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Shiloh

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Posts posted by Shiloh

  4. Posted

    "No Parachute" is a top notch read; I would recommend it to all interested in a personal view on WW1 air combat flying;

    and I recommend it especially to all Germans, who may find it hard to take the view from the other side.

    This gentleman just takes you into his war time life as easily, as the Britsh fellers can often be, sympathic and open.

    A book I will read more than one times.

     

    Here is one for 30 $ at Ebay:

     

    http://cgi.ebay.de/N...=item2eb2b3af1d

     

    They didn't have this at my library Olham but they were able to order it from another one and I should have it in a week. You plugged it a handful of times so I thought it must be good. I just finished "They Fought For the Sky" by Quentin Reynolds and it was a decent enough book. It provides more of an overview than anything else and doesn't stay on any subject (pilot) for long at all. Looking forward to the new book. :good:

  6. Posted · Edited by Shiloh

    These are fantastic Olham - thanks for posting. What a challenge to make artistically beautiful photos from places that were "hell on earth" not so long ago. It's amazing how well nature adapts and recovers from such devastation. Kinda' reminds us of why guys wanted to be up in the sky out of the mud and toil those poor foot soldiers endured.

  7. Posted · Edited by Shiloh

    It's tough to explain to my kids (who are terrified of him) that he's just playing. My kids give him a real wide berth when walking around him and I've been trying to explain to them that sometimes he wants to be pet, and other times he doesn't. My 4- year-old is learning to read his body language and always asks if it's OK to pet him. I evaluate his posture then say yes or no based on what I see. If he's flicking that tail up and down quick or if he is laying on his side with paws up you might get hurt when approaching him. It's a bit unfortunate that when he plays he can hurt someone as I'm the only one who will risk injury to give him some good attention.

     

    I do love the little guy so I'll take him at face value despite his aggressive side.

  8. Posted

    I've always had domestic cats myself over my entire life and as much as I've been around them, I can say I don't fully understand what goes through their heads. My cat Charlie is a strong, healthy cat in his prime (6 years old) and is very affectionate, yet has a "frisky" side where he may scratch or bite at any time. Sometimes he gets so frisky (especially when I'm barefoot) and he tries to come after my exposed skin. I'm not a timid guy at all and it can be a bit scary as he has real sharp claws and a few times he latched on to my ankle and jacked me up pretty good. There is no doubt that he loves me and sees me as his master and I love him too and he knows it but he has a touch of wild instinct, and it is just that - natural instinct. That's why I respect it and don't hold it against him.

     

    I don't know anything about his parents but I do know his litter was found in the back of an old abandoned pickup truck so my guess would be his parents (or at least one of them) lived outside and used to hunt for survival. I've seen him take squirrels and birds as quick as lightning and I'm amazed by his athleticism. But as mentioned above, there are few differences between him to a lion/tiger other than size. One thing about any cat is you can read their body language as that is how they communicate and I know when and when not to approach my cat.

     

    When I was driving through northern California one night while on vacation with my sister, I saw a dark figure of an animal crouching in the road as my headlights shone off its eyes. It then leapt seemingly without any effort up a roughly 8 foot embankment and we couldn't believe what we just saw. I couldn't ID the cat but no doubt it was a big cat as there is nothing else I can think of with that power and grace. I gained a new respect for those big cats and will never underestimate their athleticism or prowess. They are wild animals after all and should be appreciated and respected.

  10. Posted

    "My first pilot in #13 died 20 seconds after his wheels left the sod when a flight of DRI's did a airfield strafe, I hadn't even checked his six yet!"

     

    A sad end. At least you didn't have to nurture him through dozens of flights before he copped it, so it's not all bad news. Well done on the DIII's thobut.

     

    "1) How do you know where you are on the map when you enter a fight? Hitting (m) leaves you with a pretty crude map. Does the info. help get a claim accepted?

    2) You can put more than one witness? It says to only put one when you fill out the claim form.

    3) What is the absolute vital information that needs to be on every claim?"

     

    Shiloh,

     

    I use the rubbish CFS map with Google maps, and can usually name towns, villages, etc if I down something. I suspect it does help, and yes, name your entire damn flight if you can! Absolutely vital to claims are, IMO, time, wingmen witnesses, location and, if possible, id of the opposing squadron/jasta. Having said that I've put in some frightful claims and had them accepted. Sometimes, old chap, it's down to luck. Seeing as that's what's also determining your continued survival, it's best just to get used to it!

     

    Cheers,

    Si

     

     

    1) How do you know where you are on the map when you enter a fight? Hitting (m) leaves you with a pretty crude map. Does the info. help get a claim accepted?

