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Dear friends, Update 5.202 is live. It brings a lot of new content and improvements in different parts of the sim. The Battle of Normandy has been expanded to include 9 aircraft instead of the standard 8: Spitfire Mk.IXc, which we released today. As it was a mainstay of the RAF in early 1944, it is a great addition to the career mode during the Normandy period. This addition is retroactive, so all existing owners of Battle of Normandy will get this new bird for free. The second and last 'long' version of the IAR fighter, I.A.R. 80-B, is also included in this update, which means that IAR-80/81 is officially released. Owners will get two aircraft in the same purchase, the 'short' 80-A and the 'long' 80-B, each with its own set of historical modifications, including fighter/bomber ones, and paint schemes. In this update we also show some love to our older planes - our engineering team has thoroughly checked and improved the FM of several planes thanks to new historical data found by enthusiasts. P-47 critical AoA and maximum wing lift have been increased and made less stable (please be more careful with the flight stick until you get used to it). All Fw 190-A roll rates have been increased. The P-40 received the 1942 engine modification that allowed it to run on emergency power for a longer period thanks to reinforced ball bearings. WW1 aircraft shaking from damage is reduced and visible damage is tuned to better match actual damage. We were also able to add manual fuel gauges to more aircraft: all Il-2s, all Fw 190-A series, all He 111s, Ju 87, and I-16. These FM improvements are even more enjoyable because the control mapping process has been streamlined: not only can you search for an assigned command by pressing a button on your control device or entering the command name, but many new on/off commands have been added to assign them to HOTAS switches - parking brakes, engine superchargers, cockpit open/close, bomb bay doors, air brakes, Ju 87 siren, individual engine propeller feathering, etc. There are also many improvements to mission generation. Flying Circus pilots get their own Advanced Quick Mission Generator on the Western Front WWI map, which was previously only available on WWII maps. There are several improvements to the career mode: the flight altitude over the Western Front during WWII is higher than on the Eastern Front, 12-13,000 feet, and there is a new mission type, Airfield Defense (see other changes below). AI pilots should now generally do a better job of attacking head-on. The historical campaign Lightning Strikes has been heavily reworked and improved, and there are fixes for the Ten Days of Autumn and Steel Birds campaigns. New experimental mission editor features mentioned in our last DD are also in - to enable them, you can add the line full_editor = 1 to the [SYSTEM] part of the data\startup.cfg file. Changes you make to water and forest maps in the editor will be visible in the game in Mods On mode. The landscape change menu will also be accessible, but it's intended for enthusiast teams working on the new maps (a map with a changed landscape will not load in the game in Mods On mode and will cause an error during loading). All in all, we have done our best to include something nice for everyone in this update, and we hope you enjoy it! See you in the skies! 