Olham

I've just looked in there at page 1 (you linked to page 3, RABU), and the reactions sounded rather very positve. The sim was recommendet by some. But I'll have a closer look this evening, to check. And if I find it necessary, I'll post in there to put some views right.

Some stuff written here is wrong or distorted; so I looked up some sources. Sopwith Triplane introd. November 1916; produced: 152; top speed: 188 km/h; climb at low alt: 5 m/sec Fokker Dr.1 Introduced: August 1917; produced: 320; top speed: 165 km/h; 5,5 m/sec The early structural problems of the Dr.1 were solved, when the plane re-entered service in December 1917. There was NO wiring on it for wing stabilisation - just the vertival struts. When you think about the fact, that the Tripe was replaced by the Camel, and that the Dr.1 could out-turn the Camel, I know, which plane I would choose. (But still: it's like comparing the Albatros D III with the Sopwith Camel - senseless; due to different dev. time) If I could pick time and plane to survive and collect kills in WW1, in OFF's offer of types, this would be my choices (first and second): Britain: Camel, S.E. Germany: D VII, Dr.1 France/US: SPAD XIII, SPAD VII And if some of you ask me now, why I always fly the Albatros - love cannot be explained (Lol!)

Wow, great shot, Rickitycrate! Yes, you will like TrackIR after short time. First, I didn't know, it had "precision" choice. But now, I have modified the curves for it's action/reaction in a very good way; and I've put "precision" on a thumb knob of the stick. Whe you press it, it is, as if you stiffen up yourself and you neck. You can't look around so quick then, but your shooting is much easier. When you get used to switching there and back, you'll find it a great improvement! When you get TrackIR, I can send screenshots from my curves. You can, off course, save your own modified curves/set ups; but you can also use pre-shaped ones - from "smooth" to "aggressive".

Hey, MK2 That's interesting info. I have so far started the same three Jastas/time periods again and again. Mostly in bad weather. Now, this could be something completely different. Summer weather, lots of planes, action pure! Jasta 11, I'm coming to you in mid-1918!

Morane Parasol would be an equal opponent for the Eindecker; so more people would fly those early birds. Fokker VI and off course VIII (I voted for the VIII) Sopwith Dolhin and Snipe. Siemens-Schuckert. Yes - like Rickitycrate says - I want them all. But cool down, Winder - this version now will last me for at least one and a half years.

Okay - before you think, we Germans don't know ANYTHING about humour: off course I knew the face, and the name, Borat. Even saw some (sometimes shocking) scenes from his film; not yet the whole movie though. But will get that from the VideoWorld now. Here's one I just found and - okay - he IS funny somehow... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvQScRuZj9s...=1&index=20 And here's a quickie, someone had posted before, that I found funny:

Hey, Rickity, did you change over to the Brits - or were you the Eindecker pilot?

Thanks for sharing, Cpt.Kremmen Strange feelings, when I saw the war time pictures of Remarque and Hitler, and Ronald Reuel Tolkien...

Zoomzoom, I saw one of my wingies go down over the enemy side od the mud; he made an emergency landing; something with the engine, I thought. When I had flown on and he had become a white spec on the "radar", I marked the spec, and switched F4, 'till I saw him. Although he couldn't fly anymore, he was now motoring on, determined to reach our side of the lines. Perhaps an explanation... (Lol!) This thread became a very good one through you all, and many of you I'd like to have there with me in a fight as my wingmen.

sorry - somehow I had posted twice. Erased.

Siggi: When I was a kid I used to pretend a matchbox was a tank. And I could smash it and actually set fire to it (in the garden of course, where I had my little wargames). My imagination kept me engrossed for hours. How small the world, how similar we feel:I played in our garden for hours, digging little trenches amidst the grass, moving my little Airfix soldiers and plastic tank (still remember, one was a British "Conqueror") Cameljockey: I turned 51 but I still feel like that little boy of yesteryear when I'm in the yard playing with Mac. ...Springtime here in South Carolina and I'll be spending a lot of thime in the yard playing with my Son. Do so, Cameljockey, as much as possible! Otherwise, you'd have regrets later. Happy birthday, mate - 50 was a thoughtful step for me. Don't sink in midlife-crisis; the glass is not half empty - it is half full! ZoomZoom, to dream of a Nieuport 28 is okay, I'd say. I'm sure, this dream is also in the heads of the devs. And some day, it will florish, as an addition, or as P4. Hi, PARKY ! Hey, Widowmaker Your occasional ranting is just you. Fits the avatar face. I wouldn't want you to be any other way. (If only you could replace that strange bloke with the little flags... On our farm, we had a cow with such a grin. I'm sure, she was mad.)

