Olham

Hmmm - should be rather the NVidea - ATI thing. Cause when I played it on Windows XP before, I could also never delete a command, before I had created an additional one. A headscratcher indeed...

Maybe they knew OFF's tough realism, and thought, better we give that guy the medal now - he will probably not last much longer anyway?

Another, yet quite risky method to down a balloon, if you are out of ammo: Circle over the balloon, until the ground crew's defensive fire hits the balloon, and the sausage comes down in flames. (No guaranty, that you will receive a claim form for that method though).

You mean, you can really delete a command, without having created a new one before? Doesn't work for me - no idea why yours is different from mine.

Delete a command first won't work, Unc - you always have to create an additional one first, before you can delete the old. And before a new install, he should try "Reset CFS3". I remember I had such problems long time ago, and the "Reset" helped and saved me a lot of hassle.

RAF_Louvert: ...my problem is I usually zag when I should have zigged. You see; and that's where the expert divides from the average pilot.

That is not okay, Rugbyfan - there are problems. You can possibly choose "Reset CFS3" in "Workshop", which should solve the problem. But you will loose all your pilots that way.

Easy cure: stop flying them! Well, you must get near it zigzagging, to avoid Flak. Then you really need to approach the balloon quite steep; in a 30° angle, and make sure you hit the bag at first go. Then climb out and away, zigzagging again.

Well, who would translate for people who seem to have everything you need: a wonderful coastline with pleasant beaches, a good kitchen and fine wines, ports and sherries...

Well, Austrians speak their own dialekt of German often anyway - must be hard to understand, even with a good school education. If I watch Austrian movies (which often have a similarly black humour as you British have), I often find it hard to understand it all.

Aren't you in Austria now? They were among the first of the European countries enjoying "Caffee" - after they had beaten the Turks, who left piles of bags with roasted coffee beans behind. So go out and get you some good quality, olde chap, but don't consume too much - your trigger finger might be trembling! O. Boelcke paddling on a wing back to the North Sea shore? What a sight it must have been! Next time we want photos!

For you it must be so much worse, Lou - I would only try that in very important cases. I wonder, if many German books get translated into English?

Sometimes I'd like to be a British or American person. So many books about WW1 and the technology like dreadnoughts and aircraft are available only in English. Although I can read them, I find very often, that I have to look up words I don't understand - "dreadnought" is one such word; I just loked it up and it seems to be the German "Schlachtschiff" - a ship larger than a "Kreuzer" (battle cruiser?). It is just more fun, when you can read fluidly. That's why I got Strachan's "Der erste Weltkrieg" - it was translated into German.

Hihihi! Slarti, I see the headlines already: Heavy British raid on German airfield! Several Strutter shot down by ground fire A beautifully painted craft just made the escape back over the lines, chased by Fokker fighters. One of the downed British pilots talked: "We came to finish off Herr Blöcke once and for all!". Now the German officers gave wonderous looks to each other - none of the officers, nor anyone among the German airfield ground crew was of this name. The whole confusion got cleared, when the ace Oswald Boelcke entered the office. "That's him! It's him we wanted to kill!" shouted the Tommy. "You will be arrested for 10 days by water and bread, for pointing on a German officer, ace and gentleman with your naked finger!" shouted the Ordonanz officer, and they brought the guy to his prison cell. Boelcke himself smiled about the incident. "With this name of mine, it may take them ages to find and get me", he said.

Tried to find Meyer's book in German; no success so far - does anyone know the German title? Is it available in German at all?

You were right there, Lou. Here is a picture of the filling of a German balloon - looks obviously like gas containers.

Like you, I wished I had known this earlier - cause I have just recently bought two books about the subject. William Jannen's "Lions of July" which I'm currently reading, shows all the diplomatic actions and exchanges from all parties, before the war started. The other book is Hew Strachan's "The First World War" (not yet read). Do you know those books, Lou, and what do you think of them? Thank you for your book tip anyway - I may buy it for myself for Christmas.

Hmmm - now I'm rather confused, cause in English Wikipedia, it says, the baloon was filled with hot air instead of gas? Here is the excerpt: (Quote from Wikipedia:) One of the first uses of incendiary ammunition occurred in World War I. At the time, phosphorus—the primary ingredient in the incendiary charge—burned upon firing, leaving a trail of blue smoke. The effective range of this bullet was only 350 yards (320 m), as most of the phosphorus would burn out by then. While European powers had been using incendiary ammunition before the United States' entry into the First World War, the American military had no experience with them, having used only lead bullets. The manufacture of several new types of ammunition—including incendiary—began soon after in the United States. Incendiary rounds were supplied to early British fighter aircraft during the First World War, for use against Zeppelins trying to bomb the British Isles. Filled with hydrogen gas, the Zeppelins were susceptible to fire. Similarly, incendiary ammunition was used against observation balloons, near the front lines. Although using hot air instead of hydrogen, their fabric could be set alight, causing far more damage than bullet holes. (End of quote)

Looks nice, Hellshade, and some day I may get "Wings of Prey". But so far I am still totally absorbed by OFF - I just can't seem to get bored with it.

During a balloon defense, our both flights (Jasta 17 Albatros D.III OAW from Ghistelle) got under attack by two SPAD VII flights from higher up. After long time flying the D.V, I found it tough to familiarise myself with less power again, but then I got behind one and shot his top wing off. Soon after that, I peppered another, who was chasing my flight leader Lt. Schreder. I hit the SPAD repeatedly, but then my ammunition was out, and I had to leave the battle. My SPAD was pretty angry and still intact enough to follow me. So I was hedgehoppint home, flying inbetween houses and trees, and was afraid in wide open fields and meadows, that he might get me. Stepdancing on the rudder pedals kept him from good lining up, but he didn't seem to loose an inch on me! Still a long way to go - be careful; don't run into something now! But then I looked behind - and he was gone! I strained my eyes - nothing! He couldn't have turned away; I would still see a spec. So I turned and flew back a little. And there he was - a pile of metal, wood and fabric, still smoking! He had nosed in! A cable must have snapped - I had shot him down with delay! Hoooray!!! I almost fell out of my cockpit from laughing loud!

Hihi - Fräulein Glück, thank you very much!

Well, as Sandbagger said - there are also "tips of the hat" for Winder and Shredward hidden somewhere. A good reason to fly many squadrons and search for them. And whoever finds them: please report with screenshot!

Holy Schnickee! That's a fine skin, guys! Now you will have to be triple careful, Slartibartfast! Or only fly it on sundays.

UncleAl: Have YOU ever been hit by Flak on EASY, or is it only part of the view ? That's a good question that makes me wonder, UncleAl. Now that you say it - no, I think I was never hit on that setting. Stratos, in the sticky thread "Screenshots and Videos" above, you can see them all.

Rugbyfan, I'm not sure if I understood you right. Normally, you must first highlight a command in "Controls", then click "Add new assignment", and add the new key command. Only after that, you can erase the previous/old assignment.