Ludwig

A friend of mine sent me the link to the article about the mid-air between the Cirrus and the Sa-226 which I bet you have all seen by now. He said that this was previously an old Berry Aviation bird and previous to that was an old Martinaire bird. I flew every 226/227 that we had back then... close to 20 of them and had 4,000+ hours in the type. I loved the airplane because it always brought me home including deadstick into Dallas Love field. The funny thing that first struck me when I saw the picture was he got him right in the cargo door which was something of an engineering feat for the day to have a door that large on a plane that small. The infamous "click-clack" latching mechanism enabled to the door to become part of the structure of the aircraft. Secondly, this airframe has a "bending moment" which must be computed when loading the aircraft and determining the CG and MAC. I can SEE the bending moment in this picture. It will be interesting to learn more about this because the pilot reported that he had lost the right engine and was continuing on to land. I guess he was low enough without any cabin pressure that he didn't notice the change and the damn thing is so loud you probably would not hear the air noise... but I bet the sunshine coming in through the roof was a shocker.... Great airplane that a lot of pilots said a ton of @#$ comments about and how much they hated it and couldn't wait to get on the MD-80 for Delta. I flew them both and the only reason the MD-80 was better liked was the paycheck. Turboprops are WAY safer than jets in a lot of areas. Good ol airplane, I don't think they can patch this one back together but you never know. I will say this... good thing the primary control cables are under the deck......

When you go to bed at night and close your eyes do you see blue squares or white ones?

I have had something to drink tonight and that usually allows me to conjure up images and memories... and this is a subject I really would not care to remember but I do recall him saying that the VC were quite at home in the tunnels, they were dug with intentional spaces for hiding and defending and they had centuries of practice. Giving such an advantage to your enemy... the complete and total familiarity with the environment and having preplanned positions from which to counter attack any intruder... Only sheer guts and determination could overcome that... and probably more than a reasonable amount of luck. Not me.... I wasn't going unless I got to fly. My draft number was 014 and I tried to enlist when I was 16 (1972) because I wanted to fly the AH-1. Going down in that tunnel... not even an option. I still have my draft card from May 30, 1974. It was over by then... my buddy 2 houses down was pissed because he drew a number like 25.... and when he found out I was 14 he was all happy. He said... "I am going to be in the back of the boat kicking Larry out... go get'em buddy.....

The pics here appear overexposed... washed out compared to the pics as the original screenshots (under exposed) and when I look at them on my computer they look ok (properly exposed) How funny????

Thanks Klaiber! you guys are always so great to help. Guess I have to get on my Hornet now.... uggghh.... more studying.....

Yeah, no kidding.. .i can;t imagine. I don't like being underground AT ALL... not caves, not caverns...nothing. I don't like ANYTHING over my head... Flying was great, I was always looking down. Can't say it enough... can NOT imagine doing that. My old sergeant told incredible stories about what those guys said, and found in those tunnels... and it was EXACTLY as the picture depicted... that 90° US Army flashlight in one hand and a .45 in the other.

Yeah that is where it said the screenshots would be located, and I did make it to that folder but there was not folder named SCREENSHOTS there and I supposed that was because it had not been generated yet because no screenshot had been successfully captured. But, it works great in all the other programs including WinDOHS! What a bummer.

I am supposed to use PrtScn to take screenshots in DCS. I went to the GENERAL tab of the key controls and confirmed that... and yes it is greyed out as everyone describes. PrtScr works to take screen shots in everything else on the computer... but doesn't like DCS for some reason. Any one have an idea what I need to change? Thanks in advance.

The guy that taught my Highschool JROTC was in SEA US Army, and he talked about the tunnel rats a lot. Incredible.... bravery is one thing, but to have the courage to go into that hell is beyond understanding or even appreciation. I know that there were not many of them, and it was something not even more than a few could manage to even attempt much less complete the task. That is a huge WOW.... no words for that.

