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Nigel Archibald Notting
Sgt, RFC
4 Sqn Rfc.
Allonville, Flanders

Jan 30, 1916.

More bombs came up so off our 2 a/c we went to attack an enemy AF. Over enemy airspace we spotted 2 Monoplane scouts coming up. They were too low to stop our bombardment. My bombs hit wide and Exploded in the Trees. Lt. Kings hit the edge of the flying field. By then 1 of the Monoplanes was on Wally's tail so I turned and had a go. My gunner fire off 14 rds at the e/a as we passed under. No good. As I stared to come back around, Wally's machine broke in to flames leaving a black skid mark in the clean blue sky. I pointed for home and nosed down for speed and soon I was doing over 100 miles an hour and clear of the forward firing enemy aeroplanes.

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Aleck A. MacKinlay
January 30, 1916

Well, the Major is a hard old sod ... he's showing not a bit of pity of poor old Captain Marshall. Right back we went today, to taunt the German fliers at Lille aerodrome, with Marshall put in command and told to complete the mission or be sacked! Gerber was assigned to pilot the Captain, and I don't think it is any random choice. Gerber is a rather cold-blooded type with three kills to his credit, and I suspect he was told to fly the Captain through hell and high water and not let him buckle.

The Major informed Chris and I that we would be the accompanying plane, and made it obvious that this was his idea of a good lesson in working together. The argument between Chris and Marshall has the old man pretty angry and this is his way of showing everyone under his command that men who don't work well together will be MADE to work together.

The flight to Lille aerodrome went well, and the Captain held his nerve. Gerber flew the two of them through a field of bursting Archie without a scratch. Unfortunately for Chris and I, we were so transfixed on all this drama that we totally missed a Fokker creeping up on our tail. The wiz of bullets snapped me back to our own situation and I thru our BE sideways like a madman. Chris was badly knocked around and was of no use on the gun for several minutes. All I had for defense was to turn with the Fokker and soon found I could out-maneuver him. He was a persistent chap and we spun around each other for almost 15 minutes as I slowly worked my way west to Armentieres. Chris got off about 50 rounds in short bursts with little effect and the Hun eventually realized he could not out-fly me and ran for home.

All in all a good day. Marshall has redeemed himself and Chris is raving to everyone who will listen about me out-flying the Eindekker. It's a bit embarrassing really, but maybe the Major will hear and move us up to a Fee. Oh, that would be something!

http://simhq.com/forum/tmp/13593.jpg

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Carrick, poor Wally. RIP. Glad you could get out in one piece.
Scout, I like how Major dealt with Marshall. It's his way or the highway. It's amazing how similar Aleck's battle was to Gaston's today.

