Heinrich

America/New_York (EST/EDT)
Yes - VKB Gladiator EVO and STECS II, Thrustmaster Pendulum Rudders
Discord and mic - yes Teamspeak - not yet but not a problem, if that's what people are using Yes - VR and TrackIR
DCS World
JG1_Flyboy
Real life professional aviator systems manager of high speed aluminum tubing Long-time Linux and FreeBSD nerd power user and sysadmin I play all my games and applications on Linux with Lutris/Proton or Steam/Proton It's an uphill battle often but I enjoy the tinkering and problem solving Took German for 6 years in high school and college - only remember the bad words

Nonsense! 

Well, after postponing the decision for a long time I too have decided to transfer to Jgr2/J27b for the WWI focus.   Not thinking of this as a goodbye as I would be happy to continue flying with JG1 during Tue practices, but understand if that would no longer be appropriate.

@Klaiber Final revision. I promise! lol Feel free to add this one to the repository. Cheers!
o7
regards,
von Freden
FinalRevisionD3.mp4 IL-2 Sturmovik Great Battles.zip

Understood! I’ll make just one for each unless the policy is changed and I’m told otherwise. Thanks for the heads up.

The current policy is to have only one livery per pilot per aircraft module. When there are two modules in game such as DVII and DVIIF you can have one each.
This was implemented in order to keep the Paint Pack size down.
Because of the greatly reduced number of active pilots, maybe we should talk about amending this but that would need a JG1 Command decision.
Personally, I like the idea of showing a progression of paint schemes for a particular pilot. Didn't MFR have several variations for his Alb DII (or DIII)?
From the Dicta PaintPolicy:
Basic Standards
2.  All JG Nr. I pilots, who are full and active members of the squadron, are entitled to have one personal paint scheme added to a paint pack for every German aircraft flown by the Unit.
 
Reading this would imply that a pilot can have several skins per aircraft from any other 'air force'. Removing the German seems the simplest solution. 

Copy, yeah the plan was to just go with the factory light blue on the undersides that comes with the default template. After seeing the kind of things you can do. It will help make the mud stains pop way more than the black or red ever would have. I want my bird looking dirty so stand by for the changes incoming!

I agree, my plan was this D.III Late, and everything later will be pretty flashy with the spirt of it being post JG1 amalgamation. My D.III early and prior I intend to make more historical, with proper camos and such, Being from Ottawa, our football team here is the Red Blacks, and our hockey team is the Ottawa Senators who are also Red and Black. This is the inspiration. My names initials are EF hence the EF in the insignia, and the lightning bolts are to represent my NCIOP/SAC naval background. As seen in my patches here.

 

That's better. Red might still be a slight bit oversaturated and dark. Take a look at Gabi's D3 for red comparison. Here are the colors: 
We stick to them as closely as possible in order to have a uniform appearance across the squad. Note the red is Hex: 9d0a0e
It looks like you don't have an Alpha layer. The alpha is how you adjust matte to gloss in IL2. It is included in the template and you can see it in "Channels". How are you saving to DDS? I use the Nvidia tool for Photoshop as seen in my post several lines above. I save as Format: "BC7 RGBA 8bpp explicit alpha". Be sure to also generate mipmaps. 
Have you looked at our Paint Dicta? https://jg1.org/richthofen/dicta/paint-policy/
I lost most of my IL2 / FC templates and skins a few years ago when an external drive bit the dust. I just noted that my D3 skin is in 4K and needs to be re-sized.
I'm going to be reviewing our paint packs and moving inactive players to an archive in order to reduce the size of the folders and maybe updating some of the skins.

Are you using Photoshop or Gimp? I only know Photoshop but Gimp should be able to do the same.
In Photoshop, I would do all the skinmaking in 4096 x 4096 Pixels which is the 4K size. When ready to save the final version for submission, I go to Image>Image Size (or Alt+Ctrl+I) and change the size to 2048 x 2048 Pixels and save as a DDS. I should be a file size of 5462 KB which is the 2K size. I use BC7 compression.
If you want to keep your template as 4k, just click No when it asks if you want to save changes when you close the template (or change it back to 4096 size before closing).

