This is a blog about the worlds of aviation and PC flight simulation coming together into something magnificent. I write editorials, short historical pieces on aircraft and tactics, news and events from the simulation world, technology and more.
Stormbirds turned six years old in April 2022. I want it to continue to be a place where I share my love of this hobby with you and help people find their way into flight sims. It can be a lot of fun and I hope you’ll join me in the virtual skies!
A passion for the hobby
When I was just a few years old I was introduced to Blue Max on Commodore 64. That first experience with a very basic flying game and my constant pointing at the skies whenever an aircraft flew over haven’t changed in decades. I’ve flown the greats from companies like Dynamix and their A-10 Tank Killer, Aces of the Pacific, and Aces Over Europe series. I’ve flown many of Microprose’ titles such as F-15 Strike Eagle II and Strike Eagle III as well as F-14 Fleet Defender, and I spent over a decade flying the original IL-2 series including IL-2: Forgotten Battles, Pacific Fighters, and the ultimate IL-2: 1946.
We’re now living in a golden time for people who want to experience the joys of flight but may not have the time or luxury to experience that kind of thrill first hand with the latest flight sims. We now have graphics and VR features that I used to only be able to dream of and current flight simulators range from the civilian focused Flight Simulator, P3D and X-Plane to the combat oriented IL-2: Great Battles Series and Digital Combat Simulator (DCS) all make the most of the latest technology.
No matter which sim you choose, you’re entering a world of flying and aviation with plenty of challenges, a wealth of information to learn, and a real passion for escaping into the digital skies for a few minutes or a few hours.
This is a hobby and one that I and many of you feel very strongly about. I hope to share that with you through this blog.
Become a supporter
Running Stormbirds.blog has been a rewarding experience and I’m honoured to be part of a fantastic community of fellow enthusiasts. Your positive presence and contribution to the overall knowledge of us all is inspiring.
Running this blog does sometimes incur some costs. Content on Stormbirds.blog will always remain completely free to access, however, if you wish to show your support via a donation, I would be extremely grateful.
Thoughts on combat flight sims
Most of the coverage on this blog features combat flight sims. They can be fun and entertaining but I think it’s important to separate our experiences in the sim world with exploding pixels and the real conflicts that they sometimes represent. War is a terrible thing and its true horror is something that I feel requires constant study. Simulated combat flying is not like real combat flying but it does give us a chance to understand it a little better.
My goal with the blog is to promote the hobby of flight simulation first. While titles like IL-2 and DCS do have combat as the backdrop of the flying experience, I feel strongly too that flight simulators like these are much more than just shooting things on a screen. The flying, navigating, understanding the mechanical operations and the overall piloting experience matters and all of these together help to understand both civilian and military aviation.
The current war in Ukraine has been upsetting, dispiriting, and reminds me that we need to continue to strive towards better solutions. So long as this conflict goes on, I will continue to make regular donations to organizations like the Canadian Red Cross to support the humanitarian crisis that this conflict has unleashed.
Stormbirds 
How do I get IL-2 Battle of Moscow?
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Well, you can buy it direct through the IL-2 website (maintained by the developers) at http://il2sturmovik.com. The other option is wait for Battle of Moscow to appear on the Steam store. Should be any day now. IL-2: Battle of Stalingrad has been there for some time now.
IMHO, I bought it direct from the devs and that works pretty well. Their auto update system is excellent.
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thanks for the reply I check out steam thanks
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Thank you very much for your blog, like you I am a big fan ot IL2 BOX. I find your blog very informative and beautiful! keep up the good work!
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Thanks Neil for the kind words! Much appreciated!
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I visited via Battle-fields.com, thanks for linking your posts to the site, also what many people who play on B-F servers wont realise is how much hard work is done by certain individuals (yourself included) to provide the enjoyment they take for granted.
Thanks!
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Two thumbs up! I am very much enjoying this site. Keep the posts coming.
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Thanks Joshua! Lots of great stuff to post in 2017 so the updates will keep coming!
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Hey, recently i found your blog, and i am so glad i did! Keep up the good work, really good writing, interesting topics and good screens. Makes me keep looking forward to your next post! Alex
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Many thanks Alex! I appreciate the kind words!
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would you ever consider adding another writer?
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Hi William,
I’ve thought about it before and I have divided opinions on it. On one hand, it’d be great to have a second writer contribute extra content. On the other hand, this blog was setup for me to stretch myself as a writer and its kind of a hobby for me so adding a second writer ups the complexities in terms of scheduling content and coordinating efforts. It gives me reason to pause and hold back on that.
