RAF Louvert, I am humbled by your generosity! You have given so much of your time and knowledge in previous challenges and the DiD campaign, you were kind enough to look over my skinning tutorial before it went live and added thoughful posts about producing pilot skins and now this?

Thank you sir!

gaw1, wait, where are you where it is Saturday already?!? Are you sure this wasn't just a "practice" mission?!?

Awesome Prize , Lou !

gaw1, hope you have better luck when the challenge starts.

Ok guys, we'll be starting in a few hours. I will be out early Sat. for a school function but will check in middle of the PM US Pacific time. Be careful as you start, as we have heard, the SPAD is not a turnfighter. But you can handily out run even the D7 if you don't drop your speed to much. So be patient and do jousting runs and watch out for that damn windshield split!!!

Lou, your generosity knows no bounds. My hat is off to you Sir!

I'm not flying tonight...tooo intoxicated.
When I sober up... I'll give them hell.

Should I win, I give this prize to the next runner-up who hasn't won a Challenge.

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That's very sporting of you MudWasp, well done Sir.

My pilot, 2nd Lt. Jens Albertson, has his first mission under his belt and what a fine one it was. He and his wing man, Lt. Sol Richardson, were assigned a recce north of Verdun and along the way they happened upon a lone D.VII which Jens was able to sneak up underneath. Two well-placed bursts from the Vickers and the enemy plane spun down out of control. The pair flew on and completed their mission and were just about to turn for home when three Rumpler B/R ships came into view. Uncle Sam's airmen destroyed two of the enemy buses and sent the other running for the lines and giving up alt. Jens and Sol decided to call it and headed back to camp, landing without incident. An outstanding morning's work!


The Hun say "Hello" to the 13th's newest flyer.



Slipping up behind a very inattentive D.VII flieger for whom the war was over brief seconds later.



A Rumpler turned into a fireball; what a horrible way to buy the farm.



Making the turn past the hangers to land back at home.





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And we're (w)off!

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Why (w)yes we (w)are!

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And this reminds me of, "Why don't you loosen your buwwets Sherwiff?" Hedley Lamarr will pick up on this one right away.

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well done, Lou, on:
a) offering that prize. How would I go about purchasing WWI items like this? Ebay?
b) sneaking up below another plane. I mean, how did you know where he was?
c) outscoring me in this challenge. Not to be a pessimist, but I don't expect to be able to accomplish anything.

Was there ever a field mod that added, say, a clear mylar center section or even a periscope for this kite?

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Thanks for the kudos, loftyc. But why do you assume you won't accomplish anything in this? Fly smart and keep your head on a swivel and you should do quite well.

To your question about finding the enemy, I scan the skies for those tiny specks and watch for the AA bursts. Friendly fire tells me there are hostile planes about. Once I spot something that I assume to be an EA I close in cautiously and assess the situation. The D.VII I mentioned turned out to be alone and trying to return home. He may have suffered some damage in an earlier fight as he was flying a straight line and did not appear attentive in any way, so he was actually an easy target to slip up on. The three B/R buses I found again by watching for the friendly AA, and again I approached with care. Once I sorted out what they were and which direction they were headed I positioned myself for a good attack and then followed through with it. And, not to downplay the importance of it, I got lucky.

As far as the field mod for the XIII you describe, I'm aware of no such device. I aim by using the tracers which is how our RL counterparts tended to do it more often than not.

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My heart's still pounding... Back from mission 6 at 70% health. Nearly buried myself in a fierce low alt stall but managed to bag 2 Fokkers anyway. I think it's enough for today. Good luck everyone!

Hej to all! Like to point out that I' m still in the process to get my setup running again, be it with TrackIR or FaceTrackNoIR, as Rick suggested. Hope to get that fixed next week. So I would like to be counted in for challenge No 7, if you please?
Regards and best of luck to all of you!

started ahead of time.......ftrtfp....that's pronounced "FERRTFUP"....failure to read the fine print......result's the same. Started the last challenge as Captain....who REALLY wants to wait for the other guy to decide what to do....and kicked off this time before the other side was even in the stadium.....my bad.....good luck all! Beaming in every 4-5 days between gigs has been tough......but worth it ten times over. Carry on all.......

Mission 01


"Spuds" was allowed to lead this flight and soon spotted flak up high.


He cautiously gained altitude and eventually determined it was a flight of two seaters with no escort


He knocked one out of formation and finished it off



He then spotted another Rumpler that had broken off and put a few rounds into it, diabling it's engine. He decided to leave that plane alone as his own plane had taken damage from their rear gunners.


Probably a smart decision to leave that second Rumpler alone as his fuel tank had taken a hit and he too was piloting a glider.


Home field was nearby and he made an excellent dead stick landing




He was credited with one Rumpler claim as was his wingman. Perhaps the second Rumpler he disabled was still gliding towards the front?

Wait, what?!?

well, talk about yer dumb luck: the dumb part was coming up towards a pair of Jerry recon types, but since I ain't got any feel fer this crate, I stalled and fell a few hunert feet, takin' me outta the fight. So I watched as my buddies dropped both of 'em. The luck was that since I was behind everyone, then that made me the closest for the three other Jerries what came up behind us. I actually got one, and then stalled agin (dang it!). saw my buddies gang up on another, when all of sudden the last one comes trundlin' by me. One of my guns ran dry, 'n the other only had about a dozen shots left in it when that Jerry just blew off his wings! Since I was out, and my leader wanted to circle over ther other side, even though he told me on the ground that we was only goin' to be stayin' a few miles on our side, I figured to just head back on my own, mebbie practice some on the way back on not stalling, or runnin' into anything that I can't see!

The franks 'n beans in the mess sher were tasty when we got in.

Got you in Kaische!