Dear Friends,

Today is an important day for the project. We are proud to present the results of joint work with our partner "Ugra Media" - the Flying Circus Vol. II release. We have completed the Western Front 1918 map to the planned degree, as well as the development of the Career game mode (the full list of changes is available at the end of the news). During the work on the Career, we created new types of missions and adapted a significant number of existing ones to match the realities of the war in the skies of 1917-1918.

Flying Circus Vol. II

Flying Circus Vol. II includes:

• The map "Western Front 1918" containing northwestern and southeastern parts of the front line and Quick Mission Builder mode for it.
• Pilot’s Career mode for WWI.
• French fighter Spad VII.C1 in two variations.
• British Sopwith Triplane rotary engine fighter.
• French rotary engine fighter Nieuport 28.C1.
• French medium two-seat bomber Breguet 14.B2.
• British medium two-seat bomber Airco DH.IV.
• British heavy twin-engine bomber Handley Page 0-400.
• German Fokker D.VIII monoplane fighter.
• German fighter Pfalz D.XII.
• German heavy twin-engine bomber Gotha G.V.
• German two-seat recon/bomber DFW C.V.

Flying Circus Vol. III

Also, 1C Games Studios and Ugra Media have entered into an agreement to develop the third part of the project - Flying Circus Vol. III.

It will include 8 aircraft:

• German Albatros D.II fighter
• German fighter Halberstadt D.II
• French Nieuport 17.C1 fighter
• French Nieuport 11.C1 fighter
• French fighter Nieuport 17.C1 GBR adapted for British service
• French Hanriot HD.1 fighter.
• British two-seat reconnaissance aircraft R.E.8.
• British two-seat medium bomber F.E.2b.

In the 3rd part of the project, it is planned to make the Western Front map and the Pilot Career mode final. Map objects and Career mode will cover the entire length of the front lines on the map, complementing and improving the content of Rise of Flight. There will be new industrial plants, farms, front line objects and other details. The map will have five seasons: Summer, early Autumn, late Autumn / early Spring, Winter and Spring. Release of the Flying Circus Vol. III is scheduled for the end of 2023. The first airplanes of the set will be available this summer via the early access program our players are familiar with.

Future plans

After the completion of FC-III, there are plans for 2024 to develop an additional set together with Yugra Media that will reproduce the remaining land-based aircraft in Rise of Flight.

It is currently planned to include:

• British Sopwith Pup fighter.
• British rear-engine fighter Airco DH.2.
• British two-seat reconnaissance Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter.
• German fighter Albatros D.III.
• German Fokker E.III monoplane fighter.
• German two-seat reconnaissance Roland C.IIa.

We plan to further improve the maps of Flying Circus projects, supplement their development and add the airfields that are located further from the front line. Please note that the Western Front map is available to all players who have purchased at least one of the Flying Circus projects. This map will be further improved and supplemented.

Spitfire Mk.XIVe Released

In addition to the Great War news, we would like to present a new British collectible aircraft from the final period of the WWII - the Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XIVe. The main difference between this aircraft and the previous Mk.XIV is the teardrop-shaped canopy, which provides a better view.

The aircraft has several modifications available:

• 150 grade fuel allowing +21 lb boost. Automatic supercharger gear shifting is disabled, stages should be manually switched at 11000 ft altitude (20 km/h estimated speed increase at sea level).

• Two 250 lb G.P. bombs with racks (250 kg weight increase, 22 km/h speed loss, 11 km/h speed loss after drop).

• 500 lb G.P. bomb with rack (237 kg weight increase, 12 km/h speed loss, 6 km/h speed loss after drop).

• Replacement of MkII Gyro Gunsight with MkII* Reflector Gunsight.

• Clipped Wing.

• Rear view mirror (1 kg weight increase, 1 km/h speed loss).

• F.24 photo camera installation behind the cockpit (28 kg weight increase). Clipped wing only.

• Rounded exhaust pipes.

It is already in the sim and available on our website and on Steam.

Wings Over Caen Free Campaign Released

As we have announced in Dev Blog 338, this update contains a gift for all owners of Battle of Normandy. Wings over Caen tells about the tour of duty of No. 245 Squadron RAF«Northern Rhodesia» in the summer of 1944. Over the course of 10 hectic missions, you will be able to feel the difficulties its Typhoon pilots experienced after their rebase to Normandy.

