Windchill

Um... the one in my hand? Not very discerning, here. I actually prefer Glen Levit - any age! I have enjoyed Old Speckled Hen as well! Who cares, if not even I do!? It's more about with whom one shares the beverage!

Mmmmm.... the F-4 Phantom. McDonnell-Douglas' proof that if you strap big enough engines to it, even a brick will fly!

OvS - Nothing like a little "Close to the Edge" for really getting into the swing of things - and I mean any thing! GREAT choice of music, sir!

Ok, I take a quick screenie near the merge or on a gunnery pass so I can note the markings of the enemy. Then, after the mission, I hop out of OFF and into WTV, my local friendly DDS viewer, and go squadron by squadron until I ID the opposition. Two questions: #1 - as stated in this poll, am I the only wierdo doing this? And #2 - there has GOT to be an easier way of guessing a squadron, then opening squentially to find the right one. I mean, I just ID'd a Spad 7 from Esc 3 (got lucky on this one) and Nupe 17's from Esc 76 and 77 (not so lucky on these two!) Any ideas for help? Happy OFFing!

Thanks, all for the helpful replies - with a special thanks to Dej for helping me to start our support group! The more I think about the immersion factor, the less I think I'll turn labels on. I was in a fight with a bunch of Pups the other day, and after the fight I was looking up the skin of my opponent only to find he was an ace - Collinshaw! YIKES! I'm really glad I didn't know that during the fight! If only I hadn't collided with him, ending yet another promising career! It is kind of fun to go thru after the fact and learn who I was up against. So - Hi! My name is Windchill, and I look up squadrons! (Hi, Windchil!) :) Happy OFFing!

I fly with labels disabled - but I like the idea!

I thought this was a GREAT angle for a screenie! I usually get to see the reverse angle! Matter of fact, this guy's wingman was developing the same angle on me as I took this one... Happy OFFing!

So my pals from Jasta 5 flying Alb DII's were on a recon mission when I spotted our flak peppering the sky. Closer exam showed 3 FE-2s and one Pup daring to enter the Fatherland's sky! I ordered my wingies to go for the FE's, I figured I could keep up with one Pup... Well, that was about all I did. He kept up with me, I kept up with him, no advantage going to either... Until 2 of my wingmen returned to the fray! So the Pup got distracted and I got busy; First time I've blown an enemy engine out of his ship! Later on ran across BE-2c. I Hate to admit I didn't even feel guilty about beating up on an unarmed two seater! Tally ho and happy OFFing!

My five: 1. Pfalz D12 or Siemens Schuckert (the two appear to be very similar) 2. Snipe 3. Fokker DII (early war birds are needed) 4. Moraine Saulner (early war birds are needed) 5. ............. ............. ............. ............. are there any single seaters left that are not modeled in the sim? Ok - put in some target 2 seater - prolly early war in nature! Happy offing!

I've not thought of this before. How does the decreasing weight of him dropping off toys all night long affect the weight and balance of the craft? Are the flight characteristics negatively affected? All that weight in the tail would lend itself to a severe downward tendancy as the bag lightened... Ok, now I'm getting way too old!

1st screenie, 2nd post. This is my first Pfalz kill vs Nupe 28 - I was astonished by the flaming barrel roll (not as astonished by my previous post!), got out to take the shot. His wingies were not pleased by my achievement. Shot the daylights out of my craft, but I was able to land the cranky engined thing and walk away. I LOVE THIS GAME (sorry olham, simulation is just to much work!) Tallyho!

2nd screenie, first post. I LOVE THIS GAME! You may notice something amiss with this Alb DIII. The friggin engine BLEW OUT OF MY SHIP! I was quite busy toasting the Nupe 17 flying away off my nose, when his buddy started making my engine sound funny. I flipped out to see the damage, (I love seeing how badly I've messed up my ship) when the blew up and away. It also apparently killed me, as the 2nd shot I took actually had the engine in the frame falling below me, but the QC ended. Doggone allied wingies. Tallyho! Back for more!

