Olham

Duce, I fight my opponents determined and hard - no hesitating. But I always felt a deep sorrow about the wrongfulness, when a good pilot is fighting really well, but then falls prey to a superiority, being only outnumbered. When all his talent, his energy and decidedness cannot help him anymore; when he is a single, bleeding, battlestrained wolf, surrounded by too many hounds... What a waste... Yep, Hasse Wind, I know that (maybe from you, sometime earlier here?). I think I did upload the Jasta 18 skin already. If not I'll do so tomorrow.

Hey, Flamish is related to my native Friesisch language - there we add a "tje", like "Olhamtje" or "Toftje". How do you like OFF so far?

I know, that normally these reports belong into the "Reports from the Front" sticky thread, and the pictures into the "Screenshots" sticky - but since everyone is so quiet here, and because this was a special f(l)ight, I post it here, as an exception. A Great Fight We just took off from our airfield at Lomme/Lille, when we saw 8 - 10 Sopwith Camels overhead. The first to get airborne, I climbed to the right, into the sun. Behind me, it was raining Camels. Our aces Kurt Monnington and Hans Schultz got airborne; Richard Schleichardt crashed into the trees east of the field after getting showered with hot lead. In the now following, mad turning, I damaged four craft so much, that they merely crawled along. I found myself fighting close to Hans Schultz, and the two of us downed no less than 5 enemy craft. We worked together in a way, that made it almost impossible for the attackers to use their agility to their full advantage. After a short, but intense fighting, I only landed, because I was out of ammo. Rolling past columns of smoke and wreckages, I came to a halt by my tent. Schultz was still out there. Through my glasses I recognised two aircraft tossing and turning about. No other planes near them. "That must be Schultz," I thought, "turning with a Camel!" No time for new ammo belts - I started my Albatros and rolled round to start position, gave it full throttle and headed for the two fighters. I thought, I would just irritate the Camel pilot enough, so Schultz could put a good burst into his kite. But I had waited a touch too long - coming closer, I saw the Albatros going down smoking; he crashlanded it near a wood. And now the Camel turned towards me! They were RNAS-8 pilots, and this one was determined to seek revenge for his comrades! I turned to get back to the field, but he caught up on me. Diving, hedgehopping, I approached the field. The Camel came closer like a mad wasp. Looking around for any kind of help, I saw two flights of aircraft near us, higher. One group were Hannovers, but the other were Albatros fighters! Five D.V fighters from Bruno Loerzer's Jasta 26! If only I could catch their attention! I headed their direction, and when I was under the flight, I zigzagged around, performing the "dying swan". And they saw me! And down came 5 magpies, down on a single Camel! Now it was the British pilot, who was lost! Climbing out of the furball, I watched his last fight, and I must admit, it touched me in a way I had not thought to be possible, only minutes before. The RNAS-8 pilot showed them all of his tricks, and he sold his skin dear! I saw an explosion and fire - he had really managed to hit and destroy one of Loerzer's flight! What a fighter! But now came his master - one black and white Albatros came down on him and ripped off parts of his wings with a terrible burst. He fell the short distance to earth and crashed. Waving to each other, the Jasta 26 boys turned for home, and so did I. The other pilots were all standing by the field. They had watched it all through their glasses. They clapped on my shoulders, but no one found quick words for what he just had witnessed.

Ah, I see - OvS posted those figures some time ago.

Thanks for the link, tofke, and yes: peace ! I like flying this sim, but I would have been very dull and miserable, if I had had to fight in WW1 - may such catastrophies never happen again. Tofke sounds like a Belgian comic figure, like "Suske & Wiske" - is Suske the dog in your avatar?

If the hat clip is that three-reflecting-dots-metal clip you fix to a base cap screen: YES Running fine for me! And there's no risk. You install the TrackIR 5 software, and if it should not run (which is not to expect), you could still deinstall it and download the TrackIR 4 software again. But it will work, and it will do fine.

Hey, welcome, tofke! That program of Herr Prop-Wasche that von Paulus proposed, should do, what you wanted. Man, you must be the first pilot here, who is from one of those famous towns we all know from our WW1 maps! Have you visited some of the former airfield locations? May I add you to our OFF Forum Pilots map with the location "Ypres" ? You will love OFF - Cheers! Olham

Second sortie with my SPAD VII went successful again. I'm beginning to understand the craft a bit better. I lead a flight with 6 wingmen, and even though A-flight went away, we clobbered 5 Albatros D III from Jasta 1. I hit one craft, but couldn't get it down, before my wingmen sent it into the mud, but even without a real victory - it was a great feeling of a good team work. Adjutant Alain de St.Malo

Hope you like it, Morris! And don't forget to thank OvS - he did parts of the skin, and the 'Totenkopf' emblem of Georg Hantelmann was done by him actually.

Had to try the "Flying Razor" again. Not being the "rotary man" I had to get used to the different kind of turning again. But then I got a SPAD XIII ! On patrol NW of Reims, we spotted 5 SPAD XIII on our altitude. I approached them with five wingmen, climbing, when we saw 3 Fokker D.VII coming down on the French. Geeze! Those Jasta 12 boys were not at all afraid of the SPADs. We joined into the fighting, and I hit one French repeatedly. When he tried to get away, he received the last rites from my "Spandaus", and a whole wing came off his dying crate.

