Game PC Their Finest Hour User Manual

OZ I

SOFT

Their Finest

Hour

FOR

AMIGA

AND

IBM

Reference

Card

IBM/Tandy

This card contains

start-up

and

addi-

tional Mission

Instructions

specifically

for

your

IBM

or Tandy computer. These

instructions tell you:

•how

to load

and

play Their Finest

Hour: The Battle

of

Britain from the

enclosed floppy disks

• how to install the program on a

hard disk drive,

and

start

it

up

• how to load the Mission Builder

•how

to

fly

a mission right away

(Quick Start)

• how to save your Combat Records

on a floppy disk

• how the colours described in the

manual

will look

if

you're playing with a

CGAmonitor

• how to use the Frequency Cipher

Wheel to

tune

your aircraft radio

Also,

for

general reference, you'll find
a list of keyboard controls, which allow
you to

fly

the three types of aircraft In

Their Finest Hour

But

first, to see

any

important

last

minute updates

about

Their Finest Hour

the Mission Builder or the manual, look

at

the

file called "READ.ME." To

read

this

file,

Insert the 5 1/4" disk labelled

"Disk

1"

or

the 3.5" disk labelled "Disk 1

and

2,"

then

type:

readme

and

press

RETURN.

LOADING

INSTRUCTIONS

Package

Contents

Inside

the

package for Their

Finest

Hour,

you

should

find

the

following

items:

• a game manual

• four 51I4" floppy disks

• a reference card

• a registration card

• a Frequency Cipher Wheel

•

an

order form

for

3 disks

• a game catalog

If

you're missing any of these items,

please

contact

Lucasfilm

Games

Customer Support

at

1415562-1902.

1

Starting

Up

from

the

Floppy

Disks

NOTE:

To

greatly reduce loading

and

running times,

we

recommend

that

you

play the game from a

hard

disk drive,

if

you

have one. To

Install

Their

Finest

Hour on a hard disk, see the Hard Disk

Installation section below.

Before

starting

Their

Finest

Hour

remove all

RAM

resident programs, since

they might conflict with the game.

Their

Finest

Hour Is

not

copy-pro-

tected. Before you load

it, we urge you to

make a

backup

copy of the game disks

by

following

the

instructions

in

your

DOS

manual.

The program comes on four 5

1/4"

floppy disks, labelled "Disk l," "Disk

2,"

"Disk 3,"

and

"Disk 4."

It

Is also available

on

two

3.5" floppy disks, labelled "Disk 1

and

2"

and

"Disk 3

and

4."

If

you have a

3

1/2" drive

and

the program

asks

for

"Disk l" or "Disk 2," insert "Disk 1

and

2." If the program

asks

for "Disk

3"

or

"Disk 4," insert "Disk 3

and

4."

Start

at

the

A>

prompt,

and

insert

the 5 1/4" disk labelled "Disk l," or the

3.5" disk labelled "Disk 1

and

2,"

in drive

A. From there type:

bob
then

press

RETURN.

Hard

Disk

Installation

The

program

can

be

easily

trans-

ferred from the floppy disks to your

hard

disk

drive.

First,

boot

your

machine,

then

insert "Disk l" or "Disk 1

and

2"

in

drive

A,

and

type:

a:

followed by

RETURN.

Your computer

will respond with the prompt

"A>".

Now

type the word:

install

followed

by

a space, the letter of your

hard

disk, a colon.

and

RETURN. For

example,

if

your hard disk is

"C,"

type:

install c:

and

press RETURN. This will auto-

matically

create a directory

labelled

"BOB1940" on drive

C.

Starting

Up

from

a

Hard

Disk

To

play the game once it

has

been

installed on your hard disk, first get to

your hard disk prompt.

If

the disk

Is

·c,"

type:

c:

and press RETURN. Then access the

BOB1940 directocy by typing:

cd

bobl940

and press RETURN. From there type :

bob

and press

RETURN

.

Starting

Up

Options

When the game

starts

up, you'll be

asked

to

enter

the

graphics

display

you're using.

You

can

skip this graphics

display prompt by adding a space

and

the

appropriate

letter

after

you type

"bob".

For example,

to

start

right

up

in

EGA

mode, type:

bob e

and press

RETURN.

In addition, there are three settings

you

can

use

to

change the

amount

of

ground detail displayed in the game.

If

you're playing with a slower computer,
such

as a PC

or xr the game will

run
slower if more ground detail is displayed.
For faster machines,

such

as

a newer-

model

AT

or a 386, displaying a large
amount of ground detail won't slow the
game

down

at

all.

To

change

the default

settings

for

ground detail,

start

the game up

by

typ-

ing:

bob

followed

by a space, then the letter of
your graphics mode, another space, and
one of these numbers:

0 (minimal amount of ground detail)

1 (moderate amount of ground detail)

2

(maximum

amount

of

ground

detail)

You

can

also change these settings

anytime

during your mission

by

pressing

Alt-G

LOADING

INSTRUCTIONS:

MISSION

BUILDER

Since the Mission Builder is a sepa-

rate utility from the game program, you

2

use a different procedure

to

start

it

up.

If

you've been playing Their Finest

Hour from a hard disk

drive, you'll need

to

get Into the BOB1940 directocy to use

the Mission Builder by typing:

cdbobl940

From the directocy, type:

mb

then press

RETURN.

You'll then be

asked

to

indicate which graphics display

you're using.

If

you're playing the game from

flop

-

py

disks, start

at

the

A>

prompt, insert

"Disk

4"

or "Disk 3 and

4"

into drive A

and type:

mb

then press

RETURN.

You'll also be

asked to choose a graphics display

from

the list on the screen.

To

continue, see Using the Mission
Builder in the Appendix section of the
manual.

QUICK

START

If

you'd like

to

take Their Finest Hour

for

a test

flight:

• First. load

and

start

up

the pro-

gram by following the Loading Instruc-

tions above.

• When you finish you'll see a title

screen,

followed

by the Main Menu

fea-
turing a list of choices surrounded by a
painting

of

the

Battle of Britain. Use

your game controller

to

move

the arrow

on the screen to the menu choice

FLY

TRAINING

FLIGHT

. Then click your con-

troller button.

• Next,

you'll

be

at

an

Aircraft

Selection menu.

Move

the arrow

to

SPIT-

FIRE,

and click your controller button.

•The

menu you'll see

now

will

have a

list

of

Training

Flights

that

you

can

choose

from

for

Spitfire pilots.

Move

the

arrow to the

first one, labelled #

1,

and

click your controller button.

• Now

you'll

be

sent

to

Flight
Briefing, which is a screen containing a
large

map

of

Southern

England,

the

English

Channel, and

Continental

Europe, along with a row of

buttons

Mo

ve

the arrow

to

the button

at

the

bot~

tom of the screen labelled

GO

FLIGHT,

and click your controller button.

•You'll immediately find yourself

fly

-
ing in a Spitfire over the chilly waters of
the English Channel. Several Luftwaffe
Bf

109 fighters are flying around,

but

won't

fl.re

back

at

you. Your fighter

has

unlimited

fuel

and

ammunition,

and

can't

crash.

If you need to

pause

the

flight, press:

alt-p

Your mission objective Is to shoot
down all the German fighters. Refer to
the angle Seat Fighter Cockpit Controls
section in the Mission Instructions: In-
Flight

chapter

of the

manual

for more

information about

flying

your fighter and

using its machine guns.

•

To

end your mission, type:

q

at

any time. This will first

give

you a

post-flight evaluation, then return you

to

the Main Menu.

You

may also press:

esc

anytime

during

your

mission

to

return to

DOS.

• For more comprehensive instruc-

tions,

tum

to

the Mission Instructions

..

Pre-Flight chapter of the manual.

SAVING

COMBAT

RECORDS

ON

A

FLOPPY

DISK

If you're running the program from

the

floppy disks

and

wish to save the

Combat Records of the pilots and crews

you create, you

must

format a floppy

disk before you

start

playing the game.

Then,

at

various times throughout the

game, the program will ask you to insert
this Combat Records disk

If

you're playing

the

game from a

hard

disk,

your

Combat Records will

automatically be saved on

that

disk in

the

BOB1940 directocy.

CGA

COLOUR

CHART

If you're using a

CGA

graphics dis-

play,

the

colours on

your

screen may

look

dilierent from those described in

the manual. This is especially critical

when you're

flying

in

a medium bomber.

3

The colours of a medium bomber's gun

indicator lights tell you where enemy
planes are attacking

from,

and

give

you

the

status

of

your

machine

gun

posi-

tions.

The chart

at

left can be used

as

a ref-

erence if you're playing the game in

this

mode.

Colour

CGA

Colour

Described

in Displayed

on

the

Manual

Your

Screen

Black Black

Yellow

White

Blue Blue and Black

Red

Magenta

Green Light Blue

KEYBOARD

REFERENCE

The

following

keys are a summary of

the controls used

in

Their Finest Hour.

For a more detailed discussion of

the

cockpit controls for each of

the

three

types of aircraft in the game (single-seat

fighters, doubleseat fighters

and

dive
bombers, and medium bombers), see the
Mission Instructions: In-Flight chapter of

the manual

Game

Controls

Key

f»'a

'Qi\e

Ae
Ae

AfA

A•

A

Function

Pauses game; press any
key

to

continue

Tums

all game sounds off

and on

Turns engine sound off
and on

Gives version number of
game

Lets you adjust joystick

Changes amount of

ground detail

to

speed

up

game

if

it is running slug
gishly Exits the game;
returns you

to

your com-

puter's operating system

Weapons

Controls

Key Function
Left controller Fires forward machine
button

or guns or gunner position

SPACE BAR machine gun

Right controller Fires

20

mm cannon

button or

(Bf

109

and

Bf 110

only)

peiiod

(.)

key

Left

AND

right Drops bombload
controller (except fighters)
buttons

or

RETURN

Lets you toggle between
bombload settings

(dive

bombers

and

medium bombers

only)

Fires

gunner

position machine

guns automatically

Cockpit

Controls

Key Function

e

Increases throttle l• (shift key
not needed)

e

Decreases throttle

a

Lowers

and

raises landlng gear

(except

Ju

87 Stuka)

a

Lowers

and

raises flaps

~

Extends

and

retracts dive

brakes (Ju 87

Stuka

and

Ju

88

only)

e

Turns

replay camera on

and

off

e

Sends you to Review Combat

Film

to watch your replay

camera movie

e

Sends you to In-Flight

Map/Radio

e

Turns

on the automatic pilot

e

Lets you

and

your crew,

if

any,

jump

from plane

and

parachute

to

safety

e

Ends

mission;

sends

you

to

post-flight evaluation

4

V'lfNf

Controls

Key

e

e

e
e
e

e

Function

Forward view

View

Iight

View

left

View

straight down

Scan view

Rear view (slngle-seat fighters),

or moves you

to

rear gunner's

seat (double-seat fighters

and

dive bombers)

Switching

lo

Different

Positions

Moves

you to gunner position

(except fighters)

Moves

you to bombardier posi

tion(medium bombers

only)

Moves

you to pilot position

(except slngle-seat fighters)

Toggles you between pilot

and

gunner

or

bombardier positions

(except single-seat fighters)

Moving

lo

Different

Gun

Positions

imedium

bombers

only)

e

e

e

e

e

Nose

gunner

Right fuselage gunner
(except

Ju

88)

Left fuselage gunner
(except

Ju

88)

Belly gunner

(Lower

fuselage, rear-faclng)

Dorsal gunner

(upper fuselage, rear-faclng)

TUNING

YOUR

RADIO

WITH

THE

FREQUENCY

CIPHER

WHEEL

Inside

the

game

box

you'll

find a

wheel

with

various

German

unit

insignias

around

Its peiimeter. This

is

the Frequency Cipher Wheel. You'll

use

it to

tune

the frequency of your plane's

radio so you

can

receive vital information

about

enemy

aircraft

sightings. These

sightings

will be shown

on

the In-Flight

Map/Radio,

and

you'll

also

be

given

information

about

the

number

and

type

of

enemy

aircraft,

their

altitude,

and

their course. If you don't

tune

your radio

properly, you

won't

be

able to receive

any

enemy sighting reports, which will

greatly

hinder

your

chances

for a suc-

cessful mission.

When you first begin a mission you'll

be in the cockpit of your chosen aircraft.

You'll need to

tune

the frequency of the

cockpit radio

if

the light next to

It

Is not

lit.

You'll

also

receive

on-screen

reminders to

tune

your radio.

To

move to

the In-Flight Map/Radio screen, where

you

can

tune

your radio, press

M.