We have also added the single missions for all Normandy aircraft plus C-47 (make sure to check them out!) and the last of the ships planned for this theater - Fighter Direction Tender.

You can find the full list of changes in this update below.

5.101

Major Features

1. The WWI Western Front map improved, Flying Circus Career mode added, Flying Circus Vol.II released;

2. The Spitfire Mk.XIVe with Teardrop Canopy Collector Plane released;

3. New action-rich historical campaign Wings over Caen added (it's free for Battle of Normandy owners);

4. 11 interesting single missions added for all aircraft of the Battle of Normandy, including Arado and Spitfire XIV, and C-47;

5. FDT (Flight Direction Tender) ship added, it was created as part of the Battle for Normandy;

6. Blazing Steppe, Fortress on the Volga and Ice Ring campaigns updated (tactical numbers and correct paint schemes added for each aircraft, the number of aircraft increased by 15-20% in most missions, missions updated for the new sim version and re-tested);

7. His Majesty Griffons campaign updated (tactical numbers and correct paint schemes added for each aircraft, Ar 234 flight added to mission 9, American vehicles replaced by British in UK held territory, missions updated for the new sim version and re-tested);

8. Hawks Over the Bulge campaign updated (fixed waypoints);

9. Added 9 single missions for Flying Circus Vol.II airplanes;

AI Changes

10. Fixed bugs when AI pilots drop paratroopers and cargo containers (difficulty calculating an approach, wingmen not dropping cargo after the leader);

11. Corrected evasive maneuvers for World War I aircraft AI pilots, which previously sometimes led to a spin and collision with the ground;

12. Fixed an issue with AI pilots climbing in formation, which, in particular, could cause the wingmen to fly with their flaps extended and therefore lag behind the rest of the flight;

13. Improved formation keeping by AI pilots during climb and descent;

14. AA searchlights on a truck chassis function correctly;

Aircraft Changes

15. Pe-2 Ser. 35 and Pe-2 ser. 87 - crew models updated;

16. Pe-2 Ser. 35 and Pe-2 ser. 87 - Female Crew modification added;

17. Pe-2 Ser. 87: fixed the texture of the machine gun trigger guard in the upper turret (regular and closed);

18. The location of tactical number symbols has been corrected on the “Two-color” and “White” skins for IL-2 mod. 1943 and the "White" skin for the Yak-1 ser. 69;

19. Airco D.H.4, Handley-Page O/400 and Breguet 14: flight commander flares fired when giving orders won’t damage the aircraft wing;

20. A-20B: fixed a problem with the display of the tail signal lights at a distance;

21. The size of off-road bumpy terrain features on the Normandy map now corresponds the other maps (Kuban, Rhineland, etc.);

22. Balloon operators launch flares when given a mission command MCU Command: Flare;

23. Detailed tanks launch flares when given a mission command MCU Command: Flare;

24. Fw 190 A5/A6/A8: fixed a number of minor typos in the cockpit;

25. Hs.129: SC50 bomb racks are linked to the middle part of the wing (was to the outer one);

26. Spitfire Mk.XIV critical engine operating modes have been adjusted similar to Mk.XIVe.

27. Spitfire Mk.XIV aircraft behavior when extending and retracting flaps has been corrected.

28. Spitfire Mk. XIV formation lights look correct from a distance when clipped wings are selected;

29. Spitfire Mk. XIV: fixed a bug due to which the fuel tank damage could be calculated wrong when hitting wing tanks;

30. Bf 109 G-4: aerodynamic drag and weight of bombs and bomb holders is calculated correctly;

31. Me 410 A-1: Stuvi scope wind speed readings have been adjusted to match the values in the technochat;

32. All Bf 109, all Fw 190, IL-2, MiG-3, LaGG-3, MC-202: the point of application of the air drag of the underbelly and underwing cannons has been fixed (it was applied incorrectly, in the center of the aircraft);

33. All Bf 109: fixed a bug due to which gunpods were linked to the wingtip instead of the middle part of the wing;

34. Bf 110 G-2: fixed propeller blur at low rpm;

35. Ar 234 B-2: increased drop in aerodynamic quality of the wing when its part is shot off;

36. Fixed a random crash bug when setting C-47A engine cowl flaps streamwise;

37. C-47A engine cowl flap control valves are named correctly in the cockpit;

38. Fixed display of the Ju 87D-3 gunner's cockpit in multiplayer when a guest gunner is connected;

39. Recovery time of time limited engine modes have been adjusted (now the required recovery time is proportional to the time limit itself);