5.202 Changelist The Romanian I.A.R.80/81 fighter is available in both variants (short and long) for all owners of the corresponding Collector Planes kit; British Spitfire Mk.IXc fighter is available for all owners of Battle of Normandy; Advanced Quick Mission mode has been added to the Western Front WWI map for owners of any Flying Circus module; A search by command name and assigned key/axis has been added to the control mapping settings; For easy assignment of HOTAS toggle switches, several cyclic commands are duplicated as separate on/off commands: bomb fuses, bomb bay doors, air brakes, Ju 87 siren, engine superchargers, canopy open/close, all propeller feathering, specific engine propeller feathering, tail wheel lock, and parking brakes; P-47: updated FM, reduced stability margin to better match historical data, increased maximum wing lift and critical angle of attack; P-40: added "Engine V-17190-39 (1942)" modification to reflect improvements in engine design that increased the allowable operating time at emergency modes; Fw-190 A-series: roll rate brought to historical values (increased); Fuel gauge switch control is implemented on all IL-2s, I-16, all Fw 190-A series, all He 111s and Ju-87; Career: the altitude of intercepting and escorting bombers in Rheinland and Normandy careers has been increased to 4000-4500 meters; Corrected the visual display of damage and reduced shaking when WWI airplanes are damaged; IAR 80/81: its unique bomb control system has been improved to better match the historical prototype - in the bomb drop mode the bombs are released by the main trigger (command "fire all guns"); Career: updated Airfield Defense mission; Career: Spitfire Mk.XIV fighters in Rheinland career are equipped with E-wing (two 12.7mm instead of four 7.7mm machine guns); Fixed a problem with AI pilots pulling away from a frontal attack too early; Improved routine for detecting an enemy attacking a group of AI planes from blind spots; Fixed a problem with AI gunners aiming in tanks with coaxial machine guns; Experimental features for editing water and forest maps have been added to the editor: to enable them you can add the line full_editor = 1 to the [SYSTEM] part of the data\startup.cfg file. Water and forest map changes you make in the editor will be visible in the game in Mods On mode. The landscape change menu will be also accessible, but it is intended for enthusiast teams who are working on the new maps (an existing map with an altered landscape won't load in the game in Mods On mode and will result in an error during loading). Career: in the transport escort missions for the Eastern Front career, the front line has been restored; Career: fighter-bombers have been added as targets in the Attack Intercept and Attack Escort missions; Career: Fixed rocket launches in the air without gaining the right altitude in Assault Escort missions; Career: fixed very long attack of a target by attacking aircraft on the runway for Attack Escort missions with start on the runway; Career: for Transport Escort missions for Eastern Front careers, fixed smoke hanging in the air that should be on the ground; Career: redesigned the template for escorting transports that bring cargo to the airfield instead of dropping it on parachute containers, fixed a bug with escorted transports not being able to land; Career: Fixed early scoring of mission success when the plane has not even reached its airfield yet; Career: Fixed takeoff at Malye Chapurniki airfield on Stalingrad map; Career: Added a new engine for AI P-40 fighters in Stalingrad and Kuban careers; Western Front" map: fixed takeoff at Braizieux airfield; Updated "Lightning Strikes" campaign; Added sound for all La and LaGG on the release of the bomb drop button; On La-5F and La-5FN, changed the limitation of camera downward movement when the canopy is open; IAR 80/81: Bomb racks removed from fighter modifications; Fw-190 (all): corrected animation of cockpit canopy opening handle; Ju 88 C-6: fixed a bug displaying one of the bombs in the bomb bay; Several popular multiplayer servers have their icons in the server list (please contact our Community Manager if you want to assign one to your server); Small fixes have been made to the "10 Days of Autumn" and "Steel Birds" campaigns; Improved air behavior of parachute containers and Ar 234 rocket boosters; Fixed a problem with artillery gun crews when repairing them by MCU Command: Damage.

