IL STURMOVIK 1946

[Bootie]

And catch them just as they enter the water... swooping in low guns blazing I make a pass. And miss as my bullets impact between the trucks!!

 

[Bootie]

I go round again and in low... flying along the length of the enemy column I open up..... trucks explode as they get torn apart by my MG's.

 

[Bootie]

I swing round for one more pass.

 

[Bootie]

But AA opens up on me... pull up pull up!!

 

[PoorOldSpike]

The Gladiator biplane was well past its sell-by date in 1940, Britain must have sold a bunch off cheap to the Finns.

 

[Bootie]

My engine takes a hit and my props stop turning... can I glide it in to land!!

Not this time...

 

[Bootie]

And thus my body tangled up in the wreckage sinks to the murky depths of this river... mere meters from where I destroyed the enemy column.

 

[Bootie]

 

[zaraza]

My adventures:

Ki-84 kills Catalina on ground

Ki-84 flyby

Bristol Beaufighter almost hits ship mast

Fw190 gets Spitfire

 

[Corsaire31]

Corsaire31's IL2 pics

As it seems there are other flight jocks around here, here are some of the planes I have been flying with more or less success.

KI27 Nate: Light and easy to fly, but fires peashots and dies early...

Ki43 Oscar : same as above...

 

[Corsaire31]

Zeke : a plane for stunt flyers. First american pilots to meet them said "we were climbing up the stairs and these guys were taking the elevator" No protection for pilots and fuel tanks, a "flying zippo"...

Ki61 Hien "Tony" Powered by a german Daimler Benz online engine, very good match for the allied planes of the time. The japanese plane with my longest record of missions before being shot down by Flak while attacking Milne Bay airport. (also used as fighter bomber)

 

[Corsaire31]

Ki84 Franck: too bad for Japanese this plane came too late. More than a match for allied planes, and 20mm guns... loved it...

This closes the Japan chapter.

 

[Corsaire31]

On for the Luftwaffe :

Bf 109, my favourite plane, good visibility, easy to fly, automatic prop pitch, 20 mm gun in the prop for this F version, great climb rate. The plane with my best all around victory score.

FW 190, never got the hang of it, don't like the uneasy forward visibility, although the best roll rate of WW2 and a punchy 4 x 20 mm guns

 

[Corsaire31]

The famous JU87 Stuka. Thought I would be easily wiped out of the sky when flying these, but surprisingly second plane in survival for me. I use escape from target zone at tree top altitude. The low speed and low altitude forces enemy planes to a high angle of attack, which means lot of speed and little time to shoot. Furthermore as they come from above, my rear gunner is disturbing and eventually shot down a few. High in the sky it's just a sitting duck.

Also famous ME262, first jetplane. Tricky to fly (easy on the throttle or you're good for flameouts) even more tricky to land. The main tactics of allied pilots was to look around air bases and shoot them down in the long landing phase. Otherwise king of the sky because of speed, devastating punch with 30mm guns in the nose. Luckily enough Hitler took the foolish decision to have them modified to be used as ground pounders...

 

[Corsaire31]

RAAF

Brewster "Buffalo" Although outdated against Japanese fighters, still fun to fly, played a nice campaign called "Bushpigs". As you can see on the second picture, it can take some punishment and still make it to home plate.

 

[Corsaire31]

P40, one of the legendary fighters on the allied side. Slow and heavy, your only chance is to use boom and zoom tactics and never even try to go in a turning fight. Stable platform, good punch with several .50 MGs. Also often used as a ground pounder with 250 lb bomb.

P400 Never been very impressed flying those and never had much success either. Central engine behind the driver and nose wheel landing gear.

 

[PoorOldSpike]

I tried to buy IL-2 recently but couldn't find any on sale.

 

[Corsaire31]

It can be difficult, look for the last edition IL2 1946 that is all in one. May be by Amazon or Simware in Belgium. Otherwise the new edition IL2 Cliffs of Dover centered around the Battle of Britain should be coming out soon (announcement from Ubisoft is for March)

Edit : confirm you have it for 15 Euros at Simware www.simw.com

 

[AntiG3n]

Bushpigs! That's the one. That was a blast. I learned to love the twin-engine craft. I like playing a long static campaign with each plane to learn about it, how to fly it.

I never liked the Aircobra either, but then I played through a Soviet campaign that was thoroughly enjoyable and have liked it ever since. It's fun trying to time those 37mm rounds in the wings of a BF109. And You can rip through a flight of level-flying Stukas in seconds. And its got respectable speed and maneuverability. Thanks to that campaign its probably my most comfortable Russian fighter. Except maybe the La-5N. Man that thing is buttery.

Can't argue with the BF109 overall though.

Great screens! Must have a pretty nice machine to run high-res with plenty of AA.

 

[Corsaire31]

With the 37mm you don't need many rounds to bring down anything but for one you don't have many and for two it's a very slow rate of fire. I prefer anytime 2 x 20mm... The 37mm is also nice x 2 on the JU87 G type (Stuka) for tank busting.
On the Pacific front the Cobra has a hard time. The P400 version above has only a 20mm in the prop.
I run at 1440 x 900 with AA x4 AF x8 Intel Core Duo E8500 and ATI HD 5850 graphic, not a monster, built it more than 2 years ago and changed the graph card from 4850 to 5850 last Xmas. Running with XP pro which needs less ressources. My IL2 also runs with a compilation of mods made by the french website Check Six and I have been collecting skins since the very beginning. I use IL2 Mat Manager 2.36 for better decals, IL2Stab for launching and tuning and IL2Dcg to build dynamic campaigns.
My IL2 install is now around 21 Gigs...

Best thing I bought is a Track IR... I couldn't fly without anymore...