Was having a lot of issues lately with my performance so I did some checking using Claude AI and it came up with this, which I used and it seems to be working a lot better so far. I also attached the pdf version of this.
DCS VR Performance Optimization Guide
 
For High-End Systems with Pimax VR
 
1. ParkControl Setup (Fix Core Parking)
Download ParkControl from https://bitsum.com/parkcontrol/
Install and open ParkControl
Go to Settings → Experimental
Enable "Always Show Bitsum Highest Performance"
Return to main screen
Select "Bitsum Highest Performance" from the power plan dropdown
Verify it shows 32/32 cores (or your full core count) with Parking: Off 100%
2. Process Lasso Setup (CPU Priority Management)
Download Process Lasso from https://bitsum.com/processlasso/
Install and open Process Lasso
Set the following process priorities:
Process
CPU Priority
I/O Priority
DCS.exe
High
High
PiService.exe
Above Normal
Normal
pi_server.exe
Above Normal
Normal
Moza (FFB software)
Above Normal
Normal
PiPlayService.exe
Normal
Normal
Right-click each process → Set Priority → Choose level
Select "Always" to make it persistent
3. NVIDIA Control Panel
Open NVIDIA Control Panel
Go to Manage 3D Settings → Program Settings
Add DCS.exe if not listed
Set these options:
Power Management Mode: Prefer Maximum Performance
Low Latency Mode: Ultra
Threaded Optimization: On
Optionally add Pimax runtime processes with same Power Management setting
4. OpenXR Toolkit Settings
Setting
Value
Upscaling
Off (use DCS DLSS instead)
Override Resolution
Off
Fixed Foveated Rendering
Medium
Turbo Mode
On
Motion Reprojection
Auto
Frame Rate Throttling
Off
FOV Override
Off
Note: Don't stack upscalers. Use either DCS DLSS or OpenXR NIS/FSR, not both.
5. DCS Graphics Settings
Setting
Value
Textures
High
Terrain Textures
High
Visibility Range
Medium
Heat Blur
Off
Shadows
Default
Secondary Shadows
Off
Water
High
MSAA
Off
DLSS
Quality or Balanced
Depth of Field
Off
Lens Effects
Off
Motion Blur
Off
SSAO
Off
SSLR
Off
Clutter/Grass
1000
Trees Visibility
High
Preload Radius
150000+
Chimney Smoke
0
Anisotropic Filtering
16x
VR Tab:
Pixel Density: 1.0
Bloom: Off
6. Pimax Software
Control FOV through Pimax Play/PiTool (Normal/Large), not OpenXR Toolkit
Set refresh rate based on what your system can maintain (90Hz recommended)
Let Pimax handle resolution natively
Key Principles
Core Parking - Intel hybrid CPUs (12th-14th gen) park E-cores by default, hurting DCS
Single Upscaler - Use DLSS in DCS OR NIS in OpenXR Toolkit, never both
DCS is CPU-bound - Many stutters are main thread, not GPU
FFR is free performance - Pimax wide FOV makes peripheral quality loss invisible
Restart after changes - Especially after ParkControl and Process Lasso setup
Troubleshooting
Still stuttering? Lower Visibility Range to Low, Shadows to Flat
Blurry image? Increase DLSS to Quality, or switch to OpenXR NIS at 85%
Terrain pop-in? Increase Preload Radius
Low GPU usage? CPU bottleneck - normal for DCS, priority settings help
OpenXR Toolkit Settings
Category
Setting
Value
Upscaling
Mode
Off (using DCS DLSS)
  Alternative
NIS at 80%, Sharpness 75%
Image Adjustments
Override Resolution
Off
  Resolution Per Eye
Off
  FOV Override
Off
Performance
Fixed Foveated Rendering
Medium
  FFR Pattern
Ring
  Turbo Mode
On
Motion
Motion Reprojection
Auto
  Frame Rate Throttling
Off
Misc
World Scale
100% (default)
  Post-Processing
Off
Pimax Play Settings
Category
Setting
Value
Display
Refresh Rate
90Hz
  Field of View
Normal (or Large if stable)
  Resolution
Native (don't downsample)
  Render Quality
1.0
Smoothing
Smart Smoothing
Off (let OpenXR handle it)
  Compulsive Smoothing
Off
Compatibility
Compatible with Parallel Projection
Off (unless needed for specific game)
  Hidden Area Mask
On
Backlight
Backlight
80-100% (preference)
Runtime
OpenXR Runtime
Set Pimax as default OpenXR runtime
Important Notes
Refresh Rate:
90Hz is the sweet spot for DCS - achievable on high-end hardware
72Hz if struggling to maintain 90 (smoother than missing frames at 90)
Don't use 120Hz for DCS - too demanding
FOV Options:
Normal - Best performance/quality balance
Large - More immersion, ~10-15% performance hit
Potato - Only if desperate for FPS
Smart Smoothing vs OpenXR Motion Reprojection:
Use one, not both
OpenXR Toolkit's Motion Reprojection generally works better
Turn off Pimax's Smart Smoothing when using OpenXR Toolkit
Parallel Projection:
Leave Off for DCS (not needed)
Only enable for games with broken stereo rendering
Hidden Area Mask:
Keep On - gives free performance by not rendering pixels you can't see
Quick Reference
Pimax Play:
  90Hz / Normal FOV / Render 1.0 / Smart Smoothing Off / HAM On
 