Once

you're

at

the

In-Flight

Map/Radio,

use

your

con-

troller

to

move

the

arrow

to a

button

labelled

TUNE

RADIO, located

at

the bottom of

the

screen.

Then

click

your

controller

button.

You'll

then

see a

unit

lnslgnla,

plus the name of

an

airfield, in a column

at

the Iight of the screen.

Now

pull

out

your Frequency Cipher

Wheel.

Move

the wheel around, and line

up

the notch to the unit insignia on the

wheel's

peiimeter

that

matches the

unit
lnslgnia on the screen. Next look on the
inner

wheel

of

the

Frequency

Cipher

Wheel,

and

find

the

airfield

name

that

matches the one

on

the screen. Next to

the airfield name on the wheel, you'll see

a window with three coloured

numbers

Inside.

These

three

numbers

together

make

up

your

correct radio frequency.

Use the controller to move the arrow

to

the

up

or

down arrow icons in the lower

right-hand

corner

of

the

screen. Click

the controller

button

on

these

Icons to

select the correct number. Then, move

the arrow to

the

colour display,

and

click

the controller button to select the correct

colour.

Make

sure

that

the

three

coloured

numbers

in the window match

the

ones

you've

just

selected

on

the

screen.

5

When your radio

Is

tuned

correctly,

move

the

arrow to the box titled

CON-

TINUE,

and

click your controller

button

to resume your flight.

For

more

information

about

the

radio,

turn

to

the

InFlight

Map/Radio
section of the Mission Instructions: In-
Flight chapter of the manual.

Reference Card Amiga

This card provides

start-up

instruc-

tions

for

playing Their Finest Hour. The

Battle of

Biitain on

an

Amiga

500,

1000,

or

2000 computer. You'll also find addi-

tional Mission Instructions, lncludlng a
list of keyboard controls for

flying

all

three

types of

aircraft

In

Their

Finest

Hour

The

Information

on

this

card describes how

to:

• load

and

play Their Flnest Hour

from floppy disks

• Install the program on a

hard

disk

diive

•

save

your

Combat Records

on

flop-

py disk

• load the Mission Builder

• fly a quick training mission (Quick

Start)

•

use

the Radio Frequency Cipher

Wheel to

tune

your aircraft radio

Before proceedlng with these instruc-

tions, you should examine the

READ.ME

text

file

on Disk l to

learn

of

any

last

minute

updates

to

the

program,

the

Mission

Builder,

or

the

manual.

To

access this

file:

1.

Insert Disk 1 into any disk diive.

2.

Type

read me

and

press

RETURN

Game

Controllers

You

can

use

a mouse, a joystick, or

the

keyboard

controls

when

playing

Their Finest Hour.

Memory

Requirements

The more available free memory you
have in your computer, the more game
features you'll

be

able to use.

Examlne the

READ.ME

file

on Disk 1

for more

details.

You

can

play

Their

Finest

Hour

on a 512K

machine,

but

you'll

hear

no

sound

effects

and

certain

graphic

enhancements

will

be

missing

.

Also,

a 512K machine only allows you to

run

the

program

from floppy disks,

and

you'll

be

unable

to

use a hard

drive.

Sound

effects,

enhanced

graphics,

and

the

ability to

run

the

game

on a hard

drive

are

features

available

only

on

machines

with

IMB

of memory

or

more.

LOADING

INSTRUCTIONS

Package

Contents

The

game

package

contains

the

fol-

lowing Items:

•

one Game

Manual

• two

3.5inch

disks, labelled "Disk

l"

and

"Disk

2"

• one Radio Frequency Cipher Wheel

• one Reference Card

• one Game Catalog

If

you're missing

any

of

these items,

please

contact

Lucasfilm

Games

Customer

Support

at

1-415-662-1902.

Running

the

Program

from

Floppy

Disk

NOTE:

Running

Their

Finest

Hour

from a hard

drive

will

greatly

reduce

loading

and

running

times.

To

install

the

program

on a hard

drive, please refer to

the

Hard

Drive

Installation

section

of

this

Reference Card.

Since Their Finest Hour Is

not

copy-

protected, we urge you to

make

backup

copies of

the

two game

disks

by following

the

Instructions In

your

Amiga manual.

If

you

use

the

Duplicate

function from

the

Workbench,' 1 you

must

change

the

name

of

Disk

1 to

"bobl,"

and

Disk 2

must

be

renamed

"bob2."

Cold

Start

If

your

Amiga

hasn't

been

started

up

yet:

1.

Tum

on

the

computer.

2.

When you're

asked

for

the

Workbench

disk

, Insert Disk 1 Into drive

df0:.

3.

Insert

Disk 2 into

any

drive

when

prompted.

6

Wann

Start

If

your

Amiga

is

already

up

and

run-

ning:

1. Take

out

the

Workbench disk.

2.

Insert

Disk 1 into drive df0:.

3.

Press

the Ctr! key

and

the

two

Amiga keys simultaneously.

4.

Insert

Disk 2 into

any

drive

when

prompted.

HARD

DRIVE

INSTALLATION

To

install

Their

Finest

Hour

on

a

hard

drive:

1.

Starting

from

the

CU, type cd, a

space,

the

name

of

your

hard

drive,

and

a colon.

For

example,

if

you're

starting

from a

hard

drive

named

"dh0,"

you'd

type

cd

db•:.

2.

Press

RETURN.

3.

Type

makedir

bobl940

and

press

RETIJRN.

4. Insert Disk 1 into

any

drive.

5. Type copy

bobl: bobl940

ALL

QUIET

and

press

RETIJRN.

6.

Insert

Disk 2 into

any

drive.

7.

Type

copybob2:

bobl940

ALL

QUIET

and

press

RETURN.

8.

Type

cd

babl940

and

press

RETURN.

9.

Type

copy

bobl940.info

/and

press

RETURN.

10.

Type

delete

bobl940.info

and

press

RETURN.

The program will now

be

installed

on

your

hard

drive.

Starting

Up

from a Hard

Drive

When playing from a

hard

drive, you

can

start

up

the

program from either

the

Workbench

or

the

CLI.

From

the

Workbench:

1.

Click on

the

hard

drive icon con-

taining

the

"bobl940" directory.

2.

When

the

window opens, click

on

the

drawer labelled "bobl940."

3.

When the drawer opens, click

on

the icon labelled "bob.· This'wlll

start

up

the program.

To

start

up

the program from the

CU:

1. Get to the

CLI

prompt,

and

type

cd, followed

by

a space,

the

name

of

your

hard

drive,

and

a colon.

2.

Press

RETURN.

3.

Type

cd

bobl940

and

press

RETURN.

This will take you to

the

directory

that

contains

the

game.

4.

Type

bob

and

press

RETURN.

The

program will now

start

up.

SAVING

COMBAT

RECORDS

ON

A

FLOPPY

DISK

If

you're

running

the

program

from

floppy

disks

and

wish

to save pilot

and

crew

records,

Custom

Missions.

Campaign

Missions,

and

combat

film

replays,

you

must

format a floppy

disk

before

you

start

the

game.

This

disk

must

be

titled

"bobdata."

At

various

times

throughout

the

game,

the

program

will

ask

you to Insert

this

data

disk.

If

you 're

running

the

program

from a

hard

drive,

your

Combat

Records

will

automatically

be

saved

in

the

"bobl940"

directory.

To

format

a

disk

from

the

Workbench:

1.

Insert a blank

disk into

any

drive.

2.

Select

the

disk icon.

3.

Choose initialize from

the

disk

menu.

4.

Choose Rename from

the

Workbench

menu

after

the

disk

has

been

initialized.

5. Use

the

Cursor key

and

the Delete

key to

erase

the

word "Empty"

6.

Type

babdata

and

press

RETIIRN.

To format a

disk

from

the

CU:

1.

Insert a blank

disk Into

any

drive.

2.

Type

format

drive,

the

name

of

your

drive, a colon,

the

word name,

and

then

bobdata.

For example,

if

you're for-

matting a

disk

in

drive

dfl,

you'd

type:

format

drive

dfl:

name

babdata.

Be

sure

to include

the

proper

spaces

when

you're typing.

3.

Press

RETURN.

LOADING

INSTRUCTIONS:

MISSION

BUILDER

Since

the

Mission Builder

is

a sepa-

7

rate

utility from

the

game program, you

must

use

a special procedure to

start

It

up.

If

you've

been

running

Their

Finest

Hour

from a

hard

disk,

you

can

access

the

Mission

Builder

from

either

the

Workbench

or

the

CLI.

To

access

the

Mission

Builder

from

the

Workbench, simply click

on

the

Icon

labelled

"mb"

that

you'll

find

in

the

"bobl940" drawer.

To

access

the

Mission

Builder

from

the

CLI,

you'll

need

to

get

into

the

"bob 1940" directory:

1. Type

cd

bobl940

and

press

RETURN.

2.

Type mb

and

press

RETURN.

If

you 're

running

the

game from flop-

py disks, follow

the

procedure described

under

"Cold Start"

or

'Warm

Start,·

but

Insert Disk 2

when

you're

asked

for

the

Workbench disk.

To continue,

see

Using

the

Mission

Builder

in

the

Appendix

section

of

the

manual.

QUICK

START

Follow these Instructions

if

you'd like

to take Their

Finest

Hour for a quick

test

flighl

1. Load

and

start

up

the

program

by

following

the

Loading Instructions above.

A title screen will

appear

followed

by

the

Main Menu.

2.

Select

FLY

'IRAINING

FLIGHT from

the

Main Menu by clicking

on

il

An

Aircraft Selection

menu

will appear.

3.

Click

on

SPITFIRE. A Spitfire

Training

Flights

menu

will appear.

4.

Click

on

SPITFIRE #2. You'll

then

be

sent

to Flight Briefing, which

contains

a large

map

of

Southern

England,

the

English Channel,

and

Continental

Europe, along with a row of

buttons

at

the

bottom of the screen.

5. Click

on

the

GO

FLIGHT

button.

You'll soon find yourself flying

in

a

Spitfire over

the

chilly waters of

the

English Channel. Several Luftwaffe Bf

109 fighters

are

flying around,

but

won't

fire

back

at

you. Your fighter

has

unlim-

ited fuel

and

ammunition,

and

can't

crash.

Your mission objective is to shoot

down all the

Gennan

fighters. Refer to

the Single

Seat

Fighter Cockpit Controls

section in the Mission Instructions.' In-

Flight chapter of

the

manual

for

more

infonnation

about

flying your fighter

and

using Its machine guns.

If

you need to

pause

the flight, press

Alt-P.

To

end

your

mission, type q

at

any

time. This will first

give

you a post-flight

evaluation, then

return

you to the Main

Menu.

You

may also press esc

at

any

time during your mission

to

leave the

program.

For more comprehensive instruc-

tions,

tum

to

the Mission Instructions. '

Pre-Right chapter of the manual.

KEYBOARD

REFERENCE

The following keys

are

a summary of

the controls used in Their Finest Hour.

For

a more detailed

discussion

of

the

cockpit

controls

for

each

of

the

three

types of aircraft

in

the game (single-seat

fighters, double-

seat

fighters

and

dive

bombers,

and

medium bombers), see the

Mission Instructions: In-Flight chapter of

the manual.

Game

Controls

Key

Function

~

&.'f!'l

Pauses

game; press any

,_

·=

key

to

continue

fN'.

f»'&

f"'•

f»fa

Tums

all game sounds off

and

on

Tums

engine sound off

and

on

Gives version

number

of

game

Changes

amount

of
ground detail to any of
three settings

to

speed

up

game

if

it

Is

running slug-

gishly

Exits the game.

(If

you're

playing from a hard drive,

you'll leave the program.

If

you're playing from floppy
disks, you'

ll

need

to

reboot

the

system.)

Weapons

Controls

Key

Function

Left mouse Fires

foIWard
button or machine guns (fighter) ,
SPACE

BAR

position machine gun

(all other aircraft)

Fires 20

mm

cannon

(Bf

109

and

Bf 110 only)

Right mouse
button or
period

(.)

key

RE11JRN

Drops bombload

(except fighters)

Joystick button Fires machine

guns

or cannon (see X below)

Lets you toggle joystick

button

between machine guns

and

can-

non

(Bf

109

and

Bf 110

only)

Lets you toggle between
bombload settings

(dive

bombers

and

medium bombers

only)

Fires

gunner

position machine

guns automatically

Cockpit

Controls

Key

Function

Increases throttle

(shift key not needed)

Decreases throttle

Lowers

and

raises landing gear

(except

Ju

88 Stuka)

Lowers

and

raises flaps

Extends

and

retracts dive

brakes (Ju 87

Stuka

and

Ju

88

only)

Tums

replay camera

on

and

off

Sends you to Review Combat

Film to watch your replay cam-

era movie

e

Q

-

fi

e

Sends you to In-Flight

Map/Radio Dorsal gunner

Turns

on

the automatic pilot

Toggles between normal

and

accelerated time

Gives you the location of

your

aircraft

Lets you

and

your crew,

if

any,

jump

from plane

and

parachute

to

safety

Ends mission;

sends

you to

post-flight evaluation

View

Controls

a.

