a phantom scout that dives from a sweeping turn on high to shoot at their planes, saying that it is the shade of the downed pilot, seeking revenge! Normally, I would not be one to give much credence to such tales, but the strangest thing happened to me on this morning's flight. I was flying along, more or less in formation, when suddely, I was attacked! The crack of machine gun rounds sailed past my ears, spars were hit and shredded and canvas torn from its ribs! I sent my machine into a spinning dive and when I pulled out, I looked around but no enemy machines could be seen! What was worse, there was the rest of my flight, carrying on as if nothing had happened! They all claimed that they had seen nothing, and had thought that I was having a seizure! What was worse, when I got down, there was no damage of any kind to my bus! The Major was sympathetic, but I noticed that our ration of alcohol was cut way down at the mess tonight. Or maybe it was just mine. Spooky!

Nice! We can always use another Aussie in the ranks! Rick Rawlings No. 24 Sqn, June 1916 Bertangles Aerodrome Today we unpacked the mystery of "Rolands"... Our base was attacked by three of the two-seated hunmobiles and while we shot one of them down, they put enough holes through each of our machines that none of out busses were deemed airworthy until repairs were completed on them two days later... Let me tell you how it all went down:

I know... I am going to have a word with my ground crew about that...

Rick Rawlings No. 24 Sqn May, 1916 Bertangles Aerodrome We are finally starting to make some headway against the Huns! After a slow start since my first flight a few months ago, I have recently brought down two Eindeckers! The first was after we were attacked while pursuing some recon scouts of the enemy. The story goes something like this: The second one was the other day when we were attacked (again) as we were diving on the rail yard at Athies Junction. It was something like this: All of this was without the loss of any of our pilots! I can only hope our good fortune holds. I have a sense of foreboding, however: yesterday a French pilot crashed in the field near our drome, his plane shot to pieces. As the pulled him from the wreck to take him to the field hospital, he just kept babbling one word: "Rolands..."

Yes to the Rolands! A thousand deaths are not enough for Rolands!

She does better at 95 than I do at my age!

Plus, it's pretty fun to say "Eleven, Eleven, Eleven" over and over again! Try it!

Nice pictures!