East Front - Expansion

[Guest Mike]

I've found a couple of sites referring to the LaG-5.

- http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~pettypi/elevon/gustin_military/db/sov/LAG5GORB.html - says it never entered production

- http://www.ctrl-c.liu.se/misc/ram/lag-5.html says it entered production but wasn't as good as the La-5

AFAIK the cut-down rear fuselage was introduced on the La-5F, and early production La-5's did not have it.

[Dan Verssen]

Thanks for spotting the error, I'll update the file.

[Dan Verssen]

Does any one know of any sites that show Russian bomber squadron patches, insiginia, or nose art?

Basically anything we can use in the game as graphics for the Russian bombers.

I've been looking around the internet, but no luck.

[Guest Mike]

Soviets didn't use squadron parches. Bombers, like fighters, had fairly simple colour schemes - a basic paint scheme (which might be anything from basic green to green on dark green, green/dark earth, 2-tone grey, white winter, etc).

Red stars on wings and fuselage or tail - the stars might be large or small, and have no border or black or white border, occasionally be in a white circular background.

A/c numbers were in a variety of scripts, and in light colours (white, yellow) on dark cammo or dark colours (Black, Red) on light coloured cammo. there was only ever a single number on each fuselage side.

Some a/c had markings for pilot rank - typically contrasting stripes on the tail, or coloured rings around the engine cowling.

Patriotic inscriptions were fairly common, but personalised insignia seem to have been limited to elite pilots.

There's some colour and B&W photos at http://wio.ru/ww2a.htm#g4, http://www.ctrl-c.liu.se/misc/ram/index.html

http://www.sovietwarplanes.com/mig3/index.html has some colour pics of an early war SB-2 development that didnt' see much service

http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/links.html has links to a lot of sites on colourschemes, mainly for modelers and a couple of which I've mentioned here.

http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww2/a/264 has drawings and some photos of lots of different a/c, many of them in colour.

[Guest Mike]

It's been a slow day at work!!

I found another snippet of info about the LaG-5/La-5 here

There is conflicting information as to happenings at the Lavochkin bureau at this time. According to one source, Vladimir Gorbunov left the bureau at this time and it was Mikhail Gudkov who began studies into the possibility of replacing the LaGG-3's Klimov liquid-cooled M-105PF V-12 with the Shvetsov 14-cylinder radial engine; another source gives Gorbunov the credit for the studies, Gudkov having left. Lavochkin and his associate experimentally grafted the nose of a Sukhoi Su-2, which used the Shvetsov radial engine to a LaGG-3 airframe. They did this without official support.

[Dan Verssen]

Thank you Stalin!

That is perfect!

[Guest Mike]

I found a bunch more photos at http://www.studenten.net/customasp/axl/planes.asp?cat_id=3 - the Russian ones are down teh bottom of hte list at het left of hte page - it takes a while to load as there's a lot of thumbnails.

Most are B&W but there's qutie a few museum a/c pictured in colour too.

[Fred19]

Wow, can't wait to get the expansion pack! :eek:

Will "jet sound" also be integrated for the ME 262?

And will we be able to play campaigns with our own built pilots?

[Zanadu]

To Stalin: Mine is a multi-volume effort copyrighted in the mid to late 60s (depending on volume. I bought them in '69 and '70 at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago while I was stationed at Ft. Sheridan. My hitch ended in mid. '70 and I never could find the rest of the set.

I have vol. 1-4 (fighters) vol. 5 (flying boats), vol.6 (floatplanes) and vol.7-10 (bombers--Australian, French and German up to the Messerschmitt Me328B)

[Guest Mike]

Ah - mine's copyright 1977 & makes no mention of the LaG at all.

He does note that the first La-5's were made up from LaGG-3 airframes, and that the first 10 were sent to the front for evaluation on operatoins - no excessive development times here!!

[bartbert]

Originally posted by Fred19:

Wow, can't wait to get the expansion pack! :eek:

Will "jet sound" also be integrated for the ME 262?

And will we be able to play campaigns with our own built pilots?

Yes, there will be jet sound files for the Me-262. Campaigns will still not allow player-pilots to participate. Sorry. There will be lots of new campaigns, though.

[bartbert]

LA-7

Real World Data

Name: La-7

Manufacturer: Lavochkin

Type: Fighter

Number of Engines: 1

Horsepower: 1,850 hp

Max Weight: 7,183 lbs.

Max Speed: 425 mph

Number of Guns: 2

Crew: 1

Year Introduced: 1943

In 1943 Lavochkin and other engineers at the Central Aerohydrodynamics Institute decided to begin redesign and improvement efforts for the La-5. The resulting La-7, build almost entirely out of metals, flew with better performance due to several streamlining changes.

