Olham

I have never seen a battle in RL, but I am convinced, it has nothing glorious like in so many films, but sounds, looks and smells more like butchery. Which it is more or less. So, if I said I'd like to see the battle of Armin against the Romans, I meant: from a high up position with good overview- and enough distance so I don't get any of the smells near me.

Elephant; two more points to regard: 1. If you have several pilots in different times of the war, it might be useful to only activate the mod for that specific time period and to remove the other mods from the right back into the left window. 2. If you want action different from "Lone Wolf" missions, fly in 1917 or 1918 - there they would be rare.

Elephant, as far as I understood Bletchley's mods, they are made differently for the various phases of the war; plus they are for active or passive zones. If you have many "Lone Wolf" missions, I bet you are flying in 1915 or early 1916. In that time, they patrolled alone or with two aircraft. The Squadrons or Jastas as we know them, came only later. On the German side, Boelcke was asked to form such Jagdstaffeln (Jasta), but that only happened in late summer 1916, as far as I know. So early on, "Lone Wolf" missions should be most of your daily flights.

Those wars were not based on most peoples' personal hatred. There were, of course, animosities between French and German people for the more recent wars between them, but these, I am convinced, would not have led to any further wars, if the politicians wouldn't have started them. Still reading "No Parachute!" by Arthur Gould Lee, I came across a passage yesterday, which fits very well here. In a dogfight, he got driven off and chased by two German pilots flying Albatros fighters (Lee flew a Sopwith Pup). Lee tried all his evasive tricks, but couldn't seem to shake them off. With one guy at his six, firing, he now did a half roll - the introduction to a "Split Ass" - only to find the other, the blue Albatros directly underneath his own, going the same course. [From his letter to his wife of September 22nd, 1917:] "I was upside down and could see directly into his cockpit.For one petrifying second I thought the two machines would close into each other. The pilot was looking up - he wasn't wearing goggles. He had a small moustache, like me. In fact, I might have been looking at myself! We were so close I could almost have reached down and shaken hands. Fatuous thing to flash into one's mind in a fight, but it did, and the mind works fast. Then he'd push his nose down violently, and vanished. I'm sure he had as big a shock as me!" [From his diary the same day:] "It was an odd feeling today to look at that D-III pilot from my upside-down position and see practically my double. Later on, I thought about it. It made me realise that the Hun pilots and observers are just the same types as we are in the R.F.C., all young, keen on flying, volunteers for the job. We'd probably get along together like a house on fire, yet all we're here for is to slay each other. It's daft when you think of it. And for who's benefit, when we're all done in, and the War's over?" Epilogue: The blue Albatros - the pilot he had looked at from such close distance - fell in the same fight.

Damn, I didn't know about this! Bullethead will probably not read this then; he must have more important things to do than visiting this forum. Even if his own house should be safe, he may be helping others to save theirs. Thanks for posting this, HPW. My very best wishes are with you and your people, Bullethead!

Well, I think he wanted you to decide for ONE event to see?

Okay - thank you, Dej! Feels somehow touching to see these handwritten, neat lines.

Damn, yes - it is so simple! You see, Tony, I'm a complicated guy!

Wow! Thank you very much, Miss Foreigndevil! Edit: I had added another similar one, short before your post turned another page. Enjoy!

Thank you, Dej! Does this mean, that he landed near a DH-4, that was lost in enemy terrain? Does "jambed" mean the same a "jammed"? (I think so) Comic photos??? Pitot shot - or Pilot shot?

LATE AFTERNOON PATROL - NOTHING HAPPENED, AND IT WAS FINE Jasta 37, Phalempin, 29. September 1917 - Ernst Udet led our late afternoon patrol over Ceurne airfield. It was all gentle flying and bathing our eyes in the scenery of pastel clouds and the slightly failing sunlight. I don't know if we were all only dreaming, but neither Udet's nor my flight sighted any enemy aircraft. In moments like these I feel I could believe in god, but then, at the same time, I ask myself, how he could have created such a wonderful world, with us as the pride of his creation - only to let us kill each other in a gigantic war like this one. His patience about us is far beyond my comprehension...

Well, Flyby's would probably earn me the same amount even with far less effort. I knew: I am no businessman. Clever, Flyby!

Well, I must be getting old and less enthusiastic about the world's history. First I thought about famous events to witness, like 2 days in the life of Jesus, Alexander the Great, the burial of a Pharao or the battle of Armin (Arminius; Hermann) and the Germanen against the Romans in northern Germany; which was a very great battle against no less but 3 Roman legions; it took three days and three nights, and not many Romans escaped it. Would be a thriller to witness. But then I had a different idea. I would first try to find out everything about pirate treasures, which were never found. Then I would seek for any data about the time they were hidden. If I would come across such a date and the pirate, who hid the treasure, I would travel back to him and watch, where he buried it. Back in today, I would offer to show the hiding place for 50 % of the found. Yeah, I know - I've become pretty materialistic, eyh? But then, it also has some spirit of adventure, hasn't it?

Yep, as Slarti said, it is a Focke Wulf A-type or F-type, which look almost identical from outside. The canopy is slightly rounded already, so it is not an early type. I would guess, it is an A-6 or A-8. PS: the antenna under the craft looks modern and isn't placed where it was on the originals.

Could anyone of our English speaking pilots write up the "Remarks" here - I can hardly read some of them.

Well, I just copied the idea of a silvergrey fuselage from Udet's craft and combined it with the stripes which I "stole" from some other aces' design.

Most of us know, that damage is not visible, if you use "Aircraft skins" at "High resolution". It must be on "Normal" to see chunks of fabric being ripped off, or bullet holes. But then, some of you still didn't see any damage. I believe to have found out why. Setting up my "Graphics Config" in "Workshop", I had set "Effects Quality" to "5" with my new rig. Later I noticed, when I paused screenshots, that the damage on my opponent's craft disappeared, when I zoomed closer. After lowering "Effects Quality" to "4", this got much better now, and one should perhaps even go to "3", if it still happens. I hope it will help - worth a try.

That's so close - you don't have that problem then, Hasse Wind.

H I G H . I N . T H E . E M P T Y . B L U E

Yep! Damage was visible further away, and disappeared when I zoomed closer. UncleAl, now with "Effects quality" on "4" I do have tracers and fireballs.

Elephant, I will soon release some basic skins to the Download Section - skins which don't carry personal markings of mine; so they can be made into everyone's own skins easily. I will post in the Forum, when that is done.

It was good that the Dr.1 was delayed for so long. Saved a lot of lives in a war Germany wouldn't have won anyway.

Thank you, Elephant! The serial number on the tail is OFF-made by the skinners; I don't have that font. As a graphic designer, I cannot send any software (like fonts) to others, if they are not free. As for the free ones, you could google for "free fonts" and you get loads of links, like this one, which I sometimes "dig in": http://www.urbanfonts.com/free-fonts.htm The font for the little wing writing "Nicht auftreten!" was "Calibri" I think - should be even with Windows fonts. It wasn't necessary to find out the correct font - it is just too small and blurred.

Javito, I bet, war must feel as mad as "Catch 22" for most fighting soldiers after a certain time. War IS crazy.

Yeah, I know I'm a totally underrated alround talent!