Rick Rawlings

OMG! I am SUCH an idiot! I just figured out that back when I separately bound each gun on the SE5a to a different button for the Rick Rawlings Challenge that also applied to any plane with two guns side by side. So the whole time I have been wondering why planes are so spongy, I've only been using one gun!!! I was watching Fullofit's videos over in the DiD campaign and wondered how he was dropping them so fast! having said that: Karl Spieler Jasta 2 February, 1917 Near Pronville Ran into one of those new British scouts the other day: it's like a short Sopwith Strutter. Very maneuverable, best do do straight in strikes! Not very sturdy though, they can be crippled with a few hits... *notice when I fire, the reflection on the top wing only lights up over the left gun... also, I am really not liking how you can't see those bare trees until the last minute!

I had no idea these games existed until I joined forums like this!

Karl Spieler Jasta 2 January, 1917 Near Pronville The fortunes of war have brought our aerodrome closer to the front, which puts us at risk of attack almost upon takeoff. This happened the other day when we had planned to hop over the lines to end an observation balloon that was always spying our comings and goings. We had not gotten very far when the others started turning and climbing about the sky. I always do the same and pretend that I know what they are on about, but I rarely do. Anyway, we were soon attacked by a flight of Nieuports and in short business I had my gas line shot away, either by a Nupe, or by the ground fire coming up from the enemy lines. As I swung to the east, I got one good raking pass on an enemy bus. I must have hit the pilot or the controls as he went into a diving turn to the left and never pulled out. Settling down near one of our balloons, I watched the fight go on above me until a lorry came over to have a look at me and my wounded bird...

They made him touch it up himself!

Karl Spieler Jasta 2 January, 1917 Near Pronville Inclement weather, mechanical failures and skittish enemies have kept us from seeing much action over the last few weeks. It has given me a good chance to fully recover from my last injury and I feel nearly as good as new, although my aversion to bullets in my body has probable grown by some small measure. Yesterday we went up to escort some Rolands over the lines (as if they needed it!) and, as luck would have it, we ran into a small flight of enemy recon craft headed the other day. I was able to follow one down to his crash at the lines and then we proceeded to a rather uneventful mission after that.

Yeah, I have had that for a few days here and there but nothing sustained...

John Rockitt 94th Aero September 1918 Somewhere in France... I am not even sure where we are stationed. I just got back from the hospital again. We tangled with a flight of Fokkers and everything was going fine until I stumbled into the unexpected edge of a cloud. Soon, I had no idea where I was going, but the huns stayed right with me and clipped me as I came out. But I'm back now, and need to have a bite before I figure out where l am...

That's going to leave a mark...

Are you getting text before the mission where it's like "You can take your plane up around the field for testing and blah blah blah" ?

Possibly some, but the detection radius appears to be quite large and many groups are on patrol and will sweep across your flight sooner or later. I often do the same thing you are describing and I have plenty of engagements. I might have my encounters set to high, though...

It's just you...

Not that it helps much, but I didn't do anything special either to get my 16000 running. One thing I have noticed is that sometimes it flips my rudder pedals to control my ailerons and elevators. I haven't quite locked it down, but this seems to be when I have flown MSFS 2020 in the same session. Restarting the computer seems to clear up the confusion and return the world to normal...

John Rockitt 94th Aero August 1918 Near Paris Things continue to be rough, even after transferring to SPADS. We lost four pilots the other day, against two Huns shot down, one of which was mine. We headed up to the front and ended up flying over a large group of Fokkers, and since we were a large group, I thought we would dive and attack. So I started to position myself, only to see no one else make a move. Surprised, I watched as they moved off to attack one lone DVII that had broken off from the main group. While that was wise on their part, I decided against diving into that mess and continued to watch the main group of Germans heading south. Soon I had lost track of everyone but did manage to attract the attention of another group of Fokkers coming in from the north. As one broke off to chase me, I lured him south and then turned to attack:

John Rockitt 94th Aero July 1918 Near Paris We finally switched over completely to SPADs, after us 2nd Leiutenants have been huffing and puffing to keep up with the others in our N28s for the last couple of weeks! I swear this war is trying to kill us!

Karl Spieler Jasta 2 December, 1916 Near Pronville I have been transferred to Jasta 2. The situation was becoming untenable. The anti-aircraft major who didn't like our Rittmeister running around with his girl was friends with a general which brought scrutiny to the whole situation which sent me as the recipient out-of-turn of a Halberstadt DIII off to a new squadron. I made out ok, however, as I am now flying the new Albatros scout. I was shot up pretty bad the other day when I left the Nieuport I was attacking to clear the tail of von Muller from another Nupe. That left the other two to attack me, but I made it out with just a wing shot up...

John Rockitt 94th Aero June 1918 Near Paris They moved the squadron to th northwest, which made it a lot less likely that we would get bombed, but also made the flights to the front much more tiring. We have also been encountering the new Fokker scouts, triplanes and biplanes and getting rekt by them! (which is a word I predict will catch on sometime in the near future) We have lost so many pilots, their names blur in my mind. I fear I must follow soon!

Hang in there! He doesn't know it but the war's winding down!

I know, right! It's the best part!

Karl Spieler Jasta 5 November, 1916 Near Cambrai It's taken me nearly a month to recover from the machine gun wounds that brought me down in my last mission. The men in the squadron have been great to me, even if there is a bit of resentment about me getting the DIII. Today I got to repay their kindness and trust with a mission over the lines, taking the fight to the very heart of the enemy, during which I was able to shoot down a SPAD and a Nieuport within close view of their very aerodrome!

John Rockitt 94th Aero June 1918 Near Toul We were bombed today as payback for our aerodrome attack. We had a few minutes warning and were able to get up and start our climb to attack. I got to the flight first and tried to take on the lowest one, but he was tough! The good news is, I stalled them long enough for the rest of the flight to arrive and they shot my guy down. Plus, I returned with no holes in me which was nice!

Karl Spieler Jasta 5 November, 1916 Near Cambrai I have to say that I do enjoy the new DIII Halberstadt bus I have been given. The offset exhaust makes it much easier to see where your rounds are goi...OUCH!!!

I was unaware of that! I'm relieved to hear it as I was a little worried in the present environment...

I'm not sure how the claims rules work for AI? That's an interesting point. I couldn't do what you are doing as I only fly every third day or so, and wingman fall on the mission I am not "on"... John Rockitt 94th Aero June 1918 Near Toul There is a big old Dragon that sits directly to the north of our aerodrome, watching every move we make. No one dares take it down because it is a fire-breathing Dragon! But three of us had an idea: two would come around high and noisy to the north drawing the attention of the Dragon and it's fire-breath, while I would swoop in on idle power from the south and swat it down! And that's exactly what happened! Except that with these dumb Nieuports, even a gentle swoop down results in wings half torn off!

Karl Spieler Jasta 5 October, 1916 Near Cambrai I fired on two enemy recon craft the other day as we dove on their formation. Both were seen to go down, one in flames, but my claims were not confirmed... It seems our Rittmeister was caught out with the Anti-aircraft major's girlfriend, so to smooth things over, the kills were credited to ground fire from that unit. To make it up to me, the Rittmeister said he would let me fly one of the newer DIII Halberstadts from now on...

Um, so does anyone know Baldric? He won the challenge and then kind of vanished off the face of the Earth?