DukeIronHand

Thanks carrick. I d/l'ed AVG and on was on the verge of installing when I went through the dozens of Avast settings again. Found a feature (on by default) called the "Avast Self Defense". By unchecking this I can now (apparently!) shut down Avast all the way.

"Aircraft Howard Hawks assembled a variety of planes in a film squadron to shoot the flying scenes for the original version of The Dawn Patrol. Hawks used rebuilt Nieuport 28s as the primary airplane for the British squadron, and Travel Air 4000s (reconfigured for films and popularly known as "Wichita Fokkers")[21][22] for German fighters, but other aircraft in his small fleet included Standard J-1s for shots of entire squadrons, some of which were blown up in explosions, and Waterman-Boeing C biplanes for German aircraft destroyed in crashes. The scene in which Scott takes off with Courtney clinging to the wing switches to a shot of a Travel Air 4U Speedwing fitted with a round cowl over its Comet engine to resemble the Nieuports. Stunt pilots included Leo Nomis, Rupert Symes Macalister, Frank Tomick, and Roy Wilson.[23] 1938 director Goulding used much of this footage in the remake to save production costs.[2] For new closeups of airplanes with his own actors, he acquired three Nieuport 28 replicas from Garland Lincoln, a Van Nuys, California, stunt pilot who also recreated World War I aircraft for Hollywood films. Built by Claude Flagg, these "LF-1"s were constructed from Nieuport plans and had many characteristics of the actual aircraft, including upper wing fabric that ripped in dives. In Goulding's production these aircraft also appear in a few scenes of Nieuports taking off, landing, and taxiing. Additional Nieuport 28s were simulated by Thomas-Morse S-4C Scouts, and two were used in the flying scene in which Courtney and Scott attack the German airdrome. 59th Squadron's airplanes were marked in standard RFC camouflage and national insignia, had the marking "NIEU 24" painted on their tail fins,[24] and displayed a cartoon Hornet painted on each side of the fuselage just behind the cockpit.[23] For scenes at the German airdrome in which aircraft were moved or had engines turning, Goulding used Wichita Fokkers painted black with German markings. His "Pfalzes" had their wings painted in a large and striking red and white checkerboard pattern. Goulding also acquired two genuine Pfalz D.XII fighters for static closeup shots of parked fighters, with at least one re-painted white in a later scene to "expand" their numbers. Actual Nieuport 28s and Pfalz D.XIIs were used much later in the war than the 1915 setting of The Dawn Patrol, and the model 28 Nieuport was not used by the RFC at all, but their familiarity of appearance to American audiences gave a verisimilitude to both films.[23]" Shamelessly stolen from from another site.

Ironically last night I was stuck somewhere (though with a TV) and stumbled across this showing quite by accident. Having seem the Errol Flynn version about 50 times - of course I own it - this was the first time I have seen this original version though I was aware of it. As Rickitycrate says...the script and dialogue is almost identical to the Flynn (1938) version and I was amazed how much of the footage was used in both flicks. That being said I find the Errol Flynn/David Niven/Basil Rathbone show to be the far superior version. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. eh? I didn't recognize him...he was playing "Scotto" I presume?

