U.S. Army Virtual Air Corps

Over 150,000 Spectators Share in a Once in a Lifetime Aviation Celebration.

Thousands of spectators from across the globe descended on Rickenbacker
International Airport in Columbus, Ohio for the Gathering of Mustangs &
Legends. Beautiful weather, non-stop action and an incredible array of
aircraft and performers - led by the P-51 Mustang - combined to produce an
exceptional air show that created memories that will never be forgotten.

As the Legends and Aces of WWII are approaching the far side of their lives, it is imperative that those of us left behind know of their greatness. They were individuals of great character and conviction that took life personally as they fought for their country but put their life on the line for each other, they were also men and women of great talent who were the first "horse whisperers", bringing out the best in the Mustang even before the designers knew the plane could do it. Just like the plane they flew, they were a breed unto themselves. Today many of these aviation legends are disguised behind the name of grandpa or even gramma, their accomplishments in the air hidden behind a life well lived. Their family and friends not knowing that all that they have and know today is dependent on what they did over six decades ago.

There were 1279 Aces in WWII of which 274 had scored 5 victories or more in the P-51 Mustang. Today there are approximately 80 surviving Mustang Aces. As rare as the Mustang has become, the men and women who made history in their cockpits are becoming even rarer. But unlike the plane, they will not be restored to grace the sky again. These pilots, both those still with us and those who have gone on are who the Gathering is for. The Legends that we are honoring at this event and the thousands of other veterans who served in fighter groups, and ground crews all over the world will be remembered for their contributions to all that we enjoy today.

The 8th Air Force's highest scoring ace Lt Col. JC Meyer

"Serenade in Blue" © 2006 Troy White, Oil on Canvas, 32" x 32" For Sale "Serenade in Blue" is being released as a special Limited Edition canvas print to accompany the new book Bluenoser Tales,
Lt. Col. J.C. Meyer was the highest scoring ace in the 8th Air Force during WWII with 37 victories (24 aerial and 13 ground). Meyer joined the USAAF in 1939 and after a stint as a flight instructor flew P-40s on North Atlantic convoy patrol duties out of Iceland. He returned to the states in 1943, was assigned to the 352nd FG and began training for combat in the P-47 Thunderbolt as CO of the 487th FS. The 352nd FG deployed to England and began flying missions in September of 1943. Meyer was the first pilot in the group to score a victory when he downed an Me 109 and probably destroyed a second on November 26, 1943.

"Serenade in Blue" is available as a 20"x20" canvas print.

Special Limited Edition of only 100 @ $300ea plus 10 Artist's Proofs @ $500ea (USD)

All Prints are signed, numbered & authenticated by Troy.

Contact us to order a print & reserve your preferred print number

NB: A very limited sub edition of prints signed by Bluenoser veterans will be available in time for Christmas

To see other Bluenoser paintings available as Limited Edition Prints click here

New MUST HAVE book, Robert "Punchy" Powell, Jr., Editor

Bluenoser Tales

The Luftwaffe called them the "bluenosed bastards" . . . but you will call them "heroes." This is to announce the soon to be released second book about the 352nd Fighter Group of the ‘Mighty Eighth’ Air Force.
"Bluenoser Tales," is an exciting action-filled collection of wartime," is an exciting action-filled collection of wartime stories by and about the pilots and airmen of one of the most highly-decorated fighter groups of World War II, It was written in the skies over Europe when this famous group, known to the Luftwaffe as the "Bluenosed Bastards of Bodney," destroyed 776 enemy aircraft, 554 in aerial combat, had 29 ‘aces’ including Major George E. Preddy, the top Mustang ace of WWII and leading ace in Europe when he was KIA by friendly fire, had four ‘aces in a day’ and destroyed 11 German Me-262 jets. This book is a tribute to their valor and their skill written in their own words. It is a book that will spend more time in your hands than on your bookshelf. An 8 x 10 hardcover edition of 384 pages printed on glossy stock.. More than 80 colorful, exciting war stories . Eleven action paintings in colorby six renowned aviation artists. meticulously researched and documented.