I have considered entertaining the idea of the odd guest writer with one-time articles. Could happen!
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I’d be happy to work on a piece analysing the mechanics of a specific aircraft in the series, from a “how does it work” standpoint. I think it would be a welcome break from the (amazing) norm (seriously, I’m not trying to downplay this blog, I love it. I love the stories and other pieces on IL-2 that you do, just wish you’d update the Gazetteer), and maybe even allow me a repeat section. I take great interest in aircraft (obviously) and how the pilot’s interactions are transfered into moving the hulking slabs of metal we fly, and I hope my enthusiasm will show if you give me the chance. Just realised this sounds like a pitch, so I suppose it is. 🙂
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Great blog!
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Thanks Ali!
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Most beutiful and informative blog of aviasim ever!! Thanks!
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Just wanted to give my support for this site. I discovered it last week and pretty much went back to read every single post. The Il-2 aircraft reviews were extremely useful!
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Glad to hear it JP!
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ShamrockOneFive, when are you going to take the plunge and buy WOTR? While it only has the Hurricane and 109 right now it is quite good and the Campaign is awesome. Check out the WOTR section at SimHQ. The AAR section is really good
http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/forums/388/1/wings-over-the-reich
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It’s more of an if for me right now. I’m pretty overwhelmed trying to keep up with DCS World and IL-2 and anything beyond those two is probably too much for me to check in on consistently, much less, play. I would need a lot more time to spend and I already don’t feel like I’m really getting the most out of what I have. This blog has to be fun for me first.
I will try and check in on things and see if there’s news I can post about here and there.
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This is something I’ve rarely if ever done; writing to the author.. 😁
I really like your website. It covers both sims I’m interested in. And not only that, you do it in a very pleasant way. Your writing is excellent and a joy to read. The website itself looks very good. And the actual content of the articles is exactly what I’m looking for. This is also the only thing I can critique.. There should be more news!
Keep on going, and add a donate button please..
Jeroen
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Hey Jeroen, many thanks for the kind words! I’m doing my best to keep on top of the news but there’s so much of it (not a bad thing) so I’m working to curate and bring the most important things forward first.
Thanks again!
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Dear Shamrock,
I very much enjoyed your blog over the months. You show the sort of love and dedication that I wish I still had from my early days in the 90s. It’s too bad the community is so fragmented today, and the glory days of Combatsim or SimHQ seem gone with everybody sticking to their own developer/game-based community, whether it is ED or Il2. In days when Microprose didn’t even have their own forums, we’d gather naturally onto content hubs like yours to find our kind and exchange. Those were the days, and I am happy that someone like you manages courageously to make them linger a little around longer! ^^
My question is a bit awkward and has nothing to do with combat simulations, actually. I am very much interested in knowing what you’re using for your website in terms of architecture, services, etc…
I see a small WordPress logo in the corner of this box, so I suppose it’s WordPress-based. Any idea about the template you’re using? Is it any sort of complicated to use, do you have any background in that regard? Because the result is very neat, and I’d gladly pick it for my own usage too…
Thanks in advance for your input! And keep up the great work!
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Hey Amiral,
Many thanks for the kind words! I remember those days well and spent lots of time on the SimHQ forums under one moniker or another. Clearly there are lots of niche areas to spend time in and I visit them all in the hopes of trying to bring together content on the blog.
I’m using WordPress.com as my provider with the Premium package (as the site outgrew the free option). The template is called Dyad 2 and its very easy to work with.
I do have a background in web. I ran various fan sites in the 90s that I did myself or with small groups. These days I don’t really enjoy the coding so something like WordPress really makes it easy to focus on the thing that I do like doing – the content. I have a background in digital content as well so this all comes fairly naturally to me.
I highly encourage starting up a free WordPress.com account and seeing where it goes. It can be daunting at first but if you’re creating something you love then it makes it a lot easier!
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Well, thank you! Informative and useful. I might just do that, I realized that wordpress isn’t blocked in China anymore it seems (that was an old problem from a few years ago, happy to see it’s been “solved”), and response time are actually much better than whatever I have hosted in France right now. I will try that and see what happens. Looks fine!
Now, considering I have your attention and seeing you’re actually PAYING for that, how come you haven’t been listening to your wise community just yet? Where’s the donation or the Patreon or the whatever-gimme-your-money button? I’ll take donations over ugly ads any day (except if the aforementioned ads actually help you keep going of course ^^)
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I’ve looked a little into donations via Patreon versus the limited ad revenues that the site makes. I haven’t figure out if there’s a way to do a Patreon supporter pass so there are no ads for example – Either way I’d like to make sure that if there are donations that I was offering some sort of added value.
