Southside Bucky

Hi Quack. Having got your all clear to make a few suggestions,...here goes nuthin' as you American's say... First up, I s'pose I should mention the main man: I think it's generally accepted that the upper wings of MvR's first Alb D.III (serial number unknown, but known as 'Le Petit Rouge'), were not painted red but left in the early green/brown factory finish. The colour of the lower wings is more contentious though: Until recently the perceived wisdom was that they were factory finished as well. However, Jim Miller (Combat Ace member JFM), has depicted 'Le Petit Rouge' with red lower wings in his most excellent book: Ace Profiles No.3: Manfred von Richthofen. Jim's meticulous attention to detail in his analysis and research, and thorough knowledge of all things Richthofen is such that I, for one, wouldn't argue with him. Complete with full colour profiles of every documented plane flown by MvR, I recommend his book highly. http://www.airpowereditions.com/our-books-red-baron.html MvR's late D.III. No positively identified photos exist of MvR's later D.III (789/17) which he used in June '17, but it's believed that it probably had both sets of wings in the factory finish too. I think Jasta 11's overpainting of wings only began with the arrival of the D.V in late June. Lubbert's yellow/blue D.III. There's a photo of this machine. The blue is very light in shade...Probably the underside sky blue rather than that deep blue. Wolf's purple D.III. Personally, I reckon the overall purple machine came later (June?). IMHO, his earlier plane had the red nose and purple rear fuselage and tail, in the same proportions as Schaefer's red nose/black tail machine. Also, the wings would've been in the green/brown finish. Hope that helps, man Bucky

Now there's an offer I can't refuse... No obligation of course, but any of these would be nice. In no particular order: SPAD 7. 19 or 23 Sqns. Bristol Scout. Yeah, I know it's a mare, but you did make a silk purse out of a pigs ear with the DH4. Bristol F2b. 39 (Home Defence) Sqn. Nieuport 16. PC10 or green/brown camo version. Nieuport 17. 29 Sqn. (With the broad red fuselage band) RE8. Any squadron will do really, but 52 Sqn with the white zig zag marking looks good. Camel. 70 Sqn. Overall PC10, including the cowling, and a zig zag sqn marking. FE2b/d. 100 Sqn. Night bomber in overall black. If you need references, I'll be happy to help.

Yeah, they look most excellent, Quack. Shame there's no way to link No.7 to the serial A-7288. No worries though,...I think it'll be possible to make an individual '11 Sqn McKeever' skin by deleting all but the above numbers from the 'Decals' folder. Any idea what British plane/squadron you're gonna do next?

LOL!...Anytime, man. In that case, leave 'em as they are...They still look good. You can't go wrong if you use either: A-71**, or A-72**. Cheers, man, and I hope your grandad has a magnificent send off.

Sounds like a good idea regarding the numbers for 'A' flight and letters for 'B' and 'C' flights. Thing is though, six planes to a flight would mean there'd be no No.7, and we can't have that, can we?...Therefore, would it be possible to start 'A' flight with No.2 rather than No.1? The shade of PC10 looks good, but IMHO it tends to make them look like brand new machines, which is okay if that's how you want 'em. But if the PC10 was just a tad lighter, I think your usual excellent weathering would stand out that bit more. The only other slight innaccuracy I can point out is the size of the serial numbers: They were really quite large on most F2b's, especially on 11 Sqn's. As shown on this profile of McKeever's A-7288: http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cbrnp.com/profiles/quarter1/brisfit/f2b_mckeever.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.cbrnp.com/profiles/quarter1/brisfit.htm&usg=__DszcpcPXqZeVl-ufEM7iLu5ibz4=&h=242&w=600&sz=53&hl=en&start=6&sig2=luxb1Lt8ohyUHbh7eWyrHA&itbs=1&tbnid=jkSOivvk7bsXkM:&tbnh=54&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbristol%2Bf2b%2Bfighter%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den&ei=PdlZS8GXOtL4-QbHguQI Excellent work though, Quack.

