Hauksbee

Tommy Sopwith Lands At Windsor Castle! http://www.thamesweb.co.uk/aviation/TommySopwith1911.html

These folk seem to be offering a kit model, but I can't find it. http://lazer-works.com/modelact.html

This link purports to have plans (for a fee) of many planes, including the Howard-Wright. (third from the bottom of the list.) http://www.sopwithmike.org.uk/html/plans_list.html

A quick poke-around on Google got me this: http://www.earlyaviators.com/esopwith.htm

Nope. That's all new. I took the name from Francis Hauksbee, an early experimenter with electricity.

Don't know of it. Tell me more.

A quick perusal of these letters seems to indicate that, again, "low and slow kills pilots". They get near, or at, stall speed about 70 feet from the ground and the spin develops.

In a slightly different vein, but similar spirt, here's "BILL BARNES:Air Adventurer" from between-the-Wars. Two of them (in the bottom row) carry the imprint of "Air Trails". I read Air Trails as a kid and I remember it as being a model airplane mag. (that meant balsa-sticks-and-paper.) Nor do I recollect the character 'Bill Barnes' Himself. Looking at these, I think Air Trails published them in 'Pulp Fiction' format. Now, those I remember. When I was about 10, and visiting one of the grandparents, I could take .25 cents and walk all the way down to the end of the street, round the corner and get an ice cream at the drug store. (two scoops). The other great treat was the news rack with all the Pulp Titles. It was three magazines high (about belt-buckle high) and ran from the front door, all the way to the back wall. Filled with mags. bearing lurid, exciting illustrations (never photography) and screaming headline type. Great stuff. There were always several WWI flying titles (Yank Falcons In France!) and a dozen others covering the rest of aviation, a lot of westerns (variations on "Six-Gun Justice!), espionage: (Agent G-9 & The Shadow) and then the True Crime\Detective mags, every one sporting a gorgeous girl with shredded clothes over a great set of hooters being menaced by the psychopath-of-the-month. From time to time I'd pick one up. I was always disappointed.There was just page after page of text. Maybe a few spot illustrations, but basically text. Great stuff indeed, but, hot covers or no, it was nothing to forfeit an ice cream cone for; .

Stone-age primitive, come to think about it. Yet, if you'd been there it was the very soul of hi-tech modern innovation.

I stumbled across this pic. of a Caproni Ca.20 (which I'd never heard of). It certainly looks like they had speed in mind. Has all the hallmarks of something really fast...except the technology just wasn't quite there. Note the really thin wings. Must have had vicious stall characteristics. The Ca.20 was derived from the Ca.18 an observation monoplane that had been had been developed starting in 1913 from the previous models Ca.8 and Ca.16. It used a more powerful engine, the Rhône. It used an unusual rounded nose cover for the wooden propeller which was cowled smoothly to match the fuselage. The cover was pierced to allow cooling of the engine. The improved aerodynamics helped speed and manoeuvrability. Designed as a fighter, a drum machine gun was installed above the pilot, placed above the propeller disc, with an eye level sight. The first synchronization devices, which allow a weapon to shoot with confidence through the blades of a propeller in motion, would not make their appearance until the Fokker Eindecker during 1915, although many experiments were conducted by the French since 1913. Only a single Caproni Ca.20 was ever built, because the Italian government rejected the design in favor of bomber aircraft. The prototype was stored in a barn on Giovanni Battista "Gianni" Caproni's property for 85 years, before being sold to the Museum of Flight in Seattle in 1999. Luckily, the dry climate had preserved the aircraft. With the exception of the tires, which had been gnawed by rodents, the prototype Caproni Ca.20 on display at the Seattle Museum of Flight includes all its original parts. The Caproni Ca.20 was one of the first real fighter planes. Only one was build and first flown in early 1914. It was designed as an offensive platform: A monoplane that integrated a movable, forward-firing Lewis machine gun two feet above the pilot's head, firing over the propeller arc. The gun had a false sight at eye level so that the Ca 20's pilot could aim through the propeller arc at the enemy aircraft while the gun fired from above. Its 110hp Le Rhone rotary engine gave the plane a top speed of 102mph and with its streamlined, enclosed spinner inlet, it was one of the best performing planes of its time. The Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington preserves the original Caproni Ca-20. Found in an Italian monastery where it was stored and hidden by the Caproni family for 85 years, the plane is so rare and in such good condition that it's being exhibited without restoration.

Thanks Olham. I looked up the Caproni. 'Found some info on Wikipedia, and added it to the text from your link.

Today I clicked on 'Gallery', absentmindedly thinking it was for OFF. Of course it was all of Combatace. But I checked out a few frames before I bailed, one of which I attach here. I was darkly amused at the terrain. It underscored how good we have with OFF. But can any of you tell what Flight Sim it's from?

Both Olham and Shiloh suggested "FIRE IN THE SKY". I think that works very well.

The "Nelson Affair" was a public scandal of the first water. While Nelson provided for his wife's upkeep, he ignored her to the point of not even calling on her when he returned from sea. When Nelson was recalled to London from Naples, he and Emma, and her husband Sir William Hamilton traveled by the longest route possible. Arriving in England the three set up housekeeping together. The Admiralty posted Nelson to sea again, in part to keep him away from Emma. It didn't work. In short, Nelson and Emma got away with it because Nelson was the most brilliant naval tactician they had against Boneparte. After his death, Emma was ignored by the society that had lionized them both. Ever the spendthrift, she died in poverty.