There could be more YouTube or Twitch content in the future but with those platforms I’m also thinking about what is practical for me to do and can I offer something that others aren’t doing. Most of all I need for whatever I do to be fun because I do this in my down time.
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Hello Shamrock,
Well in the end in neatly followed your advice. I have to reason no complain about WP.com, it’s doing great so far.
Let’s see what the future brings – we just launched the website this week. Although it is nowhere as close to yours in terms of fine design, it does the job I guess.
https://drydockdreams.games/
Besides, I know you’re not the kind who dislikes a trip to the PTO now and then (I do remember reading something about your ancestral AotP vibes ^^) so don’t hesitate to drop by and have a look, I am pretty sure that you might have an interest in what you will see.
We also released a pre-alpha tech reel that showcases some of our tech. We’re still a long way from actual gameplay, but there again I suppose that some aircraft-related features will probably be close enough to your own area of expertise to tickle the right parts of your soul, amma rite? 🙂
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Great to hear. Cool demo reel! Hope your project goes well!
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Thanks!
Although I have to say that now that I am more familiar with WordPress, I can see that there are quite a few ways available to have people send you some funds – you won’t escape our wallets forever, just give us a way to help, and I am sure many of us will 🙂
o7
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Hey,
I was wondering if you plan on being more critical towards the flight games. For example IL2 is currently borderline unplayable with the new view settings and invisible aircrafts. I hope you don’t shy away from being critical due to pressure from certain game developers!
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Hi!
I’d like to think I’m plenty critical when it comes to issues that I’ve tackled over the years.
The issue over view settings in IL-2 is that they haven’t quite got it right yet. But I haven’t snapped to that position either as I wanted to really experience it myself and I want to examine the all of the angles involved.
That said, it doesn’t stop me from flying the sim or having tons of fun with it which is something I like to keep in mind when writing about any of these features.
I am also cautious what I say for one reason alone: I don’t want to scare away new people to the hobby. If I say something is unplayable they may never come back. Some might feel uncomfortable about that even being a thing that influence speople but I do try and keep it in mind whenever I write something.
I will be writing about this issue sooner than later.
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As an addendum, which scenarios are you using to gauge spotting. Different multiplayer servers for example are using different settings – the specific server is going to give different experiences.
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Hi ShamrockOnFive,
It sure seems the new ‘Microprose’ is really in (simming) business again ! … in a post today on Twitter and Facebook they shared some intial pics of a B-17 pit and M1 tank !
Here’s hopin’ … they mean it for 2020 still (at least the Warbirds 2020 release that should have happened already)
Regards,
simfan
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Thanks Simfan! Indeed they seem to be. I had an article I was writing last night but wanted to do a little more on it – which I have just published!
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Hi again Shamrockonfive !
You most probably know already this, but otherwise and just FYI …
Over at the IL-2 GB forum – MODS there is a guy @Oyster_KAI who remade about evey cokpit almost doubling the resolution.
It really turns the older 1K cockpits to 2K and the newer (like BOBP) cockpits to glorious ‘4K’ (he supposedly used AI tool to do this and tuned it manually afterwards)
I installed and tested many of the enhanced pits and, IMHO, this MOD is simply amazing.
But please don’t take my word for it because I may have misonderstood some of this and if ever you want to check it out …
“[MOD] 4K cockpits for BOS/BOM/BOK/Bobp planes”
https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/60671-mod-4k-cockpits-for-bosbombokbobp-planes/?tab=comments&_fromLogin=1
sincere regards,
Simfan
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Thanks for the heads up Simfan! It’s been a busy day but once I have a chance to do some justice to this article I’ll have it posted.
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Would StormBirds consider accepting recruitment advertising for combat sim squadrons?
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Hi Steve. I’m not particularly interested in potentially opening the floodgates on that one. There are many other methods (Discord, community forums, etc.) for squad recruiting that I think would be a better platform anyways.
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My good man… I don’t understand how you could have left the oldest, longest running flight combat sim off your list?!?!? Hightech Creations Aces High has been around since 1998 and still going strong… In my opinion Aces High III VR is the best on the market today. I’ve played DCS and IL2 and like you, have been playing since the 80’s and commodore 64.. If you play VR you need to play and get on the list Aces High..
