Hasse Wind

That's a great idea. I just can't get used to the horrible new SimHQ they insist calling an "upgrade" - what the heck is an upgrade that makes everything look and function worse than before?

That's up to the devs, and I don't think they want to move anywhere, having already established their presence at SimHQ. I got the forum working by changing the default layout. It still looks like crap, but at least I can use it now. But I'm hoping that for WOTR, they'll consider other options. Not SimHQ...

Man, the new layout at SimHQ looks absolutely horrible! It's a pity the "official" WOFF forum was moved over there.

I have nothing to do with the OFF devs and their decisions. I was just pointing out that the new official forum is at SimHQ now. I don't like it, but that's the way it is. There's nothing I can do about it. I've always been happy here, but I feel that people also have a right to know where the official site is now. The devs are more active there. Again, that's their decision. I have no say in the matter. If you want to get rid of this forum, well, I suppose you can do it with a press of a button. It's your site, after all.

As far as I know, WOFF is not dead. Unfortunately its development seems to be moving literally at a glacial speed. In case you didn't know, the sim has a new home forum now: http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/forums/89/1/Over_Flanders_Fields.html

I may be wrong, but I think the rockets in OFF P3 are as powerful as the original rockets in CFS3. So the results are comparable to what happened in WW2 when a train was attacked by a P-47!

Windows 8 is crap. I've tried and I didn't like it. People talk about how fast it is, but it didn't seem anything special compared to my Windows 7 with SSD. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

I'm not absolutely sure but I think the Albatros D.Va with the improved 200 hp engine carries as much as 1100 rounds of ammo in OFF P3. I haven't flown one in ages, so I won't guarantee this information is 100% correct. In any case, if you don't want to worry about running out of ammo, join the Kaiser's air service.

I heard that they are now sold out. They will become very expensive collector's items, I'm sure. I wonder if it was an accident on the part of the designer? I'll move this to the Pub because it's indeed very much OT.

That sounds like a powerful novel and a movie. At least some positive legacy came out of the war in the form of various arts. I found a photo of the Messines crater, taken shortly after the war in 1919:

Those mining operations were like a return to the methods of warfare of earlier centuries, when it was common to dig mines and counter-mines during sieges of fortified towns. I remember reading that when the biggest of those mines was blown up (at Messines in June 1917, if I'm not mistaken) the sound was heard as far away as London. The blast killed a large number of German soldiers and created a huge crater.

The problem with the SPAD in OFF P3 is that it's speed is not good enough to fight against AI planes that have no weight. Basically this means that a German fighter that was much slower than the SPAD in real life is able to catch the SPAD, because the AI planes are not bothered by the weight of fuel and ammo. This can be fixed by using the appropriate FM mods by Herr Prop-Wasche.

There's very little written about Fonck. The best I've read was an article in Over the Front magazine: http://www.overthefront.com/Over-the-Front-2012-Issues.php He seems to have been a man of strong nerves and determination. Several times he shot down German aircraft that he had surprised with only a few bullets. The French system of confirming kills was strict, so it's possible that he was in fact the ace of aces of the whole Great War, with even more kills than Manfred v. Richthofen. I'm not sure about the credibility of the stories that picture Fonck as somebody who was particularly disliked by his comrades. It's possible that envy had a lot to do with it, and the fact that Fonck was no "party animal" and didn't participate in the drinking and whoring activities that were so popular with many pilots. He definitely deserves a modern and well-researched biography in English. My French is terrible, so I don't what's available on him in his native country.

No, that's actually written by McCudden himself.

"The resultant upward pressure was so great that all my ammunition drums shot out of my machine over my top plane and into the revolving propeller, which, being a "pusher", of course was behind me. There was a mighty scrunch and terrific vibration as three out of my four propeller-blades disappeared in a cloud of splinters. I at once switched off and removed my gun from my knees, where it had fallen after having been wrenched from its mountings and thrown into the air owing to the terrific vibration caused by my engine doing 1,600 revs. per minute with only one propeller-blade. I now found that I wanted full right rudder to keep the machine straight, and discovered, on looking round, that the lower right-hand tail boom had been cut clean in two by one of the flying propeller-blades, and all that was holding my tail on was a diagonal 10-cwt. tail-boom bracing wire. The machine was wobbling badly as the engine was still turning round slowly, and I had just about wits enough left to pick out a field and make a landing successfully. As soon as I stopped running along the ground the machine tilted over on one wing, as the centre section bracing wires were broken, and there was nothing, now that the machine was at rest, to keep the wings in their correct position with the nacelle. I got out of the machine and thanked God for my salvation."

I'm sure it happened. If you still had fuel left but lacked ammo and were reasonably close to a friendly field, it wouldn't take long to replenish, especially if you had a drum-fed weapon like the Lewis, which was quick to reload. Now I can't remember if this was already possible in CFS3? I'm sure I've played some flights sims that allowed you to land and replenish both fuel and ammo, and then continue the mission.

The beginning or the end of WW1 will probably receive very little media coverage where I live. We didn't directly participate in the fighting, but did manage to win our independence, thanks to the collapse of Imperial Russia in 1917. But for countries that were directly involved and suffered greatly in the war, it's understandable that there will be events related to the war. But I still think that it's not a very good idea to particularly remember the year 1914. The end of the war didn't bring any lasting peace either, but at least the four years of madness stopped then.

If somebody wants to celebrate a war, then it would definitely be better to celebrate its end, not the beginning.

As far as I know, the MFFA's operated over the front just like all the other FFA's. The FFA units were under army formations, while the MFFA units belonged to the navy. There were other units that were used over the North Sea, and they had seaplanes and other equipment better suited to naval warfare. The MFFA and MFJ formations were the German equivalent of the British Royal Naval Air Service.

Yes, MFFA stands for Marine-Feldflieger-Abteilung. I don't know much about their activities. Unfortunately there seems to be very little published material available on German naval aviation in WW1.

AFA was the older name. They became FA(A) as the war progressed.

It just seems so strangely illogical. F stands for Flieger in all the other forms. For example Fliegerabteilung - FA, not FlA. Festungsfliegerabteilung - FestFA, not FestFlA.

I've never even heard of AFlA in any source. That Wikipedia article doesn't even mention any sources for the abbreviations. For example, check the well-known site http://www.frontflieger.de/2alb.html#afa There are AFAs in OFF too.

German squadrons with the abbreviation AFA (Artillerie-Flieger-Abteilung) were also artillery spotter units. Unfortunately you cannot find out the roles of French and British two-seater units from their names like that. It would be great if the historical role of a squadron, escadrille, and Staffel / Abteilung were reflected in the mission types generated by the sim. But then flying in some artillery spotter squadron would be boring if you couldn't actually do their job, ie. direct arty fire. This is something that I hope to see included in WOFF.

The problem with Alsace in P3 is the total lack of French two-seaters. They have some units there that were equipped with Sopwith Strutters for some months in 1917, but for most of the war there's nothing there but Nupes and SPADs. Flanders is the most developed region in OFF, so in my opinion, it's there that you can have the most satisfying careers on both sides of the front.