OpenXR Toolkit:
  Upscaling Off / FFR Medium / Turbo On / Motion Repro Auto
 
Hardware tested: Intel i9-14900HX, RTX 40 series, 64GB RAM, Pimax VR
DCS VR Performance Optimization Guide.pdf

Thanks all ....it was tough out there!
~S~
 To all those that attended Thanks and Salutes! Everyone fought with honesty,
honor and chivalry. And with the few "rule" changes in the beginning, and fun after-
session debriefs...I think we turned it into a world of matching skills and tactical
tournament play.
 In this session of "Europe in Flames" JG1 was made up into 1 side...1st blue than red. While
SCG, SIA, J2TAF,J4, 1./jg42, 1./sg2, AB1,III/jg52, and Mercs were the opposing team
first red than blue...we switch "side" at the half way point.
 A little tabulation of the stats pages for all 4 sessions, and an approximation of
the EIF in-game "objectives" scoreboard reflect the team(s) tactics, applied by the respective
teams. 
 The in-game objectives scoreboard, defenders always 4 points up, showed JG1 team slugging it out
on the Ground (tanks) against SCG's ground team, and eventually having relinquished points in the ground battles.
 While JG1 air power CAP'ing and fighting into "objective" based targets and trying not to tip the intel
hand of excellent CAP flights, by SIA and companies. 
  If my calculations are correct, by the in-game session scoreboards JG1's team was "bested" by 8 points total
over 3 sessions, and a tie on session 4... Congratulations! 
  Looking at the "stats pages" over the 4 sessions, it adds to the story of tactics, victories, and losses, but
 also the efforts of talent, and gumption, it took for a point or 2 on the in-game objectives map.
 
                     Team Blue                                     Team Red
aircraft                 5                                             34
ground                  423                                           224

Hail!  team RED (SCG, SIA, J2TAF,J4, 1./jg42, 1./sg2, AB1,III/jg52, and Mercs)
See all in the skies, Thanks, and all the best
JG1_Moxy

Homecoming (sort of)
Military Museum brings back aircraft stolen by Nazis.
An original Fokker D.VII fighter plane that flew with the Dutch Naval Air Service before World War II will be exhibited later this year at the National Military Museum in Soesterberg. The museum has loaned the antique biplane from the Deutsches Museum in Munich for the next five years. After being found in a barn in Bavaria at the end of World War II, the plane had been there for a long time. The Military Museum is pleased with the return of the plane. Curator Alfred Staarman calls it "the best plane in the world" from a century ago.
The Fokker D.VII has a long history. The type was designed and built in Germany during the First World War by Dutch aviation pioneer Anthony Fokker. In May 1918, the Deutsche Luftwaffe deployed the first example on the battlefield. Germany lost the war, but according to Staarman, the D.VII was superior to the aircraft used by the Allies.
Not long after 1918, Anthony Fokker transported several unfinished aircraft to the Netherlands. "After the war, he put the whole lot, everything he had left, on a train and took it to the Netherlands," says the curator. "This is one of those half-finished aircraft that came from Germany to the Netherlands and was finished here. It was then sold to the navy. The Fokker D.VII is considered the best aircraft of the First World War. So the Netherlands had access to very modern war material in one fell swoop."
The Naval Air Service bought twenty Fokker D.VIIs and flew them between 1920 and 1937. What happened to them after that is not entirely clear. Curator Staarman points out that at least one example was 'waiting' at Schiphol to establish a National Aviation Museum. But, shortly after the Germans invaded the Netherlands, the plane disappeared. Staarman suspects that the Nazis stole the plane, possibly to exhibit it in Germany. 
Not long after the Second World War, in December 1945, American soldiers found the fighter plane in a barn in Vilsbiburg, some 90 kilometres northeast of Munich. It was not immediately clear that it was a Dutch plane: it was not until 1980 that Dutch features were discovered during restoration work. In the Deutsches Museum, a Dutch roundel, a circle in red, white and blue, by which Dutch military aircraft can be recognised, appeared under some layers of paint.
And now, 45 years later, the fighter plane is returning to the Netherlands. "It's also a nice story. If this Fokker could talk, we would have had a lot of information," says Staarman. "But unfortunately, that's not the case."
For the curator, the story is not over yet. Because it is most likely 'spoils of war', he wants the Deutsches Museum to permanently hand over the plane and not just lend it out. But then it must be irrefutably established which plane this was exactly. The Dutch navy had twenty of them, and it is unclear whether this is the plane that was taken from Schiphol. Research is needed, says Staarman. "We are trying to reconstruct the story with all the bits and pieces we have."
The plane will be on display to the public in the National Military Museum in September.

