Ah thanks good reminder of the GOG version, if I can't solve the problem with my disk version that will definitely be the route to go.
Flying around in the excellent A2A P-40 Warhawk in FSX has rekindled my interest in IL-2 so I can shoot stuff with it.
UPDATE:
I figured out my problem, when I did the last IL2-1946 patch dance I missed the 4.08 patch, I just did a fresh install and patch dance and things are working, woohoo! hope to get some IL2 battle screenies soon.
Glad to hear that you solved your problem. We try to keep a patching guide for 1946 up to date at M4T so you may want to keep this handy for future reference.

IL-2 1946 Installation and Patching Guide;
http://www.mission4today.com/index.php?name=Knowledge_Base&op=show&kid=584Wheels
Thanks for the work on that, the guide is excellent, the user following it is the problem

as we used to say in the army ID 10T error.
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