    Open the inflight map and pick the nearest town or go over the nearest airfield with your cursor;

    the name will then show. Use that and say something like "southwest of Roucourt aerodrome".

     

    2) You can put more than one witness? It says to only put one when you fill out the claim form.

    Yes, you can, and I always do that; I write it "Josef Becker, Horst Maier, etc."

     

    3) What is the absolute vital information that needs to be on every claim?

    Your wingmen. The rest is more or less prose. Maybe it can count the amount of words?

    I like to write up a little there. In P4, it may be able to check more data.

     

    Thanks gents. :salute: I just filed another claim with more detail and hopefully I get some confirmations as my first 3 aerial claims are all pending.

  11. Posted

    This thread came at just the right time as I logged some questionable claims which might end up being rejected. I do have three questions:

     

    1) How do you know where you are on the map when you enter a fight? Hitting (m) leaves you with a pretty crude map. Does the info. help get a claim accepted?

    2) You can put more than one witness? It says to only put one when you fill out the claim form.

    3) What is the absolute vital information that needs to be on every claim?

     

    Thanks! :salute:

  13. Posted · Edited by Shiloh

    I'm very new to this also stefnuts so I can relate to where you're coming from. What I do when learning something new is I engross myself in it fully and learn as much as I can, wherever I can. I've been online reading about different squadrons, individuals and planes and have learned a great deal. My father always instilled in me the value of having an insatiable quest for knowledge and to me learning about new periods of history is about as good as it gets.

     

    When I pick a plane I want to fly I find out information about that squadron online (wiki is great for this), then pick a person who actually flew in that squadron, and I name my pilot in honor of that person. My first 2 campaign pilots WC Heathcote and Karl Bolle were actual people. I've read the plane characteristics guides from a thread right here on these forums. I did however start by doing quick combat missions and learned a bunch after flying many different planes, and fighting against others.

     

    I'm also reading a book on the subject "They Fought For the Sky" by Quentin Reynolds and I'm learning a great deal from that as well. It talks about the great Oswald Boelcke and his philosophies and I'm learning from Richtofen's experiences as well (haven't finished the book yet). And what else can I say about these forums other than these are a great bunch of people who just love this subject. They are more than willing to take some time out of their day to teach you a thing or two if you show an interest in learning. Awww you guys are the best...the next round is on me!

     

    :drinks:

     

    But most valuable of all, you just need to fly and gain some experience. I'm trying to fly one mission per day so it doesn't chew into my day too much and so I get my fill as well. And then I read, research all throughout the day as I firmly believer that an understanding of WWI aerial tactics will serve you well in your experience. Good luck to you stefnuts. :salute:

  14. Posted

    Congratulations to you on a fine achievement and an excellent opportunity CaptSopwith. Sometimes the personal stuff doesn't work well, sometimes its the work stuff but that's what life is about I suppose - the ups and the downs. Keep your chin up and please honor me with a virtual drink.

     

    :drinks:

  15. Posted · Edited by Shiloh

    Shiloh,

    My desk looks similar to yours :drinks:

     

     

    Very much indeed ReDDoT. A little imagination and some spare lumber will do the trick every time. I must get a map - that is very cool indeed. I would like to have a nice one though and I'd probably get it framed as my rig is in my living room.

     

     

    The Bordeauxred Baron: "Bleech!!! An IKEA free swingink chair in ze cockpit of der Crumpet!

    Look at zem namby-pamby, fastidious Weicheier pilotz!!!

    Vatt do you say, if I shoot ze cotton wool out of your cushionz?!?! Mmuahahahahahaaaaaaa!!!!"

     

    It's a common known fact there Olham (in my best Cliff Clavin voice) that the Germans landed their planes in a field in Sweden, invaded a IKEA store, and proceeded to loot all the cushioned chairs as Fokker refused to make comfortable seats in his planes. :blink:

  18. Posted · Edited by Shiloh

    Alright guys...done with the project. I took an IKEA chair I had sitting around and an industrial wood shelf and put them together to make a nice simpit. The shelf was modified a bit to fit snug around the arms of the chair and it slides forward/backward if I want, but fits snug side-to-side. I just remove the shelf when not using as its not attached. It's just wide enough to fit my keyboard and joystick. I know you guys usually use a second computer for a map but I usually fly with the New York Yankees for those long runs without any action. :grin: All your photos and ideas helped me make my simpit so I appreciate it fellas. :salute:

  20. Posted

    Fraps is worth every penny in my humble opinion and it's a one-time fee. I've had a version on my computer for over a year and just updated to the newest version recently for free. Soon, I'll start recording some dogfights and will post them to my YouTube page with some commentary. In games like Total War you can save your replays and play them back but as far as I know you can't do that on OFF. But if you had Fraps...

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