Introduction July 2nd, 1942. B-17F 41-24485 rolled off the production line in Seattle. The aircraft was a four engine, monoplane, all-metal bomber. A reporter who saw it said it looked like a “15 ton flying fortress”. The name stuck. Designated as the B-17 by the USAF, it was designed to fly high and far; and above enemy fighters and flak. With a crew of ten, combined with its armament, it was said that the B-17 was invincible. However, the Luftwaffe fighters were a generation ahead of the days when the B-17 was designed. The Germans soon found out that the B-17 was vulnerable to head-on attacks, despite the number of guns carried aboard. One crew member stated you could find your way home by following the smoking wrecks of downed aircraft. In an attempt to boost morale back home, a crew and their plane that had completed 25 missions was chosen to return home and tour the country promoting War Bonds. That plane was the “Memphis Belle”
Installation & Documentation The first installation screen asks which Flight Simulator you wish to install the program into. It also gives you a language option from a pull down menu. The installer then checks your system for a valid program folder and quickly installs the add-on. The whole installation process is very quick and easy. The sim comes with a single CD and a 48 page booklet. Within the booklet are installation instructions for both CFS 3 and FS 2002/2004. Detailed graphics of the cockpit layout and an explanation of the manual engine start procedures for each simulation are also included. The guide gives a detailed historical description of all 25 missions the “Belle” flew. Complimenting this, are the stories from the actual flight crew about their missions over France and Germany. Aircraft and Missions Aircraft The aircraft is accessible in CFS3 by selecting the aircraft menu, followed by the US flag and selecting the B-17F. Accessing the aircraft in FS2002/2004 is done through the “aircraft” menu, selecting “Boeing” in the Aircraft Manufacturer drop down menu and selecting the B-17 F Flying Fortress from the “Aircraft Model” drop down menu.
Missions This add-on comes with all 25 historic missions of the Memphis Belle to be played with CFS3 and the War Bonds Tour to be flown in FS2002/2004. The sim recreates the actual weather, targets and bomb load that the aircraft flew during its missions. The missions assigned to the Belle were mostly against naval facilities in northern Europe. She also flew against other ground targets such as railway yards and aircraft factories
While all missions were basically take-off, fly to the target, bomb the target and fly back home, the success of the mission depended on your ability to fly the aircraft as a whole crew. Just sitting in the pilot's seat is a sure way of getting yourself shot out of the sky. Even though your gunners will act against enemy fighters on their own, they are not nearly as accurate as when you are manning the guns yourself.
You have the ability to man all six gun positions. The guns are located in the nose, port and starboard side, tail and upper and lower turrets. It is essential that you rotate through the different gun positions in order to attack the various enemy aircraft coming at you from different angles.
Another essential position is the Bomb Aimer. Once you have identified your target, by switching over to the Bomb Aimer's position you are able to fly the aircraft from here. A great innovation in order to put your bombs on target. When you are acting as a gunner, the aircraft switches to auto-pilot so that you don't have to worry about maintaining your flight path. The down side, if you're close to a target that's protected by AAA, then the plane will continue to fly through it. Summary This sim flies like the real thing. A very slow, sluggish aircraft when fully loaded. Not an agile machine to throw around the sky, especially when trying to avoid enemy fighters or flak. If you are looking for exciting air-to-air combat, then this is probably not for you. The only air-to-air action is trying to down enemy fighters from the gun ports before they down you. Hopping from one gun position to the next is essential for survival, but frustrating trying to keep up with the change in the enemies' position. The sim provides a very target rich environment over enemy territory. A secondary target can always be found if you can't get to your primary target due to enemy activity or extensive damage to your own aircraft. A true combat simmer will enjoy this add-on. The realistic missions to survive over enemy territory bring an insight into what these aircraft and their crews actually had to endure. Getting there was just half the battle; you had to make it home in one piece as well.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
