New planes requests (from other threads/please pin it)

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Soldier_Fortune

These are my 4 pennies:

Obviously a fan of bomber ops!

If I had to narrow down the list of British heavies, I'd got with the Short Stirling for an early war heavy type, and the Lancaster B.I for late war ops.

Originally Posted by Soldier_Fortune

- B-24J
- B-17 F & G
- B-29

All flyable, if it's possible.
Or for AI, at least...

You're in luck, all of these planes exist as AI in the game, as well as the B-17D, B-17E, and a gorgeous, flyable B-24D!

For US heavy bombers, the only omission is the B-17G "late block" production with "Cheyenne" tail turret. It would also be nice if the radio operator's gun could be added to the E and F models.

A minor omission that falls into the "nice to have, but not that important" category would be the Liberator II and LB-30 variants of the B-24. The Liberator II was used by the RAF in the Middle East and Burma in 1941-42.
The LB-30 was used alongside the B-17E during the Invasion of the Philippines and the Invasion of the Dutch East Indies. Thereafter, they played a role in the Defense of Australia, and the early battles around Guadalcanal.

Were IL2 to delve into early war ASW combat, the Liberator Mk. I Coastal Command version would be a good addition, although the Sunderland Mk. I played a similar role and was the more "iconic" and numerous aircraft.

[Pequod]

I´m so impressed with TD B-24D that I have only one humble request:
Make the B24J-100-CF flyable.

[pandacat]

TBD
TBF
TBM

Would be nice. Currently USN in game has no flyable torpedo bombers.

[Fighterace]

More P-40 variants

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Fighterace

More P-40 variants

The P-40N is the only big omission (P-40N-15-CU would be definitive), although the P-40K-10-CU and P-40L-5-CU fall into the "nice to have" category.

FWIW, all of these aircraft served on the Eastern Front, so would also help to fill in the gaps there. The P-40L mostly served in the MTO. The P-40K mostly served in the SW Pacific, and was extensively used by the RAAF, which would help fill in the the gaps in the Australian TOE.

[majorfailure]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

The P-40N is the only big omission (P-40N-15-CU would be definitive), although the P-40K-10-CU and P-40L-5-CU fall into the "nice to have" category.

P-40L would be "very nice to have" for MTO. A "hotrod" P-40, I'd love that.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by majorfailure

P-40L would be "very nice to have" for MTO. A "hotrod" P-40, I'd love that.

Were IL2 to be focused on the MTO from 1941-44, the list of "must have" planes would be very different, and would probably include the P-40L and similar field mods.

While the number of planes deployed to the MTO was nowhere near those deployed on the Eastern Front, and the battles in North Africa and Italy were nowhere as big or as important as the battles of Stalingrad and Kursk, the period from 1941-43 was just as important to Western Allied tactical aviation as it was in Russia. During this time, the US and UK gradually gained air superiority over the Axis, and refined the tactical and strategic bombing techniques which gave them utter air superiority by late 1944.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by pandacat

TBD
TBF
TBM

TBF and TBM are off-limits due to the NG Consent Decree. They will forever remain as AI-only planes.

A flyable TBD would give the US at least one flyable torpedo bomber, but it would be "interesting" to fly in combat.