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SimHQ Combat Flight Sims Articles

The Air Combat Corner Library
Over 60 reference articles on air-to-air and air-to-ground mission flying. Thanks, Colonel!

Air Combat Features

- The SimHQ Second Look Series

- The Sacha Chronicles

Air Combat Previews

Air Combat Reviews

Air Combat Book Reviews

Air Combat Interviews


Features

SimHQ DCS World Fly-In     January 27, 2013

2012 Year in Review     January 2, 2013

Final Flight     August 8, 2012

Playing DCS: Combined Arms with Air Support     July 20, 2012

Wings Over Flanders Fields - Development Progress Report 1     July 16, 2012

Folks, we're going to be a little late...     June 23, 2012

Rise of Flight in Evolution     March 5, 2012

IL-2 1946, Patch 4.11m     January 16, 2012

DCS: A-10C Fly-In     November 13, 2011

DCS: Black Shark - Unguided Rockets     October 25, 2011

DCS: Black Shark - Employing the Vikhr - Part 2     September 25, 2011

DCS: Black Shark - Employing the Vikhr - Part 1     September 5, 2011

Commentary: IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover - A Second Opinion     September 2, 2011

Commentary: IL-2 Sturmovik: Reflections on the Past and Questions for the Future     August 24, 2011

Read It - Do It: Volume 6 - Why I flew my Hunter through Tower Bridge     July 3, 2011

Lowland Tiger Meet 2011     April 18, 2011

My Trip to Moscow      March 23, 2011

The Other A-10     March 10, 2011

Read It - Do It: Volume 5 - Raid on the Sun     August 30, 2010

The A-10 Thunderbolt II: From A to C     June 16, 2010

Lowland Tiger Meet 2010      May 31, 2010

Jane's Longbow 2 and Modern Computers     February 27, 2010

I/ITSEC 2009     November 30, 2009

The Story Behind the Story:

YAP2 Mission Reports      May 12, 2009

YAP2 Mission Reports      October 27, 2009

YAP2 Mission Reports      November 2, 2009

DCS: Black Shark - Technical, Simplified:

Series Introduction   October 26, 2009

Coaxial Rotor Aerodynamics   October 26, 2009

Trimming the Black Shark     October 27, 2009

Autopilot - Part 1     October 29, 2009

Autopilot - Part 2     October 30, 2009

Back in the Saddle (PDF)    September 22, 2009

A Stick and Rudder Man's Guide to DCS: Black Shark     September 15, 2009

Read It - Do It: Strike Eagle     July 1, 2009

The Mi-24 Hind Returns - A SimHQ Exclusive First Look at v1.11 for EEAH/EECH     December 22, 2008

More on Controllers in DCS: Black Shark - English Version      December 16, 2008

A Modder's Diary - Episode II: The Planeset      November 18, 2008

EJGr.Ost in Moscow      September 23, 2008

Spy in the Sky - The Future of Warfare - Part 2     September 22, 2008

A Modder's Diary - Episode I: The Terrain     September 1, 2008

The EECH / EEAH World Gets Even Better     February 8, 2008

Read It - Do It   Volume 2: Dustoff     November 19, 2007

F-16C Block 25 Launch -or- Man, I Love My Job!     September 6, 2007

IL-2 Series Training:

Part 1: Ground and Ship Attack    March 1, 2007

Part 2: Fighters     June 11, 2007

Part 3: Ground Attack     July 10, 2007

Part 4: Skip Bombing     August 20, 2007

Part 5: Fundamentals of Gunnery     December 13, 2007

Part 6: Fundamentals of Teamwork     June 23, 2008

Genesis Of A Flight Sim - Part 1     May 25, 2007

Operation Persian Freedom - Phase III, Mission18.2    April 3, 2007

Over Flanders Fields Phase 2    April 3, 2007

Exclusive First Images of Enemy Engaged 2      October 30, 2006

The 2006 RAF Leuchars Battle of Britain Air Show Part II      October 12, 2006

The 2006 RAF Leuchars Battle of Britain Air Show     October 9, 2006

Total Air War: Training Mission #2 - Basic Navigation & Aircraft Performance     June 19 , 2006

Total Air War: Training Mission #1 - Basic Aircraft Familiarization     May 31, 2006

