Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
76.IAP-Blackbird

Il2 DD Update Dev Blog 291 "IAR-81"

Recommended Posts

Dear Friends,

This Dev blog is a bit unusual - I wanted to illustrate how the virtual world created by our team is not just a place to show nice-looking aircraft and vehicles, but it comes really close to real world experiences and situations (which is the ultimate goal of any sim).

This past Saturday night, myself and Roman (one of our flight model and aircraft systems engineers) had time to enjoy our sim as players and our experience turned out much like the real Eastern Front air clashes - somewhat confusing, challenging and stressful.

We flew a pair of Yak-9Ts to patrol a water basin area where both Soviet and German priority targets were located. I was the flight leader and... it didn't go well.

_01.jpg

Upon reaching the area, I spotted a target flying at our altitude at a 7-10 km distance and closed up to identify it. The target started to do shallow, full-speed evasive maneuvers. I identified it as Fw 190 even though I wasn't totally sure. Roman (my wingman) wasn't confident as well and we continued the approach. At a closer distance where a positive ID could be obtained the target made a sharp evasive maneuver that continued as a dive so I decided to engage. The first single 37 mm shot connected and the target exploded, the pilot was killed. Very cool to watch, but immediately we saw the report (in the chat) that a La-5 was destroyed. Oh no!

_02.jpg_03.jpg_04.jpg


Quite a negative combat situation – I was thinking about the inevitable court-martial as we continued the patrol. Then Roman spotted a target on the right - a medium-sized twin-engine aircraft not more than 2 km away. Having forgotten about the tragedy that just happened for a moment, we rushed to it. This time we closed to be absolutely sure what it is - it could be Bf 110, but also a friendly Pe-2.
Climbing up from below the contact, Roman identified it to be German by yellow wingtips and he started his attack, but the German pilot wasn't sleeping and successfully evaded the attack while his rear gunner hit the Yak’s radiator. But this is why a pair is always more effective than a single fighter - having evaded Roman's attack the 110 exposed itself to me!  A short 37 mm burst connected and blew off part of its wing. The pilot tried to keep his plane in the air, but couldn’t manage to do it and fell to the ground below. We didn’t see any chutes.
_05.jpg_06.jpg
_07.jpg_08.jpg
_09.jpg_10.jpg
_11.jpg_12.jpg
_13.jpg_14.jpg

Apparently though, the 110 wasn't alone. A fighter that must have been providing cover saw what had happened and quickly closed the distance between us. Roman managed to spot it just in time and maneuvered smartly to get onto his six o'clock, then the FW made a fatal mistake and made a sharp climb which slowed him down and made himself a fatter target with much less deflection than say a sharp diving turn would have. I always find it easier to lead a climbing target than a turning target. A few 37mm rounds connected making it a falling wreck.

_15.jpg_16.jpg
_17.jpg_18.jpg
_19.jpg_20.jpg

Since Roman's radiator was leaking and our 30 rounds ammo was nearly spent, I made a decision to return to base immediately. In spite of the damage sustained, Roman’s Yak successfully reached the airfield and landed in time.

_21.jpg

After cutting off the engine and opening the cockpit canopy, the thrill of victory quickly left and a dark feeling of the grave episode of mistaken identity set in – a Willy’s jeep containing the Commissar pulled up.

P.S.

An interesting thing - I wrote this immediately after the landing and before viewing the flight record. After viewing it, I believe this experience proves that what we had just done was even more lifelike and close to what you usually read in pilot memoirs than I first thought. When I saw the flight record, it turned out that when I wrote 'the first single shot' or 'a short burst' I couldn't be more wrong. I fired at least five short bursts at the first target (the friendly La-5) before I hit it. The second target was also hit only after firing for some time when it was doing scissors evasion maneuvers. This is close to historical reality as well - memories of combatants can sometimes be confused or tell a different story than reality. It’s this kind of thing that helps make our job of creating a ‘simulation’ difficult at times.

Update on IAR-80/81

On the actual development front, our modeling partner Ivan is working hard on the IAR-80/81 and it’s beginning to take shape nicely. When we see the cockpit starting to take shape, we will offer it up for Pre-Order. This plane promises to be very interesting.

IAR-80_01.jpgIAR-80_02.jpg
IAR-80_03.jpgIAR-80_04.jpg

Battle of Normandy objects development

We're happy to report a good progress on the Normandy project. The most of the buldings anf ground vehicles are ready and the work on the sea objects is going at full head flank speed - today we can show you a couple of screenshots straight from 3D editor screen. This is WIP model of a Gleaves class destroyer that participated in the invasion.

_GKD_1.jpg
_GKD_2.jpg

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

  • Similar Content

    • By 76.IAP-Blackbird
      Dear Friends, 
      Today we'd like to tell you about the new Great War aircraft that are in development. 
      While transferring them from our classic project Rise of Flight to IL-2 Great Battles, we are fixing problems we found during this work - sometimes there are some asymmetric aerodynamic elements, a wrong object hierarchy, engine overheating/overcooling, and other similar problems. 
       
