Dear Friends,

Today we have released another update 5.102 - two new Collector Planes, both of which arrived late in WWI and WWII respectively, and two new free historical campaigns.

The first one of them is the SSW D.IV biplane (also available on Steam). It came too late to the Great War to change Germany’s fortunes, but what machines did make it to front-line squadrons acquitted themselves well. The SS.DIV was the end result of a robust line of aircraft that saw service in the war and it came with a unique feature. The 200-hp SH.IIIa rotary engine had a crankshaft that rotated opposite of the engine and the propeller ’s rotation in an attempt to reduce the torque. The four-bladed propeller gave it a fast rate of climb and a high speed. The SS.DIV was even faster than Germany’s mainstay front-line fighter, the very successful Fokker D.VII. It was also very maneuverable, but reportedly had nasty stall behavior when pushed too far. The SS.DIV was armed with two 2 × 7.92mm machine guns.

In addition to Quick Mission Builder and Multiplayer modes, you can fly it in Career mode during Flying Circus timeframes if you own both this collector plane and either of Flying Circus volumes. In addition, in this case Against the Tide historical campaign (created by Jaegermeister) on the Flying Circus Western Front map will open up for you in the game for free - you'll become one of the Jasta (Jagdstaffel) 22 pilots that received these newest biplanes shortly before the end of the World War I.

The second new arrival is Messerschmitt Bf-109 G-6AS (also available on Steam). It was designed as a high-altitude interceptor and appeared in the Western Europe skies during late Spring 1944. 686 aircraft were built, 226 from scratch and 460 were upgraded from G-6 modification aircraft during  repairs. The engine, DB605AS, was a modification of the DB605A. The installation of the bigger supercharger from the DB603 engine has increased the critical altitude and flight characteristics at high altitudes. The engine cowling became bigger, but it had a more aerodynamic form compared to a standard G6 cowling.

Another new historical campaign is added to the game for free - Wild Mustangs. It is available to all owners of the Battle of Bodenplatte and continues the story of 370th FG which started in the Lighting Strikes campaign by the same author (Jaegermeister).

As usual, there are other improvements and fixes as well:

5.102

1. New Collector Plane, the Great War biplane SSW D.IV has been released;
2. New Collector Plane, high altitude interceptor Bf 109 G-6AS has been released;
3. New free historical mini-campaign Against the Tide is available to players who own SSW D.IV Collector Plane and either of the Flying Circus volumes, thus having access to WWI Western Front map;
4. New free historical campaign Wild Mustangs set in the end of WWII is added to the game (it requires Battle of Bodenplatte);
5. Free historical campaign Wind of Fury has been updated (all aircraft have tactical numbers assigned, US vehicles are replaced by British ones in the British held territory, all missions were updated and re-tested);
6. Free historical campaign Sea Dragons (all aircraft have tactical numbers assigned, new aircraft types added, all missions were updated and re-tested);
7. New Ruler map tool added;
8. Dynamic visual damage decals appear on player controllable tanks correctly;
9. Bf 109 family FM corrected - the bug that reduced their listed climb rates a bit has been fixed;
10. Flying Circus Career: AI flight leader correctly takes off on certain airfields;
11. AI pilots priorities updated: now they will try to retain their bombs and rockets and will jettison them in combat only if they have an enemy on their six that is opening fire;
12. Spitfire Mk.XIVe with teardrop canopy: F24 photo control panel switches are now animated;
13. Spitfire Mk.XIVe with teardrop canopy: wing gun covers textures are aligned better;
14. Spitfire Mk.XIVe with teardrop canopy: it is now possible to set higher propeller RPM manually;
15. Bf 109 G-6 Late, Bf 109 G-14: BR-21 control panel typos fixed;
16. OnKilled event in mission logic won't trigger several times from MCU Command: Damage for AI controlled vehicles;
17. LCA is correctly visible in multiplayer (previously its gunner could appear hanging in the air).