Dear friends, The beta testing of the new update 5.202 continues: IAR-80B and Spitfire IXc are being polished and new career changes are being tested. The new control assignment features are working great. We have some good news about the upcoming Spitfire IXc: this aircraft, which was a mainstay of the RAF in early 1944, will be added to the Battle of Normandy lineup. This means that all Battle of Normandy owners will automatically receive it when the 5.202 update is released. This will make the BoN career mode even better and more realistic. It also means that both Western Front modules, Battle of Normandy and Bodenplatte, will have their own Spitfire IX, which was an iconic British aircraft of the time (there is a Spitfire IXe in the Bodenplatte module). In addition to the new content and improvements in nearly every system of the sim mentioned in our previous DD, 5.202 will bring a neat feature that many of the Mission Editor enthusiasts have been dreaming of - on-the-fly editing of landscape, forest, and water maps that previously could only be edited using 3rd party graphics editing software. This feature, developed by our lead programmer Sergey, makes editing much more intuitive and easy as you can see the effect of your changes in the sim world immediately - you can plant a forest or cut down the trees near the airfield, fill a new river or remove a lake, create a mountain or dig a ravine. Here are some preview screenshots of this feature. The new version should be ready for the release soon, in two weeks

Dear Friends, We are preparing the next update 5.202. It will bring the second, long version of the IAR-80 and the official release of both variants. The fire control system of the IAR has been corrected to reflect its peculiarity - the bombs are released by a firing trigger when the bomb control system is switched on. Another new aircraft we plan to release in this update is the Spitfire IXc, which will be a welcome addition to both the Normandy and Rhineland careers of the Western Front. This version will also feature other improvements across the board - some of them were requested by the community for quite some time and we finally have had the time to do them. Here are some notable points. AI pilots will be more aggressive in frontal attacks and will break off later. Bombers in the Western Front career mode will operate at higher altitudes than on the Eastern Front, 4-4.5 km. A new mission type will be added where you'll have to defend a friendly airfield from an enemy air raid. There are also a number of smaller fixes to various Career mode mission types. Quite a bit of improvements are being added to the input subsystem: most importantly, it will be possible to search for a command assigned to a button by pressing it or moving a control axis or search for a command by its name. To make mapping a HOTAS controller easier, several command bindings were duplicated as separate on/off or open/close pairs: bomb fuses, bomb doors, air brakes, Ju-87 siren, canopy, prop feathering (all, 1st engine, 2nd engine). As you may already know from our Q&A video, our engineers are working on updating the P-47 FM using the newly found data kindly shared by community members - we can't promise it will be ready for this update, but we're trying. The P-40 FM review is also in progress. In other news - our Steam prices now are regional, the price in each region or currency is suggested by Valve (this means that they became lower in most parts of the world, however, due to the currency value changes there are countries where the modules which were released several years ago became a bit more costly or stayed the same). The update 5.202 is planned to be released in the first half of February.

View File Spitfire Mk12 early & late --------------- Spitfire for CombatAce --------------- SF2 version 2021 TurboSquid : original 3D model Snapper21 : source file donated to CA, project development, textures editing and decals Wrench : project development origin and inis Starfighter2 : original Spitfire Mk9 cockpit JeanBa : special credit Logan4 : additionnal 3D parts and model editing to import into TW sims, textures editing, decals and inis. Cliff7600 : textures editing, decals and inis, cockpit editing. Thirdwire : textures and inis. These are the models made for CombatAce from the original TurboSquid 3D source file. It is made to be downloaded for free at CombatAce site only, and not to be used in any other way. The models have been designed for a SF2 / ThirdWire use and nothing else. Not to be merged with other files sharing the same original 3D model. - Spitfire Mk12 early - Spitfire Mk12 late Submitter Cliff7600 Submitted 09/23/2023 Category Spitfire  

View File Polish WW2 Spitfire Mk1 (2021) --------------- Spitfire for CombatAce --------------- This is a What-if skin for the Spitfire Mk1 (early) available in the "Spitfire Mk1 & Mk2 (2021)" add-on aircraft pack : https://combatace.com/files/file/17771-spitfire-mk1-mk2-2021/ This model was made for the CombatAce site. It cannot be used anywhere else and cannot be part of any payware. Only to be released at CombatAce site, following the "Freeware Licensing" rules of agreement : https://combatace.com/forums/topic/95800-freeware-licensing/ ----------------------------------------------------- Credits go to : TurboSquid : original 3D model template Snapper21 : source file donated to CA Wrench : project development origin and inis Spinners : textures and decals Logan4 : additionnal 3D work, textures editing Cliff7600 : textures editing, decals and inis Thirdwire : texture ----------------------------------------------------- This skin made by Spinners depicts a "what-if" Spitfire Mk1 of the Polish air force, in early WW2 service. Submitter Cliff7600 Submitted 09/05/2023 Category What If Skins  

View File Soviet Spitfires x 2 for STRIKE FIGHTERS 2 Soviet Spitfires x 2 for STRIKE FIGHTERS 2 This is a simple mod of the stock Spitfire IXc and clipped-wing Spitfire IXe to create flyable Spits in service with the Soviet Air Force in the 1943-1945 timeline. I've chosen to put these into the 'what-if' hangar due to the very generic nature of the 'winter' schemes and markings but please note that both of the 'summer' schemes are based on real aircraft and include Spitfires flown by the famous pilots Juan Lario Sanchez (Yellow 3) and Alexander Karpov (White 32). INSTRUCTIONS 1. From the AIRCRAFT folder drag and drop the Spitfire9c_Sov and Spitfire9e_Sov folders into your Aircraft folder. 2. From the DECALS folder drag and drop the Spitfire9c_Sov and Spitfire9e_Sov folders into your Decals folder. That's it! Please note that you will need a suitable 'prop' pilot. Please also note that you should really create a new nation for a WW2 Soviet Union. Experienced WW2 players will probably already have one but check your nation name as it might be different from my preferred nation name of 'SovietWW2'. CREDITS As always, thanks to Third Wire for a great little game/sim. Extra special thanks to Starfighter2 for the Spitfire cockpit. And, finally, thanks to everyone in the wider Third Wire community. Regards Spinners Version 1 - August 23rd, 2023 Submitter Spinners Submitted 08/23/2023 Category What If Hangar  

