BBall

Thanks guys. :) BBall

Hey guys, As a mission builder/videographer, I actually feel leroy 1964's "pain" rather acutely. And trust me, I love the UH-1H from the boys at Belsimtek (and DCS in general). (BTW...thank you jjohnson241 for the kind words regarding my video. If anyone might be interested, here's the link to my latest work. It's from a mission called "A Bad Day For Charlie" that we at the 229th were flying last weekend. I call it, "A Day In The Life Of An Air Cav Slick Pilot"...hope you enjoy it.) Saying the Huey is "iconic" in the world of rotary winged aviation, is like saying that Dolly Parton has big boobs! "Ya think?" LOL... And I offer that when most of us think of the UH-1, we think of Vietnam, the 60's, and possibly our childhood (for some of us at least). As a mission builder, I have 100s of ideas of what I would like to do with the Huey....but...and it's a rather large "but"....the map we have available is limited. For my "Lam Son 719" video (and mission), I literally fired up a Huey, flew it around at X4 speed (on the autopilot of course) simply looking over the terrain in an attempt to find something I could work with. It's not a jungle (obviously), but it's remote, hilly, has open areas (LZs), and the like. It took quite a long time to find the areas that I used. In the end it worked, but watching the Huey's flying over (western looking) towns while simulating Vietnam was a bit painful. In the end, in the video, I simply tried not to use many scenes that showed towns, factories, etc.... I would dearly love a "jungle map", complete with a "delta area", S.E. asian looking villages and cities, and (of course) machines like the Phantom, A-1, etc... Maybe someday....right? Have a great day all, BBall

Yeah, I was bitten by the flying bug early in my life. PPL at 17, aviation university, flight instructing/night freight/commuter airline and finally "the show" at age 27. My near vision kept me out of a military cockpit, but it did whatever it did, and I was 20/20 at my airline interview. I've always regretted the fact that I was never part of the military world of flying, but even though my road was different then my (and my Dad's) plan, it was no less exciting and rewarding. I see these flight simulations as an extension of ALL of our love and passion for things aviation. It's the one big vector we all seem to share. One day in the not so distant future, I'll hang up my airline spurs, and only the virtual cockpit will be left to satisfy that need...but I'm sure it will do just fine. My LAN buddies come from vastly different careers, but because we share the love of aviation and the virtual skies, they are (IMHO) no less a pilot than I. If you've ever sat down in front of a joystick/throttle/pedals setup, fired up a Spad/Spitfire/A-10 or even...lol...the wonderful Huey, then you DID learn to fly. Maybe not where the clouds are real, and the mistakes are forever, but if you put any effort toward learning it, and it put a smile on your face and a song in your heart, then you were indeed flying my friend. Again, thanks for all the kind words. My son is (I'm sure) a fine man to serve with. He has the rare combination of intellect, humor and honor, and we couldn't be more proud of him (or his two sisters). Have a great day, BBall

Hey guys, First of all, thanks for all the nice words regarding my video(s). It was fun to make, took a few days of being chained to the computer, but in the end, seemed to come out O.K. UH1Fan, Of the many books I've read regarding helo flying in Vietnam, that seems to be THE ONE that I haven't gotten to yet. I've heard it's incredible, and can't wait to add it to my list. Not sure how to answer your question about how I put the mission together. The short answer (of course) is by using the Mission Editor, FRAPS, WIndows Movie Maker and a general knowledge of the storyline. I will say that I spent quite a bit of time just "cruising around" the map looking for a suitable "moutainous" and "jungle looking" spot to have it all take place. Again, it's from an MP mission that I constructed for our LAN group to fly, and the idea to "film" it just became something of a lark. In regards to the nuts and bolts of the procedure, I would fly a segment of the mission, then fire up FRAPS, launch the "track file" from what I just flew and record what I needed with FRAPS during the track file (thus being able to switch views during the filming and not worry about flying the helo at the same time....lol). Rudimentary to be sure, but it got the job done. After getting what I needed, I'd plop it into Windows Movie Maker and edit as needed.... jjohnson241, Thank you sir for your service. God bless you and your fellow Marines... My Dad relayed to me yarns about times that they would drop off ARVN troopers, and hours later on the return to extract them, they would take fire from the same dudes they had dropped off earlier! Not sure what that was all about, but he said it would invariably end with a middle finger out the window, and a "F them...they can walk home!" attitude as they abandoned the approach...lol. Not meaning to cast dispersion on the ARVN as a whole, for I'm sure there were units that fought with distinction, but sadly, that seems to be the exception and not the rule. Again, from a proud son of a combat Army aviator, and the proud father of a young Army officer, I offer my thanks and gratitude for your (and their) service. {S} BBall

