Olham

As I said, Siggi - the slightest danger to be attacked by any fighters from god knows were - and I'm off, and rather fight those. And if only to protect my wingmen (Lol!) Let those railyards for the bombers - they have the right tools, and they drop them from high above..

Thanks, BirdDog, for your ATI advice. I used it, and the most noticable result was, that my TrackIR looking-around was much faster now! I think, I can shape back the performance curves a bit now. Had chosen "combat view", and "aggressive", but since that was still too slow, I had shaped the curves high up at the ends, so the rear view comes faster. Now I can tune it back a bit. Thank you.

Again, the sentence comes to mind: On a long enough timeline, every pilots chance to survive the war, dropped down towards zero. A difference might be, whether you were a young, idealistic warrior, or a man who had a loving woman waiting for him, home. Ernst Udet comes to my mind - I'm pretty sure, that he survived through taking less risks. He had a loving woman home...

attachment=22409:End_of_Albert_Ball.jpg] This could have been my day. Our two flights of Albatros D III (early) from Jasta 12 were 9 planes; we were to patrol friendly lines, weather was fine, and it was sheer fun flying. Arriving at the front, SW of Mont St.Martin airfield, we had gone down to 1.000 feet (Flight lead Paul Billik's decision). And then, I spotted some 8 or 9 planes high above, near the sun. They came down like hell on flight 1, whilst I curved away with flight 2. I counted 4 or 5 S.E.5a from RFC56, and 4 Nieuports. I marked the nearest enemy, and turned to get behind him. He did a helluvalot of moves; felt like dancing Tango, but I managed to stay behind him. When he had to pull out of a dive, he got the full treatment. I had to press "pause", to make a screenshot - he was Gerald Joseph Constable Maxwell. He was. He dug nosed into the mud. Coming out of my turn, I saw Albert Ball's plane passing above me! My god - more aces? I had taken up fighting with an elite squadron! Albert tried to do half a loop to dive through under my plane, but I had guessed that and manoeuvered my lady behind his. Lying on his side, very close above the ground, he got a full burst right into the cockpit. He crashed only two minutes after Maxwell. Now, don't think, I was the super-ace: I hadn't seen an S.E.5a creeping up from below rear right. When I noticed him, I paused and made this shot - he was the "Gadget King" - and he shot me down! But when my plane crashed onto the soil, my system crashed. I couldn't even get out with the "monkey-grip"! And that happened the second time! Does anyone else have this problem after the hotfix to Patch 1.26 ? Some info for the dev team: I was using TrackIR; system is Windows XP; both times it happened exactly in the moment I crashed on the ground. Any ideas?

Yes, it is. I'll post it in your skins thread. if you like, but give me time. Winter's grey and work seem to have exhausted me; I hardly manage to do two flights a day. And getting used to this new forum still feels peculiar. I took a basic skin (natural wood) without markings, and with the "wizzard stick" in Photoshop, I chose all wooden parts of fuselage; then changed it's tint into kind of mahagony. For the nose tin plating, and the fuselage back, I chose black, against the glare of the sunlight. Last addition were the stripes in the national colours of the time. I still have to put my personal emblem on it, a red kite, with it's German name "Milan" underneath. Nice to be back with you! You'll see more skins soon. Cheers! Olham

Here's a link to a good Jasta/Squadron/aerodrome finder. Just click away the nationality you don't want to see, choose "search by..." selection, and you may find, what you wanted. http://patriot.net/~townsend/WW1AirMap2/

Hey, CAMELJOCKEY Yes, sometimes, there's so much to do workwise - I'm having a similar problem (both, with work, and system crash). Read my thread "Could have been my day,but...", and you'll see. Maybe, there are still some stones to be moved out the way for the devs? But until then, I think we both did some great flying. And I wouldn't have any other sim! Your little son looks cute in his "cockpit" - reminds me of Linus, or was it Schroeder, from the peanuts. Enjoy the time with him being so little - they grow over your head incredibly fast (Lol!) Cheers! Olham

Hey, Cameljockey, Rickitycrate, Widowmaker, Duck, Rooster, Gimpyguy, WomenFly2, SittingDuck, Fourtiesboy, Gousgounis, Catfish, Creaghorn, Siggi, Dej, MilitantDanny, Bullethead, Geier, Polecat, Parky, and all of you, who's names didn't return to memory (damn hard to recollect them, as I had always just found everyone, without writing down all your names); and hello, Winder, Pol, Shredward, OvS, Paarma, Makai and all from the team! Thanks a lot, Cameljockey, for guiding me home. My rig is reinstalled, TrackIR running well (discovered yesterday, it has "precision" - I put that on a thumb knob, and now I can switch it on and off and do good deflection shooting again); pedals and HOTAS Cougar work. But the last two, I still only use on the first flight, as it's damn hard to work with. For the second (fun) flight, I still use the old stick. With TrackIR, it's much more immersion, but also harder to fly and shoot. But I'll definitely stick with it and learn. Are all the above here already? If not: does anyone know the E-mail adresses of those missing yet? And would you contact them? More later. Nice to be back with you all!

Missouri? Is that the artist formerly known as "Crozbone"? (I know - another name I hadn't remembered - shame on my olde brain!) Hello, old chap!

Yes, Zoomzoom, I also do not dare to imagine... Hey, Widowmaker - look at my thread "This could have been my day" - I wiped out Maxwell and Ball from RFC56 (your colleagues?) But don't panic - if I had seen your name, I wouldn't have shot (Lol!)

As GEIER says. Often, it's like in Westerns - you must do the first shot (and better be precise!) But when they come from above and hunt you - oh boy!

So do I, Widowmaker, so do I !!!