Quack. From your description, your grandfather sounds like a genuine, real life, all action hero...You must be very proud of him. Here's the F2b DATA.INI minus the Lewis. Created by Peter01, not me I hasten to add. Personally, I have two Bristol Fighters in my objects folder. One named 'F2B', the other titled 'F2B_Lewis'. Don't forget to change the name of the DATA.INI and Configuration file (and the text section inside it) accordingly. Let me know if you have any problems with it. F2B_DATA.zip

Now you mention it, yeah I think it is, just a little. One other thing: Do you have the F2b without the overwing Lewis? If so, you should use that version for these 11 Sqn skins. The only F2b's that I've seen with the upper gun were all from 22 Sqn, and maybe the odd home defence machine.

At the risk of being a massive PITA, I think the fuselage roundels could be a bit larger: Almost, but not quite the whole width of the wing. The white outer ring of the fuselage roundel should be a bit wider too, I think. Just a small suggestion. Otherwise, they're looking great!

If you're asking, and if it's not too much trouble...numbers would be my choice. Especially A-7288, No.7 (with white wheels I think), flown by Andrew McKeever. He (and his observer, L.F. Powell) shot down four Alb DV's in one combat in that machine on November 30th 1917.

D'OH! Thanks for drawing my attention to that little showstopper, Bandy...Have to say it never even occurred to me. My question about the Lewis still stands though...Anyone? Regards. Bucky

Incidentally, because of the two colour horizon problem in FE, the upper night sky seems a bit bright to me. For more realism, I tried to make the upper sky a bit darker by using this entry in the 'ENVIRONMENTSYSTEM.INI': [Night] SunHeight=-0.170 SunBrightness=0.00 SunLightLevel=0.00 SunRadiance=0.0 TwilightLensFlare=0.0 SunColor=0.0000,0.000,0.000 AmbientColor=0.100,0.080,0.120 SkyColor=0.062,0.080,0.164 HorizonColor=0.106,0.122,0.155 //HorizonColor=0.120,0.140,0.238 FogColor=0.024,0.016,0.062 SunSpecularColor=0.0000,0.000,0.000 See what you think, but if anyone can match the two colours and make the upper sky even darker, let me know,eh? Oh, and here's the engine sound sample I use for the big bombers; the Staaken, Gotha, AEG GIV and Handely Page 0/400. It gives 'em a bit more roar! Add this line to your 'SOUNDLIST.INI' SoundFileXXX=MultiEngine (Replace XXX with the next concurrent number) Then copy 'n paste this at the very bottom. [MultiEngine] Priority=LOW 3DSound=TRUE DopplerEffect=TRUE Looped=TRUE NumBuffers=4 FrequencyControl=TRUE MaxDist=2200.000000 MinDist=200.000000 InsideConeAngle=360 OutsideConeAngle=360 ConeOutsideVolume=0 Don't forget to replace the entry; 'PropLoop' with 'MultiEngine' in the relevant aircraft DATA.INI. Cheers. MultiEngine.zip

Well, I've always had a keen interest in the first battle of Britain, but it's always been kinda secondary to the air war on the Western Front. But then a few months ago I read this excellent book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Blitz-Neil-Hanson/dp/0385611706/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263130725&sr=1-2 And this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Baby-Killers-German-Raids-Britain/dp/0850528933/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263130805&sr=1-1 Then this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Search-Zeppelin-War-Archaeology-First/dp/0752441825/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263130931&sr=1-3 Then I got involved in an interesting and rather lively related discussion over at the Aerodrome forum: http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/other-wwi-aviation/44286-elektronbombe.html All of which has deepened my interest. Soooo,...I thought I'd have a go at trying to replicate a typical Staaken air raid circa February 1918. For the first time I experimented using the KMD and Le Missioneur both together. KMD for the general stuff and LM for its easy placing of ground objects. I prefer using the Staaken because the Gotha's uber gunners are something of an immersion killer: At least you can have a go at the Staaken from below and behind. Here's one I made earlier. It depicts the raid of 16/17 February 1918 when five Staakens were sent to bomb London (only four attacked). That night, Staaken R39 dropped the very first 1000kg bomb ever to fall on London...It hit and demolished the North-East wing of The Royal Hospital in Chelsea, which is a quarter mile from my house. Hence my interest. Of the various British types sent up to intercept that night, I decided to use the Bristol Fighter because of the rear gunner's extra firepower and reloadable Lewis gun. If you prefer, you could also use the Camel (44 or 78 Sqn) or the SE5a(61 Sqn). Just change the player plane entry in the mission file accordingly. It also features the searchlights and AA fire. I hope you like it. Regards. Bucky Staaken 17.3.18.zip