,

, FoIWard view

e ViewRight
e Viewleft

e

View

straight down

e Scanvlew

Switching

to

Different

Positions

\'I

e

e

e

•

Moves you to

gunner

position

(except fighters)

Moves you to bombardier posi-

tion (medium bombers

only)

Moves you to pilot position

(except fighters)

Toggles you between pilot

and
gunner positions (except fight-
ers)

Moving

to

Different Gun Pos-

itions (medium bombers only)

Nose

gunner

Right fuselage gunner
(except

Ju

88)

Left fuselage gunner

Belly gunner

Uower

fuselage, rear-facing)

Dorsal gunner
(upper fuselage, rear-facing)

9

TUNING

YOUR

RADIO

WITH

THE

RADIO

FREQUENCY

CIPHER

WHEEL

Inside

the

game

box

you'll

find

a

wheel

with

various

German

unit

insignias

around

Its perimeter. This Is

the

Radio

Frequency

Cipher

Wheel.

You'll

use

it

to

tune

the

frequency

of

your

plane's

radio

so

you

can

receive

vital information

about

enemy

aircraft

sightings. These

s~tings

will

be

shown

on

the In-Flight Map/Radio,

and

you'll

also

be

given

information

about

the

number

and

type

of enemy aircraft. their

altitude,

and

their

course

.

If

you

don't

tune

your radio properly, you won't be

able

to

receive

any

enemy

sighting

reports, which will greatly

hinder

your

chances for a successful mission.

When you first begin a mission you'll

be in the cock

pit

of

your

chosen

aircraft.

You'll

need to

tune

the frequency of the cockpit

radio

if

the

light

next

to

it

is

not

lit.

You'll also receive on-screen reminders

to

tune

your

radio.

To

move to the In-

Flight Map/Radio screen, where you can

tune

your

radio, press M.

Once

you're

at

the

In-Flight

Map/Radio:

1. Click on the

11JNE

RADIO

button

at

the

bottom

of

the

screen.

A

unit

insignia

and

the name of

an

airfield will

appear

in a column

at

the

right of

the

screen.

2.

Move

the Radio Frequency Cipher

Wheel around, until the notch lines

up

with

the

unit

insignia

on

the

wheel's

perimeter

that

matches the insignia

on

the screen.

3.

Look

on

the

inner

wheel

of

the

Radio Frequency Cipher Wheel.

and

find

the

airfield

name

that

matches

the

air-

field name

on

the screen. Next

to

the air-

field name on the wheel. you'll see a win-
dow with three coloured numbers inside.

These three

numbers

together make

up

your correct radio frequency.

4.

Click

on

the

up

and

down arrow

icons to select the correct numbers.

5. Click on

the

colour display

on

the

screen to select the correct colours

for

each number.

Make

sure that the three
coloured numbers in the window match
the

ones

you've

just

selected

on

the

screen.

6.

Click on the

DONE

button when

you've finished setting the radio frequen-

cy.

If

your radio is tuned properly, the

light

at

the

top of

the

screen

next to

the

frequency

display

will now

be

illuminated.

7. Click on the

CONTINUE

button to

resume flight.

For

more

information

about

the

radio,

tum

to the In-Flight Map/Radio

section of the Mission Instructions

.•

Pre

Flight

chapter of the manual.

10

LOADING

INSTRUCTIONS

Remove

the

floppy

disks

marked

Their Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain

from

the

disk envelope inside the box,

along with the Frequency Cipher

Wheel.

Then look

at

the

Reference Card, also

inside

the

box,

to

find

the

Loading
Instructions. These instructions tell you
how

to

start

the

game from the floppy

disks,

plus

how to install

and

play

it

from a hard disk drive. When you've

fin

-
ished loading the game, see the Game
Controllers section which

follows

.

GAME

CONTROLLERS

(MOUSE/

JOYSTICK/KEYBOARD)

In this manual, the word "controller"

will be used

to

refer

to

your mouse, joy-

stick, or keyboard

cursor

keys (arrow

keys) . "Controller buttons"

will refer

to

the buttons on the mouse or joystick. If

you're playing with a keyboard, there

will

be corresponding keyboard keys that will
serve

as

controller buttons.

To

find out which controllers the pro-

gram supports on your computer please

see your Reference Card.

If your computer doesn't support a
mouse or a joystick, the keyboard will
control all of

the

game functions , and

the cursor keys used

to

pilot aircraft and

move

machine guns around.

However,

if

your computer does support a joystick or

mouse,

we

urge you

to

use

it

,

as

control-

ling

the

game

is

easier

than

with the
cursor keys. The joystick gives the best
true-to-

life

control, particularly

for

pilot-

ing

the

plane

and

performing

aerial

maneuvers. The mouse gives the

best

fine

control, which is important

for

preci-

sion

maneuvers

such

as

aiming

guns

and

moving a fighter into a favorable

position from which to attack.

Adjusting

Your

Joystick

If

you are using a joystick when you

first

start

up the game, the program

will

ask you

if

you want to use

it.

Press the Y

key

if

you're using a joystick, and the N

11

key

if

you're using a different controller.

If

you press the Y

key,

the program

will
walk you through a three-step joystick
adjustment process:

1.

First, centre the joystick

and

click

any joystick button.

2.

Next,

while holding the joystick in

the

top left

comer,

click

any

joystick

button.

3. Finally, while holding the joystick
in the lower right comer click any but-
ton.

You

can adjust your joystick anytime

during the game by pressing Alt-C.

Using

the

Controller

to

Select

from

the

Menus

and

Screens

After you've loaded Their Finest Hour

you'll need to move

through

several

menus that

allow

you

to

select missions,

choose aircraft, keep

track

of Combat

Records,

and

more. You'll also need to

select

icons

on

different

screens

throughout

the

program.

Whenever

you're

at

a menu or screen, you'll see a

list of choices, or icons, along

with

a

floating arrow.

To

make your selection,

use your controller to move the arrow
over

the

desired choice or icon,

then

click your controller button.

Non-Standard

Mouse

or

Joystick

Buttons

If

you're playing the game with a joy-

stick or mouse that has

an

unusual

but

-

ton configuration, you may be confused

when

the

game

instructions

call

for
pressing the "left" or "right" controller
button. Here's

an

easy way to find out
which of your buttons is considered left
and

which is considered right. First,
read the following Main Menu section,
then read the Training Flights section.
Select a Bf 109 from the list of aircraft
shown on

the

Training Flight screen.

You'll

soon find yourself in the cockpit of

this fighter, where you'll see

two

num-

bers, showing

the

number of ammuni-

tion rounds you have in your machine

guns

and

cannon. Pressing one of the
buttons on your joystick or mouse will
make

the

top

number

decrease

. This

button

is the one referred to

as

the

Mleft"

button. The

other

button

will make

the

bottom

number

decrease. This

button

is

the

Mright"

button.

MAIN

MENU

When

you

get

to

the

Main

Menu,

you'll

see a box

with a list

of choices,

surrounded

by

scenes from

the

Battle of

Britain.

On

the

left, Spitfires

soar

high

above

the

English Channel, barrage bal-

loons,

radar

installations,

and

the white

cliffs

of

Dover. On the right,

Stukas

dive-

bomb

ships

in

the

Channel while medi-

um

bombers

roar

off toward England.

Use

the

floating arrow to choose any

of these Main Menu selections:

FLY

TRAINING

FLIGHT

This lets you hone

your

flying, shoot-

ing,

and

bombing skills

in

a variety of

practice situations. The

results

of these

Training Flights will

not

count

on

your

Combat Record.

FLY

COMBAT

FLIGHT

This lets you fly

an

actual

mission,

the

results

of which will

count

on your

Combat Record.

FLY

CUSTOM

MISSION

This

lets

you

fly

in

missions

that

you've created with the Mission Builder

(see

your

Reference Card for more infor-

mation

on

using the Mission Builder).

PLAY

CAMPAIGN

This

lets

you

take

part

in

various

campaign

missions,

where

you

can

change

the

historical

outcome

of

the

Battle

of

Britain if you're good enough.

REVIEW

COMBAT

RECORDS

This lets you look over

the

records of

the pilots

and

crews who have flown on

your

missions.

REVIEW

COMBAT

FllM

This

sends

you to the Review Combat

Film

room,

where

you

can

watch

the

combat action you've recorded

and

saved

from

your

various missions.

EXIT

FROM

PROGRAM

This

lets

you

leave

the

game

and

12

return

to

your

computers operating sys-

tem.

TRAINING

FLIGHTS

To

learn

and

practice

the

skills you'll
need when flying a combat mission, we
encourage you to

fly

as

many

Training

Flights

as

you

can.

Since

the

results

won't

count

on your Combat Record, you

can

experiment,

take

foolish

chances,

and

make

lots

of

mistakes.

Training

Flights are the

best

way to develop

that

Mcombat

edge" you'll need in battle.

When

you

choose

FLY

TRAINING
FLIGfIT from the Main Menu, you'll be
presented

with

an

Aircraft

Selection

menu. There you'll see eight German

and

British

aircraft

you

can

choose

from.

Move

the arrow to either the aircraft sil-

houette

or

the name next to it,

then

click

the controller

button

to make

your

selec-

tion.

Next

you'll

be

shown a Training

Flight Selection menu. This

has

a list of

four

Training Flights specific to

that

type of aircraft you've selected.

For example,

the

training missions

you

can

choose for a fighter include forward
gunnery practice, intercepting bombers,
and

escorting bombers. The first mission

on

each

of

the

lists

is

fairly easy,

but

subsequent

ones

become

increasingly
difficult. Once you've selected a Training
Flight, you'll be

sent

to Flight Briefing

before you

begin your flight.

.

COMBAT

FLIGHTS

With these missions, you'll

be

reliv-

ing

historically

authentic

flights

that

took place during different

phases

of

the

Battle

t>f

Britain

(see

the

Historical

Overview chapter for more information).

When you're flying one of these Combat
Flights,

you'll

select

from a

roster

of
pilots you've created for the side you're
flying on. Their

successes

and

failures
will be kept track of in a Combat Record.
Medals

and

promotions will

be

won by

those who are skillful

and

courageous

in

battle,

but

a far

less

glorious fate awaits

those who are not.

To select a Combat Flight, move the

arrow

to

FLY

COMBAT

FLIGfIT

on

the

Main

Menu,

and

press

the

controller

button.

Next

you'll

be

at

an

Aircraft

Selection

menu,

where you'll

see

eight

German

or

British aircraft silhouettes.

Click

on

either

the

silhouette

of

the

plane you

want

to

fly

or

the

name next to

it. You'll

then

move to a Flight Selection

menu, where

you

can

choose from eight
historically-based missions appropriate
for

the

type of

aircraft

you've selected.

These choices

are

ranked in order of dif-
ficulty. with the first choices being rela-
tively easy,

and

the

succeeding choices

becoming

increasingly

difficult. You'll

only see the first four mission choices

when you come to

the

menu.

To

see the

next four choices,

press

FORWARD.

If

you'd like to see

the

previous four choic-

es

again,

press

BACK.

To

make

your

selection,

move

the

floating

arrow

to

either the mission text

or

the

number

on

the

left side,

and

press

your

controller

button.

To leave

the

Flight

Selection

menu

altogether

press

EXIT

When you
have selected a mission, you'll move to
Flight Briefing.

CUSTOM

MISSIONS

When

you

pick

this

selection from

the Main Menu, you'll

be

shown a list of
all the missions you've previously creat-
ed with

the

Mission

Builder

(see

your

Reference

Card

for

more

information

about

building

your

own missions).

If

the

list

is

a long one, move the floating arrow

to

the

down arrow icon next to

the

list,

and

hold down

your

controller

button

to

view all

the

missions

on

the

list. Move

the

arrow to the

up

arrow icon

and

hold

down

your

controller

button

to move

back

up

the list. When you've found the

mission you

want

to fly, click the arrow

on

it to select it. You'll

then

go

to Flight

Briefing.

