Quick Mission Builder (QMB) Before heading up into the virtual skies of Hyperlobby it is
strongly suggested that you become proficient at basic flight maneuvers and facing your own computer in offline artificially intelligent (AI) controlled combat. Please be sure to read Bearcat's Nugget's Guide approach to getting started offline with the Quick Mission Builder (QMB).
(The GUI of the Quick Mission Builder) The QMB is part of your regular game (and is not something that you need to download separately) and this is the main tool you will use to setup contests against computer controlled AI opponents. This will be your training ground for a few weeks or months before you face your first real adversaries online. Start out with enemies at the beginner level and in inferior aircraft (like the B-29 or C-47). Work from there up to multiple ace opponents in maneuverable fighters (La-7, Zero or Spitfire) if you can handle it. To try and face online opponents before getting in some training against AI opponents in the QMB will simply bring embarrassment to yourself. At minimum, it is wise to be able to handle AI controlled veterans and ace opponents in one on one dogfights before heading to HL. ___________________________________________________________________________________
Main Type of Flying You will Encounter with Hyperlobby Servers The most common
situation that you will face when flying in HL servers is opposing bases that are relatively close, contests that begin and end below 3000 meters and contests against multiple opponents, often in furballs. For these reasons, online dogfighting thru Hyperlobby lends itself to aircraft which favor high maneuverability and powerful armament. Slow aircraft that work best at 8000 meters will be slaughtered in HL contests.
Types of Servers Available on HL There are several different types of servers and therefore
flying atomspheres from which to choose when joining a dogfight or co-op thru HL.
(The GUI of Hyperlobby.) Dogfighting - You will find the dogfighting servers in the far left hand column of Hyperlobby's GUI. The main thing you will find here is much competition of all levels and at all ages of maturity. At any given moment, roughly 90% of the flyers who are currently using HL will be in one of the dogfighting servers. Some servers are a great place to hone your skills and others are terrible. Just remember that most dogfighting servers usually use only the chat window for communication and have no coordinated team tactics. Calling on your mates here for help is often useless. The rest of this guide will tend to focus on these dogfighting servers and the flyers and tactics you will face there. COOP - Stands for co-op as in cooperative flying. These servers are the ones in the middle columns of the HL GUI. In coops, one flyer is the host and other flyers join up until all the alloted slots are full. The host will then load the map and begin the mission. Coops are better in some ways than regular dogfighting servers in that you have more of a team feeling and others are looking out for you. It is also much more about your team, versus the opposing team or the AI controlled enemy. The positives are that more experienced mates can help out the weaker guys but the negative side might be that it is a bit harder to tell how good you really are. While much of the rest of this guide is applicable to coops, it is more focused on the dogfighting servers. AirQuake - This is not a specific category within HL but rather a term that refers to frantic and unceasing dogfighting. This term was taken from the popular Quake game of 1996, and a skilled aviator on one of these servers can sometimes make 20 - 70 kills in one hour. The pace is often so frantic though and/or there are too many other flyers on the server that its benefit to beginners is highly questionable. As you become more familiar with the most popular servers, you will quickly come to realize which ones cater to an AirQuake environment. Game versus Sim - Another question that you may want to ask yourself when using Hyperlobby would concern your view of how serious you want your IL2 experience to be. Some people just want an arcade game and others really want to know exactly how many rivets there are on the Bf 109. Obviously the lower level servers will cater more to arcade type gaming with often no aerodynamic effects and open cockpits enabled etc. While the more advanced servers sometimes do not even allow icons and that is about as close to real flying as you are going to get in a WWII flight sim game.

Team Servers These are obviously servers that are run by a virtual fighter squadron and are usually their practice grounds. Therefore, you are likely to meet many experienced Veteran pilots who will flame you in no time flat. You will know the flyers are all part of the same team by the initials that precede their callsigns (as in HH_Badass). Do not start out on these servers initially, but as you start to score kills on regular Intermediate servers, you can try some time on different team servers just to get used to more rapid and advanced combat. As your skills progress, you may even be asked to join up! ___________________________________________________________________________________
Aircraft in the Online Environment Types of Aircraft You Should Fly There are no hard and fast rules here and what airframe you
begin to learn with is really dependent upon what types of servers you wish to fly on as you progress. If you are a beginner and primarily wish to fly on open cockpit servers at low altitudes (which is very fun but less realistic), then I would highly recommend starting out in the La-5/7 series. The La-7 3xB-20 is a great aircraft for beginners with tight turn radius, high maneuverability, great speed, good cannons and battle damage abilities. It will reach ~585 kph in level flight and ~740 kph in a a dive before the airframe experiences aeroelastic flutter. It also does not stall easily and does not snap roll unpredictably. Its major weaknesses are its very low dive limit, poor high altitude (2800+ meters) performance and easy manner in which a blackout can be induced. You will hear some veterans complain that the La-7 is a newbie's plane or only flown by weak pilots. What they mean is that the forgiving flight and stall characteristics of the La-7 allow you to develop bad habits that you cannot afford in a less forgiving airframe (say the F4U-D Corsair). If you would eventually like to fly on the more difficult closed cockpit servers at higher altitudes, then I would suggest taking a look at the Bf 109-G2 to train with. It is not as powerful as the La-7 in all out speed but does much better at altitude and does not incur blackouts as easily. Overall it is a very balanced airframe that does not excel or disappoint in any major areas. It is also a great transition aircraft to learn from before moving on to a BnZ airframe like the FW-190 or P-51. And likewise, at the other end of the spectrum, I would not choose a FW 190, F4U Corsair, P51 Mustang or F4F Wildcat/Hellcat as they are boom and zoom aircraft and are not well suited to beginners in the tight turning battles that often develop in HL dogfighting servers.

cockpit. In roughly 40% of all sightings, they will be in the hands of Veteran and Master class aviators. Make sure with this airframe or the Bf 109 series that you do not try to use the kanonenboot (gunboats) when dogfighting as many newbies mistakenly believe this will give them superior firepower but dont realize how much heavier and slower their airframe will become. Me 262 Series Most produced jet aircraft of the WWII and a fragile BnZ energy fighter in Il2. Can reach level speeds of 820 kph and has a devastating 30 mm gun. Somewhat to very fragile engines in which care must be taken or the engines will die prematurely or catch fire. Cannot be used in a turning battle and most successful kills are made at range with the huge cannon. Definitely not a good plane for new guys to use in low level combat. P51 Mustang BnZ energy fighter that most American fans of IL2 expect to be the preeminent fighter of the sim, only to be sorely disappointed. Does not realize its true potential unless flown above 5000m and below that, it is fairly slow, slightly unstable and handles very badly below 300 kph. Is definitely not a plane to be picked for low level dogfighting on open cockpit servers. One of the few planes that has very different handling depending upon how much fuel you take due to the location of the fuel bladders. A plane that beginners should always avoid and best used once a knowledge of BnZ tactics has been acquired. F4U Corsair Series BnZ energy fighter for carrier aviation in the Pacific theater. The F4U-1C in particular has some of the most powerful cannons in the game (4 Hispanos). Very versatile fighter than can carry rockets or heavy bomb payloads and also has a fairly tough frame. The fighter which has the greatest discrepancy between its pilots. In 90% of sightings, the pilots will be upper level beginners or lower level Intermediate flyers who are easy targets and cannot properly utilize the fighter's energy characteristics. In 10% of sightings, the reverse will hold true, and the pilots will be upper level Veterans or Master level aviators who will boom down with extremely precise aim. A difficult plane in IL2 to use to its fullest extent and fairly unstable in combat at speeds below 300 kph.
(The F4U-D Corsair, one mean badass during WWII but difficult to master in IL2.)

