Rambler's Gallery

[Rambler]

Some screenshots from Vart's and my War Thunder battles.

Vart lines up a shot on a Stuart, only to be knocked out by a bomb a split second after this screen was taken. My already knocked out BT-5 can be seen just above his turret:

We're trying to take out a StuG in this pic:

Vart's T-34 in somewhat defilade as rounds impact nearby. Again, my knocked out BT-5 is on the left hand side of the pic:

Even with an elevator shredded and a large hole in its wing, Vart's Hurricane soldiers on:

 

[Rambler]

Any landing you can walk away from...

Note the shredded tail rotor

 

[Rambler]

Driving through the Australian Outback...

The map is a recently released Arma 3 map based on Australia. One of the most stunning user made maps to come out so far, imo, and it's huge at 1600km^2.

 

[Vartuoosi]

Let's see if we can find Ith's house.

 

[Rambler]

I made it out to Perth, and I actually managed to find Ith's house. I was surprised to find that he keeps an M1A2 in his driveway. Not sure what his neighbors think about that. He didn't appear to be home, so I was able to get some pics without arousing his suspicions. Here's the exterior:

I like the flowers lining the walkway to his door. Very nice touch. Didn't know he had a green thumb. I also was able to jimmy the lock and let myself in. Here's the interior:

Totally empty. Rooms were empty too. Apparently he had enough money to build the house, but not enough to furnish it. Although, he may have used the furniture money to buy the Abrams. I wouldn't blame him for that. Furniture...Abrams...Furniture...yeah nah, with a decision like that it has to be the Abrams. I noticed mold growing on his ceiling, so he'll need to get that taken care of.

 

[Vartuoosi]

Totally empty.

Damn, I was hoping to raid the fridge.

 

[DoC844]

Love the pics Rambler, quick question do u have the info for joining FGM,s lobby on Arms 3, I haven't played in ages due to previous team drifting away from the game, including me, hopefully see you all in co-op soon. Cheers.

 

[Rambler]

Thanks, Doc. Sure do, I'll send you a PM with some info. Also, the FGM TeamSpeak 3 server address we use is in my sig.

 

[DoC844]

Roger that cheers muchly

 

[Ithikial]

Need to check this part of the forums out more often. Yeah had to move out, the rents were simply too much.

Flew over this map in a Littlebird. Actually quite nice for the bits and pieces that are done. Perth is completely in the wrong spot but oh well.

 

[Rambler]

The rumors are true! Space nazis do live in the far side of the moon and are visiting us :O

Snuck into the cockpit. Note the swastika fan for efficient cabin cooling (it actually spins when the saucer is spooled up haha).

Hmm...what do all these buttons do?

Uh oh, that's what they do...

Might as well take it for a joy ride!

 

[Rambler]

Vart and I played an Arma 3 mission a few weeks ago that had us fight off an onslaught of AIs. Luckily for us, about 70% of them decided to run up one street. Behold Death Alley:

 

[Rambler]

The command module service arm on the LUT swings away from the Saturn V in preparation for launch:

The beast is alive:

The F-1 engines roar to life and slowly push the rocket skyward:

Liftoff, and the tower is clear!

The spent S-II stage separates from the S-IV B:

Extracting the lunar module from the S-IV B after TLI:

Deploying the subsatellite from the command service module's SIM bay while in lunar orbit:

 

[Nathangun]

The command module service arm on the LUT swings away from the Saturn V in preparation for launch:

The beast is alive:

The F-1 engines roar to life and slowly push the rocket skyward:

Liftoff, and the tower is clear!

The spent S-II stage separates from the S-IV B:

Extracting the lunar module from the S-IV B after TLI:

Deploying the subsatellite from the command service module's SIM bay while in lunar orbit:

Is that game the 'Kerbal Space Program'?

 

[Rambler]

Nah, it's actually a spaceflight sim called Orbiter. It's completely free to download, and there are a ton of different mods for it. The one in the screenshots is an Apollo era one called AMSO. I wrote up an Orbiter AAR about a year ago HERE if you want to read it and learn a bit more about the sim.