Hey guys, A few weeks ago I began making an MP mission attempting to depict some of the flying during Operation Lam Son 719 in the spring of 1971, and this morphed into the idea to make a video to pay tribute to the air crews that flew during those horrific few weeks. If you're unfamiliar with the operation, it was basically an effort to inderdict or destroy the Ho Chi Minh trail through Laos into South Vietnam. A recent Congressional ruling forbade the use of U.S. ground troops, so it essentially became an all ARVN operation with U.S. force relegated to supporting roles only. The one big exception was the use of U.S. air assests. Air Force and Navy bombers and fighters were used, but the bulk of the flying fell to the U. S. Army helicopter units. Cobras, LOACHes, Kiowas, Chinooks, and of course, our beloved Hueys flew thousands of sorties in support of the ARVN forces. In the end, the trail was not destroyed, the ARVN were less than victorious, and history has painted it with a very unfriendly brush. It was not only the largest helicopter operation of the entire war, but indeed one of the costliest. In the credits, I used the term "short video", and my teenage daughter gave me a huge ration of crap over it...lol. She is (of course) right, it's not short... 25 minutes in length. Obviously, I couldn't put it up on "the Tube" in one vid, so it's split into two parts. A couple of suggestions when watching the videos: 1). Crank up the sound. I used the music of that time frame, and IMHO, it's some of the best ever written. My guess is that the "old farts" amongst us (present company included), will love the tunes in the video. 2). Select the "HD" option. 3). I personally don't select the "Full Screen" option (I use "Large player"), IMHO, it looks way too washed out in full screen mode (I am BY NO MEANS any sort of expert/professional on this type stuff... I'm a rank amateur). In an effort to have a modicum of historical accuracy in terms of the weather (it was the beginning of the monsoon season), I chose an overcast day in an early morning time frame for most of the vid. This makes it seem rather dark but "c'est la vie"... Links to the videos on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUEIohvBIyw and, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3pJIi5ZOIA I hope you enjoy them, BBall

Sadly, no motorcycles in my life at the moment. I did indeed grow up on them, but I sold my last one in '95, and miss it to this day. Ducati is a wonderful machine, and I've told my wife many times, that when they outlaw automobiles (I've had far too many "close calls" between my bike and an auto), my arse will be first in line at the motorcycle dealer! Have a great day, BBall

outlawal2 and Krebs20...wow two more Wisconsinites, it certainly is a small world! Outstanding! I'm over on the western frontier just south of St. Croix Falls. FYI, we have a big LAN fly-in every year in November, and if you guys are interested, you're sure invited to drive up! FZG Immel, yeah, my father was in many ways, what we refer to as a "real piece of work". LOL....that basically means that he was ALWAYS ready with a story, a joke, a smile and hearty laugh. Many times as a teenager I remember thinking, "Oh God no...please Dad don't tell that story! I'm embarrased enough that you're actually talking to my friends, don't make it worse!" Funny thing....I think that my three kids have thought the exact same thing about me as they passed through those teen years! LOL... Robert1983NL, lol.... don't get me wrong, I didn't mean "strange" as in bad, but stange as in ...well....different than your "normal" person. I know you're a pilot in R/L, and I'm sure you know lots of other pilots (both real and virtual), but the fact is, we are a bit different than most folks. Have you ever noticed how those of us that fuel our passion in low Earth orbit, will always look up (no matter what we're doing) when a plane or helo flies over? I've seen Arnold Palmer (a real life pilot) do it on the golf course in the middle of a tournament! I do it, my Dad did it, we all just HAVE to see what machine is over us, and 99% of the time we can tell you the make and model. We look at the weather differently. I see thunderclouds and want to dance around them in a jet, my wife sees them and wants to bring the flower pots inside. I see snow (and I saw a TON of it this last winter) and I think of de-icing fluids and contaminated runways, my buddies think of snowmobiles and warm run drinks (well, me too there actually...lol). A windy day to me means crosswinds, windshear and turbulence. To non-pilots it means blowing leaves and flying kites. Now, take all that pilot thinking, and put it into the brain of someone that can hover like a humming bird. My Dad (obviously) was a chopper pilot, his best friend (my uncle Wade) was a chopper pilot, all of his "Army buddies" flew helos, I personally met many of my father's Ft. Wolters students, and over the years, I've logged many an hour in the airliner cockpit with those that flew rotary-wing in an earlier life, and to a man (and woman) they were a bit different (even from us of the non-fling winged community). They walked with a little different bounce to their step, always had that ready smile to their lips and a "movie star" glint to their eyes. It was almost like when you give a man the ability to hover, he feels like he knows something the rest of us not only don't know, but don't have the ability to even fathom... like he knows a secret that only those in his fraternity know. Maybe I should've used the word special.... BBall