Obviously, this person did NOT own "Over Flanders Fields" !!! But it could also be, that these were aliens, trying some new ideas after their corn circles.

UncleAl is absolutely right there, Duce - try it. I run T5 sofware on a T4 camera, and it works very well. The T5 software gives you more softness and a better overall setup window. You can't do anything wrong by downloading and trying it. It will be rewarding.

Well, and you also followed jsalbano's by ripping that wing off - very good, Morris! More than with any other plane, it is important to drop that frear-frozen tight stick flying, and find the best ways to attack, with impetus - with respect, but no timidity. After the first three you killed, you will feel different; more confident.

Duce: Hope Hans continues his luck in this career He will need it, if all his fights go like this one, Duce! Congrats on your Brisfit - may it be the first of a row of them. My advice (after killing at least 9 Brisfits by now): send your wingmen first to attack the same craft as you will. The gunner is now very busy, defending them off. That may give you a very good chance to put your rounds into his fighter unharmed. Don't hesitate to open fire from a distance of 600 feet, getting closer. That will kill him.

Well, Norman Franks is... ...oh, I just see that smiley you used below your post. Respectless Southerner, you!

Yeah, now you got it - the same setup as mine. Happy flying, UncleAl! Clear skies - and stay above!

Thanks, Duce! Actually, the SPAD is in both pics of the balloon explosion. In the first pic it is in the background - I zoomed out and circled around the fireball.

Yeah, mighty - The breadmaker will have to work harder to earn his dough.

How poor can some people be of morale...

Amen to that!

catch: I blew up my GPU the other night Yeah, 1918 is HOT - try 1916 - a lot quieter. Sorry to hear that, Catch, but it's the best excuse for getting a NEW baby! Faster, baby, faster!!!

Yeah, I read that version too. And it read so much nicer. To be gone, without your dead body being found and plundered. Like Antoine de St. Exupéry, who's "Little Prince" became world famous literature. He was just missing in action, on a photo reconnaisance flight to prepare for the Allied landings at the mediterranean coasts of Italy and France. Then in April 2004, I read, that they had found his Lockheed Lightning 70 meters below the water surface, near Marseille, and he had come back to earth, a mere mortal body, in a wreckage for all to see. A bit later, I saw the German pilot, now an old man, on TV telling how he shot down that "Lightning" with his Bf 109. The irony - he was a great fan of literature, very familiar with St. Exupéry and the "Little Prince". Already soon after the war had assumed, that he shot this famous author down, cause the time of disappearance and the aircraft fitted. But he could not speak. He could not say it openly to anybody, and when he now, after so many years, told the story, tears were rolling down his face.

Just searched the web for Guynemer's place of death. I had always thought, that his place of death was unknown, and his body never found. Now I read this in Wikipedia - does anyone know, if it is confirmed? According to an American Red Cross communique from the French front, the death of Captain Georges Guynemer was determined to be "definitely confirmed". This Red Cross report provided these details: Information received by the Red Cross says Guynemer was shot through the head north of Poelcapelle, on the Ypres front. His body was identified by a photograph on his pilot's license found in his pocket. The burial took place at Brussels in the presence of a guard of honor, composed of the 5th Prussian Division. Such is the story told by a Belgian, who has just escaped from the Germans. The burial was aobut to take place at Poelcapelle, when the bombardment preceding the British attack at Ypres started. The burying party hastily withdrew, taking the body with them. The German General chanced to be an aviation enthusiast with a great admiration for Captain Guynemer's achievements. At his direction the body was taken to Brussels in a special funeral car. Thither the captain was carried by non-commissioned officers and was covered with floral tributes from German aviators. The Prussian Guards stood at salute upon its arrival and during the burial, which was given all possible military military honors. The French Government has been invited to place in the Pantheon, where many great Frenchmen are buried, an inscription to perpetuate the memory of Captain Guynemer as 'a symbol of the aspirations and enthusiasm of the Army.' A resolution to this effect has been introduced in the Chamber of Deputies by Deputy Lasies.

Hihihi! I got a disc with the software with it! Uncle, I don't think it is a disturbing light source. When TrackIR 4 is running properly, TrackIR 5 should also do. It must rather be a conflict or something like that. Check the "true head angle" setting - it should be somewhere between 30 - 45 degrees. Not much less, cause then your slightes yaw will make a big move on the screen.

After all this time with OFF, I have started a SPAD VII Campaign with Esc.3. First mission: balloon busting As you see, I blew it up. After that, we were jumped at by some Albatros D.III from Jasta 21. They were really good at the beginning; their leader shot one of my wingmen down at once! But after using the advantage of height, they should have climbed back up. Instead, it all ended in a turnfight very low. I shot one Albatros down (damn hard with a single gun, placed out of the center!). After the balloon and the D.III, I could only pump some more hot lead into another Albatros - then it was empty. Oh, how spoiled we Albatros pilots are - two guns, and 1.000 rounds! Beat that! But hey, I got a balloon and a fighter! Vive la France! (and I really mean that! It's a wonderful country!)