The Su-25 "Grach": Russia's Little Rook     April 17, 2006

The Texas Shoot-Out: Falcon 4.0: Allied Force LAN Meet     February 27, 2006

Casual Day     December 8, 2005

Flying the "Liberty Belle" B-17G     December 6, 2005

The Evolution of Strike Fighters: Project One     November 10, 2005

Memorable Mission Building in IL-2     July 29, 2005

Falcon Flight Model Evolution     March 17, 2005

How to Make Your Own Simulation Movies     March 2, 2005

Cooperative Multiplayer - Practical Tips      November 19, 2004

"Pacific Fighters" Library Companion     September 29, 2004

A SuperPak4 OCA Mission     April 1, 2004

OCA Strike: A Falcon 4 Mission Report     December 22, 2003

Lock On:  Modern Air Combat Gallery     July 28, 2003

Forgotten Battles: A Reality Check     July 4, 2003

Warbirds in the Sun: A Visit to the "Warbird Restoration Museum"
and the "Fantasy of Flight"
  (2.17MB)    October 14, 2002

An Evening With The Tuskegee Airmen  (1.43MB)    May 9, 2001

History of the B-17 Flying Fortress and its use in Europe  (641 kb)    December 27, 2000

Miramar F/A-18 Simulators  (1.25MB)    November 6, 2000

The Zen of Tactical Formations    October 11, 2000  (313 kb)

Are Sims Dead? A Roundtable Discussion - Part Two  (224 kb)    August 31, 2000

Are Sims Dead? A Roundtable Discussion - Part One  (225 kb)    August 31, 2000

"Second Look" - Falcon 4.0 Revisited (1.25MB)    July 19, 2000

Fly Any Aircraft in Falcon 4.0  (784 kb)    June 13, 2000

The Carson Brothers: WWII in a B-17  (1.42MB)    January 14, 2000

Operation: Avoid Bug - Falcon 4.0 on a LAN  (542 kb)    November 12, 1999

Flying the Dragon - A Ride on a B-24 Liberator  (1.13 kb)    October 14, 1999

A Day With The Collings Foundation  (69 kb)    October 14, 1999

SNQQPY DOG's F4 Cockpit Art  (365 kb)    March 8, 1999

Falcon 4 Performance Tips  (58 kb)    December 24, 1998

Vietnam War Flight Simulations  (54 kb)    June 29, 1998

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The SimHQ Second Look Series

Has there been a sim that you missed when it first arrived? It's not too late!

"Second Look" - Rise of Flight: The First Great Air War     June 7, 2010

"Second Look" - B-17 Flying Fortress: The Mighty 8th     February 28, 2008

"Second Look" - The JCS Longbow Series     November 2, 2007

"Second Look" - Total Air War: A Brief Retrospective     December 31, 2005

"Second Look" - Jane's F/A-18 Simulator Revisited     November 18, 2005

"Second Look" - EAW: New Life for an Old Flight Simulator     August 26, 2005

"Second Look" - Enemy (RE)Engaged: EECH Revisited     August 8, 2005

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The Sacha Chronicles

Those of you who know good story telling know the "Sacha" series of mission reports as presented on SimHQ. Originally based on the Eagle Dynamics Lock On flight sim, the series has expanded and integrated other sims as well. Inspired by "Bones", it has progressed and featured other artists, notably Eric "Flanker56" Johnson and his character "Alexei". We're pretty proud of this work, and its author, "Cat". And so we humbly invite you to continue with the series, or if you've never started, to begin with the beginning. Much happy reading folks.

Unreality TV - An Enemy Engaged: Comanche Hokum v1.13 Story     August 30, 2010

What do you mean I can't stay for dinner?     July 4, 2010

A Crane's Thanksgiving Pardon     November 25, 2009

My Brother, My Enemy     November 25, 2008

Sacha's First Mission     July 4, 2006

Operation Persian Freedom Phase 3 - Munitions Factory at Aghar (by "Bones")     June 22, 2006

A Last Noel for the IRLF: A Sacha Christmas Story     December 19, 2006

Turnabout is Fair Play     August 1, 2005

Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?   Part 1   Part 2     April 26 - 27, 2005