Just a couple of little OFF "cheats" for the gang here. This may be old news but I have never seen them posted here so as I drink my morning coffee I thought I would throw them out here if anyone wants to use them. 1) In my Alb/DIII campaign I was once on a solo flight and shot down a Be/2c that crashed right on a neighboring Jasta's aerodrome. And in flames. No problem with confirmation I figure as I fly merrily home. After a day or two of campaign time I still have not received confirmation so I looked into the OFF folders and find the "Pilot#Claims.txt" in the Pilots folder. If you look in there you can see the claims and pending claims. The last two characters (numbers) in your pending claim line are two numbers that appear to vary from 10 to 100. This is, it seems, the percentage chance your claim is going to be recognized. Well, for my Be/2c claim I figure my chance of confirmation could not be better so I changed it to 100 (from the 70 it was at) and viola, claim confirmed. So if you have a shoot down that you feel has to/should be recognized you can make this little modification for your pilot. 2) Once I was landing an Alb/DIII at my aerodrome with (of course!) engine damage. This was going quite well so I may have gotten a bit cocky and tried a last minute steer to straighten out a bit and, flying very low and slow just prior to touchdown, my left wing appeared to brush the ground of the landing field. Much to my surprise, as I fly "DiD", OFF said I was dead. In my mind there was no way I should have been killed in this incident and, having invested much time in this pilot, I looked into the "Pilot#Dossier.txt" in the Pilots folder again. I forget exactly what lines I changed but it is a text file and it was clear which lines of text were making me dead so I changed them (comparing the lines with a living pilot) and, viola again, I was back alive and in service. Just a couple of tools for your Campaign toolbox. Edit: Yikes! Horrible morning grammar.

This was easy...just had to make some minor cut n paste changes to BH's: Peter Sellers - The Pink Panther series endures to this day. Sam Kinnison - Probably the only person on earth that has made me laugh at loud. The Black Adder guy - Dunno his name but funny series. The Stooges (with Curly of course) The Pythons - Life of Brian is still one of my favorite movies.

Thanks for the pics. Guess I'll have to re-read my WW1 books - I never realized the pistol played such a prominent part in aerial combat! Hope the Devs are paying attention here so this may be modeled for P4.

And a book on the history of 60 Squadron! Is it just me or do the British seem have the best book stores? Edit: God my grammar is terrible in the morning...least this place has a spell check.

In another thread we were discussing OFF sound settings in a attempt to provide the most (perceived anyway) realistic experience. My question is about the settings themselves and what exactly they control sound-wise. From the Workshop screen: ENGINE - I will guess this is a self-explanatory one. The sound level of your own engine presumably? EFFECTS - Another easy one? Shell bursts, bomb noises, fabric tearing, enemy fire and engine noise, etc? COCKPIT - No clue here. Help! USER I/F - User Interface? The sound level everywhere else (campaign screens, etc) when out of the cockpit? Thanks

Hehe...your killing me here Lou! I now feel like some popcorn and a Coke.

I was afraid you were going to say that. I had already opened the sound.xml with a XML Editor and, yes, rather confusing, i.e., not obvious and in kind of a strange format - with not all sounds listed and apparently a lot listed that are not used. Ah OFF...you never make anything easy!

In re-reading your post I will say this explains the wing touching the ground quite nicely. Still don't think it should be a fatal incident 3' off the ground though...hehe And a salute to the Devs if the OFF FM is actually modelling this!

Since you are the sound expert Creaghorn I will throw this at you. Is there a .xml file somewhere where each individual sound can be set independently at its own level? In looking at the sounds controlled by "Effects" for example. Can I, via a .xml edit, set the flak and AI engine noises to be low while setting the wind noise to be high?

Excellent! Thank you Creaghorn.

Very nice pic theultimat! Captures a nice....err..."mood" for me - if that is the right word I am trying to convey. Perhaps "ambiance" may be better. Looks to me like its time for a OFF wallpaper change. I shamelessly use others screen shots from here for my desktop wallpaper.

That's the spirit! I will experiment also.

Gotta believe it! I think, and I am probably stating the obvious, that a lot of the sound effects that we hear in flight sims (or other types for that matter) are "gaming" decisions by the programmers to make things more interesting for the consumer. To hear nothing but engine noise 95% of the time may be perceived as boring to some people and lacking in the "whiz-bang" department.

I certainly will. This has always been a interesting subject for me. Hmmm...I must lead a boring life eh? What can you really hear from the cockpit in a WW1 aircraft? Certainly the engine must be the A#1 noise - it must have been loud as hell - I would think it would almost drown out everything else with the pilot practically sitting on top of it and the exhaust pipes. According to pilot accounts the other noises heard would be AAA - if it detonated close enough. The noise of a enemy MG was sometimes noted - again I would think it would have to be fairly close to drown out the sound of the engine. Lastly there are a few recorded instances of hearing ground fire when the pilot would fly very low and throttle back on his engine. Yep...interesting.

