76.IAP-Blackbird

Dear friends, Update 5.106 has been released! It brings three new aircraft, many improvements to the career mode and several historical campaigns, and other changes. In addition, two of the campaigns that were previously only available on our website are now available on Steam. The three new planes are the armed sibling of the C-47, the Lisunov Li-2 Collector Plane, and two new additions to Flying Circus Vol.III Early Access - the German Albatros D.II and the French Nieuport 17 fighter. The Lisunov Li-2 was a Soviet version of the DC-3 built under license. Although it looked similar, it was quite different from the original because it was adapted for Soviet production - all measurements were converted to metric, it had different instruments, cargo doors, landing gear, even the engines. This Soviet C-47 sibling was like a gunship wannabe - in addition to being able to carry bombs, it had turrets AND a forward-firing machine gun. Normally, going the "jack of all trades" route means sacrificing something in each trade, but the USSR needed versatile aircraft. While the Western Allies had plenty of long-range fighters to cover their bombers and unarmed transports during the war and enjoyed air superiority most of the time, the Soviet VVS usually did not have that luxury. The D.II was the first in the pantheon of legendary Albatros fighters. It became the symbol and icon of the fighter plane in the Great War. The rapid mass production of Albatros fighters allowed Germany to maintain air superiority until April 1917. "Bloody April" has become synonymous with the heavy losses of British aircraft in 1917. Its pilots noted the good power of its twin machine guns, good forward and upward visibility, responsive handling, high speed, and impressive rate of climb. The fighter took part in battles all along the Western Front. The Nieuport 17 was intended to be a further development of the Nieuport 11 fighter. Compared to its predecessor, it had a larger wingspan and surface area, a more powerful engine, a Vickers machine gun, and metal aileron control wires. The plane was initially built in several French factories, but licenses were soon purchased by other countries: Great Britain, Russia, Italy, Finland and Japan. Pilots noted its good climb rate and visibility, as well as its excellent maneuverability. The plane's powerful engine and high dive speed exposed the main drawback of the "one and a half wing" design - a weak lower wing due to only one spar. There are two known occasions when pilots made successful landings after losing their lower wings. As you can see from the change list below, there are many improvements to Career Mode that we hope you like. More are on the way! If you prefer to make your purchases on Steam, there are a lot of new things that are being released there today at the same time as the update. Two campaigns that were previously only available on our website have been updated and released there: Ten Days of Autumn and Hell Hawks Over the Bulge. In addition, several new bundles have been released - Steam Bundles allow you to purchase multiple aircraft and campaigns, along with the corresponding modules, at a discounted price. While they are mostly aimed at new players to make it clearer which aircraft or campaign belongs to which module (for example, they all include the Battle of Stalingrad for newcomers), they can also be beneficial for seasoned players - the content you already own on Steam is excluded from the total price, so it may be cheaper to buy a bundle even if you own all but one of its contents. We hope you enjoy the new update and that it will enrich your gaming experience! See you in the skies! Update 5.106 Changelist Soviet Li-2 Collector Plane capable of carrying cargo, paratroopers, bombs, defensive and forward-firing armament, has been released; Albatros D.2 airplane is available in Early Access for all owners of "Flying Circus Vol. III"; Nieuport 17 airplane is available in Early Access for all owners of "Flying Circus Vol. III"; Ten Days of Autumn campaign is updated and is now available on Steam as well (tactical numbers and correct camo, the aircraft quantity in the air is increased by one third, the number of convoys and artillery batteries is doubled, numerous edits to briefings, illustrations redesigned, all missions finalized and retested); Hell Hawks Over the Bulge campaign is updated and is now available on Steam as well (script triggers, aircraft tactical numbers, generic and unique paint schemes for three participating squadrons, faster mission loading); Sky Nomads campaign is updated (slightly reduced the difficulty of the 10th mission and changed the briefing of the 15th mission); Normandy and Rheinland Career mode: new mission type - Intruder; Moscow, Stalingrad, Kuban Career mode: added Artillery Spotting missions for USSR (IL-2 and U-2) and Germany (Bf 109 E, Ju-87); Rheinland Career: added photo reconnaissance missions on Spitfire XIVe; Career: updated free hunt missions, added patrol area marks the map and updated mission score logic; Career: enemy night fighters can be encountered near the front line during night combat patrol missions; Career: fighter cover has been added, enemy free hunters removed from transport missions in all career timeframes; Career: trains appear in combat reconnaissance missions correctly; Stalingrad Career mode: Ju 52 transport mission have fighter escort; Rheinland Career mode: in the transport escort missions during the Market Garden and Varsity operations the transport aircraft have mixed loadouts; Western Front WWI Career: BoSta 13 during the first phase (1917) and SchuSta 27b after 29.09.1917 careers progress correctly; Western Front WWI careers: potential career progression issues to Phase 2 corrected for French Escadrille SPA 26, British squadrons No.1, No.2 AFC, No.11, No.18, No.19, No.20, No.23, No.43, No.46, No.48, No.56, and No.79, and German Jasta Boelcke, Jasta 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 14, 35b, and 40s. Kuban Career mode: fixed German ground attack aircraft not having bombs in escort missions; Career mode: corrected taxiing at Tangmere airfield in Normandy and Bolshaya Rossoshka near Stalingrad (previously the lead aircraft could crash into another planes on the runway); Normandy Career mode for USA and UK: in all escort missions the escort flight comes from the UK side; ShVAK gun internal firing sounds updated; Fuel gauge switch control has been implemented on Ju-88, Bf 110, Me 410, Fw 190D9, A-20, C-47, Li-2, Hurricane and Typhoon aircraft. The switch no longer activates "automatically" from time to time, there is a new command for this (RShift + I by default); Spitfire Mk.V, Spitfire Mk.IX, and P-38 aircraft have the fuel gauge button control implemented (P-38 has a remaining fuel reserve control button). The button is no longer pressed "automatically" from time to time, you have to press and hold the button to operate the fuel gauge (RShift + I by default); Ground spotters correctly give targeting info to AI pilots; Fixed a problem with AI pilots climbing as a flight while carrying a heavy bomb load; Corrected airframe strength of Nieuport 11 and Halberstadt D.II (slightly increased) and Siemens-Schuckert D.IV (slightly decreased); Nieuport 11: RPM indicator now gives correct readings; Nieuport 11: corrected engine thermal model, overcooling tendency is decreased; Nieuport 11, Halberstadt D.II: corrected visual flight stick position and fuel gauge bulb in the cockpit; Hs 129: corrected typos and errors in cockpit textures (Oyster_KAI); Halberstadt D.II and Mosquito F.B. Mk.VI series.2 are visible at long distances (more than 10 km) correctly; Ju 88A-4: lower gunner uniform matches the time of year and timeframe.