The effects were noticeable but not overwhelming. I remember reading as a kid that pilots could only turn out of the pattern on take-off against the force or THEY WOULD DIE and thinking,,, huh? How critical it was that they had to respect this powerful force. That overwhelming desire to make things more dramatic than they are seems to be in everything you see or read. Everytime an airplane was involved in a story line of a TV show in the 60s or 70s the guy flying the thing would be "IN TROUBLE" and on short final would be giving the rudder hell back and forth so the audience could conceive how dangerous it was. If you make a significant power application in a high performance piston you will "torque it around" some and in some cases you can pull the power off rapidly and get the reverse effect ever so slightly. Unfortunately the devs use these anomalies to excite their game players and in worse cases "play balance" the game to make it more fair<sic>. My only experience with rotaries is you better like castor oil because you are going to smell like it for longer than you would think. When you see those crude moving pictures of pilots from that age suiting up before a flight... it's not because of the cold... it's trying to keep clear of the oil.

Didn't know if anyone was watching this... I just tripped over it today. I would be interested to hear what you think if anyone has been looking into it. FlightSim.Com - Wings Over Flanders Field "Between Heaven & Hell II" Update

Something finally hit me in the head and I remembered that I could uninstall - reinstall.... so I tried that and it worked fine. Thanks all for helping. I am getting old and stupid and I don't remember the ins and outs of this business.

I tried deleting the UPDATE folder and it does start loading again... but does the exact same thing... it loads about 2/3rds of the program and stops. I have tried this three times but get the same result each time. Britch... yes... Great Battles... .sorry I forget that this is more than one sim in one area.

IL-2 Sturmovik I have not run in months... so when I attempted to start it I expected that there would be a large update... there was and it failed to complete. Got about 70% and just stopped there (for many hours) I tried it again with no response and then just left it and came back this morning and it is again about 70% and this time says FAILED TO UPDATE on the red bar. Any ideas?

I hate to ask because I am pretty sure I am not going to like the answer... but trying to bring IL-2 back to life.... it loaded about 60% and stopped... now it does nothing. I have always been really fortunate with this program I have not had the problems I read about. Well.. I guess I am in the hopper now. Any suggestions on how to get this thing to complete loading what ever it is loading??? Thanks,

Pocket watches are amazing... you have a real find there Raz. I love it in the movies, they make such a statement when the flip it open... look bemused and snap it shut and say.... nothing. All you need is a good cigar.... Good for you mate.....

I wear a Breitling Chronomat Longitude which is a wonderful watch. Mechanical with the "rotor" which is kinda fun when it goes off once a day. My "old dog" is a Heuer Autavia, the only left-handed chronograph I have ever seen. It was $300 brand new when my girlfriend bought it for me Christmas 1981. They are over $4,000 now because they are so collectible. Mine has been around the world somewhere around 28 times. When I got the Breitling I quit wearing it. (note the pic of the Autavia, the stem is on the LEFT side of the case) perfect for us lefties and it is well known that all natural pilots are left-handed Back in the old days when I would ferry new planes from ICT they would have no radios... no instruments. It was one step lower than partial panel and flying "no gyro" IMC was a real test of your abilities. Today... HAH! not a chance. The new owner was going to put those in when he took possession and took the plane to be painted and finished. The watches or time pieces as they are... these days are all global accurate... GPS updates them 25 times a second, you can't possibly be wrong. My "daily driver is a Seiko Chronomat with the A-2 movement. It is DEADLY accurate. I can start the sweep-second hand and check it 30 days later and it is exactly correct. I have NEVER seen a watch this accurate. The guy I was flying with when we went to Hong Kong at Christmas time had received a Rolex aviator from his wife for Christmas... just this side of $10,000 and his dad really liked it. Dick thought he would get a replica (fake) Rolex in Hong Kong for $250 and give it to his day. Well.. we went to the market and within 20 minutes had it. He wore one on each wrist coming back and the "fake" watch with the Seiko movement was absolutely perfectly accurate when we checked against our GPS. SO!! Once again... I have come across an auction this very evening... (the coincidence!) for a Naval Aviator that flew the A-6 in SEA... and there are two watches of his that are up for grabs. If you are interested... this is the REAL DEAL guys.... First... can't say... maybe Jake, errr Gordon, errr.. Snaggle.. yeah that's it... can you say??? looks almost as if it were issued.... Second is a Omega.... not my style... but this was the late 60's early 70's. I didn't get my Breitling until the 80s. You can also get the poor guys wings and uniforms. If you are interested... PM me and I will forward the link. **NOTE... that is a HEUER Autavia... before they went down to TAG HEUER

