Wayfarer

May I walk on your hills?

Javito. I know exactly what you mean there. Looking at black and white pictures in books as a kid, I subconsciously set them in some dull, foggy, autumnish 'otherworld', which always seemed appropriate for WW1, somehow. Only when I was a little older did I appreciate that many of these scenes of death and devastation were taken on fine sunny spring/summer days - and it somehow didn't seem right that such things could be on 'real' days like that. I think there is a part of my brain that still believes that people in 1914-18 could only see things in a slighly grainy, out of focus way! If you've seen the pictures of Vintage Aviator's FE2 flying, it always makes me wonder how it felt in those days, when these were the things that were clear and vital and ... NOW!

Just carried out a photoreconnaissance over the trenchlines. The minute's straight level flying is absolutely nervewracking! Excellent, thanks once again Bletchley.

I enlisted a German pilot just to test, and there was a 'Lone Wolf' mission so it seems to be activated ok. Thanks for these mods, they've come in very timely as I have just reached 1916. Back to the other side of the lines now to carry on the 2 RFC campaign.

I managed to grab a few minutes and seem to have downloaded both mod manager and mod ok (curiously my previous hiccup was with downloading the mod, I kept losing it somehow, but this time had no problem), and have activated Quiet Sector, which is appropriate at the moment. This is actually the first mission with a new pilot so I am not re-entering a campaign as such. Is there any obvious way to see that the mod is active. I do have reconnaissance mission over an enemy airfield, which I have never had before - would that originate from the mod?

Bletchley, thanks for the instructions. Wife and daughters are in computer frenzy tonight so I will try installing later in the week!

Dumb question time. This is the first OFF mod I ever downloaded. I have found a number of threads with instructions - which is fine but ... where did the downloaded file go? Sorry if this is covered somewhere else - I just couldn't find it. I'm running VISTA by the way, in case that makes any difference

Tailly Ho, Javito, thanks. As I might try a few mods now, its good to know you can save these things Lewie, what was 'The Casket Crew' 's last big mission? my dad had 'The Fledgling' and 'Years of the Sky Kings' by Arch Whitehouse, but would this be a fiction piece - I understand he wrote them as well.

Thanks for your posts. They'll be a consolation to Arthur's family at this sad time! That amount of flying time was achieved by some extremely circumspect flying! As I have mentioned, I deliberately took the attitude that I thought reconnaissance pilots would have to have had to complete their missions, so following the waypoints, getting back home and protecting my wingmen were my priorities. I always tried to evade enemy machines and never yet attacked anything that wasn't already attacking us. Although I hit several enemy machines I haven't had a single claim (although, in his log, two missions have 'aircraft destroyed' in the details - but I certainly didn't see them). I also flew 'death on die roll' and seem to have been extraordinarily lucky with it! I started him in February 1915 and flew for a few missions at 3 missions a day. My intention has always been, however, to fly through the war in the same squadron, creating new pilots from when the last one fell. I soon realised, however, that it would take me longer than the actual war itself in real time! I eventually started flying about a mission a week game time (which roughly matches my real time frequency) to get a feel of how the war progressed and conditions changed. Given that Arthur spent several spells in hospital (I was really lucky with that death on die roll) he actually fell on January 11th 1916, just short of a year in game time. I am aware that was only about 3 to 4 weeks worth at 3 missions a day. I am still carrying on with 2 RFC, literally from the same day, as planned. I am thinking of downloading Bletchley's 1916 mod. I didn't dare alter anything whilst Arthur was still going in case I deleted him somehow! So I'll be carrying on with BEs until we get a new type delivered. Eventually I would like to do the same thing with a German fighter squadron - we'll probably be up to pP8 by then! Actually, can you just copy the dossier and log files and paste them back in if you ever have to relaoad the game? The skies are definitely getting more unfriendly since Arthur started, so I don't know how many hours the next one will last, however there's a likely looking chap, Harold Rawtenstall, just joined the squadron. From one of the industrial towns up north apparently. A bit technically minded I understand ... oh no, it's that 'name' effect again!

Well, ironically, I just killed my first pilot after 64 missions, 52.73 hours of flying time, and just over 1 year in real time! So I am feeling a slight but genuine sense of loss right now, and am somewhat annoyed with myself because I should have known better. I watched a flight of Eindeckers go past us for quite a way. On the last mission, a flight passed very close by us and didn't bother us at all, so I took my eye off this lot and started scanning for my typically errant wingmen. Next thing, I am being shot to ribbons and shortly after my engine packed up completely. I glided towards a nearby airfield, and you can bet I was getting stressful then ... I always knew it would be landings that would get me! Of course, I managed to position myself so I was heading directly for the trees at one end of the airfield, with no engine to throttle up over them and no room left to manoeuvre. At the last, I tried a slight twitch in a forlorn hope of avoiding most of them, and that spun me straight into the ground. I have been really lucky with the death on dice roll, l and knew the odds had to catch up eventually, so I am less dismayed than I might have been earlier on. One person I can guarantee will be disappointed, however, is my wife (presently at work). She always seemed to have a soft spot for Arthur, especially after seeing his photograph in the pilot dossier! It is still remarkable to me how just inventing a name for a virtual construct, or even an inanimate object sometimes, can make you regard it in some ways like an actual entity with a personality. I have never gone so far as imagining a background 'life' for Arthur but I realise I could tell you how he spoke ... is that not weird!?

Just as I got to January 1916! I would certainly look forward to a 1916 version though.