Order prior to September 15th and enjoy a pre-publication discount of

20% off the retail price of $55. Pay only $44 plus $5.50 s&h, a total of $49.50 during this discount period only, a savings of $11.00.

TO ORDER, CALL: 770-925-4678 or 1-800-857-4678

or VISIT www.unitedwriterspress.com/bnt.html

Any questions, call Bob Powell at 404-636-3747 or email him using bluenoserbob2@juno.com or mailto:bluenoserbob@352ndfightergroup.com

Visa/Mastercard and American Express accepted by United Writers Press.

Autographed copies available on request

352nd Virtual Fighter Groups Hall of Honor Video

Hello all, right now in our downloads section you will find a video created by the 352nd Virtual Fighter Groups Hall of Honor. It is dedicated to Marion "Dee" Johnson, father of 352ndRooster. Mr. Johnson proudly served us all as a member of the 352nd Fighter Group stationed out of Bodney England. It is in his honor and memory that the Squardon created this video.

Please also visit the 352nd Virtual Fighter Group Here! They have an Awesome homepage!

Marion Dee Johnson joined the 352nd FG, 486th FS, towards the end of the war, and thus, was not given his own personal P-51D to fly, however, his PRO record showed “Jackie Ann” was the name he had chosen as his aircraft name. He flew 15 combat missions with the 486th. On April 16, 1945, while strafing a German airfield, he destroyed one FW-190, one ME-109, and damaged two other enemy aircraft. He was credited with destroying over a half dozen trains. He received the Air medal with three oak leaf clusters. After the war, he flew the C-47 in the reserves. He built and managed three golf courses in Orange County, California, for thirty-five years.

Flying the P-51, the 'Cadillac'

“My first flight in a P-51 Mustang was a check out ride with William Reese. What a beautiful airplane to fly. If the P-40 was the Model A, then the P-51 was the ‘Cadillac’ of fighters. We took off and headed south towards Paris, and once we arrived at the city, we flew circles around the Eiffel Tower. It was a spectacular sight to see from the air. We then left Paris and headed for a French farmhouse, of which Reese knew the location. We dropped down low and flew around the farmhouse until the family came out. Once they did, Reese wiggled the wings a few times while the family waved at us. It seems this family was part of the French Underground and had rescued Reese when he had to bail out. We then headed back towards the base. On a mission to Berlin, I was bounced by a ME-262. I thought the jet was trying to ram me, so I quickly turned to avoid him. I turned back and ended up on his tail and gave chase, but the jet was diving and was too fast.

On bomb runs, when the bombers would start their run towards the target, we would climb high and to the side of the formation in order to avoid the enemy flak. Some of the bombers would get hit by flak and were forced to leave the formation, which we would then try to protect from enemy fighters. Some of the bombers would be hit by flak and explode into a huge fireball. It was awful to see. After escorting the bombers from the target back to allied airspace, we were free to look for targets of opportunity. We would strafe German airfields, flak towers, trains or barges. We had one pilot in the 352nd who was of Polish descent, who hated German trains, and he was credited with destroying over 50 of them. Strafing runs were very dangerous. I got an Me-109 and FW-190 on one mission. I started shooting at 150 feet while diving down, and ended up about 50 feet off the deck, guns blazing away. I flew right over the enemy plane as it was burning. I had to make an emergency landing in Belgium after strafing an airfield, due to enemy fire hitting my plane. You would make only one or two runs on an airfield, as they would be looking for you after you made your initial pass.”