30 January, 1916 12:06
Toul, Verdun Sector
Escadrille C17
Sergent Gaston A. Voscadeaux

To combat the ever growing Fokker menace, le Capitaine received new orders to tighten formations and fly all missions at full squadron strength. And that is exactly how the orders were being followed. The task was to bomb the aerodrome at Ars near the City of Metz. So it was Adj. Guytant followed by Sgt. Voscadeaux in the ‘B’ Flight, closely being trailed by Adj. Mezergues and Cpl. Sourdiac in ‘A’ Flight.
It was a beautiful day with blue skies and some fluffy clouds to break up the monotony. The formation was nearing the target. Gaston could see Metz at 2 o’clock. He kept glancing at the ‘A’ Flight just behind and marvelled at the precise control the two pilots exerted over their machines. Only a few more minutes until the bombs start to fly. Gaston took another look behind. Something didn’t feel right. Yes, Mezergues and Sourdiac were still following closely, but there was something else. Something out of place. Gaston could feel something was wrong. Movement! Something was coming from behind, below the ‘A’ Flight. He squinted his eyes to filter the glare from the sun and suddenly realized what it was. Instantly his eyes grew large as saucers and his hand automatically pushed the control column. The Caudron stood on its starboard wing under protest and was about to stall. This maneuver probably saved Gaston’s life as the Hun was unable to follow. It all happened in an instant and Becquerel caught unaware was hit in the nose by the widely swinging Lewis. He was knocked back and blacked out for a few moments. In the meantime Gaston was wrestling with the controls of the stalling machine and at the same time fighting to get the monoplane in front of him. He had him! Now, Ernest! Fire! The Fokker was right in front of them, but Becquerel seemed to be dazed by the blow to his nose. He was holding one drenched in blood glove to his face, trying to stop the nosebleed. Finally he came to and let a barrage of bullets towards the Boche. He was letting him have it. Gaston saw bits of wood and canvas fall away from the monoplane and the pilot could do nothing but make counterclockwise turns. Becquerel must have cut his control cables. He was a sitting duck and just like a sitting duck he went down. No fake spins, no tricks. Gaston saw a cloud of dust rise below as the unfortunate Hun hit the ground.
Gaston looked around to get his bearings and continue toward the aerodrome. He still had to drop his load. There, just at the eastern edge of the forest, right across from Metz. That’s where the aerodrome is. He swung the machine to get it on course, when he saw Becquerel swing the MG around. What?! Gaston looked in the direction the gun barrel was pointing. Another Eindecker at 2 o’clock high! More fire, more wild maneuvers. Gaston just prayed this is the only Hun left. They kept spiralling lower and lower. Voscadeaux nearly had him, but Becquerel’s front gun fell silent. The ammo ran out and they could only protect themselves with the rear-facing weapon. Gaston quickly glanced at the compass and immediately disengaged when they were facing south. He was intently observing the monoplane. Will he attack, or will he retreat? He’s going home! He’s had enough. Gaston could see him flying low and straight for the aerodrome. Voscadeaux breathed easier as his Caudron was crossing the lines and getting closer to home, despite the full set of bombs still dangling under the fuselage. Hopefully the rest of the flight inflicted enough damage to call the mission a success. He did see a lot of smoke and fire from the distance.
He was the first one back at the airbase and remained by the aircraft while Becquerel was getting first aid. Soon after, Adjutant Guytant appeared over the aerodrome, circled around and landed. Gaston ran to meet his flight leader. Guytant jumped down all pale. Gaston, not noticing, slapped him on the back with a huge grin and asked:
“Did you see it? Did you see that Boche nosedive into the dirt? We’ll definitely get this one confirmed!” But Adj. Guytant didn’t join in Gaston’s jubilations.
“Sorry Gaston, I didn’t see it. We were going straight for the airfield. I dropped my bombs and started to circle at the rally point. Mezergues and Sourdiac came next. They dropped their bombs and then it happened.” Guytant was white as a sheet of paper.
“They banked in the opposite directions. I saw it all! The two planes smashed into each other right above the airfield and came down as one mass of wood and metal. It’s senseless, so senseless!” Guytant broke down and wept like a little child.
Gaston embraced him, letting the other man whimper against his shoulder.
“It is war and we are soldiers. We are soldiers...” Gaston wasn’t sure he believed his own words.

***

“I understand Sergent Voscadeaux, but I can’t put in a request without a confirmation.” Capitaine de Bondy’s eyes were resting on hopeful Gaston. They were not piercing him this time.
“Dumas! Get in here!”
The bespectacled adjutant appeared as if out of thin air.
“Oui, mon Capitaine!” He clicked his heels and saluted with an open palm.
“Make some calls around and check if anybody had seen a Fokker go down near Metz.” de Bondy signed a form and handed it to Dumas. The adjutant looked at his commanding officer, then at Gaston.
“Oui, mon Capitaine!” He clicked his heels again, another salute and then he disappeared.
“War. It’s a dirty business, Voscadeaux. Tomorrow we’ll be getting replacements.”



"Take the cylinder out of my kidneys,
The connecting rod out of my brain, my brain,
From out of my arse take the camshaft,
And assemble the engine again."
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As always gents, outstanding reports and stories and pictures and videos. I just spent a most enjoyable hour getting caught up with all of you. I look forward to these reads more than you know.


2nd Lt. Swanson and Lt. Dent are now officially sans aeroplane. After two quiet days of gun-ranging chores the pair was assigned a recce of the front lines down at Monchy-le-Preux. They lifted off at 8:35 this morning into a hazy blue winter sky and proceeded in a southeasterly direction as they climbed to working altitude. They were nearing their assigned area when the Le Rhône curse dropped upon them with a vengeance. The beastly spinning mass let loose with an ear-splitting clatter, spewing oil all across Swany’s windscreen and goggles. The young pilot couldn’t shut the damnable rotary down fast enough before it literally threw itself apart internally and ground to a halt. A plume of thick black smoke trailed behind the bus briefly then hung in the frigid air like an ink smudge. Swany had already determined he was close enough to Savy to glide to it when he noticed the odor of raw fuel. He quickly closed the petcock to the engine, which he'd forgotten to do earlier, and this seemed to lessen the issue but did not eliminate it entirely. The magnetos were off so a fire starting from the sparking plugs was not a concern.

The hapless team of British airmen watched the field at Savy grow larger and larger as they glided down towards it. Several tense minutes later and the Morane bounced lightly on the frosty grass and rolled towards the hangars. The winds were fairly stiff and just before the bus had come to a full stop the tail lifted far enough so that the tip of the propeller caught the ground, causing it to rotate several degrees. Something evil down inside the bowels of engine decided it wasn’t quite done making life hell for Swany and Christopher, and as the broken bits worked against each other a spark shot out. The raw fuel that had pooled about in the cylinders ignited and the entire front of the bus burst into flames. Luckily the two airmen were able to unharness and dive out before the fire made its way into the cockpits. Several mechanics that had been approaching the plane with thoughts of rolling it towards the nearest shed quickly dashed off to grab extinguishers and pails of water. Lieutenants Dent and Swanson stood back and watched the blaze engulf the Parasol. Christopher fished a pack of Murads from an inside pocket, offering one of the cigarettes to Swany, before pulling one for himself.

