von Baur

I highly recommend the flak mod. It really does help you use AAA bursts to locate enemy aircraft/formations. It also makes it less lethal on the receiving end. I had tried several German bombing missions in QC but could never survive the crucial bomb run, which must be done straight and level to achieve any hope of accuracy, especially in these birds. Sometimes I couldn't even make it to the IP. Now it's possible and I'm looking forward to running a two-seater career once I've got the time to devote to OFF that I want. About claim forms and their confirmations: The unpredictability of confirmations is one of the things that both frustrates me and endears this sim to me. They are by no means as automatic as other sims I've played and take time. Sometimes you'll submit a calim, have a subsequent claim (or two) confirmed or rejected, and then, days or weeks later, have the first one confirmed after having written it off. I've shot down aircraft with my comrades around me, used them as witnesses, described where it fell and had it denied. Other times I'll be on my own, have the plane fall over no-man's-land or on or just behind the enemy lines and used a specific observation balloon or forward army encampment as a witness and had it confirmed. You can never tell. As I said, aggravating and fantastic at the same time. Rather like life.

They've started drafting Wookies!

I haven't used labels in a long time, except to id my flight members (quick on, count noses, then back off), and then the modified nearly invisible ones and only to see who's missing if the count's not right. Haven't felt the need to know since multiplayer met its unfortunate end. The TAC is used strictly for navigation so I don't miss waypoints because I feel it's less unnatural than the GPS-style of the inflight map (not casting aspersions or passing judgements, it just feels that way for me). With the improved briefing map in P4 I should be able to mark my waypoints on a paper map and fly the mission using only that, at which point the TAC will be used no more. Identifying airplane types, much less friend from foe, at a distance is less of a problem since my 37" 1080p TV found its way permanently to my computer desk (made possible by my son's 37" 720 with 1080 capability but not as a computer monitor became available for the bedroom following his departure for the Army). Once he returns from Afghanistan this summer he'll be taking his back, but by then I should have a 32" to use on the computer desk. Don't tell me that size doesn't matter! As for your FAQ's, Herr Olham, I agree with every one (except, of course, the previously-mentioned inflight map thing).

The turn continues, HP-W, but it's painfully slow. Throw your TAC up, you can watch the waypoint line go around. It just looks more like the minute-hand on a clock than the second-hand.

Late April or early May? This summer? I hope. But until I hear something official (like a posting that it's been sent to whoever is going to turn it into one of those shiny discs) I'm sticking with my Air Force Rumors and Propaganda training...when it gets here, it's here. Red Baron is the only sim against whose campaign I would compare OFF's. You could fly the same mission three times in a row and run into enemy aircraft at different points along the way, or not at all, in all three, that's how randon the mission generator was. It was superb. And so is OFF's. The major nod I would give RB at this point is that the debriefing went quicker. Other than that, it's too close to call. All other sims I've played had canned missions...you always met the same enemy flight at the same place every time. Unfortunately, HP-W, it doesn't look like redpiano's repetoire includes that classic. (might be time for that old-man smiley again ) As to the flat turn, it's not that dificult, particularly if you have rudder pedals and a force feedback stick that will tell you when you're about to lose control. Kick your rudder all the way to one direction or another and use the stick to keep the wings level and your nose on the horizon. It seems to go a bit faster to the left than the right, and it's harder to keep your wings level in that direction (sometimes requiring backing off a bit on the rudder until you've got it back under control), but faster is a relative term. After a violent initial jump of 10 to 15 degrees or a little more, it slows down to almost a snail's pace (bring a book if you're going for a full 360). IIRC, it was a tactic used more to confuse an enemy's aim, although the popular descriptions of Voss's last flight had him doing a skid-180 in a heartbeat. Don't know if that was "there-I-was" recollection of the story-tellers or an undermodelling of the aircraft. I would suspect the former, as the latter would probably over-stress the aircraft at some spot or other.

LOL!! Danke, Herr Prop-Wasche.

Today is tomorrow's history, Capitaine. And next year's ancient history. This becomes abundantly clear when your children announce that they are studying the things you remeber reading about in the newspapers. (anybody know any good "old man" smiley's?)