Hey guys, Thanks again for the nice words. nickmow, your story touched me. I too, remember many times (shortly after his passing), picking up the phone to chat with my Dad about something, then slowly hanging up after the sad realization had set in. Even after all of these years, the pain is still there, it's just gone from a shocked feeling to more like a lingering wound. I did give a good laugh with the tale of your father "taking Berlin" when he was a mere 10 years old! That sounds exactly like something my Dad would say. God bless your father, and all the fathers out there (young and old) that love their kids and gladly include them in their lives. Oh, and Griff....no, I just wanted another pic of you on the tractor hauling horse dung! BBall

Hey guys, Sorry for more word vomit from yours truly, but after penning the piece yesterday about my father, I remembered a truly cool/strange/amazing thing that happened regarding him, and I thought you might like to hear about it. A few years ago, I was finishing up an airline trip with a leg from Anchorage to Minneapolis/St. Paul. The month was August, and the "dog days of summer" had set in. Hot, humid, and miserable was the only way to describe the weather in the upper midwest of the USA during that month, but that's not what this story is about. In our cockpit that day, we had a visitor as it were. He was one of our senior Boeing 747 Captains (at the time we had a crew domicile in Anchorage flying our "Whale" freighters to the Orient), he lived in Wisconsin like me, and was commuting home at the end of his work stint. Since the cabin was full of paying customers, the only seat available for him was up front with the First Officer and myself on the miserable little thing we call the "jumpseat". After an hour or so, our talk turned from "airline stuff" (a merger was pending) to the more benign subject of the weather. He had been on the road for several weeks, and casually inquired about what had been the meteorological happenings while he was out of town. I replied that it had been miserably hot and humid, and finished the sentence with, "you'd swear you were in North Texas." This is where it began .... B747 dude: "Really? I spent some time flying in North Texas years ago." Me: "No kidding... flying what?" B747 dude: "Helicopters." Me: "Fort Wolters?" B747 dude (with a bit of quizzical look on his face): "Yep." Me (now getting much more interested in the conversation): "What year were you there...my Dad was an I.P. at Wolters." B747 dude: "1971" Me: "Were any of your instructors civilian types like my Dad?" B747 dude: "ALL of my I.P.s were civilians." Me (very interested now): "Did any of them look like this (me turning around to face him), only they WEREN'T a dickhead like me?" B747 dude: "What did you say your last name is?" Me: "Ball" B747 dude (eyes very wide open): "Holy shit! Your Dad was my instructor!" Me (eyes even wider open): "WOW! No kidding....." B747 dude: "Did you know there were a few of us at his funeral in '93? Your Dad was one of our favorite guys to fly with." Me (totally in shock now): "Holy shit. Why didn't you guys come up and introduce yourself to my Mom?" B747 dude: "I remember you were there in your airline uniform and all, but we just thought it was a family time, and we didn't want to intrude." Me: "Wow...thank you, but I promise you would've made the worst day in her life a little easier....wow." To say that the hair on the back of my neck was standing up would be an understatement. We went on to chat about his time in Vietnam, etc, but the idea that he had met my Dad, and flew with him, was almost more than I could comprehend. This man too had been touched by my father, and he promised that when he made it home, he would search his old photo albums for some pictures that he thought he had of my Dad from when he was a student at Ft. Wolters. These two photos were in my email box the next day: My Dad in the white shirt. The gentlemen from the story is far left (I loved the "rabbit ears" the dude to the right was photo-bombing on my Dad). and... His sense of humor was legendary. I'm not ashamed to say that tears filled my eyes when I opened that email. They still do when I see these pictures. It's said that just a few "degrees of separation" keeps us all from knowing each other on this big blue rock in space, but this was truly a unique experience. I knew that my Dad (and his crazy profession of flying things that don't wish to be flown) was something special...it's just nice to see that others thought so too. 'till next time, BBall