13

CAMPAIGN

MISSIONS

When you play Campaign Missions,
you get a chance to change the historical
outcome of the Battle

of

Britain. You

can

choose to command either

the

British

or

the

German side,

and

fly a number

of

consecutive missions on

that

side start-

ing from

July

10, 1940,

the

date

general-

ly

recognized

as

the

commencement

of

the

Battle of Britain. Due to the chang-

ing

weather

conditions

at

that

time of

year, you'll only

be

flying a mission every

two

or

three days. The success

or

failure

of

each

of

your

individual

missions

is

magnified, since

each

outcome reflects

upon your entire side during the battle.

Also,

the effects

of

one mission are car-

ried over to

subsequent

missions.

For

example, if you're playing on

the

German

side,

and

you bomb certain installations,

those

installations

will

remain

out

of

action for a given length of time.

Alter every mission, a scoring screen

will let you know how close your side is

to

winning

or

losing

the

campaign.

If

you're directing

the

British side, you'll

win

the

Battle

of

Britain

by

surviving

until September 16. This

was

the date by

which

the

Luftwaffe needed to gain

air

superiority

so

that

Operation

Sea

Lion,

the

invasion

of

England,

could

be

launched.

You'll

also

win

by

shooting

down

enough

Luftwaffe

aircraft

to

deplete

their

air

strength

to

the

point

where they

can

no

longer continue their

aerial

assault.

If

you're

directing

the

German

side, you'll win

by

destroying
enough Fighter Command aircraft, either
in

the air

or

on

the

ground,

so

that

the

Luftwaffe

gains

air

superiority

over

England

and

the

invasion

can

take

place.

No

matter

which side you chopse,

final

victory may require

that

you direct
from fifteen to twenty-five missions. (For
more information

about

actual

British

and

German

campaign

strategies

you

might

want

to experiment with, see

the

Historical overview chapter.)

Starting

a

Campaign

To

begin a campaign, choose

PLAY

CAMPAIGN

from the Main Menu.

You'll

then see another menu, with the

follow

-

ing choices:

START

NEW

CAMPAIGN

DIRECTING

THE

RAF

Tills creates a new British campaign,

with

the

starting

date

set

at

July

10,

1940.

At

the

text

cursor,

type In

the

name

of

your

campaign,

and

press

RETURN

. You'll then

go

to the Campaign

Map.

START

NEW

CAMPAIGN

DIRECTING

THE

LURW

AFFE

This

creates

a new

German

cam

-

paign, which

will

also

start

on

July

10,

1940. Type in

the

name

of

your

cam-

paign, press

RETURN,

and you'll be sent

to

the Campaign

Map

.

CONTINUE

CAMPAIGN

IN

PROGRESS

Choosing

this

displays

the

list

of

available campaigns

that

have already

been created

and

saved on disk.

lf

this

list is a long one,

move

the floating arrow
over the down arrow icon, and hold the
controller button

to

look down the list.

To

look back up the list, hold the con-

troller button after you

move

the floating

arrow over the

up

arrow icon.

At

the bot-

tom of the list, you'll also see

two

but

-

tons, labelled

RETRY

and

CANCEL

.

If

you're saving your campaigns on

floppy
disks, and want the program to search a
particular disk

for

your campaign, Insert

that disk and press

RETRY

lf

you don't
want to direct any of the campaigns list-
ed,

and want

to

direct a

new

one instead,

press

CANCEL.

Once you've selected

an
available campaign, you'll move to the
Campaign

Map.

EXIT

This

sends

you

back

to

the

Main Menu .

Campaign

Map

After you've started a new campaign

or chosen

an

existing one, you'll

go

to

the

Campaign Map. At

the

top of

this

map

is

the

word

"CAMPAIGN,

" along

with the name of your campaign, plus its

14

historical date and time. From this map

you'll send your forces into combat on

the

date

shown above.

You

'll organize

your aircraft into flight groups,

give

them

orders, and begin

that

day's mission by

taking the controls of one of the planes.

This Campaign Map resembles the

Flight Briefing Map, with

the

English

Channel,

Southern

England,

and

the

north coast of France displayed

(see

the

Flight

Briefing section for comparison).

The map

will contain different informa-

tion for each side.

If

you're playing

an

RAF

campaign, you'll see icons on the

map representing all the different

British

ground installations

and

ship convoys,

with a special highlight on those

that

are

about

to be

attacked. These

targets
include airfields, radar sites, and facto-
ries.

You

may

also

see Icons that repre-

sent

formations of incoming Luftwaffe

aircraft.

If

you're playing a Luftwaffe
campaign, you'll see icons representing
all the possible targets you can attack,

including ground installations and ship
convoys.

You'll

then

have

to

decide

which

ones

to

send

your

aircraft

to

assault.

To

reveal

information

about

the

ground installations on your map,

move

the floating arrow over any installation

icon. In the column in the lower right-
hand corner of the screen, you'll see

th

e

name of the installation, along with

Its

status (whether or not

It

has

been previ-
ously damaged or destroyed in the cam-
paign).

For both German

and

British cam-

paigns, you'll see four

buttons

at

the

bottom of the screen:

BRIEFING

This gives you a description of the

status

of your campaign,

and

tells you

how close

each

side

is

to victory

or

defeat.

ROSTER

Tills lets you create and select pilots

and crews

for

that day's mission

(see

the

flight Roster section for more informa-

tion).

CANCEL

This

sends

you

back

to

the

Main

Menu.

GOFUGHT

Tills lets you begin your mission.

Ftight

Groups

Before

you

begin

a

Campaign

Mission, you'

ll

need to assign the aircraft

under

your

command to various flight

groups. A flight group

Is

a given number

of aircraft that

fly

together

as

a unit.

You

determine the

number

and

type

of air-

craft

in

each

flight

group,

and

then

assign It to a specific mission objective

by creating a flight plan.

Next to the words

"PLANES

AVAIL

-

ABLE"

on the screen

is

a number indi-

cating how many aircraft are available

to
be placed in your flight groups. Below
these words are

five

buttons which you

use

to

determine the composition of each

group:

FUGHTGROUP

Click your controller button

to

cycle
through the flight groups you have on
hand, plus those you have yet

to

create.

To

create a flight group, you must select

a plane

type

(see

below)

and allocate

at
least one plane to that flight group from
the pool of available planes.

PlANETYPE

Click your controller button

to

cycle

through the different types of aircraft

you

can

allocate to a particular flight

group. Each flight group must be made

up

of

the

same

type

of

aircraft.

For

example,

If

you're flying

an

RAF

cam-

paign, you

cannot

have a flight group

with both Spitfires and

Hurricanes in it.

However,

you can create one flight group

of Spitfires

and

a second of Hurricanes.

NUMBER

OF

PlANES

This lets you select the

number

of

aircraft

for

the flight group you're creat-

ing. There must be

at

least one plane

In

a flight group before that group can

fly

your mission. Press

the

left controller

button to increase the number, and the

right controller

but

ton to decrease it.

15

FORMATION

Click your controller button

to

cycle

through and set the flight formation

for

the current flight group you're creating.

ORDERS

Click your controller button to cycle

through and

set

the mission orders

for

your

current

flight

group

.

If

you're

directing

the

RAF,

you

can

choose to

have your fighters attack either enemy

bombers or fighters .

If

you're directing

the

Luftwaffe,

your choices vary, depend-
ing upon the type of aircraft. German
fighters

can

fly

in a bomber

escort

role, or a free -ranging role.

Jabo

fight-

er/bombers can either

fly

bomber escort,

drop bombs, or strafe installations.

Ftight

Plan

Alter you've created a flight group,

you must implement ment a flight plan

for

It.

To

do

this you'll plot a course

by
placing a series of navigation points on
the Campaign

Map

for

the group

to

fol-

low.

A flight plan is composed of up

to
six of these points, including a starting
point

(BEGIN).

four rendezvous points

rwAY

POINI'S 1-4).

and

an

airfield

at

a

home-base point to return to

(LAND)

. For

fighter Combat Alr

Patrol

(CAP)

mis-

sions, the flight group

will

patrol

an

area

by repeating the flight plan until it

runs

low on fuel.

For

fighter

escort

and

bomber missions, the flight group

follows

the flight plan only once.

To

create a flight plan, look below the

flight group buttons. There, you'll see a

chart which looks like

this:

FLIGHTPLAN

ALT

ATK

BEGIN

WAY

POINT

I
WAYPOINT2
WAYPOINT3
WAYPOINTf

LAND

DEIEIB

To

choose where the flight group will

begin its mission

from,

click on

BEGIN

.

A

star

will

appear

to

the left of the word.

Move

the floating arrow

to

the desired

location on the Campaign

Map

, and click

the controller

button. A starting

point

icon

will

appear

on

the

map.

If

you

change your mind, move the arrow

to

a

new location,

and

click the button again.

RAF

flight groups

can

only begin their

missions

over England

or

the

English

Channel.

Luftwaffe flight

groups

can

only

begin

their

missions

over

Continental

Europe

or

the

English

Channel.

Now

look on the screen for the

word

"ALT"

next to the words

"FLIGHT

PIAN." This shows the

current

cruising

altitude for this flight group,

and

is

given

in thousands of feet.

(For

example, If the

number reads

"11," the current cruising

altitude

is

11,000

feet.) Click

the

left

controller

button

to increase the altitude

at

which

the

flight group begins its mis-

sion,

and

the right controller

button

to

decrease the altitude.

You

set the locations of the four

Way

Points

the

same

way you

set

the

BEGIN

location. First, click on Way Point

1,

move the arrow to the desired location

on

the

map,

and

click

your

controller

button.

An

Icon will appear on the

map

to

represent

the

location of

that

Way

Point. Click on the number below

ALT

to

adjust

the altitude

for

your flight group

flying toward

Way

Point

1.

If you wish,

repeat this procedure for

Way

Points

2,

3,

and

4. You

can

plot a

course

with

these different Way Points to confuse or

divert the enemy.

If you're directing a Luftwaffe

campaign,

bomber

or

fighter/bomber

flight groups will automatically bomb a
target

if

it

is located where you've placed

a Way Point Icon. If you don't

want

to

attack

this

target,

look for

the

word

"ATK"

(attack)

next

to

ALT.

The word

YES

will appear

if

an

attack will occur.

To

call off the attack, click on

YES

and

that

word will

go

away.

To

assign each flight group to a

home-base landing area, click on

lAND,
move the arrow to the desired airfield on
the map,

then

click the controller but-

ton.

16

After you've created a flight plan, you

may want to modify

It

by removing one

or

more

of

the

Way Points.

To

do so,

click

on

the

Way

Point

you'd

like to

remove, then click the

DELETE

button

,

which

Is

located to the light of the lAND

button. This will remove

that

Way Point

icon from the map.

Campaign

Results

Although

it

may

seem

like
you're fighting the Battle of Britain with
just

a handful of aircraft, the success of

each

of

your

missions

represents

the

degree

of

success

for

your

entire side.

For example,

If you successfully bomb

radar

installations on a Luftwaffe bomb-

In g

mission,

then

the

rest

of

the
Luftwaffe will have been equally success-
ful bombing

similar targets elsewhere in

Southern England.

On

the

Campaign

Results

screen

at

the end of your mission, you'll

see a

chart

outlining how your mission

results affected the

status

of each side.

It

also

shows the total

air

strength remain-

ing

for

both

sides

. The

percentage

of

available

RAF

pilots, planes,

and

air-

fields will fluctuate,

as

will the number

of available Luftwaffe planes

and

crews.

These percentages determine how close

each

side

is

to

winning

or

losing

the

Battle ofBiitain.

REVIEW

COMBAT

RECORDS

When you choose

REVIEW

COMBAT

RECORDS

from the Main Menu, another

menu

will appear listing

five

categories of

pilots

and

crew whose records you can

review:

RAF

PILOTS

Bf 109

PILOTS

Bf llOCREWS

Ju

87

STIJKA

CREWS

BOMBER

CREWS

You

can also choose

EXIT,

which will

return you to the Main Menu.

Use the floating arrow

to

make your
selection. The next menu you'll see will
have two lists. The list

on

the

left will

show all the current pilots

or

crews

that

exist in

that

category.

If

this is a long

list. move to the down arrow

Icon

next to

the list,

and

press

and

hold

your

con-

troller

button

to see all of

the

names on

the list. Press

and

hold your controller

button on the

up

arrow Icon to move

up

the

list. The list

on

the right will show

the

"Top

10" pilots or crews, with their

names, the

number

of missions flown,

and

evaluation

numbers

rating

their

past

combat experience.

To

look

at

the

record of

an

Individual pilot

or

crew,

move

the

arrow to their name, and click

the

controller

button.

