Aviation Experiences

u35_captain · 04-01-12, 01:10 AM

Hello all! First new thread - I haven't seen anything like this in the first few pages (I could just be blind) and I'm very curious.

What have your various experiences been with aircraft in SHIII? Default or otherwise.

The Hawker Hurricane (much as I love flying her in every sim I've ever played - far more than the Spitfire.) hasn't come within fifty yards of hitting me. I mostly stay on the surface and let my ack-ack gunners have at them, adding a little bit of renown to my crew and some experience to my gunners. The same goes for the single-engine American planes I've encountered in the Caribbean. (I've spotted one P-38, but it never spotted me)

As for the Liberators...a fearsome amount of bombs, but so far I've made it to December of '42 and they appear to have no aim whatsoever. On balance, they also take a lot of shooting to put to any trouble. Haven't managed to down one yet.

As for the Luftwaffe, I've seen them exactly twice, in both cases stealing renown from my crew. :P Up in Norway in my current campaign, so here's hoping I get to see them help out with a convoy.

Then...there's the the Sunderlands. I don't fear destroyers or frigates, but I fear the Sunderlands. No matter how skilled my watchmen, they always appear out of nowhere, and attack with terrifying accuracy and speed. And bold, too. I was heading out of Lorient, and not even an hour off the French coast a whole squadron showed up. A crash-dive in shallow water saved me, but I still lost 20% hull integrity, and they just vanished as quickly as they appeared.

So, a lot of text, and for what? Because I want to hear your war stories about the dreaded menace from above!

Frenchy849 · 04-01-12, 05:41 AM

Well,I've only seen aircraft attacks against me in the campaign when I was still on stock SH3!
A couple of Hurri-bombers tried to strafe me but utterly failed.
The last time I've encountered enemy planes in the campaigns was a couple of Hudsons when I was close to the US coast,crash dived.
Other than that,I've been attacked by a Sunderland in the "ALARM!" single mission,it's depht charges damaged my boat while I was crash diving.
I do have IL2 1946 with UP2.01(too lazy to update

) but I mainly stick with Soviet and German planes.

postalbyke · 04-02-12, 12:02 AM

I tend to avoid the flying stuff... I'm playing NYGM, and they can get pretty thick even early on!
So my game tends to be a bit like this:
WO "Airplane spotted!"
WO "Periscope Depth"
me "get depth under keel"
*wait a terrifying second*
me "ALAAAAARM!"

I didn't wait for a reply previously regarding how much water I had under me until I started hitting the bottom on one patrol...

on the other hand, once that's cared for, I tend to put a camera "on" one of the airplanes and enjoy the show they put on for me!

u35_captain · 04-02-12, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by postalbyke

I tend to avoid the flying stuff... I'm playing NYGM, and they can get pretty thick even early on!
So my game tends to be a bit like this:
WO "Airplane spotted!"
WO "Periscope Depth"
me "get depth under keel"
*wait a terrifying second*
me "ALAAAAARM!"

I didn't wait for a reply previously regarding how much water I had under me until I started hitting the bottom on one patrol...

on the other hand, once that's cared for, I tend to put a camera "on" one of the airplanes and enjoy the show they put on for me!

That's me when the Sunderlands show up. Just get under fast, and if it's shallow water, well, brushing the bottom might not be as lethal as they've proved to be :P

u35_captain · 04-02-12, 06:44 PM

Adding one.

Surfaced to use the deck gun on a T3 Tanker (how lovely that such a large ship had no guns) and as I finished her off a single Catalina showed up.

It did two bomb runs, in which my ack-ack wounded her - and apparently stuck the other four bombs on her racks, because she came back with machine guns.

Shot her down, but that was one brave Catalina, flying into two twin guns and a heavy flak cannon.

Luno · 04-03-12, 01:20 AM

The airplanes are quite brave and fly very strangely in the stock game. It seems that the accuracy goes up later in the war. It's nice that the early Hurricanes are so bad at shooting because those 20 mm can openers weren't really introduced until '41 (Hurri Mk.IIc).

After an attack, planes will do this odd hammer-head wing-over that defies physics. When I tried GWX on my good computer, it did seem to fix this, and gave the Hurris more speed.