There you go again, about that Snipe, WIDOW. You know, that the Germans then ask for the Fokker D VIII. And the you look old again! (Lol!!!) (What's that funny looking guy under your posts doing - is he recruiting for his Kasakh air force?) ChrispDM1, there is sometimes intel info in the campaigns, below the actual flight order panel. You must click on the words "intelligence report" or something like that, below. As for the Squads or Jastas: you see, when you pick a Squad., what planes they will fly through the war. And when you click through the time, you can enter service, when they have the plane you desire. Also, you can thereby find the Squads, who get a plane earliest. Or read, which aces flew there when. Someone wrote, before BHaH, that he copied his pilot file from one Squad to another, but I'm not the man to ask, how exactly. But might still be possible.

No, I don't think so, cause the Germans were outnumbered, standing against Great Britain, France, America and Australia. But I think, that the Dr.1 would have done better than the Tripe, and the latter would have been withdrawn/replaced soon. Make more of your always interesting contributions, if you can, WomenFly2. Cheers. Olham

Bullethead: It really pains me when one of my long-time AI compadres buys it. Yes, I know, what you mean. I changed my tactics for that reason. I mark a target and order "attack", but don't dive with them immediately. I check from higher up, who gets into trouble, and then shoot the enemy off his tail. After that, I climb back to my "watchtower level" and so on. It worked good so far - no losses since! Widowmaker: OFF (imho) will be talked about by it's fans for years to come, as the WW1 flying simulator. A real legacy for it's developers and Aces! Absolutely: ditto! And even when we complain from time to time, due to frustrating flights, we may have to accept: we're not good enough yet. And this sim can teach you to get better!

Just when I was about to give up, cursing... ...the "winding lord" had mercy on me and gave me three presents. My two flights before had ended with my Albatros D III getting totally damaged by enemy aces, falling onto us from high above, before I could even turn. (Next time I'll bring the pumpgun for clay pigeons and shoot the smirk out their clocks!!!) I was about to give up. All is unfair! Game is too hard now! Enemies are always more, higher, invincible! Etc. Man, was I upset! (My neighbours above and below must think, I'm mad - which was true in that moment). I'll give it a last try, I said to myself, and climbed into my Albatros D II, as my alter ego Juergen Freiherr von Mahlo, with Jasta 2. And the "winding lord" had mercy on a man, giving it a last try. On September 16th, 1916, he sent us from Bertincourt south-west of Albert, to attack a railyard. Now, I never attack them, when I feel threatened by any fighters within reach. I mean, I must care for my men! And so, attack the fighters first! Right? I spotted two specs moving over Albert, to the south. We climbed between the sun and them, and then approached them. They were two Bristol Scout D3 from RFC-1, and they didn't have much of a chance. I finished them off within 3 minutes. We then tried to get on, but somewere,not yet far from our lines, my engine coughed and went out. Flak splinter? I had petrol filled up for one-and-a-half of the total miles?! Anyway - I had to put her down near an enemy airfield, and was captured. But now came present No. 3 from the "winding lord" - I escaped after 20 days! And filled in the claim for 2 Bristols! Great - now I can sleep well! PS: The immersion was so great again. Weather was sunny, with large white cumuli clouds, and the landscape near Bertincourt looked much like my native homeland Ostfriesland (by the north sea). Then, south-west of Albert, it became more undulating. Must start an English campaign in the area near Amiens! Wonderful, the weather, clouds and landscapes - thank you,Winder, for putting so much time into that. It pays. Every flying minute!!