The

next

screen

you'll see

will give you detailed informa-

tion, including rank,

status, number

of

missions

flown,

number

of air victories,

number

of

bombioads dropped, targets

destroyed,

and

number

of planes lost.

Choosing

REVIEW COMBAT

RECORDS only

lets

you look

at

pilots'

and crews' records.

To

create pilots and

crews

go

to

the

Flight Roster screen,

which you

access

from Flight Briefing

(see the Flight Roster section for more

information).

REVIEW

COMBAT

FllM

Whenever

you're

flying a mission,

you

can

record your combat action with

the replay camera. Pressing

the

C key

turns

on the camera, which

Is

located in

the cockpit

of

your

aircraft. A

number

next to the camera indicates the percent-

age of

film

you have left.

You

can

tum

off

your

camera

by

pressing

C again,

by

waiting

until

the

film

runs

out,

or

by

pressing

R,

which

sends

you

to

the

Review

Combat

Film

screen

. You

can

also

get

to

this

screen

by

selecting

REVIEW

COMBAT

FILM

on

the

Main

Menu.

Once

you've

made

your

film

and

pressed

R,

you'll be

at

a screen with the

words

"REVIEW

COMBAT

FILM"

In the
upper part, along with the name of the
plane you were

flying

in when you made

your film.

At

the bottom _ of the screen,

17

you'll see a floating

cursor

which you

can

move with

your

controller

. You'll

position this cursor over the desired red

buttons on the bottom of the screen,

and

press your controller button to activate

them

The

V"MIW

Window

The

playback

of

your

film will

be
shown in the view window in the centre
of the screen.

To

the left

and

light of the

view window,

you'll

see

two

numeric

lists, one marked

YOU,

the other marked

CAMERA. The

YOU

list

shows

flight

statistics

for

the aircraft you were flying,

while

the

CAMERA

list

shows

flight

statistics

from

the

camera's

vantage

point, which you

can

change with

the

view mode

and

vantage point controls

(see

below).

Both of these displays show

the aircraft's

IAS

(Indicated Alr Speed),

the

ALTITUDE

, the RATE

OF

CLIMB

(+

or - in feet per minute], the

HEADING

(in
number

of

degrees), the

PITCH

(the angle

of

the

nose

of

the aircraft

In

degrees

above

or

below

the

horizon),

and

the

amount of

AMMUNillON

left.

Playback

Controls

The

playback

controls

in

Review

Combat Film are located directly below

the

view

window. These controls are sim-

ilar

to

those of a VCR

To

start

the play-

back of your film, press

PLAY.

To

stop

It

at

any time, press

STOP

To

fast-forward

it

at

any time, press

FWD.

To

rewind it,

which you'll need to do when the end of

the

film

has

been reached,

press

REW.

To

leave

Review

Combat Film altogether,

press

EXIT.

You'll be

sent

back to your

aircraft

if

you were

flying

a mission; oth-

erwise, you'll be sent back to

the

Main

Menu.

Button

REW

STOP

PLAY

FWD

EXIT

Function

Rewinds

film

to

start

Pauses the

film

Starts

the film play back

Fast-forwards the

film

Exits you from

Review

Combat Film screen

View

Modes

Below

the

playback

buttons

at

the
bottom are three additional red buttons,
which

control

different

view

modes

.

Whenever you have selected any of these

modes, the word above the

button

will

be

highlighted. In

the

CHASE

view mode,

the

camera

looks forward from directly

behind

your

aircraft.

This

is

the

view

mode you always

start

in when you first

come to the Review Combat Film screen.

The next button,

COCKPIT

gives you the

view from where the pilot is sitting. The

final button, FREE, is a free floating eye-
in-the-sky.

You

can

pan this eye in-the-

sky around by pressing

U (up), D

(down)

,

L

(left),

or

R (right) .

To

move the camera

forward in

the

FREE mode,

press

and
hold the square button in the middle of
U,

D,

L,

and

R.

To move

the

camera

straight

up

or down, press either the red

up

arrow

or

the red down arrow.

Button

Function

CHASE

Displays film from

behind aircraft

COCKPIT

Displays film from

cock pit of aircraft

FREE Displays film

from
free-floating position in
the sky

U,

D,

L,

R Pans camera position

up, down, left, or right
(FREE

mode

only)

Red square Moves camera forward

(FREE

mode only)

Red

up

arrow Moves camera view

up

(FREE

mode

only)

Red down arrow

Moves

camera position

down

(FREE

mode

only)

Switching

Vantage

Points

The

buttons

on

the far right allow the
camera to be switched to many vantage
points, including different aircraft

and

objects.

If

you press the

YOU

button, the

camera

will

be

positioned

on

or

near

your

aircraft,

depending

on

your

view

mode.

If

you

press

the

AIR

button

, the

camera

will

be

positioned

from

any

object

that

was

in

the

air

when

you

18

made your

film,

except for bombs. These

objects.

can

include other aircraft, bar-

rage

balloons

,

and

even

men

in

parachutes

who have bailed out. Press

the

AIR

button

repeatedly

to

cycle

through

all

the

different

airborne

objects,

and

change the view mode for

additional camera positions.

If

you press

the

GRND

button,

the

camera

will

be

positioned from targets

on

the ground.

If

any

aircraft dropped

bombs

while you

were

filming,

press

BOMB

to

get

a

bomb's

point

of

view. You

can

press

YOU,

AIR.

GRND,

or

BOMB

at

anytime

during

your

replay.

The

name

of

the

object or aircraft

that

the camera is posi-

tioned on will always appear on the dis-

play

at

the top of the screen, next

to

the

words

"REVIEW

COMBAT

FILM."

Button

Function

YOU

Moves vantage point to

your aircraft

AIR

Moves vantage point to
objects in air

GRND

Moves vantage point to
land

and

sea targets

BOMB

Moves vantage point

to
any bombs dropped
during filming

Saving

Replays

If

you'd like

to

save the movie of your

combat

action, look

at

the

lower left-

hand

comer

of the screen. There, you'll

see a nameplate titled

CURRENT

CLIP

with a display panel below it.

Move

the

cursor

to the display panel. Press your

controller button,

and

the arrow

will

be

replaced

by a text

cursor.

Type

in

a

name

for

your

film

clip,

then

press

RETURN.

This will restore the floating

arrow. Click on the

SAVE

button to save

your

film

under

the name you

just

typed

in. A directory of your film clips will

be

created, which you

can

only access by

coming

to

the

Review

Combat

Film

screen

from

the

Main Menu.

As

you

accumulate replays,

be

sure

not to

give

the same name to more than one

film,

or

else you will erase the older version.

Button

Function

SA

VE

Saves

current

replay

clip to disk

Loading

Replays

To

look

at

a film clip from any previ-

ous

missions,

press

the

LOAD

button. A

directory of

the

available film clips will

then

appear

in

the

centre

of

the

view
window. To look down the list, move the
floating arrow over the down arrow next

to the list,

and

press

and

hold the con-

troller button. To look back

up

the list,

press

and

hold the controller button over

the

up

arrow. To select one of these film

clips, click the floating arrow on the one

you'd like to watch.

Button

Function

LOAD

Loads films you have
saved

(will

not

func

tion

if

you

are

in the

middle of a mission)

FLIGHT

BRIEFING

Alter

you've

selected a Training

Flight,

Combat

Flight,

or

Custom

Mission, you'll

go

to Might Briefing. This

is where you'll learn

about

your mission

in

greater

detail,

choose

the

pilots

or

crew to

fly

it,

and

make any last-minute

modifications.

When

you

first

enter

Flight

Briefing,

you'll

see a map

of

Southern England

and

the west coast of
France. This Flight Briefing Map is simi-
lar to the In-Flight Map/Radio

that

you

can

access anytime during your mission.

Above

the

map

are

the

words

"FLIGHT

BRIEFING

MAP."

To the right will

be

the

title of

your

mission,

plus

the

name

of

the

current

pilot

or

crew who is assigned

to your plane.

On

the

Flight

Briefing Map, you'll

find

various

coloured

icons

scattered

around

the two countries. These icons

symbolise

various

land

Installations,

such

as

RAF

airfields, industrial targets,

radar

stations,

and

Luftwaffe bases.

To

learn

more

about

these

installations,

move the floating arrow over any icon

on

the

map.

The

information

will

then

19

appear in the column on the right side of
the

screen. You'll see

the

name

of

the

installation, a description

of

it,

and

its

status

(whether

it

Is

operational, or

if

it

has

been damaged or destroyed by any
previous action). Other Icons will Identify
the location of aircraft

and

ship convoys

in the battle area you

are

about

to enter,

along with the ground targets

that

are

about

to

be

attacked

by

Luftwaffe

bombers.

On the bottom of

the

screen, you'll

also find four

buttons

labelled:

BRIEFING

This brings

up

a detailed description

of

your

mission,

which

will

appear

In

place of the Flight Briefing Map.

ROSTER

This lets you assign pilots

and

crew

to

fly

your mission (see the Flight Roster

section which

follows)

CANCEL

This aborts your mission

and

sends

you back to the Main Menu, where you

can

choose

a different

mission

if

you

wish

GOFUGHT

This lets you begin your flight

Modifying

Your

Mission

Before you begin your mission, you

can

modify many of the combat condi-

tions of

your

flight by clicking

on

the

Mission

Setting

buttons

in

the

lower

right-hand corner of the screen. However

once

you

modify

a

Combat

Flight,
Custom Mission, or Campaign Mission,
the results

will not

count

in any Combat

Record. Whenever you select a mission

to

fly,

the Mission Settings you'll see will

reflect the values

for

that

particular mis-

sion.

· The Mission Settings you

can

modify

are:

SETUP

Use this

to

choose between a

STAN-

DARD

or

RANDOM

disposition of forces.

When you choose

STANDARD,

the

air-

craft on

both

sides will be in the same

location every time you play. When you

choose

RANDOM,

they

will positioned

differently

every time you play.

AMMO

Use

this

to

change

between

STAN

-

DARD

or

UNLIMITED

amounts

of

ammunition. In the

STANDARD

mode,

you'll carry

the

same

number

of

gun

or

cannon rounds

that

aircraft

in

the Battle

of

Britain

carried.

In

the

UNLIMITED

mode, you'll have

an

endless supply of

ammunition.

DAMAGE

Use

this

to

change

between

STAN

-

DARD

or

UNLIMITED

amounts of battle

damage

your

aircraft

can

sustain.

In

the

STANDARD

mode,

your

aircraft

can

be

damaged

and

even

shot

down by enemy

gunfire. In

the

UNLIMITED

mode, you

can't

be

damaged,

shot

down, or crash.

FUEL

Use

this

to

change

between

STAN-

DARD

or

UNLIMITED

fuel capacity. In

the

STANDARD

mode,

you'll

carry

a

finite supply of fuel,

and

use

it up

at

the

same

rate

as

aircraft

In

1940.

In

the

UNLIMITED

mode, you'll never

run

out

of fuel.

ENEMY

Use this to select the skill level

of

the
opposing pilots or crew members. These
settings

range

from

NOVICE to TOP

ACE.

START

This lets you choose where

to

start

your

mission

from.

If

you

choose

ON

GROUND,

you'll begin your mission on

the

runway

of

your

home airfield,

and

will have to takeoff

and

fly to the enemy

or the target. If you choose

IN

AIR.

you'll

begin your mission in mid-flight,

and

the

enemy or target will be nearby.

RESET

This reverts

the

values for the mis-

sion back to the original default settings.

FLIGHT

ROSTER

The

ROSTER

button

In

Flight

Briefing lets you create pilots and crews,

20

and

choose the ones who will fly in the

mission you've selected.

You

can

fly

your

mission without selecting

ROSTER.

but

then

you'll fly with

an

unnamed pilot or

crew,

and

the

results

of

your

mission

won't

count

on any Combat Records. In

addition to activating a pilot

or

crew for

the

plane

you're

about

to

fly,

you

can

select

the

pilot

or

crew

for

any

other

plane

on

your

side. At first, you won't

have a roster of pilots

or

crews to choose

from.

But

as

you create more

and

more

pilots

and

crews,

and

as

they gain expe-
rience in combat, you'll be able to choose
those

best

qualified to

support

you In

your current mission -

and

return

vic-

torious more often

as

a result.

When you press the

ROSTER button,

you'll

be

sent

to the Flight Roster screen.

At the top of the screen, you'll see the

words

"FUGITT

ROSTER,"

plus a list of

aircraft

Icons. These icons represent the

different planes

that

are

flying on your

side

in

the

particular

mission

you've

chosen. Next to each aircraft Icon will

be

the name of

its

assigned pilot

or

crew.

