Olham

There are several German Jasta, which also can't fly certain periods, although the aircraft is in OFF as a flyable one. If anyone wants, I could check, which Staffeln, and which aircraft and dates.

Okay - in this case, use the "H" (Help) key, when in trouble. Your direct wingman will do his best then.

Today I saw a landing attempt of my wingmen (Jasta 10, Leffincourt, April 1917). They came in for the landing very nice. The last bit before the field has a terrain slope downwards, and they passed that very well. But the sudden drop of the terrain must have led to them being too high. Mid-field, they still were too high; so they turned and started another "landing ceremonial" with all that flying away for 2 miles, and then the approach. I decided to sit and watch, got me coffee and cakes, and there they came again. The whole thing went the same way as the first. Because the terrain was higher until short before the runway, they didn't go low enough to make it. It could have gone on forever.

I actually love it more than the D.III, cause you can perform pretty steep dives in it without loosing your lower wings. Can one really hear the observer scream? My god - that must have been a terrible feeling. He was your body guard in the truest meaning of the word. I hope, Paul will make it into 1918 - but that is still a long way to fly...

Yes, sure! If you zip it with WinRAR, you can send it via PM. Thank you in advance!

No, they don't die in their landing accidents. Also, they don't die in most of their combats, when they get shot down. OFF Manager keeps an eye on them, and only sorts one out occasionally, like real life.

Great stuff, Lou! So he has a beautiful own Jagd-Einsitzer now! Even in his own "dress"! Paul is becoming familiar like a pilot friend from my own Jasta, and I suffer more nervousness for him than for my own. The loss of his observer was his first big own tragedy, and he is only at the beginning of the war still. I wonder, how far he may get, and I hope he will survive the war - but the dice are the devil's...

Looks good! I will have a go at that, too, cause I am flying Albatros D.II mostly right now.

Von Oben: It must have been a big leak though, because the tank was quickly empty. Actually, it wasn't the leaking out of the fuel, that stopped the engine rather quickly. The tanks had to be pressurised (with a hand pump), and a single hole would let the pressure escape; now the fuel wasn't driven to the engine anymore, and it stopped running.

It all depends on the airfield, and on the wind direction. With my Jasta 21 boys at Bantheville, I had one beautiful landing! I had been sitting in my crate and checked around in outside views, when they came back; I noticed white specs on the TAC and waited for them. And they performed a nice landing; one was even taxying round at the end of the runway. Next day, we came in together; I wanted to see it once more. But this time we came in from the other direction, and there are trees after the runway. And they crashed into them, one after the other. Whenever you ever fly from a very open field, particularly with no terrain slopes or trees at both ends of the runway, then you should give it another try. When they manage to do it right, it is a heartwarming sight!

Ah, that's why I never came across them, when searching for a Jasta to fly in Alsace. So it were actually the French, who invented full paint jobs, and MvR was rather copying it? Didn't know that. Yes, JFM had done that for our DiD Jasta 6 Albatros D.II, but it was almost too finely detailed. It is difficult to do; when you work too neatly, some things may remain unvisible or end up blurred in the rather rough resolution of the final skin on the 3D model.

Two-seat is good for learning; but you can always start a little later than the Einies, with an Albatros D.II. Lou is flying one in Alsace with Jasta 28w, and I am operating with Jasta 35 from Colmar (April 1917). An early Albatros D.II in Alsace: Jasta 15, Habsheim, 11. December 1916.

Wow! The young Ritter has a fine Albatros! He must be the earliest pilot with a full paint job? So Jasta 28w began in Alsace? Never been with them so early, but they are a good choice, cause the Staffel is very good, and they have one of the nicest tailplane designs with that yellow and black. I'll start one early pilot with them, too. I haven't read Paul's latest part yet, as I prefer to do this with time and comfort (a mug of coffee, some cake etc.), and so far, I will be very busy the next days. You will definitely get a comment, when I have read it.

nbryant, the AI can do things we can't -diving very steep with an Albatros D.III or a Nieuport 17 for example. Try that yourself, and your wings will just rip off. But that's okay for me (mostly), cause they are also very stupid, blind, and god knows whatelse. Although - today I had a French opponent, who was fighting very smart. Never feel too sure...

Congratulation, Slartibartfast! If you want some fun with the DiD flying, do yourslef the favour and create 3 (or even more) pilots, flying in different times and aircraft. I mean like this: you feel like flying in sunny weather, in an Albatros D.V? Okay, search through the Jastas, when they had the desired plane, and where they were flying. Now pick the nicest area and Jasta, and OFF you go! I too have an Eindecker pilot. But I only fly him, when I'm fully concentrated and want to have it difficult. Have fun, old chap!

...it may take a bit more damage to the stabilizer before you notice increased control difficulty. And hopefully a better horizontal level flying of damaged kites - instead of that "sinking over the tailplane" attitude, that makes them try to climb on the prop, until they crash, tail first. That would be a good improvement.

Hmm - my "idiomatic knowledge" isn't good enough for the second one. But hey, flying wouldn't have been invented without wishful thinking first. P2 woudn't have turned into P3 without it. So - who knows, perhaps it helps?

Battle in the Alsacian Skies Jasta 35, Colmar, 15. March 1917. Only our Staffelführer has got the new Albatros D.III yet. We others still fly the D.II, and I'm glad we do. While Lt. Anders must be very careful with diving, we can escape vertically, or hunt enemies down in steep dives. Today, we had an epic battle in between thunderheads. Most of the Nieuports did not return to their base.

Why shouldn't it run well? Most Windows problems can be solved by the right installation and knowing what to do. A friend of mine with good detailed knowledge had installed VISTA on my newer rig, and OFF was running fine ever since, with absolutely no problems. Win7 (64) might be even much finer! Enjoy it, Widowmaker!

IN THE LINE OF FIRE When you have pressed "H" for "Help!", you should get out of the way of your wingman quick! I reacted too late and got a punctured tank; the engine stopped very soon, and I had to perform a gliding landing, with an upset Nieuport in my neck! Well, I made it, but it was close!

Thank you for all your work, Herr Prop-Wasche! I was recently flying Albatros D.II and D.V mostly, and had several punctured tanks, which lead to emergency landings. Not sure about how frequent it happened though. You need some history buffs here. I am very curious, if your work on the tail plane will make the horizontal flying of shot up planes more stable.

I would make a French skin for you, if it would help you. But they are different models - you need the 3D model of the N17-Lewis. So, only the devs could help you - in P4. Until then, I'm afraid you may have to learn better shooting skills. You can do it! Go close! Very close!

A real pity - hopefully, the engine is still okay.

What do you think happened? Did he push the brakes too hard?

Ditto to that, Hellshade, ditto!