The F4U Corsair and P51 Mustang Won the War Right? - Although IL2 was developed and produced in Russia, I would guess that fully half of its consumers and fans live in North America. And many North American aviation fans have come to hear the great stories about how magnificent the F4U Corsair or P51 Mustangs were and naturally expect for them to be some of the best aircraft in the game. Unfortunately, you have to take into account (as already stated earlier) the flying conditions that are most commonly found on beginner and intermediate level Hyperlobby servers; which are bases that are relatively close, contests that begin and end below 3000 meters and contests against multiple opponents, often in furballs that favor a turn and burn style of combat. And this does not gel with the roles that American aircraft were designed for, which were primarily energy fighting at high altitudes, bomber escort (main reason for the P 51's production) with mass formations and large scale team tactics. For these reasons, many of the American aircraft in the game will simply not produce good dogfighting results in most Hyperlobby server situations. Occasionally, you will find an advanced level server with Full Real difficulty and no icons where the combat does take place with teams in a historical fashion at 5000 meters, and where the strengths of the American airframes can show themselves in full, but it is rare to find a newbie in those conditions. You will come to form your own opinions as you progress but for newbies I do not recommend most of the American planes (F4U Corsair, P51 Mustang and Wildcat/Hellcat) because it is simply a role mismatch between those situations that many HL servers offer and the circumstances that American aircraft excel in.
(Oleg Maddox, the master guru of IL2 in the center.. see, playing and developing games does have rewards !)
Online Opponents Classes of Pilots that You will Face Online Obviously, one of the most important of tasks in flying online is being able to very quickly size up your opponent and have some insight into his weaknesses. While some IL2 fans will feel that opposing flyers cannot be grouped into any kind of arbitrary categories, realize that what follows is both a judgement call and a generalization, and take it with a grain of salt. It is here naturally, that there is the widest latitude as every individual is unique, but there do tend to be some signature moves which help to give each class away. Class I (Beginners) These pilots are the new guys for the most part or the unpracticed. They make up very roughly 25 - 35% of the flyers you will face online (but depends on server). Class I yanks and cranks on their stick, usually violently, and often makes fatal errors within 10-20 seconds. They can control the three major axes roughly but do not use the throttle well, never use BnZ tactics, and their signature move is the head on firing pass. They will try to take you into a turning fight when possible but they cannot throttle down and slide correctly to be a real threat. After passing you, they will try to pull a hard turn to come back onto your six, but do not realize how much energy they are losing in the process. They have problems just managing their stick and preventing stalls in combat situations and often have unintended crashes. Beginners, just like infantry men, are mostly tied towards the horizontal plane only. Easy to evade and outmaneuver and easy to bring down. Class II (Intermediate) These pilots make up very roughly 40 - 60% of the flyers you will face online. Class II, is the group of flyers that have begun to have decent mastery over their three axes of flight, and are beginning to utilize more advanced throttle actions as part of their skill set. Their fire is usually much more accurate, although they still try pot shots from distance and still line up for head on passes. Class two flyers signature move is the way in which they are learning to evade better if someone is on their six. They will suddenly pull up with full flaps, drop throttle and roll over behind you or let you pass if they can pull it off. They rarely attempt boom and zoom but they often seek altitude and try to even the odds when possible. They are better at deflection shooting but not deadly accurate. They have evolving skills in the vertical plane but cannot quite pull off the high rolls and vertical slips that Veterans can. Of moderate difficulty to bring down but with patience and a critical eye, you can learn their flaws. Class III (Veterans) They make up very roughly 10-15% of the flyers you will face online. This is the farthest level to which most (but not all) can ascend based upon experience and practice alone. Class III Veterans are the opponents who will often attack you unseen from above and with great altitude when possible. They boom and zoom with good ability and will usually climb after a merge. You will know them by the fact that if you meet at the same altitude, they will (usually) avoid the head on pass and dive below you with lower prop pitch and then pull up to climb steeply, roll over and come right down on you (the Immelman). Class III s are very good at using external views and some have the Track IR, so they have good to superior situational awareness. Veterans can fly almost as well in the vertical plane as in the horizontal plane and can almost fully think in three dimensions, and so they often submit you to a turning battle, only in the vertical plane, with deadly consequences! It is hard to catch these guys on their six and when you do (as in a furball), they will not only evade like Class IIs, but they will induce slips or scissors into their routines and within a few seconds you will pass right under them. In fact, a signature move of Class IIIs is their mastery of the 'slip', that scoots them just off

(The Grandmaster is aware of all that surrounds him)
Other Interesting Questions So How Can I find Out Which Guys are the Best on a Particular Server ? - You will be able to see which flyers are on a particular server in HL just by left clicking on a server in the far left hand dogfighting column. This will give you a list of those pilots who are currently logged in to that server, but it will not tell you how they are doing. For this, you will need to log onto the dogfighting server in question through HL. Once you have chosen your base and aircraft, push the S key on your keyboard. This will activate the Online Rating function and you will see something that looks like this:
As you can see from this screen shot, there are six flyers present on this particular server (the seventh flyer is the server itself). The guys who have chosen the red team are listed in red and likewise for the other colored team players. The number to the right of their listing (like 157) is their ping in milliseconds. Next is their callsign followed by the amount of points they have. This is followed by their team (red, blue, etc.) affiliation, the skin/markings they are using (such as < + ) and then to the far right, the aircraft they are flying. The score is determined by whoever sets up the server but the main rule is usually 100 points for shooting down an enemy aircraft with one engine (say a fighter) and then successfully returning to base and landing. Often if you shoot down someone and then are shot down in return (very common in large furballs) you will only receive 10 points. Likewise, shooting down a B-29 Bomber with four engines will net you 400 points if you can return to base safely and land. You will also notice that some flyer named Waryfan has 320 points while some others do not have any points. This does not necessarily mean that he is the best pilot on the server, because those points could have been accumualted over seven straight hours of being on the same server (which is less than one kill for every one hour of game play and would not be very good if true). Someone else, like Greendevel might just have logged on three minutes ago and has not had a chance to even get to the enemy airfield yet, and that is why his score is zero. Within just ten minutes he may make five kills and have a score of 500 points. Although you have to take into account the time factor, the more points a person has, the more an indicator that at least they are good enough to get kills in the first place. You will also gradually learn as time goes by that some flyers are there for the thrill of the action and others are playing the game only for the points (which is the most important thing in squad versus squad combat usually). And as time progresses you will begin to notice who tends to accumulate a lot of points no matter what server they log onto.

your two best bets are choosing a higher level server with dedicated flyers that practice regularly (some choices might be War_Clouds_WF or Spits versus 109s) or trying out a team server during one of their weekly practice sessions (if they allow you onto the server). As you become more and more familiar with the different servers, you will quickly come to realize which ones have an above average percentage of good pilots. Is There Such a Thing as a World Champion of IL2 Dogfighting ? - No, there is not. There are inter-league competitions between different squadrons such as the USL and competitions between multiple squadrons, but there is no organized or competitive worldwide ranking or rating organization for IL2 dogfighting. It may be that at some point in the future, a formalized competition series will come into existance, but currently there is no such format.
(Gary Kasparov, the former World Chess Champion and Grandmaster, and considered by many to be the strongest World Champion that has ever played. IL2 has no such equivalent.) So How Big is the IL2 Online Dogfighting Community ? - I cannot answer that accurately, to be honest. I can say that a typical North American evening will have somewhere between 250 and 700 players online, with about 90% or more of these utilizing the dogfighting servers. If one uses some simple approximation techniques (as from Stats 101 in university), you might arrive at a number like 3000 total flyers (worldwide) who play frequently enough to log on in any given week. Just realize that this is not the total number of people who have purchased the game or have ever used HL. That would also mean that as a very rough estimate there are something like 450 Veterans, 60 Masters and perhaps 3 Grandmasters who log on frequently enough to play in any given week. How Does the Offline AI of the Game Compare to Real Human Opponents ? - Not well. Once again, this will be a judgement call on my part, but I would roughly say that an AI controlled ace (the four AI controlled pilot levels are rookie, average, veteran and ace) is about equivalent to a human

controlled mid-level Beginner. The offline AI opponents simply do not weave enough or use many tactics to the degree that a real human opponent would. AI controlled planes also seem to 'flatten' out after about five minutes where they stop more violent turn and burn maneuvers and just fly along without too many avoidance techniques. I can assure you this never happens when facing real human opponents.
Other Classes of Pilots to Watch Out For Pilots with Some Uniform Initials before Their Name - Pilots who have callsigns like HH_Bowie, =FI=Gadje and SKY9T_Moon9T are part of an online fighter squadron or a virtual fighter wing. The initials before their names generally indicate which squadron they are affiliated with, which in turn indicates that they have been around long enough to at least join a squadron in the first place. This also likely means that they have been practicing with their squadron for some time and are likely to be more experienced than your average Hyperlobby flyer. Although, this is not a hard or fast rule, they are usually Class II or above flyers and they generally know what they are doing, so watch out. The other dangerous aspect of squadron flyers is that they often have teammates playing with them as well, and in many cases are using TS or Ventrilo to work in a concerted manner. So that while you are engaged with one, the other unseen teammate will pull up and take you out!
(Can you see the blue and red icons attached to planes in that furball in the distance ? These icons will also spell out the pilot's callsign, and that is what you are looking for when trying to spot members of different squads.) Pilots with Custom Skins for Their Aircraft - Skins are graphical designs which people use to customize the look of their planes online. One guy might have flames on the side of his fuselage, another a beautiful woman, etc. By and large, they indicate that the flyer is in the Intermediate or Veteran class. Beginners are usually too busy just learning the ropes to fool with skins and the Master classes like to remain anonymous, so skins often indicate someone whose ability is rising but may not in fact be as great as he wishes it were. This does not hold as true on the team servers, where even
those rare Master players may use special skins since they are so familiar with their mates or as an aid to practice formation flying. On two or three occassions, I have seen Intermediate level flyers with bright red skins on crowded dogfight servers that happened to have fertile green valleys, with the skins serving to act as a bulls eye over them.