What Grrlz Are Made Of     January 18, 2005

South of the Border     November 24, 2004

The Last One Standing and On Time On Target  "Double Feature"    August 18, 2004

The Voice of the Prophet     July 12, 2004

Sacha's Grandmother Visits     April 28, 2004

Good Evening Mister Minister     April 14, 2004

Robber Barons      October 20, 2004

The Nuclear Option     March 23, 2004

The Great Escape     February 16, 2004

Red Lady Down     February 10, 2004

On Wings of Eagles     January 13, 2004

The Tkvarcheli Train Robbery     December 23, 2003

Quit Toying with Him, Sacha!     December 19, 2003

My First Medal!     December 18, 2003

Turn Their HAWKs Into Scrap!     December 16, 2003

It Happened So Fast!     December 2, 2003

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Previews

DCS: UH-1H Huey     May 13, 2013

Flaming Cliffs 3     October 16, 2012

Battle of Britain II: Wings of Victory - Update 2.12     April 9, 2012

Take On Helicopters (pre-release beta)     October 8, 2011

World of Planes     August 1, 2011

Oleg's Battle of Britain at Igromir 2010 - Day 4     November 6, 2010

Oleg's Battle of Britain at Igromir 2010 - Day 3     November 5, 2010

Oleg's Battle of Britain at Igromir 2010 - Day 2     November 4, 2010

Oleg's Battle of Britain at Igromir 2010 - Day 1     November 3, 2010

First Look: DCS: A-10C Warthog Open Beta     October 6, 2010

DCS: A-10C Warthog - Update 1     August 23, 2010

Hands-on: DCS: A-10C Warthog     June 15, 2010

More DCS: A-10C Warthog Screenshots     December 24, 2009

The first Over Flanders Fields expansion, Hat in the Ring      November 23, 2009

Lock On: Flaming Cliffs 2.0 Upgrade Announced      November 17, 2009

Exclusive First DCS: A-10C Warthog Screenshots     August 17, 2009

IL-2 Sturmovik "Birds of Prey" Preview Screenshots     May 28, 2009

First Look: Rise of Flight - Preview 1     February 27, 2009

First Look: Yankee Air Pirate 2    February 16, 2009

DCS: Black Shark - Preview 3     June 30, 2008

DCS: Black Shark - Preview 2     May 15, 2008

DCS: Black Shark - Preview 1     April 3, 2008

IL-2 Slovakia Map - screenshots and video     December 27, 2007

Enemy Engaged 2 Screenshots     May 21, 2007

First Eagles: The Great War 1918     December 1, 2006

Air Ace: Birth of a Flight Sim: Part 2 Flight Sim DIY     July 12, 2006

Air Ace: Birth of a Flight Sim     May 22, 2006

First Look at the New Pe-2 and Pe-3 Add-on for IL-2 FB     April 17, 2006

The Black Sea Operations     December 14, 2005

Screenshots #1: Lock On: Black Shark (v1.2)     August 29, 2005

Battle of Britain 2: Wings of Victory     July 26, 2005

Battle of Britain 2: Wings of Victory Screenshots - Set 1   April 1, 2005

Battle of Britain 2: Wings of Victory Screenshots - Set 2   May 10, 2005

Battle of Britain 2: Wings of Victory Screenshots - Set 3   August 16, 2005

Lock On (v1.1): Flaming Cliffs   December 6-7, 2004

Read Part 1 here

Read Part 2 here

Pacific Fighters     September 29, 2004

Down in Flames     September 27, 2004

Wings Over Vietnam     September 21, 2004

Lock On: Modern Air Combat     July 15, 2003

IL-2 Forgotten Battles     February 5, 2003

Comanche 4 - Novalogic Announces Comanche® 4  (368 kb)     June 22, 2001

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Reviews

VRS TacPack     May 13, 2013

Team Fusion Mod v1.00 (3.00) for IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover     April 22, 2013

DCS World 1.2.3     March 18, 2013

DCS World 1.2.2     January 19, 2013

Desastersoft's Fighter Aces! Adolf Galland - The Expert     December 31, 2012

DCS: P-51D Mustang     November 30, 2012

Desastersoft's Channel Battles     October 5, 2012

Take On Helicopters - Hinds     August 23, 2012

Desastersoft's Wick vs. Dundas      May 7, 2012

Aerofly FS     April 2, 2012

Birds of Steel     March 25, 2012

Strike Fighters 2: North Atlantic     March 13, 2012

SAMSIM     December 22, 2011

Jane’s Advanced Strike Fighters     November 25, 2011

DCS: Black Shark 2     November 9, 2011

Benchmark Sims 4.32 for Falcon 4.0     October 13, 2011

Air Conflicts: Secret Wars      October 2, 2011

IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover     September 2, 2011

Rising Sun - Phase 2     August 24, 2011

Third Wire’s Mirage IIIC DLC Pack     July 12, 2011

Wings of Prey: Collector's Edition     June 27, 2011

Strike Fighters 2 Update - May 2011     May 23, 2011

DCS: A-10C Warthog     March 10, 2011

Rising Sun     December 22, 2010

Apache: Air Assault     December 12, 2010

Strike Fighters 2 Israel - Suez Crisis Expansion Pack      June 7, 2010

Flaming Cliffs 2.0     April 7, 2010

Hat in the Ring - The First Expansion Pack for OFF Phase 3    December 30, 2009

Strike Fighters 2: Israel     October 27, 2009

Budget Simulations - Volume 1:
Apache Air Assault / Apache Longbow Assault
     October 21, 2009

