Shiloh

As long as I've been flying OFF (2 years), I have never had the opportunity to down a 20+ victory ace. Well all that changed over the last few days. My Jasta 5 D.VII pilot, Leutnant Ansel Loebe downed two high-scoring aces in 2 days and almost downed a third. It all started with a scrap with RFC-74 and their SE5a Vipers. I fly without visual aids but will quickly turn on labels to see who I'm fighting. When I did I saw "L Grid Caldwell" and was able to down him after a 2 minute fight. He was a 25 victory ace. His boys roughed me up afterwards but I was able to crash-land at Bellevue. The next day we met up with some Camels and I latched on to "Cecil Frederick King" from RFC-43 and roughed him up pretty good until my wingman swept in and sawed one of his wings off. I was a bit upset at this since my hard work led to a non-victory but that's the way it goes I suppose. He was a 22 victory ace. But then I spotted "Henry Winslow Woollett". I found out later he once downed 6 aircraft in one day. He flew like the devil but I stayed with him and sent him down in flames before too long. I was thrilled to find out he was a 35 victory ace. Not a bad few days for young Ansel Loebe during his first week with Jasta 5.

With my RFC-48 Brisfit pilot Major Benjamin Dawes, I once again had a 2 ace experience...almost. We were patrolling the front lines when I saw a bunch of specs low to the ground just over the German lines. I took our flight down to investigate and noted some Albs from Jasta 18 roughing up some RE8's as they were trying to get back over the lines. As always, I turn on labels briefly when entering a fight to identify who we're fighting and I saw Walter von Bulow-Bothkamp (28 victory ace) in my sights. I knew he was a fine ace so I dove on him and filled him full of lead. We danced around for a while and once he sent me into a spin trying to stay on his tail but I was able to get behind him again eventually. Soon after we had a slight collision where our wing tips met but the sturdy Brisfit stayed up. My maneuverability was compromised but I kept wearing Bothkamp down before he finally crashed into the trenches just inside German lines. Then I spotted another brightly-decorated plane and flicked on labels again to see I was pursuing Paul Strahle (15 victory ace). I roughed him up a bit and I felt like I had him and then I heard my rear-gunner chattering away. One quick look revealed another Alb on my tail and I banked hard right to lose him. After I straightened out Strahle took a shot at me head-on and hit my engine causing a loss of power. I immediately made for the lines and was able to outrun an Alb that was pursuing. My kite was tough to keep level due to the wing damage but she did fine and I was able to land safely at Beugnatre. Another thrilling fight in the world of OFF.

Did I mention I have a big appetite Olham?

Glad to hear all is well Captain! I'm still flying OFF. I have about 12 pilots going and I tend to alternate according to my preference at the time. I've read about 6 books over the last 5 weeks or so and I'm learning many new tactics from the best. Here's a list: 1) Terror of the Autumn Skies: The True Story of Frank Luke by Blaine Pardo 2) Ace of Aces by Rene Fonck 3) Flying Fury: Five Years in the Royal Flying Corp by James McCudden 4) In the Company of Eagles by Ernest K. Gann (historical fiction) 5) Fighting the Flying Circus by Captain Eddie Rickenbacker (currently reading) 6) Billy Bishop: The Courage of the Early Morning But now I have a few vacations than back to the books for the next year so this is my last hurrah as they say.

I'm not too keen on the Gatorade either Olham. Over the course of a normal day I drink water and hot tea with an occasional vegetable juice so I'm going to stick with what I'm used to. I will bring dates, raisins, cranberries, apples, beef jerky, tomatoes, corn, peas, beef stews, soups, corn bread and some jams. Some is correct, and some not as far as what they would have access to while on campaign but it will all be concealed and I can hide the non-period stuff, and only eat the authentic stuff out in the open. But from the food listed above, I feel I'll get the nutrients I need to keep my body going.

Wish you could come Olham but it is halfway around the world from you. If I see an Albatros fly over the field and do a wing-waggle I'll know it's you. I've been hydrating for a week already and will be eating salty meats during the event like they ate when they were on campaign. Some guys drink Gatorade and stuff like that to replace the electrolytes.

So much history, so little time! What a great experience you had at Gulf Shores. Thanks for the well-wishes. I'm pretty excited about the event and for 4 days I will immerse myself in this time period and try and cut myself from modern times as much as possible. No cell phones, no cameras and only period activities (between battles) to pass the time. The only thing I feel I won't enjoy is 90 degree heat in full wool uniforms with all the leather accoutrements. Heat-stroke is a real danger and it will be a real challenge just to live and fight in those elements.

Very nice Olham! I've been meaning to fly with one of these maps and this might be the incentive to do it.

There is an organization called The Civil War Trust that protects and buys back land to preserve the battlefields. Twice in the last few years a group attempted to build a casino within 1/2 mile of Gettysburg but the outcry was enormous and they lost in court.

It's nice to see that some sites today remain similar to how they were 100 years ago. Too many areas are getting gobbled up by 'urban sprawl' (in the U.S anyhow).

