Hi
My name is Hristo and I am an Il-2 addict. Please let me explain.
I was very cautious, if not sceptical about Il-2. It was a boxed sim, from unknown authors. When Leonid brought up the news 2 years ago, I didn't really expect it to be a 1st class sim.
Only rarely I have watched news about its development. No, I was never a beta tester and I am not a cheeleader (for now).
When the demo came out, I hesitated because of big download. Of course, I tried the 109 first. Fantastic looking cockpit, something we could never get in AH. Metric system at last. Revi gunsight. The 109 cockpit I saw on photos was finally here.
After taking off I tried some aerobatics. What ?! This can't be true - this beast rolls as fast as AH 190. Hmmmmmm, big hmmmmm. Did Oleg mess up the FM ? Did he make a concession to playability. For years I have been flying 109s who simply couldn't or wouldn't roll at higher speeds. What is this ? I trusted to data from Western sources and started to suspect the Il-2 FM. Still, I wanted to play the game for fun.
Fantastic clouds. Flyby sounds with Doppler effect. And gunnery. Oh my God ! Imagine the heresy - someone dared to model different rounds per gun ! In Il-2 you actually fire 3 types of rounds from your MG 151/20. And each of them has a tracer version. Each of the rounds has different effect on impact and different trajectory. 109 has slats finally. They mess up your gunnery when you get too slow and go for a shot. As mentioned by pilots.
The tail wheel. You have to lock it. If you fire guns while plane is parked, the wheel turns 180 degrees while plane goes backwards. Now that is a dedication to detail !
But what about the roll rate ? Do Il-2 planes compress. I was still sceptical about it. There is compression - you can see it by watching stick defelction in cockpit while you move your joystick. There is no magic pull out auto trim. In fact, you only have elevator trim in cockpit.
I went to lok for an explanation for the heretical 109 rollrate. Yes, there were threads on boards and at first time I saw someone mentioning TsAGI reports. Along tiwh NV VVS something (sorry, don't remember the name). Oleg was defending his stand - 109 rollrate is correct, it is modeled by data from Soviet sources. Who to believe ? British tests on 109E and 109G-6/R-6 ? Or two Soviet institutions ? (I heard that they were independant - if test results weren't close to each other, 3rd party would do the tests, while authors of wrong results would be punished. Typical

).
Now, with such a dedication do detail - would Oleg do a concession to playability and make a 109 roll like a 190 (according to Western sources) ? He admitted the P-39 rolls twice as fast as it should and that it will be corrected. I'd rather have longer WEP on 109 than improved rollrate, btw. (Right now WEP on 109 overheats your engine in 1 minute and if you don't lay off the throttle, your engine might be damaged to full stop).
The historical aspect. Enough said.