View File Spitfire Mk12 --------------- Spitfire for CombatAce --------------- SF2 version 2021 TurboSquid : original 3D model Snapper21 : source file donated to CA, project development, textures editing and decals Wrench : project development origin and inis Starfighter2 : original Spitfire Mk9 cockpit Logan4 : additionnal 3D parts and model editing to import into TW sims, textures editing, decals and inis. Cliff7600 : textures editing, decals and inis, cockpit editing. Thirdwire : textures and inis. These are the models made for CombatAce from the original TurboSquid 3D source file. It is made to be downloaded for free at CombatAce site only, and not to be used in any other way. The models have been designed for a SF2 / ThirdWire use and nothing else. Not to be merged with other files sharing the same original 3D model. - Spitfire Mk12 Submitter Cliff7600 Submitted 08/10/2023 Category Spitfire  

View File [Fictional] Supermarine Spitfire Mk.22 'New Zealand' Supermarine Spitfire Mk.22 'NZ' for STRIKE FIGHTERS 2 This is a simple mod of the stock Third Wire Spitfire Mk.22 to create a fictional Spitfire Mk.22 in service with the Territorial Air Force of New Zealand in the 1948-1957 timeline. Markings for the following four TAF squadrons are included; No.1 (Auckland) Squadron No.2 (Wellington) Squadron No.3 (Canterbury) Squadron No.4 (Otago) Squadron (choice of markings - 'yellow diamond' or yellow & blue checkers). INSTRUCTIONS 1. From the AIRCRAFT folder drag and drop the Spitfire22nz folder into your Aircraft folder. 2. From the DECALS folder drag and drop the Spitfire22nz folder into your Decals folder. That's it! CREDITS As always, thanks to Third Wire for a great little game/sim. Extra special thanks to Starfighter2 for the Spitfire cockpit. And, finally, thanks to everyone in the wider Third Wire community. Regards Spinners Version 1 - August 5th, 2023 Submitter Spinners Submitted 08/05/2023 Category What If Hangar  

View File Spitfire Hydroplane Mk1 / Mk5 / Ki-65 --------------- Spitfire for CombatAce --------------- SF2 version 2021 TurboSquid : original 3D model Snapper21 : source file donated to CA, project development and textures editing Wrench : project development origin and weapons pack Starfighter2 : original Spitfire Mk9 cockpit Logan4 : additionnal 3D parts and model editing to import into TW sims, textures editing, decals and inis. Cliff7600 : textures editing, decals and inis, cockpit editing. Thirdwire : textures and inis. Bunyap and Killerbee : weapon packs The guns come from the "SF2_Gun_collection" by Flogger23 These are the models made for CombatAce from the original TurboSquid 3D source file. It is made to be downloaded for free at CombatAce site only, and not to be used in any other way. The models have been designed for a SF2 / ThirdWire use and nothing else. Not to be merged with other files sharing the same original 3D model. - Spitfire Mk1a Hydroplane - Spitfire Mk1a Hydroplane Long Range - Spitfire Mk5b Hydroplane - Spitfire Mk5b Hydroplane w Vokes filter - Ki-65 Hydroplane Only two aircrafts of this pack actually existed : R 6722 and W 3760 Submitter Cliff7600 Submitted 07/13/2023 Category What If Hangar  

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!

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!

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.