Dear Friends, Summer is almost over and many team members are on their way back from vacation. During the year, the IL-2 team has grown at a record pace - 17 talented professionals have joined us. These programmers, artists, and other specialists have now finished their training, settled into the project, and are working full-time on all kinds of neat stuff, both announced and yet to be announced. You may know the only person who left due to family reasons - Kurt, our former Community Manager. (Fortunately, he is doing well and we wish him all the best). Please bear with us - even though it may seem like things are quiet from the outside, there is still a lot of work going on. Of course, all of the team members, old and new, are getting paid for more than just being really nice people. Today we want to show you the screenshots of the new planes that were taken today - they are in beta testing right now. The next two planes in Flying Circus Volume III are already in the air. Meet the legendary Nieuport 17... and Albatros D.II. The Soviet cousin of the C-47, the Li-2, is slowly but surely making its way there as well. This time there is a bit of winter action here. The upcoming 5.106 update will bring even more improvements. There will be new Career Mode missions (including an Intruder mission, a deep strike into enemy territory), updated campaigns, and more. See you in the skies!

Dear Friends, Another update, 5.105, is available now. Today we have released the first two Flying Circus Vol.III aircraft - the Halberstadt D.II and Nieuport 11 early Great War fighters. The emergence of the Nieuport 11 at the front finally put an end to the devastating superiority of the Fokker monoplanes, which for a time had become known as the "Fokker Scourge." During the Battle of Verdun in February 1916, Nieuport 11s inflicted heavy damage on the enemy's air forces, which forced the German High Command to review the tactics of combat aircraft. Many famous aces of WWI (including Georges Guynemer) had their first major successes flying the Bébé. Most of the pilots were impressed by Halberstadt D.II's better performance compared to the older Fokker monoplanes, especially its better climb and speed and very quick, easy, and responsive controls which gave it good maneuverability in the hands of experienced German pilots. Our friends LuftManu and Avimimus have teamed up to prepare interesting videos of these birds that give a nice overview. The release of this update commences the Early Access program for Flying Circus Vol.III - if you consider acquiring it eventually, these new aircraft are only a few mouse clicks away right now. Of course, there are other improvements and fixes in the update change log: 5.105 Halberstadt D.II is available via the Flying Circus Vol. III Early Access program; Nieuport 11 is available via the Flying Circus Vol. III Early Access program; Photo recon missions on the Arado Ar 234 jet are added to Bodenplatte Career mode timeframe (Sonderkommando Sperling); Fw 190 A-3, A-5, A-6, and A-8 external textures and paint schemes improved (Martin =ICDP= Catney); Certain Spitfire Mk.IXe, P-47D-22, and P-47D-28 paint schemes corrected (Martin =ICDP= Catney); Sky Nomads campaign updated: difficulty level is lowered a bit in the first mission, the text is corrected, Spanish and French translations added thanks to enthusiasts E69_Cananas and DN308; Issues with a line drawing order on the map that could result in a wrong-looking mission route on the map have been corrected; Original ShVAK gun sounds are restored due to popular demand - the new sounds will be reworked to better fit in the overall acoustic concept; A couple of bugs in Normandy and Rhineland Career missions that could result in the player flight not traveling to the next waypoint have been found and fixed; Issues in the transport aircraft missions that could prevent them from meeting their escorts have been found and fixed; AI pilots will more efficiently wait for their lagging-behind wingmen and pursue enemy aircraft while being far from the rest of the flight. The work on the next update has already started - according to the plan, it will bring the Li-2 and possibly other new previously announced aircraft. Meanwhile, we hope you enjoy the new aircraft and, most importantly, the remaining third of the summer days! Make every one of them count. See you in the skies!