Bio provided by High Iron Illustrations

An Interview with Oleg Maddox

July 19, 2007
An Interview with Oleg Maddox by Guest Writer "Dolph" Introduction Recently Community Member "Dolph" had the opportunity to interview Oleg Maddox. This is a reprint of his article. "Dolph": First of all I'd like to thank you for this opportunity to expose more of yourself to this community that adores you. Actually the biggest part of them adores you, but there is also a part that doesn't hold the best feelings for you. They take this game too personally and they believe that the developer is behind their failure as virtual pilots. Is there something that you want to address to them? Oleg: Pilots win dogfights. Not airplanes. If a pilot is not particularly good, regardless of a plane, he’ll always have a sinking feeling that something somewhere is wrong… and not everyone is willing to admit that the fault lies within. Most of the drama arises from high expectations. People have grown-up reading the memories and watching movies based on the exploits of the best of the best, and they somehow expect their gaming experience to be the same as it was for a few very lucky, very capable, unique individuals. But since most of virtual pilots have average skill and luck, they instead experience combat as it was to an average historical pilot. And an average historical pilot did not shoot down 352 enemy planes, approaching every combat with ease, and escaping every battle without a scratch. Most of all, people have to always have fear and respect of their opponent. They can’t approach a dogfight with preconceived propaganda notions of the other side being inferior. A better pilot in an inferior plane will still shoot you down 9 out of 10 times. Plane characteristics have nothing to do with it. It’s quite funny actually to visit flight sim forums in various languages, and read on a Russian site that Oleg sold out to imperialists, and made Russian planes inferior to Germans; and then go on a German forum and read the exact opposite, about the exact same planes. "Dolph": And this discussion brings us to the balance arguments that have been alive from the first day of the game. Can you tell us who has been taking the balance decisions and what mattered most in order to change one or another attribute of a plane in order to balance things? And were the results of online gaming used for balancing the planes, or was it only the offline mode that mattered? Oleg: We do not artificially balance anything. We recreate planes as exactly as possible, and whether their relative performance benefits one side or the other, we do not care. Even if we had the desire to balance something, that’d be quite an impossible task, since we’re covering such a huge variety of aircraft across such diverse theaters and across such a wide time period. There’s so many potential match-ups that balancing anything is plainly impossible. How do you balance P-51 vs Spitfire vs Bf-109 vs FW-190 vs La-7 vs Yak-3 vs J2M vs N1K vs Ki-84 vs F4U, where any combination of the previous is possible? And we have 300 planes. So the only question we ask ourselves is, what’s the most reliable data we can find on the performance of each given plane, and then we make our plane behave as close to the data we have as possible. How that plane compares to others doesn’t even enter our minds. With the incredible scrutiny all our work is subjected to by the community, there’s no room for bias. "Dolph": Some people say that you have been flying incognito in various online wars. Is this true? And if yes, in which ones did you fly and which one did you enjoy most? Oleg: I mostly flew on dogfight servers. Sometimes I fly incognito, but most of the time I prefer to fly under my own name ("Maddox"). But right now I’m very busy with SoW:BoB so, I fly only offline and only in the new sim. However, I am occasionally made aware of an impostor here and there. "Dolph": Do you have an opinion about known online pilots? Are there any of them that you admire or respect as virtual pilots? Oleg: I respect those that can win a dogfight in any plane; or at the very least lose without complaining about their mount. "Dolph": What do you think was the secret behind IL-2s success? And by the way, was there any "special" Russian technology that was used in the development of it? Oleg: We had lots of innovations in IL-2, which by now have been copied by everyone left and right. But their sims are still nowhere near as successful, and that’s because innovations are not the most important thing. IL-2 is successful because of the experienced and dedicated core team, and the monumental effort by the developers and 3rd parties that spans nearly a decade. "Dolph": There is a known issue where, if a bomber pilot drops a bomb and he dies before it hits the targets, then the targets won't explode. Is this happening for a reason? Oleg: No, this wasn’t done on purpose; but when it was discovered it was already impossible to change due to previously written mass of code. The only way to change that would be to rewrite the online code from scratch, and that was simply impossible. And I say online code because online code is used offline too with virtually no difference, save for some traffic-related details. "Dolph": What do you think is the most important thing in developing a flight sim? What was your top priority when you first started developing IL-2? Oleg: Everything is important. While it’s impossible to make everything perfect, one has to try. And the key here is to be able to compromise. That’s the greatest skill of all, to find compromise between all the equally important elements, so that it satisfies everyone, the developers, the publishers, and of course the players.

