Olham

A much brighter and lighter mood here certainly, Shiloh - I'll drink to that! Prost!

Funny coincidence, Tranquillo - when were you flying? I had just taken off with my new 1918 Jasta 32 pilot from Bapaume airfield, when we spotted Flak high in the west. Short after, we sighted many British S.E.5a, coming down on us. We fought them extremely well - I witnessed two of them exploding in mid air. I got my first victim hard - his craft exploded, too. My second target was also burning already, when I touched his fighter with my lower left wing. The wing collapsed, and I made the landing like this.

I had to create a German pilot with that Jasta, that clashed so hard with my English 24 Sqdn RFC pilot. Now I have a German with Jasta 32, Bapaume, in late April 1918. We have just changed from the curced cross to the Balkenkreuz, and he will soon be ready to enter your 1918 (2).

That's what I guessed, when I saw the confusion, Lou - no problem. Difficult for a German to realise it, cause LEO Dict Org just listed it together with "stretcher" - but not with the addition: very old word; not in use anymore. But that is the problem even in the German version. I read it to a friend via telephone, and he, who could not see the text, didn't understand it. I had to read it three times to make him get the pictures, the prosaic expressions. It is indeed written in a dull, strange prose - you need your phantasie to make it visible.

You need to update it to some specific versions, I forgott which it was - 1.3 or 1.3a. Best you check all installation questions and advice here: http://overflandersfields.com/FAQ.htm

Lewie, if you don't get what my picture is showing, then you don't seem to have it in "Workshops". You know, we got so used to flying BHaH plus HitR, that we can't say anymore, if it's new. And don't worry about questions. As UncleAl used to say: the only stupid question is the one that isn't asked.

Lou, you got it all totally mixed up and confused now, old boy. The German word for the drink "beer" is indeed "Bier". The English word "bier" is said to mean "stretcher", according to LEO Dictionary. See the German original text - there is no mention of "Bier", but there you read: "Wir stehen vor unseren Bahren" - "We are standing at (or: in front of) our stretchers".

Damn, that aches! Spot on though, and really funny! Maybe the best way, to let it all out like that? Monty Python - they can't do a thing wrong; you must love them! They taught us Germans the first important lessons of humour.

jwrich, if you want, give me your screen resolution, and I can provide you with two or three choices for a FOV.

Yes, Dej, I am almost certain that he drew a parallel to the denial of Christ, who was also denied by his closest friends. The whole poem is very much about the very hard and distant relationship of the sons (him) and their mothers, who treated them hard, as to make them hard, and who let them go into a war without warm hands trying to hold them back - as real warm and loving mothers would. And maybe Lou's words make more sense today - but I think I was pretty close to his dark poetry. It sounds even very uncommon and - yes, strange - to a modern German.

Lou, you rather seemed to have transposed it into a better modern understanding, but then, a lot of the original words - as strange as their use may sound today - get lost. They did definitely not stand by their "beers", Sir - I wrote "biers", which is another word for "stretchers"; the things you carry the wounded or dead soldiers on. For this is our purpose: We are children of a race that does not hesitate; Here it should not be "to hesitate", which expresses "to be uncertain" - the word he uses must be one of these: to be reluctant, to resist, to writhe ...and denouce the very Gods themselves. This is rather explaining the meaning, I think. In his dark prosa, he really said: "...and must benumb more than one god." (must make them numb, must etherise them) And this will never leave us. Perhaps, when we finally know that we are the Children of Error, and therefore lost to time; Maybe then…perhaps…we will surrender. This should be kept, although it is surely very unusual to be expressed this way: ...and therefor Unmercifuls of Time; maybe then... What?... strengthless... (or: forceless - without any inner strength) To a land of white and far away, where many have gone, and we too are longing for it’s comfort. Here, I find this picture more poetic really - "and we are longing for it's pillow." or: "...wishing for it's pillow." And yes - a very dark poem. But after reading the part about Julius Buckler's youth, and the poverty they suffered ("Malaula! The Battle Cry of Jasta 17"), this poem is like an expressionistic painting of many a German soul, as it may have been for (poor) people back then.

Wow, a very good photograph, JFM - and even with our Dej in the center of it! You're right: the pilot now does look like a WW1 flyer! Very good, devs! I wonder if you could even make one with a black face mask? The "sombre Hun"?

JFM, if there was a time machine, I believe there would be some good men with the courage and determination to get a good gun or bomb, and kill the Brownie once and for all - to save millions of lifes.