View File Spitfire Mk6b / b Trop --------------- Spitfire for CombatAce --------------- SF2 version 2021 TurboSquid : original 3D model Snapper21 : source file donated to CA Wrench : project development origin and inis Starfighter2 : original Spitfire Mk9 cockpit Logan4 : additionnal 3D parts and model editing to import into TW sims, textures editing, decals and inis. Cliff7600 : textures editing, decals and inis, cockpit editing. Thirdwire : textures and inis. These are the models made for CombatAce from the original TurboSquid 3D source file. It is made to be downloaded for free at CombatAce site only, and not to be used in any other way. The models have been designed for a SF2 / ThirdWire use and nothing else. Not to be merged with other files sharing the same original 3D model. - Spitfire Mk6b - Spitfire Mk6b Trop Submitter Cliff7600 Submitted 02/06/2023 Category Spitfire  

Dear Friends, Today is a big day. IL-2 Sturmovik team is glad to report that after almost three years of development Battle of Normandy is out of Early Access and is officially released - 5.001 update is out! «You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.» Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. The official release also means that in addition to Battle of Normandy Premium Edition in our webstore there’s now Standard Edition without two Collector Planes - German jet bomber Arado Ar 234 and British fighter Spitfire Mk.XIV (they can be bought individually). On Steam the new module and its accompanying Collector Planes will appear in the coming weeks - please stay tuned while we work out the details. As usual, Battle of Normandy owners who have linked IL-2 and Steam accounts can access all the new content in the Steam version already. These years weren’t easy, but they were very interesting. During the development we have created many new technologies and approaches, did a lot of historical research, implemented new solutions. The last aircraft for Battle of Normandy were released in Early Access in August and today we add the last pieces - the map of the Northern France and Southern England, Pilot Career mode, Quick Mission Builder and Advanced Quick Mission Generator support for the new map. We have told about the Career mode and the new map in our recent Dev Blogs, but must point out again that they set the new record in terms of the work involved. New mission types, new airfield types, new airfields appearing on the map after D-Day - bringing their total amount to 100 airfields with historically accurate layouts! New objects created specially for the module - ships, ground vehicles, buildings, coastal defenses, V-1 buzzbombs and their launch positions, dozens of new aircraft paint schemes, etc. Battle of Normandy contains 10 player controllable aircraft (8 in the Standard Edition): - Hawker Typhoon Mk.Ib – British fighter/bomber, - North American P-51B-5 Mustang – American long range fighter, - Republic P-47D-22 Thunderbolt – American fighter/bomber, - Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 Late – late version of the German fighter, - Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-6 Würger - German fighter, - De Havilland Mosquito F.B. Mk.VI ser.2 – British twin engine fighter-bomber, - Messerschmitt Me 410 A-1 Hornisse – German twin engine fighter-bomber, - Junkers Ju 88 C-6 – German twin engine heavy fighter, - Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XIV – British fighter (Collector Plane included in the Premium Edition), - Arado Ar 234 B-2 Blitz – German twin engine jet bomber and recon aircraft (Collector Plane included in the Premium Edition). Each aircraft includes a slew of historically correct modifications - unlike other games where each modification would be counted as a separate aircraft model, in Great Battles you can freely select and combine them. For instance, Me-410 A-1 mentioned above has modifications that, when selected, make it a whole model lineup: 1. Me-410 A-1/U2, 2. Me-410 A-1/U4, 3. Me-410 B, 4. Me-410 B-2, 5. Me-410 B-2/U1, 6. Me-410 B-2/U2, 7. Me-410 B-2/U4, 8. Me-410 B-2/U4 field mod with four MG 151 guns. In addition to the all above, update 5.001 contains the results of the big work on the damage model improvements which are of course are applicable to all the modules as usual - as you can see in the long list below, it required many changes in various parts of the sim. The testing and tuning of these changes by beta-testers from the community took a lot of time. We think this is the big step forward for Great Battles series and hope you’ll enjoy it. There are many other fixes and improvements - for instance, the mission loading time has been reduced dramatically, several times less on some PC configurations! The pilot and tank crew AI got better, etc.: Main Features 1. All Battle of Normandy owners have access to Northern France and Southern England map in two variations (before and after the D-Day). As usual, in multiplayer mode the map can be accessed by all Great Battles players. 2. All Battle of Normandy owners have access to the mid-1944 Career mode (3 countries, 5 phases, 17 frontline states, 225 historical squadrons, 103 of them joinable by the player, many new mission types). 3. All Battle of Normandy owners have access to QMB and AQMG game modes on the new map for a quick action, also with many new mission types. 4. Numerous new aircraft paint schemes added, including different invasion stripes for various time periods of 1944. 5. PzKpfw IV Ausf.H. tank added (AI controlled). 6. Flakpanzer IV «Möbelwagen» SPAA added (AI controlled). 