Love the site brother.. great job putting it together,
SAAM I AM
“Beware my Exploding Telephone Poles”
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Love your site. Dedicated IL2 BoX MP player and member of a large historically focused group. Am wondering about MP servers – you ran a large bit on KOTA recently, but at least during North American peak times, I’ve seen very little presence there. Back when they were getting 30-40 players their server was pretty good. The down time on TAW is killing me, and I’m getting very tired of the unilateral late war on Box. I’d be interested in seeing/understanding a bit more on MP server stats. Which ones are most used at what times? Maybe some opinion polls to see what people out there want? I love TAW even though it is excruciatingly painful at times, but the very real apprehension of getting shot down and killed/captured makes an enormous tactical difference. I would even like to know more about what it takes to set up and run a server, both time and financially. I find the IL2 forums are inadequate in providing info on the different servers that is useful – any ideas on how to solve the problem?
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I’ll have to think about this a bit to see what I could do.
My KOTA interview happened when the server was going strong. Unfortunately, right around the time of the Sturmovik fest their server went down and it seems that they haven’t been able to resurrect it. I initially had put them in as one of the partners and we had intended to play on KOTA.
I highly recommend Finnish Virtual Pilots as a more casual version of a TAW campaign. They have a dynamic moving frontline based on air and ground activity – they include tanks as part of their scenario. There’s also a resource system that sometimes requires transport flights – although it’s a team system rather than an individual pilot system ala TAW.
I’m planning to do some content with them soon.
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Shamrock, I am curious. Did I do something wrong or somehow offend you? I have made 3 comments and you have not replied to any of them but you replied to each of the comments by other posters directly after my comments. Why Sir?
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Not at all. I’ve taken a little time away from the blog and hadn’t had a chance to respond to all comments.
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I’ve flown Finnish Pilots a couple of times. IIRC I found one of the worst flak concentrations I’ve seen anywhere in IL2 in there! I know they are frequently in 2d place participation wise with Box when I’m on. Would still be interested in seeing some comparative data if you ever figure out how to do it. Would be nice to provide a venue to promote the features the community would like to see more of – polls or the like, coupled with some comparative server stats. Just a thought.
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Try TAW, it makes the flak on some of the Finnish targets look average by comparison 🙂
I have taken screenshots at busy and quiet times and may use that as a more anecdotal look at multiplayer servers. The old quip that IL-2 has no multiplayer presence is of course pretty ludicrous looking these days with several healthy and strong server communities.
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What is TAW?? If you want vicious flak, try ACES HIGH III.. If you can get past the best pilots in Virtual Flight then its the ack ack that gets ya..
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Hello! Let you know I just bought VTOL VR via Steam and I really like it a lot. Designed for VR from Day 1. I would love to see if you can cover that one. Thanks! JC
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Hey Jamie,
I did see they have an official launch. I will be doing an article soon as I complete some research. I’ve not got a VR headset myself yet so it’ll be a bit before I can try it myself!
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Hey Shamrock,
If you haven’t flown in VR yet you are denying yourself the undescribable experience.. watching VR videos isn’t going to give you an idea as its on a 2d screen.. Ask yourself this.. when you fly sim now and you turn your real life head to the right or left, what do you see? The kitchen? the bedroom window?? When I turn my head left or right I see down my wing and 10,000ft down.. My question good sir.. Do you want to fly on Cockpit View or do you want to fly in the cockpit.. Get VR good Sir. You can get a full Oculus Rift setup on Craigslist for $150!!
Also, Why have you left Hitechcreations Aces High III off your list of flight combat sims? It has the best VR support of any game currently available. I dont even need my Hotas anymore. I fly by grabbing the actual flight stick in my P51 D!!
Site is awesome btw!!
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So far my only VR experience in a sim was at the 1C booth at FSExpo 2019 and that was on a motion rig as well. The whole experience was unreal.
At the moment I’m saving money for an updated system and other priorities. When I do jump into VR I’ll do my usual thing and be very deliberate about the headset. I’m excited to see what this newest generation of headsets can do.
I’ve heard about Hitechcreations Aces High III but I’ve never really been all that interested by it. I’ll be the first to admit that graphics in a flight sim are extremely important for my immersion and… it’s decidedly out of date. I know it has some hardcore fans which is great but it hasn’t interested me which is primarily what drives my writing. Maybe that will change some day! Who knows!
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Thanks so much! Hope u ll get a VR headset soon, so much fun in VR!!! Been VR junkie since Aug 2017 when I tried original Rift in XP for the first time, bought my first VR hmd, Rift the same day! I mainly use Quest for fitness (try Thrill of the Fight, gets me up to 150+ BPM lol) and Rift S for flight sims (XP, DCS, VTOL VR). I have Reverb G2 on order and will get Quest 2 as soon as it comes out later this year. Jamie
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Hello, the MSFS Live Weather doesn’t add winds at all yet (it is a bug), that’s why there’s no wind even when flying in hurricane Laura. Hopefully, the next update will fix this, tomorrow’s development update will tell.