Hey guys, First of all, thank you for the kind words regarding the post about my Dad. I'm not sure I'm deserving of such praise, but thanks nonetheless. I always find it quite easy to write about things (or people) you love. Cookie! Of course I remember...10 years is but a wink of the eye when one grows a bit long in the tooth. The days at Frugal's World were magical, and Mark was indeed a brave man publishing my yarns and/or allowing me to "work" there as his Senior Editor. I continue to struggle to put pen to paper on a fairly regular basis, and continue to have all the old pieces on file. The wonderful folks over at SimHQ have been kind enough to put up two that I've done (they can be found under their "Aviation" section...this one was difficult to do, but I think it came out O.K.: http://simhq.com/_air14/air_534a.html ). I still hope to someday pen the novel that's been floating around in my head for years, or put all my past works into book form...maybe that's what retirement is for, right? (or for more flight simming...lol) BTW, 99% of my flying nowadays is in the Far East, but I promise the next time I'm in Deutschland (my birthplace...and emotional second home), I'll let you know and we will certainly lift a stein or two. Again, thanks guys for the kind words. Oh, and to Dusty and Griff. Deb says to get your asses back to our neck of the woods for another LAN...she misses Dusty's apparel expertise, and Griff on the tractor spreading horse crap! BBall

A few nights ago, while totally engrossed in an online flight with my good compadre' and fellow flight sim enthusiast Griff, he stopped me in my tracks with a simple question... "What do you think your Dad would've thought of this?" Simple enough question, not at all a simple answer. First a bit of background. For those of you that know me, you know I was blessed with being raised by a man that was not only my hero, but also the driving force behind my career in aviation (November 2013 marks my 30th anniversary flying for a major U.S. airline). He was fun (and funny), intelligent, handsome, caring, an incredible parent, but one of the coolest things I loved (and could "cash in on" in my little boy world), was the fact that he was a career Army officer, and a veteren combat helicopter pilot. He rocked as a Dad. He joined the military at a very young age, struggled through Korea carrying a Carbine, and entered Army Aviation back in the day when flying helicopters was more of a fringe idea than a career path. He went to Vietnam early in the conflict in the cockpit of the CH-21 Shawnee, came home and transitioned to the OH-13 for a few years, hauled us off to Germany (for the second time) to fly the CH-34, and after two years, received orders to check out on a machine that was definitely on his "wish list"...the CH-47 Chinook. The only proviso was that when finished at Ft. Rucker training, his next destination would be back in South Vietnam. The year was 1968, he had his "twenty in", so he declined and decided to retire. Although he never "officially" checked out on the UH-1 Huey, he did indeed log time in that wonderful machine from the boys at Bell Helicopter. It was brought into the Army inventory when he was landing in the rice paddies of S.E. Asia in the CH-21, but he was fortunate enough to fly her many times before he retired. After retirement from the Army, good news followed with a job as a civilian flight instructor training new WOCs (Warrant Officer Candidates) at the Army's Primary Helicopter Training Center in Ft. Wolters, Texas. His love for being a "fling wing pilot", and his penchant for teaching, and his "gift of gab" served him well as an I.P. He loved the job, it loved him, and yours truly was allowed to accompany him to work on many occasions. I sat in on briefings, was allowed to follow him to the flight line to observe the many preflights of the cool little TH-55 trainers. I would then hop in a pickup truck and bounce across the North Texas dirt roads enroute to one of the dozens of "Stage Fields" where the actual training took place. They had cool names like, Sundance, Mustang, Rawhide, and Pinto, but then as Vietnam spooled up to it's horrific crescendo, names like Da Nang, Phu Loi and Soc Trang became part of the Ft. Wolters lexicon. I was a typical 13 year old, interested (but not too concerned) with Vietnam, the "hippie movement", and race riots, and I was totally enthralled with baseball, dirt bikes, and girls, but there was that one thing that most young men my age never gave two hoots about. Flying in general, and helicopters in particular. Although my first lesson in a cockpit wouldn't happen for three more years, I was being weened on the language of my passion. Words like