7. Gleaves-class destroyer added (AI controlled). 8. The loading speed of all missions on all Great Battles maps has been improved significantly. Damage Model Improvements 9. Aircraft DM: RHA equivalent of the aircraft skin has been reduced nearly three times to the previous (wrong) values. 10. Aircraft DM: an issue that made aircraft skin damage too severe for larger bombers and some fighters has been fixed. 11. Aircraft DM: like the previously released change for larger caliber ammo, now all projectiles in the game loose integrity and stability after penetrating a significant armor thickness which affects their remaining ability to penetrate armor. 12. Aircraft DM: the relative speed of the target is correctly accounted for projectile penetrations calculations. 13. Aircraft DM: AP bullets and shells make slightly bigger holes in the airframe and aircraft skin. 14. Aircraft DM: powerful HE rounds explosions cause more damage to the airframe, aircraft skin and components. 15. Aircraft DM: small HE bullets cause less damage to aircraft skin. 16. Aircraft DM: it is now possible to damage radiators and fuel tanks when firing 7.62-7.92 rounds from more than 350 m distance. 17. Aircraft DM: bullets are less likely to ricochet from aircraft skin at low angles. 18. Aircraft DM: Bf 109 radiator collision model has been improved (previously its wrong shape could cause most smaller caliber bullets to ricochet when fired directly from behind). 19. Aircraft DM: the loss of the bullets energy hitting Bf 109 F-4 engine has been corrected. 20. Aircraft DM: an issue that caused bullets hitting Spitfire Mk.XIV MGs and guns to not lose energy has been fixed. 21. Aircraft DM: engine fire probability from bullet hits has been somewhat increased for WWI-era piston engines and jet engines. 22. Aircraft DM: engine fire probability from bullet hits has been reduced for WWII-era piston engines. 23. Aircraft DM: fuel tank fire probability from bullet hits has been reduced. 24. Aircraft DM: fuel tank fire and explosion probability from HE ammo hits has been reduced, now it depends on the HE power more. 25. Aircraft DM: it’s now harder to put out the fires by side-slip movement. 26. Aircraft DM: the several years old ‘crew health cheat’ (they required four point-blank 7.62 bullets in the torso or two in the head to be killed) has been removed. Now their ability to sustain damage is much more close to reality. 27. Crew DM: a random error that could cause a death from mild G-loads has been found and fixed, thus improving survivability rate during emergency landings. 28. Ballistics: ricochet tendency has been reduced somewhat. 29. Right wing MGs on P-51B can be correctly damaged. 30. P-51B and D fighters wings (middle-upper parts) can be correctly damaged. Me 410 Improvements 31. Me 410A-1: weapon panel placards corrected for WB 151 and MG 131 modifications. 32. Me 410A-1: missing rods from bomb doors to the forward window added. 33. Me 410 A-1: speed and timer gauges in the pilot’s cockpit corrected. 34. Me 410 A-1: altitude and speed gauges in the gunner’s cockpit corrected. 35. Me 410 A-1: bomb holders for 250 kg bombs and for SB 1000/410 look corrected. 36. Me 410 A-1: radiator fenders indicators light up when the cockpit light is turned on. 37. Me 410 A-1: the rear landing gear state affects air drag. 38. Me 410 A-1: technochat message warning about the gun overheating restored for the gunner. 39. Me 410 A-1: now the gunner can use the entire horizontal range of the guns for aiming. 40. Me-410 A-1: radiators can be correctly damaged by AP projectiles, resulting in coolant leaks. 41. Me 410A-1 intercept missions added to AQMG game mode. Tank Crew Improvements 42. M4A2, KV-1s, Pz.IV.G, Pz.V.D, Pz.VI.H1 hatches close when the turret blocks them. 43. The damage of the gun barrels base on Pz.III, Pz.IV and Pz.VI is calculated correctly when it is hit by fragments. 44. In multiplayer a guest gunner (who connected to someone else tank) won’t constantly hear the turret turning mechanism noise. 45. In multiplayer a tank owner won’t hear the gun or MG reloading sound when another player connected to his tank to the gunner or MG gunner station. 46. In multiplayer turning aircraft or tank turrets controlled by another player emit correct turning sounds. AI Improvements 47. AI controlled bombers keep formation a bit better during climb. 48. AI pilots will attempt to return to base in the event of an oil or coolant leak. 49. Me 410 pilots will correctly drop bombs in a deep dive. 50. Mosquito, Ju 88 C6 and Me 410 pilots will correctly drop underwing bombs. 51. Twin and 4x guns in AI controlled vehicles won’t judder during aiming. Other Improvements 52. Dropping an 1650 pounds bomb from Handley Page O/400 bomber won’t display an error. 53. A visual artifact in front of the right engine of Handley Page O/400 bomber has been removed. 54. An issue that caused guns and MGs to ‘float’ above certain breastwork has been fixed. 55. ‘No jamming’ difficulty option works correctly for aircraft turrets. 56. Me 410 is correctly counted in stats. 57. Visual bomb explosion effects has been corrected for cases when a bomb ricochets and goes off above the ground. 58. Proximity and CheckZone triggers in missions won’t erroneously count non-spawned and inactive objects. 59. External camera works correctly after flying beyond the map borders. 60. An issue that could lower the muzzle speed of an overheated MG before causing additional scattering of the fired bullets has been fixed. 61. Both P-47 have their idle engine RPM corrected (it was a bit too high potentially causing moving with brakes applied.