To the flight models: It ain't Crimson Skies! If you keep your nose pointed too high for too long you won't go up any more, you'll go down..badly. Turn too tightly and you'll lose control, too. You can make a flat 360* "rudder-only" turn in a Dr1 (faster with pedals than a twisty-stick), but so could Voss and his contemporaries. I'm not a real-world pilot, much less one with hours at the controls of Albatrosses, Sopwiths and Nieuports, but they handle and mishandle much the way I would expect from the things I've read. Perfect? I doubt it. But what commercial-grade flight sim of any genre is or ever was? And who would know, with these birds anyway? (before you answer that, remember that replicas are only replicas). What I do have experience in is flight sims and their players. And it's been my experience that every plane in every sim ever created is either spot-on, porked or horribly under-done, depending on the personal preferences and prejudices of whomever is speaking at the moment. Where am I headed with all this? YOU are the only one who can tell you if you'll like any given sim. I like this one. The SE5's Lewis can be lowered, but not fired from that position. Perhaps some day, as it was a fairly common tactic. The future is not mine to divulge. London is modelled. I was on the verge of releasing a multi-player Gotha mission to England originating from three different airfields (Mariakerke, Melle-Gontrode, and Oostaker) and each with three different targets, one of which was London. I'd worked out the navigation (in WWI terminology...i.e. "fly so many minutes at such-and-such heading) and even taken recon photos of the targets and familiarization photos of the approaches to the airfields. I was about 90-95% done when my life was interrupted last Feruary with a personal situation which made me regret having spent so much time on a game (5+ hour round trip), but you know what they say about hind-sight. Anyway, if you're interested, here's a snapshot of London: Bear in mind, that's taken from an altitude of 10,00 feet. The object in the yellow box is the Tower Bridge: There are many buildings modelled including Parliament, the Naval College and a particularly tempting, quasi-strategic power station just past the second bend beyond the Tower Bridge. All can be destroyed. Their placement is geographically correct, as is that of the rivers, to the degree that real-world maps can be used for navigational purposes. Individual roads are not. And if you're just interested in sight-seeing, here's Stonehenge: I'll admit, it's not exactly the way it appears in the tourist brochures, but there is a war on, you know. I imagine the groundskeeper is busy in the trenches. There's a lot to offer already. P4 will be even better. And if the time spent on it and OBD's past performance record is any indication, all I can say is WOW!!! (and I don't mean World of Warcraft)

wow

If we told you who we were it souldn't be a secret, would it? (if only )

Once, while flying a SPAD XIII, I saw a lone Fokker D-VII a couple miles away. I got behind and slightly below it and stayed right there for several minutes until I'd closed to range and he never wavered. One well-placed burst and he was toast. I keep all my settings at the hardest level and I don't achieve the kind of kill tallies that I used to in Red Baron, so I attribute the ease of that victory to the stalk. It was just like Boelcke told von Richtofen, "I fly close to my man, I aim well, I fire, and he falls down."

I don't recall seeing Belgium as an option. Maybe P4.

Or possibly, Carrick, the thinking went, "There's a guy with bagpipes and 10,000 guys with guns. Whom should I shoot first?" The answer seems clear to me.

Don't worry, Olham. If the Mayan prediction comes true and the world ends first, I'm confident the release of P4 will resuscitate it.

I thought that the two on either end had very similar features;eyes, nose, mouth, even ears and general head shape. The one in the middle, not so much. I'm guessing the two took after one parent and the middle gent the other. Anyone have any photos of the parents? **edit Olham, feel free to jump back in any time.

I can't believe I beat Lou.

From Wikipedia (not the most reliable source for specifics, but I figure there's no particular reason to falsify this kind of thing): "Born in Krefeld in 1897, Voss was the youngest of three sons and two daughters of an industrial dyer." There's nothing else at all about his family. I would guess you could access more specific information there, knowing there's something to find.

I have to admit that I haven't been following this thread very closely (ok, not at all for a while...once they get to four or five pages threads usually head off on a tangent or they start repeating themselves...repeating themselves...repeating themselves), but I'm glad I checked back in. I like those maps. From what can be seen that will make navigation without the radar screen very easy and very natural...as in, like I would assume it was back then. That is exactly what I've wanted to see. Many, many kudos. ***edit to Widowmaker...In my experience, doing something really well always takes longer. But if one rushes, the finished product is always regretted sooner. to the devs...Sorry if this was covered earlier, but will that map be printable? It looks like Rabu's map. Is there more to it than that? I already have that printed, but as I recall, that doesn't cover the whole front. If that's the case, can we expect the southern areas to be covered as well?