I ran across this while researching John Severin, a comics artist who did wonderful flying stories (among others). Severin spent some time as an inker on "Enemy Ace". I dimly recall the series, but by the time it was launched (1969) I had college behind me, plus two years in the Army, and was no longer reading comics. That would change in the early 70's when I discovered the San Francisco-era Underground comics. I can recall seeing the covers on the newstands, thought it was an interesting idea, seeing WWI from the German point of view, but never bought one. It seems that later on, after they'd run dry on WWI stories, von Hammer (dumb name!) survives WWI and flies again in WWII. Now he has an all-red Me-109 (on which he pointedly refuses to have a swastika on the tail...to the chagrin of his squadron commander who's a party member) and by war's end even gets an all-red Me-262. (how cool is that?)Here's what Wikipedia has to say about "Enemy Ace". Enemy Ace first appeared in Our Army at War # 151, (February 1965) It was a backup story that quickly gained popularity. As a World War I pilot flying for the Germans, his stories told the German side of the war, in which Hans von Hammer was a man of honor and chivalry, a flying knight in his Fokker Dr.I, but he was haunted by his duties and the constant death surrounding them. The early series stories centered around World War I Air Combat and the strategies, tactics and honor employed by the early knights of the air. The stories were often a stark contrast between the dark brooding character Von Hammer and his softer, kinder side as in Star Spangled War Stories No 148 where Von Hammer rescues a little dog he names "Schatzi" and proceeds to befriend him, even introducing him to his dark hunting companion the gray wolf who accepts little Schatzi rather than eating him. But the Von Hammer stories were not big on happy endings, and Von Hammer goes on to lose Schatzi in a haunting scene by dropping him accidentally from his Fokker during air combat. He grieves the loss of the dog, then proceeds to massacre the remaining British pilots in an act of bloody revenge. Von Hammer was a dark character, portrayed as the inevitable result of war. Created by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert, the Enemy Ace was taken loosely from the real-life Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen. Both flew Crimson Red Fokker DR1 Triplanes. Both were of aristocratic blood. Both awarded themselves a trophy with each downed enemy plane. Both were the highest scoring flying ace of the First World War. The main difference between the two was that Von Hammer survived to old age, whereas Von Richthofen was shot down and killed before the war ended. The character's stories have been praised as among DC's strongest war stories of the Silver Age of comic books. He was revived for a few graphic novels. The first was Enemy Ace: War Idyll (1989) by George Pratt, where Hammer is revealed to have lived until 1969, dying peacefully upon turning over his memoirs and concluding his interviews with a troubled Vietnam War veteran-turned-journalist.

All things considered, I'd say it was.

Well, yes and no. Among the wealthy and well-born, the taking of a mistress was fairly common but the affair was to be conducted with great discretion. Mrs Patrick Campbell (who was having a torrid affair with George Bernard Shaw) once commented "Does it really matter what these affectionate people do, so long as they don't do it in the street and frighten the horses?" When 'society' gathered at the great country estates for long weekend parties, the hostess had to show great skill in assigning rooms so that people having affairs were not given rooms so close together as to arouse comment, nor so far apart that they might have to spend too much time in transit in the halls and be noticed doing so. When King Edward VII (Victoria's son) was on his deathbed, his wife, Alexandra, summoned Edward's mistress, Mrs.Alice Keppel and allowed them a private hour or two to say goodbye. All very civilized. But Uxbridge's affairs were not discreet. It wasn't simply a matter of having 'an affair', it would be better to say that he was a womanizer. His incessant affairs were well known, talked about, and caused Wellington's sister much shame. So when Uxbridge lost his leg from the knee down, Wellington was hardly moved.

For the last two weeks, I have not been able to upload an attachment to Forum topics. Would anyone have any ideas as to why this might be happening?

That comment of Wellington's is often cited to argue that he was cold and unfeeling. What is almost never mentioned is that Uxbridge was married to Wellington's sister, and he was not only unfaithful, he was flagrantly unfaithful. All of English 'society' knew about it. So it's my surmise that Wellington's comment could be taken to mean, "Don't look for sympathy from me. Tell someone who gives a damn."

That did it! Thanks, all.

I think this is the problem since I'm only trying to upload .jpg files (and one .avi video clip) I went back to the last thread in which I uploaded pictures. I opened it, chose 'Full Editor' so I could see the attachment, highlighted it, and tried the 'Delete' key. 'Didn't work. Tried right-clicking on it but there was no 'Delete' in the menu box that appeared. Is there a third way?

Very interesting. I knew that at some time Jews were required to adopt German names, but didn't know they were required to purchase them. thanks, Olham. Something similar happened in America. During the late 1800's\early 1900's, when there was a huge influx of European immigrants arriving in America, Immigration Officials at Ellis Island, NY were frequently meeting names that taxed the ability of an English-speaking tongue. When this happened the official simply crossed out the foreign name on the entry papers and wrote in an English sounding name. Thus 'Vaclav Juszczak' became 'Charles Smith'. My father, who worked in the steel industry, told me that many workers had two names. In those days you were hired by the day. Workers would arrive at the main gate and the foreman would come out and hand-pick his crew for the day. He's pass out tokens. If you got one, you could go in and work for that day. He's ask the name of the worker, and an assistant would write it down. If the name was too complex, he'd give the guy a new name.

As I understand it, Meyer is also a very common last name among Jews, hence Gorings statement, "If a bomb ever falls on Berlin, you can call me 'Meyer'." Is 'Muller' also common among Jews? I only ask because this is the first time I've ever heard this variation on the story.

Didn't he offer to be called "Meyer" instead of "Muller" [can't find the umlout]. And you say, "...if that ever happened". I've heard it reported so many times. Is it possible that it's apochryfal?

'Was looking at the OFF pilot maps that Olham has patiently compiled, and it seems that on the Allied side there is a dearth of French pilots. Is there something about WWI flying that does not resonate our French comrades?