Olham

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!

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!