Flying Fortress Flight Sims

Flight Journal, Oct 2004 by Marks, Bob

BATTLEFIELD 1942 * IL-2 STURMOVIK: FORGOTTEN BATTLES * WARBIRDS 2004 * CH PRODUCTS THROTTLE QUADRANT * ACES HIGH

IN MANY WAYS, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress' stately profile symbolizes the chain-mailed fist of Allied strategic air power in WW II. With an elegant shape that belies its deadly purpose, the B-17 is, as even the most casual observer will instantly recognize, a bomber. As a WW II icon, the B-17 has been represented in many flight simulations and games.

Battlefield 1942

Battlefield 1942 (BF 1942) is one of the most accessible and just plain entertaining WW II games available. Players in this incredibly popular run/drive/shoot game are able to jump directly from the turret of a Sherman tank into the cockpit or gun turret of a B-17 bomber. BF1942's small maps relegate Boeing's long-range masterpiece to a shortrange tactical role, albeit one with one heck of a knockout punch. Whether you play offline against computer-controlled robots or online against players all over the world, your big, four-motor engine silhouette will be rightly feared by those unlucky enough to be crawling along the ground. EA Games now offers the Battlefield 1942 WW II Anthology package for $39.95, so gamers can get the basic BF1942 packaged with the Road to Rome and secret Weapons expansion packs!

Electronic Arts Games; www.eagames.com/official /battlefield 1942/home.jsp; PC CD-ROM; $19.95.

IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles

Although flying a B-17 is not an option in Ubi Soft's IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles, you may enjoy protecting a flight in an escort role or facing its withering defensive firepower head-on by intercepting a flight. Rumor has it that Ubi Soft will someday offer the B-17G as a flyable aircraft; meanwhile, you will gain a new appreciation for the monumental task that flying highaltitude top cover in a P-51D or P-47M can be. Forgotten Battles holds the bragging rights for the most realistic flight and damage modeling now available for the PC, so engaging a box of Forts at high altitudes is no easy task. The beautifully modeled B-17s in this game may make the virtual Luftwaffe pilot somewhat reluctant to put holes in its meticulously detailed skin, but don't worry; that reluctance will pass as the aluminum overcasts loom in your Messerschmitt's gunsight. Bombers at 12 o'clock high!

Ubi Soft/1C:Maddox Games; www.il2sturmovik.com; PC CD-ROM; $39.95.

Warbirds 2004

iEntertainment's Warbirds III is the grande dame of massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) that feature flight sims. For a small monthly fee, Warbird 2004 players fly online and fight for the domination of a huge virtual world that's perpetually at war. Players can fly not only the aircraft but can also man any of the defensive gun stations. Indeed, it takes an experienced bombardier to drop the high-explosive payload on target. A huge formation of individually flown and manned Flying Fortresses is a sight that will warm the heart of any WW II flight-sim buff-and one that will send enemy players running for the fastest-climbing Axis interceptors they can get their hands on.

iEntertainment Network; www.totalsims.com; PC; free download and offline play; subscription plans starting at $9.95/month.

Flight Sim Yoke USB & Throttle Quadrant

You don't fly your simulated airplanes with a mouse, so why would you guide a mighty bomber around the unfriendly skies with a joystick? One should always use the proper tools for the proper job, and this is where the CH Products Flight Sim Yoke USB and new Throttle Quadrant USB come into play. These fully programmable flight controls are the perfect complement to any flight simulation. The CH Control Manager software makes these rugged controls compatible with any number of civilian and military aircraft, but the Throttle Quadrant USB seems most appropriate for reining in the massive power of the four Wright Cyclone radial engines. Couple these controls with the CH Pro Pedal USB rudder controllers, and you have a cockpit suite that any virtual pilot will envy. CH Products has a sterling reputation in the flight-sim world; it's hard to go wrong with CH gear.

CH Products; www.chproducts.com; PC/Mac; Yoke: $149.95, Quadrant: $199.95.

Aces High

Another MMOG, Aces High also offers the Flying Fortress fan the ability to wreak havoc from on high for a few dollars a month. Although its flight model is slightly more advanced than that of Warbirds, Aces High allows players to pilot the bomber or serve as crew in much the same way as that game does. Getting together with a group of friends to cooperatively man an aircraft can prove quite an exercise in teamwork; flying a massive raid with multiple B-17s and player-flown "little friends" flying top cover is often an exercise in barely contained chaos. That said, few things are more satisfying than the sight of a dozen B-17Gs raining iron on an opponent's industrial target. After taking a few damaging hits from enemy fighters and flak, however, the virtual B-17 pilot may soon curse the challenging Aces High flight model.