View File Spitfire Mk5c Trop (2021) --------------- Spitfire for CombatAce --------------- SF2 version 2021 TurboSquid : original 3D model Snapper21 : source file donated to CA Wrench : project development origin, inis and decals. Starfighter2 : original Spitfire Mk9 cockpit Logan4 : additionnal 3D parts and model editing to import into TW sims, textures editing, decals and inis. Cliff7600 : textures editing, decals and inis, cockpit editing. Thirdwire : textures and inis. These are the models made for CombatAce from the original TurboSquid 3D source file. It is made to be downloaded for free at CombatAce site only, and not to be used in any other way. The models have been designed for a SF2 / ThirdWire use and nothing else. Not to be merged with other files sharing the same original 3D model. - Spitfire Mk5c Trop - Spitfire Mk5c Trop 4 cannons Note : Turkish and Egyptian decals folders are common to both Mk5bT and Mk5cT models. Submitter Cliff7600 Submitted 12/08/2021 Category Spitfire  

View File Spitfire Mk5b Trop (2021) --------------- Spitfire for CombatAce --------------- SF2 version 2021 TurboSquid : original 3D model Snapper21 : source file donated to CA Wrench : project development origin and inis Starfighter2 : original Spitfire Mk9 cockpit Logan4 : additionnal 3D parts and model editing to import into TW sims, textures editing, decals and inis. Cliff7600 : textures editing, decals and inis, cockpit editing. Thirdwire : textures and inis. These are the models made for CombatAce from the original TurboSquid 3D source file. It is made to be downloaded for free at CombatAce site only, and not to be used in any other way. The models have been designed for a SF2 / ThirdWire use and nothing else. Not to be merged with other files sharing the same original 3D model. - Spitfire Mk5b Trop - Spitfire Mk5b Trop w Aboukir filter Note : Turkish and Egyptian decals folders are common to both Mk5bT and Mk5cT models. Submitter Cliff7600 Submitted 12/08/2021 Category Spitfire