There are two events this year. Ours is the first event and is put on by reenactors, for reenactors. It will be the more 'authentic' of the two events with the better site, and an emphasis on realism. http://www.bluegraygettysburg.com/ Both events will have numbers close to 10,000 per event. Our event will have close to 9,000 combatants while the other 1,000 or so are civilian reenactors. There will be infantry, artillery and cavalry and we will reenact segments of the great battle. At the 135th Battle of Gettysburg there was just one event and numbers there topped 30,000+. There is underlying stuff that may cause some animosity. Many reenactors have relatives that fought so emotions can run high. I've never been to an event this size but at smaller events I've found the Confederates to be very fine people. You can't help but get caught up in the feeling of it all though. I mostly feel like I want to do my best to honor these brave men by putting on a good, accurate impression. Gettysburg is indeed hallowed ground. I know many people who have had 'experiences' there that they can't explain. There were after all 51,000 casualties in just three days of fighting.

My name is indeed from the Battle of Shiloh. I am also a Civil War reenactor with the 28th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and we will be at 150th Gettysburg for the BGA event June 27-30. Were you planning on that one or the other event during the first weekend in July? Too bad you can't make it but there will still be some great events over the next few years.

The book is 'Terror of the Autumn Skies: The True Story of Frank Luke'. I'm just getting to the part where he starts going after the sausages with reckless abandon. Great book so far. I had no idea how dangerous it really was until reading this book. It's rather easy in OFF and that's been my only real frame of reference.

I'm with you Olham. If you picked 2014 I sincerely hope that you are wrong. It's nothing personal, just painful to think of waiting that much longer.

I remember Mahlo well Olham. I'll have some time this coming week and will certainly give those reports a look as I enjoy your accounts. For me, it takes a considerable amount of restraint to leave a fight where I see aces. Something pulls me toward them and draws me to want to prove my mettle in a one-on-one fight. It goes back to my days playing sports where I always wanted to defend the other teams best player. I figured if I could beat the best one-on-one then perhaps I could be considered among the best. My struggle now is I've matured as a pilot and also want to try and survive the last 4-5 months of the war. I'm reading a book on Frank Luke right now and he was a sight to behold over a two week period in the summer of 1918. I'm fascinated by what motivates these pilots to want to take the huge risks in general disregard for their own safety.

This is great Olham! I've been reading so many good books lately that I'll have to post back them back here. I don't usually buy books for many reasons including the crazy amount of money I would spend and then storing them on shelves when I'm trying to keep my place minimalist. I use my state library system to borrow books and this is great except for the fact that there are little to no German accounts of the air war. But every so often I might have to take the plunge and this seems like on of those times - pending the reviews of course. Thanks for posting.

I'm going to say August 29, 2013. I'm using extremely strong powers of visualization and the power of intention that are not to be taken lightly.

Here, here to that Slartibartfast.

Thanks for all your hard work Erik... much appreciated!

I saw the forum up briefly about an hour ago. It was in the blue/white color scheme and the OFF header was gone. I was able to post then it reverted back to this state. Perhaps Erik is working on giving it a more generic look?

Good to see you back Olham. I had the men fire up the Fokkers to go searching for you but I've since recalled them back to the mess for some Warsteiners. Yes, there are many opportunities to score but winning fights against those kinds of numbers is going to be pretty rare. I do love the summer of 1918 and all the action.

Hopefully 'closed for maintenance' doesn't actually mean permanently. This is my connection to so many good friends.

What's alarming as a German pilot in July 1918 is that you can 'feel' the endless wave of activity. You are not meeting small flights, but rather 7+ craft in each fight. Jasta 5 is elite which helps a great deal but when you are fighting Camels, Vipers and Brisfits from elite groups it sure makes for a daily challenge. I'm trying to see if this pilot can have a long run - perhaps to the end of the war - and I think the key is to keep the fight on my side of the lines and take the fights down to the shelf. This way I can crash land if need be. I do love a low level fight. It keeps my enemies in striking distance and cuts down on their ability to maneuver.

I've been flying OFF for two years now and in my opinion, this site is way better than SimHQ. After starting a subscription over there, I realized how it lacked in comparison and after a dozen or so posts I made my way back here. I never did agree with the forum being officially moved. Stuff happens and I doubt whether it hurt sales after just 6 days but it is not my decision to make. Right or wrong, business owners need to make decisions for the sake of their business and I guess the OFF leaders felt it was the right decision. I just wanted to say I really appreciate this great site Erik and I wanted to take a moment to thank you for all your hard work.

I've always been curious about Rene Fonck, the great French ace as he was a mere 5 confirmed victories behind Richthofen at the end of the war. He claims he only received one bullet to his craft over the entire war and had over 120 victories. He was brash for sure and was generally disliked, or perhaps misunderstood. Regardless, I am curious about him and his curious hunting style in the skies where he tended toward avoiding the dogfight and looked for quick, decisive victories. His book, Ace of Aces is on the way and the second link below provides some excerpts that I found quite interesting. Have any of you read about Fonck? http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6921351-ace-of-aces http://acepilots.com/wwi/fr_fonck.html