(Please note the custom skinning on this F4U Corsair) Pilots Who Fly Jets Against Propeller Driven Planes - They fall into two categories. The first is filled with beginners who are having as much trouble as anyone else new to the game in getting a kill and therefore look to jets as a way to take a short cut. They will fly around and shoot you down from high altitudes at 900 kph and then brag about how good they are. this behavior is most common on the beginner servers obviously. They can be dealt with by upper level intermediate flyers and above, but with care and patience. Usually, the veteran will quickly bring them down into a turning contest and then they become toast. The other group of jet flyers are more advanced folks who dont need an ego boost and already have considerable time in many prop airframes and are therefore tinkering with jets just to increase the fun of the game. This is also the case on some historical servers that are modeling particular battles from late in the war, where jets like the ME 262 were a regular part of Germany's arsenal. HL has servers which specifically cater to the flying of jets in a WWII environment and I would suggest you check them out if that is where your interest lays. Vulchers Vulching, or more correctly straffing, is firing on planes that are stopped or taxing on the runway or have just taken off. Obviously, since it takes less skill to down an aircraft that is stopped or only traveling at 150 kph, rather than 400 kph, these are much easier targets. On some servers vulching is allowed or even encouraged and it is the AAA fire along with the close proximity of multiple enemy bogies which makes it a risky proposition. On other servers, vulching is severely frowned upon as
ungentlemanly conduct. There is a wide latitude and range of opinions about vulching and many servers will allow vulching as long as it is done only by rockets or bombs, so make sure to read the rules for that particular server. Straffing with machine guns or cannons when not allowed is bad form and should be avoided. Parachute Shooters Unless specifically encouraged, it is extremely bad form and conduct unbecoming to shoot down guys that have bailed out. Avoid it at all costs. ___________________________________________________________________________________
Perspectives and Tactics The Hunter and the Hunted - There is no clear delineation as to when you are getting good but
there are a series of viewpoints that you will likely evolve thru, as you become better and better. To illustrate this, I offer the following example (that I see on servers almost any day of the week): Beginner's Point of View You notice that a Focke-Wulf 190 is approaching you from a slightly higher altitude. You rise up to meet them head on and while you do this your aircraft slows as it climbs. When you are finally within rough firing range, you try a head on pass, and you begin to fire too early, still trying to find your range. You notice that the approaching FW 190 is not firing and instead dives down below you slightly. As the aircraft passes you, you quickly apply some alieron to roll around and follow them down, coming close to blacking out. After cutting that severe a turn, you have lost speed and are now headed slightly down when you notice that the FW 190 has pulled into a steep climb after passing you and is now circling down from a roll above you. As you desparately try to pick up speed by heading down lower, you see a quick burst of gunfire surround you, coming from your high six and then your screen goes black. You have been killed and it took only fifteen seconds. Veteran'sPoint of View You notice that a Spitfire is approaching you from the front and a little below, because you have realized the average engagement height on this server and are flying above it. As the Spit approaches, he begins to climb to meet you and fires from far off, and you see the tracers below you inching upward. Just to throw off his aim, you push downward on the stick for a second and then pull up for two seconds just to jinxe his aim, before pushing the stick downward again and diving slightly below and to the side of him as he passes you. You then climb steeply but in a straight line and drop throttle as you roll over above him and complete your Immelman. You have lost speed at the top of your climb but you know that you are now 700 meters above him and he is in no position to fire on you anyways. You now drop prop pitch to 90%, dive and accelerate to 500 kph and open up on him with one quick burst from 100 meters as you see his airframe disintegrate into a ball of flames. The Sliding Arrow of Time - Another way in which dogfighting might be viewed, is to analyze how you feel time unfolding as the encounter progresses. Beginners will often feel that each encounter is very rapid and that they have little time in which to do anything. They feel continually hurried and it is as if someone is always breathing down on their necks (which is often true :). They feel as if they must pull very hard turns or rolls so that they can keep the aggressor at bay. As you progress to higher and higher levels, your comfort level will extend and you will begin to feel more and more, like time has become your ally. Instead of violent yanks on the stick, you will begin to pull nice smooth rolls or loops that are added together with short little slides that quickly place you right onto the tail of your enemy, and time will have seemed to come to a standstill. While this may seem like the impossible, I

assure you that it is only natural progression. Although I have no formal ballet training, I have found there is some similarity between different ballet spreads and the beautiful flight maneuvers that Master aviators can pull off. When you are first beginning, you may often pound your head on the table and say, How did they just do that ?! You can't understand how they pulled into that seemingly impossible steep climb or appeared out of the blue from nowhere. Even when you do watch experienced aviators, you feel as if you cannot do what they do. Have no fear,.small steps,. small steps is the key. Watch and learn. Unfortunately, just like the Matrix as explained by Morpheus, no one can tell you what can make you better; you must see it for yourself.
Important Notes about Strategy - There is no easy way that I can compress hundreds of well
written books on aerial combat and gunnery into a few simple tips as there is simply too much information. However, you may find the following tips helpful in your first few months of practice. Initial Planes - From your very first day, choose one or two planes (my suggestions are the La-7 3xB20 if you want to go the open cockpit route or the Bf 109-G2 if you want to go the closed cockpit route, and when available in the planeset) and start to accumulate your fighter time in them only. Stick with just these two planes for the first month or so and do not deviate. Get used to the way they fly, brake, fire and land under all conditions. After the first month, then go ahead and slowly add another plane to your repertoire at the rate of say, one a month (next best choice might be a Spitfire or Zero). Gradually build from there. Work your way from TnB planes to those that are best used as BnZ. Adjust Your Conf.ini File If you navigate to C:\Program Files\Ubisoft\IL-2 Sturmovik 1946 and look, you should see a conf file. First make a copy of this file and then store it somewhere else safely. The conf.ini file is the master command file for IL2 and you can adjust many settings by making changes to the file thru a text editor (like Microsoft's Notepad). Some of the things that you can do include setting up IL2 to run on large screen LCD monitors correctly, enabling higher detail clouds and water, turning on gore effects when an enemy plane gets hit and manually setting joystick curves. These two sections here and here at the M4T website will describe the process in detail. Your Joystick Obviously if you are in the heat of combat and cant get to your different view settings quickly, then you are going to be in flames soon. Correctly setting up, calibrating and assigning functions to all the buttons on your joystick is an art all of its own. The main thing though, that you will be looking for is ergonomical quickness; that is the ability to have the most needed functions setup for the quickest and easiest response by your hands. While each joystick behaves differently (deadband, throw, spring resistance, etc.), I have also written a guide to help new guys set up the ergonomics of their joystick and that can be found here (under Newbie's Joystick pdf). You will also need to fine tune your joystick's different axes (pitch, roll and yaw along with accompanying trim axes and throttle) and this can be done directly (and partially) through the Input section under Hardware Setup after the game first loads. However two other programs that can help you to do this easier and with a GUI are IL2 Joy Control found here and IL2 Sticks found here. Both of these programs allow you to set input sliders for the different ranges of motion along any axis.