Dear Friends, The release of the next update draws closer and we have some new screens to share. Soviet paratroopers are now training in airborne operations using the new Li-2. Their comrades in their winter uniform are preparing and will join them soon. The Halberstadt D.II is in the final testing stage. As with the Nieuport 11, these two will be the first Flying Circus Vol.III aircraft to appear on your computers. Meanwhile, we have started a screenshot event - if you have Battle of Normandy (BTW, while the Summer Sale on Steam has ended, you still have a couple of days of discounts left on our website till July 16th) you can participate. Make a nice screenshot of the Normandy landings and submit it in our special Discord channel or forum thread before Thursday, July 20 at, 1900 UTC. The winner will receive a code for the collector plane of his or her choosing. See you in the skies!

Dear Friends, As the summer goes on, the work continues. One of the collector planes in development, Li-2, is nearing its release. Here are some of the WIP shots we wanted to share with you (no airborne operations shots yet - the paratroopers will learn how to jump from it next week). As you can see, unlike its unarmed C-47 cousin, this one was like a gunship wannabe - it had turrets AND a forward-firing machine gun - who knows when it might come in handy, right?! An armed transport aircraft with paratroopers and cargo inside - how much more versatile can you get? Well, add the bomb-carrying capability to this mix as well and you get a machine that ticks nearly all the boxes you ever wanted. Usually going the 'jack of all trades' route meant sacrificing something in every trade, but the USSR needed versatile aircraft. While the Western Allies during the war had plenty of long-range fighters to cover their bombers and mainly unarmed transport aircraft and had air superiority most of the time, Soviet VVS resources were always not enough. You may notice many other differences to the C-47 - different instruments and cargo doors, for instance. Even the engines were different, being Soviet-built. We hope to release this interesting aircraft later this month or in early August. See you in the skies!

Dear Friends, Today we present to you the 5.104 update. It brings a new campaign and new mission types for Career mode. 5.104 UPDATE The new historical campaign Sky Nomads now is already available on our website and on Steam. It continues the story of the Soviet fighter pilot you may know from the Blazing Steppe campaign. After having fought in the Stalingrad battle in 1942, in 1943 he found himself in a midst of a hectic battle of Kuban - the campaign title reflects a bit the nomad life of the 43rd IAP which had to constantly change airfields and endure several Luftwaffe strikes on its positions. There is more information about the campaign in our Dev Blog #344. New missions in the Career mode are photo reconnaissance, artillery spotting, and the escort of the transport aircraft on airdrop missions. The photo recon missions are now available with the Arado Ar. 234 of Sonderkommando Götz in Normandy (in the next update it will be also added to Spitfire XIVe). Artillery spotting missions are given to RAF squadrons No. 26 and No. 63 in Normandy which had the Spitfire MK.Vb and were specially trained for this task. The transport escort missions happen in the historical timeframes of the Normandy, Market Garden, Bastogne, and Varsity airborne operations - you can them in any Allied fighter squadron. Do your best to keep them safe on their way to the drop zone and back home! There are other changes and fixes in the list as well: 5.104 New historical campaign Sky Nomads (Yak-7b pilot in the battle of Kuban). There is detailed info about it in our Dev Blog #344; New Career mode missions: Photo Recon on jet Arado Ar. 234 in Normandy (Sonderkommando Götz); New Career mode missions: Artillery Spotting on Spitfire Mk.Vb in Normandy (No. 26 and No. 63 Squadrons RAF that were specially trained for this task); New Career mode missions: Transport Aircraft Escort of C-47s on their way to their drop zones during Normandy, Market Garden, Bastogne, and Varsity airborne operations timeframes; Tank campaigns Last Chance and Breaking Point are updated (added tactical numbers to aircraft involved, added new vehicles to some of the engagements); Many award descriptions updated; Ju 87D-3: the additional armor plate now moves together with the canopy as it should; Bf 109 G-6/AS: rockets correctly disappear when jettisoning their containers. WARBRD RACE 2023 WINNERS In other news - we have the winners of the air race finals. They will receive or have received gifts from us and VIRPIL Controls. As you can see, CSW_Tommy454 grabbed the first prizes in both categories - air races are unpredictable and two participants crashed in their Messerschmitts after performing a difficult maneuver! The race stream is available here. Also, if you have participated in the race qualification, don't forget to check your profile on IL-2 website - there is a -50% off promo code applicable to all released content, including the newest ones like Spitfire XIVe, SSW D.IV or Battle of Normandy. JULY CALENDAR Finally, here's an artwork ready to become your desktop wallpaper for next month if you wish (FullHD, 4K). See you in the skies!

