Capitaine Vengeur

Mmm, their fanatism could be explained otherwise. Considering the nepotic nature of this sort of regime, and the prestige attached to the career of fighter pilot, it could be possible that half of the Libyan jet pilots come from the clan Gadafi. I can just imagine the result. – Major Gadafi, you are assigned today to patrol over Benghazi. Your wingmen will be Captain Al-Gadafi, Lieutenant Abd-el-Gadafi, and Lieutenant Gadafi. Beware, Lieutenant Gadafi's skill is really under average. Well, I mean even under our own Libyan average standards, which are... well, you see... Rrrrm... Anyway, he has been recommended to me by his uncle – and I can't refuse anything to my cousin. Any questions? – No, sir. Thank you, sir. Allahu akbar, sir. – All right. Good luck, son.

American history. Each wave of immigrants installed for two generations used to look down with contempt upon the following waves, that dirty dishonest European waste who plagued them, the true Americans. Bless these successive waves: without them, Americans would still eat bacon with corn and potatoes rather than hamburgers, pizzas, tacos and Asian cuisine. Not all Americans descend from immigrants, alas. Most of dark-skinned Americans descend from tradable goods, and many have not forgotten. Coming back to Mr Davidson's problems, it's just the usual petty revenge of mean dodger state employees against those who have risked their own lives for their rights. Typical. Bitter, anyway. In France, the movie "Indigènes" (2006, "Days of Glory" in English) has enlightened the shame tied to the fact that for long, half of the Free French Forces who fought in Italy or Alsace were made of North African or Black African natives. They were not French citizens, and did not become afterwards. And as such, after their countries became independent, they received only a miserable part of the war pension any common veteran could claim.

Actually, the news say that the Rafale didn't fire an AMRAAM-style MICA, but an A2SM (guided air-to-ground weaponry), as the bandit was already too close to the ground (say it, landed) to be locked on by a MICA or Magic. So it seems that the first real air-to-air kill is yet to come. Any challengers?

If confirmed as an air kill (still flying, or just landed?), I think it would be the first one for France since 1945! The country who claimed the first air kill in history had not blasted anything out of the sky for 66 years... But a landing two-seater Galeb to a Rafale with missile, is anything but a glorious victory: just like blowing a sitting duck with an advanced sniper rifle...

Beware: "Now I have you!" and "Great shot, kid, that was one in a million!" are George Lucas registred trademark quotes...

Congratulations, good health, and long life !! ......

Well, I don't remember if I had noticed the two lines of explanation on top of the "Upload new version" page, but they make things much more clear. Thank you for your helping hand, Erik.

Question to Erik: I'd like to edit and update one of my previous files, but the simple "Edit file" utility I'd used before just seems to have gone in this new version. The only alternate utility I can find is an "Upload new version" button, but contrary to the late "Edit file" utility, it seems I cannot delete the former and now useless compressed file or screenshot (there is a way to delete at least the screenshot, but if I delete it and replace it the a new one, then quit the operation and come back later, the old screenshot is reborn again alongside the new one). Please, how should I proceed?

I hope there wil be a warning "Land or exit the no-fly zone, or be engaged!" over the no-fly zone: most probably, many of the pilots Gadafi would send on missions just wait for a good pretext to defect to New Libya without dishonour neither risks of retaliation against their families.

The Great Gate of Kiev (Mussorgsky), then Finlandia (Sibelius - final theme of Die Hard 2) and In the Hall of the Mountain King (Grieg)...

Conan the Barbarian (epic themes), and Avalon (main theme).

Udet's suicide made an additional victim, as then top-scoring ace Werner Mölders was killed in a flight accident while coming to the funerals.

Is that a forum especially dedicated to decerebrated premature babies, salvaged by rednecks from maternity hospital garbage cans, and who traded all of their blood for tainted whiskey !?!!

Condolences...

Just hoping that the Chechen Wolf won't invite himself at Sochi as the most remembered mascot of this event!

Probably that Airbus has not been able to buy enough US Congressmen...