(Someone got lucky on the coin toss here, but dont follow their lead, save your ammo) Weaving - If someone gets on your six, weave up and down and left and right. Weave like a madman! And vary your pattern both vertically/horizontally and with some rolls. Seems like common sense, right? But, it is surprising how many opponents do not weave and just try to escape with smooth level flight. This is the one time where even if you are not a beginner, you sometimes want forceful joystick input. At any point, where the enemy has an advantage of energy, height or being close behind you, you must weave, use rudder and/or hammerheads. You will find as you progress, that violent weaves are not usually necessary unless the enemy is directly on your six. Just a little bit of up and down motion can throw off even most Veterans aim unless they are closer than 300 meters. To throw someone off your tail if possible, follow a straight path while weaving up and down (but watch the ground !) for about 25 seconds until you have drawn them in closer, then drop throttle suddenly and pull a hard turn with rudder and then quickly reverse direction again (this begins the scissors). This will throw off, or at least throw off the aim of all but the most experienced Veterans and above. Gradually, you will learn how to shake loose any stubborn enemies which happen to be hiding in your six. Climb and Roll Out - This is an advanced Intermediate or early level Veteran technique where you dive slightly under the approaching enemy plane then pull up into a steep climb just about the time you
pass him. At the top of the climb you can roll over to level (the Immelman) or slip out to the side. You will, unless your enemy has followed the exact same technique, be able to look down on your enemy now and quite likely come down for the kill with your enemy desperately trying to dodge your fire. If your enemy has followed you into his own climb, you now have a much tougher battle ahead. Go back to what I just wrote about slips and reread. The Furball Rule Better known as the 30-15-10-5. rule, as this is very roughly the amount of time you will have in seconds based on the number of enemies in the furball (not counting friendlies) to safely enter, strike and leave before someone gets on your six. For example, if you are in a one on one encounter, and both you and your opponent know how to fly well, then it may take up to 30 seconds for someone to gain the upper hand in maneuvering. If you enter a furball where you see one of your friends facing two enemies, then you will have about 15 seconds to strike one of the two enemies and exit or extend before heading back into the fray. Likewise, entering a furball where four of your teammates are present along with four enemies, will give you about five seconds to maneuver and strike. And the same applies to a furball with 14 friends and 15 enemies in it; you will still have about five seconds to do something before someone notices you and swivels onto your tail. (The reason why the lower limit is five seconds irregardless of total enemy bogies present is due to the limitations of how fast a prop driven aircraft can close a given distance) Target Fixation One of the most common mistakes of the newbie is to continue chasing an enemy deep into the enemy's territory or stay fixated on him when it is no longer prudent to do so. If you have the advantage and cannot reasonably strike or inflict damage within 5-10 seconds then you will probably need to break off. Do not allow someone else, especially if they have a faster airframe to 'draw' you into their trap. Energy Management You will often hear more experienced players talk about energy, energy states or energy management. While this guide is far too brief to go into the details, what these veterans mean is knowing when and how to properly transfer your potential energy into kinetic energy. In any directed gravitational field, as over the Earth's surface, the object that is higher in altitude will have more potential energy. This is the reason why you should always try to enter the fight with more altitude than your opponent and then execute smooth rolls and passes along with sometimes quick slips which do not waste your speed or kinetic energy. This is the hardest and most 'intellectual' part of the game to get down, and is also the most anti-intuitive to beginners. Energy management and lead shooting are the two skills of aerial warfare that require the most practice. Call on Friends - Do not head to an enemy base where there are five guys waiting by yourself. Once again, seems only natural, right? But again, this happens all too often. Remember that two Intermediate flyers can usually take down one Master if they watch what they are doing. The Master flyer will pull up on one and begin to track or fire, and while he is doing this, the other Intermediate level flyer can pull up on the Master and do likewise. Do not head into a group of two or more enemies if you are not proficient yourself, as you will not come out alive usually. Also, when you first leave your base, circle around for a good minute or so, gaining altitude and setting your trim, magnetos, prop pitch and radiator, and wait for friends to climb up and meet you. Don't just head off John Wayne style. So How Good are You ? - To get better estimates of how your skills are progressing, log onto servers that have about six other flyers or less. When you log onto servers with 40 flyers, you will have only seconds to spot a bogie and fire before someone does likewise to you, and the furballs will simply be too big (along with a great deal of shoulder shooting). With only four or five other guys, you will have many more opportunities for longer more drawn out encounters.

Mods, Cheating and Online Etiquette Mods These are files or programs that can be downloaded from several fan based IL2 websites. The
modded files or programs, once installed into the correct directory, then allow the user to have more detailed cockpits, better sound effects, new flyable plane options, etc.. In short, there are mods that address almost any issue you can imagine within IL2. The largest and most honest mod site is the All Aircraft Arcade (AAA) and can be found here. Several other sites also offer IL2 mods but I would be
weary of these both because they can be illicit and because they often contain viruses. Most mods are the work of folks who really love the game and want to see their favorite plane modeled more realistically or want to include a plane that Oleg (the developer) did not have a chance to include. They also address many sound and graphics issues and help to keep an aging game engine (IL2 is eight years old) more current. Unfortunately, the knowledge needed to make the more complex mods has also opened the door to illicit mods that radically change the aircraft's IL2 frame model (FM) or damage model (DM) attributes. This might allow a Corsair for example, to fly as fast as a jet, turn as tight as Zero and take several times its normal damage; in effect making it a super plane. Most mods by themselves are not illicit and are not cheating but if you, as a new guy happen to face a pilot who is flying with several mods that help increase SA and targeting, then it is essentially the same as facing someone with an unfair advantage. It is true that technically the other guy is not cheating as he is simply using several mods which are not cheats in and of themselves, but the end effect is that he has a tremendous advantage over you. While the author personally is not a fan of mods because they can be adjusted to become a back door to illicit activities. there are two mods worth mentioning. The first is called the 6DOF mod (which stands for six degrees of freedom) and is best used in conjunction with the Track IR. This mod adds in Track IR application Direct X libraries to allow rolling head movements in the game. It also allows the viewer to actually lean forward in the cockpit to 'zoom in' so to speak on the crosshairs or instrument panel or to lean back and retract their view backwards which is very nice for looking around canopy struts that may be blocking your view. This really makes the cockpit environment seem fully three dimensional and ups the realism factor. The other critical mod is the AAA Unified Installer 1.1. This is a compilation mod pack that includes the work of many modders all packaged together under one wrapper. It also contains the 6DOF mod and makes positive changes in many aspects of the game. This mod is slowly gaining traction now as a legitimate extension of IL(which Oleg's team has abandoned for now to work on SOW) and many servers in HL may switch to this in the coming year. Aside from these two mods, I would be weary of mod products when using HL online both for compatibility reasons and because you might be labeled a cheater (see below). For more legitimate information on all things mod, head to the AAA website here

Cheating - Cheating is a very polarizing issue to many in the online IL2 community; so much so that
many IL2 based forums or web sites refuse to allow discussion of the matter or will lock any thread that brings up the subject (and it is therefore even more difficult to get honest and reliable information from decent people). This often leaves the new guy wondering whether the awesome opponent that just downed him seven times in a row was really that good or cheating. First let me state most importantly that in roughly 95% of the cases where you feel that someone is cheating, the answer is far simpler (and more damaging to your ego); they are simply better than you. As painful as it may be to watch the same flyer down you over and over again, it is almost always true that they are not cheating. At the same time, I must also say, that as of 2009, ILhas been throughly cracked, and the knowledge of how to hack IL2 is slowly spreading. When the latest non beta 4.08 patch was released in 2007 it contained a common cheat (or mod) detecting device known as crt=2, which stands for check run time. I will not go into the technical details of how this works (or is implemented from a C++ programming standpoint) but this addition to the source code of IL2 supposedly made any Hyperlobby server that uses 4.08m (or 4.09b) 'uncheatable' by essentially not allowing anyone to join who had custom files or mods enabled. Actually crt=2 can be circumvented by individuals adept in computer science and the author has personally shown Ntrk clips where this has been observed to numerous forum moderators. Unfortunately, some nefarious minded individuals decided to go one step further and use one of sound mods in 2005 as an exploit to create greatly enhanced airframes that cannot be damaged with normal bullets or that had much tighter turning abilities. This exploit branched out and grew in
popularity and eventually the IL2 development team responded to it by deploying the 4.08 patch with check run time which does not prevent all cheating but does shut out almost all mods. Therefore any HL server that runs the 4.08 patch with CRT set to '2' will automatically prevent you from joining if you are using most mods, although, new mods have come along as of late which can circumvent CRT. And therefore, there really is a large grey area between those who are very good honest flyers that incur suspicion since they get so many kills, those who fly with multiple mods that give them much improved situational awarenes, etc. but who are not actually 'cheating' per se, and the much smaller community of individuals who really have found the cracks in IL2 and are exploiting them with their technical knowledge to truly cheat. Despite the fact that CRT can be circumvented and that you can almost never know for sure whether someone is really cheating (without submitting the Ntrk file back to Oleg's team which they almost never accept anymore), you can minimize your exposure to it. To lessen the chances that real cheating is taking place, make sure that you only fly on Intermediate level servers or above that are set up for IL2 with the 4.08m patch or 4.09b beta patch and with a crt=2 setting. Do not use servers that allow custom files or sound mods or other types of tinkering, unless you specifically know the people running the server and report any suspicious behavior by recording with Ntrks and then submitting to the server admins for review.

(Don't be tempted to start up with the whining.) Egoism and Elitism and Priggishness Although I believe that eventually (say perhaps ~ 2100 to 2150 AD) virtual and economic warfare (and possibly transhumanism) will replace most forms of real warfare (because less is at stake to be risked), the down side is that any game that simulates war and/or allows individuals to test themselves against one another is bound to be rife with name calling and
personal insults. Just as 'gentlemen' of Antebellum New Orleans would face each other in a duel over the slightest of insults, so it is true for IL2. There are many flyers in IL2 who are quite testy (it has been my experience that many, but not all, of the very best IL2 pilots are actually not 'nice' guys) and with the anonymity that the internet offers they are free to express their rage with less constraint. Some border on needing anger management therapy and so if you receive some insults or threats, dont take it personally. One case in particular that I see over and over again is that of the inexperienced guy who is shooting at the same plane that some other more veteran pilot is shooting at from a different angle. If the new guy is the last guy to get hits on the enemy before he goes down or explodes, then he will be credited with the kill. Within seconds, the veteran pilot will begin to cuss the new guy for stealing his kill or shoulder shooting etc. What many dont realize at first is that the veteran pilot is playing for the points and that what he is so upset about is that the newbie took 100 points away from him. Veterans also fail to realize in many cases that newbies didnt even realize they were shoulder shooting, etc.in the first place, and so it is fairly hard to blame someone for something they are not even aware of. Others actually look to IL2 as an escape for releasing their anger from their job or a poor home life and so they love to engage in smack talk and trade barbs about everything. There is also a strong streak of elitism in many experienced flyers who will laugh at you for flying a 'newbie' plane (like the La-7) or because you crashed accidentally or because you offended some personal code of theirs. Once again, dont take it personally. As long as you follow the rules set forth by the server you are currently on, you will stand in good graces. Finally, if you only play IL2 offline then I agree with the North American ESRB rating of 'Teen'. However, if you fly online, your ego needs to be strong with the Force gentle souls. If you believe that you can bring your 12 year old son onto a packed dogfighting server and not see the words S#$! or F$#! or worse in chat, then you need to reconsider. I once saw an Italian flyer cuss a British flyer's girlfriend, mother, sister and grandmother for over 5 min (in Italian and garbled English) because he felt that he had been shot down unfairly. If in the end, you take it all with a grain of salt then you will be fine and if you tend to take things very personally then perhaps Tetris might be a better game.