The question that remains is, will there be a new module for the BOX series or will they turn to a new title with a new engine and code. The old il2 1946 was developed quiet well at the end and recieved more advanced codeing to improve it as much as possible.

Dear Friends, This year we have already released two previously announced Collector Planes. Today we would like to share plans for the future aircraft. In addition to the already released Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XIVe Bubbletop and Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 A/S, the plan for this year includes: 1. Li-2 - Soviet military transport aircraft. Unlike the original C-47 (Li-2 was based on it under license), it was also used as a bomber and had an optional turret and even forward firing weaponry. The planned release date is Summer 2023. 2. American towable glider (!) WACO CG-4A, which has been widely used during the Normandy landings. The planned release date is Fall 2023. 3. Soviet fighter La-5 series 38 with a teardrop-shaped canopy. Its lighter design had a positive effect on the characteristics of the aircraft compared to earlier models. The planned release date is Fall 2023. 4. Romanian fighter IAR-80/81 in two basic variants («long» and «short»). Both variants and 7 modifications of the aircraft are described in detail in DD #334. The planned release date is the end of 2023. Please note: since this Collector Plane will be effectively two significantly different aircraft (different fuselages, different flight characteristics, different paint scheme kits, there are differences in their cockpits as well) in one package, its pre-order price will increase on May 17th to the level of larger Collector Planes like C-47. Of course, the pre-orders placed before this date won’t be affected by this change, so if you’re interested in getting these aircraft eventually, please consider doing so before May 17th. 5. The development of three new fighters scheduled for 2024 has begun: German interceptor Focke-Wulf Ta 152 Soviet legendary biplane Polikarpov I-153 «Chaika» British fighter Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IXc armed with 7.69 mm machine guns and a different tail. 6. By the end of 2023, it is planned to complete the development of the Flying Circus Vol.III which will include eight aircraft: F.E.2b R.E.8 Hanriot HD.1 Nieuport 11.C1 Nieuport 17.C1 Nieuport 17.C1 GBR Albatros D.II Halberstadt D.II It is also planned to complete the Western Front 1918 map and populate the entire front line with objects. This updated version of the map will be available in different seasons. 7. The story of Flying Circus continues: plans for 2024 include additional improvements to the map and the development of seven new collectible aircraft: Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter B Sopwith Pup Airco DH.2 Albatros D.III Roland C.IIa Fokker E.III 8. We’re also helping a team of enthusiasts who are working on a new map of one of the theaters of operations on the Eastern Front. A significant progress has been made - we hope that the map will become part of the Great Battles game world soon. The details about the map and the development team will be revealed later. Since the Battle of Normandy release, 9 World War II aircraft, 15 World War I aircraft and two maps have already been produced or are in development. And that's not all! Your support motivates us to improve and extend the Great Battles series. A new historical campaign is in the final stage of development - it is dedicated to the operation of Yak-7 fighter armed units. This year we plan to release another campaign and there are ideas for creating three new campaigns already. In addition, this year we’re updating a number of previously created campaigns to integrate new technologies and content developed recently (you can see the Tank Crew campaigns being updated in the screenshots below). The 1C Game Studios team wishes you good luck and aerial victories in the virtual sky! Congratulations on the upcoming Victory Day!

The DD's give the game a more "alive" feeling. AI could be better, if you compare the old 1946, that was a very good sim at the end, with plausible AI, good radio chat and your wingman was doing what you told him. What never catched me was the WOFF WW1 and WW2 series ... never saw it somewhere else than here on CA or read any review about it.