Orbiter and KSP get compared quite a bit, but they're really quite different and have different goals. Orbiter is firmly on the simulator side while KSP is more accessible and on the game side of things. However, both use accurate physics and orbital mechanics. You'll still do Hohmann Transfers in either title. The lead developer for KSP is an avid Orbiter fan and developed KSP as something that would be more accessible to the general public than Orbiter. If you have any interest in spaceflight, I'd recommend giving both a try to see what you like. KSP has a free demo, and, like I said, the full version of Orbiter is completely free. Personally, I prefer Orbiter. I like it's realism and no nonsense approach. Although, it is quite fun killing and burning your Kerbals up in poorly designed rockets in KSP .

 

[Rambler]

I unlocked my favorite Jap bomber in War Thunder this weekend; the G4M1 Betty. This is the type of bomber Yamamoto was flying in when it was shot down by a P-38 from the 339th FS. Anyway, I had to take it up for some action. I joined a realistic battle which had us fighting the Americans over Saipan.

Circling over our fleet while I await our fighters to catch up to me. Going on alone is a death wish, especially since I'm the only bomber on the team. Enemy fighters are attracted to me like bugs to a bug zapper.

A little friend accompanies me to the American beachhead. He's flying a Ki-45.

A short time later, while flying through some clouds, a P-38 makes it up to my altitude and attacks me from the rear. He's targeting my engines in the hopes of knocking it out.

But I have a tail gunner with a 20mm cannon and two waist gunners with 7.7s. Cannon and MG rounds tear into the P-38 and sever part of his wing. He spirals down out of control and smashes into the earth. Scratch one foolish Yank.

Time to head down to the beachhead and drop bombs on the Americans heading inland.

Unfortunately, an F4F Wildcat bounces me and sets my right engine on fire with his .50 cals. Some of the rounds smash into the flight deck and kill the pilots. Down goes the Betty.

The match ended not too long after when our last Zero was shot down. I was top spot on the team with only one A2A kill, and it was the only kill my team got. Yeah, we got raped hard by the Americans that round. Good fun, though.

 

[Nelson1812]

Great photos... I really miss playing these type of games, oh to be middle aged again!

 

[Nathangun]

Awesome, looks fun, wish I had the time.

 

[Rambler]

Thanks, guys. @Nelson1812 - You're never too old! There were some WW2 pilots that were active on some flight sim boards I was a member of several years ago, and yeah, they played those games too!

This weekend I got an overwhelming urge to fly and fight in some century series fighters, so I pulled my old copy of Strike Fighters off the shelf and installed it. Man, I'd forgotten how fun this sim is! Nothing like getting a guns kill on a MiG-17 in an F-100D or F-4. A few screens from some of the sorties I flew:

An F-104, the missile with a man in it, taxiing onto the runway.

Huns (F-100Ds) on the prowl.

Phlying the phabulous Phantom:

A MiG-17 bursts into flames after succumbing to a hail of 20mm from my F-4D's gunpod. The skin for the F-4 is one I made 10 years ago. How time flies. It depicts a North Dakota Air National Guard F-4D from when they flew F-4s. Having lived in ND for awhile, I have a soft spot for this squadron. Always used to see their F-16s flying around. Unfortunately, they were defanged several years ago and now fly recon UAVs and Learjets for VIPs. LAME.

His fiery ball plummets towards the earth.

Another 17 turns into a ball of fire after multiple 20mm hits.

Rack up another 20mm kill. A MiG-21 explodes like a blood filled mosquito.

His buddy suffers the same fate.

You're probably wondering why I was mainly using the cannon when I had a bunch of missiles. Expediency, really. the AIM-7s are radar guided long range missiles, and aren't that great to use in knife fights like this. And the Sidewinders? These early gen ones suck hard. It's very easy for them to lose lock, which makes them next to useless unless you're riding right up the dude's tailpipe. Much more satisfying to use the gun at that point .

 

[Rambler]

Some shots from the first training mission in the new Falcon BMS 4.33. It was a milestone flight as I was actually able to complete all of the start up procedures for the jet and get to the runway by my time of departure \o/.

Climbing out of Kunsan Air Base in South Korea:

Admiring some alto cumulus clouds high above me:

Performing a high G turn:

Heading for home, where I greased my first Falcon landing in over a decade:

Taxiing back to the revetments. The crew chief will be happy to get his bird back in one piece:

Time to park the jet, set the chocks...:

...and shut her down:

Mission Accomplished!