Javito1986

WW1 air movies are pointless anyway. Most are terrible, some are good, none are great. Who needs them when I can just buy Flanders Fields and enjoy the experience so much more? Although I admit it would be amusing to mod an Albatros to fly like an F-16, but only if you could use that plane in the main campaign. Actually, why not just give you an F-16? You can fly one with Jasta 11, outdo the Baron for sure in that thing. Hell, just fly up to Flanders and turn south, it'll take you only a few minutes to reach Alsace and along the way you can pop all the Allied observation balloons on the entire Front. It'd be just like that old Turtledove book where the guys go back in time to give AK-47s to the Confederates in the American Civil War.

Yes I quite agree, that clip is good. Makes me want to go fire up Wings of Victory even.

Yea I can agree with that. I don't really watch movies much anymore, nothing new ever interests me. I believe the last time I was in theaters was when Avatar came out, and that was just the big must see event movie type deal. My favorite of all time is The Seven Samurai, which absolutely nobody in my 18-24 age group has ever heard of, hence I just steer clear of most movie conversations.

Will be honest, when I was first reading through this thread I thought Olham was just being an old fuddy duddy and the CGI can't be that big of a deal! Then I went and saw the trailer and... Gotta agree with Olham. Looks lame with a capital L. I don't like saying that because I've done some 3D animation myself, I know how much talent is required, and god knows those software programs like 3DS Max or Maya are puzzles to me. But that trailer just does zilch for me. It's not even the physics, it just looks off. It's LucasArts and it shows, since the moment I saw the trailer the aesthetics made me think "Revenge of the Sith, Attack of the Clones" right away. That's great for those movies (I actually like the prequels) but it puts me off for anything meant to be realistic. Despite it being 2011 we're really still not at the point of making a good convincing movie about any air war,there has never been a truly great movie about one even in movies that included great aerial sequences, and the best attempts are all pre-CGI productions. It might be good if the narrative carries it, and maybe it will, but I wasn't big on the first Tuskegee Airmen so... we'll see

P.S. where can I find those Rhys Davids letters? He's one of my favorite RFC airmen

Good ideas! Will make edits, definitely agree with everything you said.

Hi, hi! I wrote on here in April/May that I was considering working on some WW1 historical fiction short stories I may end up self-publishing online in some distant time called "someday". Right now I'm busily working away at a different major creative writing project's revision which is due in October so 99% of my efforts are focused on that. Hemingway would always say it's bad luck and unprofessional to show your stuff in progress, or even discuss it too much (and he felt appropriately guilty himself when he gave into temptation and did just that), and I hold to that quite stringently about the main body of my work. Buuuuuut since this won't be out until who knows when and it's a very early draft... no harm done! This is a quick excerpt from one of the early chapters of the story I tentatively title 'No More Blooming Sky'. It's a letter, obviously, and based very much inspired by a historical letter written by one Fr. Buisse after the war. Locations, names of characters, all that jazz are just placeholders and subject to tons of revision: " 'Letter Home' Douai, France September 28, 1932 Mrs. Marianne Joyce. Madame, It is hard for me to properly convey my feelings upon receipt of your inquiry posted the 3rd of August. In truth I have been searching for you for many years now, and my lack of success has been a daily source of shame and regret. I do believe I can provide you with the insight you desire, but it is a solemn duty if ever there was one, and I can't help but feel a sadness that your long search has brought us both to this crossroad. I reside in a small village east of Douai, which I doubt has ever been of much strategic value or worthy of note to any army of the past or present. We fell under German occupation early in the war but were thankfully spared much of the bloodshed, until the last hundred days. When the last Allied offensive began in 1918 we witnessed many aerial patrols operating in the sky above us, doubtless a reaction to the numerous German aviation camps in our vicinity. Often battles would rage over our heads, and it was not uncommon then for craft of both sides to crash in the fields around us, and some even within the village proper. These were hard, difficult times but we were consoled by the knowledge that the conflagration which had so embroiled the world was drawing to an end at last. On the morning of October the 17th a German supply train was unloading at the railyard that can be found perhaps little over mile away from my parish. A flight of five USAAS "SPAD" fighter planes appeared almost just over our heads, having apparently approached at low altitude so as to avoid detection. They targeted the munitions train, and a great flurry of anti-aircraft fire began. The roar was tremendous. A squadron of Fokker biplanes set upon them, and one SPAD in particular was quickly damaged. It maintained its course, disregarding its imminent peril, and dropped four 25lb bombs upon the train. He succeeded in destroying it, his bombs having ignited other bombs and ammunition crates on the ground which themselves set on fire and began exploding, thoroughly disabling the train and preventing its ability to provide any aid for the German war effort. When next I saw the SPAD it was itself engulfed in flames. Whether the fire from the German fighter plane had caused this or if it was the flames of the exploding munitions train I do not know. Regardless the brave American had utterly lost control of his craft, and it crashed on the field just outside my own parish, engulfed in a hellish fire. So impressed were they with the pilot's bravery and skill that several German soldiers attempted to brave the fire to retrieve his body, and were themselves burned in the attempt. We were obliged to let the fires run their course, and truthfully there wasn't much to recover when they were quenched. From the pilot's remains I recovered several items, most damaged beyond any recognition save the Lord's. These were interred with his remains. The exception was a small, golden locket he wore around his neck which, though damaged and burned near black, was spared complete destruction by the miraculous grace of almighty God. The interior contained a charred photograph, in which one could just barely discern the figures of a man and a woman. I believe now, having studied your letter, that this pilot was your son. Your letter contained mention of a locket your son wore, which he never removed as he considered it a good luck charm. You say that the locket contained a photograph of himself and his wife taken at your home in Boston immediately subsequent their marriage in the summer of 1918, just before he left for France. Most tellingly, you reveal an inscription on the back of the photograph proper which reads "All my love - Anna". I have kept the locket locked away in a safe in my bedchamber for many years, and have never once attempted to disassemble the locket to remove the photograph, for fear that any such foolish tampering would destroy it. I felt compelled to do precisely this after I read the description you provided. That inscription which you so exactly is still present, and legible when one knows what to look for. Your son rests within the shadow of my church, near my home. Every day I walk by his grave, which is well cared for, and think upon him with respect and admiration. I understand your sadness, for in a way perhaps understood only by our Lord, it is my sadness also. I have adopted him with all my heart. It is you who gave birth to him; it is I who buried him and committed him to the hands of God. May we meet him again in Heaven. Votre tout devous Fr. Aveligne "

