Olham

BuB, you get many medals for many kills, but get promoted for following your mission orders exactly. I am a pilot, who can't let an enemy craft pass, when I'm supposed to do a ground attack. So, I get Iron Crosses amass (no, not really - Lol!) but have only got promoted twice since February.

Hey, Bullethead - this is your chance to get someone else to drink your homebrewed beer! If you can bottle it, of course. I heard of "exploding" beerbottles home brews. But if you can, I'm sure, Fates has deserved a couple of bottles.

Sounds like a lot to do - how long will your ammo last? I think the maximum I ever shot down with 1.000 rounds was six craft. That would mean, still 14 Camels around and me out of ammo - so my wings would have to do some, too. Did you get out alive? How many did you get?

Had to patrol behiend friendly lines two days ago. Right after takeoff, I spotted a flight of 4 FE2b heading north. Instead of following my route, I climbed up to engage them. When I came nearer, they suddenly split up in two groups of two. So I had to pick one group and tried to reach them. But now they went down pretty steep to attack our neighbouring field Halluin/Rekkem. I could hardly follow, and couldn't stop them, before they dropped their bombs. I heard that whistling, and "whoom!" had they destroyed a tent. I managed to shoot down both of them, but meanwhile the other group bombed again! Did they show such clever action before the Super Patch? To me, this was absolutely new.

Hasse, don't be too sad anymore - that Nupe really did a clever approach, that was hard to detect. I had a similar experience with my Jasta 9 pilot in Sissone, July - August 1918: We had just finished circling the field and I wanted to go on our route. TAC and Labels where off. I look back and see my wings all coming closer. Now I look into the map to get the course right. But I have an irritating feeling, and look behind again. I see a totally different picture. One of my DVa is pulling up, with a trail of black smoke. A second is getting plastered by a SPAD XIII. Now I see them - they are 4 - 6 craft with green/brown/ockre camouflage. They had sneaked up from the wide forrest at the front, which is very near there, and I had not seen them. That was some patches earlier, and me and my remaining two wings clobbered those SPADs. Don't know, if I still could now - they are much improved!

Yes, some words are just alright, like Jerries, Tommies, Crumpets. Even Limeys, which someone explained to me as coming from the days of sailing to discover the world; and the British sailors where the first in Europe to eat Lime fruit to prevent scurvy. Frogs may also be acceptable, for the French eat parts of them. But I'd like to know more words for all the parties here. Anyone knows another word for the French?

Ssanks a lot, mein Herr! Zee 'Pour Le Merite' is a Prussian order. I am ein Prussian offizier, ant muszt try to brink ziss medal home! Some more about that SPAD. In a craft like this, Guynemer had that famous fight with or against Ernst Udet (search for it in YouTube - History Channel, Dogfights), where Udet after some furious turning and looping had a gun jam - and Guynemer noticed and let him go.

The SPAD S.VII was the first of a series of highly successful biplane fighter aircraft produced by Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés (SPAD) during the First World War. Like its successors, the S.VII was renowned as a sturdy and rugged aircraft with good climbing and diving characteristics. It was also a stable gun platform, although pilots used to the more manoeuvrable Nieuport fighters found it heavy on the controls. It was flown by a number of the famous aces, such as France's Georges Guynemer and Italy's Francesco Baracca. SPAD test pilot Bequet flew the SPAD V for the first time in April 1916.[2] Flight testing revealed excellent maximum speed (192 km/h, 119 mph) and climb rate (4.5 min to 2,000 m or 6,500 ft). The airframe's sound construction also enabled remarkable diving performance. In comparison, the Nieuport fighters that equipped a large part of the fighter units on the front suffered from overly light construction, and a tendency to shed its wings in steep dives. The combination of high speed and good diving ability promised to give Allied pilots the initiative to engage or leave combat. If the new fighter was a rugged and stable shooting platform, some pilots regretted its lack of maneuverability, especially when compared to lighter types such as the Nieuport 11 or 17. In the face of such performance, an initial production contract was made on 10 May 1916, calling for 268 machines, to be designated SPAD VII C.1 (C.1 indicating the aircraft was a single-seat fighter).[2] Early production aircraft suffered from a number of defects which took some time to solve and limited the delivery rate to units. While a few SPADs arrived to frontline units as early as August 1916, large numbers would only begin to appear in the first months of 1917. Among the problems encountered were problems with the Hispano-Suiza engine. In hot weather, the engine was prone to over-heating. Various field modifications were used to counter the problem, including cutting extra holes in the metal sheeting to provide more air flow over the engine. On the production lines, the cowling opening was first enlarged and eventually redesigned with vertical shutters to solve the problem. The engine mount also proved too weak and reinforcements were designed to counter that.[3] Early production aircraft also had two ammunition drums: one for normal rounds and the other for empty ones. This system was prone to jamming and was only solved when Prideaux disintegrating ammo links were introduced. With the initial teething problems solved, several subcontractors began producing the SPAD VII under license in order to supply frontline units with the fighter. The subcontractors were the firms Grémont, Janoir, Kellner et Fils, de Marçay, Société d'Etudes Aéronautiques, Régy and Sommer. It was not, however, until February 1917 that the initial batch of 268 aircraft was delivered. In early 1917, an improved version of the engine developing 180 hp, the Hispano-Suiza 8Ab, was made available. This new powerplant provided the SPAD VII with even better performance, the top speed increasing from 192 km/h (119 mph) to 208 km/h (129 mph). The new engine gradually became the standard powerplant for the SPAD VII and by April 1917, all newly produced aircraft were equipped with it. (Wikipedia) "Vieux Charles" was the signature of George Guynemer, Esc. 3 "Les Cigognes" (The Storks), so this should be his SPAD VII, or a replica of it. PS: pic nr. 14, of course!

