Review of Wings Of Power II: World War II Fighters

Shockwave Productions has established itself as one of the premiere addon developers for Microsoft Flight Simulator."WWII Fighters" continues their tradition of delivering both quality and quantity in every release; for your money you get five separate fighter planes, each with a fully functioning cockpit and interesting animations like bomb and drop tank release.The P-47D-20 and P-51D are culled from two of Shockwave's e-commerce packages that each have several variants of these planes; both models have been significantly improved for the "WWII Fighters" release.The Bf-109E and Spitfire Mk.I models appear to have been made FS2004 compatible from Shockwave's "Battle of Britain II: Wings of Victory" game, a makeover of the Rowan's classic.The A6M5 is completely new and is currently unavailable in any other form from the developers at this time.

The software ships with three full-color 'cockpit map' foldout sheets.Each sheet is dedicated to two of the aircraft in the package, one per side, and offers important information.Looking at the P-47 sheet, the user sees: 1) History of the plane; 2) a cockpit guage reference with labels; 3) "Important Things to Know About Your Aircraft"; 4) P47D22 Technical Specifications; 5) Cockpit checklist - controls; 6) Pre-takeoff Check; 7) Engine Starting checklist; 8) Taxi and Takeoff recomendations; 9) After Takeoff checklist; 10) Climb; 11) Cruise Control Schedule; 12) Landing Checklist; 13) Engine Limitations and Characteristics.The other maps are similarly detailed, although not always with the same topics of information.The final page compares the five planes' in-game performance and also explains the process the developers use to create authentic flight models.

Unlike many FS addon planes, "WWII Fighters" aircraft will bite you if you don't treat them with respect.This only adds to the fun of this product; the real challenge is learning to fly the planes correctly.The developers recommend that customers supplement their flying experience by acquiring copies of the Pilot Operating Handbooks for the actual planes; I can personally attest that the "Roaring Glory: P-47 Thunderbolt" DVD w/ WWII-era training film and operating manual have helped me understand the computer simulation much more.The planes in this software package are, in my opinion, as close as one can currently get to flying the actual warbirds.





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