This new aircraft was a favorite with the Soviet aces. It was the only soviet fighter to successfully shoot down a German Me-262.

During the many La-7 redesigns the Soviets decided to experiment with liquid fuelled propulsion. Attempts were made with a tail-mounted liquid fuelled rocket engine (La-7R), two under-wing pulsejets (La-7D), and two under-wing ramjets(La-7S) each using variations off the idea of having the aircraft intake air, adding a combustible mixture of fuels and shooting the air out a rear exhaust tube.

None of these jet designs went into production.

[Sixxkiller]

Lake I know its no consolation but the local games work great too.

-Ray

Originally posted by lakespeed:

Ugh, you guys are killing me here....and I think we're getting rid of the internet for the summer, too.

[Sixxkiller]

And as always Stalin and I will be doing more campaigns than will be included in the pack. The East Front was so large you just have to have more right????

-Ray

Originally posted by bartbert:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Fred19:

Wow, can't wait to get the expansion pack! :eek:

Will "jet sound" also be integrated for the ME 262?

And will we be able to play campaigns with our own built pilots?

Yes, there will be jet sound files for the Me-262. Campaigns will still not allow player-pilots to participate. Sorry. There will be lots of new campaigns, though. </font>

[bartbert]

Tempest V

Real World Data

Name: Tempest V

Manufacturer: Hawker Aircraft Co. Ltd.

Type: Fighter

Number of Engines: 1

Horsepower: 2,260 hp

Max Weight: 13,640 lbs.

Max Speed: 435 mph

Number of Guns: 4

Crew: 1

Year Introduced: 1942

The Tempest V was a fast, maneuverable and heavily armed aircraft. In its first month of operations Tempests claimed fifty-two German fighters and 89 locomotives.

It was said to be the Me-262’s most dangerous opponent. One way the Tempest was able to combat the Me-262 was with a technique called “rat code”. The Tempests would be warned of approaching enemy jets. The pilots would not go after the 262s in a straight air to air combat but would wait near the airfield that the Me-262 would return and land at. The Tempest pilot would then attack the 262 while it made its descent, taking advantage of the lower speeds and the downed flaps.

The Tempest was one of the last piston-engine front line fighters. This particular aircraft was one of the best examples of the maximum performance possible with a piston engine and propeller combination.

[Zanadu]

Looking forward to it. Any better idea of a date for availability??

[bartbert]

There should be an official announcement soon, but I think we have settled on August 1 as the release date for the expansion.

[Carlos Rioz]

Hi,

Will this expansion be free?

[Dan Verssen]

We plan on continuing the plan of releasing free new aircraft and campaigns from time to time, but we're going to need to charge for the expansion.

The expansion will add 29 more aircraft, including the Soviets and Polish air forces to the game, at least 12 more campaigns, the medals and pilot images for the new countries, and their voice clips.

It will also add more than a dozen new skills, and several new game features.

In short, it was a huge amount of work.

[rivven_darke]

Thats only fair to charge for that kinda good work.

I'd also like to pay for an expansion including Italy and France if you know what i mean...

[Sixxkiller]

Well the expansion actually has about the same amount of content as the original. It wont be free but you guys are really getting a lot for your money. Infact I would say you are getting more value from the expansion than you did for the original.

It isnt known to you guys on the outside but I can tell you that Dan and Brian must have VERY understanding families, because they work regular jobs and then come home and work on stuff for the game.

As far as doing Italy and France, Dan will have to say if thats coming down the road, but my guess is it will depend on how the first expansions sales are. That is where you come in as a consumer. Its great to get your patronage but also to get your friends patronage, if you get my drift. Dan and Brian cant afford to do a whole lot of advertising but your word of mouth means more than some silly magazine ad anyway. So if you really like the game and want to see it grow, then you will have to help DIF grow. Dan and Brian can only make a great game, but you can do far more than just enjoy it and I am sure you enjoy it, ESPECIALLY MY CAMPAIGNS!!!!

Well back to work so I can pay my rent.

[SamF7]

"a dozen new skills"

???

Oh NOW I'm curious....

Sam

[Zanadu]

'A dozen new skills??' Oh, joy, oh, bliss. Some of my pilots have several thousand empendable xp's just itching to be used up.

[Sixxkiller]

There is more than a dozen if you count a few skills that I get to use for the campaigns, including one skill that makes playing the Japanese a whole lot more challenging in a few of my campaigns. Dont think you would want this particular skill for your pilots though.

So anyone but Stalin wanna guess as to what that skill is and what it does???

[rivven_darke]

Banzaiiiii