IL-2: Great Battle Series developer 1CGS is showing off some new details on a variety of aircraft underway for two of the products currently under development. The Spad VII.C1, Airco DH.4, B-26 and Ar234 are all shown off in different states of development and are worth a look. We also get a bit of an overview on where other features currently stand. Plus, Steel Birds has gone on pre-order sale for a release in August!
Flying Circus Vol 2 aircraft
Let’s start with the Flying Circus aircraft and begin with the Airco DH.4. This British made two seat bomber was also reportedly agile enough to defend itself. It also managed to serve with both British and American forces during the war and went on to see service over a decade later.
Next up, we have the Spad VII.C1 which is an earlier variation on the successful SPAD design. We already have the high performing XII and now we’re seeing a slightly lesser developed version to start to fill in the 1917 aircraft set.
These aircraft look to be in good shape and are coming along nicely. No indication is given on their release date but they are likely not too far behind the Pfalz D.XII in the aircraft queue.
B-26 and Ar234
Next up we have some work in progress images on the exterior models of two Battle of Normandy aircraft – the AI piloted B-26 Marauder and the human flyable Ar234 Arado jet bomber.
The B-26 is the second Allied medium bomber into the series and its an impressive looking one at that. Queue my immediate interest and desire to fly this one day. The detailing in the meantime is very impressive looking and it should add to the variety of bomber types that we see around the series.
Finally, the Arado Ar234 was the first operational jet bomber and it saw limited service over the last two years of WWII. Notably it attacked the bridges at Ludendorff and was used in a variety of tactical bombing scenarios as well as participating in recon flights over the UK.
Pictured here is the bomber variant and that includes the rocket assisted takeoff pods slung under the wings. These pods were set to give the bomber a boost to takeoff before dropping and parachuting to the ground. They should add a bit of a “kick” to takeoff runs.
I love the looks of the Arado and I’ve flown it many times before in IL-2 1946 and Aces Over Europe previous to that. It’s a fascinating aircraft and one of those lesser known types that should make for some interesting piloting.
Also in the works
The team is also still talking about aircraft like the P-51B/C, Me410, and Mosquito which have all been featured in previous developer diaries. Testing is also underway for the Air Marshal system and the new fuel system upgrades is underway and will apparently be tested on the Bf109 series first before expanding to other aircraft.
You can of course read all about this directly from 1CGS over here on their latest developer diary.
Steel Birds pre-order
The previously announced Fw190A-5 ‘Steel Birds’ campaign for IL-2: Battle of Kuban is now up for pre-order with news that confirms it well release in August of this year. The new 15-mission campaign is projected to take about 8 hours to complete and is currently up for a $7.99 pre-order discount with $9.99 USD for the full price.
Stormbirds 
Really interested to see how the DH.4 turns out. Apparently it ended up using a bunch of different engines, because the desired Rolls Royce Eagle VIII never had enough production to meet demand.
I gather the American built licensed copies of it too, and some of them switched the pilot and fuel tank around, and dropped in the V-12 Liberty engine instead. That one might make an interesting collector’s plane at some point too.
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Maurader is so sleek and shark-like compared to it’s contemporaries – have always like the lines.
It’s a shame it had a bad reputation, seems to have been a training problem rather than the aircraft itself.
Would be great to see this one become flyable in a combat sim like IL2!
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It wasn’t just the training, when initially used in Europe in low level missions (as per A20 and B25) the B24 suffered very heavy losses, hence the USAAF switched it to altitude bombing where it performed very well. It’s interesting to compare it with the Ventura, which had similar losses at low level when introduced in the European theatre by the RAF. The RAF reacted by withdrawing it from service, so it is widely considered a failure, despite proving very successful in the Pacific theatre.
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From what I’ve read there was also a problem with prop reverse gear having uncommanded activatiion in flight, the author had stopped a test flight with his boss, so he could catch a film, walking to the theatre he heard the aircraft returning, heard the engine noise change as it passed overhead before it flipped over and nosedived into the ground. No survivors. He examined the prop gears to prove his theory, one prop was in reverse.
Knew a British pilot who converts from Halifax to B26, he Loved it. Based near Brize Norto, Burforfd. His technique for landing, at 1,000ft put the nose onto the end of the runway, chop the throttle, drops the gear and flaps, never failed…..lovely bloke. God bless him
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At the risk of being annoying, we have a SPAD XIII not a XII.
Thanks for the overview. W. E. Johns, the Biggles author, flew DH-4s of which he spoke very highly. It was shot down very late in the war on one of hit long-range bombing missions to the Ruhr.
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