Not always, as I just found out. Adain Lothbrok spotted a lone Hun on his last mission and when I tried to get ahead and under him, he went all over the sky. I guess word got around that you were shooting at them!

This is true. My pilot just found that out first hand. A simple patrol way, way behind friendly lines at 2300 m. Spotted the Hun way, way above. Didn't think we'll ever get him. Wasn't even sure Morane could fly this high. We finally got up to 200 m below him, but he knew what he was doing. He stayed just high enough out of range and I struggled to keep up with him without stalling - my wingman did jut that and ended some 500 m below us. He eventually caught up with us. Meter by meter we went higher and higher and eventually got in range. My observer almost emptied the entire supply of ammunition (60 rounds left), but we got him. Now I'm just waiting for the confirmation from the CO.

Banjoman: Nope, no need for hours. Just number of missions, confirmed kills and score for comparison purposes is fine.

We sent out a memo to all German pilots after Banjoman's killing spree became known to us. Some pilots are also training in Ramming tactics... I'm carrying a sling shot in my flight coat

Hey, if you really want to go on an Aviatik killing spree... enlist a high ranking Brit in a Bristol Scout!

my thoughts about attacking the Hun AvB1/II

since it aint got a gun why not do this....
You get only 10 rds rapid. If he's not going down after that then wave and leave him alone.
I know that when the CI arrives that the Hun pilots are going to attack everything in sight though.

HahahaHa.. Arnold went on a bombing run. He lead one other Aviatik and the target assigned was a RR station. His rpms started to bounce just after he crossed the fronlines and he decided to head for home. He was about to pass over an observation balloon so he continued straight and level and let them drop.



He then thought twice about signaling his squadmate to continue with the mission and decided against it. Arnold barely made it home to Colmar, his engine rpms kept fluctuating and the high end kept falling. Both landed OK and he filed a balloon claim that was confirmed.



He was awarded a mighty fine Goblet too!

Now that was awesome, good job. I'll definitely make sure I don't shoot him down.

You're WAYYYYYY UP NORTH.......correct?

Yep, and truth be told, you'd probably drop a bomb on me.

Sgt Alan Smith
11 June 1915

After surviving eleven days, Sgt. Smith died. He and his observer were assigned to lead a deep reconnaissance mission over a German airfield, ten miles across the lines. Upon arrival at the front lines, his wingman aborted due to a probable engine problem. The intrepid Sgt. Smith pressed on and arrived 8000 feet over the German airfield without incident. Almost immediately, though, things went south. His engine rpms began to drop, and wisely choosing the better part of valor, began to head home. Although the engine RPMs continued to drop, he was able to keep his airspeed up, by nursing his engine and trading a bit of altitude for speed. He made the front lines without any further incident, crossing them at about 6000 feet. However, the RPMs continued to drop, and it looked like he would not be able to make any airfields. He and his observer spied a nice level and long field that allowed an approach into the wind and set up the landing. Despite this, Sgt. Smith stalled his BE 2c 100 feet above the ground and crashed, killing him and his observer.

{In fact, what happened is my kid came in when I was on final and asked me a question. Distracted, I stalled the aircraft.)

Introducing St. Bryan Smithe:

Tough break Combs. I hope your next pilot has better luck! A toast to the departed.

That's too bad, Combs. You are the first of many who will be awarded the Croix de Bois.

MudWasp: Nicely done! Score one for the Hun!

Combs: Ouch, that's too bad. That's two down (CW3SF also lost a pilot) in two weeks and we aren't even shooting at each other yet!

Well okay, the British are shooting. The Germans are just peaceful observers.

Except MudWasp.

Scoreboard for June 14

I knew a "retard" named Byran" when I was young.
I didn't call him that..."BReeTarRRDDD"....

He saved me one day, I was sliding SPADS and Camels down the slide at elementary school. Some Bullys wanted to destroy my toys, perhaps me too...but Burt came to my rescue.

RIP BURT I'll never forget your Big Head and Heart.
You defended me from bullies and taught to be a fighter.

Last I knew you were dead or in a mental hospital...much the same

I Salute you Burt Bergstrand
The spirit of the bear was in you, and it still lives in me

It was my own fault-I should have paused the game when my daughter came in the room. I'm not such a good pilot that I can multi-task a dead stick landing in a field with a competing question from my daughter on how to solve a computer issue. I simply lost situational awareness regarding my speed, and didn't realize it had dropped as much as it did. I had all sorts of room and altitude, and could have come in a lot faster than I did

On a slightly related point: Is there a text file anywhere the player can see what is wrong with the aircraft? Right now, I really don't know what the failure was. I'm just curious to know if it is saved somewhere so I can look at it for historical flavor.

(actually I had the buried-to-the-wing spawning bug and it was one of the rare times that I hadn't done a backup of the pilots directory after the last batch of flights...and I could hardly just let it stand as another failed mission. Ambrose has enough of those. Anyway, it's probably the most excitement he'll see for another six months, barring a collision or emergency landing gone wrong, both of which would be the the last excitement he sees...)

Ken, great letter from Alvin. You have me really curious about this whole Blackpool business. It isn't Arthur who is bloodthirsty, but his observer Thayer and remember he outranks me so when he tells me to approach a Boche plane, I have to obey. I like how you are playing your character Alvin, really mysterious, keep up the good work.