In all my years of flying WW1 flight sims in seems I usually spend the bulk of my flight time, being a fan of the 1917 era, 50/50 between the Alb/DIII and the Nieuport 17....until OFF that is....now I get almost no flight time with the Nieuport. While I have no doubt the cockpit is very realistic I find the cockpit layout to be very confining with poor visibility and a large monitor, FOV settings, and TrackIR can never duplicate the "real life" ability to peek, look, duck, glance, etc. My idea was, ala Albert Ball, to remove the windscreen (if possible) from the cockpit by removing it from the .dds file that makes up the N17 cockpit. I looked for the graphic file (.dds) that makes up the N17 cockpit but I could not determine which one it was. Could some kind soul give me a steer?

Yes, the "Shift + C" brings down the wing mounted Lewis on the N17 (Lewis) in a simulated reload. Message also pops up in the upper right corner saying "Canopy Opening" and "Canopy Closing". Thought I had those messages shut off in the cfs3config.exe but apparently not.

You are correct Sir! A wager of this type is most serious indeed. Unfortunately the details you demand, as is only fair, are somewhat sketchy in my memory. I will remember the wager though and pay closer attention in the future. In my defense, when it did occur, I was stunned stupid by it all anyway. Too bad OFF does not have a replay camera feature. EDIT: The above crash is one of the three. While not enough to satisfy the demands of the above wager a cup of tea had jogged the memory. I am certain they all involve the Alb series and a wing touching/brushing the landing field as I apply rudder, while just above the ground, to straighten out my landing due to damage. Can you stall an aircraft just using a rudder? I'm guessing you can if the circumstances are just right but I am not sure.

Fosters Lager please. I am not saying it happen a lot but enough times (3 to be exact usually with damage) to make me wonder if I should just try to "End Mission" while near the base or just to land. And my landing speed is not an issue I assure you. But OFF, like real life, can be funny. I once was dogfighting in a Br/F2b at low level with about 2 feet of my left lower wing missing. I was being chased by an Alb and honked in a tight turn to try and face him. Because of the damage (the plane was already flying funny) I lost control at probably 200' rolled and slammed into the ground going easy over 100 MPH. I was very surprised that OFF did not kill me so I lived to fight another day.

If the above is true then I hope the Devs are paying attention. I will presume this is not an easy fix?

After an awfully busy summer I am hoping to get back to my OFF campaign flying. I guess we can say I have been on leave from the front for two months. Without getting all mushy I have to say I have missed the flying and my comrades here in the "ready room." In doing a forum search I believe I have found the bulk of my answers (double checking though)except for one so without further ado... 1) If you are hit in the fuel tank there is no visual or graphic clue (i.e., white vapor trail)given by the sim and that the only way to tell is by looking for excessive fuel usage via the HUD/info screens? Chance of fire while flying with a fuel leak? 2) Does the sim's DM model oil leaks? Some posts suggest so. Is there a visual clue or any way to tell via the HUD/info screens? I think some AC have oil pressure gauges in the cockpit. Is a pressure drop reflected in the gauges if this is so? 3) Usually, it seems, the only way I am aware of engine damage is via sound effects - which makes it pretty clear there is trouble! If I continue to fly or push my engine when it is making that god awful racket do I have a increased chance of an engine fire? Will the engine eventually stop working? I normally use the HPW DM is this makes a difference. Thanks and S!

Damn...never had my "man-card" pulled in OFF before - and by one of the Devs! Guess I will STFU and fly and die like a real man! What!?! Really?

I will give these a try. I have mine set to the OFF Managers idea of Realistic (I think that is what the setting was called). But I am always looking to improve my experience so I will give these a shot.