Is it the supposed solemnity of the occassion or what? Why do people insist on singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" as if it was a funeral dirge? I've watched its presentation before both conference championship games today and I swear the total time spent had to be 8-10 minutes. Thank God we didn't adopt all four verses Key wrote that night or they'd never get around to the game. IT'S A SONG OF STRENGTH, DEFIANCE AND PRIDE!!! It says, clearly and proudly, albeit in the form of a question, that the still neophyte United States of America will NOT roll over against even the might of the British Empire. We will stand against all the rockets and bombs (naval artillery) that you can hurl at us. And not only that, but we'll show you right where we are...just look for the Stars-and-Stripes. You want us? Come and get us. I served nearly ten years in the military (ok, it was the Air Force, but it is a branch of the military ) and my son is currently in Afghanistan in the Army and it drives me nuts to hear the way people butcher it. And my anger isn't reserved for those who sing it slower than a truck at the top of a 5-mile grade. I'm also also peeved at the people who "personalize" it to the point that the tune is nearly unrecognizeable. If you don't like the original, petition congress to change it. They might. (Of course, even if they did your grandchildren wouldn't live to see it, as slowly as our congress moves.) If my fierceness about this subject offends anyone, I'm sorry. But I apologize only because this isn't meant to offend. Nor is it meant to indicate any superiority. You all, no matter where you're from, should be as proud of your countries' anthems as I am of mine.

LOL!! I want the NASCAR inspectors to check out the yellow plane's tug. I think they removed the restrictor plate!!

Of course they were related, Lou. By marriage.

Excellent points, Flyby, particularly toward the end. It's amazing, the precision to which a GPS system can pinpoint ones location (I believe it can get to 12 digits, which translates to .1 meter or about three inches), but the batteries never give out on a map and a compass. When my son was preparing to enter the Army last year I told him that and gave him a crash course using downloaded topo maps of our property and a cheapo lensatic I bought at Walmart years ago. He told me that they still teach that, too. A good idea, not to rely too heavily on technology. Hmmm. Someone else once warned against that. Who was that?

What are the protrusions above the upper wing leading edge a few feet in from the tips? Are those lights? Could this be a night flyer?

Recently there was a topic posted that featured an old cigarette ad. As that thread doesn't condone smoking I didn't want to harm it or detract from the innocence of its intent by imposing what follows on it. If the moderator(s) would like to lock this immediately I have no trouble with that. But I hope it's allowed to stand. My father died 21years ago, at 67. He smoked as long as I knew him (probably started during WWII) until September of 1975, when lack of oxygen due to emphesyma (sp?) had him unconscious for three days. Unfortunately, the damage was already done and he spent his last couple of years on an oxygen bottle. The undertaker wasn't able to remove the indentation in his upper lip from the tube, and it looked like he was grinning at us from the casket. I was not amused. My late wife started the filthy habit in her teens...probably to look "cool" and be "part of the group". She quit at least four or five times that I can remember in the 21 years we spent together (her first and only airplane ride was to fly home with me for my father's funeral, btw). She was able to give it up for good only when she had the stroke that ended her life less than 100 hours later. And I'm sure that if she could have had a cigarette as she lay dieing, she would have. She was 50. My only disappointment with my son is that he smokes. I've told him so, but he seems unable to shake its grip even though it's cost him his mother. I sincerely hope that I die before I lose another loved one to that awful substance. Gentlemen, I don't get on this soapbox often, though my passion in this is clear and clearly justified. Mostly it's because I've seen as close to first-hand as possible without actually being the person trying to quit, just how difficult that is. But if you smoke, stop. If not for yourselves, then for those who love you and will miss you when (when, not if) it ends your life prematurely. Don't fall into the trap of "I'll quit when my health starts to suffer"...it already is, you just don't realize it yet. Like rabies, when you see the symptoms it's already too late. And don't say, "Well, if it's too late why should I stop?" The reason is obvious. If you stop, the progression of the damage will, at the very least, slow down. Case in point: my father's docotor told him when he came to that if he continued to smoke he'd likely be dead by that Christmas. He stopped then and there and lived almost another 15 years. If you stop early enough, your body may even be able to reverse the ill effects. It's an amazing machine, if given the chance to operate unencumbered. BTW, I smoked when I was a teenager, but gave it up after only a few months.

Then you would have liked Paterno, Lexx. I come from a small town in eastern PA and I can tell you that he was one of the most honored and revered men in the state. And it's not just becasue he was a football coach. His ethics were always top-notch. He would sit any player who didn't meet the academic standards and wouldn't stand for professors rubber-stamping them through their courses. His players who went on to the pro ranks (and there were many) were regularly regarded as among the smartest, most hard-working in the NFL and every one of them credited Coach Paterno with instilling that attitude in them. Don't get me wrong, there were some failures, too, but they were far-and-away the exception rather than the rule. It's a damned shame that his reputation will forever be tarnished by his association with Sandusky.