Operation Bodenplatte

Historical Mission By: David Humphrey (RS_DealnDave)

Operation Bodenplatte

Date: January 1st, 1945

The German Luftwaffe launches Operation Bodenplatte, a last desperate attempt to break loose the Ardennes Offensive that had been halted at Bastogne. Approximately 800 German fighters are sent to attack 15 allied forward air bases. At some bases the Luftwaffe attack is devastating, destroying aircraft and rendering airstrips useless. At other fields only a few fighters found their targets and damage was minimal. But here at Asch the result was unlike anything the Luftwaffe had imagined. The attack on the Asch airbases were a total disaster. When the 11th Jagdgeschwader reached the bases they found P-47 Thunderbolts, of the 366th Fighter Squadron, circling the fields and P-51 Mustangs, of the 352nd Fighter Group, just taking off. This battle was only one of many battles that took place on that fateful New Year's day in 1945.

Reviews: IL2 Sturmovik 1946

Call it a videogame if you dare: Oleg Maddox's IL-2 series may be the most scrupulous survey of World War II planes in the history of the genre. If it's aeronautical fidelity you're after, IL-2's the armchair aviator's Cadillac. Rip one of these puppies open and you can almost smell the burnt varnish off a hobbled German Focke-Wulf or catch the acrid tang of cordite bleeding through the dash of a bullets-spent P-51 Mustang. Think of 1946 as the mother lode. It wrestles everything from the original IL-2 Sturmovik through 2004's Pacific Fighters and 2006's Pe-2 into one installation on a single DVD, then adds two brand-new expansions...all for an obscenely bargain-basement price of $30.

Hypothetical Rumble
The 1946 expansion asks: "What if the Allies botched Normandy, and the Soviets and Germans fought on?" Answer: a proper successor to LucasArts' 1990 game Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe. With 1946, you basically get jets -- and not just those that actually flew trivial endgame sorties. In addition to your German Me-262s, Arado Ar-234s (the world's first jet bomber), and He-162s, or Russian MiG-9s, MiG-13s, and Yak-15s, developer RRG pulled a few exotic "wonder weapons" off the table. Take the Heinkel Lerche II, a vertical takeoff and landing fighter/interceptor that looks like a finned rocket stuck through a giant fan. Or try the Horten Ho-IX, a batwing jet-glider that eerily resembles the U.S. B-2 stealth bomber and could tag speeds just shy of Mach 1. Oh yeah, ever wanted to strap wire-guided X-4 rockets on a 596 mph German Ta-183? Here's your chance.

The new campaigns force you to slog through a few too many traditional planes before graduating to the palm-rubbing speed demons, but the missions extrapolate from history logically and only stutter a bit in the Soviet VVS 46 campaign with a few noncombat - to-Z yawners. Jets aren't prop planes, and turn-turn-turn aces will have to adjust to 1946's aerial jousting, but having these fascinating planes shoehorned in with 1C's trademark photo-real finishes cinches 1946's price, anthology or no.

Operation "August Storm"
Sturmoviks Over Manchuria, the other debut add-in, trots out the 1945 Russian IL-10, a bomb-toting, 2,000 horsepower beast of a ground-puncher that topped out 87 mph faster than the original IL-2 warhorse. After assisting in the final assault on Berlin -- running recon dogfights and bombing artillery dugouts -- you'll slingshot east to test this powerful Soviet hybrid against Japan's best in a harrowing campaign over northern China.

You also get a host of new Japanese planes, like the speedy short-range Mitsubishi J2M5 "Raiden," four Nakajima Ki-series variants, and the Kawanishi N1K2-J "George" fighter-bomber with its automatic force-triggered flaps. The Japanese campaign leads off battling Hellcats over Iwo Jima and culminates in hair-raising defense runs scuppering U.S. B-29 raids over Japan.

1946 might as well be the holy grail of WWII flight sims, a platinum anthology of everything good about no-frills airborne scrimmaging. The new material's a deal, whether you own the earlier games or not. And if you don't, 30 bucks nets you something that -- six years on -- still outclasses everything else.

IL2 Sturmovik 1946 hits shelves in the U.S.!

Today Ubisoft, one of the world’s largest video game publishers, announced that IL-2 STURMOVIK™: 1946, will take off on March 13, 2007 for PCs in North America. The long-awaited IL-2 STURMOVIK™: 1946 is the latest installment in the acclaimed Il-2 Sturmovik™ brand from award-winning developers 1C: Maddox Games and RRG Studios.

