Hauksbee

The Pfalz must have been damned near lethal to fly if they considered the E.III to be a step up.

Let me know if it works. Maybe I'll try it too.

Actually, the way I usually quit OFF is by getting shot out of the air. And the casual manner in which I wear the uniform is due to the nearly four years I took care of my Mum. 'Had me rather house-bound and I just got too fat to button it. I'm working on that.

'Was just looking at the Pfalz pictures. The camo design on the wheels appears to be the printed camo cloth, simply appliqued to the wheel hub. [?]

I couldn't imagine a better description.

Imagine my shock and surprise as I was perusing the Forum for interesting titbits and found myself (1) face-to-face with artwork of mine from 30 years ago, and, (2) inducted into the Barmy Officers Club to boot. I am mindful of the honor, but (re-calling Groucho Marx) I questioned the wisdom of belonging to a club that would have me for a member. Still, what's done is done. I've received my badge, I've displayed it, (proudly..of course) and plan to retain my membership until I'm the last bloke standing at the bar in the Officers Mess. (IF...I'm the last bloke standing.) However; I must add a caveat to the laurels heaped upon me by this august company: I most definitely have not let OFF get to me! The bullet-hole decals on all the windows of this house (and car) are merely an enthusiasm; the bookcase (knocked askew and half residing in the kitchen) was the result of hurling myself from the cockpit at the very last second. (Close one, that. 'Could happen to anyone.) But apart from these minor excesses (and a few others) I am firmly in control. I can quit any time I want.

Hence the name "Masurian Monster"...after the Masurian Lakes in northern Poland where the Germans set up to meet the oncoming Russians.

I have fond memories about my old Sidewinder Pro joystick. 'No idea of what happened to it. So I checked out e-bay and found a plethora of them. Immediately ordered one. It arrived yesterday, but when I try to run the install disc, it tells me that my computer won't recognize it. Is anyone else using a Sidewinder with Vista?

Amen to that!

Not too sure of myself here, but it may be a Siemens-Schurkert Reisenflugzeug.It's the nose and canopy that makes me think this.

Allright! 'Looking forward to it.

So far, none of the reference photos shows a thin white outer stripe. 'Hope that's not critical. Olham: does the name of the medal translate as "Iron Half-Moon"?

While I was waiting for my computer guy to arrive, I poked around looking for a Thrustmaster. 'Found one on amazon.com for about $22.00 and bought it. (Can't have too many joysticks! ) After David left I took an SE-5 up for a little Quick Combat. I am pleased with the Sidewinder. It has a lot of rudder in the twist action; much more than the Logitech. But best of all, it flies my plane straight and steady. My irritation with both Logitech, and Scitek is that when I manage to be on somebody's 6:00, my plane bounces and wobbles all over. And I have wind and turbulence turned off. Makes it bloody impossible to get a shot off. 'Made me grit my teeth and yearn for Hellshades ability to get off those long, righteous bursts.

The Sidewinder is up! It simply wanted to be plugged into a USB port on the tower itself. I'd filled all the USB ports on the tower, and in the last year I added another 4-port bar. About two months ago, I daisy-chained another 7-port bar onto that. It seems that the available power (I believe my computer guy said 120 milliamps, or some such) coming out of the tower, once it's been split 11 ways, isn't enough to drive the Sidewinder. Happily, I could relegate my wireless mouse USB to the end of the chain since it draws comparatively little juice. Now to see if the Sidewinder lives up to my memories of it.

Thanks for the comeback. I plugged it in and immediately got a message saying that a non-functional item had been detected.. After a few seconds it disappeared and another popped up saying 'Windows cannot tell what this is'. (or, words to that effect). Brooding over what to do next, if anything, I got up and went to the kitchen to put the kettle on. When I got back, there was a third message saying the necessary drivers had been installed. (Well Allright!) Problem is, when I went up for some Quick Combat, there's no response on the screen to stick movement. No guns when the trigger's pulled. I went to Joystick Controls in CFS3 and it's only showing the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro that I've been using. So close, and yet, so far. My computer guy will be here in a few hours for some other maintenance. I'll see what that brings. In the meantime, I'm still open to any suggestions. ps: Macklroy, yes, It's a USB connector. Actually, it's a small parallel port plug with a short plug-to-USB adapter cable.

You mean, it's not 1917?

An eloquent statement of your grief. It reminds me of losing a very close friend, tho' for different reasons.

Got it working. Thanks all!

Well, you've sent it to the right man...

Good luck indeed, Simon. 'Should be a doddle after being self-employed. I free-lanced as an artist for years. Hated every minute. Hated hustling new clients, hated waiting to get paid, hated having to shoulder the bad planning on clients part as an emergency on my part. You're in the tall clover now!

...as Napoleon once said: "A whiff of grape is good for the mob."

From an ancient (1982) copy of AIR Enthusiast magazine. (British) I've been carrying it, and a few other copies, around for years. Always lots of interesting esoteric stuff.

I'd like to see a summer-popcorn-extravaganza about the Sino-Japanese fighting (1937-1940) in which the Boeing P-26, and the Polikarpov I-16 met the Japanese A5M in air combat. Baring that, I'd like to see a Spanish Civil War-era fictional piece in which German/Italian aircraft of the late 30's meet fleets of Soviet Avimatkas.