Recent Ferret recruits have added some zip to our roster as the boring old stats will attest. We're getting downright scary these days. A big Ferrety welcome to fresh puddin's Sgiand (aka Scott), Twinky (aka Tim), and Twinky's real-life squadmate -Aggie (aka Jacob). We set a record for squad night attendance at 11.4 pilots per meet. We had sixteen guys for squad night on three occasions, another record number. WW2 Arena population was down from 82 last quarter to 68 this Fall. My observations agree with TARGET's statements: peak-time arena numbers are down but average population is up. The alliteratively named former FNG Sgt. Gunsgt has been on a scoring streak that includes a number one fighter finish last tour, prompting the creation of a shiny new gong, the Combined Arms Award. This feat helped propel the Ferrets to number one fighter and number two bomber ranks in the WW2 arena, our best finish ever. All told, our average squad fighter rank this Fall was 8th (up from 11th place Summer '04) and our average squad bomber rank was 3rd (up from 8th place). Best. Episode. Ever.

This Fall our man Nuker- earned his shiny silver star for six months service and 25 squad meets attended, thus qualifying him for the exalted rank of 2nd Lieutenant under our cabalistic and obscure squad rank system. Lt. =Troy= earned his two-year service star, and Lt-Col. Doones marked his third year of sterling service with the squad. In a flurry of ambition, Snofox zipped right past Warrant Ossifer and coasted straight into 2nd Lieutenantcy, while Invstr, not to be outdone, also made butterbar. Gunsgt and Twinky both earned their Flight Sergeant stripes and a permanent place on the Ferret roster for ten squad meets attended. A big, wet salute to all of you guys, old and new, and my thanks as always for playing along.

In Squad Select Series action this Fall, the Ferrets completed two campaigns in strike/escort role. Because of the dangers involved in strike missions, the Race for Tunisia series garnered no shiny medals for gong-happy Ferrets in our Focke-Wulfs. The series was ruled a draw. We fared no better in the second series, Fleet Action Pacific, scoring lots of points with our F6F's but dying in droves to the withering ground fire. Those mobile AAA batteries are just too crool... still, ya gotta love carrier ops. The series was ruled an Allied victory: way to go, lads! Squad Badges and Player Cups for the last three S3's ought to be awarded soon. Here's hoping we get lucky and snag a destruction award or something: we really gave 'em hell in Pony Boys.

The sixth Ferrets' Challenge air race saw 35 pilots competing for fabulous prizes. iEN upped the ante this time, awarding a free month of WB's to the winner as usual but also $10 and $5 account credits to the 2nd and 3rd-place finishers respectively. The race itself was slightly less deadly than the last one, as promised: eight pilots managed to complete the course. -Wcat- (417 RCAF City of Windsor) and his 190D demonstrate their racing prowess for a third time, finishing first place yet again and inching ever closer to that coveted gold medal. Muzz-- (also 417 RCAF City of Windsor) finished in second place, while our own defending champion Maj. Andrew showed up third. Thanks again to Meteor for flying the spotter jet, to =Troy= for reffing, to iEN and especially SKYDVR for all his help, and to all you daring racers. Hope to see you there again next time, in February 2005.

No new WarBirds builds this Fall, but the beta-testers are hinting that a freshie is on the way. No word on changes, but there's a new scoring system in the works... beyond that, who knows? Well, Meteor knows, but he ain't tellin'. Betcha there's still no god-damned Allied transport, god damn it. In the WW2 Arena the new "Three Weeks of War" setup is playing to somewhat lukewarm reviews. As nobody seems to hate it and some seem to like it, I suppose it'll be here for some time to come. I like the historic plane matchups, but I find five or six map changes a trifle busy. One map per week would suit me better. Still, it's interesting if only for the sake of a change.

In other headlines this season, there were Ferret gatherings at Camp Roberts with Maj. Andrew and Capt. Wallyg doing the living history thing; and also in Fredericton with yours truly, Lt-Col. Humble, Maj. Momo, and 2ndLt. Snofox doing the beer-drinking thing. I'll go to any lengths to get a pilot photo, I tellya. Lt-Col. Doones' "Dawn of the Living Aces" ragwing event was a great success: I've never seen the DOA3 arena that busy. Fun as hell, but man did my arm and eyeballs ever get tired. Ferret plans for a 2-vs-2 duelling season are on hold on account of the unpredictable settings in the Practice & Dueling Arena. No idea what's up with that: they keep setting it up as the backup S3 arena and failing to reset it afterwards. Finally, most of you have taken care of business and sent Maj. Momo your $20 tribute to Mammon. Some of you were extra-generous, for which you have our thanks and a really dismal rate-of-interest. Lt. Meteor got a cheque to defray our TeamSpeak server costs, and I've finally ordered the lovely embroidered patches otherwise known as the Order of the Stinkin' Bodge. Squad dues for the 2005 year are due August 10th. Here's hoping it's a happy and prosperous year for all Ferretkind.

Col. H.C. Rana
Over and Out