The aircraft

that

you yourself

are

going

to

fly

will

be

highlighted. The pilot

and

crew from your previous mission will be

automatically reassigned to

your

aircraft

if they survived. For example, let's say

your

last

mission was in a Spitfire with a

pilot named "Clive."

If

you are about to

fly

another

one,

you'll

see

the

name

"Spitfire"

highlighted,

along

with

a

Spitfire icon, plus the name

"CIJve.

• This
way, you won't have to create a new pilot
every

time you fly a new mission.

Creating

and

Managing

Pilots

and

Crews

In

the

middle

of

the

Flight

Roster

screen

you'll see six

buttons

. The first

five

buttons

are

various pilot

and

crew

categories

for

the

different

RAF

and
Luftwaffe aircraft. When you press one of
these

buttons,

the

roster

of available

pilots for

that

type of aircraft will appear

at

the bottom of the screen. A sixth

but

-

ton lets you create new pilots

and

crews

to add to the roster of whichever

type of

aircraft you choose.

The

five

pilot

and

crew category

but

-

tons are:

RAF

Use this to list the available Spitfire

and

Hurricane pilots.

Bf

109

Use this to list the available Bf 109

pilots.

Bf

110

Use this to list the available

Bf

110

pilots.

51\JKA

Use

this

to

list

the available

Stuka

crews.

BOMBERS

Use

this

to list the available

He

111,

Do

l 7z-2,

and

Ju

88 crews.

The

last

button

on

the list

Is

CREATE

PILOTS/

CREW.

Use this to create pilots

and

crew,

and

to add them to the roster

of

each

category. To do so, first select

one

of

the

pilot

or

crew categories

by
clicking on the appropriate button. Then,
click

on

the

CREATE PILOTS/CREW

button.

A text

cursor

will

appear

. Use

your keyboard to type in the name of the

pilot

or

crew,

then

press

RETURN.

The
name of the new pilot or crew will now
be added

to

the roster of available pilots

and

crews

for

that

aircraft.

Here's

an

example. Let's

say

you

want

to create a new crew for a

Ju

88.

Click

on

the

BOMBERS

button,

then

click

on

the

CREATE PILOTS/CREW

button

. Type In

the

crew name, which

we'll call "Blltzers," with

the

keyboard,

then

press

RETURN.

You

now have a

Ju

88 pilot

and

crew named "Blitzers."

Looking

Over

the

Roster

If

you've got a long list of pilots

and

crew

on

any

roster, move

the

floating

arrow to the down arrow

Icon on the left

side of the screen,

and

press

and

hold

the

controller

button

to

scroll

down

through

all the

names

. Press

and

hold

the

up

arrow

icon

to

move

back

up

through the names.

To

the right of each
pilot or crew name, you'll see their rank,
the

number

of

missions

they've flown,

21

and

an

evaluation number, which

rates

them

based on their

past

successes

and

failures.

Assigning

Pilots

and

Crews

To

assign

a pilot

or

crew to a
particular plane, first select the category
of aircraft you

want

them

to fly. Then,

use

your arrow to select their name from

the roster of available pilots or crews

at
the bottom of the screen. Finally, click
on

the

aircraft

Icon

at

the

top

of

the

screen

that

you want to assign

that

pilot

or crew to

fly

. The pilot's or crew's name

will

now

appear

next

to

that

aircraft

icon. Be

sure

to match the pilot or crew

with a plane from the category of aircraft

they're qualified to

fly. For example,

an

He

111 crew Is qualified

to

fly

the three

kinds of German medium bombers,

but

they cannot

fly

any other Luftwaffe air-

craft.

To

deactivate a pilot or crew, click on

their name when

It

appears next to any

aircraft

Icon.

Using

the

Roster

for

Mare

Successful

Missions

Whenever

you

complete a mission,

the

Combat Records for all pilots

and

crews involved will

be

updated. The more

experience

each

pilot

or

crew

member

gains, the better they'll perform in future

missions. When you select these proven,
experienced pilots or crews

for

your mis-

sions. they'll generally repeat their

suc

-

cesses

for

you. For example, If you have

a Bf

109

pilot

on

your

roster

named

"Heinz" who

has

flown

many

missions

and

Is a crack shot, you might

want

to

assign him

as

your wingman

If

you're

fly

-
ing a fighter intercept mission. Chances
are he'll distinguish himself in

that

role,

and

help you accomplish

the

goals

of

your

mission

. However,

as

in

real

-life

combat,

there's

always

the

possibility

that

he'll

be

shot down.

To

exit

the

Flight Roster

and

return

to

the

Flight

Briefing Map,

press

the

EXIT

button.

To

help you learn the tlight controls

and

Instruments of the twelve aircraft In

Their

Finest

Hour, we've divided

the

planes

into three categories,

based

on

their design, their role in combat,

and

the

number

of persons onboard.

Double-Seat

Single-Seat

Fighters

and

Med"ium

fighters

Dive

Bombers Bombers

(Pilot

only)

(Pilot

and

(Pilot.

bom

-

rear

gunner)

hardier,

and

three

to

five

gunners)

Spitfire

MK

l

Bf l lOC

-4

He

111

Spitfire

MK

11

Bf

llOC-4/B

Do

17z

-2

Hurricane

MK

I Ju

878-1

Stuka

Ju

88A

-l

Bf

109E

-3 Ju

878-2

Stuka

Bf

109E-4/B

Many

of

the

control

keys

and

the

flight

instruments

are

similar

for all

three

categories. However we

want

to

make sure

that

you have all the informa-

tion you need right

at

your fingertips

at

all

times. To

do

this,

we

deliberately
repeat some of the information In each of
the

category

discussions

below,

and

you'll find

that

there

is

a separate flight

controls

section

for

each

category

as

well.

Each flight controls section

begins

with a brief description of

that

category

of aircraft,

followed

by some charts. The
first chart shows you the controls you'll
need to operate the aircraft's guns, while
the second chart gives you a list of keys

you'll

use

to

fly

and

maneuver the air-

craft

itself. Another

chart

shows

you

how

to

look around outside your aircraft.

If

you're

flying

a medium bomber, there's

also a discussion on how to

move

to

the

different

gunner

positions

and

man

the

guns,

as

well

as

how to move

to

the

bombardier's position

and

drop bombs.

Finally, a section on cockpit Instruments

describes all

the

different gauges

and

levers you'll see

in

the

cockpit of

your

aircraft. One cockpit screen In

each

of
the three plane categories is displayed,
to

help you master the Instruments.

To

22

see

a cockpit screen

of

every aircraft,
along with additional information, see
the

German

and

British

Aircraft

and

Weapons chapter.

FLIGHT

CONTROLS

Your controller operates

just

like the

control stick on a real plane. For more

information, see

the

Flight Fundamen-

tals and Tactics chapter.

Controller

Direction

t Forward

(away
from

you)

{.Backward

(toward

you)

---+Right

+-Left

Function

Moves

the nose

of

the

plane

down

Moves

the nose

of

the

plane up

Banks the plane

to

the right

Banks the plane to

the

left

GAME

CONTROLS

The following game controls

can

be

used anytime during a mission,

regard-
less of whether you're flying a fighter,
dive bomber or medium bomber:

Keys

Function

• l'I Pauses game; press

' ' any key to continue

A.

~r:d~~game

sounds

-·~

Tums

engine sound

' '

off

and

on

m '9 gives version number

' ' of game

pm

e Lets you adjust joystick

~

~

Changes amount of

-

~

detail to

~peed

up game

if

It

Is

running sluggishly

Exits the game; returns
you to your computer's
operating system

SINGLE-SEAT

FIGHTER

CONTROLS

(SPITFIRE,

HURRICANE,

BF

109)

As a single-

seat

fighter pilot, you're

basically a "flying gun,"

anned

with

for-

ward-firing machine

guns

and,

if

you're

flying a Bf

109, a formidable 20 mm can-

non.

Your

fighter

is

faster

and

more

maneuverable

than

a bomber

but

It

Is

also less durable,

and

won't be able to

sustain

as

much battle damage. Each of

the fighters you

can choose from

has

its

own individual strengths

and

weakness-

es,

but

they all excel

at

one task: bring-

ing down enemy aircraft.

Single-Seat

fighter

Weapons

Controls

Controller

Button

Function

Left

controller

button

or

SPACE

BAR

Right controller
button

or

period

(.)

key

Left

AND

right
controller
buttons

or

RETURN

Fires forward

machine

guns

Fires 20 mm
cannon

(Bf

109

only)

Drops bombload
(BE

109Jabo

fighter/bomber

only)

Single-Seat

righter

Cockpit

Controls

Key

Function

e Increases throttle

_.

(shift key

not

needed)

~

Decreases throttle

e Lowers

and

raises landing gear

I a Lowers

and

raises flaps

fl

a
a

e

a

Tums

replay camera on and off

Sends. you to

Review

Combat
Film (see the Mission
Instructions. Pre-Flight chapter)

Sends you to the In-Flight

JR
Map/Radio
Lets you jump from your fighter

JR

and

parachute to safety

Ends mission;

sends

you to a

post-

JR

tlight evaluation

23

Single-Seat

fighter

V"iew

Controls

To

look

around

your fighter in

all directions, you

can

use

either

the

number

keys

on

the

top

of

your

key-

board or,

if

your keyboard

has

a keypad,
use the keypad controls. On some com-
puters, the keypad controls are labelled

with arrows,

and

we recommend

that
you use them. For a further discussion
of these controls, see cockpit Instrument

# 10

in

the Single-

Seat

Fighter Cockpit

Instruments section below.

Key

Function

e

(Up

Forward view (your

Arrow)

mission

starts

In

this

direction)

•

(Right

View

right

arrow)

a

(Left

View

left

arrow)

•

(Down

Rearview mirror

arrow)

(to

look behind you)

e

(PgDn)

View

straight
(regardless of your
tlight angle)

e

(PgUp) Scan

view

(look

com-

plete around your

fighter)

Single-Seat

fighter

Cockpit

Instruments

When

you

're

inside

the

cockpit

of
your chosen fighter these are the Instru-
ments you'll see

In

front of you:

1.

Radio

This

receiver

has

two
important components. The three-digit
number

shows

what

frequency

your

radio is tuned

to,

while the light next to

It

will be lit when you've tuned Into the

correct frequency, which allows you to
receive

Important mission Information.

To

tune

or

use

your

radio,

press

M,

which

moves

you

to

the

In-Flight

Map/Radio.

2.

Bomb Release Light

(BE

109E-

4/B

Jabo fighter/bombers

only)

This will

be lit

if

you have a bomb to drop. The

number next

to

the light indicates

if

you

have one

or

zero bombs left.

3.

Flaps Lever

This

gives

you

the

position of your fighter's flaps. If it

Is

In

the up position, the flaps are up;

if

it

Is in

the

down position,

the

flaps

are

down.
During nonnal flight your flaps should be
up,

but

for takeoffs

and

landings, they

should

be

down to increase

lift

and

lower

the stalling speed.

4.

Compau

This shows which direc-

tion your fighter

Is

headed: north,

south

,

east, or

west

5. Climb/Dive Indicator This gauge

gives you the rate your fighter Is climbing
or diving,

In thousands of feet per minute.

The + area of the gauge Indicates a climb,

while

the

- indicates a descent.

6.

RPM

Indicator This gives you two

readings The dial shows

the

number

of

revolutions

per

minute

(RPMs)

your

engine is delivering, In

units

of one

hun-

dred. The higher the

RPMs,

the farther to

the right the

dial will

move.

If the throttle

setting is

at

·75·

or

higher, or

if

the

dial

24

moves Into the red area, you'll be using
up

fuel

at

a higher rate. The white num-

ber

at

the bottom of the gauge shows the

throttle

or

power setting of the engine. For

example,

if

it

reads "85, •

your

engine is

set

for 85 percent of the power it

can

pro-

duce.

7.

Bankini

Indicator This shows

th

e

roll

of

your

fighter

(see

the

fligh

t

Fundamentals

and

Tactics

chapter for

more

Information). The large horizontal

bar

shows the position

of

your wings rela-

tive to the ground, while the small vertical

bar

shows the direction your tail

is

point-

ing. As you

bank

your fighter left or ligh

t,

the horizontal bar will also

bank

to reflect

your position.

8.

Ammunition

Round Indicator

This

show

how

many

gun

rounds

you

have left

In

your

forward-firing machine

guns. If you're flying a Bf

109, you'll see

two

numbers

. The top one Indicates the

number of machine

gun

rounds left. while

the

bottom

number

shows

how

man

y

rounds you have left

In your more power-

ful

20

mm

cannon.

