Olham

34% - much better than in OFF, I'd say. And that without TrackIR (Lol!)

Got a detail mixed up above. The deep-red Esc. markings were on the Nieuports (kind of dragon or snake). The SPADs had a yellow-black sort of snake, which I hadn't noticed in flight (only saw it close, when I just looked up the skins).

A batman? I always thought, that's a comic hero. But then another (non-war) song comes to my mind: "I was Kaiser Bill's batman" Widow - could you explain to a hard-learning German airman, what a batman is?

Good one, RABU! So I suggest, that all German voters must attach a picture of them, standing underneath a German road name sign (Lol!) But: the D VIII or the Siemens-Schuckert - we would get a hell of a weapon in both cases.

Can only agree, Griphos Thanks for that nice report - so it IS worth going back as far as 1915. Carry on, Wels (you know, that Wels/Catfish is a FISH, not a CAT, do you, CATF... arhm - Wels?)

I came to OFF in October, but seem to be a rookie, still. FM, CoG - call me out-of-date or old fashioned, but I don't understand the shorts quite often. Perhaps easier for the English? I'd be happier, if you would write them out.

Don't choose "fast reply" but "reply". Then, below your text window, you find "manage current attachments". Max. single upload size: 3 MB. Cheers, Rooster. Olham

JG II "Berthold", Jasta 15; Bonneuil Ferme / Golancourt Field 26, April 1918 Mission order: Railyard attack on Rail Marshalling 168 Takeoff: 08:15 h Wheather: low clouds, misty Flight 1: Rudolf Berthold, Joachim von Ziegesar, Walter Dingel + two new wingmen Flight2: myself, Rolf Krawolitzki, Hans-Joachim von Hertzen The wheather looked better than in the forecast; it wasn't misty; the heavy thunderclouds were of the same gray as the sea ooze between the isle of Norderney and the mainland of Ostfriesland, my beloved homeland at the north sea. It was my first flight with Jasta 15 (I arrived yesterday afternoon) and my second with an Albatros D Va; after the introduction yesterday. Felt good immediately; Berthold is a quiet, intelligent man; I felt safe with his flight. West of waypoint 9, south-east of Moreuil, we encountered two flights. The first, 6 Sopwith Strutter, crossed our way some 2.000 feet higher up, but Berthold didn't care. Watching the other flight, I climbed sideways, to eventually get behind them. They were 5 Nieuport 17, and they jumped on Flight 1. Their last mistake! Berthold's flight split up, diving - but only to pull up again; and now, they had advantage of hight. They finished of the light grey planes, before I could even reach them. I was a bit disappointed. Had I been too careful? But wondering soon was over - 4-6 SPAD XIII came chasing down from between the clouds; carrying the deep-red marking of Escadrille 88. Now, my distance became my advantage. I think, they hadn't even seen me! Everyone was tossing and turning, spiraling down. I ordered attack for von Hertzen, but signed Krawolitzki to cover me. And down we shot like Valkyries - the SPAD's didn't realise, what happened! I hit the first craft so devastating, it expploded; and I regained altitude. The D Va is doing that fine; very strong, she carried me back up. A look over the shoulder - Rolf still there with me. He is a very good wingman; he remained behind me throughout the whole fight! In a turn, I saw another SPAD attacking von Hertzen; chasing him down, firing all the time. I thought, I heard the hammering; saw smoke coming off von Hertzen's craft! Oh, if I could only get there faster! I went down like a falcon, almost vertically, but no problem with the wings! And then I see von Hertzen crash right into the mud, and the SPAD pulling up again. But now I got him right in front of me. He got a terrible burst and seemed to fall sidewards. He recovered a bit, but I was round my half turn and there again. I literally shot him to pieces, and my rage was so terrible, that I only missed his stalling plane by inches - that could have been my own end! My next victim was a bit higher up, turnfighting with two Albatros. When it got too close for him, he broke away and thought, he'd escape with a shallow dive and his speed advantage. Again, I'm sure, he didn't have me on the checklist. He ran right into it, turned on his back and pulled down hard into the soil. Now there was only one left. Quick check - Rolf still there. Good guardian angel! I approached the last SPAD from underneath. It tried to steal away, smoking. Now, I was faster. I went close, pulled up and fired some 100 - 150 rounds into it. He performed a slow left turn and crashed into a group of trees. My god, what a morning! Berthold served champaign in the mess, before lunch, and I was off duty for the rest of the day. So, I dug out my bottle of old Armagnac from my suitcase and drank two (or three?) glasses with Krawolitzki. We drank on von Hertzen. Rolf said to me, I shouldn't quarrel with myself. I had chosen the right fights from the best angles; he had felt safe behind me all the time. After that, we didn't speak no more. [it is a real shame, and I was pretty annoied, that after "end flight", when I pressed "yes" on the question, if I really wanted to end the flight, the game or system totally crashed. I could only do the monkey grip. Could that be from TrackIR? Anyone made a similar experience?]

Hi, Baywing Yes, I had that twice - I stalled and fell down a bit, and they stopped shooting at me. Why should Winder take that out? Human pilots WOULD possibly get cheated? Thank you, Bullet; and have fun in Phoenix (Lol!) I'll see what I can use - I wonder, if the AI would get confused, if I PRETEND something ?

If you devels should consider this poll at all: please remember, that the "Allied voters" are at least 75% against German voters of 25%. So, votes for the D VIII should be multiplied by 3, to be fair (and then she wins, WomenFly2 !)

