I've played IL-2 since the demo was released, summer 2001 I think it was. It took me all night to download the demo on my 56k modem but boy was it worth it. Best thing I remember was the sense of speed and flight when I swooped down near the ground in the P-39, absolutely amazing at the time. I ended up buying an Elsa Gladiac 920 Geforce 3 64 MB, that set me back about 300-350€ or something but it was soooo worth it.
Good times.