Dear Friends,

We have reached another milestone in the project development and are proud to present to you our newest update 4.703, which contains a lot of awesome, new stuff.

First of all, there is a new heavy fighter in the sim – the Ju 88 C-6! It was created for the Battle of Normandy module and it was designed to take out targets easily with her impressive forward firing armament. It also had the capability to carry a significant bomb load due to it being the JU 88 airframe, which made it a truly multi-purpose aircraft.

The second and third big additions to this update is some 'heavy lumber’ from the Great War – the Handley Page O/400 and Gotha G.V for Flying Circus Vol. II.

The Handley Page was a giant capable of carrying up to 1,800 pounds of bombs, including the powerful 1,650 lb. bomb. It also has a wide selection of turret modifications for self-defense.

The Gotha is also an interesting heavy bomber that could carry up to 700 kg of bombs, but because of the very long wing and large ailerons placed on its ends this aircraft was difficult to pilot. Ailerons give a significant yaw momentum, so the pilot should be experienced and understand the physics of the process to handle it properly, especially at lower speeds.

The third big addition in the update is a new historical campaign called 'His Majesty’s Griffons' by Alexander 'BlackSix' Timoshkov. This campaign will bring you many hours of great British warbird gameplay in a late war setting. It requires the Rhineland map from the Bodenplatte module and Spitfire XIV from Battle of Normandy Premium. If you happen to have both modules or decide to buy both, it is FREE for you!

The final big piece to this important update is the new and improved rendering technology of our Sky-dome. This new approach results in a more natural looking and varied sky with a physics-based approach to sky colors etc. There are other significant improvements that come along with it such as improved lighting, less 'banding' of the sky and realistic placement of heavenly bodies based on the location of the map. Couple this new sky with our recently improved clouds and the resulting picture becomes a lot more realistic and truer to life that rivals any combat or non-combat sim product out there.

In addition to the changes highlighted above there are many other ones listed below. And please note that due to an old bug we fixed with VR, we were required to update the track format. So, tracks recorded in previous versions of the sim won't be playable. We apologize for that as always, but it is unavoidable.

4.703

Major changes

1. Ju 88 C-6 heavy twin-engine fighter is now available to all owners of the Battle of Normandy;

2. Handley Page O/400 twin-engine heavy bomber is now available to all owners of the Flying Circus - Vol. 2;

3. The Gotha G.V. WW1 twin-engine heavy bomber is now available to all owners of the Flying Circus - Vol. 2;

4. The new historical campaign His Majesty's Griffons (Spitfire XIV on the Rheinland map) has been added (it is free for players who have this map from Operation Bodenplatte and the aircraft from the Battle of Normandy);

5. The game uses completely new technology to render the celestial sphere, resulting in a more realistic picture;

6. In-game lighting has been completely reconfigured, reducing the "blue tint" (especially during winter);

7. The starry sky is now somewhat distinguishable at sunset;

8. Position of celestial bodies now depends not only on time and date, but also on geographical coordinates (including when moving on the map);

9. Winter snow rendering at close range has been improved;

10. Improved brightness balance between the ground surface and objects textures;

11. Quick Mission time settings allow to set any time, also it is possible to quickly select the time of sunset, midnight, dawn and noon;

Career mode changes

12. A new mission type, Traffic interdiction, has been added for German squadrons that flew the Bf 109 E-7, Fw 190 A-5, Fw 190 A-8, Hs 129 B-2, Bf 110 E-2/G-2, and Ju 88 C-6;

13. The Ju 88 C-6 heavy fighter is available in the Battle of Stalingrad Career mode (III./KG 76) and in the Battle of Kuban (7.(Eis)/KG 51 and 9./KG 55);

14. Player can join II./JG 3 in the Battle of Stalingrad;

15. Player can join II./KG 76 (Battle of Moscow and Battle of Stalingrad);

16. Battle for Stalingrad 7th phase (12 Dec. 1942 - 9 Jan. 1943) targets corrected (some depots to bomb were on friendly territory);

17. Rhineland map (QM, AQM, Career, Mission Editor Templates): large railway station buildings won’t visibly ‘hang’ in the air;

Aircraft changes

18. On all Bf-109 aircraft (except for the E-7) the aerodynamic characteristics of the propeller have been changed to eliminate the unrealistic behavior of the aircraft in the wake of the propeller and the possibility of "hovering on the propeller". The airframe aerodynamics of these aircraft has also been corrected so that the maximum speed, rate of climb, turn time, and acceleration time better corresponded to the reference values;

19. On all Bf-109 aircraft (except for the E-7) the effectiveness of the ailerons at high speeds has been changed (increased) (the "clamping" of the ailerons has been reduced at speeds over 400 km/h);

20. On all Bf-109s aircraft (except for the E7 and K4) the engine thermal model was corrected to eliminate the erroneous engine overheat warning message when the limits were not exceeded;

21. On Bf-109 F4 and G-series aircraft the engine model was corrected to eliminate an error that resulted in a decrease in the boost pressure before reaching the design altitude;

22. Nieuport 28 modification of the Vickers large-caliber machine guns ("Balloon gun") was corrected (150 rounds per gun instead of 200);

23. The S.E.5a machine guns are directed upwards relative to the propeller axis;

24. Fw 190 A-6: smoke from the engine exhaust is now visible from the cockpit;

25. Flying Circus Imperial system airplanes now have technochat messages also displayed in that system;

26. Aircraft with manually controlled engine exhaust flaps now appear in the sim with the flaps fully open (except for airplanes with individually configured exhaust flap positions);

27. Aerobatics smoke generators were corrected;

28. All collimator sights with a glowing reticle that has movable elements: the brightness increase effect in the center of the optical system has been corrected;

29. Ju-88 A-4 canopy jetisson looks correctly in multiplayer;

30. The ability to set an offset position of the engine control axes relative to the "common" axis in the "All Engines Selected" mode on multi-engine aircraft ("thrust difference") when the control helpers are on is possible again;

31. Flying Circus bombs' warheads were corrected;

32. Reduced posterization of the gunsight reticle halo;

33. Heavy bomber AIs won’t try to evade an attack by zig-zag maneuvering;

34. AI will correctly aim any type of forward firing weapons (such as guns and machine guns) when the ‘primary’ weapon ammunition is spent;

35. Various improvements to Ju-52, Bf-110 E-2, Ju-87 D-3 and other German aircraft cockpit textures by Oyster_KAI;

36. Landing gear position indicator light brightness corrected on all German aircraft;

Graphics changes

37. New improved fuel and engine fire effects for jet aircraft added;

38. New improved fire effects for player controllable detailed ground vehicles added;

39. Fixed posterization of the moon and stars halo;

40. Fixed an issue with Anti-Aliasing not working well enough at some angles;

41. Fixed an issue with landing lights and flares being visible through clouds;

42. Fixed an issue with a "white streak" visual artifact going down the rivers at a great distance from the camera;

43. Reduced vignetting of the "Cinematic Camera" effect;

44. Fixed an issue with an incorrect gaze direction in VR devices when switching to the gunner on aircraft where a rear gunner sits close with his back to the pilot;

Other changes

45. Sunrise and sunset times are calculated more accurately where they affect the game logic;

46. Fixed an issue that caused the radio message to repeat endlessly when an AI wingman destroyed a train;

47. Railroad platforms with M2.50 anti-aircraft guns, DSHK, Bofors L60 and Flakvierling 38 added.