Hey, that sounds good, Griphos Maybe I'm still missing a lot by flying fighters only. But then there are still all the Allied fighters yet to be flown. Ah - it's incredible - maybe stuff for years!!!

Heeeyy! Nice you get on so well - now the only thing missing is the bar, were you could get drunk together (Lol!) But what about the rest of us? The stuff about "energy and angles fighters" just became interesting! You mentioned figures from the book. Do you think, you could show them here, without bringing up Mr. Shaw against you too much? I'd be really keen on learning, how to counter the obviously superiour Camel?

These I made some weeks ago, when I had no TrackIR yet. If you hadn't seen them on the old forum; enjoy. Ride of the Valkyries End of a Hunter Day of the Albatros Unfortunately, after patching and with TrackIR on, I don't get reasonable framerates anymore, so I can't make movies right now. But I'm upgrading, and in a couple of weeks, I'll produce more.

My goodness - youth and uniforms... I used to have kind of a self-tailored American blue north states uniform - a blue jeans with yellow stripes on the side, a blue shirt with golden knobs and golden sergeant's angles, a yellow neckerchief and a black hat with a golden band around it and golden crossed sabres on the front. Seeing your son now, I see me, many years ago. (Don't bother - he'll come off the "colonial time dreams" himself, when he grows up. Quicker than you even like...)

Hahaha! Great report, Creaghorn. Perhaps zee Dshermanns invented zee psycholodgik warfare?! Vee paint zee planes most colorful ant bright, and zee enemy ssinks, vee vere not at all affraid of zem! Cheers. Olham

Have you played online already, Widowmaker? (If so: what did you fly? How did it go for you?) I consider myself as still being just too bad for it. I must learn this all again, as the plane's behaviour was changed a lot; I even had those close-to-ground stalls again in the Albatros, which I thought I had overcome.

For a beginner's flight training, you can pick "free flight" in "Quick flight", and take all the time you need to learn to know your plane and exercise manoeuvers. For first combat experiences: You could enter service as "flieger" (I don't know the Allied equivalent - lowest rank). Then follow your leader and the pilots, who's wingman you now are. Fly defensive, but help your comrades out, if you can, without putting yourself to risk too much. Run away, when you feel, it's the best you can do.

To collect an ace's impressive kill tally here, you got to - remember and follow all the golden rules - run more often than you kill As I said elsewere before: Udet's kill tally was collected by having 1 kill every 15 flights. (Or you fly like me: I have a hundred and plus lifes and names. I'm the devil's soap box opera actor. I'm the reincarnation of the rookie fool. I have to go through this again and again, until my karma may change. And I'm getting killed every 5 flights; or even more often...)

I ditto, what Parky and others said. It shouldn't appear "easy" - I mean, sometimes in campaign, you also have rookies, like those 2 Nupe 17 yesterday, who made the mistake to approach our 3 Albatros D Va, with only a little advantage in height, and I killed both within 3 minutes. But on the other hand, you should see flights, that split up, some attacking, the others going up, to come down on you with more advantage. And aces often do special manoeuvers; more tricky. But off course: as soon as you can hit a craft severely, it will often not be able anymore to perform agile manoeuvers. You can let it fly on and pick the next, when there's a furball. As long as you manage, not to get hit yourself, it can go "almost easy" - but so often have I thought just that for a sec - and "sprazzle" - was I hit from some unexpected angle. My advice: - Pick a "non-top plane", like the Albatros D V or D Va, or an S.E.5a, or a Nieuport 17. - Fly a campaign in late 1917, or in 1918. "Radar" and target cone off; all most realistic/hard. - pick a Jasta/Squad, that's offensive and in the tough combat areas. - survive 17 flight hours If that should still feel "easy" all the time, there is either something still wrong with your install, or you can put yourself in front of a mirror and look at an ace (Lol!) But try first...

Flown all Albatros, all other fighters a little bit; no two-seaters yet. But I'll start a Roland C II campaign, and then report here again. Should be some relaxing, to switch over to rear gunner, after one or two fighter sorties - those are really exhausting or tiring for me.

Thanks for sharing, tttiger. Perhaps I can even find a German version. Does it also contain WW1, and specified advice for certain plane types?

Ditto - addicted may be the right word, sworn in fits it military wise. And, Rick - with an Alby, I don't need SEVERAL good bursts on a Nieuport. I give them ONE, and then go on to the next. The plane hit WILL crash. That way, ammo lasts longer (although: I have already 1.000 rounds). I let my wings cover my back, and finish one Nupe after the other off. (No, was just teasing. I have to learn completely new - still make SO many mistakes. Without TIR, I'd be lost now...)

Now I realise, I'm not the only Albatros pilot round here. THAT'S GOOD ! And that you others have some much more refined tactics than I had ever thought of. (that's bad...) But I will copy the most usefull lines and bits, and compile me a tactical advisory. Thank you all so far - really good stuff!

Geeze, Widowmaker - I had that album! Gave to a friend at his birthday, who desperately wanted it. How small the world is , again. (Or: how far you Brits spread your popular music... Lol!)

Hi, DOWLEY welcome here. To the other posters here, I repeat it once again (does anyone READ the posts of the others?): On that thread WASN'T only bashing. The bashing was rather some pages back. The newer pages contained rather FRIENDLY views. And if this talk about bashing goes on here, I'll get me some spray cans and spray it all over the screen! (No - on second thoughts... Lol!)