9.

Gunsigbt Use this to

aim

your for-

ward-firing machine

guns

and

cannon

at

enemy aircraft.

10. View Indicator This panel shows

which direction you're looking

out

of from

your fighter. In normal flight,

the

panel

will be blank. When you press the 4 key,

the view

out

of

your

cockpit window will

be the left

view,

and the word

"LEFT"

will

be

displayed

on

the

view Indicator.

If

your computer

has

enough

memo:ry,

the

cockpit screen will be replaced by a pic-
ture

of

the

view look Ing over the left wing

of your aircraft. Pressing the 6 key gives

you the right view

In

the

cockpit window

with the word

"RIGHI"'

displayed,

or

the

view looking over the right wing

of

your

fighter. Pressing the 3 key gives you

the

view

straight

down, and

the

word

"DOWN"

will

be

displayed.

When you press the 9 key, you'll be

in

the

scan

mode. In

this

mode, you

can

look around your fighter In

any

direction

by

moving

your

controller, while

your

fighter remains

on

course.

Two

numbers

will be displayed on the view indicator.

The

first

number

shows

how

many

degrees

up

or

down you're looking,

start

-

ing

at

0°

(level

flight),

and

ranging from

-90° (straight down) to +90° (straight up) .

The

second

number

shows

how

many

degrees you're looking around, beginning

with 0° (straight ahead, your flight path).

If

you're

looking toward

the

right,

the

number

ranges from 0° to +90° (directly

right) to

+ 180° (behind you).

If

you're

looking left. the

number

ranges from 0°

to -90° (directly

left)

to -179° Oust

about

straight behind you).

11. Nameplate This gives the

name

and

model

number

of your fighter.

12. Altimeter

This

gives

your

dis

-

tance above

sea

level

In

feet. The digital

number

indicates

thousands

of

feet, the

big

hand

on

the dial indicates hundreds

of feet,

and

the

little

hand

tens of feet.

For example,

if

the digital display reads

"21," the big

hand

is on the

"4,"

and

the

25

little

hand

on

the

"8,"

your

altitude

is

21 ,480 feet.

13. Airspeed Indicator This shows

how fast

your

fighter is flying, In

tens

of

miles per hour. For example,

if

the

hand
on the gauge is pointing to "30, • you're
flying

at

300

miles

per

hour

.

14. Eni!ne Damate Indicator This

dial shows the

amount

of damage done

to your fighter's engine

In

combat.

If

the

Indicator moves Into

the

red

area,

the

power

output

of

the

engine

will

be

severely reduced

and

your

RPM

Indicator

reading will drop.

You

may

then

have to

abort

the

mission

and

return

to

your

home base,

or

even bail out.

15.

Airframe Damage

Indicator

This gauge shows

the

amount

of

struc

-

tural

damage

sustained

by

your

fighter

In combat. When the indicator is

in

the

red zone, your aircraft is severely

dam

-

aged

and

may

go

out

of control, forcing

you to bail out.

16. Pitch Indicator This shows the

position of the nose of your fighter rela-
tive to the horizon.

+ means

your

nose is

pointing

above

the

horizon, 0

is

level

with

the

horizon,

and -indicates

that

your nose is pointing below

the

horizon.

17. Replay Camera Indicator This

shows

the

percentage

of

film

you

have

remaining

in

your

replay

camera

when

you

are

recording. The

number

on

the

Indicator will decrease until you're

out

of

film.

When you

press

C to

tum

on your

replay camera, a light above the indica-

tor

will

go

on,

and

stay on until you have

turned

your

camera

ofI,

or

used

up

all

the

film.

18.

Fuel

Gauge

This

shows

how
much fuel remains In your fighter's fuel
tanks:

E means empty, F

means

full.

19. Landing

Gear

Lever This shows

the

status

of

your

landing

gear.

If

the

lever is forward

or

up, your landing gear

is up;

if

the lever is

back

or

down, your

landing

gear

is

down.

Don't

forget to

lower your landing gear for a landing,

or

to

raise

it

after takeoff. Lowering

your

landing

gear

has

the

effect

of

slowing

your

air

speed, which may be useful in

certain situations.

DOUBLE-SEAT

FIGHTER

AND

DIVE

BOMBER

CONTROLS

(BF

110,

JU

87

STUKA)

When

you're

flying a

double-seat
fighter or dive bomber, you're in a larger,
less maneuverable aircraft than a single-
seat fighter. However you're more heavily
armed, with a rear-flring machine

gun

to

help ward off enemy attacks.

Like

a sin-

gle-

seat

fighter you're also armed

with

forward-firing

machine

guns,

and,

if
you're flying a Bf 110, a 20 mm cannon.
Your plane

is

slightly more durable

than

a fighter so It will take more enemy bul-
lets to bring It down. The

Stuka

and

the

fighter/

bomber

version of

the

Bf 110

carry

bombs,

and

in

the

hands

of

a

skilled pilot, they

can

be extremely accu-

rate for low-altitude bombing

(Bf

llOC-

4/B)

and

dive-bombing (Ju 87).

Double-Seat

Fighter

and

Dive

Bomber

Weapons

Controls

Your forward-firing

guns

func-

tion exactly the same

as

in a single-seat

fighter.

But

your plane

Is

equipped with

an

extra

weapon

at

your

defence - a

rear gunner.

To

activate your rear gun-

ner

and

switch to

the

rear

view,

press
the G key (the 2 key will also switch you
to this mode). Your plane will

fly

on, with

the controls left where you set

them

.

If

you press A before you switch to the rear

gunner,

you'd

activate

the

automatic

pilot.

Then,

to

manually

aim

the

machine

gun,

move

your

controller

around.

If

you press A while you're

man

-

ning

the

rear

gun,

you'll

activate

the

automatic

shooting mode, which

aims

and

fires the machine gun for you.

You

cannot

aim

and

fire

the

rear

machine

gun yourself while

it

is in this mode.

If

you want your rear gun to be firing away
while you

return

to piloting the plane,

you

must

activate this auto-shoot mode

first.

26

Controller

Button

Left controller
button or

SPACE

BAR

Right controller

button or

period

(.)

key

Left

AND

right

controller

buttons or

RETURN

Function

Fires forward
machine

gun

or rear

machine

gun

Fires 20

mm

cannon

(Bfl

10

only)

Drops bombload
(except Bf l

lOC-4)

Double-Seat

righter

and

Dive

Bomber

Cockpit

Controls

Key

Function

e Increases throttle

(shift key

not

needed)

e Decreases throttle

a Lowers and raises landing gear

- Lowers and raises flaps

e Extends and retracts

dive

brakes

-

Tums

replay camera on

and

off

@. Sends you to

Review

Combat

,_

Film (see the Pre-Ftight chapter)

e

Moves

you to pilot's position

-

Moves

you to rear gunner seat

e

Tums

on the automatic pilot, or

automatic shoot mode

if

you're
manning the rear gun position
at

the time

Lets you toggle between bomber
load settings

Sends you to the In-Flight
Map/Radio

Lets you

and

crew member

jump

from plane & parachute

to safety

-

Ends mission; sends you to

post flight evaluation

Double-Seat

tighter

and

Dive

Bomber

V'MIW

Controls

To

look

around

your

double-seat

fighter

or

dive bomber in all directions,

you

can

use either the number keys on

the top of your keyboard or, if your key-

board

has

a keypad, use the keypad con-

trols. On some computers,

the

keypad

controls are labelled with arrows,

and

we

recommend

that

you

use

them

. For a
further discussion of these controls, see
cockpit

instrument

#

13

in

the

DoubleSeat

Fighter

or

Dive

Bomber

Cockpit Instruments section below.

Key

Function

e

e
e

e

•

(Up Forward view (your

arrow)

mission starts in this
direction

(Right

View

right

arrow)

(Left

View

left

arrow)

(Down Switch to

arrow)

rear gunner

(PgDn)

View

straight down

(regardless of your

flight angle)

e

(PgUp)

Scan view

(look

com
pletely around your
fighter or dive bomber)

Double-Seat

Fighter

and

Dive

Bomber

Cockpit

Instruments

Once you're seated

at

the controls of

a

double-seat

fighter

or

dive bomber,

these are the instruments you'll be rely-

ing on in combat:

1.

Landing Gear Lever

(Bfl

10

only)

This shows the

status

of your land-

ing gear.

If

the

lever

is

forward

or

up,

your landing gear is up;

if

the

lever

is

back

or

down,

your

landing

gear

is
down. Don't forget to lower your .landing
gear For a landing,

or

to

raise

it

after

takeoff. Lowering your landing gear

has

the effect of slowing your airspeed, which

27

may be useful in certain situations.

2.

Compau

This shows which direc-

tion

your

double-seat

fighter

or

dive

bomber

Is headed: north, south, east,

or

west.

3. Bomb Indicator Panel (except Bf

l lOC-4)

The

number

on

this

panel
shows you how many of your extemally-
mounted bombs you have left to drop.

The lever lets you choose how to drop
your bombload.

If

you're flying a

Ju

87 Stuka, you'll

be

carrying four

small

wing-mounted

bombs

and

one large fuselage- mounted

bomb. When you

start

your mission, the

lever

is

In

the

far left position,

and

a

light

underneath

the miniature aircraft

on

the

panel

indicates

that

only

your

fuselage-mounted bomb will be dropped

when

you

press

RETURN.

Pressing

S

once moves the lever

to

the middle,

and
the lights on the miniature aircraft now
indicate

that

only your four wing-

mount

-

ed bombs will be dropped. Pressing

S

again moves

the

lever to

the

far right,

with the lights showing

that

all of your

bombs

will be

dropped. Pressing

S a

third time returns the lever to the origi-
nal position.

If

you're

flying

a Bf l lOC-4/B, you'll

be

carrying

two

fuselage-mounted
bombs. Your bomb indicator panel will
be in the lower right-

hand

comer of

the
cockpit. Underneath the word BOMBEN
on the panel, you'll see two lights. When
the light on the left is lit, one bomb will
drop

every

time

you

press

RETURN.

When the light on the right is lit, both of

your

bombs

will

drop

at

once

if

you
press RETURN. Pressing S allows you to
toggle between these

two

settings.

4. Anununltlon Round Indicator This

show how many

gun

rounds

you have

left

in

your

Forward

-firing

machine

guns

.

If

you're flying a Bf 110, you'll see

two

numbers. The top one indicates the

number

of

machine

gun

rounds

left,

while

the

bottom

number

shows

how

many rounds you have left in your more

powerful 20

mm

cannon.

...

.

---mi--=---·-•

.....

1

5.

Dive

Brakes Lever (Ju

87

Stuka

only)

This

shows

whether

your

dive

brakes

are

up

or

down. Lowering

the

dive brakes is necessaiy to slow down a

Ju

87 during a dive bombing run.

6.

Automatic Pilot Light This tells

you

if

you've

turned

on your automatic

pilot, which you activate by pressing the

A key. You'll want to

tum

on

the auto-

matic

pilot before moving to

the

rear

gunner

position, other wise the double-

seat

fighter or dive bomber will

fly

with

the controls

set

where you left them.

7.

Altimeter This gives

your

dis-

tance above

sea

level in feet The digital

number

indicates

thousands

of feet the

big

hand

on

the dial indicates

hundreds

of feet,

and

the little

hand

tens of feet.

For example,

if

the digital display reads

"13." the big

hand

is on the "J,"

and

the

little

hand

on

the

"2,"

your

altitude

Is

13,

720 feet.

8.

Cllmb/Dive

Indicator

This

gauge gives you

the

rate

your

double-

seat fighter or dive bomber

is

climbing or

diving, in

thousands

of feet per minute.

28

The + area

of

the

gauge

indicates

a

climb,

while

the -area

indicates

a

descent.

9.

Nameplate This gives the name

and

model

number

of your double&seat

fighter or dive bomber.

10. Pitch Indicator This shows the

position of the nose of your double-seat
fighter

or

dive

bomber

relative to

the

horizon. + means your nose

Is

pointing

above

the

horizon, 0 Is level with

the

horizon,

and

- indicates

that

your nose Is

pointing below the horizon.

11.

Banking Indicator This shows

the

roll of

your

double-seat

fighter

or

dive

bomber

(see

the

Flight

Fundamentals

and

Tactics

chapter

for
more information). The large horizontal
bar

shows the position of your wings rel-
ative to the ground, while the small verti-
cal

bar

shows

the

direction your tail

Is

pointing. As you

bank

your•plane left or

right, the horizontal line will also

bank

to reflect your position.