X-Plane 9     October 12, 2009

Rise of Flight     September 28, 2009

IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey (Xbox 360)      September 14, 2009

Over Flanders Fields - Superpatch 1.32     August 21, 2009

Over Flanders Fields - Phase 3: Between Heaven and Hell     March 4, 2009

Strike Fighters 2    February 4, 2009

DCS: Black Shark - English Version (RC8):

Part 1    December 2, 2008

Part 2    December 5, 2008

Part 3    December 8, 2008

Wings Over Israel     February 27, 2008

Enemy Engaged 2:

Part 1    June 19, 2007

Part 2    June 21, 2007

Part 3    June 27, 2007

Part 4    July 2, 2007

Battle of Britain II: Wings of Victory - Update 2.06     May 29, 2007

Whirlwind Over Vietnam     May 7, 2007

The Burning Sands 1983 Mod for SFP1 / WOV     February 22, 2007

The ’56 Suez Crisis Mod for the ThirdWire Series     February 7, 2007

IL-2: 1946     December 27, 2006

Yankee Air Pirate     November 6, 2006

Wings of Power II: WWII Fighters Special Edition     August 31, 2006

Wings Over Europe     July 18, 2006

Wings of Power P-47 and F-190     May 1, 2006

Ostfront: Decisive Battles in the East     March 13, 2006

Wings Of Power P-51 Mustang     March 2, 2006

Over Flanders Fields     January 16, 2006

Tom's HiTiles for Falcon 4: Allied Force     November 7, 2005

Clark's Precision Machine & Tool's F/A-18E Cockpit     October 26, 2005

Battle of Britain II: Wings of Victory     October 3, 2005

A New Pilots First Look at Falcon 4: Allied Force     September 9, 2005

Aces Campaigns for IL-2 Forgotten Battles     August 29, 2005

Part 1     June 27, 2005

Part 2     June 29, 2005

Part 3     July 5, 2005

Part 4     July 8, 2005

F4:AF Review Parody     July 25, 2005

Flaming Cliffs     May 27, 2005

Case Blue add-on     April 29, 2005

The Last Days add-on     April 29, 2005

Pacific Fighters     December 20, 2004

FreeFalcon3 - Strike on P'anmun Depot      September 6, 2004

Starshatter - The Death of Garrison Station     September 2, 2004

Lock On: Modern Air Combat     December 5, 2003

Full Canvas Jacket for Red Baron 3D     November 17, 2003

IL-2: Forgotten Battles     August 12, 2003

Strike Fighters: Project 1, SP1 Patch     March 27, 2003

Combat Flight Simulator 3     February 11, 2003

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Book Reviews

Files in the Book Review section are archived for downloading using the Microsoft web archive format (mht) in a zipped folder. To view the mht files you need Internet Explorer v5 or later.

Historic Era SimHQ Book Reviews
Modern and Reference E-BOOK - Virtual Top Gun 369 kb

How To Live And Die In The Virtual Sky 150 kb

Flanker: A Top Gun Pilot's Escape from the Soviet Empire


Historic Era SimHQ Book Reviews
Korean Conflict

Crimson Sky: The Air War for Korea 101 kb


Historic Era SimHQ Book Reviews
World War II

Out of the Turret and Into Hell

Swastika in the Gunsight

Black Cross/Red Star: v1, Operation Barbarossa 1941 1.74MB

Black Cross/Red Star: v2, Resurgence January - June 1942 131 kb

First World Flight: The Odyssey of Billy Mitchell - Part 1 2.25MB

First World Flight: The Odyssey of Billy Mitchell - Part 2 3.33MB

Half a Wing, Three Engines, and a Prayer 106 kb

Red Phoenix: The Rise of Soviet Air Power 1941-1945 157 kb

Petlyakov Pe-2 in Action 124 kb

Piece of Cake 108 kb

Polikarpov’s I-16 Fighter: Its Forerunners and Progeny 415 kb

Polikarpov’s Biplane Fighters 171 kb

Soviet Combat Aircraft of the Second World War: Single-Engined Fighters & Soviet Combat Aircraft of the Second World War: Twin-Engined Fighters, Attack Aircraft and Bombers 764 kb

Stopped at Stalingrad: The Luftwaffe and Hitler's Defeat in the East 1942-1943 133 kb

Swastika in the Gunsight: Memoirs of a Russian Fighter Pilot 1941-45 133 kb

The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew The B-24 Over Germany 171 kb

Wing Ding: Memories of a Tailgunner 136 kb

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Interviews

Rogue System Developer Scott Juliano     January 7, 2013

DCS Q&A with Matt Wagner    July 16, 2012

Rise of Flight's Third Anniversary

Part 1 - The Road Ahead     June 10, 2012

Part 2 - The Simulations Depth     June 21, 2012

Part 3 - The Flight Simulation Endeavor     June 22, 2012

Laszlo "Beczl" Becz - DCS: MiG-21Bis "Fishbed" Developer     June 4, 2012

Thomas Voss of Desastersoft     May 7, 2012

Anton Sitnikau on World of Warplanes     April 27, 2012

Anton Yudintsev on World of Planes    August 1, 2011

IL-2: Cliffs of Dover: An Interview with Oleg and Ilya     March 24, 2011

Vertical Reality Simulations F/A-18E Superbug    March 9, 2011

Glowing Amraam     October 11, 2010

What's New in Rise of Flight     July 23, 2010

Lock On Platinum: An Interview with Producer Matt Wagner     May 31, 2010

Wings of Prey: An Exclusive Interview with Project Manager Kirill Yudintsev     November 13, 2009

IL-2 Series Update: v4.09...Plus     July 28, 2009

Oleg Discusses What's Next     May 19, 2009

Yankee Air Pirate's John Shelton    February 20, 2009

Mark “Polovski” Rogers on Over Flanders Fields Phase 3     January 19, 2009

Producer Matt Wagner discusses DCS: Black Shark     December 10, 2008

Virtual Blue Angels - VFAT 2008     December 8, 2008

Birth of a New F-18 Flight Sim     October 30, 2008

Fighter Ops’ Rick "Rjetster" Ladomade     May 20, 2008

Jason Williams of 777 Studios    February 13, 2008

The IL-2 Slovakia Map Team     December 27, 2007

Oleg Maddox     July 19, 2007

Gennadich Team - Knights of the Sky     March 15, 2007

Calamity in Corsica     March 7, 2007

Q&A with Oleg Maddox on "Storm of War: Battle of Britain"      November 16, 2006

Oleg Discusses What's Next     October 16-18, 2006

Oleg Discusses What's Next - Part 3

Oleg Discusses What's Next - Part 2

Oleg Discusses What's Next - Part 1

Lt. Col. John Halliday (USAFR, Ret.) Author, Flying Through Midnight     July 11, 2006

Oleg Maddox on SoW:BoB     July 10, 2006

The Virtual Blue Angels     June 26, 2006

Oleg Maddox on What's Next     May 13, 2006

A Conversation with Mike "Crash" Craycraft of Ghost Skies    April 10, 2006

Hawgsmoke 2006: An Interview with A-10 Pilot Major Dan "Beef" Manning     March 20, 2006

Eric "Aeyes" de Best     January 23, 2006

Dante Mendes De Patta on Jet Thunder    January 18, 2006

Tom's HiTiles for Falcon 4      October 31, 2005

Ian Boys Discusses the IL-2:FB Add-On "Ostfront"     August 12, 2005

A Conversation with Michael Goulian     August 3, 2005

Reborn on the Fourth of July     July 12, 2005

Joel Bierling on Falcon 4: Allied Force     June 6, 2005

Gene Garrett     April 27, 2005

Desert Litening: The 103rd FW in Iraqi Freedom     May 10, 2004

Just Flight's Battle Over Europe     February 18, 2004

Q&A: Lock On: Modern Air Combat Interview with Matt "Wags" Wagner     July 14, 2003

Aces High II: Tour of Duty - An Interview with Doug "Pyro" Balmos     March 14, 2003

Comanche 4 and the State of Sims Today   (1.63MB)    September 7, 2001

Captain Dale "Snort" Snodgrass (Ret. USN) (67 kb)    August 30, 2000

 

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