Thanks for sharing. RIP

Yep, I too have landed on "our" side of the Line only to find myself face to face with enemy infantry. It's never a good idea to land anywhere near the Line, but if you must be sure you've got sight of friendly trenches and land behind them. Has anyone ever landed in the middle of an artillery barrage? It's never happened to me but I shot down a Hannover at Arras that made a hard landing in the middle of a bombardment and disappeared in the smoke. Didn't stick around long enough to see what became of him...

I do somewhat enjoy the movie, although it's not a good movie. Every now and then I come across a bad movie that I like even while knowing it's bad. Catch-22 has genuinely funny scenes, but it's not at all a good adaption of the novel. The novel of course is one of the great American classics. One of the few books that makes me laugh out loud when I read it.

I've definitely seen them stop firing and have taken to aiming at them sometimes during my attacks.

So 92 Squadron is on its way home to Serny after a successful patrol. Several Fokker biplanes destroyed, only one SE5 loss that I know of. We fly home, merrily merrily merrily. I'm busy making mental calculations in my head. "Ok, we're 10 miles away from the aerodrome, traveling at 115mph, we should be over the aerodrome by approximately 7:56am..." blah blah blah. I get bored and decide to warp the rest of the way. Can't do it because there's enemy aircraft in the area. "Whatevs" says I, it's a busy war and there's always recon aircraft operating on our side of the Line at mad altitude. I only have about 100 plugs of ammo left in the gun so I pay it no mind. Merrily merrily merrily, life is but a dream, figure we're about 3 miles away from the aerodrome if my math is right... check the TAC (set to 'ships')... yep! 3 miles away! Hahaha I'm so clever, I should have stuck with calculus in college. Then a friendly flak shell bursts right in front of us. "CUTTING IT A LITTLE CLOSE YOU BUGGER GUNNERS" says I. I look behind and... Well, let's just say the wife thought for a moment I'd stubbed my toe on something. The silhouettes of four Fokker DVIIs coming down on me is not what I was expecting and ranks #1 on the list of "Worst Things EVER". I panicked, paused the sim, turned labels on, the lead was 650 meters out. Another few seconds and he'd be in firing range. I dove immediately, but we were already at 800 feet so there wasn't much to dive for, and they were diving and easily kept up with us. Lead Fokker opened up on me but all his shots missed and once our altitudes leveled my SE was able to outrun him, and I made a safe landing. But Christ that was a near thing.

