Olham

If you ever come to Koksijde... The history of the abbey farm, or the farming property "Ten Bogaerde" is closely connected with the Abbey of the Dunes. Dune Lord Walter gave the "Bongart" as the property was called in original documents, to the monks in 1148. Due to its proximity to the Abbey the estate was an ideal campsite. Under Nikolaas Van Belle (Abt 1233-1253) they built the Cistercian abbey here; it was therefore the largest barn in Flanders. In the 16th Century the much reduced community of monks moved from the abbey into the property "Ten Bogaerde". They added some buildings; so they built the chapel to a church that was used in 1712 as a barn. 1627, the men finally moved into the dunes 'retreat' of "Ter Doest" near Bruges. After the seizure by the French in 1796 and the repurchase by the expelled monks, the last dune Lord gave all of the remaining possession in 1833 to the Diocese of Bruges. Ten Bogaerde remained until 1948, a simple farm house. Ten years later the congregation purchased the farm of the Abbey of Koksijde. Following the successful restoration of the 13th century in Romanesque style, the estate is the ideal venue for numerous events, concerts and exhibitions to lectures and receptions. Since 2005, a restaurant is located in the former home. This info I found in the web. Unfortunately they did not mention the airfield at all. I found in another site, that the field was first used under the name "Ten Bogaerde" by the Belgians. But it was still used in 1915 and 1916 at least, and perhaps someone else can contribute here, which squadrons and/or Escadrilles were stationed here, and when.

Thank you! Same for you and the team, Eric - and for everyone here on the forum!

All your recent works look really good, guys - for FLYING CIRCUS as for BATTLE OF BODENPLATTE! I hope that at least some of the Picardie/Flanders/Ardennes landscapes can be used for BODENPLATTE and FLYING CIRCUS - that would save time. Since I made an early purchase, I find it hard to wait much longer for FC, and for my beloved Albatros scouts. All the drooling may finally leave me too dehydrated to be fit to fly!

All your recent works look really good, guys - for FLYING CIRCUS as for BATTLE OF BODENPLATTE! Since the movie CATCH 22 I love the look of the "Billy Mitchell" bomber, and the LOCKHEED "Lightning" is a true beauty of an aircraft - I always wanted to fly it in a good sim. Guess I cannot get around it: BATTLE OF BODEPLATTE is on my "must-have" list now!

"Battle of Britain II" - is that the same as "Cliffs of Dover" ?

I love to see someone having so much fun with an air combat sim! Nice reports and story! Mind you: it must be "Kriegsberichterstatter" - that British rule "no i after e" doesn't count for German. And it's wrong anyway - there are words like "weird" or "their" or "heir" etc.

We had our "Erntedankfest" already, on the first Sunday in October, but thanks anyway. Have a nice evening, Lou and all other Merkans!

Hey, Dutch, old Matjes! Well, FC is yet only an early purchase with no content but two aircraft. The landscape is from IL-2 Battle of Kuban, and therefor lacks historic authenticity. I really hope it will become a great sim. Yeah, a Belgian Esc. with Hanriots should be added. The could also use the Farman! You are right about the immersive factor of OFF and WOFF. I guess I will never find that a second time, anywhere. RoF and now FC are more for online flying and fighting, but WOFF entertained me for years in single player campaign - something you cannot just plan and build - it has to do with true passion, with far more hours than dollars, and with love and devotion.

So Raine is also still in active service, I see? And he will make a new DiD Campaign? That is nice to hear - boy, we had so wonderful times with that! My regards to him - he is a worthy successor for the DiD Campaign. Not sure if I will join at any point next year. I first want to buy me the ultimate edition, WOFF UE, just for the sake of it all and a fine little company. But that'll have to wait 'till after Xmas, when the bank account fever pitch will be down to normal again. Then I heard, that Pol announced several new planes for WOFF UE, which he said would be free for those who own it? Did he say which planes?

Hello, Lou, old fly-barn! Hello, Hasse, Eric and Jeanba, and all! When I see a message of a member I remember, in the right frame of the forum, then I check in! Nice to hear from you all! I don't fly recently, but die in tanks. I am REALLY, REALLY waiting for IL-2 "Flying Circus". Cause, when the landscapes get as good as in the IL-2 Kuban map, then it will be amazing! They will build the known towns like Arras and Douai etc.; and the rivers and canals. The aircraft got improved; the new damage model is less "Flyboys" but more realistic. Took me hundreds of rounds to kill a Fokker Dr.I with a SPAD XIII, and the wings, though hit many times, did not crumble away! Great! What are you guys flying/playing?