Hey, SHREDWARD You made me feel like a rookie again, as I don't know, what a "Biff" and a "Bimmer" are... The precise type names would help. Cheers. Olham

Almost fair and equal seem to me: late 1916: Albatros D II against Nupe 16 late summer 1917: Dr.1 and Pfalz D IIIa against Camel and S.E.5a (before the D VII came) That's, fair by plane types - not by numbers. It's what I learnt in OFF - not founded by books or data. Rather my feeling, so to say.

Thank you, DEJ - good grief, he had 34 victories! My knees are getting weak! (Lol!) No, I was so caught up in it all, I haven't made a screen shot. I'll put that on a stick button and do one next time. What confuses me - I flew on 13. April 1917. And in your link, it says, he did his first victory end of 1917, his 2. early 1918. So I shot him far before his time (he must have resurrected later). But: this sim is superb! It is so immersive! Can't wait, till my next sortie later today.

Thank you all; and I know I have forgotten some of your names, but not you people (sorry, James and BLUE) Hey, Widowmaker How come, you're a "valued member" in such a short time? Bribed them? Yes, my restructured system is running well now, and I'm sheer excited! I had some very thrilling fights with French aces already, and helped a certain Monsieur Michel Josef Callixte Marie Coiffard, to kiss his home ground in with his SPAD VII. (Does anyone know, how good he was?) Now, I'll even go further. I have the chance to buy an almost new GAINWARD Golden Sample HD 4870 with 1 GB, plus 2x 2 GB Corsair Dominator DDR2, and a Core 2 8400. With all that, it should be running fine, I suppose?

A basic question about mixture control: Since I always realise, that the Albatros power reduces at higher altitude, I'd like to try the mix control myself. What must I press at HIGHER altitudes - "minus" or "plus"? Must it be fatter or less fat? (Now some may find me stupid - which I am, technically.) Hey, GAW Your problem sounds to me, as if your planes always fly with mix for high altitudes? Cause then, what Winder says, would make sense in your case?

(Patch 1.26 installed) Jasta 12, Epinoy, 13. April 1917 15:26 h We start to attack the enemy airfield at Etrun. (This is my first flight together with flight 1, and the feeling is great. My wings almost dance around my plane; von Marchlewitz a bit over the top - we almost collided once. But still though - a great feel. The plane's wings shimmering in the sun; weather really fine!) 15:53 h I spot two groups of planes, higher than us, and almost hidden in the sun. I count 3 and 4 specs. (I mark the planes and go through them paused, with F4. They're 2 SPAD VII and 5 Nieuports. Erich and his wings go down for attack; they don't seem to notice. I perform a full curve, to collect my wings, and get a bit away from the enemy planes. They all come down on the other flight now, and the tangling begins.) 15:59 h I begin a dogfight with a SPAD VII, and order attack at the other. I realise, I'm at highest altitude of all. Good! My SPAD VII missed me due to my sharp turn, and was now underneath. I felt, what he was going to do, and stuck at his tail. I realise, one Nupe is close behind me, and wave for help. But no one there. I get two, three hits, but still chase the SPAD. As he pulls up, he gets a full burst. Huge bits come off, and he turns headover and pulls down. But now I get the bill - hit severely, I try to dive away, but the SPAD's wing is still behind me, hits me again. My engine grumbling, my Albatros wants to roll right. It's hard to contoll her; stick pushed full left. 16:00 h The SPAD I had hit, crashes. (Paused, I had checked the labels. The ace was Michel Josef Callixte Marie Coiffard from Esc.154, and his name was longer than his fight. Huh!) My wing appears and handles the Nupe now, so I can look for a spot to touch down - the plane can't fly anymore. I'm still over enemy terrain. (To be honest, the plane crashed. Still though, game said, I was captured, but escaped after 20 days. I was off course happy for that; but it wasn't what really had happened. Hm...) What I liked, was the flying with the wings (never had it seen like this), and the fact, that the SPAD was really as badly damaged, as I had hit her. Great. Now I'd like to make another flight!

Thank you, chaps! How do I get my avatar picture in here?

Hey, Blue Since the Camel joined the SPAD as a two-gunner, life got hard for the German pilots. Cause, the German Albatros wasn't superior through it's weapons anymore, and it was less manoeuverable, and not faster than any of those. The only "plus" of the Albatros seemed to be then, that she was very stabile (apart from the lower wing), and could take some hits. I wonder, how good it's performance would really have been - wish, there were a film, showing MvR, Voss or Udet flying it. Perhaps it is a bit underrated here. But I'll continue flying her (ant I get better and better, Crumpetz! Better beware!!) The planes to match the new Allied ones were the Dr.1 (good equivalent to the Camel), and the D VII and D VII F (good against anything). Haven't checked the Pfalz D IIIa yet enough; could be an equivalent to the S.E.5a (? does anyone know?) These two should have done fine, but when a small country like Germany has England, France, America and Australia against it, it was totally outnumbered. Impossible to win. So I chose the most beautiful crate to die in (Lol!) Geier, for scrambles, use some phantasy. I start sidewards to the field and try to get some distance to the mob. Then I climb, and come back with enough altitude. I really like scrambles. Only had two on BHaH patched yet, but on the 2. I killed three Tripes with my Albatros D III early (on the 1. though, I had to land my D II with damaged engine after getting only one Nupe 11). And Nupe 17: try to only fight one at a time. Means, get away from the furball; use wing 1 helping. I had a fight against Monsieur Victor F M A Regnier from Esc. 112 (a Stork emblem - sure an ace). Although my Alb was already damaged, I managed to hit him severely, cause my wing1 chased him off my tail. Then I escaped over the lines. On German side I hit him again. These two bursts should have been more than enough for a Nupe, but he carried on attacking me, as if he was invincible (an "ace cheat", Winder?) Try hit-and-run tactics with them. And, yes, Mr.Lucky - fuel management is important!