Props

I'm sure Jason and crew will be providing training missions, or at the very least a quick mission builder that will allow for building training missions, so that pilots can practice carrier landings and takeoffs as much as they want. Back in the day in IL2 '46 I had built several missions like this and spent a load of time flying from escort carriers in many types of aircraft to become proficient. Didn't even have a good LSO and it was difficult, especially takeoff, but if you got good on an escort carrier the big decks were a breeze.

Yep, Justin is definitely a master on the Zero, as he mentioned that he is a intelligence analyst as well as a historian I take his word over many armchair experts. Great vids I've watched them all repeatedly.

Howdy pilots, I wanted to take this opportunity to CFS oriented announce that the panel I submitted for the Expo is a go! This panel discussion helps attendees make the leap into a unique genre of flight simulation: Combat. Through an interactive, Q&A format, the discussion introduces you to the wide world of combat simulation, including platforms like DCS, IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles, and more. The panel discussion is being coordinated by virtual fighter pilot Joseph Gallwitz. Panelists include Joseph Gallwitz, Colin Czerneda (Stormbirds.blog), Jason Williams (Executive Producer, Combat Pilot), and Carlos Flors (CEO, Barbed Wire Studios). We may have up to 2 more additions to the panel and I am really looking forward to presenting what is probably the first real CFS oriented open panel the FSA Expo has had over the years. I hope those of you here attending the Expo can sit in and to meeting everyone.

Gee, only 14 hours in airports and planes for me😁. Of course I like the flying part, window seats all the way.

Something I have been thinking about a lot lately: Better Spotting! I remember in IL2 '46, flying with a squadron online I could often spot a single engine aircraft at well over 10 miles just as I did when I was learning to fly IRL, but this has been pretty much a nonstarter in IL2 GB. Sure you can spot a twin farther away, but the spotting in IL2 '46 was way better. Also I remember seeing a glint of light reflection off an aircraft at a long distance in '46 and not just for second or as a quick flash but sometimes long enough to actually plot an intercept course with. something that is non-existent in GB. So I guess that means a better LOD or render distance taking into account modern IPS, Q-OLED, etc flat monitors, Track IR and Tobii, and VR. I'm old, my vision will not get better and I can always use the extra help when it comes to spotting.

Yeah my old copy, long since disappeared, was the Bantam paperback. Great read. I find myself looking for and devouring anything I can find on Japanese aviation during WW2 these days.

I will be there having signed up some time back. We need a voice as combat flight simmers at the Expo and the organizers would definitely like to see more involvement from the CFS community. I have spoken to them several times about this topic and they are very interested in seeing growth in the CFS community at the Expo.

Hell in the Pacific is a great movie! Especially in regards to the fact that both Lee Marvin and Toshio Mifune served and fought in the Pacific theater during the war.

Yeah, I unfortunately have some doubts too. I hope it is good and up to the same standards. I really wish they had picked a story like following the 4th FG or the 56th FG instead being a fighter jock guy and the wartime history of the 4th FG is of particular interest to me (or the fighter ace competition in the pacific with guys like Bong, etc. would've really been fun, but...).

I hope I run into you there, Jason. I haven't been back to States in almost 7 years (I live in Ecuador) and coming back this summer for the FSExpo and Oshkosh Airventure (which I haven't been to in 30 years oops, damn I'm getting old;-). Of course my family will think I am coming back to visit them and I guess I'll let them hold onto that little fantasy....

Have you seen that great scene in the Mandalorian where the 2 Speeder Stormtroopers are hanging out, bored, and trying to shoot a piece of junk at about 15 paces? It's hilarious and great little easter egg tribute to how terrible Stormtroopers are at marksmanship.

My favorite back in the ol' days of IL2 '46 and the Zekes vs Wildcat server, the awesome N1K2-Ja Shiden Kai. I loved flying this plane and it was pretty deadly. But I'll happily fly whatever I'm given in the PTO.

Absolutely love my Virpil stick and if my Thrustmaster Warthog Throttle ever goes wonky I'll be replacing it with a Virpil. For pedals you can't go wrong with the MFG Crosswind.