Yo, Sinbad! Howyadoon? Still working on the project? That Staaken camo scheme looks most excellent...Is it available to download? Hi Bandy. TBH, the graphic shortcomings of the BoB terrain has never really bothered me 'cause I only use it to fly night missions. It looks great in the dark. Regards. Bucky

Yeah, this one: http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=5203 I think there are a couple of others which are modern day but the one above is WWII...Close enough for our purposes. Be aware that the searchlights I referred to ( http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=8017 ) can't be turned off. So make sure you take 'em out of the 'GroundObject' folder when flying during daylight. Don't go bombing my hood now, will ya?

Hi Quack. You know the 'Battle of Britain' terrain works in FE, don't you? I think you can fly from France to the UK using that. I've created a few missions flying over my neighbourhood against the Staaken and Gotha...It's pretty cool navigating using the Thames river (which I live close to) as a guide. Make sure you use Stary's excellent 'Searchlights' mod as well, it gives the game a whole new dimension. Regards. Bucky

Ready at the weekend, eh?...Roll on Saturday! FWIW, I agree with Christian that the stock buildings are more suitable for the time period. Those large "hollow square" municipal type buildings would look okay if there weren't so many of 'em. Is there a way to use them more sparingly?...Say 4 or 5 per town or city? That'd look pretty good, I reckon. Whatever, You're doing some great work there Jan!

Oh, much, much worse than her...Ever see 'Steptoe & Son'? That's my house that is!

LOL!...I bet you must be thinking I've been holding out on you all this time, eh Jim? Nothing personal man...I just hate tidying up, that's all.

Nah,...just, er,..how you Americans say: "Busting your balls? It's something I've been meaning to do for ages. But never do today what you can put off till next year. That's my motto.

Me and my big mouth! :mega_shok: ..That means I've got some serious sorting out to do! I'll start digging sometime this week. On the subject of weathering, I would politely suggest that you don't overdo it...Your skins are just about right in the wear 'n tear department already, IMHO.

Hi fella's. Just Thought the long awaited release of the Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter warranted some kinda acknowledgement... :yes: The combined efforts of Dagaith, Sinbad, Peter01, Laton and P10ppy has produced not only one of the most needed, but also one of the finest FE add-on aircraft ever made! Apart from the stunningly accurate model, I think the cockpit (created by Sinbad) deserves an extra special mention...It's a true work of art. Fantastic work, guys, and thank you very much! Ready?...Let's all go do 'The Strutters Ball'... :dance2: :dance2:

Another superb set Saltfiskur Together with your recent D.V 16 pack, plus the previously available J5 skins, I reckon we now surely must have every Alb D.V/a, Jasta 5 scheme ever documented. While I'm here, can I ask; are you still working on the Roland C.II? Regards. Bucky

I have some genuine green/purple German fabric stashed away somewhere...I put it away somewhere safe about four years ago and haven't come across it since! I remember the purple being quite dark though, definitely not lilac. I don't know the aircraft type it was from either, but I reckon it's quite representative of the general green/purple shades used. When I get the chance, I'll turf out my little cubbyhole and try 'n find it. When I do, I'll post some photos if you want. Aside from that, I totally agree with what Heck said. Regards. Bucky

I've been trying to upload a zip file to the First Eagles 'Sounds' section, but when I press the 'Add Submission' button, the page refreshes to; 'Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage'. I had the same problem with a different file a few days ago, but after umpteen attempts it eventually went through. No go this time though. Anyone else having this problem? Regards. Bucky

Phew!... I was beginning to think it was all over, and we'd never see this great add-on! Thanks for the update Jan. Any hint as to when you might release it?...No, wait!...Let me guess...Two weeks?