Newbie's Guide to IL2 Online Dogfighting
By Jay Hall Version 3.12 Last Updated on December 22nd, 2009 Offered under the GNU GPL Version 2.0
Table of Contents Introduction Page 3 First Stop Page 3 Basic Terms Page 4 Pre-Flight Check Page 8 Quick Mission Builder Page 8 Main Type of Flying Encountered in Hyperlobby Page 9 Types of Servers Page 9 Server Settings Page 11 Types of Dogfighting Servers Page 14 Aircraft Page 15 Type of Aircraft You Should Start with in HL Page 15 What is the Single Best Aircraft Overall ? - Page 16 Types of Aircraft You Will Face Page 16 Online Opponents Page 20 Classes of Pilots You Will Face Page 20 Other Interesting Questions Page 22 Other Classes of Pilots Page 25 Perspectives and Tactics Page 27 The Hunter and the Hunted Page 27 Notes About Strategy Page 28 Mods, Cheating and Online Etiquette Page 32 Mods Page 32 Cheating Page 33 Online Dogfighting Etiquette Page 34 More is Not Necessarily Better Page 36 Conclusion Page 38 Further Reading Page 38 Sample JoyStick Setups Page 39 Credits Page 39

Introduction

Okay, so you went out and purchased the latest and best edition of UbiSoft's IL2 flight sim, entitled IL2 Sturmovik 1946 (which contains everything you need except the two latest official 4.08m and 4.09m patches), set things up initially and may even have in some flight time against AI opponents offline, but what you are really itching for, is to go up against real human aces online and see how good your skills are. How do you get started? and What can you expect to face when you do get online? These are the main questions that I suspect you would like to have answered. IL2, unlike many other games that are played offline (say, Fallout 3) or online (say, World of Warcraft), has a fairly steep learning curve that can take not just a few hours or days, but months. It is also quite easy to become discouraged and just set the game, or at least the online component of it, back up on your shelf to collect dust. Before preceding any further, I would like to state what I feel is the main tenet of online flying: CONTINUAL PRACTICE ALONG WITH CRITICAL
SELF EVALUATION IS THE ONLY PATH TOWARDS ENLIGHTNED FLYING.
Simply put, there are no absolute shortcuts or easy cheat sheet methods. I once read that the standard World War II training regimen for American fighter pilots consisted of 225 to 300 hours of both classroom and real-world flight time before ever being deployed to a combat zone, so it should come as no surprise in the fairly realistic IL2, that you will not likely start to do well in combat without a similar time commitment. Your ego must be strong with the Force to take the pummeling that is likely in the first few months as you head up into the virtual skies. There is no information that I can give you that will immediately give you a huge lead up on other experienced fliers. It would be like asking a toddler to start walking before learning to crawl. You can read this guide to save yourself some pain in the beginning and you can practice intensely for hours at a time to shorten the transition, but the transition cannot be skipped, no matter how much you may wish otherwise. To further bring reality into focus, much of your competition that you will face online is experienced, intelligent and cool under fire (the game is eight years old, and many who are playing have been for years). The silver lining is that this difficult transition can be eased by following some basic guidelines below. I do not promise miracles and this guide will not make you a better pilot, only experience and a critical eye can do that. But, it can help you to more quickly identify the situation you are in, the enemy you are facing and their likely skill level, allowing you to make appropriate decisions in return. Just remember that this guide is a general outline which discusses the most often occurring events. It is not a hard and fast advisory that can be applied to every IL2 or Hyperlobby situation, and some fliers may find areas of this Guide with which they strongly disagree. If this happens to you, then the answer is simple - stop reading. In the end, this guide may be very helpful to you or it may not. Hopefully, at the very least, it will give you a bit of a heads up to the IL2 online dogfighting community.
First Stop Before preceding further, you will need four things to try out IL2 dogfighting online; a computer with internet connection (duh) , the ILDVD, a decent joystick and a client program called Hyperlobby (HL). Your best bet for
buying the ILDVD cheaply is: Pricegrabber. Do not download ILthrough a digital distribution setup (such as Valve's Steam) as numerous simmers have had problems with such installs. Reputable makers of higher end joysticks include CH Products, Thrustmaster, Saitek. and Logitech. You can download the Hyperlobby client from here:HL Home

Sample picture of Hyperlobby Graphical User Interface (GUI) Hyperlobby is the program that will allow you to join others in online dogfights and co-op missions. I will not go into all the details of how to set it up and what each item in the GUI is for, but there is a frequently asked questions (FAQ) section and setup guide at their website here: HL FAQ Please remember that when you first connect via Hyperlobby, you need to select Forgotten Battles, under connect/select game in the upper right hand of Hyperlobby's graphical user interface. If you select Il2 Sturmovik or Pacific Fighters, Hyperlobby will not be able to find your IL2 1946.exe program. Once you have this ready, start by reading the included manual that comes on the ILDVD. It gives all the most basic details about everything essential and should not be skipped due to haste. After this, please make sure that you read Bearcat's excellent Nugget's Guide located here: Nugget's Guide I would also suggest taking a look at Skycat's Guide, which can be found here: Skycat's Guide If you would like to get some excellent (and initially free) virtual flight training before facing real human opponents, I suggest you check out the Joint-Ops Virtual Combat Schools which can be found here: Joint-Ops. A great organization with many knowledgeable instructors. Yes, yes,.I know that it seems you have to do a great deal of reading and setup before ever even getting to the action, but then IL2 is a fairly hard core sim with a large and experienced online community. You do not want to start out online, only to be continually embarrassed I suspect.
Basic Terms- Before we get to the meat of things, lets make sure that we have down just a few of
the basic terms that will continually pop up in discussions about dogfighting. Dogfight No explanation needed. Your plane against one or more enemy planes in aerial combat. Another term for dogfighting is ACM or Aerial Combat Maneuvering. Furball A condition where there are multiple planes from two or more teams all involved in one large dogfight. Very confusing to newbies and hard to get in, get a kill and get out unharmed. Situational Awareness (SA) This is a four dimensional awareness (three space, one time) of who and what is around you in flight, especially when engaged in a dogfight or furball. This includes not only the obvious, such as knowing where the aggressors are and what their energy state is, but also knowing the location of your own friendlies and being able to bring them into the fight if need be.

strongly suggested that you become proficient at basic flight maneuvers and facing your own computer in offline artificially intelligent (AI) controlled combat. Please be sure to read Bearcat's Nugget's Guide approach to getting started offline with the Quick Mission Builder (QMB).
(The GUI of the Quick Mission Builder) The QMB is part of your regular game (and is not something that you need to download separately) and this is the main tool you will use to setup contests against computer controlled AI opponents. This will be your training ground for a few weeks or months before you face your first real adversaries online. Start out with enemies at the beginner level and in inferior aircraft (like the B-29 or C-47). Work from there up to multiple ace opponents in maneuverable fighters (La-7, Zero or Spitfire) if you can handle it. To try and face online opponents before getting in some training against AI opponents in the QMB will simply bring embarrassment to yourself. At minimum, it is wise to be able to handle AI controlled veterans and ace opponents in one on one dogfights before heading to HL. ___________________________________________________________________________________
Main Type of Flying You will Encounter with Hyperlobby Servers The most common
situation that you will face when flying in HL servers is opposing bases that are relatively close, contests that begin and end below 3000 meters and contests against multiple opponents, often in furballs. For these reasons, online dogfighting thru Hyperlobby lends itself to aircraft which favor high maneuverability and powerful armament. Slow aircraft that work best at 8000 meters will be slaughtered in many HL servers. Most HL servers, with a few exceptions, are also not indicative of what real WWII flying conditions were like, and tend to favor a more up close TnB style of combat.
Types of Servers Available on HL There are several different types of servers and therefore
flying environments from which to choose when joining a dogfight or co-op thru HL.
(The GUI of Hyperlobby.) Dogfighting - You will find the dogfighting servers in the far left hand column of Hyperlobby's GUI. The main thing you will find here is much competition of all levels and at all ages of maturity. At any given moment, roughly 90% of the fliers who are currently using HL will be in one of the dogfighting servers. Some servers are a great place to hone your skills and others are terrible. Just remember that many dogfighting servers usually use only the chat window for communication and have no coordinated team tactics (although some also have their own Teamspeak channels as well). Calling on your mates here for help is often useless. The rest of this guide will tend to focus on these dogfighting servers and the fliers and tactics you will face there. COOP - Stands for co-op as in cooperative flying. These servers are the ones in the middle columns of the HL GUI. In coops, one flier is the host and other fliers join up until all the allotted slots are full. The host will then load the map and begin the mission. Coops are better in some ways than regular dogfighting servers in that you have more of a team feeling and others are looking out for you. It is also much more about your team, versus the opposing team or the AI controlled enemy. The positives are that more experienced mates can help out the weaker guys but the negative side might be that it is a bit harder to tell how good you really are. While much of the rest of this guide is applicable to coops, it is more focused on the dogfighting servers. AirQuake - This is not a specific category within HL but rather a term that refers to frantic and unceasing dogfighting. This term was taken from the popular Quake game of 1996, and a skilled aviator on one of these servers can sometimes make 20 - 70 kills in one hour. The pace is often so frantic though and/or there are too many other fliers on the server that its benefit to beginners is highly questionable. As you become more familiar with the most popular servers, you will quickly come to realize which ones cater to an AirQuake environment. Game versus Sim - Another question that you may want to ask yourself when using Hyperlobby would concern your view of how serious you want your IL2 experience to be. Some people just want an arcade game and others really want to know exactly how many rivets there are on the Bf 109. Obviously the lower level servers will cater more to arcade type gaming with often no aerodynamic effects and open cockpits enabled etc. While the more advanced servers sometimes do not even allow

