homepage Forums Air Combat & Civil Aviation Wings: Over Flanders Fields DiD Centenary Challenge

I have been hard pressed for flying time but hope to get some in over the weekend. Have to say, some very fine reports coming in and I am enjoying the read when I can get the time.
Carrick, seems you are due for some of that long string of good luck! Don't give up the ship! Perseverance is the word for sure!

MFair; after that last loss of combat I changed my key settings for my trackIR. My centering key is adjacent to my vid on and off key! Duh!

What is interesting in the vid is the effect of the wind gusting. I used JJJ65's ME and implemented the Wind feature which uses OldHat's wind mod built in. I was flying with wind between 7 and 9 knots and still had some extreme effects. Possibly a little more than should be there IMHO but still a desirable effect.

Eckheart von Hammer
Staffel Flieger
FA 13

KIA Deceased KIA


Jumped by N-23s over NML My pilot got the axe on the 1st Burst after he got on the tail. KIA DECEASED.

Bad Mojo Bud! Hope you choose a scout to start with next time. You will live longer.

Please disregard. This is just my screenshot test.




And it works! And no, this is not a WOFF screenshot.

I was going to say, what version of WOFF are those from, wow!

Stolen from the WOFF art thread.

Damn...are there thieves among us?

Yep, I agree that 7 - 9 knots is rather too much for this kind of wether. I always made manual adjustments to wind speeds and fill in values at least 2 - 3 knots lower than recommended (prefilled). In your case I would use 4 - 6 knots.
Just my 2 cents.
Anyway, I am glad you have tested it.

Albert Earl Godfrey's third mission

29 Nov 1916 @ 08h01 Patrol to Koksijde airfield, Dunkerque, and home

Another grey day with rain and snow with 3kn winds.
Ltn. Green led the flight with Gnr Jones on board. I was on wing with Carlson manning the gun and Sgt Leith with Capt Cleaver on board was on the other side of the V.

We were expecting a rather quiet flight being that we were well behind the lines, and that is how it turned out until we approached Hondeschoote airfield, at which point all hell broke loose. Carlson started pointing anxiously to our starboard side high at 10 o’clock. I could see nothing and noted that Green and Leith were staying in formation. I saw Carlson quickly rise up to take the overhead gun. My immediate reaction was to bank starboard keeping the nose down slightly to offer him a decent angle to shoot as we took several hits. As I came around I spotted three Halb DII’s coming our way. Two shot on straight passed us but the other jockeyed for position on our stern. My visibility was pretty much nil in the FE so I looked to Carlson for direction and we banked hard in an effort to give him a frontal shot. We danced the jolly reel for some time taking hits occasionally as we drifted NE and loosing altitude in an effort to gain a faster turn.
On several occasions I had him locked directly in front of us offering a dandy shot for Carlson but it was not to be. He was fumbling with the drum which must have been jammed for I could see his lips cursing as he pounded on the drum to loose it.
Our only hope was to fend him off long enough to reach Furnes which we were getting close to as we drifted each in circles. The ground came up fast and the controls were extremely sluggish. The Halb made one more pass hitting us with several rounds. I was sure we were for it and I had to straighten out and head for Furnes or we would be going in for sure. I kept waiting for the final rounds to finish us off and to my amazement they didn’t come. I soon spotted the Halb out in front of us a good distance away heading east and took some pleasure in the fact he was receiving greeting from our archie at Furnes.
I hobbled in to the airfield and set the FE down gently, taxied up to the hangar and got out quickly, noting the damage done to our planes and ailerons. Carlson didn’t move and as I touched him on the shoulder he slumped over. The ambulance arrived just in time to aid in getting him out of the pit but it was too late. He had gone west. I felt like a wet rag. In fact I didn’t feel much at all. I was unable to come to grips with it for several hours.
I later learned that Green was wounded, his observer Cleaver killed and their craft destroyed. Leith was also lightly wounded but his observer was ok. Their craft was also destroyed. It was far from a good day.

Youtube Vid:

Thanks JJJ65

Dudley Duckett
Vert Gallant
Dec. 7, 1916

If Dudley does not improve he will not be long for this world. His flight was tasked with balloon busting this morning. Horrid weather but the flight leader found the balloon. Diving to it I felt that my speed was to great and pulled up. My two mates had the balloon smoking but it was still there. I made another dive and released my rockets but my aim was low.




Pulling out of my dive I could not see anyone and headed west. Finding Vert Gallant in a blinding snowstorm I circled to land. While on final approach I heard the air raid sirens go off and then tracers whipped by! A Roland out hunting and I was his prey.








I pulled up behind him hoping to get my first victory and was immediately hit with a hail of bullets from the gunner. I put my machine on the field. It will take 3 days to repair. My mates did hit the balloon and returned safe. The CO reminded me that I had cracked up two planes and was doing more for the Huns than our side!

Fritz von Tarlenheim
FA 250


April 7, 1917.


Up 2 times on the 6th and now on the second flight we ran into Englanders flying 3 wing a/c. My old bus took a number of hits but we made it back.