I had a lot of fun flying it, enjoying it and testing the new stuff. For now we are testing the G6AS and that's it for now. Silence since the last year about the new development or projects, ideas etc

The Developers have reduced the amount of Developer Diaries per month. The Info that goes out is also limited now and we and the community have no idea what will be the next title or step. They have announced a new "Game", more staff and more investments into their work, engine and content. But we have to wait until they wake up from the last winter, and we have no idea how the current war affect their work Best regards Martin

Dear Friends, Today is an important day for the project. We are proud to present the results of joint work with our partner "Ugra Media" - the Flying Circus Vol. II release. We have completed the Western Front 1918 map to the planned degree, as well as the development of the Career game mode (the full list of changes is available at the end of the news). During the work on the Career, we created new types of missions and adapted a significant number of existing ones to match the realities of the war in the skies of 1917-1918. FLYING CIRCUS VOL. II Flying Circus Vol. II includes: The map "Western Front 1918" containing northwestern and southeastern parts of the front line and Quick Mission Builder mode for it. Pilot’s Career mode for WWI. French fighter Spad VII.C1 in two variations. British Sopwith Triplane rotary engine fighter. French rotary engine fighter Nieuport 28.C1. French medium two-seat bomber Breguet 14.B2. British medium two-seat bomber Airco DH.IV. British heavy twin-engine bomber Handley Page 0-400. German Fokker D.VIII monoplane fighter. German fighter Pfalz D.XII. German heavy twin-engine bomber Gotha G.V. German two-seat recon/bomber DFW C.V. FLYING CIRCUS VOL. III Also, 1C Games Studios and Ugra Media have entered into an agreement to develop the third part of the project - Flying Circus Vol. III. It will include 8 aircraft: German Albatros D.II fighter German fighter Halberstadt D.II French Nieuport 17.C1 fighter French Nieuport 11.C1 fighter French fighter Nieuport 17.C1 GBR adapted for British service French Hanriot HD.1 fighter. British two-seat reconnaissance aircraft R.E.8. British two-seat medium bomber F.E.2b. In the 3rd part of the project, it is planned to make the Western Front map and the Pilot Career mode final. Map objects and Career mode will cover the entire length of the front lines on the map, complementing and improving the content of Rise of Flight. There will be new industrial plants, farms, front line objects and other details. The map will have five seasons: Summer, early Autumn, late Autumn / early Spring, Winter and Spring. Release of the Flying Circus Vol. III is scheduled for the end of 2023. The first airplanes of the set will be available this summer via the early access program our players are familiar with. FUTURE PLANS After the completion of FC-III, there are plans for 2024 to develop an additional set together with Yugra Media that will reproduce the remaining land-based aircraft in Rise of Flight. It is currently planned to include: British Sopwith Pup fighter. British rear-engine fighter Airco DH.2. British two-seat reconnaissance Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter. German fighter Albatros D.III. German Fokker E.III monoplane fighter. German two-seat reconnaissance Roland C.IIa. We plan to further improve the maps of Flying Circus projects, supplement their development and add the airfields that are located further from the front line. Please note that the Western Front map is available to all players who have purchased at least one of the Flying Circus projects. This map will be further improved and supplemented. SPITFIRE MK.XIVE RELEASED In addition to the Great War news, we would like to present a new British collectible aircraft from the final period of the WWII - the Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XIVe. The main difference between this aircraft and the previous Mk.XIV is the teardrop-shaped canopy, which provides a better view. The aircraft has several modifications available: 150 grade fuel allowing +21 lb boost. Automatic supercharger gear shifting is disabled, stages should be manually switched at 11000 ft altitude (20 km/h estimated speed increase at sea level). Two 250 lb G.P. bombs with racks (250 kg weight increase, 22 km/h speed loss, 11 km/h speed loss after drop). 