Right now, I fear Swordfish more than Hurris. They are slow, and easy to hit, but they are tough, and pretty accurate with their DC's. Even if one is on fire, it will still attempt a run.

What I really don't like is how aircraft never give up. If my plane was on fire, and if I wasn't being fried to a crisp, I would ditch it right away to avoid a deadly explosion. If I knew I was getting hit, I would turn for home - no telling if fuel or oil is leaking or if some structural component is damaged.

This is especially bad with Sunderlands. One of the single missions gives you a Type XXI dual twin-flak turrets. Because the batteries were damaged and fuel was leaking, I was stuck on the surface. I hit a Sunderland multiple times, but it just kept coming around again and again. I really wish my 20mms had explosive shells like the fighters!

1946 is a great game. I prefer the hard-copy because the Steam version has some kind of bug (check Il-2 ubi or 1c forums for more info). There's also zero copy protection, so you can simply copy-paste the game folder a few times for a backup, vanilla, and modded installs if you so prefer.

Current version is 4.11. More patches are still being written.

Although it lacks true engine and systems management, it has plenty of aircraft to chose from, pretty accurate flight models, and good "feel" of flight that I haven't gotten from other sims. It's really not good in the naval/merchant department though, if that's your cup of tea. There's only two cargo vessels and a trawler, but there are lots of warships. There is no ship AI, convoys, etc. Subs are stuck to the surface only.

Il-2 is also not built for modding as SHIII was. However, several big mod packs exist, but the quality of material varies (some great, some crap). I suggest playing with the stock game for some time before expanding to mods as there's a ton of material to start with.

Have fun with it!

PS - if you have a good computer, try Cliffs of Dover, the sequel to Il-2 1946:

u35_captain · 04-02-12, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frenchy849

Well,I've only seen aircraft attacks against me in the campaign when I was still on stock SH3!
A couple of Hurri-bombers tried to strafe me but utterly failed.
The last time I've encountered enemy planes in the campaigns was a couple of Hudsons when I was close to the US coast,crash dived.
Other than that,I've been attacked by a Sunderland in the "ALARM!" single mission,it's depht charges damaged my boat while I was crash diving.
I do have IL2 1946 with UP2.01(too lazy to update

) but I mainly stick with Soviet and German planes.

I finally got IL2 1946 on Steam. Haven't tried it yet. Is it every bit as good as the legends I hear tell me? :P

04-01-12, 01:10 AM	#1
u35_captain Mate Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 54 Downloads: 4 Uploads: 0	Aviation Experiences Hello all! First new thread - I haven't seen anything like this in the first few pages (I could just be blind) and I'm very curious. What have your various experiences been with aircraft in SHIII? Default or otherwise. The Hawker Hurricane (much as I love flying her in every sim I've ever played - far more than the Spitfire.) hasn't come within fifty yards of hitting me. I mostly stay on the surface and let my ack-ack gunners have at them, adding a little bit of renown to my crew and some experience to my gunners. The same goes for the single-engine American planes I've encountered in the Caribbean. (I've spotted one P-38, but it never spotted me) As for the Liberators...a fearsome amount of bombs, but so far I've made it to December of '42 and they appear to have no aim whatsoever. On balance, they also take a lot of shooting to put to any trouble. Haven't managed to down one yet. As for the Luftwaffe, I've seen them exactly twice, in both cases stealing renown from my crew. :P Up in Norway in my current campaign, so here's hoping I get to see them help out with a convoy. Then...there's the the Sunderlands. I don't fear destroyers or frigates, but I fear the Sunderlands. No matter how skilled my watchmen, they always appear out of nowhere, and attack with terrifying accuracy and speed. And bold, too. I was heading out of Lorient, and not even an hour off the French coast a whole squadron showed up. A crash-dive in shallow water saved me, but I still lost 20% hull integrity, and they just vanished as quickly as they appeared. So, a lot of text, and for what? Because I want to hear your war stories about the dreaded menace from above!