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That would explain it then. Will have to fly another stormy flight sometime soon when it’s resolved.
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HI, I find your reviews to be interesting and helpful. I make some flight sim products for the home cockpit builder…they are not as slick and sexy as some of the commercial offerings you’ve reviewed here, but they are much more affordable! Any chance you’d be interested in trying some out and possibly reviewing?
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I am a nuubee on X-Plane 11 for about 2 years and have purchased a nice hardware Deluxe Setup from X-Force PC Company in South Carolina. I have become very interested in DCS and would like to use as much of my equipment as possible (e.g., Game Computer with Windows 10., 49″ curved screen, rudder pedals). I am willing to add a joystick and different throttle and eventually move to VR. In reviewing new hardware I do not see any that run with Windows 10. Can you enlighten me on what DCS software and hardware will run with Windows 10. Thanks. Jazzman84
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Hi Ron,
DCS is a great compliment to X-Plane 11. I’m not sure what you mean about Windows 10 support. Windows 10 is supported by everything modern right now including DCS and any of the flight sim specific hardware that’s out there (throttles, VR, etc.). Some older units will list Win 7/8 as support but Windows 10 is supported too. Windows 11 is also now out and I’ve not heard any problems.
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Hi, I own many simulators (DCS, XPlane, Il2, MFS….) and you blog is my main info source about the hobby. The only thing missing for me is info about Aerofly FS. It is I think a pretty good and promising sim especially for VR and it really deserves more attention. Any chance you would add it to your newsflow?
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Hey thanks for being a reader! Appreciate the comments too.
I’ve not really paid any attention to Aerofly FS. I had, perhaps wrongly, assumed it was no longer in development. I’ll have a look at it but it may not make my regular news flow as I’m already stretched across quite a few titles. Nonetheless, I will look at it!
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Thanks! You are right, developers had been quiet for a long time but they just released a new version. If you have a chance, check their VR implementation of virtual hands with oculus quest controllers to manipulate cockpit switches an knobs. It’s feels super precise and natural and is the best I have seen in any sim. It makes interacting with their A320 (MCDU, CDU, Panels…) something really unique!
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Unfortunately I don’t have VR and I don’t think I will ever be able to fully experience or enjoy it. I have some pretty severe neck issues these days so VR seems unlikely.
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Sorry to hear that. Hope you will get better and hope you will have the opportunity to try VR someday
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Hey, on the topic of MSFS and aircraft not being allowed weapons… is there a prohibition against air combat training systems that augment reality with a simulated threat overlay? These same systems, IRL, allow multiple pilots to engage as allies or adversaries. The system integrates both air and ground based threats, projected and purely simulated in the electronic battlespace.
Has anyone thought of this approach, and who could we raise this possibility with? Please see this link for ONE such training system. There are multiple such systems to choose from.
https://www.leonardodrs.com/air-combat-training-systems/products/electronic-warfare-simulators/
If MSFS pilots could engage in virtual combat training.. with no live weapons or damage models, (or ejecting or whatever the heck else MS objects to) I think air combat training systems would be a very cool way to get dynamic game play into the beautiful settings of MSFS.
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I am currently training for a multiengine add-on rating in a 2009 DA42 L360 which has the older style dual throttles, propeller RPM levers and mixture control levers, rather than the newer ECU power levers. Does the Aerobask DA42 for X-Plane 12 have the ECU power levers? Are you aware of any DA42 models for X-Plane 12 with the dual control levers?
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So there’s only two modern DA42 models on the market right at the moment. Aerobask’s DA42 for X-Plane 12 and COWS DA42 for MSFS (and eventually X-Plane 12). I don’t think either of them have the older style – I didn’t know there was such a style actually. Learn something new every day.
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How can you be contacted? I don’t see a contact form or email?
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If you want to visit Stormbirds on Facebook I’m easily reachable there. If that doesn’t work for you give me a shout here – I’ve been looking into a web form.
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I dont hang out on social networks, contact form or simple email would do it. But anyway, maybe we can sort this out here. Once in a while my comments do not get displayed, I don’t know if it’s due to technical reasons or there is a filter. Like if something “kills immersion” or so. In this case it would be nice to know what triggers this. Thanks, Olli
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WordPress has a filter that does its own thing. Sometimes I see legitimate messages in there but I haven’t seen yours.
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