Went to visit Mike and Cholie. Mike and I were Best Buds through High school. We were in jazz, concert and marching band and also dedicated surfers. I hadn't seen him for 47 years. He owns Cowabunga Hotel and Bungalows in San Juanico, BCS, a very remote fishing village (no post office, no Amazon delivery, no gas station, no cell service, the town just got municipal electricity 6 months ago) and EVERYONE is very friendly and seem content. Here's the Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lvlongdays?mibextid=ZbWKwL













 

I added a category:
Will you primarily be?: Pilot / Aircraft Gunner / Tanker For those who have already registered, don't worry, I already know your preference. No need to add to your registration.
If I have reacted to your registration post with a "Thanks" (purple cup emoji) it means that your registration is official and complete. So I ask that nobody else react with the "Thanks" emoji please.

Your In-Game Name: JG1_HignRig EIF Discord Name: JG1_HignRig [if applicable] Squadron affiliation: JG 1 If you have a particular Squadron or person that you prefer to fly with: III./JG 1 Your time zone: CET = UTC +1 Will you primarily be?: Pilot Your certainty of attending:
Week A1 (Saturday, 1 November 2025)  No Week A2 (Saturday, 8 November 2025) Yes Flip sides Week B1 (Saturday, 15 November 2025) Yes Week B2 (Saturday, 22 November 2025) No YES Besides the reported attendance, I still occasionally experience a Disco, which can range from zero to four. This is a problem that prevents me from playing on PvP servers, because I don't want to vaporise as an escort or the escorted plane, and especially not if I'm right in the cross-hairs of an enemy. Fair play above all.
So that reduces my participation to  ...

Your In-Game Name: JG1_Etzel EIF Discord Name: JG1_Etzel [if applicable] Squadron affiliation: JG 1 If you have a particular Squadron or person that you prefer to fly with: III./JG 1 Your time zone: CET = UTC +1 Will you primarily be?: Pilot Your certainty of attending:
Week A1 (Saturday, 1 November 2025)  Yes, 2nd half of Mission Week A2 (Saturday, 8 November 2025) Yes, 2nd half of Mission Flip sides Week B1 (Saturday, 15 November 2025) No Week B2 (Saturday, 22 November 2025) Yes, 2nd half of Mission Starting Time is too early for me, so I try to join at least for the 2nd Half or last 3rd of every mission beside the one Nov 15th, where I probably cannot attend at all. As I know that such "partially" participations are pain in the a** for commanders I fully accept any (flying) task to do that is needed by the team at the moment when I join and it is also clear that it might be the case that there is simply no task available at all, because more reliable comitments are preferred in the planning....
But looking forward to the event as there are not so many chances for trans-atlantic flying action any more in recent months.... 🫡  

More like breaking pot up!!
😂😂😂 
So my CH Pro Pedals have been acting up for a while. I thought it was IL-2 but it was the pedals themselves as they are getting long in the tooth, and getting old. I ordered 9 new pots as I had read that they aren’t made anymore for future repairs, and replaced the 3 pots in it. Only to find out the control arm in the pedals are longer than the ones I just ordered. So I had it disassemble the dang things and use just the control arm portion of the old pots and pair them up with the positional circuit board, and housing portion of the new one so they’d fit, and work! All to save a couple hundred bucks. Thank god they worked after reassembly. My day could have been a lot worse!

It's like my life: trying to put together something from things that don't fit.

Everyone got to see my old and ancient DC-8 (sim). 

Today we got a tour of the Wilmington control tower. Pictured is (Dino) Dan (our ABX instructor and tour guide today), (JG1_Patriot) Rick, (Hawg) Manny, JG1_Lee, (JG1_Flyboy) Mike, Fox3_Luck) Joe and (JG1_Vonrd) Rick. Jennifer (Joe's wife) is pictured in the second pic.
We then went to get some authentic Cincinnati chili at Skyline followed by a sim tour. Got to see the old DC-8 sim and a lot of flight time in the B-767 (hopefully some of the others here can post more pics). Got a brief maintenance hangar walkthrough then went to my house for hamburgers, talk and of course some more flight sim on my rig.

att.uYaY3oIxmW-2wuVge9qC-VUewylvtX-MnNKoODmZPM4.mp4

@Vonrd, @Flyboy, @Lee, @Patriot - Have fun guys!  Make sure to get into some trouble for the rest of us.
 
 

Lee got into town Tue night so came over to have grilled chicken wings at my house with Patriot, myself and my wife. 
 
Today we went to the Wright Bicycle shop (shop number 4) and museum and then over to Carillon Park which also houses the original 1905 Wright Flyer along with a replica of their final bicycle shop (number 5) and place where they did a lot of their airplane experiments. 
 
Tomorrow we go with Wilmington Airpark for a control tower, hangar/aircraft and full motion simulator (B-767) tour. 
 
Pictured is Vonrd (Rick), Flyboy (Mike), Lee, Paul (ABX pilot) and Patriot (Rick)