Blooddawn1942 that's great! I installed the Premium package about a year and half back, and after optimizing it for my system it's been flawless. I switched from a RTX 3080 to 4080 with an AMD 5800X3D and it's smooth as silk with low temps to boot. I fly GA aircraft, not interested in airliners and jets for the time being. When I'm not flying MP in IL2, I am spending a fair amount of time in my F6F Hellcat practicing my carrier landings and take-offs using the HDS app. There is a WW2 carrier app but the carriers are real low "fidelity" and don't look so good so the HDS app works fine for me. Gotta get some practice in while I wait for Combat Pilot (hopefully a good Wildcat will become available for practice too).

John Wayne. I don't want to make this a JW parade, but for my 2 cents worth Sands of Iwo Jima is great even if some of the other JW war films get a little worn out after a while. IMHO his best movies are The High and the Mighty (still a flying movie) and The Searchers which is above and beyond JW's usual fare and one of John Ford's best directorial efforts. I can watch any of the JW war flicks on any given day and enjoy them but these 3 films standout from the crowd. One non-JW PTO flick that I always enjoyed was Flattop with Sterling Hayden, because there carriers of course!

My very first flight in an airplane was a Connie in 1960! I was 5 years old and we flew from Chicago to San Francisco. People still dressed up for a flight back in those days. This had a major impact on my life needless to say. And yes it is one of the most beautiful planes ever built.

I loved the Beaufighter! It was one of the only twins I flew on a regular basis in IL2 '46 and 'twas a tough old bird too.

I was incorrect, the runways were asphalt. Here's a good reference page: https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Building_Bases/bases-22.html An excerpt: The development of Midway under the Pacific Naval Air Base contracts began on March 27, 1940. A dredge was towed in, and the contractors directed their efforts toward the enlargement of the existing basins and channels. A small-boat channel, 12,000 feet long, 50 feet wide, and 10 feet deep, was dredged between Sand and Eastern islands, and a mooring berth, protected by sheet-piling, was built on the latter. Approximately 3,000,000 cubic yards of material were removed in these dredging operations. Three asphalt-paved runways were constructed on Eastern Island; each was 300 feet wide and 3250 feet, 4500 feet, and 5300 feet long, respectively. Two hangars were constructed, with parking areas and warm-up mats. Small industrial areas were erected, which included the various necessary shops and storage facilities. A large seaplane hangar, a parking mat, and one concrete ramp were constructed, and an ordnance shop, radio shop, engine shop, and a storehouse and tool room were built around the seaplane hangar to facilitate major overhaul work. Fighter, bomber, and patrol ready-rooms were constructed, and housing and messing facilities set up for operational personnel. Quonset huts were extensively used. Approximately 2800 feet of sheet-piling bulkhead was installed on Sand Island. Dredged material was pumped behind this bulkhead, and upon this fill, a large seaplane parking-mat was constructed. Four, concrete, seaplane ramps were built, together with an additional emergency ramp and approach to the mat, and a large, steel, seaplane hangar was erected on the edge of the mat. Construction was started on underground gasoline storage in twenty-two 2500-gallon steel tanks. A naval hospital was built by the contractors, who utilized three of the four existing buildings owned by the commercial cable company. These buildings, located on Sand Island, were later augmented by a large underground structure of concrete. Barracks for naval and Marine personnel were built, together with all necessary accessories such as mess halls, warehouses, administration buildings, commissaries, and cold-storage buildings. The power plant for Sand Island was housed in a bombproof structure of reinforced-concrete and steel. I am also looking for good reference maps and photos, etc. I remember watching a good documentary on the work that PanAm did to prepare the island for the Clippers and all the work involved dredging the lagoon, but I don't know if that would be much help as anything as an interesting footnote.