500 lb G.P. bomb with rack (237 kg weight increase, 12 km/h speed loss, 6 km/h speed loss after drop). Replacement of MkII Gyro Gunsight with MkII* Reflector Gunsight. Clipped Wing. Rear view mirror (1 kg weight increase, 1 km/h speed loss). F.24 photo camera installation behind the cockpit (28 kg weight increase). Clipped wing only. Rounded exhaust pipes. It is already in the sim and available on our website and on Steam. WINGS OVER CAEN FREE CAMPAIGN RELEASED As we have announced in Dev Blog 338, this update contains a gift for all owners of Battle of Normandy. Wings over Caen tells about the tour of duty of No. 245 Squadron RAF«Northern Rhodesia» in the summer of 1944. Over the course of 10 hectic missions, you will be able to feel the difficulties its Typhoon pilots experienced after their rebase to Normandy. We have also added the single missions for all Normandy aircraft plus C-47 (make sure to check them out!) and the last of the ships planned for this theater - Fighter Direction Tender. You can find the full list of changes in this update below. 5.101 Major Features The WWI Western Front map improved, Flying Circus Career mode added, Flying Circus Vol.II released; The Spitfire Mk.XIVe with Teardrop Canopy Collector Plane released; New action-rich historical campaign Wings over Caen added (it's free for Battle of Normandy owners); 11 interesting single missions added for all aircraft of the Battle of Normandy, including Arado and Spitfire XIV, and C-47; FDT (Flight Direction Tender) ship added, it was created as part of the Battle for Normandy; Blazing Steppe, Fortress on the Volga and Ice Ring campaigns updated (tactical numbers and correct paint schemes added for each aircraft, the number of aircraft increased by 15-20% in most missions, missions updated for the new sim version and re-tested); His Majesty Griffons campaign updated (tactical numbers and correct paint schemes added for each aircraft, Ar 234 flight added to mission 9, American vehicles replaced by British in UK held territory, missions updated for the new sim version and re-tested); Hawks Over the Bulge campaign updated (fixed waypoints); Added 9 single missions for Flying Circus Vol.II airplanes; AI Changes Fixed bugs when AI pilots drop paratroopers and cargo containers (difficulty calculating an approach, wingmen not dropping cargo after the leader); Corrected evasive maneuvers for World War I aircraft AI pilots, which previously sometimes led to a spin and collision with the ground; Fixed an issue with AI pilots climbing in formation, which, in particular, could cause the wingmen to fly with their flaps extended and therefore lag behind the rest of the flight; Improved formation keeping by AI pilots during climb and descent; AA searchlights on a truck chassis function correctly; Aircraft Changes Pe-2 Ser. 35 and Pe-2 ser. 87 - crew models updated; Pe-2 Ser. 35 and Pe-2 ser. 87 - Female Crew modification added; Pe-2 Ser. 87: fixed the texture of the machine gun trigger guard in the upper turret (regular and closed); The location of tactical number symbols has been corrected on the “Two-color” and “White” skins for IL-2 mod. 1943 and the "White" skin for the Yak-1 ser. 69; Airco D.H.4, Handley-Page O/400 and Breguet 14: flight commander flares fired when giving orders won’t damage the aircraft wing; A-20B: fixed a problem with the display of the tail signal lights at a distance; The size of off-road bumpy terrain features on the Normandy map now corresponds the other maps (Kuban, Rhineland, etc.); Balloon operators launch flares when given a mission command MCU Command: Flare; Detailed tanks launch flares when given a mission command MCU Command: Flare; Fw 190 A5/A6/A8: fixed a number of minor typos in the cockpit; Hs.129: SC50 bomb racks are linked to the middle part of the wing (was to the outer one); Spitfire Mk.XIV critical engine operating modes have been adjusted similar to Mk.XIVe. Spitfire Mk.XIV aircraft behavior when extending and retracting flaps has been corrected. Spitfire Mk. XIV formation lights look correct from a distance when clipped wings are selected; Spitfire Mk. XIV: fixed a bug due to which the fuel tank damage could be calculated wrong when hitting wing tanks; Bf 109 G-4: aerodynamic drag