icons and that is about as close to real flying as you are going to get in a WWII flight sim game.
Server Settings When you first connect to any dogfighting server in the left hand column of the
HL GUI by clicking the 'Join this Game' button, you will see the Brief and three different options at the bottom of the screen as soon as you enter that server; Difficulty, Arming and Fly. Below is a bit of a description about each and how they effect your flying experience. Brief This is a written out description of the rules for that server. It dictates what is and is not permissible behavior on that server and unfortunately many newbies just skip right over this. This is where rules about vulching (strafing), boom and zoom tactics and team play will be described. To prevent arguments and possibly being banned later, it would behoove you to look over the Brief carefully. Difficulty (Realism) Settings Servers in HL are differentiated by the number of difficulty (realism) settings that are enabled. An example of the difficulty settings in the game, looks like this:
(Example of just some of the Difficulty (Realism) Settings that can be toggled in IL2 1946) You do not have to actually connect to a server to see the realism settings, simply look at a potential dogfight server in the left hand column of the HL GUI, by clicking on it, and then look to see which realism settings are enabled or dis-enabled. Take special note of the following three settings: Cockpit Always On, No External Views and No Icons. These are the main differentiating factors between beginner, intermediate and advanced servers. Also beware, that once you connect to that server, you
cannot change the difficulty settings yourself. Only the administrator of that server can make such changes. Cockpit Always On - If this is toggled off (the button is not lit or the box is not checked) then you can fly without the cockpit enabled (hit control + F1 keys while in game and the cockpit will disappear). This allows you to have a full view screen and more importantly, indicator errors for both friendly and enemy bogies and their location. These indicator arrows will also grow in size as the friendlies or enemies come closer to you. The arrows will help you get used to the flight paths that your enemies commonly take as well. However, it is not wise IMHO to fly without the cockpit on for more than half your training time and many veterans disparagingly call this 'Wonder Woman View'.

(View with Cockpit On)

(Same view with Cockpit Off)
No External Views If this is toggled off then you can look at your aircraft from the outside and also use other external views that would not be possible from within the cockpit. Two important views to have mapped in this case would then be External Padlock Enemy Air and Next Enemy View. External Padlock Enemy Air usually fixes the camera angle on the closest enemy to you and is excellent for seeing your 'six' when someone is directly behind you. Next Enemy View simply gives you a view of each enemy (if you keep hitting the key that is) from their vantage point. It is very common in HL to see servers which are closed cockpit but allow external views. And therefore, your situational awareness will very much depend upon how well you can use those external views. This is something that will just take practice to get used to. If you enjoy flying with external views, I suggest looking into the purchase of a Track IR. It will allow you to have greatly improved SA on closed cockpit servers. No Icons If this is toggled off then you will see icons, which are the colored lettering attached to the plane as it flies through the air, and allows you to determine friend from foe. For example you will have blue lettering attached to the blue team's planes and likewise for the red team. The icons tell you the distance to the plane and sometimes the plane type and call sign of the pilot flying it. If icons are not enabled (the button is on) then caveat emptor because the game is all about spotting the other guy first and you will not be able to positively identify your target until you are relatively close. If you spot the other guy first (which is done by using your gun sight zoom function), then you silently sneak up on his six and open up end of story in most cases. Servers that employ closed cockpits and do not allow icons are often referred to as Full REAL or full switch servers, and are the most difficult skill level wise but also tend to have the longest mission times as well. Full REAL servers are much more like real aerial war where many pilots who were shot down were taken by complete surprise, and your SA must be kept high at all times to avoid a surprise attack yourself. Care must also be taken to

Team Servers These are obviously servers that are run by a virtual fighter squadron and are usually their practice grounds. Therefore, you are likely to meet many experienced Veteran pilots who will flame you in no time flat. You will know the fliers are all part of the same team by the initials that precede their call signsss (as in HH_Badass, CRO_Nutbuster or FI_AssKicker). Do not start out on these servers initially, but as you start to score kills on regular Intermediate servers, you can try some time on different team servers just to get used to more rapid and advanced combat. As your skills progress, you may even be asked to join up! ___________________________________________________________________________________
Aircraft in the Online Environment Type of Aircraft You Should Start with in HL There are no hard and fast rules here and
what airframe you begin to learn with is really dependent upon what types of servers you wish to fly on as well as your personality type. Beginner's who want quick action often feel more comfortable with airframes that are suited to TnB and more patient personality types often prefer BnZ energy fighters. Your decision in part should be based on your tolerance for defeat. If you really don't mind being endlessly shot down in your first month or so, and have a great deal of patience (and I do mean great), then by all means start on a full real server with the FW 190 Antons or P51 Mustangs. Most guys though who start off, simply do not have the patience for this type of flying and want to see some immediate results, while also scoring some kills of their own. With that said, my recommendations for the typical new guy with little patience are (and when available in that server's plane set): Primary Choice La-7 3xB20 or La-5 FN as a first choice 2 Spitfire Mk IX 25lbs or Spitfire Mk IX e CW models (these are slightly more sensitive to snap rolls than the La models, so start with them after you have a month of experience or so with the La) 3 J2M5 (fast agile Japanese fighter) 4 Bf-109 GKi-84b or C models 6 Mid-War A6MZero model If you start out, as many do, on open cockpit servers at low altitudes (which is very fun but less realistic), then I would highly recommend starting out in the La-5/7 series. The La-7 3xB-20 is a great aircraft for beginners with tight turn radius, high maneuverability, great speed, good cannons and battle damage abilities. It will reach ~585 kph in level flight and ~740 kph in a a dive before the airframe experiences aeroelastic flutter. It also does not stall easily and does not snap roll unpredictably. Its major weaknesses are its very low dive limit, poor high altitude (2800+ meters) performance and easy manner in which a blackout can be induced. You will hear some veterans complain that the La-7 is a newbie's plane or only flown by weak pilots. What they mean is that the forgiving flight and stall characteristics of the La-7 allow you to develop bad habits that you cannot afford in a less forgiving airframe (say the F4U Corsair, P51 or P47). So remember if you go this route, that you will likely have to do some unlearning of bad habits later as you develop with proper combat tactics. If you would eventually like to fly on the more difficult closed cockpit servers at higher altitudes, then I would suggest taking a look at the BF-109 F4 or Bf-109 G2 to train with. They are not as powerful as the La-7 in all out speed but do much better at altitude and do not incur blackouts as easily. Overall, they are very balanced airframes that do not excel or disappoint in any major areas. They are