rotor blades, hovering OGE (and IGE), pedal turns, retreating blade stall, pinnacle landings, nap of the Earth, auto-rotations, vortex ring state, cyclic, collective and pedal controls were working their way into my speech. It was a new language, and it stoked the flames of my aviation passion. When at the various Stage Fields, my place was to function as their defacto "mascot". I was accepted by these brave men, and I would be tasked with getting coffee, running errands, passing messages and anything else those "six foot a million", square jawed, broad smiled heroes might ask me to do. In return I was gifted with story after story of flying heroics (complete with the fighter pilot habit of "flying your hand"), lots of "chin music" toward each other (and their respective students), and tons of tidbits about how to fly a helicopter...the right AND the wrong way. All of the I.P.s had been to Vietnam, most had been shot down at least once (my Dad was in that unenviable club), they all had medals to wear, and I'm sure they had scars to hide. I cherish those days those many years ago, and marvel even today about how I was allowed a glimpse (and even a taste) of their world. I lost this wonderful man (and his beloved wife and my beautiful Mother) way back in 1993, and truth be told, nary a day goes by that I don't have many thoughts of them both. In the latter stages of his life, his boyish charm and love of fun with gadgets got the best of him, and he bought his first GameBoy (of many I might add). He loved that little plastic device, and he truly loved playing his games....his favorite was a golf game. He would spend hours after his day was done, sitting in his easy chair, thinning grey hair, with glasses covering those wonderful "aviator" crows feet in the corner of his blue eyes. Inevitably, a big smile would spread across his face and his dancing fingers would be putting it there. Unfortunately, he passed before my first computer purchase, but fortunately for me, that little Gateway system came complete with a flight simulation by the name of "Aces Over Europe". It was my first exposure to flying in the virtual world, and I was hooked for life. Over the years, my little Gateway joystick (suction cupped, trigger and one red button on top), has morphed into a TM Warthog HOTAS, with Saitek rudder pedals, all complete with a wooden stand constructed by a person that has not one modicum of skill with the likes of saws, hammer and nails (yours truly), but it somehow suffices. I cannot begin to account for all the expenditures in money and precious time that virtual flying has taken from me, and with the advent of online flying, the latter (time) has increased ten fold. The good news, of course, is that I've been blessed to meet and become fast friends with lots of folks through this 21st century medium. Most don't hold any sort of FAA certificate, but in my eyes, that doesn't diminish the fact that they share a passion for flying machines. They're all pilots to me. This brings me back to Griff's original question. How WOULD my father have liked virtual flying, specifically our newest venture...a machine he fell in love with almost 50 years ago. I knew that when DCS World (and Belsimtek) released the UH-1H "Huey", I would be drawn back to those days of my youth when I watched heroes laughing, smoking, drinking coffee and making fascinating flying machines dance a most difficult ballet. The smell of sweat, leather, coffee, cigarettes and Old Spice, complete with the summer Texas heat mixed with the roar of Lycoming engines was where I would be transported as I fired up that beautiful piece of software for the first time. To answer the question, I'll simply say this. Even though it's still only considered a "beta" release, I'm fairly sure our first phone conversation after he flew it would be something on the order of this: "Hey son...what's up?" "Not much Pop...have you fired up that neweset module from DCS? You know, the Huey?" "Yeah....wow! Flying that brings back a lot of great memories! That was a great helicopter, fun to fly and this is damn close to what it was like!" "Really, it's that good?" "Yep! Oh... and your Mother has a bone to pick with you!" "Uh oh...." "Yeah, she said to tell you that the new monitor, new Warthog, new pedals, TWO new video cards, new chip, extra RAM, and those SSD hard drives I just ordered are coming out of YOUR inheritance!" "LOL....thanks Dad. Tell her I love her, and that all this started back with your FIRST Gameboy in 1991...so it's not really my fault! Oh, and can we expect you in TeamSpeak tonight at the regular time?" "Damn right I'll be there....SOMEBODY has to show you noobs how to really fly the Huey!" 'till next time, BBall