04-01-12, 05:41 AM	#2
Frenchy849 A-ganger Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Lorient,France(no,really) Posts: 79 Downloads: 115 Uploads: 0	Well,I've only seen aircraft attacks against me in the campaign when I was still on stock SH3! A couple of Hurri-bombers tried to strafe me but utterly failed. The last time I've encountered enemy planes in the campaigns was a couple of Hudsons when I was close to the US coast,crash dived. Other than that,I've been attacked by a Sunderland in the "ALARM!" single mission,it's depht charges damaged my boat while I was crash diving. I do have IL2 1946 with UP2.01(too lazy to update ) but I mainly stick with Soviet and German planes. __________________ Rohr Eins,Los!

04-02-12, 12:02 AM	#3
postalbyke Chief Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: In the past... Posts: 321 Downloads: 89 Uploads: 1	I tend to avoid the flying stuff... I'm playing NYGM, and they can get pretty thick even early on! So my game tends to be a bit like this: WO "Airplane spotted!" WO "Periscope Depth" me "get depth under keel" wait a terrifying second me "ALAAAAARM!" I didn't wait for a reply previously regarding how much water I had under me until I started hitting the bottom on one patrol... on the other hand, once that's cared for, I tend to put a camera "on" one of the airplanes and enjoy the show they put on for me! __________________ God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh. -Voltaire

04-03-12, 01:20 AM	#6
Luno Ensign Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 234 Downloads: 123 Uploads: 0	The airplanes are quite brave and fly very strangely in the stock game. It seems that the accuracy goes up later in the war. It's nice that the early Hurricanes are so bad at shooting because those 20 mm can openers weren't really introduced until '41 (Hurri Mk.IIc). After an attack, planes will do this odd hammer-head wing-over that defies physics. When I tried GWX on my good computer, it did seem to fix this, and gave the Hurris more speed. Right now, I fear Swordfish more than Hurris. They are slow, and easy to hit, but they are tough, and pretty accurate with their DC's. Even if one is on fire, it will still attempt a run. What I really don't like is how aircraft never give up. If my plane was on fire, and if I wasn't being fried to a crisp, I would ditch it right away to avoid a deadly explosion. If I knew I was getting hit, I would turn for home - no telling if fuel or oil is leaking or if some structural component is damaged. This is especially bad with Sunderlands. One of the single missions gives you a Type XXI dual twin-flak turrets. Because the batteries were damaged and fuel was leaking, I was stuck on the surface. I hit a Sunderland multiple times, but it just kept coming around again and again. I really wish my 20mms had explosive shells like the fighters! 1946 is a great game. I prefer the hard-copy because the Steam version has some kind of bug (check Il-2 ubi or 1c forums for more info). There's also zero copy protection, so you can simply copy-paste the game folder a few times for a backup, vanilla, and modded installs if you so prefer. Current version is 4.11. More patches are still being written. Although it lacks true engine and systems management, it has plenty of aircraft to chose from, pretty accurate flight models, and good "feel" of flight that I haven't gotten from other sims. It's really not good in the naval/merchant department though, if that's your cup of tea. There's only two cargo vessels and a trawler, but there are lots of warships. There is no ship AI, convoys, etc. Subs are stuck to the surface only. Il-2 is also not built for modding as SHIII was. However, several big mod packs exist, but the quality of material varies (some great, some crap). I suggest playing with the stock game for some time before expanding to mods as there's a ton of material to start with. Have fun with it! PS - if you have a good computer, try Cliffs of Dover, the sequel to Il-2 1946: __________________ Career: Feb. 13, 1942 "Cpt. Johny Goodwood" Porpoise class: USS Shark, SS-174 Patrols: 2 Victories: 1 Merchants (4519 GRT), 0 Warships (0 GRT), 0 Aircraft Sunk with all hands lost. Last edited by Luno; 04-03-12 at 01:42 AM.

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04-02-12, 06:44 PM	#5
u35_captain Mate Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 54 Downloads: 4 Uploads: 0	Adding one. Surfaced to use the deck gun on a T3 Tanker (how lovely that such a large ship had no guns) and as I finished her off a single Catalina showed up. It did two bomb runs, in which my ack-ack wounded her - and apparently stuck the other four bombs on her racks, because she came back with machine guns. Shot her down, but that was one brave Catalina, flying into two twin guns and a heavy flak cannon.