I-185 (71 and 82) - Another excellent Russian fighter that is almost an equal (at least in the game) to the La-5, La-7 series. Very fast, good armament with the Shivak cannon, high maneuverability and better airframe damage capabilities over the La series. Excellent choice for early level Intermediate fliers Also possesses one of the best bubble canopies and is therefore a good choice for low altitude closed cockpit servers. The M-71 is better overall than the M-82A designee. Spitfire Series British made turn and burn fighters. Many similar characteristics to the Russian La series but with less speed (much less in some cases), tighter turning radii and slightly better cannons usually. Potential fliers though, must watch out for common snap rolls in combat conditions. The Spit 4V(c) in particular is well known for its excellent turning abilities. Can be flown by everyone from beginners to master aviators and are a good counterpart to the Bf-109s in the early years of the war. Best in class are the Spit 25lbs, the Spit IXe CW and the Spit 4V(c) Yak Series Russian made counterparts to the Spitfires and only slightly less deadly. Early models are often weak and have poor frames. Later models are very nimble, have great climbing abilities and good to great speed. Best in class is probably the Yak-9UT 1945. Bf 109 Series Main German fighter series of WWII. No real major strengths or weaknesses, just a good all around airframe and a great choice if used on a server that is confined to the early years of the war (1939 to 1942). Is outmatched in many aspects by late-war Allied fighters (1944 and later). Early war Bf 109s tend to TnB and late war models tend to BnZ. Not as suitable for early beginners due to its turn radius and speed characteristics. Most often found in the hands of Intermediate and Veteran class fliers Best in class are the Bf-109 G2, the Bf-109 G-6/AS and the Bf-109 K4 Ki 43, Ki 61 and Ki 84 Series These are the only slightly less maneuverable and more sturdy Japanese cousins to the Zero. The Ki 43 is a very agile but slow TnBer while the Ki 61 is a slow nonagile BnZ plane that should be avoided. The Ki-84c is the real jewel of the series and has 30 mm cannons and is much faster than all the Zeros with a tight turning radii as well. The Ki 84 also has a great bubble canopy for better visibility on closed cockpit servers. Often flown by Intermediate or Veteran class aviators. Zero Series Japanese made fighter that is more likely to be flown by Intermediate and Veteran class aviators. The Zero is an excellent turn and burn plane with its Achilles heel being that it cannot take much damage. Since the Zero has such a tight turning radius, do not try to out turn it, but rather use accurate deflection shooting and rudder control (slips). Zeros also tend to be fairly slow. Small differences among the models, so there is no best in class but many like the A6Mmodel for its sharp turns combined with powerful cannons. P-39 Series American made planes that strike a decent balance between TnB and BnZ although, they lean towards turning battles. The P-39 D-2 is a good competitor to Bf 109s or the same year and has a one shot, one kill, 30 mm cannon. Best in class are the P-39 D-2, the P-39 Q-10 and their relative the P-63 C-5 which is extremely fast and has the 30mm cannon as well. Focke-Wulf 190 Series Prototypical German BnZ fighters that fall into two divisions, the Antons and the Doras. Very powerful armament in the Anton models and stable at high speeds. Cannot be used well in a turning contest and poor forward visibility inside the cockpit. In roughly 40% of all sightings, they will be in the hands of Veteran and Master class aviators. The Doras, are faster, more nimble and turn slightly better than the Antons but lack the heavier armament. Neither division is best used until

P47 The archetypal BnZ energy fighter that may be the most difficult airframe to fly in IL2. Very heavy plane that climbs so-so, turns very poorly but has decent armament. It has incredible dive speeds of up to 1050 kph, so the best tactic is fly high and dry and if in trouble, dive away and then extend. Do not use below about 2500m or you will run out of room fast. Very few pilots know how to fly the P47 to its operational limits, but those that do are usually Masters. Best in class is the P-47D. The F4U Corsair, P47 and P51 Mustang Won the War Right? - Although IL2 was developed and produced in Russia, I would guess that fully half of its consumers and fans live in North America. And many North American aviation fans have come to hear the great stories about how magnificent the F4U Corsair, P47 or P51 Mustangs were and naturally expect for them to be some of the best aircraft in the game. Unfortunately, you have to take into account (as already stated earlier) the flying conditions that are most commonly found on beginner and intermediate level Hyperlobby servers; which are bases that are relatively close, contests that begin and end below 3000 meters and contests against multiple opponents, often in furballs that favor a turn and burn style of combat. And this does not gel with the roles that American aircraft were designed for, which were primarily energy fighting at high altitudes, bomber escort (main reason for the P 51's production) with mass formations and large scale team tactics. For these reasons, many of the American aircraft in the game will simply not produce good dogfighting results in most Hyperlobby server situations. Occasionally, you will find an advanced level server with Full Real difficulty and no icons where the combat does take place with teams in a historical fashion at 5000 meters, and where the strengths of the American airframes can show themselves in full, but it is rare to find a newbie in those conditions. You will come to form your own opinions as you progress but for newbies I do not recommend most of the American planes (F4U Corsair, P51 Mustang and P47) because it is simply a role mismatch between those situations that many HL servers offer and the circumstances that American aircraft excel in.

induce slips or scissors into their routines and within a few seconds you will pass right under them. In fact, a signature move of Veterans, is their mastery of the 'slip', that scoots them just off to the side and eventually onto your six. They are very good to excellent at deflection shooting and they do not linger in furballs, rather choosing targets of preference, attacking with quick bursts and then exiting within five to ten seconds if they cannot inflict major damage. This is also the first class in this hierarchy that is not afraid to return to base without a kill or with unspent ammo. They search for targets of opportunity and make them fight on their terms and if such situations are not present, they simply circle around on the perimeter until they are, or return to base. Their weakness if they have any, is that they have seen it all before and are used to winning 70-90% of all their engagements, and therefore they have become a little bit complacent towards unexpected attacks by people who approach or exceed their own skill level. Masters - They make up very roughly 2% or less of the fliers you will face online. The critical ability which may differentiate them from Veteran fliers is better energy management. They fly without wasting potential energy and also within the 'power band' of correct throttle, engine rpm and prop pitch at almost all times (along with the proper mixture, radiator and supercharger settings). They fully understand CEM and know how to use it in combat to full effect. They are slightly better at very slow speed slips using flaps or rudder than the Veteran class (they can easily loose you with a barrel roll or scissors for example if you are on their six) and can trim their aircraft better in rapid combat situations. They are also fully masters of both the vertical and horizontal planes. They have done a complete loop of the ego cycle as well, and know that anyone can catch them with a lucky shot, and so through correct maneuvering, they almost never put themselves in the position to be shot at in the first place. In a very Zen like manner, it is as if by removing themselves that they place themselves at the all seeing center. Your only chance to bring one down is during the very small window in which they enter a furball to pick off specific targets. Grandmasters - A semi-mythical class that makes up about one in a thousand fliers you will meet online. They possess all the abilities of Masters but their flight intuition and SA is Buddha like. They don't make mistakes and fly the online skies as well as a fish knows how to swim. The people who might find themselves in this class are people who could place a top five finish in a world-wide online dogfighting competition amongst all HL participants. The downside is that these individuals often play many hours per day and in a sad note, IL2 has become their life. I have actually only seen one or two people who might, just might qualify for this highest title.

some of the best, your two best bets are choosing a higher level server with dedicated fliers that practice regularly (some choices might be War_Clouds_WF or Spits versus 109s) or trying out a team server during one of their weekly practice sessions (if they allow you onto the server). As you become more and more familiar with the different servers, you will quickly come to realize which ones have an above average percentage of good pilots. Is There Such a Thing as a World Champion of IL2 Dogfighting ? - No, there is not. There are inter-league competitions between different squadrons such as the USL and competitions between multiple squadrons, but there is no organized or competitive worldwide ranking or rating organization for IL2 dogfighting. It may be that at some point in the future, a formalized competition series will come into existence, but currently there is no such format.
(Gary Kasparov, the former World Chess Champion and Grandmaster, and considered by many to be the strongest World Champion that has ever played. IL2 has no such equivalent.) So How Big is the IL2 Online Dogfighting Community ? - I cannot answer that accurately, to be honest. I can say that a typical North American evening will have somewhere between 250 and 700 players online, with about 90% or more of these utilizing the dogfighting servers. If one uses some simple approximation techniques (as from Stats 101 in university), you might arrive at a number like 2000 total fliers (worldwide) who play frequently enough to log on in any given week. Just realize that this is not the total number of people who have purchased the game or have ever used HL. That would also mean that as a very rough estimate there are something like 300 Veterans, 40 Masters and perhaps 2 Grandmasters who log on frequently enough to play in any given week. How Does the Offline AI of the Game Compare to Real Human Opponents ? - Not well. Once again, this will be a judgment call on my part, but I would roughly say that an AI controlled ace (the four AI controlled pilot levels are rookie, average, veteran and ace) is about equivalent to a human
controlled mid-level Beginner. The offline AI opponents simply do not weave enough or use many tactics to the degree that a real human opponent would. AI controlled planes also seem to 'flatten' out after about five minutes where they stop more violent turn and burn maneuvers and just fly along without too many avoidance techniques. I can assure you this never happens when facing real human opponents.