Hey guys, Yeah, interesting topic, right? In the airline world, we call it "external electric" (or "external power"), and we obviously use it all the time. We keep the APU use to a minium to conserve fuel, but depending on the circumstance, ground power can be quite helpful. For instance, I made an MP mission whereby we spawn in on the "Alert Pad" with no real tasking and are just sitting around chatting with the JTOC controller... (we don't respond of course, the chat is simply them sending us messages through the "Message to All" text that is available in the Mission Editor. I'm still trying to get the beautiful "Mrs BBall" to do some voice-overs for me, but no luck so far....lol). The pre-mission breifing actually suggests that you have the ground crew hook up "ground power", so you can turn on all your electrical systems and begin the IRU alignment process. As you can probably guess, after a bit of time, all the while being entertained by watching a SEAD flight of Vipers launch, and an overfly of a CSAR helo flight, we recieve a message from JTOC that a reccee bird has been shot down, and we're now tasked with starting up the engines, departing and becoming the RESCAP for the downed pilots. In this case, having 99% of the cockpit duties done can be a real advantage. Oh, and paulrkiii is exactly right, we call it a "cross bleed start" and although not the norm, we actually do it on a fairly regular basis. Due to APU issues (the entire APU inop, or even just the pnuematic systme on the APU), we will do it with certain restrictions. On the Boeing 757/767, the manual suggests AT LEAST 70% N2 on the operating engine for enough bleed pressure to turn the other engine, and that's a ton of thrust for just sitting on the tarmac. We are required to have the area behind the jet clear of personnel, vehicles, etc. before we begin the procedure. I'm guessing I do one or two cross bleed starts per month... Have a great day all, BBall

Hey folks, Griff and I were messing around online the other night in the Eagle (he was hosting), and after sending me the .trk files, I put together this 10 minute movie. We did indeed have a bit of combat with some A/I jets, but I left that out of the movie for various reasons.... Hope you like it... Have a great day all, BBall

Hey guys, Yeah, once on the boom in the Eagle and "A" Hog, the scripted "auto-pilot" takes over and it becomes a rather mundane experience (talking Single Player now). Griff and I have experienced twice now in the F-15C in Multi-player, where after the Client (not the person hosting the mission) has finished refueling, his jet will back off of the boom (while still hearing the sound of being refueled), and he will no longer have any control over his aircraft....he just drifts away. This happened twice to Griff, and he was able to lower/raise the landing gear and/or flaps, but that was the extent of his control over his machine. Has anyone else experienced this? (we have sent the first .trk file to one of our friends on the Beta Test Team, and will be sending the second .trk file today...so hopefully it will be looked at) Have a great day all, BBall

Agreed on the “Gamers Weekend” my friend. We actually do a few LANs every year, and our next one is scheduled to be in November in Minneapolis….EVERYONE is invited! I guess we’re what us old time gamers would call a computer club. I too fly every day…either in the actual skies or virtual…. Not sure they ever WERE this hard. :) LMAO! AGREED! Agreed #2...I would never do that. I remember WAAAY back when I was a lowly F/E (Flight Engineer or as we called it..a “Second Officer”) on the Boeing 747, circa 1986. We were leaving Taipei in a freighter version of that magnificent jet, and I wandered downstairs to see what we were hauling. Thousands of “Rawlings” baseball gloves…..I could not help but recall the “dogshit out of Hong Kong” remark in the movie “Top Gun”. I laughed till I almost cried…. Have a great day all, BBall