IL-2 STURMOVIK™: 1946 is a wide-ranging new offering, with 32 new flyable aircraft, hundreds of new missions in nine campaigns spread across the entire globe, nearly 1,000 new paintschemes, as well as many exclusive features. Pilots can fly the skies and fight enemies over the Russian front, German occupied Europe, the Far East and the Pacific. STURMOVIK™: 1946 also includes all of previous Il-2 series content in a single simple installation, thus bringing the most respected anthology flight simulator to an unmatched 229 flyable aircraft and over 300 total aircraft on one DVD!

Key items:

New Aircraft – 32 new flyable fighters and bombers, including the Il-10 Sturmovik, the MiG-9 Jet fighter, the Arado Ar-234 Blitz jet bomber, or the N1K2 George fighter; plus four new AI aircraft.

New Maps – Large new historical maps of the Kiev region, a Manchuria region map focusing on the border between the USSR, China and Japanese-occupied Korea, a large bonus Burma map and an online Khalkin Gol / Nomonhan map.

New Campaigns - With nearly 200 missions, unparalleled realism and attention to detail, the nine new campaigns will thrust players into detailed fighter and bomber pilots missions for the German, Soviet and Japanese air forces.

1946 Upgrade is here!

Check the links below for the latest patch!

We are happy to announce the release of the 4.08 PC Patch and dedicated server. Please note that you must have version 4.07 prior to installing this patch (same applies to the dedicated server). Download the patch and dedicated server from the following locations:

Ubisoft Dedicated Server

New Aircraft in 1946

In addition to all IL-2 Sturmovik aircraft and IL-2 Sturmovik free add-ons

Flyable Ju-87D-3 Two seat dive bomber / ground attack aircraft Ju-87G-1 Two seat tank buster / ground attack aircraft Bf-109G-14 Fighter Bf-109G-10 Fighter Bf-109K-4 Fighter FW-190D-9 Fighter. 1944 model FW-190D-9 Fighter. 1945 model with MW50 FW-190F-8 Fighter-bomber FW-190A-9 Fighter He-111H-2 Multi-crewed bomber He-111H-6 Multi-crewed bomber / torpedo bomber Me-262A-1a Jet fighter Me-262A-2a Jet fighter-bomber B-239 (Brewster Buffalo F2A) Fighter. Finnish Air Force Hurricane Mk I Fighter Finnish Air Force TB-3 Multi-crewed bomber La-5 Fighter La-5F Fighter La-7 2x20mm ShVAK cannons Fighter La-7 3x20mm B-20 cannons Fighter I-153 M-62 Fighter I-153P Fighter Hurricane Mk IIB Fighter Hurricane Mk IIC Fighter Hurricane Mk II with Russian cannons and MGs Fighter P-47D-10 Fighter / fighter-bomber P-47D-27 Fighter / fighter-bomber P-40E Fighter P-40M Fighter P-40 field mode with Soviet M-105P engine Fighter AI Bristol Blenheim MK I Bomber. Finnish Air Force Bristol Blenheim MK IV Bomber. Finnish Air Force Fiat G.50 Fighter. Finnish Air Force Morane MS.406 Fighter. Finnish Air Force Morane MS.410 Fighter. Finnish Air Force Mörkö Morane Fighter. Finnish Air Force.
Equipped with Soviet engine M-105P, captured by Germans and sold in Finland Bf-110C Heavy fighter and fighter bomber Bf-110G Heavy fighter and fighter bomber Me-210Ca-1 Heavy fighter and fighter-bomber. Hungarian Air Force Me-210Ca-1 Zerstörer Formation destroyer / ground attack.
Hungarian Air Force. In additional to standard cannons 1x40mm, 2x3 150mm rockets Ar-196A-3 Sea plane IL-4 1942 Long range bomber / torpedo bomber IL-4 (DB-3F) 1940 Long range bomber SB-2 M-100 Bomber SB-2 M-103 Bomber DB-3 Long range bomber DB-3T Torpedo Bomber DB-3M Long range bomber P-51D Fighter. USAAF Su-2 Close support Bomber PBY-Catalina Sea plane