This duel has been modelled in video in the Dogfights series, The First Dogfighters, Part 1/5. Visible on Youtube. Usual high standard of quality of the History Channel products.

An enemy observation or artillery spotting plane downed, is dozens of your infantrymen compatriots' lives saved. Down with the legend: the WW1 aviators were no knights, only soldiers. A soldier's duty is to win the war himself has not started, swallow nausea, and do the odious job. Every enemy down is a step on the right way. René Fonck wrote that once, he felt so bad before downing a two-seater whose crew hadn't even seen him, that he let time to the gunner to notice him and fire a few bullets at him before shooting him down as well. On the other hand, Guynemer paid much contempt to the two-seater crews, unworthy opponents to him. In at least two letters, he gave the same terse epitaph to his victims: "Couic!" (= Kaputt!). Nonetheless, it seemed that he fell victim to an Albatros rear-gunner he had attacked in his usual reckless style. In July 1917, the Red Baron too nearly missed to meet his death from the gunner of a Fe2, his favourite prey. Something also has often surprised me. Reading the aces' lists of claims in "The Aerodrome", it seems that by 1918, most of British and Commonwealth aces have almost only claimed kills on single-seater scout planes: always Albatros D.III and D.V, Pfalz D.III, Fokker D.VII, dozens of them, probably more than have been produced. Very few claims on German two-seaters, seeming that almost none of them were downed over the British part of the front. Was it a result of misidentification, or will to claim more noble targets?

Stanley Kubrick's "2001 A Space Odyssey" is excellent SF often with no sound.

Actually, Deullin at that time had just lost a close friend (S-Lt Jean Peretti, Esc. N3), which explains his brutal thirst for revenge. Meanwhile, during WW1, aggressiveness and calls to murder seem to have come mostly from France towards Germany, not the reverse way. The German press only showed some quiet contempt and distant superiority (too unquestionable to be talked about). Same thing towards Russia. It seems that the Germans kept all of their anger and verbal aggressiveness towards evil England and the arrogant British Empire ruling the waves. I've even read that as the French papers multiplied the made-up or over-exagerated examples of German cruelty, deceit and cowardice, the German papers sometimes paid tribute to examples of French bravery as models for their youth (die-hard stand of Fort de Vaux at Verdun, for instance). Probably with the idea that if such an unquestionably frivolous, vain and decadent nation could produce such feats, which summits couldn't reach the German youth?

There was this memorable mission by Albert Deullin in 1916, when he came behind a Eindecker at closer range than 30 ft, and placed about 25 rounds in the cockpit of the unfortunate German pilot. Deullin wrote with delight: “The fellow was so riddled that vaporized blood sprayed on my hood, windshield, cap, and goggles. Naturally, the descent from 2,600 meters was delicious to contemplate.” Try that with a Phoenix !!

By the time things get clear, I will consider more seriously flying Baltika's hypothetical campaign "Yom Kippur War 2010", with Egypt jeopardizing the regional stability by collapsing into political complete chaos.

The metal's vertical shape, with wings, looks like the Order of the Iron Crown, the highest-ranking Austrian order actually awarded to the German hero, received on August 8, 1917. That means the old man can't be Kaiser Franz-Josef, died in 1916. Nonetheless, the ribbon is quite different (the actual one being blue and gold), and the Baron received the 3rd Class, a breast ribbon, not a neckband. I don't think that he ever received an Austrian decoration with neckband. Not the only mistake, of course, as Richthofen died before the operational delivery of the Fokker D.VII seen here.

Congratulations for what is done. Faith and courage for what is to come yet.

File Name: Pilots pics for Operation Desert Storm File Submitter: Capitaine Vengeur File Submitted: 10 February 2011 File Category: SF/WO* Hanger/Menu/Loadout The file contains pictures for pilots from the nations who sent combat aircraft over Kuwait in 1991, by alphabetic order: Canadians, French, Iraqis, Italians, Kuwaitis, (British) Royal Air Force, Saudis, US Air Force, US Marine Corps and US Navy. Enjoy flying over burning oilfields. Click here to download this file