I saw on the Discord channel that you are looking for good data on the Midway facilities Jason, and preferred to have any info posted here rather than on Discord. Though there is a Midway topic in the General category I thought this might be better posted here. I have been re-reading Shattered Sword and that book provides a reasonably detailed map of the facilities, including AA emplacements, adapted from yet another fine book The First team (Vol.1) by Lundstrom. Lundstrom does provide more details on the this topic than Shattered Sword. I might suggest writing to the USN historical branch(es) as well. Pearl Harbor and Pensacola both have good historical departments (Pensacola also has a fully restored N1K2-J George which I hope you will get to some day, pretty please;-). I was under the impression that the runway was crushed and tamped coral, but I could be wrong on that. I am going to do some digging and see what I can find for you.

Here's a video about a few aces, one in particular, of the PTO that I thought some of you might like to check out. This same channel has quite few vids that are worth checking out and I like the fact that they cover more than the usual naval battles that other channels provide.

Yeah, I am looking forward to this as well. They seem to have a huge team in place now compared to other quality flight sims so I expect quite an upgrade. I hope they do it well. Don't care about the civilian mission so much as I have my combat sims for that sort of workout. I just enjoy exploring the landscapes available and the variety of civilian aircraft I get to fly.

What! Really? How about we focus on what Jason is bringing to the table here first. With all the possibilities the PTO, New Guinea, Burma, the Phillipines etc. have to offer and has been conspicuously missing for a decade in CFS I think maybe, just maybe, this question is about 10 years too early to be asking of this endeavor right now. Let's see what comes from their efforts before we go jumping the gun for something that is already available elsewhere, please.

The US carriers always launched and landed aircraft into the wind under way, even when damaged after an attack. There are no instances of launching or landing aircraft while the ship is dead in the water or at full stop. I would have to check on specifics but there was one instance where a carrier went full speed astern and landed their birds over the bow, but the carrier's name eludes me for the moment, I have to look that one up again. The only aircraft launches from a warship that was at anchor were the earliest attempts and experiments off battleships in early biplanes. Those did not land back aboard, but on land.

Historically Coral Sea was fought before Midway and I'd certainly be cool with that, but Jason already said Midway is first. Plus Shokaku and Zuikaku (+ Shoho) were at Coral Sea but not at Midway so on top of modelling Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu for Midway they would also have to do Shokaku and Zuikako, which I am also cool with as the more the merrier. But I am sure they have enough to chew on as it is for Midway as there were several IJN cruiser types, and destroyers, though they could put off the troop transports for a bit and maybe the oilers too to keep it simple. You wouldn't have to do the IJN battleships like Yamato, etc. because they were still several hundred miles away to the rear and were never part of the battle. And then there's the US ships and that's a little easier since all three carriers were Yorktown class so just one model. Add in the cruisers and destroyers and possibly one US submarine since one did influence the battle. So at minimum you're talking about 8 different ships at it's simplest. Coral Sea would only require about 6 or 7 since Shokaku and Zuikako are the same class with small differences and then just Lexington and Yorktown plus assorted cruisers and destroyers. Though you'd probably want to add an oiler since that also played a role in how that battle turned out. Hell, I'm in for as much as they can bring to the table, but for now it's just a waiting game. We'll see what shakes out.

Back in the day in IL2 '46 the Zekes vs Wildcats server handled it reasonably well. They had Midway, Coral Sea, and even the Iwo Jima map had Allied carriers though the Japanese flew from the island. They would use sometimes 2 sometimes 4 carriers, one each for spawn and takeoff and one each for landings (though a lot of guys figured out that you could ditch next to the carrier and still keep your points and kills - a bit of a copout but oh well). The only problem I had was the occasional "bad" flyer who spawned in with his throttle full, would be in a big hurry to takeoff and die, then would rearend you as you got set for takeoff killing both of us! And since I always went for a deck landing I didn't have to worry about the ditchers. On those maps I flew solo and with wingmen and always had a blast as there was always enough folks over the enemy for a good furball and good dogfights. And divebombing the peripheral ships was not too difficult as everyone was protecting the Carriers. They did keep the distances a little closer than real life so flying time wasn't too bad, just over the horizon, which for some parts of Coral Sea would've been just about right though IRL the 2 groups didn't know they were that close to each other at that moment.