Wow, what a fight, Duce! The S.E.5a is a dangerous opponent indeed! Did you have wingmen left to witness?

Don't let your emotions control you - control your emotions. Easier said than done, I know. I've bitten the dust so often, cause I wanted to down exactly THIS craft. Not a good idea.

Oops - I overlooked that. First think - then act. Lol!

Thanks all! I'll see, that I finish this today and put it in for download.

This should be a Clerget 9-Cylinder Rotary. Here's some info from Wikipedia: The Clerget was an early rotary aircraft engine. Manufactured in both Great Britain (Gwynne Limited) and France, it was used on such aircraft as the Sopwith Camel. What distinguished the Clerget from its rivals (Gnome and Le Rhône) was the Clerget had normal intake and exhaust valves unlike the Gnome, and the connecting rod arrangement was much simpler than the Le Rhone. A source of failure among the Clerget engines were the special-purpose piston rings, called obturator rings. These were located below the wrist pin to block heat transfer from the combustion area to the lower part of the cylinder and overcome their subsequent distortion. These rings were often made from brass and only had a lifespan of a few hours. The Clerget engines were considered reliable but they cost more per unit to produce than their rivals. Unlike other contemporary rotaries in which the ignition system was either switched on or off to provide a rudimentary form of engine speed control, the Clerget featured a throttle. The Clerget was an air-cooled rotary engine with nine cylinders. It was fitted with a double thrust ball race, which enabled it to be used either as a pusher or as a tractor. The engine worked on a four-stroke cycle. Its chief points of difference from other rotary engines were: * The pistons were of an aluminium alloy. * The connecting rods had a tubular section. * The inlet and exhaust valves were mechanically operated by means of separate cams, tappets and rocker arms. The direction of rotation was counter-clockwise as seen from the propeller-end of the engine. Like many other radial engines it was made chiefly of steel, for strength and lightness. Between any two consecutive explosions, the engine turned through 80 degrees. PS: This rotary had 130 hp

Yes, Tonyo, good idea - crash landings. Pilot may survive, but craft's gear is broken and it slithers along on the belly.

Well, I can only guess, as it was Otto von Stachel, who introduced it. The British are great tea consumers, right? They have a teatime every afternoon. And crumpets are Teekuchen (tea cake) in my language word book. I think, that's why OvS and I always call the British "crumpets" or, more German: "krumpets". At least it is MY reason to do so.

Okay, my two cent of speculation: I would like lots of special events to happen, but close to history. One thing would be the "lone wolf" Guynemer attacking you out of the sun unexpectedly. Another: Albert Ball, sneaking up from low, right underneath your tail wing, as he really often did. And many more 'special events' could be collected by Shredward and made to happen in BHaH.

rhythalion, that "Cannon-SPAD" didn't have MGs at all. Must have also been a wheight problem, with the ammo and all.

Hey! Good you remind me of that, RedDog!!! I must add kill markings for my aces!!! How could I forget?!?!?

Lou, I want to say, that this is a great thrill of excitement here, and real fun, Sir. My next answer, I'll try to undig some info about the subject. But then, it may happen that someone else posts less info faster. So I thought in this case today, go for one good point fast, and let the other point for someone coming up with the details. Kind of a possible strategy, I mean. So now, anyone can still make one point on the Dolphin.

No. 10 is a Sopwith Dolphin with an Aldiss gunsight.

I use Photoshop, RedDog. I can draw a rectangle for one stripe and fill it with red. Then I copy that stripe, and can move it pixelwise downwards, until it looks the right distance. When I have them all for a side, I put them together on a layer, and make them 80 - 90 % opaque; so the fuselage below will shine through. But you see, the back part doesn't fit with the sides, cause it gets narrower at the tail.

Update 08/21/09 22:25 Berlin time Oswald Bastable, Kentucky, added. The maps are in post 1 of this thread

Sure they want it, RedDog - yours is the historical skin. What program do you work with at skins?

Just back from a great CAP. Our flight one got engaged by Pups from RNAS-9. When I joined the turning, I could shoot one down. Short after that, I saw two S.E.5a - so new, the claims report didn't even list them yet - attacking ground targets with bombs. But once they'd released them, they could fight! I had a helter skelter of a fight with them. Geeze, they are all over the place! I fought both very agile, and thought I had downed both of them. But the report "allowed" me only one. Perhaps the other was hit by ground fire - he suddenly burnt, when I was not firing. Here's a pic.

Ah, so I have made a mix of Jeffers' and Chambers' machines. I only had the idea of this site in the back of my scrambled cells; seen it long time ago. But anyway - I wanted to create an own design. I'm even thinking of exchanging the Hat in the Ring sign against an Indian's head, like other squadrons had. What do you think?