Up In The Air, Junior Birdmen
Imagine climbing into that collection of fabric, sticks, and wire and heading across the channel… Balls of titanium. damn.
I think his picture says it all. Look at him. Definite sense of doom there.
My very rough froggy is supposed to say “Oh shit, I’m going to die!”
The guy had stones, eh? And the guy re-creating the flight was pretty brave, too--even though he did have a life vest on . . . !
Posted by BlueStateSaint
07/25/2009 at 08:17 PM
I’m not a pilot of any sort, so I won’t claim to know… but I’ve heard it said that ultralights (which to me the Bleriot is) are to aircraft as kayaks are to boats.
And to be honest, when I see someone kayaking rapids, I have the same kind of thoughts: “Either this guy is certifiable or he’s got stones the size of Dallas.”
I would like to take the Bleriot idea, and translate it to modern materials and powerplant. THAT could be fun! I’d have an ultralight now if I had the coin.
As for the Spad, that was my favorite of the WW I aeroplanes! Always loved the old movies with those in it. Pretty plane!Damn, brings back memories of using those babies in RB3D, mowing Germans, Turks, and Soviets down like grass....
Ok, now you’ve done it. Now I have to go and kill the Richentofen brothers on RB3D again. Thanks a lot, Drew.
Posted by Turtler
07/26/2009 at 06:18 AM
Turtler’s RB3D refers to Red Baron 3D, a flight sim computer game no longer for sale that can be played by yourself or online. They have a big community that has built lots of extra planes and battle zones etc.
It can be downloaded for free here:
http://www.jasta5.org/Jagdstaffeln_5/red_baron_j5_3d.htmbut you will probably have to run some patches and fixes to get it going on XP/Vista. This is typical for older or “cracked” gameware.
Hmm, I might just have to give this a try. I think I have a joystick around here somewhere.
I don’t have a joystick. Could I run it from the keyboard?
Posted by BlueStateSaint
07/26/2009 at 04:00 PM
BlueStateSaint:
I don’t have a joystick. Could I run it from the keyboard?/quote]
Technically you can but I wouldn’t recommend it. I had to make do with that for the longest time, and let me tell you that it reduced my capabilities like HELL since you can’t wire the mouse to work for you. At any given time, I was capable of using MAYBE 9% of the total controls (mainly the “essentials”, like turning, speed, firing, rockets, etc). Unless you are ridiculously good at making your way around a keyboard in very small amounts of time, I would suggest a Joystick. From my experience, the modern ones work OK, and are relatively cheap to get.
However, the problems are VERY much worth it if you are a flying fan, or perhaps wanted to aid Snoopy in his duel with the Red Baron. The Campaign is TO DIE FOR. I repeat: TO DIE FOR. From the formation of the first true “fighter squads” in 1916 (or 1915, if you mess with the files a bit) you can literally carve out your own niche in the pantheon of fighter aces IF you survive. While the vanilla game only has the Western Front (where you can hunt the German Air Force or join them), some packs have added on the Italian Front, the Middle Eastern Front, the Eastern Front and the Russian Civil War.
Certainly, you can die on your very first mission (yes, this game is unforgiving), but you can also ascend as far as you can carry yourself. My personal best: 6,200+ Turkish, Soviet, Austro-Hungarian, and (ESPECIALLY) German kills over the course of a five year career (1915-20, to put this in perspective, the runner-up was a Frenchmen with 160 and the Red Baron historically got a round 100), with the highest decorations from Britain, France, the US, Italy, Belgium, and with not a single living Central or Soviet ace. Hence the reason why I struggled with the keyboard rather than simply abandoning the game.Sorry for the rant, but it’s a true gem, if you can master it.
Posted by Turtler
07/26/2009 at 05:23 PM
Drew:
Hmm, I might just have to give this a try. I think I have a joystick around here somewhere.
You probably will. It’s a tough bird to master, but it is greater than great, as I mentioned above (I mean, how many games not only offer you the chance to KIlL the first Ace in history- if you start in 1916- but to BECOME the first Ace in history- if you start in 1915?)
Oh yes, and that SPAD? You can indeed actually fly one, but they appear pretty late in the game. However, if you are in the RFC/RAF or USAS (or possibly some of the elite French squadrons, though that is VERY unlikely), you can actually get in to one of them. Trust me, they’ve gotten me out of some VERY interesting situations (the backlash after pulling one of my miniature Pearl Harbors on the home base of the Baron’s infamous “Flying Circus”, for example).
Posted by Turtler
07/26/2009 at 05:39 PM