“No tanks Chris, I don’t smoke.”

“Seems like a fine time to start I should think", the G/O replied as a sly grin flashed across his oil-stained face. "I smoke, our kite certainly is, you don’t want to be odd man out do you?”

Swany laughed and, with the stress of the affair bringing out his Norsk accent full force, responded, “Noo, I supposse not, let me have vun off dose foul tings den.”

Chris handed him the pack as he produced a lighter from another pocket. “There you go Swansong, stout fellow.”

.

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Lou, what does Swany need a lighter for?
Tough luck with that Gnome ... or is that good luck?


"Take the cylinder out of my kidneys,
The connecting rod out of my brain, my brain,
From out of my arse take the camshaft,
And assemble the engine again."
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Fullofit, whatever type of luck it is I doubt it will matter as the powers-that-be will simply send Swany to the depot at St-Omer to fly a replacement mount back to Auchel. As to the lighter, he was already feeling a bit singed from the Morane and opted for a more controlled flame to light up the Murad.

And let me add, that last episode of yours was ripping.

.


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Fullofit: "Fokker scourge? What Fokker scourge?"

Love the video posts!


The older I get, the more I realize I don't need to be Han, Luke or Leia. I'm just happy to be rebel scum...
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Fullofit:

Toasty Wally was the Sqn's 1st to go.

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Aleck A. MacKinlay
January 31, 1916

It seems we have singled out Lille aerodrome for special antagonism. Not content with overflying them and taunting them, the Major had us back there today to drop some bombs. And who else to carry out the mission than the bloks who were there yesterday? So Gerber lead the way again in his Fee with Chris and i following in our BE2. A new observer, recently arrived Ken Weller, went along with Gerber. The squadron's two Bristols accompanied us for defense but as usual didn't stay very close but we did see them circling over the Hun airfield when we arrived.

I attempted to use my Louvert Mark-1 bombsight but found it inoperable (will have to check the manual to see where we have gone wrong*). Rather than waste my bombs from 7000' I dove down to about 2000' and was able to make a decent drop sighting from a nose-down attitude.

All home safe with no sign of enemy aircraft.

http://simhq.com/forum/tmp/13604.jpg

*Well I have read the readme for Lou's bombsight mod and I am no wiser. I have installed with JSGME so should be enabled. I press F11 (Bombadier Seat) ... is that not the correct key? Help!!

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Thanks Guys.
Lou, I just tell it how I see it. This stuff writes itself. Full credit to WoFF and the creators.
Rick, it would have been a scourge if Gaston hadn’t noticed the sneaky bat hiding behind the stabilizer.
Carrick, he’s the first of many. Got to get used to it.


"Take the cylinder out of my kidneys,
The connecting rod out of my brain, my brain,
From out of my arse take the camshaft,
And assemble the engine again."
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Scout, dive-bombing? You’re ahead of the times!


"Take the cylinder out of my kidneys,
The connecting rod out of my brain, my brain,
From out of my arse take the camshaft,
And assemble the engine again."
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Originally Posted by Fullofit
Scout, dive-bombing? You’re ahead of the times!


In my defense, it was a very 'shallow' dive (grin). I shall try to get my bombsight working so as to be more historical smile

Just curious what height our pilots would be bombing from in real life. Anyone have some historical info?

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Scout, with the early sights any where from 2000' to 7000', and usually towards that upper end. IIRC, they were up around 9000' or slightly better by war's end.

If you happen to use the Mark 1-W I created for WOFF your results should be quite excellent.



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Originally Posted by RAF_Louvert
.

If you happen to use the Mark 1-W I created for WOFF your results should be quite excellent.



My problem is that I am trying to use the bombsight mod and it is not working for me. Installed it with JSGME but can't seem to get it to activate in game. Pressing F11 (correct?). I must be missing some crucial element.

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Originally Posted by 77_Scout
Originally Posted by RAF_Louvert
.

If you happen to use the Mark 1-W I created for WOFF your results should be quite excellent.



My problem is that I am trying to use the bombsight mod and it is not working for me. Installed it with JSGME but can't seem to get it to activate in game. Pressing F11 (correct?). I must be missing some crucial element.

Have you tried the mod with different planes, e.g. DH4, Be-2c or Sopwith Strutter? If it works for other planes then there is high possibility of mod bug for this particular aircraft. I think I have noticed that in the past, but I do not remember what plane it was.
Just let me know your results,pls, and I will correct the mod accordingly. Of course, I am talking about this mod - WOFFUEMk-1WBomsightsAll_in_Onemod-v1.4 .