Lou, I do not understand at all, why I seem to have overlooked this last answer and offer of yours last August, to my translation of Bäumer's poem. I guess I had probably travelled to my hometown. After seeing Widowmaker's post about the entry of America into WW1, I searched and found this all again. And of course, you are more than welcome to help with this. To give you the German text, I will place a Jpeg of it here. It is written in a somehow old fashioned, and also rather lyric, dark and uncommon style, which you may or may not sense from it. So, I also add my translation again, with some added information about the meanings of the German words. You are invited to put it in a better English way - perhaps you even still manage to keep the strangely dark way he put it? Midnight We are long disowned more than three times. ( we are since a long time denied more than 3 times) In our gestures all our aspirations fell together, all those that were in our fathers and mothers... (all our desires/aspirations/yearnings, which were already in our fathers and mothers also, came/fell together in our gestures) We stand by our biers absorbing deaths, so we will come to end. (we stand at our biers and catch up deaths, so that we may finish our development/growing) Cause this is our reason: We are children of a breed without reluctance, of children against their breed. Spiritless. We have the eyes, that grub in our own brains, sucking pain. We are long disowned more than three times and have to benumb more than one god. (...and must make more than one god numb; also given in the dictionary: to bemuse, to anesthetise, to daze, to deafen, to stun, to drug, to stupefy) For us, no return is blessed, and for our crying no Amen from endearing mouths, (which were) once bursting from sweetness... Our mothers failed, who mourned about us. We wonder about those, who came the way of mothers. And this won‘t ever leave us. - Perhaps, when we once (will) know that we are children of error, and therefor Unmercifuls of time; maybe then... What?... Insubstantial (or: strengthless; powerless)... A land blanching far, and many fell (or: have fallen), and we are longing for it‘s pillows. Ludwig Baeumer

In reality, you'd wish it had only been such a bar fight, surely. On the other hand, we wouldn't have "Over Flanders Fields" today. Not meant to be cynical - this way, we can try to honour, what those pilots then had gone through. And I like the picture, that they may be sitting on their clouds, watching us. And they'd push their elbows in each other's ribs and giggle: "Look at that guy - he is doing quite well. But I really wonder, how he would perform, if he had to wear thick clothes and gloves, and sit in an open cockpit at 18.000 feet, in February! Hey, St.Peter, Sir - can I have one more sugar in my tea, please?"

Well, I had a funny little thing to happen first (Winder reported that too): at first start, the camera device wouldn't react. But after closing TrackIR, and starting it again, it was alright. Now I do not experience that anymore. No idea, what changed, but now it works perfectly well.

The Japs? Germany fought the Japs in WW1 ?

"Vott?? Now vee muszt even fight der Americans???!! Were France, Russia, Great Britain, Canada ant Australia still nott enough? Vell - vee have a sayink: Viel Feind, viel Ehr'!"* (*numerous enemies - plenty of honour)

Lewie, this simulation is about WW1 - there is no radio communication. You cannot communicate with a wingman, who is half a mile away. All they could do, was to make signs with their hands or arms. (I will let the flares out here now). So you need to be so close to a wingman, that he will recognise, what you assign. No joke - OFF simulates that. When their "Labels" would turn from blue to white, they will be out of vision for such signs - and not react to them. Try it out. As long as they are near enough, they will follow these signs: A = Attack H = Help me R = Return/Reunite S = Split You can even advise them to attack a specific target. With TAC on, you mark a target. Then you click A twice, and two wingmen shall go to attack that target. Click A three times, and three of them will go. I have even marked one target and sent the first two; and then marked another target, and sent the next two. All this works fine. You only need to accept and understand, that we are in WW1 - with all it's limitations compared to WW2.

Jwrich, to see the setup window, you start TrackIR, then you should see a TrackIR button/frame at the bottom of your desktop. Click that to open the setup menue. I cannot explain the whole ways of setup to you here; just check YouTube for demo videos. Or you can try my own personal newest profile - it is pretty much "one to one", and I have much improved the "Yaw Axis" in that way, that it doesn't require turning your had so far anymore, to get to your six. Still, it works pretty smooth. I attach a zipped version here. You need to unpack it and throw it into C: programs > NaturalPoint > TrackIR5 > Profiles. Enjoy! Shiloh, to save the 30,- bucks, you can buy the TrackIR 4 Pro hardware, and then download the free software for TrackIR 5. It works - I do the same. .

Ah, thank you for that insight into the process, Sandbagger! I always thought, it must be damn hard to find out for skinners, to make out, where which part would have to be placed. Now my respect for Pol and Winder has even grown further, and I wonder even more: do you guys live on Speed? Don't you ever sleep?

Well, me - I just can't bring the patience about, that would be needed to fly for hours, days and weeks, without getting into fights much. It is mostly the fighting I'm after. So I guess, I'm still a boy there. Or to say it more heroically: rather Voss than Udet. But there's hope: I notice I am constantly changing more into the other direction. I think I just haven't had all that flying and fighting, that many of you here had before, in earlier sims. So I still have to catch up with all this.

Lewie, just check the "Workshops" functions a bit more. You can even bypass the claims, if you want. But I like it, to write in a short report of the fighting. For P4, the dreambirds wispered in my sleeping ear, that there might be an intelligent claim report form, that can extract and understand enough details from your report, to judge if it will be confirmed or not. Maybe it was just a dream - maybe not.

Great to hear, boy! So you didn't break the kite on your excursions! That's good, cause she belongs to the mechanics. You know, they only borrow them to us. But lets come back to that wonderful idea of yours - the 1st round of tonight! Cheers, Adger!

Exactly what I will do in P4! The crate looks larger scale now, not like a cute toy - bigger than life almost. Very good work!