Tank Crew Changes

40. Fixed excessive damage to gun barrels by shell fragments when hitting the rear of the turret;

41. It is again possible to damage the player controllable tank Pz.Kpfw. V Ausf.G “Panther” undercarriage;

42. The GUI display of the number of rounds left in a player controllable tank has been fixed;

43. Churchill tracks are visible in the first person view;

44. The hull armor is correctly taken into account when calculating an APHE hit at the front part of the Churchill gear box;

Western Front 1918 Map Changes

45. General fixes for the Western Front map, Spring 1918:

• Leveled terrain under the Ochey airfield (2630-1);
• Leveled terrain under the Pronville airfield (0908-5);
• Restored objects on the airfield La Bellevue (0905-7);
• Added airfield Marville (1726-5);
• Changed the name of the airfield to Avesnes-le-Sec West (0811-1);
• Removed a flooding from the Etain airfield (1927-2);
• Fixed forest clearings (1327-4, 1427-8, 1328-2, 1325-3);
• Removed the overlapping of buildings in the villages on the front line and trenches (1306-7, 1206-5, 0807-4, 0506-6, 0307-6, 0207-3, 2432-1, 2532-8);
• Airfield Bernes (1209-4) - the sign has been removed from the hangar;
• Train station Lille (0409-7) - removed the extra model of the station, mistakenly added to the map;
• Airfields Stenay and Stenay South (1724-8) and Belrain (2425-7) have leveled terrain;
• Added the city of Luxembourg (1531);
• Added Fort Verdun (2025-6);
• Many farms have been added to the countryside;
• Ypres (0107-3) - added a canal near the city;
• Bridge markings added (1421-3, 1425-4, 1425-3, 1426-2, 1426-3, 1427-1, 1427-8, 1428, 2831-6, 2831-9, 2832-8, 2832 -9, 2520-4, 2520-7, 2519-6, 2625, 0815-4, 0715-7, 0815-8, 0314-5, 0214-3, 0507-4, 0611-5);
• Added missing ground textures near buildings (1203-5, 1203-6, 1203-8, 1406-1, 1306-4, 1310-9, 1103-5, 1105-9, 0910-4, 0911-1, 1523-5 , 1425-1, 0806-9, 1621-1, 1721-9, 1624-4, 1624-1, 1627-2, 1820-9, 1820-2, 1921-9, 2027-8, 2028-4, 2029 -5, 2029-3, 0607-5, 0505-2, 2128-5, 0402-3, 2229-8, 2229-1, 2230-5, 2231-9, 2230-5, 2431-2);
• Corrected forest clearings (1327-4, 1427-8, 1328-2, 1328-5, 1325-3);
• Removed trees from houses 0506-4, 0508-7, 0508-3, 0510-7, 0610-2, 0610-8, 0608-7, 0608-7, 0606-5, 0605-8, 0605-9, 0606-7, 0608- 3, 0609-1, 0508-7, 1207-1);
• Added missing textures for railways (1307-3, 0203-3, 0605-9, 0605-8);
• Toul airfield (2629-8) - the terrain at the end of the runway has been leveled.

Other Сhanges

46. An excessive shine of camouflage nets fixed;

47. Fixed a bug in the operation of the air reconnaissance, artillery correction and photo reconnaissance GUI, which led to inability to use it if there were ground vehicles in the mission;

48. Fixed a bug in the work of MCU: ComplexTrigger, due to which the event of dropping paratroopers worked regardless of the specified country;

49. Updated the sounds of air explosions of medium and large caliber AA rounds;

50. Added separate sounds of air explosions for the British QF13-pounder 6 cwt (76.2 mm) and the German Flak 77 L/27 AA guns;

51. Updated external and internal (heard from cockpit) sounds of the ShVAK autocannon;

52. Fixed assignment of tactical codes to the aircraft of the player's cover flight in the Career mode;

53. Tactical codes generated for a mission shouldn’t be applied to the unique skins in the hangar;

54. Mission Editor: Fixed the drop-down list of countries in the Properties section for airfields.