The thing that gets me the most nervous is landings. I am a quite hamfisted individual who could never have flown an aircraft in real life. Even with something as forgiving as a BE2 I can still make a terrible mess of it, and this is when the the toungue starts to stick out between the teeth, and the hand tightens vice like onto the joystick, which, of course, exactly makes things worse until I can consciously tell myself to relax it. I am also liable at these times to voice the odd expletive. As I quite often am using headphones to avoid interfering with family TV watching, and don't realise how loud I am, this can earn some disapproving looks. In combat I fear I am lacking in aggressive spirit. I put trying to protect my flight members as a high priority. A combination of my innate lack of coordination plus the lack of a sight on the BE means that my shooting is singularly ineffective (I have hit things but never had one claim). Often, therefore, I use the less subtle but more effective tactic of heading for the enemy machines and forcing them to evade (hopefully!). Early on, however, this lack of lethal intent put me in mind of an old lady shooing a cat off her roses ... and I got the sillies. Consequently, I have to admit that I frequently dive to the rescue with a quavering cry of 'Hey, get away from my men!' Having read this thread I realise that I am seriously going to have to work on that one.

Usually once, occasionally twice, a week. Almost always just one mission. Never flown more than two missions in one session. Wife and many daughters also requiring computer time.

There is surely a stationers near to where I work that sells some suitable stuff. The problem with me is not the actual availabilty of things, but me remembering that I wanted them! I would like to ascribe this purely to age but, whilst I am sure it gets worse with age, I have always been like it. Fortunately, however, I read your email just before going out and remembered long enough to come back with some wallets that I think will do the trick. So thanks for the reminder! Tailly Ho, it's true the view is lamentably limited. There may be some use of Spot View I'm afraid (no TrackIR yet).

I had a surprising encounter on my last mission. Whilst flying through a partly cloudy sky, a tight formation of aircraft emerged from the edge of a cloud ahead of me, heading directly towards us. My conviction that this was a flight of friendly BE2s returning from a mission was quickly overturned by the utter absence of a top plane on any of them! Any warning from friendly AA must have been masked by the cloud. As I was heading in their direction anyway, and always turn into attacking Eindeckers, I sat tight and steeled myself for their next move. To my astonishment they flew past, slightly to starboard, and no more than a couple of hundred feet below - I could have spat on them (with more effect than my shooting) - and kept right on into the distance behind us without the slightest aggressive move. I have never encountered this behaviour before from enemy machines so close, and it made me wonder, what governs AI behaviour in the vicinity of enemy aircraft? Is it, in effect, a random result from a range of possibilities, or is it something more complex? I have absolutely no programming knowledge whatsoever, so I have no idea how these things are worked out - it'd be quite a neat trick if I could pull it off on a regular basis!

Wayfarer, I understand you landed on an own airfield? As a two-seater crew, it would of course be far more difficult trying to fly after paper maps. It cannot be achieved at once; you must study the ground details on several sorties, before you know your area. It is something I definitely intend to do as part of trying to fly without any screen aids. I Just keep forgetting to get hold of some heavy duty plastic wallets.

I tried flying like a real man with a map. I got lost after about half an hour and flew round and round in circles absolutely refusing to land at an airfield and ask the way. Eventually we were forced to land and refuel. My observer, making an excuse of needing the latrine, asked directions of a kindly office orderly and we were back on course in five minutes. We got there and back safely, but we weren't talking all evening.

Ironically, we were just four BE2s out artillery spotting on our own. This mission actually came up with a note at the beginning saying that the intended escort fighters weren't available so we just had to go it alone (another first for me) - so I was quite glad they had higher priorities!

It is true, it was an honest to goodness OFF question. I am a relative newcomer, it being almost exactly one year since I got OFF, flying about a mission a week. Also, I have only flown a narrow set of mission types. So I am still experiencing new things. I expect those people who have enjoyed OFF for a number of years are not so often surprised as myself. I do not doubt, however, there will be a mighty outpouring come P4 - whilst I will still have much of P3 undiscovered!

Would it have something to do with the time period? I tried flares before with a BE2 in early 1915 and it didn't work, but when I tested it with a 11/2 Strutter in 1917 they worked fine (didn't actually get as far as testing the BE2 in 1917 unfortunately).

Hellshade, absolutely no need for apologies! I think it's one of the strengths of OFF that it promotes flying with a certain 'character' , and that we have different attitudes within the same game. I'm sure that's not unrealistic. I was just amused by the contrast of your statement and the thought of me scuttling fearfully about, and trying to shepherd my wingmen around! In other sims, to a certain extent, I tended just to see how many things I could shoot at until my ammo ran out. After introducing a friend to flight sims, however, I was impressed by his more realistic approach and dedication to learning the ins and outs of the game (if anyone visits the SOH CFS3 forum, it's 'Beau Brummie', champion of Coastal Command and the Mosquito). It made me look around for a sim that seemed worth playing in that way ,and it's the reason I chose OFF rather than RoF. I can spend an hour not shooting at anything and still feel totally absorbed. Regarding the original posting, I think it would definitely be good if you could be rewarded for patient stalking of an enemy machine by sometimes acheiving total surprise, but also knowing that you may get a wily, veteran crew who might be pretty lethal. I understand from Polovski's post that there is a certain amount of this already, although always being the target I never really see it!

My reason for playing it that way is really because I am flying a BE2 on recon/spotting missions, rather than a fighter. I try and fly 'carefully' because I think they would have had to. When I finish this campaign, though, I would like to start one as a German fighter pilot, from Eindeckers onward. I would fly more aggressively then - although I'll probably be more of a Boelcke than a Voss or a Lothar von Richthofen.

I tend towards trying to get us all safely home for tea.

I also still have the Flying Corps maps. There are discrepancies, but I 'd guess that mirrors the real life situation. The font lines are somewhat different to those in my 1915 campaign, I think they are more applicable to 1917. I hadn't thought of using a plastic cover and non-permanent pen to map out your route, but I'll definitely try that.

Olham, I think you have said elsewhere, but which maps do you actually use?