and weight of bombs and bomb holders is calculated correctly; Me 410 A-1: Stuvi scope wind speed readings have been adjusted to match the values in the technochat; All Bf 109, all Fw 190, IL-2, MiG-3, LaGG-3, MC-202: the point of application of the air drag of the underbelly and underwing cannons has been fixed (it was applied incorrectly, in the center of the aircraft); All Bf 109: fixed a bug due to which gunpods were linked to the wingtip instead of the middle part of the wing; Bf 110 G-2: fixed propeller blur at low rpm; Ar 234 B-2: increased drop in aerodynamic quality of the wing when its part is shot off; Fixed a random crash bug when setting C-47A engine cowl flaps streamwise; C-47A engine cowl flap control valves are named correctly in the cockpit; Fixed display of the Ju 87D-3 gunner's cockpit in multiplayer when a guest gunner is connected; Recovery time of time limited engine modes have been adjusted (now the required recovery time is proportional to the time limit itself); Tank Crew Changes Fixed excessive damage to gun barrels by shell fragments when hitting the rear of the turret; It is again possible to damage the player controllable tank Pz.Kpfw. V Ausf.G “Panther” undercarriage; The GUI display of the number of rounds left in a player controllable tank has been fixed; Churchill tracks are visible in the first person view; The hull armor is correctly taken into account when calculating an APHE hit at the front part of the Churchill gear box; Western Front 1918 Map Changes General fixes for the Western Front map, Spring 1918: Leveled terrain under the Ochey airfield (2630-1); Leveled terrain under the Pronville airfield (0908-5); Restored objects on the airfield La Bellevue (0905-7); Added airfield Marville (1726-5); Changed the name of the airfield to Avesnes-le-Sec West (0811-1); Removed a flooding from the Etain airfield (1927-2); Fixed forest clearings (1327-4, 1427-8, 1328-2, 1325-3); Removed the overlapping of buildings in the villages on the front line and trenches (1306-7, 1206-5, 0807-4, 0506-6, 0307-6, 0207-3, 2432-1, 2532-8); Airfield Bernes (1209-4) - the sign has been removed from the hangar; Train station Lille (0409-7) - removed the extra model of the station, mistakenly added to the map; Airfields Stenay and Stenay South (1724-8) and Belrain (2425-7) have leveled terrain; Added the city of Luxembourg (1531); Added Fort Verdun (2025-6); Many farms have been added to the countryside; Ypres (0107-3) - added a canal near the city; Bridge markings added (1421-3, 1425-4, 1425-3, 1426-2, 1426-3, 1427-1, 1427-8, 1428, 2831-6, 2831-9, 2832-8, 2832 -9, 2520-4, 2520-7, 2519-6, 2625, 0815-4, 0715-7, 0815-8, 0314-5, 0214-3, 0507-4, 0611-5); Added missing ground textures near buildings (1203-5, 1203-6, 1203-8, 1406-1, 1306-4, 1310-9, 1103-5, 1105-9, 0910-4, 0911-1, 1523-5 , 1425-1, 0806-9, 1621-1, 1721-9, 1624-4, 1624-1, 1627-2, 1820-9, 1820-2, 1921-9, 2027-8, 2028-4, 2029 -5, 2029-3, 0607-5, 0505-2, 2128-5, 0402-3, 2229-8, 2229-1, 2230-5, 2231-9, 2230-5, 2431-2); Corrected forest clearings (1327-4, 1427-8, 1328-2, 1328-5, 1325-3); Removed trees from houses 0506-4, 0508-7, 0508-3, 0510-7, 0610-2, 0610-8, 0608-7, 0608-7, 0606-5, 0605-8, 0605-9, 0606-7, 0608- 3, 0609-1, 0508-7, 1207-1); Added missing textures for railways (1307-3, 0203-3, 0605-9, 0605-8); Toul airfield (2629-8) - the terrain at the end of the runway has been leveled. Other Сhanges An excessive shine of camouflage nets fixed; Fixed a bug in the operation of the air reconnaissance, artillery correction and photo reconnaissance GUI, which led to inability to use it if there were ground vehicles in the mission; Fixed a bug in the work of MCU: ComplexTrigger, due to which the event of dropping paratroopers worked regardless of the specified country; Updated the sounds of air explosions of medium and large caliber AA rounds; Added separate sounds of air explosions for the British QF13-pounder 6 cwt (76.2 mm) and the German Flak 77 L/27 AA guns; Updated external and internal (heard from cockpit) sounds of the ShVAK autocannon; Fixed assignment of tactical codes to the aircraft of the player's cover flight in the Career mode; Tactical codes generated for a mission shouldn’t be applied to the unique skins in the hangar; Mission Editor: Fixed the drop-down list of countries in the Properties section for airfields.