This one bums me out. I've been reading that great book 'Flying Old Planes' so I have a sense how crazy these things are to fly... http://www.cnn.com/2....html?hpt=hp_t2 "(CNN) -- A replica of a 1910 aircraft built by flight pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright crashed Saturday in a field near Springfield, Ohio, killing the two men aboard, the Ohio State Highway Patrol reported.The aircraft was reported downed shortly before 11 a.m., the agency said in a statement. It had taken off from Springfield Beckley Municipal Airport. Police identified the dead men as Don Gum, 73, of Beaver Creek, Ohio, and Mitchell Cary, 65, of Yellow Springs, Ohio. The cause of the crash remained under investigation, according to the highway patrol. It's looking into the incident along with the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board. The plane, owned by Wright "B" Flyer Inc. of Dayton, Ohio -- a volunteer nonprofit group -- was a copy of a Wright Model B aircraft produced seven years after the brothers' celebrated first powered flight. It began test flights in June and performed well, according to a press release on the organization's website. The organization designed the plane to resemble the 1910 edition, but built it so that it could be more easily taken apart and shipped to international events, the company said in the June press release. It was built with a modern engine, controls and materials, the organization said. Gum and Cary were members of the group's board of trustees and Cary was a former president, CNN affiliate WHIO-TV reported. "Mitch and Don were highly competent pilots with extensive experience flying Wright 'B' Flyer airplanes and other experimental aircraft," WHIO quoted president Phil Beaudoin as saying."

Yep this is what I do. I don't warp during missions anymore EXCEPT right after take off, circling the aerodrome bores me to death otherwise

I wonder if this can be modded? I'd like to see the Germans staying more on their side of the Line as they did historically.

Looking forward to seeing it HPW, thanks so much for all your efforts. Now we all have to ensure our pilots survive until Sunday so they can benefit from the update

I just flamed a Fokker DVII. He burned, black smoke, went careening about the sky, I left him (but didn't bother to wait for him to crash, would've taken too long). Back home, nada! Not even a claim form I'll accept if something just went awry and he somehow survived, but is there a way I can test this to make sure my pilot's kills are being properly registered?

Example of how not to write a claim form: 6/8/1917 8h38 Flanders Liettres Patrol Enemy Front Lines Flying: SE5a Hispano-Suiza. On this day claims: 1 Alb DIII OAW . Hun go boom . Witnessed by: Jack Bostwick Status : Rejected .

I had a moment like that a few months ago when I was flying with 56 Squadron in my current career. It was May '17, Battle of Arras was raging, and we came across a 20 - 30 plane dogfight ongoing. Naturally we wouldn't miss out on the fun so we went into the thick of it! Long story shot I brought down one Alb DIII, only to be holed by his wingman a second later. Was damaged, had a fuel leak, made for the nearest aerodrome and just as I was coming in for a landing the cheeky bugger Albatross made another pass at me, filling me with even more holes. That's when my own wingman, Edgar Epps, showed up and shot the living hell out of the Albatross. My kite was completely finished, I made an extremely hard crash landing and as I rolled to a halt the Albatross that had been killing me crashed less than 50 meters in front of me, and I looked up and saw Edgar's SE5 flying by. I waved at him from my computer chair, was a great moment. Poor Edgar was WIA a month later, but I remember him fondly as the best damn AI wingman I ever had

@HPW, I'm not sure if I agree that "too many" flamers is the problem, though I suppose it depends on how you define "too many". I've been reading a lot of High in the Empty Blue's August/September 1918 entries and a fair amount of the 56 Squadron claims were flamers. Not all surely, not even close to all, but a fair amount, which is what I see with your latest DM. Also I'm happy to report that I did get a claim form for a different flaming Fokker DVII I scored on a flight two days ago. I didn't warp during the mission, perhaps that has something to do with it, or perhaps someone else jumped in on the kill I mentioned in the original post and stole it from me. I don't really know. The burning pyres thing is a problem, planes definitely take too long to go down when they're on fire, but from what I've read the frequency of the fires is accurate. Of course I'm no grog, and I know you and other modders here have researched things like this more thoroughly than I have, so I'd be interested in your opinion on it. Cheers

This is silly, but I've searched these forums up and down and cant' find an answer. When I have an engine failure the sim tells me to try a manual start. But how in the world do I do one?

Duly noted Tranquilo, no disrespect was intended. We all know you can kill me without batting an eye...

I'm manually starting my engine from now on. 'E' key is for chumps, plus it's not reliable. I've made a lot of forced landings in the past and wasn't able to get it back up again because the autostart was failing on me. Who knows how many pilots I could have saved from becoming POWs if I'd known how to manually start their engines? May not have always worked on the really shot up ones, but it sure saved my caboose today. I believe I only took two bullets in the oil reservoir, was surprised when I started having engine trouble. Was I maybe leaking oil? Is there a way to check engine oil levels like there is with fuel?

Cheers Lou

I had the sim paused while I researched how to bloody well do a manual start. We need to get some stickies back up around here, not having that information handy is downright perilous! <div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>p.s. There is no sweeter sound in the world than that engine kicking in and saving your ass. This'll make a great 'Reports from the Front' later</div>