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Jara, I just tested your latest 1.4 all-in-one version of my original bombsight and it works fine for both the B.E.2c and B.E.2c early. It does not work however for the HD version or for the B.E.12. Scout, your pilot is currently flying the B.E.2c so Jara's mod should work for you.

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Thx for info, Lou.

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Originally Posted by JJJ65
Of course, I am talking about this mod - WOFFUEMk-1WBomsightsAll_in_Onemod-v1.4 .


I was using V1.0 so was out of date. The newer V1.4 works (did a quick test in a Quick Combat 'Free Flight'). Thanks!!!!

UPDATE: It works in quick-combat but does not work in campaign. Weird.

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Gents, these stories are getting better and better! My hat is off to you all. Hate to see frayed nerves so early in the war. Fantastic reading.

I just realized I am a day ahead but here it is.

Lt. Mark Jericho
Auchell Aerodrome
Feb. 2. 1916

Had it been 5 days since Jericho and Whorton had had their near miss? Jericho thought to himself. It seemed like only yesterday they had landed at Savy with control cables almost shot through. It had turned into a good day after all. Jericho had thought he might have some trouble after giving the Captain a piece of is mind but it seems the Captain was a good sort. After their machine was patched up as Jericho was getting ready to climb into the machine the Captain stopped him. "A word Lieutenant!"

"Sir?" Jericho answered matter of fact.

" I was out of line. You have given me no reason to doubt your bravery." The Captain paused as they looked at each other eye to eye. He then offered his hand to Jericho. "My apologies." the Captain said.

"Jericho shook the Captains hand. "No need for apologies Sir. I know that competing the mission is important to you. I just had a bit more information than you did" Jericho said with a grin.

"Right then!" said the Captain, "lets get this bird home before we miss evening mess."

They had flown back without incident. Both men knew they were in it together until the end, wether it be a good one or a bad one.

The next few days were spent doing recon and arty spotting up and down the line. Nothing out of the ordinary and if not for the shells exploding below it would have been a great time as far as Jericho was concerned. He was having the time of his life. Then came the recon mission NW of Loos. It started well with Chambers flying lead and Jericho number 2. They were on their 3rd round and every thing had been peaceful enough when chambers abruptly turned hard right to the west. Jericho followed instantly and got a the signal for "enemy" at the same time. A glance back and Jericho could see Whorton swinging his Lewis to draw a bead. Jericho then saw a Fokker coming up on Chambers tail to his right. He tried to bring his machine along side to drive it off but he was barely gaining ground as the Fokker opened up on Chambers. He pressed the nose down to gain speed and swung the Morane under the Fokker and came up on the other side. He could see pieces flying off Chambers machine. Whorton opened up on the Fokker chasing Chambers but had not fired but a few rounds when Jericho felt rounds hitting his Morane.

[Linked Image]

He swung the Morane to the left and dove again then instantly turning right back to west. Once Headed west again he was greeted with a horrible sight. Chambers machine was on fire and going down in an arc toward the earth 2000 meters below.

[Linked Image] ]

Again bullets struck the Morane. Jericho knew there were at least 2 Fokkers after them. Whorton was keeping up a steady stream of fire from his Lewis but the tracers were whipping past Jericho left and right. He had not known true terror in his life but this was getting pretty close. He did the only thing he knew to do and that was nose down and get out as fast as he could. He nosed the Morane over weaving left and right with Whorton hammering away with his Lewis and bullets striking the Morane from the 2 Fokkers. Whorton stopped firing but Jericho did not look back. He was intent on crossing the lines at low altitude and maybe let ground fire drive of their foe's as Whorton had told him. He was surprised when Whorton opened back up with his Lewis. "Those boys won't let go!" Jericho thought. At that moment it felt to Jericho as though a horse had kicked him in the calf. It was more a shock than pain. The ground was getting closer as he looked for a place to set the Morane down. "A road ahead!" Jericho yelled out loud. He was going full throttle at treetop level when he cut the engine. The Morane landed way too fast but he kept the nose level and they came to a stop not far from a balloon crew.

"I'm hit!" Jericho said to Whorton as he felt the blood pooling in flying boot.

"Well that makes the both of us then!" the Captain replied. Jericho was startled, he had no idea the Captain had been hit.

"Bad?" Jericho asked as he tried to turn around.

"Not bad enough I'm afraid. This one will not get me back to England."

The balloon crew had arrived and helped the two airmen from the machine and took them to an aid station. The doctor there patched them up with the words, "You do are done flying for a few days."


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Whoa Mark, that was a close one! I sure hope Jericho makes a quick recovery. He's lucky he got the Captain and himself down in one piece. Those Eindeckers are getting way too cocky.

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