Finally Got WOFF

[Sailor Steve]

2/08/1914 Caporal Noel Kay has been transferred from Breuil-le Sac to Camp de Chalons where Escadrille C13 is forming. It seems that the rising tensions between France and Germany over the declaration of war by Austria-Hungary on Serbia knows no end. Actual hostilities may not be far off.

Meanwhile, In England I've created a new pilot. Sergeant Corrigan Yegor "Corrie" Aujla, of Saanitch, British Columbia, Canada, has begun training with No 3 Squadron RFC at Netheravon. One of the fun things I just discovered on my own is that you can not only select the season in Quick Combat but also the airplane. This is good because the game has No 3 Squadron starting in January 1915 with Morane parasols, and that is when they first outfitted with that aircraft. Prior to that they were flying BE.2s. With QC I can actually change it so my British pilots are flying BE.2s for the first few months of the war.

I love this game.

[Sailor Steve]

03/08/1914

Noel Kay is busy flying orientation flights to learn the area of Chalons.

Corrie Aujla is also doing orientation flights around the middle of England.

[Sailor Steve]

04/08/1914

Escadrille C13 got word that late yesterday afternoon Germany declared war on France. Noel Kay and Caporal Alfred Esnault made a flight from Chalons to Nancy and back.

With No 3 Squadron in Netheravon, Corrie Aujla has been assigned a senior observer. He made his first flight with Captain Fabio Carlson aboard. His first opinion of his new aircraft commander is "He drinks too much." On the other hand he's starting to become friends with Welsh pilot Sergeant Robbie Reinard.

[Sailor Steve]

05/08/14

In France, Noel Kay and Alfred Esnault make a flight from Chalons to Auve and back, with some sightseeing along the way.

In England they receive the news that at 2300 hours last night Britain declared war on Germany, due to that country's invasion of Belgium.

Corrie Aujla makes another very long flight with Captain Carlson. They head south to the Channel coast and when Aujla starts to turn back, Carlson begins waving at him from the front cockpit, signalling him to keep heading south. Following orders Augla travels out over the Channel until they are out of sight of land. Carlson then signals him to turn east. Aujla does so, but after a few minutes begins to worry about their fuel and turns back northward. Carlson signals him to turn eastward again, but Aufla ignores the Captain's frantic waving and returns to land. By this time a thick fog has set in and Aujla becomes disoriented and heads west rather than north. With the sun setting and fuel running low he finally sets the plane down in a field near the town of East Wittering. After berating Aujla for a time Carlson seems to realize that he might not want the attention punishing Aujla might bring to him. They finally find a house with a telephone and manage to get through to Netheravon, informing their commander of where they are and that they will find gas in the morning and head for home. The family invites them to sleep in their barn.

[Sailor Steve]

6 August 1914:

In France, Noel Kay makes another flight, this time to Belrain and return. No news from Belgium.

In England Corrie Aufla and Capt Fabio Carlson are awakened at 0300 by the family with whom they have taken shelter for the night. Father and son take them in a horse-drawn wagon to a gasoline storage facility on the outskirts of East Wittering. The man there fills a tank on the back of a lorry and gives them a ride back to the farm, along with the father. The son follows with the wagon. When they explain that they will have to return with payment they are told that with the new war brewing this one is free. The plane is filled and at 0405 they take off in the dark. The sun rises while they are in flight and they land back at Netheravon in time for breakfast. Captain Carlson says nothing of their disagreement, so neither does Sergeant Aujla.

[Sailor Steve]

7 August 1914

In France Caporal Noel Kay suffers an engine failure three minutes after takeoff. On landing the plane hits a tree and is badly damaged. Caporal Esnault is unharmed, but Kay receives a severe gash to the forehead and is taken to the town hospital.

At Netheravon in England Sgt Corrie Aujla and Capt Fabio Carlson make an extended flight northeast to Oxford, south to Portsmouth then northwest back to Netheravon. Total flight time is 3 hours 1 minute.

[Sailor Steve]

8 August 1914

In France Noel Kay sits in a small cottage hospital in Chalons while Escadrill C 13 moves to their new field at Verdun.

In England Corrie Augla continues his training with 3 Sqdn. Today is a flight from Netheravon to Woking and back.