Other Classes of Pilots to Watch Out For Pilots with Some Uniform Initials before Their Name - Pilots who have call signs like =FI=Gadje, TX_Thunderbolt and SKY9T_Moon9T are part of an online fighter squadron or a virtual fighter wing. The initials before their names generally indicate which squadron they are affiliated with, which in turn indicates that they have been around long enough to at least join a squadron in the first place. This also likely means that they have been practicing with their squadron for some time and are likely to be more experienced than your average Hyperlobby flier. Although, this is not a hard or fast rule, they are usually Intermediate or above fliers and they generally know what they are doing, so watch out. The other dangerous aspect of squadron fliers is that they often have teammates playing with them as well, and in many cases are using TS or Ventrilo to work in a concerted manner. So that while you are engaged with one, the other unseen teammate will pull up and take you out!
(Can you see the blue and red icons attached to planes in that furball in the distance ? These icons will also spell out the pilot's call sign, and that is what you are looking for when trying to spot members of different squads.) Pilots with Custom Skins for Their Aircraft - Skins are graphical designs which people use to customize the look of their planes online. One guy might have flames on the side of his fuselage, another a beautiful woman, etc. By and large, they indicate that the flier is in the Intermediate or Veteran class. Beginners are usually too busy just learning the ropes to fool with skins and the Master classes like to remain anonymous, so skins often indicate someone whose ability is rising but may not in fact be as great as he wishes it were. This does not hold as true on the team servers, where even
those rare Master players may use special skins since they are so familiar with their mates or as an aid to practice formation flying. On two or three occasions, I have seen Intermediate level fliers with bright red skins on crowded dogfight servers that happened to have fertile green valleys, with the skins serving to act as a bulls eye over them.

assure you that it is only natural progression. Although I have no formal ballet training, I have found there is some similarity between different ballet spreads and the beautiful flight maneuvers that Master aviators can pull off. When you are first beginning, you may often pound your head on the table and say, How did they just do that ?! You can't understand how they pulled into that seemingly impossible steep climb or appeared out of the blue from nowhere. Even when you do watch experienced aviators, you feel as if you cannot do what they do. Have no fear,.small steps,. small steps is the key. Watch and learn. Unfortunately, just like the Matrix as explained by Morpheus, no one can tell you what can make you better; you must see it for yourself.
Important Notes about Strategy - There is no easy way that I can compress hundreds of well
written books on aerial combat and gunnery into a few simple tips as there is simply too much information. However, you may find the following tips helpful in your first few months of practice. Initial Planes - From your very first day, choose one plane (my suggestions are the La-7 3xB-20 if you want to go the open cockpit route or the Bf 109-G2 if you want to go the closed cockpit route, and when available in the plane set) and start to accumulate your fighter time in it only. Stick with just this one plane for the first month or so and do not deviate. Get used to the way it flies, brakes, fires and lands under all conditions. After the first month, then go ahead and slowly add another plane to your repertoire at the rate of say, one a month (next best choice might be a Spitfire or Zero). Gradually build from there. Work your way from TnB planes to those that are best used as BnZ. Adjust Your Conf.ini File If you navigate to C:\Program Files\Ubisoft\IL-2 Sturmovik 1946 and look, you should see a conf file. First make a copy of this file and then store it somewhere else safely. The conf.ini file is the master command file for IL2 and you can adjust many settings by making changes to the file thru a text editor (like Microsoft's Notepad). Some of the things that you can do include setting up IL2 to run on large screen LCD monitors correctly, enabling higher detail clouds and water, turning on gore effects when an enemy plane gets hit and manually setting joystick curves. These two sections here and here at the M4T website will describe the process in detail. Your Joystick Obviously if you are in the heat of combat and cant get to your different view settings quickly, then you are going to be in flames soon. Correctly setting up, calibrating and assigning functions to all the buttons on your joystick is an art all of its own. The main thing though, that you will be looking for is ergonomical quickness; that is the ability to have the most needed functions setup for the quickest and easiest response by your hands. While each joystick behaves differently (deadband, throw, spring resistance, etc.), setup for maximum responsiveness is essential. I have also written a guide to help new guys set up the ergonomics of their joystick and that can be found here (under Newbie's Joystick pdf). You will also need to fine tune your joystick's different axes (pitch, roll and yaw along with accompanying trim axes and throttle) and this can be done directly (and partially) through the Input section under Hardware Setup after the game first loads. However two other programs that can help you to do this easier and with a GUI are IL2 Joy Control found here and IL2 Sticks found here. Both of these programs allow you to set input sliders for the different ranges of motion along any axis.

Open Cockpit versus Closed Cockpit It is probably a good idea when you first start to begin with intermediate level servers (make sure they use full CEM and aerodynamics at a minimum) that allow open cockpits (hit control + F1 on your keyboard). You will still have your firing reticule but no cockpit and best of all, you will have warning arrows on the sides of your screen that grow in size as the enemy approaches. Just remember that it is probably not wise to fly like this all the time. If you do, and then enter a closed cockpit server, you will be toast. Both environments are very different even when flying the same plane. In open cockpit, you can see the arc of your shots and track the enemy. In closed cockpit you must time the shots ahead of the enemy because the plane's dashboard blocks your view and this means that you will not see him when you fire ahead of him for deflection shooting. That alone makes closed cockpit more difficult. As a beginner, try to work with open cockpit about 50% of the time, and then gradually spend more and more time in closed cockpit servers. As you become more and more proficient, you may want to consider investing in a Track IR if you intend to fly primarily closed cockpit servers. Review Yourself (Ntrk Files) The IL2 game allows you to make small movies of your engagements (both offline and online) and you can use these self-made movies as an excellent review tool to evaluate your own performance and mistakes. This is also the best way to review how you fly from all three dimensions and to realize what energy management mistakes you might be making. IL2 does this by way of using Ntrk files using the Q key on your keyboard for Quick Record normally. You can also find other pilot's Ntrk files online for download and you must place them in the C:\Program Files\Ubisoft\IL-2 Sturmovik 1946\records if you want to watch them from within your game. I will not go into the details of how to make the movies here, but there are two excellent guides by Frank Dart Giger here, and Flying Nutcase here. Do You Need to Fly for Seven Years to Get Good ? - No, you don't If you have high intelligence and good four dimensional awareness (counting time as well), and choose continually more difficult servers, you should be flying fairly well after months of online dogfighting practice. If you are of average intelligence and have mediocre situational awareness, then it may take you up to a year or so to get decent, but you will not need to play for years to become a Veteran. Some long time players would like you to believe that you must have years of experience to fly well in IL2, but it is not true. Learn Real Tactics (In Pursuit) - As you broaden and begin to master the tips above, you may want to dig even deeper, and for this I recommend reading 'In Pursuit' by Johan Kylander. It is an well written mini-book on aerial maneuvers and tactics as concerns flight sim gaming. It can be found here ___________________________________________________________________________________

More is Not Necessarily Better Many newbies and intermediate fliers feel that they can
acquire better and better flying abilities by continuously engaging in hours long dogfighting sessions. Actually the opposite can happen; continually flying hour after hour especially against those of inferior ability to your own can actually reinforce bad habits. I would be lying if I said you can reach the
Veteran class of fliers without many hundreds (or more likely, thousands) of dogfights under your wing, but at the same time, remember that it is quality that you seek and not quantity. What I would recommend is one hour, to one and a half hours of practice a day for five days of the week. And make sure that you keep going against guys who are better than you. In the early days, also spend some of your time to review your own flight performances through in-game Ntrk movie files, as this can prove an invaluable tool for spotting your own mistakes. While I am no great moralist, I would also say that it is not worth losing your significant other, your job, your friends or your other hobbies over a simple game where there is no monetary reward for your time investment. On a rather sad note, one of the masters that I ran into, said that he had spent so much playing online, that he had run into severe martial troubles. So, if that is what it takes to become the best, better weigh your priorities.
(You and your significant other before IL2 online dogfighting)
(You and your significant other after Hyperlobby)
Conclusion It is Likely You Will Suffer Before Ascending Please do not get down on yourself or
become discouraged if you find the early days tough going.
(Typical Hyperlobby newbie response) It is unlikely that you will get a kill in your very first online outing and you may even go several days or weeks before making any kills. This does not indicate that you are worthless or that your handeye reflexes were damaged by some rare congenital defect. It simply indicates that you are starting up the learning curve that we all had to follow. Critical evaluation of yourself and your adversaries along with practice will quickly remedy many of your ills, so take heart and enjoy the learning process. Well, I hope you enjoyed this guide and that if you are a beginner, it will make your transition to the world of online IL2 dogfighting a little less painful. Happy hunting in the virtual skies ! Jay Hall (flying online in Hyperlobby as WhistlinggDeath) I would also highly recommend that you give Ubuntu a look. Ubuntu is an open source, totally free (as in zero dollars) Linux operating system and it beats Windows hands down in everything but gaming and Photoshop compatibility (but it has the GIMP, which is even better). You can find it at the Ubuntu Homepage It is just about impervious to viruses and malware, does not need defragmentation and uses the industry quality IP Tables as its firewall. It is not good for IL2 gaming thru Wine, but that is about its only weakness. Also, take a look at Open Office; very nice, can be installed on Windows systems, freely converts documents to PDF files and no continual Microsoft Office security holes. You can find Open Office here (also, completely free): OO Home ___________________________________________________________________________________