Spot on... quite correct. Shielding is a pain and killed many a repair. Point to point is what you surgeon would recommend and it works the same with wires. It's a tricky bit, watch the temp on your iron and use as little as possible to avoid melting some plastic... that would be the voice of experience speaking. Then time to start putting away some secret cash for some Crosswind pedals. Good-Oh !

Well.. I bet I speak for all the chaps here that know you and some that don't that you are a well disciplined and talented young man and we are all happy to see your progress back to happier times. Good for you old man... stiff upper and all that rot, what! Glad you posted your ascension back to where you wish to be.

yeah... I saw Mighty Moose give him a boost in turn 7.....

How funny.... I just came home from Hobby Lobby... I had an old version of "Assi" Hahn's airplane re-framed. I got it at Love field back in the 70's when I was just a private pilot as they had an aviation art gallery there in the terminal. I think that it is still there, I have not been over there in years. I have been collecting "Robert Taylor" prints for over 30 years and I own almost all of his works involving the Bf-109, about 16 prints so far. You can see "Abbeville Boys" over the mantle. I only have a couple on the walls because this house was painted by a moron... a MAROON wall... eegads.... Anyway... still sorting out the order and placement but they will all get up and out one of these days. My "She who must be obeyed" gets her due... but she also knows after "dating" for 36 years (we were married Nov 2019) that nothing gets in the way of my career and the ancillary paths it takes. Still... be fair here... she gets 3 rooms for her stuff. SO... I found that I have this old Nicolas Trudgian pencil drawing #295 out of #300 of Spitfires... and I only enjoy seeing Spitfires in my sights in front of me so if anyone wants this drawing they are welcome to it. You can see from the picture that it did not receive the same loving care as the prints, but it was part of a packaged deal that came with something I did want. SO... first come first gets. I will be happy to send it to you. Also in the pic is an autographed picture from one of my Mentors Brig. Gen. David Lee "Tex" Hill. He gave that to me in his study, in his house on Burr Rd. in San Antonio, Texas in 1972. He was instrumental in my career and took me as his guest to the American Fighter Aces convention that year as he was the president. Great guy, I actually was able to fly him in a King Air 30 years later to a pigeon shoot on a ranch out in West Texas. Spent a couple of days with him there and he could still put away the scotch... don't you doubt it. Great guy, great stories. <Edit> The Spit print can be framed/matted and those creases won't show

WOW... never thought I would see this. I am much more pleased with DCS than I ever was with RoF.

Whistling bass and a banjo can't go wrong... (41) The Dead South - In Hell I'll Be In Good Company [Official Music Video] - YouTube

This is a REALLY old subject and the same thing I said 30+ years ago still holds... how many folks want to play an event on Pearl Harbor or the Alamo? You know how it is going to turn out.... and you can play for points but that doesn't seem to hold the attention of most guys. It can be worked.... sure.... of course numbers can go a long way to making the balance. Imagine being the Cactus airforce and having the Japanese come over with 3-1 or 4-1 advantage.

For me it was not about the maneuverability of the Japanese fighters... it was about their flammable nature. If you hit them, they are gone. The maneuver aspect is no different than a Dr.I and a Spad. You just don't need cannon to bring down a machine with no armor what so ever... no self-sealing fuel tanks. This is why fighters were comfortable with rifle caliber guns, they were fine against soft targets. Six .50 caliber machine guns were overkill against the Oscar and the Zeke.