Flight report so far... Nupe28 - a delight to fly! Stable, not prone to the "snap" stall of other rotaries, sturdy enough in a dive (as in it keeps it's wings on!). Toasted 2 Pfalz IIIa on the first mission. DH-5 - how the heck did anyone survive flying this thing?! More prone to wicked stall/spins than the DH-2, and that is saying something! The problem is me, I'm sure, but I can't get the perspective of where the nose is on this thing! It's usually pointing at the stars which leads to terrible airspeed loss which drives right into the aforementioned stall/spin situation! Of course, these things shred me when I'm in a Alb DIII or even beloved Pfalz, so they must have some capabilities that I'm not availing myself of! E-8 - (with all due respect to Olham & WF2) another rotary engine stall/spin machine! In fairness, I've only flown this a/c once, but the affair ran like this: turn into enemy, recover from stall, turn into enemy, recover from stall - all the way to the deck (started at 5,000 in QC). So far, I'm too ham fisted a pilot! Give me an SE-5 anyday, yank and bank all day long with enough power to keep her in the sky - without the totally tricked torque twisting to your termination! The sad thing is this: I am a pilot - how embarassing! More later, back to the fray!

Ach du lieber! I just took an AlbIII up against the DH-5, (2 of us vs 3 of them, tried to be fair!) and as I was lining up on meat on a plate, I got a knife in the back! DH-5 #3 was being VERY aggressive toward me in a rather unpleasant manner! Was able to land my conking engine crate in a field... AI seems to be distinctly mean to me! Back for more! TALLYHO!

Wow. (Somehow, that doesn't cut it, does it?) WOW!? (Better...)

They've remade "Stripes" and set it in 1917? Wow, how far the mighty have fallen! :)

Now I see! Well done PacMan, and thank you for answering the forward / aft question in photograph form Flyby!

Ok, let's turn a fun thread into a quiz. What the heck is the "happy plane" that appears to have 2 independent 20mm cannon available? Also, it's laid out like an tail gunner position, but is it? Lurking here for years!

Without starting a flame war, would those of you "in the know" regarding Windows 7 advise Windows Vista users for or against making the change to 7? I have enjoyed the stability of Vista, while hating many of the "we'll protect you from yourself" features. Bottom line to me is this - will it make my computing faster, more stable, better in substantial ways? As you may have guessed, I am not "in the know" regarding 7, not in love with Mickeysoft, but really don't want to the lighter of the match near the gasoline. There. I'm done. :) Keep smilin' Windchill

Windchill - I live in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Our winter temperatures are below freezing, with negative (F) temps not at all unusual. And then the wind blows and it gets really cold. But Windchill started when I was in a Counter Strike clan named RAH (Real American Heroes - ala GI Joe) and our handles had to be characters from GI Joe, found Windchill, Michigan weather - name found! Another convoluted story. Keep smilin' Windchill

Sounds a bit like the climactic moment in the movie "Die Hard" when the bad guy starts falling 100 stories (give or take) and opens fire on McClain. He too, was having a really bad day!

Siggi, Even with today's training standards (in the US, that is) the average life expectancy of a real life private pilot who flies into instrument meterological conditions (IMC - or clouds) is only 3 minutes! Fly into the cloud, lose situational awareness of aircraft attitude, grave yard sprial in - all in only 3 minutes! In my instrument training, I managed to get into a grave yard sprial - I noticed I was losing about 2000 feet a minute - I was happy to pay my instructor that day! I know from your report it wasn't "truly" a cloud, but the game may not have known that - it does represent reality fairly well, right Dimus?

Olham, One thing to be aware of in a near vertical turn with "up" rudder as discussed: This is what rl pilots call "cross controlling" the aircraft (in the pictoral example - right aileron with left rudder). This condition can and will lead to wicked stall / spin situations that happen un-nervingly fast. Make sure if the a/c is cross controlled that you keep your speed way up, away from a potential stall. Cross controlling the general aviation a/c I fly is something we are warned not to do anywhere near the ground. It can really ruin a good day! Cheers!

Is the issue broken?

Olham! A brand new forum to fill up! Get to work, brother! Your posts are always entertaining and enlightening!