sinbad

Greetings:
 
This skin, v 1.3, depicts the camo and markings on a black Albatros D.Va flown by Lt Hans Udet, then JAFU, Jasta 37, operating out of Wynghene Aerodrome in early 1918. Udet flew many aircraft, and this appears to be one of at least three D.Va types he used at Jasta 37. I relied most heavily on an excellent profile by R.N. Pearson as well as other material.
You may want to visit Mr. Pearsons web site:
 
http://www.jastaboelcke.de/artwork/artwork.htm#
 
 
The markings on the upper and lower wings are revised in v1.3 to conform with images depicted by R. N. Pearson and Osprey, copies of which just became available to me. The change from v1.2 are slight, but those of us who are compulsive about such details will prefer this one. I also had valuable help and support from Barkhorn1x. Of course, I began this project with the general release skins provided by TK and Third Wire. The result you see is entirely my own, and my time machine is no longer operational. This is an interpretation, a well-grounded interpretation, but certainly a mix of accuracy and flaws.
 
Have fun with it. I’d appreciate any comments, especially with links to source material. At the time of this release no information was available as to the serial number for this plane. If you have such info, please pass it along.
 
Just drop the folder in your AlbatrosD5a folder and select Hans Udet Shawartz in the loadout screen. The name reads Hans Udet Schwartz because this is the black bird (Schwarz is German for black). There is another J 37 Hans Udet D.Va skin, depicting the natural wood fuselage aircraft that will be released along with this version. A third silver version may be released later.
 
There is no need to edit the AlbD5a ini.
 
Please no distribution or republication of any part of these files. There is a lot of unique detail that took a lot a time to research, compile and work into the skin. For that reason, these parts are not available for further use.
 
sinbad © 2007

Greetings:
 
This skin, depicts the camo and markings on a Albatros D.Va with a wood finish fuselage flown by Lt Hans Udet, of Jasta 37. Udet flew many aircraft, and this appears to be one of at least three D.Va types he used at Jasta 37. I relied most heavily on superb computer renderings by Mark Miller, as well as other information generally relevant to the aircraft
 
Of course, I began this project with the general release skins provided by TK and Third Wire. The result you see is entirely my own, and my time machine is no longer operational. This is an interpretation, a well-grounded interpretation, but certainly a mix of accuracy and flaws.
 
Have fun with it. I’d appreciate any comments, especially with links to source material. Although I included a serial number, the tail markings on the images available to me are not clear. Hence the “D. 5876/17” is speculative. Nevertheless, the number is in correct form, and yes, that is why the individual numbers do not accurately line up. This is consistent with the form of the numbers on the reconstructed D.Va in the Smithsonian. If you have more information regarding the SN, please pass it along. The Albatros rudder logo is correct, despite the fact that it does not appear in the Mark Miller rendering.
 
Just drop the folder in your AlbatrosD5a folder and select Hans Udet Woody in the loadout screen. There is another J 37 Hans Udet D.Va skin, depicting the black fuselage aircraft that was released shortly before this version. A third silver version may be released later.
 
There is no need to edit the AlbD5a ini.
 
Please no distribution or republication of any part of these files. There is a lot of unique detail that took a lot a time to research, compile and work into the skin. For that reason, these parts are not available for further use.
 
sinbad © 2007

Greetings:
 
This skin depicts the camo and markings on Albatros D.Va flown by Lt Hans Bohning of Jasta 79b, operating out of Villers-le-sec in the Spring of 1918. I have relied on the excellent profile by R.N. Pearson as well at the superb image by Mark Miller, as well as other sources. The result you see is entirely my own, and my time machine is no longer operational. This is an interpretation, a well-grounded interpretation, but certainly a mix of accuracy and flaws.
 
I became aware this morning that another version of this skin is a work in process. I have been encouraged to post this version now. I am a bit reluctant, but here it is.
 
Have fun with it. I’d appreciate any comments, especially with links to source material.
 
Just drop the folder in your AlbatrosD5a folder and select Hans Bohning in the loadout screen. There is no need to edit the ini.
 
Please no distribution or republication.
 
sinbad © 2007

This skin depicts the camo and markings on Albatros D.Va flown by Lt Fritz Rumey of Jasta 5. While the skin was technically challenging, the more difficult aspect of this project was the research. Several well-regarded sources depict this aircraft. Unfortunately, and predictably, even the most authoritative sources do not agree on some significant matters. The “candy cane” pattern is shown with noticeable variations. In some views the colors extend over the engine cowl, while others depict a bare metal or polished metal cowl. Everyone agrees that the wings were done in a two-color mauve/green pattern, but there are wide variations as to the pattern, placement and color sequence, not to mention the colors themselves. Consequently, I spent far more time on research, than the actual graphic work, and a significant amount of material is still in the pipeline (including the Windsock two volume set on Jasta 5). I’ll probably decide to make changes later, but eventually I had to make decisions given the material available.
 
