Hauksbee

I found this account of Boelcke's death over at ROF: "A six-man Jasta 2 flight including Boelcke, Manfred von Richthofen and Erwin Böhme engaged their usual adversaries, D.H.2s from No.24 squadron. During the fight, Böhme dived after Boelcke after same target, perhaps trying to shoulder-shoot, and when Boelcke pulled up his top wing hit Böhmes' wheel, damaging fabric. Boelcke lost part of the top wing (accounts vary) but supposedly managed to ditch the plane... then died in impact because he has not strapped himself to the cockpit. What is sure is that he died immediately on impact." From other readings, my impression of the event is slightly different: Boelcke, von Richtofen, Bohme (I know there should be an umlaut in Bohme, but I can't find it) and three others happened upon two DH-2's. Boelcke and Bohme pounced on one, von Richtofen on the other. In some tellings, it was von Richtofen who cut across Boelcke's flight path; in others it was von Richtofen's intended victim that caused Boelcke to pull up sharply and caused his upper wing to briefly touch Bohme's landing gear. The impact, brief as it was, cracked the main spar in Boelcke's top wing. He tried to nurse his plane down by flying large gentle circles but to no avail. Near the ground, the wing failed. He was not wearing a seat belt, and upon impact he was pitched forward; his head struck the butts of his machine guns and he died a few hours later that day. Can anyone else throw any additional light on this?

loftyc posted this link to a series of In-the-Trenches photos hand tinted by a Bank Clerk. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4465344/Stunning-new-images-French-World-War-soldiers.html

People who tinted photos sure knew their stuff. 'Looks real to me. Also the SimHQ series.

Impact on main spar: There's "impact", and there's "IMPACT". I can imagine contact sufficient to crack a spar but not break it in two. Rather like a "green stick" fracture in human bone. The stone in the field. This is what I thought of when I read of the Alb. standing on its nose: he could have struck a rock if he had been flung clear. Hitting a metal radiator: Didn't the D.II have its radiators on each side of the fuselage and well forward of the cockpit?

Did you, perhaps, mean "prize" for beauty? While I'd give the D.V high marks for beauty, I's have to give the Blue Ribbon First Prize to the Dr.1. Also for #1 flying. Many find it to be squirrelly, but it's always treated me well. Definitely, #1 for Ugly is the D.H.5.

That was a very cozy arrangement in the Eindecker cockpit. Hard to believe there wasn't, at least, some "ignition". But back in those days folks were much more discreet. Not like the Facebook-driven maniacs of today.

Jim: The report of the cracked spar, and being thrown forward onto the guns, came from a coffee-table book on WWI aircraft that I owned years ago (and no longer do) Given the info gleaned from current reading on-line sources, and the discussion here, I conclude my previous informant's scholarly credentials to be much in doubt. I think the pictures you posted make it unlikely that he was pitched into the guns. If the wreck happened as the German eyewitness says, (the plane came to an abrupt stop and stood on its nose) Boelcke could have been hurled out of the cockpit and sustained his injury upon hitting the ground. If, as the Lance author goes on to say, subsequent sources say the plane flipped over, then an unsecured pilot would have been thrown out & downward, striking the underside of the top wing. It would appear that speculation will forever dog this subject due to the lack of clear evidence.

'Seems to raise more questions than answers. It appears that the cracked spar did not fail. (if it was ever cracked to begin with) I had always heard that he was thrown forward into the machine guns. ( Anyone know, off-hand, if the guns extended back into the D.III cockpit far enough?) Even if that is not so, the lack of a seat belt would have him being pitched forward. What might have struck the back of his head? A pity that no photo of the wreck exists.

Ah, the joy of well-informed Forum mates! Thanks Jim. I'll archive this thread.

Thanks, Jim. I thought it sounded too good to be true.

I was most interested in what he had to say about von Richtofen, particularly how he landed his plane after he had been shot in the head. Pretty slick (if true) listening for the sound of the wind through the trees, then the wind through the grass. I would think that the sound of the engine (and rotaries run at full rpm's, unless blipped) would drown out soft sounds like wind through trees. Still, it's a good story, and why should we let cold reality get in the way? I wonder if Jim Miller has heard this story?

Hellshade: Where did that fool fly in from? And...discovered a thread from 2011, no less?

Good to see you, mate! Stop by more often. The site isn't quite alive, but refuses to die.

WWI? Easy to get into, not so easy to get out of.

Same transgression as Jim's (above). Periodically, SimHQ shuts me out. Which is to say 'signs-me-out'. When I try to sign in, it does not recognize my password. Trying to contact the Admins is tedious beyond belief, and every time I have had to do so, enough time has gone by that I can't remember what I had to do last time. Finally, I decided to create a second account. Using that to get in, I could re-set my password for 'Hauksbee'.This worked for a while...'til someone realized that "Traveling-in-Mufti" (which I sorta was) and "Hauksbee" was the same person. And that earned me a permanent ban. 'Seems a bit extreme to me, but then, I can't work up much concern. The only reason I go there these days is to check the new screen shots, and that I can still do.

Sorry mates! I'm running late. I'll catch you up in a bit.

Imagine my surprise at seeing all these old faces! I'd been trying to keep some life in this site ever since the move. But a few months ago I gave it up. And I got banned from SimHQ. Solution? I started flying ROF and hope to finally get into some on-line furballs. And yet...here we are again. Good idea. This site will thrive only if we use it. Post info here that people need, and they'll come. And post.

I always thought just getting home alive constituted success in a recon mission.

http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/4314509/OBD_Roadmap#Post4314509

Not likely. As usual, your insights are spot on. I have dabbled with mods, but I always get to a sticking point where I'm stymied. I'd like to have a list of people I can ask questions of. If you could get me a list of WOFF modders, I'd happily compose a PM to them about composing tutorials.

I'd pay an extra $100 to have a Fokker E.III with an engine that would give me Fokker DVIIF performance. Always did love that plane but it is tedious beyond belief to fly. Are the Devs still using the basic files from CFS3?

I like that idea.

Unlikely that will ever happen. But if we Cherish those days, we'll just have to keep posting here and, hopefully, re-build the community.

A nice video from YouTube with WWI footage that's new. (at least to me). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYkMJ2Qqrqg