Cecil Vernen Gardner and 48Sqn ..7 April 1917



Another one of those WOFF moments, and thanks to the cloud mod that makes this happen.
Four of us took off on a line patrol to the NE. Told to get up to 4000m and look for trouble. Looking out of the cockpit I soon realized that
our view would be very limited but orders are orders. We climb and climb. Thank goodness that today we can see the ground most of the time.
We cross the lines and hang around Hun positions just north of Lens. Nothing but cloud and mist at various levels. 30min of this and I take the boys
southwards in the hope of finding anything. Those majestic clouds are just that, and very high too.

South of Arras and I'm thinking it’s time for home, and then, just for a split second, a dot crosses a large white cloud and then it’s gone.
By now I'll look for anything just to relieve the boredom. Clouds all over, it's quite easy to slip by the enemy. And just by chance, after minutes of circling, I find a lone DFW heading for home.
I'm hoping he's not able to spot us just yet. Give the waggle to attack, and down we swoop. Damn just before I get the first burst off he has noticed us and I have to dive under to avoid him.

The boys are blazing away, and they are more of a danger to each other at this point. I can now pull up in front of the Hun and my gunner lets him have it at 30m.
Down he went into a death spiral almost immediately, and crashed. Well done lads.
Archie is very upset with us and lets us know it too. Home for tea is the order.
One of the lads had a fuel tank puncture and landed in the fields nearby.

I could not as put in a claim (which the sim gave me) as another pilot also claimed him too. So, I scribbled down 1/2 a kill on piece of paper.

Nice shots, Mr. Lederhosen!

Just to be clear, "magestic" clouds are actually original WOFF clouds, not mine. However, I did slightly increase the odds that you will run into them in the campaign. They are impressive, though!

Cheers

good pics.

Fritz von Tarlenheim
FA 250


April 8, 1917.

Double duty today. Bomb-em zee French troops in the line. Close calls avoiding flights of e/a to and from. Landed by our fighter escorts Sqn for Wine and lunch.

Albert Earl Godfrey

2 Dec 1916 @ 08h01 Transfer to Pilot training at St. Omer, and Farnborough

This morning at 08h00 I was summoned to meet with FC Woolven.
Upon entering the office he told me to stand at ease. He stated that he would like me to consider transfer to England for scout flight training. As much as we need gunners here, we need pilots more he said. I couldn’t believe how this was playing into my hand. “When am I to leave Commander?” I asked. “I would like you to get your kit ready and take one of the FE’s this morning to St Omer. It’s a little worse for wear but there is a replacement on the way and that pilot will be picking up another of our FE’s for the return run. When you get there you will spend a few days getting oriented with the Sopwith Strutter, which you will take to Calais airfield and hence to Farnborough in England. Your training on scouts will begin there. Your background as a gunsmith and your experimentation with aircraft design has somehow come to the attention of the RAF at Farnborough. They have indicated an interest in what you might have to offer, so you will be doing double duty there. Any questions Godfrey?” “None Sir!”. “Here are your detailed orders. I wish you the best of luck and hope I can have you re-assigned to us on your return. I dare say you will likely be privy to some interesting information upon your return. You are dismissed”. With that I saluted sharply, turned on my heel and marched out the door. My heart was pounding with excitement. Finally my chance had come.

I rushed off to get my kit together. There wasn’t much as I hadn’t been here long enough to accumulate things. I gathered all my essentials and had the rest sent on to St Omer by one of the supply lorries. Hustling off to the hangars I found the FE already pulled out and being run up. The fitter came over to advise me not to put her through any strenuous paces and she had pretty much seen her best days. “She’ll get you there Sir, if you take it easy on her.” “Right you are then” I replied and clambered aboard, somewhat apprehensive. The thought ran through my head that the papers would read, “Promising young lad dies in crash on his way to training in England”. I wiped that from my mind as quickly as possible and ran up the engine, tested the controls and taxied out to the runway. I hoped the Huns were not active on my route today.

I set off at 09h35 and no sooner did I reach my staging area than it began to snow. Heavy wet flakes hit me in the face and I was only happy that the flight would be a short one to St Omer. I arrived there and landed at approximately 10h16. The airfield was quiet and I suspected all flights had been cancelled. I noticed some activity in the hangar when I pulled up and a couple of mechanics hustled out to help me. I received directions to the RO and was assigned temporary quarters. I dumped my kit and headed off to the mess for some hot tea and some breakfast if I could get some.

Youtube Vid:

Great reports everyone!
Lieutenant Dominique Urbain along with his entire Escadrille was transferred from Vadelaincourt in Verdun sector to Lhery in Marne. Upon arrival, they were greeted by their new machines. They've traded in their Nieuport 23's for the significantly faster, but less maneuvrable SPAD VII's. Soon Esc. N 57 will need to be rechristened to SPA 57 and new aerial tactics developed.

Oh, how I hate the SPADs!

Banjoman

The spads aren"t half bad as far as performance goes. It's just that cockpit visibility is the pits!!