The sources include excellent photos and three views from the Smithsonian depicting the D.Va restoration there, as well as Mark Millers excellent image set, and profiles by Bob Pearson. As usual, there was some definitive advice from a man I regard very highly, Dan San Abbot at the Aerodrome forum, regarding the camo pattern.
http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/aircraft....html#post11894
 
The result you see is entirely my own, and my time machine is no longer operational. This is an interpretation, a well-grounded interpretation, but certainly a mix of accuracy and flaws. Some flaws I intentionally left in. I decided to include both logos for the prop and the Albatros factory (on the rudder). Both are entirely accurate but are flawed for different reasons. The prop logo (as far as I can tell) displays only on the rear of the prop when the skin is loaded. You’ll see it on the skin and as the prop turns over. Of course the actual logo was only on the front of the prop. The Albatros factory logo may or may not have been painted over by Jasta 5 (or it may have been painted over and replaced). In any event, it certainly was there when it left the factory, and I think it is at least possible it was on the tail when Rumey flew the plane. The colors for the famous green tail and the camo pattern for the wings, as well as the various bits of hardware are as accurate as the photos, data, and drawings available to me.
 
Have fun with it. I’d appreciate any comments, especially with links to source material.
 
I’d like to dedicate this skin to Peter01 in recognition for the tremendous work he is doing on the flight models for this sim.
 
Just drop the folder in your AlbatrosD5a folder and select Fritz Rumey in the loadout screen. There is no need to edit the ini.
 
Please no distribution or republication.
 
sinbad © 2007

This is my second skin for release. I am especially fond of the Bruno Loerzer
color scheme. It was one of my best 1/48 models which I completed about 50 years ago. That version eventually found its way into a museum in Connecticut.
When last seen it was in a display case next to a genuine Blue Max.
 
Bruno Loerzer, commanded Jasta 26 and then JG3. He got 44kills and survived both WWI and WWII. Loerzer died in 1960.
 
Simply drop the folder into your AlbatrosD5a folder next to the other skins and
you should be good to go. No need to edit the ini file, but you will need to select
the skin in the loading screen.
 
Thanks to TK for the base template for Jasta 26; that made this job a lot easier.
 
If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d like to have them. Please post on the Combat Aces First Eagles board or PM me there.
 
Have fun with it.
 
Please no distribution or republication.
 
sinbad © 2007

This skin is my first released work. The skin attempts to depict the camo and markings on Albatros DIII OEF 253.64. This plane was flown by Korporal Geza Keisz of Flik 42j in August 1918. The OEF Alb DIII had two spars in the lower wing and thus avoided the problems with wing failure associated with the original design. The 253 series had the 220hp Daimler engine and was preferred by some pilots even in 1918 over other more recent aircraft types, not only for the stronger lower wings, but because it blended the increased power of the AlbDV variants with the maneuverability of the DIII.
 
Just drop the Flik 42 folder in your AlbatrosD3OAW folder. Then go to the loadout screen and select Flick 42 and you are good to go. No editing of the ini file is necessary.
German Camo1 will remain your default colors. You will need to select the Flik 42 skin in the loadout screen to see this skin.
 
You will also find a folder marked AldD3OEF Hangar and Loading. This folder contains replacement hangar and loading screens which depict both this camo scheme and a magnificent AlbDIIIOEF replica recently completed in Austria by Memorial Flight and Koloman Mayrhofer. http://memorial.flight.free.fr/Albatrosuk.html The dual spars in the lower wing are clearly visible, in the photo, which of course was taken by Herr Mayrhofer. This folder also includes a revised AlbD3OAW.ini which will enable you to see the new hangar and loading screens. Just backup the existing file and drop this in the AlbD3OAW folder. Restore the old ini file if you prefer the original screens.
 
If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d like to have them. Please post on the Combat Aces First Eagles board or PM me there.
 
Thanks to Christain59 for the great three views which inspired this little job.
 
Have fun with it – and remember no drugs allowed while flying!!
 
Please no distribution or republication, but feel free to do mods for your own use. If you do, please send copies to me!
 
sinbad © 2007

Near Clear is a minor tweak that eliminates the puffy little cotton ball clouds nearby. The horizon clouds are unaffected. Simply drop the Cloud1 file into your Flight folder. If you want the cotton balls back, remove it. There will be no enduring effect on the game.
 
I have tested it in First Eagles with and without the Expansion Pack, but I see no reason it wont work in other games in this series.
 
Enjoy flying without the cotton balls.
 
sinbad

This is a second alternative Maltese Cross to choose from for the early war period. There were many variations, including this one and one made up of four triangles with tips touching for graphically impaired ground crews. If you like it just backup the original TGA file in whatever skin folder you wish to mod, rename this file Insignia005, and fly away! Only the folder you mod should be affected unless that is the key folder to which other Decal.ini files refer. Sometimes this is done for the convenience of the skinner.
 
Once again my screen shot is of the most recent revision of the excellent Fokker EIII which Bortdafram has given to us.

The Maltese Crosses displayed in 1915 and into 1916 were narrow in the body and wide at the tips, this changed in the latter part of 1916 (sorry I do not have access to my library, so I cannot advise as to the exact date). If you want to use this style, just backup the original version and drop the attached file into the skin folder to replace the standard INSIGNIA005 version. That will replace the insignia in only the skin you select.
 
The attached screen shot is of the newest version of Borts tremendous Fokker EIII.
 
Enjoy!
 
sinbad

This is a substitute German theme screen depicting Kesta 4 in 1916, which you can substitute for the Spad hangars that appear in the loadout screen. Simply drop the file in the Menu folder and it will override the Spad screen. If you want to go back, just delete this file and the original will appear.
 
TK is considering adding code which will permit type specific loadout screens for each aircraft, but right now the code only permits one such screen for all aircraft.
 
I prefer the sepia version, which I now post as an update. I think the earlier B/W version will remain on the site- if not and you want BW, it is relatively simple to remove the color.