Wow! A big WOW ! First I thought this were images from "Over Flanders Fields", but they don't have the Roland D.VIa or that wonderful big Caudron! I had thought of "First Eagles" as a very old game, but what you guys have made of it - hats off!!!

Maybe I repeat myself, but I still wonder, why you make those special price sales always at the end of a month - when people have to be more careful about their spendings. I bet you would sell a lot more, if you started such actions at the beginning of a new month. Just my two pence...

Hey, Captain! Nice to see you, and that you are still enjoying WOFF! I have trespassed to IL-2 and NAVAL ACTION since some time. But I guess one day I'll return to duties.

Wow - they look really nice. Sorry for only finding this post now. Great job!

Haha, you bring back memories, Adger! UncleAl - short: Unc - was a helpful guy for me too, when I started. IL-2 BoS is nice to fly online for me, but like RoF, it never has that "certain special something" that I only found in (W)OFF so far. So I guess, one day we'll meet again there!

Well, I literally put all into (W)OFF I had to offer, over several years. So I guess it's only normal that you reach a point some day, when you move somewhere else. (W)OFF gave me far more than any other sim or game was ever able to give me, and I still believe, that I will come back to it one day. But right now I am flying WW2 in IL-2 (the new one). Yes, the skin must be from RAF_Louvert (greetings, Lou, if you should still read here!) - the emblem was from a German cigarette or cigar company of that time. Have fun, Adger - maybe one day we'll meet again - over Flanders fields...

Wow, the fourth is a Desktop IMHO - nice, Adger!

Hey, iti - yes, like BBeard says: in this case I's use the "easy claims" variant.

Same from me, Hood! You can do it - your generation was made from ironwood! A neighbouress of my mum will soon get 101 years old, and she looks like she can make the next tenner full! To all you old (and young) WOFFers around here still, and for you Eric and all the fellers at the forum command tower: I wish you all a comfy and cosy Xmas, and sound and healthy and happy new year 2018!

Not sure yet. We are "at war" right now.

Hey, Robert and all - I also wish you guys a nice Xmas, with plenty of food and good drinks, and warmth around you!

That was their anthem only until 1944. After that, this anthem which I used in the video, was introduced. And, with a changed text, is again used for the nowadays' Russian Federation. Yes, we sing this verse still today. One verse was dropped tough, which described the old frontiers of Germany, which shrunk after WW2. And yes - the Nazi regime DID ruin a lot of the feelings, with which we would sing our anthem. Any other nation is singing their national anthem with much more pride than we Germans do. Well, my honest opinion is, that the US politics are often much more aggresive than Putin ever was. A lot of any Russian moves are getting very much distorted in Western media. For example, Russia did not "occupy" the Crimean pininsula. They had always been there - it is their Black Sea Naval base. They didn't have to occupy it - the majorityof the Eastern Ucraine people have stronger relations to Russia, than to far away "western" Kiew. But that won't get told on TV. While the American interests are always being understood by our anchormen, the Russian interests are not even regarded. But we are getting on the thin ice of politics here, and I don't want to start a looong debate about all that.

Thanks, Hauksbee! How does it feel for an American to hear the Russian national anthem, now that you seem kind of arch enemies?

Well, the confusion about the fighter series correct name came from a change of the company name. Here is WIKI about it: "It was commonly called the Me 109, most often by Allied aircrew and even among the German aces themselves, even though this was not the official German designation. The designation "Messerschmitt Bf 109" was issued by the Ministry of Aviation (German: Reichsluftfahrtministerium) and represents the firm that originally built them, the "Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW - "Bavarian Aircraft Works"). The confusion arises because design work began in 1934 at the BFW firm and, as was customary, the model was designated by the prefix Bf. On July 11, 1938 the company was renamed Messerschmitt AG due to Willy Messerschmitt becoming its new owner, and the prefix Me was applied to all new models after that date, whilst existing types retained their Bf prefix."