Hasse Wind

I think it might be the same goblin that likes to plant all those trees at the ends of runways. Nasty little bugger, that one.

Interesting. Some places have changed a lot more than that small town, which often makes it quite difficult to recognize the area. The bigger cities in particular have grown and expanded a lot in the decades after WW1, as people have left the countryside and moved into cities.

Well, 2010 was a good year to be a flight sim fan. I'm still quite healthy and alive, and I have something to eat every day. I'm not rich (far from it), but I get by adequately. I suppose I shouldn't have anything to complain about, personally. But when I look at the state of things here (I don't mean this forum - this is a great place) and elsewhere, I suddenly have a lot to complain. But I try to stay positive and keep an open mind about the new year. I mean, how much worse could it be than 2010? *knocks on wood*

Good to see it finished, Lou. Excellent work. A typical old uniform - looks gorgeous, but is not at all practical. Oh well, I guess it's somewhat more practical than the 18th century stuff.

Thanks for the pics, Olham. Seems like a really charming place. I didn't take any Xmas pics at all this year. It's always the same routine and the same faces, so there's no point taking them every year.

Well, it's half past twelve here already, and the year 2010 is history. It was a bad year for so many people here and elsewhere. It won't be missed. I truly hope 2011 and the whole decade will be better, so Happy New Year everybody.

Hey, I really liked this. I'm no native English speaker, so don't expect any useful tips from me, but your story managed to keep me interested from the start, which is always a good sign. Now where's Chapter 2?

Isn't there a comparable rank in the modern US (and maybe British too) air force, the Airman? In Finnish, there's lentosotamies, which can be translated as 'flight private'. It's true that during WW2, there were no privates as pilots in the German air force, and neither in the Finnish air force. They were all NCO's and officers. In WW1, the rank system seems to have been less strictly organized, which probably can be explained with the ad hoc nature of early military aviation in general.

Nice work! Merry Christmas!

Yes, and if we are to believe the politicians, we should be very happy about it. But for some reason I'm having trouble believing the benefits of globalization, when all it has meant here is companies leaving and jobs being outsourced. But I do believe this can't go on forever. There will be a reckoning one day. Still, I try to think positively. I wish you all the best, Von Paulus, and don't give up. Don't give the bastards that satisfaction.

Yes, welcome! It's good to see so many new faces here (that means more free drinks for us old-timers). OFF is indeed the best WW1 flight sim there is currently. Have fun with P3 - I've had it for almost two years, I fly missions regularly and I still haven't seen and done everything. There are so many different planes and units to try that P3 will keep us busy for a long time.

I wish you the best of luck with your writing, themightysrc. It always angers and saddens me to read about ordinary people who pay the price for the gambling and speculation of the small minority that already has everything, but because they know nothing but endless greed and their only value in life is money, they want to become even richer, consequences be damned.

Yes, it was quite common in other air forces too that the observer had a higher rank than the pilot. The pilot was only the chauffeur, the really difficult things were done by the observer.

Recently I've been flying rotary aircraft a lot, and have thought about that blip switch you can see just waiting to be pressed in the centre of the control column. As far as I know, there is no separate command for it in CFS3 (for obvious reasons), but would it be possible to have it in OFF some day? Is there any way it could be simulated with the controls we currently have, already in P3? It would add some extra realism to flying the rotaries, and also improve their behaviour during combat. It's quicker to reduce power with the blip switch than with the throttle. And of course it would be historically accurate too.

This is an interesting mystery. Maybe there was a difference between peacetime and wartime ranks, or something? Why did they skip the rank of Feldwebel? I wonder if this is something that would be best to confirm from a German source? Maybe some military museum or something. The Imperial German NCO rank system seems to be very confusing compared to later times, or other armies of the era.

Wow, blip switch information overload!

It's certainly illogical that a Vizefeldwebel should be above Feldwebel. It's like a Vice Admiral would be above Admiral. Vice (Vize) has the following meaning in a dictionary: [Cf. F. vice-. See Vice, prep.] Denoting one who in certain cases may assume the office or duties of a superior; designating an officer or an office that is second in rank or authority; as, vice president; vice agent; vice consul, etc. For once, the Aerodrome site seems to be wrong.

No problem. With that book collection, I bet you could tell me more about the war than I could ever tell you. Are you perhaps trying to compete with the Library of Congress? Definitely puts my modest collection to shame.

Haha, some poetry! Well, I'm not going to quit my job anytime soon. I have a feeling my rhymes are not enough to win the Nobel prize for literature, or any other prize for that matter. Anyway, I'll start testing those blip switch settings now.

I already installed the mod, HPW. Seems to work just fine. Keep up the good work!

Okay, now I have bunch of methods to try. Thanks to you too, Lou. (That rhymes nicely!)

Hey, that might even better as it allows me to keep using the throttle slider normally. Thanks, Uncle Al. Edit: Some rotary aircraft didn't even have throttles, so none of these methods are completely satisfactory for every situation. But for perfect realism, we need a separate command in the key configuration program.

Those are very nice, if one has the skills to do them justice. I once thought I was quite good at building models, but then I saw what the real pros could do.

Yeah, you must be right. I'll have to test it the next time I fly a rotary aircraft. Thanks for the tip.

Techinically speaking, the blip switch cuts off the ignition to the cylinders (at least to some of them), which allows extremely quick changes in engine speed, something that can't be done with the throttle alone, as far as I know. The method you suggested, Olham, might work nicely if it's quick enough. Another possibility might be using the magneto switches, but that would mean having to push them repeatedly to shut down the engine and then start it again, and that wouldn't exactly be like a simple blip switch. But maybe something like that would work as a "blip switch simulation".