      For example, while working on the Airco DH.2 recently, we found problems - it had an invisible "ghost" stabilizer in the physical model, inconsistencies in drag values, and it was also missing its top speed - judging by the reference data, it was missing it by about 15 kph. Well, mistakes happen, and they will be corrected: the DH.2 in FC will have recalculated drag values, corrected handling, and an increased top speed. Soon the beta testers will try it out, and some additional changes may be in order after these tests. 
      Its AI will also be updated as it needs to be taught how to use its blip switch for taxiing (such early flying machines had no throttle and the engine always ran at full power - its pilot had to press and hold a blip switch button that cut the ignition when he wanted to slow down). 
       
      Another upcoming aircraft, the Sopwith Pup, also had some problems with its flight characteristics and engine, which are currently being corrected. 
       
       
      While working on Flying Circus aircraft, we are not only adding new features thanks to the IL-2 Great Battles engine but also fixing old problems whenever we get the chance. The new Flying Circus aircraft pack is scheduled for release this summer. 
       
    • By 76.IAP-Blackbird
      Dear friends, 
      Today we'd like to inform you about the upcoming update 5.203. In this update, the AQMG (Advanced Quick Mission Generator) mode will be greatly expanded. New mission types will be added: glider towing to the Normandy and Rhineland maps and artillery spotting and balloon defense to the Western Front WWI map. But the most significant addition will be made to the detailed map of Prokhorovka. 
      Tank Crew will now have a completely new mode that wasn't available before - Ground Forces AQM. Just like its aerial counterpart, it will allow you to choose a specific mission type that will affect the composition and positions of your forces: Strongpoint Defense, Enemy Strongpoint Attack, Breakthrough, and Enemy Rear Area Attack. You'll be able to set an initial distance from the enemy (since ground vehicles are very slow compared to aircraft), the strength of your force, the enemy force, and air support. 
       
       
       
      Other changes in this update include the correction of the distance at which nearby aircraft can be heard, further updates to the Lightning Strikes, Havoc over the Kuban, and Hell Hawks over the Bulge campaigns, various minor improvements such as fixes to career progression, taxiing on certain airfields, mission generation, etc. The popular community-created campaigns Kerch-Eltigen Operation and Battle of the Hürtgenwald will be included in the game with the permission of their authors. 
      We also want to start a multiplayer-related competition today: submit your best in-game tracks of multiplayer action! You can show any action, plane, or tank, as long as it is interesting and recorded in multiplayer (if you already have a saved track that you love and it loads in the game, you can submit it as well). Tracks should be short, showing an interesting event and a few seconds before and after. Please submit your tracks by April 12th. Then we'll choose the best ones - their authors will be awarded Collector planes of their choice and we will create a multiplayer promo video using these tracks. Please post the links to your tracks here or in our Discord channel till the end of April 11th. 
       
    • By 76.IAP-Blackbird
      Dear friends,
      Today we would like to tell you about a new aircraft that our artists have been working on for some time and engineers have recently started to create its FM.
      The Ta 152 is the last creation of the German aircraft designer Kurt Tank, which managed to take part in combat operations during the Second World War. This aircraft was the culmination of the evolution of the Fw 190 fighter and Germany's most advanced piston fighter. It was in development for a long time, several years, and appeared at the very end of the war. During the development, several modifications of the original Fw 190 were produced, which finally led to the Ta 152 - the name "Fw" was changed to "Ta" in recognition of the designer's merits.


      Compared to the Fw 190D "Dora", the wingspan was significantly increased for better maneuverability at high altitudes, the fuselage was longer, and the new Jumo-213E engine was equipped with two boost systems: MW-50 (water-methanol mixture injection for low and medium altitudes) and GM-1 (nitrous oxide for high altitudes). The "Dora" engine was already characterized by a high degree of automation and regulation and thus complexity, but here the Germans went even further - the engine was equipped with a two-stage three-speed (!) supercharger.

      As you can see, these improvements were made for high-altitude combat, where the Ta 152 had to outperform the Mustangs and Spitfires of the Allies - the threat from the bomber armadas climbing higher and higher was growing every year. The plane had a pressurized cockpit and could reach a speed of 750 km/h at an altitude of 12 km, and its ceiling was 14 km! Think about it - a piston fighter that could climb and fight above modern jetliners had no equal. Its armament is also respectable, even by late WWII standards: 30mm MK 108 and two 20mm MG-151/20 cannons allowed it to destroy any air target.


      The Ta 152 went into production at the end of the war and appeared in the skies of Germany in January-February 1945, but due to the disparity of forces, they had no effect on the course of hostilities: they were produced in very small numbers (about 25 H-1s). They remained in history as a monument to German wartime engineering and design. In our simulator, we expect to release this very interesting aircraft this summer.
×

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue..