Very nice

So we finally see what this is all about! :P

Maybe I missed it, but where is it mentioned that this sim would focus on the P-47?

Looks like its going a bit faster than SOW!!

Thanks everyone. Glad you like the idea.

RedTiger - look in the upper left hand corner of the pic. You'll see my WIP logo and title.

Tree - Well I don't know about that, but we've made some decent progress. We're now concentrating on the models and the terrain. It's all very challenging, especially the terrain, but my team has put forth a good effort and we hope you'll like the final result. I have no ETA on the sim and I don't want to make any false promises, but I'll try to post updates every so often.

Roosterfeet - Thanks for the vote of confidence!

The P-47 in the PTO has not really been covered so I thought it would be a nice subject. A heavy Jug vs. nimble Zekes, Tony's and Floats should be fun.

Jason

The P-47 Thunderbolt was not generally welcomed in the Pacific theatre. It was seen as too clumsy to compete with the very agile Japanese fighters and it did not have the range for operations over the vast expanses of the Pacific. Worse, the P-47 was best at the high altitudes at which American bombers operated over Europe. However, in Japan most combat occurred below 20,000 feet, where the P-47 was at its least manoeuvrable.

Despite these problems, General George C. Kenney, commander of the Fifth Air Force in the south west Pacific, was determined to acquire as many aircraft as possible for his command. The Lockheed P-38 Lighting was popular with American pilots in the Pacific, but not available in sufficient numbers while the early Allison-powered P-51A Mustangs were not impressive. That left the P-47.

The 348th Fighter Group commanded by Colonel Neel Kearby arrived in Australia on June 30th 1943 with their P-47D-2-RE. Between August and December 1943 the 348th Fighter Group claimed over 150 victories while losing only 8 pilots. Kearby himself would become the highest scoring American P-47 Ace of the Southwest Pacific, with 22 confirmed kills.



Leading three other P-47's on a reconnaissance mission near Wewak, Kearby spotted a formation of Japanese aircraft far below his own cruising altitude of 26,000 feet. Kearby and his flight counted at least 12 bombers and an estimated 36 fighters as escort. Ignoring the lopsided odds, Kearby led the Thunderbolts down at high speed. Tearing into the Japanese formation, Kearby quickly splashed three of the escort while Captains Dunham and Moore each blasted a Ki-61 Tony into oblivion. Using his speed to zoom back up to 20,000 feet, Kearby planned on gathering his flight for another high speed pass. However, he spotted one of his flight with a pair of Tonys nipping at his tail. Rolling into a dive, Kearby came roaring down well in excess of 400 mph. In one pass, both Japanese fighters were fatally hit. Continuing right on by, Kearby ripped into yet another gaggle of Tonys. One of these went down on fire. A second was likely shot down as well. Unfortunately for Kearby, his gun camera had run out of film and he could only claim the last Tony as a probable.

The weak low level performance and limited manoeuvrability of the Thunderbolt was still a weakness. Kearby himself was killed on 6 March 1944 during a fighter sweep over Wewak, when he stayed at low level to confirm a probably kill and was caught by a Ki-43.

During 1944 the P-47 was slowly phased out in the south west Pacific. Suitable targets on New Guinea were in increasingly short supply. Those units that had converted from the P-38 were often able to convert back during the year. Early in 1945 even the 348th would move away from the Thunderbolt, moving onto the Merlin powered P-51D Mustang. By the end of the war the only Thunderbolt unit remaining in the Fifth Air Force was the 58th Fighter Group, a ground attack unit.

In mid-1944 the Seventh Air Force received the Thunderbolt and the Mustang. This was just in time for them to take part in the invasion of Saipan, flying onto the island from the CVE Manila Bay in June 1944. On Saipan the P-47 saw action in the ground attack role.



The capture of Iwo Jima and then Okinawa allowed the Seventh’s Thunderbolts to see air to air combat. The two islands were used as bases during the increasingly heavy strategic bombing campaign over Japan. Both Thunderbolt and Mustang units saw service in the high altitude bomber escort role at which the Thunderbolt excelled. The same period saw the arrival of the long range P-47N, which had a range of close to 2,000 miles with drop tanks.

In terms of victories gained, the Thunderbolt’s best moment in the Central Pacific came in late May 1945. Kamikaze attacks were threatening Allied shipping around Okinawa, and so the 318th Fighter Group was allowed to fly fighter sweeps over southern Japan, with the aim of intercepting potential Kamikaze aircraft far from their targets. In two sweeps, on 25 and 28 May, the Thunderbolts claimed nearly forty victories.

Rickard, J (13 May 2007), Republic P-47 in the Pacific, Full Article

and
History Of P-47

I have to ask...

what is your marketing strategy? We have an excellent flight sim with IL-2, which already features the a/c you show here...

are you expecting IL-2 fans to drop IL-2 and go to this all-pacific war sim?

will this sim be vastly superior to IL-2?

I'm not expecting anybody to do anything. I'm not claiming to be anything close to the developer Oleg is. This is the first flight-sim I have developed. Hopefully it will be something some simmers will want to fly. If not, we won't be around long.

Jason

Bring it on, I'm buying it!

Best of luck Jason.

I'll buy it too Jason, and hopefully this first project will sell well enough for you and your team to continue on with additions to the series.

It looks very interesting, and unless you make it a 3rd person shoot-em-up game, I'll definitely get it. But I really do hope that it also allows complex engine management, trim, destroying engines if run too long too hot (MS FlightSim style) - next to a simpler version of course.