Dear Friends, Our team has finished the development of the new update 5.004, and it is released. Sopwith Snipe and many updates. The year 2022 is drawing to a close and we did our best to bring you a new update on Christmas Eve. It bears the number 5.004 and adds the Great War Collector Plane Sopwith Snipe to our series. It is a late war aircraft equipped with the most powerful Bentley BR2 rotary engine, producing up to 234 horsepower. By comparison, the Sopwith Camel fighter's Clerget 9B engine produced 130 hp. At the same time, however, the Snipe is 200 kilograms heavier than its predecessor (more than a quarter). Overall, the new fighter is more stable in flight and has better speed and climb characteristics. Everyone who has purchased an airplane now has the opportunity to master it and use it in combat. In addition to the new vehicle, in update 5.004 we are releasing two AI armored vehicles for the Normandy and Bodenplatte projects - the M8 Greyhound and the SdKfz 234/2 Puma. You'll find new scenario missions for Churchill and StuG III in this update, they were created by community enthusiast super-truite and his friends. More than 80 improvements were made to the "Western Front, Spring 1918" map, which is in the early access phase and is currently being finalized. There are a number of other improvements and fixes to player controllable aircraft, tanks and artificial intelligence. A complete list of changes in the version 5.004 follows: 5.004 1. The Sopwith Snipe, a Royal Air Force collector aircraft from the final phase of the Great War, is now available to its owners; 2. Battle of Normandy AI armored vehicle M8 Greyhound added; 3. Battle of Normandy AI armored vehicle SdKfz 234/2 Puma added; 4. Scenarios for collectible vehicles Churchill and StuG III added (super-truite); 5. Mk.37 rig model for the 5'/38-gun Mk.12 on the Bayfield and Liberty ships updated; 6. Fixed a bug in the aircraft AI leading to incorrect maneuver choices and incorrect aircraft behavior in aerial combat, which was especially noticeable on WWI airplanes; 7. AI pilots correctly climb while maintaining formation; 8. AI pilots controlling high speed capable aircraft are less likely to use risky high-altitude maneuvers at lower altitudes (previously these could led to a collision with the ground); 9. AI pilots should better avoid collisions in some maneuvers, especially in a frontal attack; 10. The tail section damage texture has been fixed on all Bf-109s; 11. The placards were corrected along with other minor improvements on Bf-109 E7, He 111 H6/H16, Ju-87 D3, Spitfire Mk.Vb/IXe/XIV (Oyster_KAI); 12. Incorrect operation of GUI information bar in player controllable tanks has been fixed; 13. C-47A: a number of visual inaccuracies and technical problems with the aircraft model has been fixed, including the shape of upper air intakes on engine nacelles; 14. C-47A: phosphorescent cockpit instrument illumination restored; 15. C-47A: fixed a bug with a broken window when the landing door is opened for bailing out; 16. C-47A: fixed a bug in the bail out animation that caused crew members to visually appear outside the cockpit for a moment; 17. C-47A: added a feature to align engine flaps with the flow; 18. C-47A: a fixed bug with radio compass working on powered off aircraft; 19. Me 262A: fixed reflections in cockpit instruments; 20. Stug III Ausf. G gun now takes more time to reload if the loader is unbuttoned; 21. Crew gestures have been added for the Churchill IV and the Stug III; 22. Stug III Ausf. G - fixed an incorrect position of the machine gun after loader's death, if it was in anti-aircraft position; 23. Stug III Ausf.G. - corrected wrong animation of the side correction input control; 24. Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.G - main gun reloading sound aligned with the visual animation; 25. Mission editor: skins which consist of several textures are correctly displayed in the skin list; 26. It is possible to shoot off the trunk behind the turret on Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf.M, Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.G, Pz.Kpfw.VI Ausf.H and Churchill IV; 27. It is possible to shoot off the commander cupola on the Tiger; 28. Range of smoke grenade launchers corrected for all player controllable vehicles; 29. Improved sorting of visual effect particles; 30. Western Front map, Spring 1918: Treizennes airfield added; 31. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: Clairmarais airfield moved; 32. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: Ferme airfield is renamed Filescamp Farm; 33. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: Droogland Airfield moved to square 0205-8; 34. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: removed second Epehy; 35. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: added bridge to the fortress in square 0408-9; 36. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: Hoog Huys manor added; 37. Map of Western Front, Spring 1918: added Ferme manor; 38. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: Removed flooded railroad track; 39. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: corrected railroad tracks in square 1202; 40. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: Hoog Huys Airfield moved; 41. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: Filescamp Farm airfield moved; 42. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: added homestead near Droogland airfield; 43. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: corrected wrong track crossing in quadrant 0305-8; 44. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: improved appearance of Thionville Steelworks East and Thionville Steelworks; 45. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: the village of Crochte has been renamed Merckeghem; 46. Western Front map, Spring 1918: Hondschoote village renamed Esquelbecq; 47. Western Front map, Spring 1918: Droogland village moved to square 0205-8 and renamed Winnezeele; 48. Western Front map, Spring 1918: Kemmelberg village moved to square 0207-5 and renamed Kemmel; 49. Map of the Western Front, Spring 1918: Aire is renamed Aire-sur-la-Lys; 50. Map of Western Front, Spring 1918: 25 obstructions on road network removed; 51. Map of the Western Front, Spring 1918: 15 wrong dead ends on the road network were removed; 52. Western Front map, Spring 1918: corrected 18 problematic entrances to railroad bridges. And to see the Snipe in action, check out our Youtube channel:

We will see, it was requested by many players and 1C made their numbers ...

Hello Pilots, Stormbirds summed up the new updates for Cliffs of Dover. A series of updates over the last several days have focused on the work that Team Fusion Simulations is busy doing turning IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover into a VR supported sim. That’s not all because they are also busy upgrading the visuals of the sim with higher resolution textures and TrueSky technology for new volumetric clouds. Here’s the latest! Try and find the bombers in these clouds Higher resolution textures, VR support, and volumetric clouds round out the headline features of a future visual update coming to IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover Blitz and Desert Wings – Tobruk. These veteran sims are getting one of the most significant updates in the series’ history when it comes to core technologies and the inclusion of the new cloud technology, on its own, will likely be as transformative as it has been for other sims that have employed it. I couldn’t agree more with this statement from Team Fusion. Have a look at some of the screenshots below or check out even more 4K resolution images here. As of yet, no release date has been offered for this update and work appears to be ongoing on this project. Still, it seems like we’re getting closer to do the time when it will become available. It should be very interesting to check out when we get there. More to come!