Hi, CATF.... ähh; WELS The Eindecker is really difficult to fly. I had made one good flight, with Immelmanns even, but most manoeuvers need more energy, which I gained by giving up hight. I even managed to cripple a Bristol Scout so much, that it stole away. But the wingmen then shot me up. Yes, I'm beginning to wonder, too, if this all can be right. My earliest campaign is with Jasta 2, flying the first available Albatros D II (end of September 1916). We're largely outnumbered almost every time, and enemy comes always from above, or so it seems. I wonder, if the devs flew enough German side to understand, what we mean? I read, that the D II, when it came, was superiour. But I don't notice much of that (except the firepower); it's rather humble flying. Now I know, that the Nupes were much more agile, but the D II was actually 20 km/h faster, which would make a great difference. But these N 11 always come after me without falling behind. I think, Pol flies the Albatros sometimes. Hope, he would change things, if he'd find them wrong. But when the heart beats rather for the Allied side, it may be difficult to be objective, and there are no veterans left to ask for test flying here. Anyway - what can I do? I love this sim, and I'll carry on doing my best... Don't loose your optimism. And try the D II. Much better for fighting! Cheers. Olham

Just had this idea: Create one pilot for the serious, long lasting campaign. Call him "Ernst" in German or "Ernest" in English, and you'll know, this is your "serious" man, to be careful with. And when you had enough reality of the lasting kind, you can still pick another poor chap, and get him toasted instead.

Okay, Fortiesboy, I'll try that next time.

Thanks for sharing, WomenFly2 From the sim experience, I would say the same. But then, the Dr.1 came later than the Tripe. And in those days, development of better planes was very fast - withing two or three months. I would rather like to hear a comparison between the Dr.1 and the Camel; of a pilot, who flew them both. Cause they were rather the opponents at more or less the same time. Wasn't the Tripe then out of date already?

DEJ wrote: four of their Albatri on and off my tail (fortunately none of them were Olham) Thank you for your compliment, DEJ, but believe me - this game is so realistic now, I really have to struggle hard. And I get my nose punched many times! But I say to myself: when you think of the many flight hours of Ernst Udet, then his kill tally doesn't say, that he had a kill on each sortie. He had collected kills from March 1916 until September 1918 (I think). So lets say: within some 900 days. Now, even if we take off 300 days for furlough and bad weather (which is far more than he really had a rest, I'm sure), we have roundly 600 flying days. They often made 2 or 3 flights a day, so let's add 300 again, and we have 900 sorties. That would make (round) 60 victories in 900 flights. And that makes 1 air combat victory in 15 sorties. What I'm trying to say, is, that we got a very realistic simulation here. And when we want to survive longer, and collect more kills, we may have to be far more careful. More defensive thinking. Leave situations, that develop too risky. We must decide, if we play for the "hunting/killing fun factor" (as I mostly did so far) - or for a longer lasting, kill collecting pilot. No easy choice, eyh?

BHaH is such a step forward in details, that I believe, the devs are quite aware of the incorrect bits yet in there. And that they will work on that, to get it more correct. I mean, they have a "research man" like Shredward, and that man knows his data, definitely. But as there is so much data and detail to get correctly placed, we could give them some time to do so. I don't know any other game, that could provide us with such a cornucopia of lovingly made details - visual and data. And if anyone should say, this was just friendly flattery - yes, it is. With all my honesty.

Well, what do you expect? If the ingame trucks and troops would all behave "real", and could be shot to pieces - the program/game might be 3 DVDs and a stuffed game drive. I assume, a programmer must make decisions, what is important. And at least the trucks do drive along. That already is a lot to happen, when it happens at several places at a time. For ground attack missions, they program them to be vulnerable; that they can explode, and that they count as kills. But I don't think, you could expect that to be possible all the time. Perhaps in 2 - 3 years, when all the systems have grown again; in Phase 4 so to say.

Hi, GREMLIN I read Bubi Hartmanns book, when I was 18. He was badly punished for his huge kill tally - I think he came home from Russian prison camp as one of the last returners. I was very impressed of a young man, who was so responsible for his wingmen. He must have known his 109 like his legs and feet - great pilot. Are you still working on the HOTAS profile? Cause, I've got it now. Cheers; Olham

QUEEG - you shouldn't play ANYTHING when driving! And for those at home - what else would we play but BHaH ? Although I wanted to tear down some walls today for being shot down again and again - but could I leave it? No way..

Thank you for test flying "my" bird, Bletchley. Yes, I think, there's quite some improvement on her climb. And Pol - you were right - she is a bit tail heavy. But that can be solved easy with elevator trim.