IL2 ClOD- BF-109E1- 7 Punkt 92

I recently purchased the base IL-2, Cliffs of Dover for the early BF-109s, having flown at this point easily 200 hours in the DCS BF-109K4 (150ish?) and FW-190A8 (The remainder). Since my wee Warthunder days I have always liked the way the 109E3 looked, and the 109E1 with its 7.92mm mgs, manual prop pitch, and sleek looks is an absolutely charming airplane to fly in this sim. Here's a mini review, and also, I am EAGERLY awaiting Team Fusion to bring VR to ClOD. Know that I will buy Tobruk, regardless of price, the day VR drops.

Takeoff model completely different from DCS. The second your chocks are pulled you sink to the side for some reason. Takeoff is very bumpy and erratic, the rudder is very twitchy in this sim. It is so different that coming from dcs I ate dirt only 50 ft down the runway try one. For some reason, I enjoy this modeling. I doubt it's very historically accurate but I like the way it feels for some reason. Take this with a grain of salt, I am still evaluating it. I know there is a flying 109E3 in a collection somewhere (last emil iirc?). Surely there are pilots who have flown it in the last 20 years who have enough memory of the feel and inputs to consult on the FM? I would personally donate some money to help compensate for his time. I do not know what the game engine's limitations allow for, however, and I do not think the flight model will ever equal DCS- but maybe ground handling :) ?.

FM Completely different from DCS, feels like a 2011 kinda flight model... but I don't really care how railed or floaty it feels as long as the by-the chart numbers match the performance in sim (and there are some big discussions on this, particularly elevator authority at speed). There is some erratic performance that makes it feel more lively. Think like DCS standard flight model, from 2012, kinda feeling. Nostalgic.

Damage model I am absolutely in love. The 7.92s feel right, the 20mms seem right, and to be fair these are the only ones I have tested, like the 792s here and the 20s on seaplanes (and twice on hurricanes, phenomenal!). There is nothing more satisfying in a sim than hosing rifle caliber ball rounds into a bomber and seeing nothing but little bits of metal fall off, for hundreds of rounds, then fire, or an engine cut out. It's what I would expect 7.92 ball to do. Not many sims seem to do this in a way that FEELS right.

Computer Performance All settings maxed, butter smooth. Compared to DCS VR, very pleasant. We'll see how it fares when its own vr comes. I actually like the dated game engine for this- likely to hold good frame rates because it is simple, and it still looks beautiful to me today, no need for a major appearance overhaul imo.


Clickability rant Cockpit interaction exists but is lacking compared to DCS, but not killer situation. I have memorized more startups than I care to admit that I forgot a year later when I rotated back to DCS module X Y or Z, from the MI-8 to the MiG-21, Mirage 2k and so on. I have come to realize there is no startup you can't learn in a few hours with a checklist, and in reality there will be training, checklist, trainer flights, etc. I have seen many youtube videos where real life MI-8 pilots for example do things wildly outside my checklist, and when I think about the order of operations I realize it makes a lot of sense in real life, saving battery, fuel, cold cranking, etc. The big allure of starting by checklist is knowing your systems through and through, to try to visualize what systems are doing what in order to fly... That's the allure to me anyway. At any rate, after time in the DCS 109, cockpit similarities mean I can look around the 109E in ClOD and mentally start it if I want to, and the simplified start follows convention if you don't want to. There's enough that you do the major things, just enough to count. The trim and flaps wheels are clickable, as is the gun sight brightness and a few other small things. You will find very few binds needed on your controls, much is clickable (small gripe, could prop pitch control toggle for manual/auto be bound to cockpit? the switch is large and present.) Anyway, the cockpit interactivity? Fine. I enjoy it greatly for the simple fact you don't need so many key bindings, I love to press the buttons and turn the wheels in the cockpit instead.

RATINGS-
As a game- 8/10- current leader to me
As a simulator- 6/10- good enough to enjoy, dcs current leader at 8.5/10
I recommend buying the base game highly.