12. Gunsight

Use

this

to

aim

your

forward-firing machine guns and cannon

at

enemy aircraft.

13. View Indicator This panel shows

which

direction

you're

looking

out

of

from

your

double-seat

fighter

or

dive
bomber. In normal flight, the panel will
be

blank. When you press the 4 key, the

view

out

of your cockpit window will

be

the left

view,

and

the word "LEFT" will

be

displayed

on

the

view indicator. If

your

computer

has

enough memory, the cock-

pit screen

will be replaced by a picture

of

the

view looking over

the

left wing

of

your

aircraft. Pressing the 6 key gives
you the right view from the cockpit win-
dow with the word

"RIGHl

displayed,

or

the view looking over the right wing of

your double-seat fighter or dive bomber.

Pressing

the

3 key gives

you

the

view

straight

down,

and

the

word

"DOWN"

will

be

displayed.

When you press the

9 key, you'll

be

in the scan mode. In this mode, you

can

look around your double

seat

fighter

or

dive bomber

in

any direction by moving

your

controller,

while

your

plane

remains on course.

Two

numbers will

be
displayed on the view indicator. The first
number

shows how many degrees

up

or

down you're looking, starting

at

0°

nevel

flight).

and

ranging from -90° (straight

down)

to

+90°

(straight up). The second

number

shows how many degrees you're

looking

around,

beginning

with

0°

(straight

ahead,

your

flight

path).

If

you're

looking

toward

the

right,

the

number

ranges from 0° to + 90° (directly

right) to

+ 180° (behind you). If you're

looking left, the

number

ranges from 0°

to -90° (directly

left)

to - 179° Oust

about

straight behind you).

14.

Airspeed

Indicator

This
shows how fast your double-seat fighter
or dive bomber is flying, in tens of miles
per

hour. For example, if the

hand

on

the gauge is pointing to halfway between

"20"

and

"30," you're flying

at

250 miles

per hour.

15.

RPM

Indicator

(One

gauge

for

each engine - two

on

the Bf 110, one

on

the

Ju

87 Stuka) Each indicator gives

29

you two readings.

The

dial

shows

the

number

of

revolutions

per

minute

(RPMs)

the engine is delivering, in

units

of one

hundred.

The higher

the

RPMs,
the farther to the right the dial will move.
If the throttle setting is

at

"75"

or higher,

or

if

the

dial moves into

the

red

area,

you'll be using

up

fuel

at

a higher rate.

The white

number

at

the

bottom of the

gauge shows the throttle

or

power set-

ting

of

the

engine.

For

example,

if

it

reads "85," your engine is

set

for

85

per-

cent of the power

it

can produce.

16. Replay Camera Indicator This

shows the percentage of film you have
remaining In

your

replay

camera

when

you

are

recording. The

number

on

the

indicator will decrease until you're

out

of

film. When you press C to

tum

on

your
replay camera, a light above the indica-
tor

will

go

on,

and

stay on until you have

turned your camera

off,

or have used

up

all the film.

17.

Radio

This

receiver

has

two
Important components. The three-digit
number

shows

what

frequency

your
radio is tuned to, while the light next to
It

will

be

lit

when you've

tuned

into the
correct frequency, which allows you to
receive Important mission information.

To

tune

or

use

your

radio,

press

M,

which

moves

you

to

the

In-Flight

Map/Radio.

18.

Engine Damage Indicator

(One

gauge per engine -

two

on the Bf 110,

one

on

the

Ju

87

Stuka) Each dial shows
the amount of damage done to your dou-
ble-seat fighter's or dive bomber's

engine

in combat. If

the

indicator moves into

the

red

area,

the

power

output

of

the

engine will

be

severely reduced

and

your

RPM

indicator

reading

will drop. You

may· then have to abort the mission

and

return

to

your home base, or even bail

out.

19.

Fuel

Gauge

This

shows

how

much

fuel remains

in

your double-seat

fighter's or dive bomber's fuel tanks:

E

means empty, F means

full.

20.

Flaps Lever This gives you the

position of your double-seat fighter's or
dive bomber's flaps. If it is

in

the

up

position, the flaps are up;

if

it is in the

down

position,

the

flaps

are

down.

During normal flight your flaps should

be

up,

but

for takeoffs

and

landings,

they should be down

to

increase lift and

lower the stalling speed.

21.

Airframe Damage

Indicator

This gauge shows the amount of struc-

tural

damage sustained by your double-

seat fighter or dive bomber

In combat.

When the

Indicator is in the red zone,

your

aircraft is severely damaged

and

may

go

out of control. forcing you to bail

out

MEDIUM

BOMBER

CONTROLS

(HE

111,

DO

17Z-2,

AND

JU

88)

As

the

pilot of a medium bomber,

you're

flying a

stable

platform

from

which a large bombload

can be dropped

on enemy

installations,

usually

from

medium

altitudes.

However,

your

bomber is much slower and less maneu-

verable

than

the enemy fighters which

will be defending these installations or
intercepting you on your bombing mis-

sion.

To

partially compensate for this,

your

bomber

is

armed

with

machine

guns,

located

at

various

positions

throughout the fuselage

(see

the German

and British

Aircraft

and

Weapons chap-
ter to find out where the machine guns
are located on each bomber). The

He

111

and the

Do

l

7z

both have

five

machine

gun positions, while the

Ju

88

has

three.

Your

medium

bomber

is

also

very
durable, and it can generally take a lot of
battle

damage before it is shot down.

Switching

Positions

in a Med"ium

Bomber

In a medium bomber you

can

fly

as

a pilot, bombardier or gunner

at

a

variety of

gun

positions. What's more,

you

can constantly switch between any

or

all of these positions in mid-flight.

Use

these

keys to move

around

to all

the

positions. The pilot, gunner,

and

bom-

bardier roles

all have their own controls,

30

and

will be

discussed

in

turn

in

this

section.

Function

Moves

you

to

pilot position

Moves

you to gunner position

Moves

you

to

bombardier posi

tion Sends you

to

In-Flight

Map/Radio

Toggles you between pilot and

gunner positions

Medium

Bomber

Cockpit

Controls

e Increases throttle

(shift

key

not needed)

• Decreases throttle

e

Lowers

and raises landing gear

e

Lowers

and raises flaps

a

Lowers

and raises

dive

brakes

~;...

, _ (Ju 88 only)

• Turns replay camera on and

off

fl}

Sends you

to

Review

Combat

, Film

(see

the Pre-Flight chapter)

e

Turns on the automatic pilot. or
automatic shoot mode

if

you're

manning a machine gun

at

the

time

Lets you toggle between

bombload settings

REn1RN

Drops bombload

Lets you and your crew jump
from bomber

and

parachute

to

safety

Ends mission; sends you

to

post flight evaluation

Medium

Bomber

V"ww

Controls

look around your' bomber in all

directions, you can use either the

num

-

ber keys on the top of your keyboard

or

if

your keyboard

has

a keypad, use the

keypad controls.

On some computers,

the

keypad controls

are

labelled with

arrows,

and

we

recommend that you use
them. For a further discussion of these
controls, see cockpit instrument

#10 in

the

Medium

Bomber

Cockpit

Instruments section below.

Key

Function

e

(Up

Forward

view

(your

arrow)

mission starts in this
direction)

e

(Right

Vlewright

arrow)

e

(Left

View

left

arrow)

e

(PgDn)

Vlew

straight down

(regardless of your

flight angle)

e

(PgtJp)

Scan

view

nook

com
pletely around your
bomber)

Med"ium

Bomber

Gunner

Controls

From

the

pilot's position, you

can

move

to

the gunner position

by

pressing

G,

then pressing one of the keys in the

chart

below.

The bomber

will

continue to

fly

with the controls

set

where you left

them, unless you press

A

to

turn

on the

autopilot before you leave the cockpit.

If

you

go

back

to

the pilot's position and

press G again, you'll be sent

to

the last

gunner position you manned.

To

move

around to all the gun

positions, press any one of these

keys:

Key

Function

q

(Up

Nose

gunner

,

arrow)

a,

(Left

Left

fuselage gunner

, arrow) (except

Ju

88)

~-

(Right Right fuselage gunner

, (arrow (except

Ju

88)

~

(Middle

Lower

fuselage

31

e

•

•

key)

(rear)

gunner

(Down

Upper fuselage

arrow) (rear) gunner

Lets you

toggle

between

pilot and gunner positions

Automatic shooting mode

Notice

how the location of each gun

corresponds with

the

numeric keypad

key

that sends you to

that

position. The

location

and

key also correspond with
the group of gun indicator lights in the
cockpit

that

display the

status

of each

gun (see

the

Medium Bomber Cockpit

Instruments section

for

a description of

these lights) .

When you're in any of these gunner

positions,

use

your

controller to move

the machine gun up, down,

left,

or right,

and press your controller button to

fire

.

The

number

displayed

next

to

the

machine

gun

indicates

how

many

rounds of ammunition it

has

left.

If

you'd

like for

the

machine

gun

to

aim

and
shoot auto matlcally, press A A red light
will

come on

to

show that the gun is in

the auto shoot mode.

As long

as

it's in

this mode, you won't be able

to

manually

aim

and

shoot

It.

You

'll also see

gun

indicator

lights

similar

to

those

dis

-
played in the cockpit, which indicate the
status of all gunner positions. From any
gun position,

press

P to

return

to

the

pilot's position, press B

to

move

to

the

bombardier's

position, or press

M to get

to

the InFlight Map/Radio.

Medium

Bomber

Bombard"ier

Controls

When you press

B,

you'll find your-

self looking down

from

the bomber

as

a
bombardier would. In this position , you
actually

fly

the

bomber,

so

you

can

maneuver

it

into

the

best

position to

drop Its bombload.

To

do

this,

move

the

controller

around

just

like you would

when you're piloting

the

bomber from

the

pilot's position.

All

of

the

cockpit

controls

will

function, although

you

won't be able to

use

the

cockpit view

unless you press

P and

move

back to the

cockpit

(see

the Medium Bomber Cockpit

Controls section for more information).

To

help you maneuver your bomber

into position you'll find four gauges:

an

altimeter,

an

airspeed indicator, a com-

pass,

and a banking

indicator. You'll

also

find a bomb indicator panel. which

shows you how

many

bombs

are

left,

plus a switch which lets you choose

how

to drop your bombs. If the light on the

left is lit,

it

indicates that only one bomb

will drop every time you press

RETURN.

If

the light on the right is lit,

it

indicates

that all of your bombs

will

drop simulta-

neously when you

press

RETURN.

To

alternate

between

these

two setUngs,

press

S.

See

the

Medium

Bomber

Cockpit

Instruments

section for more

information

about

these controls,

and

the

flight

Fundamentals

and

Tactics

chapter

to

learn how

to

drop a bombload

accurately.

Mecrium

Bomber

Cockpit

Instruments

Most of the same instruments found
in a fighter's or dive bomber's cockpit are
also used by a medium bomber. These
are the instruments you'll see in front of

you:

1. Altimeter This gives your distance

from

the ground in feet. The digital num-
ber indicates thousands of feet, the big
hand on the dial indicates hundreds of

feet,

and the little hand tens of feet For

example,

if

the digital display reads "09,"

the big hand is on the

"6,"

and the little

hand on the

"l," your altitude is 9,610

feet

2.

Climb/Dive Indicator This gauge

gives you the rate your bomber is climb-
ing or diving, in

thousands

of feet per

minute. The

+

area

of

the

gauge indi-

cates a climb, while the. area indicates a
descent.

3.

Automatic Pilot Light This tells

you

if

you've turned on your automatic

pilot, which you activate by pressing the

A

key.

You'll

want

to

turn on the auto-
matic pilot before moving to the bom-
bardier or gunner position, otherwise the

bomber

will

fly

with

the

controls

set

32

where you left them.

4.

Banking

Indicator This shows the

roll

of

your

bomber

(see

the

Flight

Fundamentals

and

Tactics

chapter

for

more information). The large horizontal

bar

shows the position of your

Wings

rel-

ative to the ground, while the small verti-

cal

bar

shows the direction your tail is

pointing.

As you

bank

your bomber left

or

right,

the

horizontal line will

also

bank

to

reflect your position.

5.

Pitch

Indicator This shows the

position of the nose of your bomber rela
tive to the horizon.

+ means your nose is

pointing above

the

horizon, 0 is level

with the

horizon, and indicates that your

nose

is pointing below the horizon.

6.

Compass This shows which direc-

tion

your

bomber

is

headed:

north,

south, east, or west.

7.

Airspeed Indicator This shows

how fast your bomber is

flying,

in tens of

miles per hour.

For

example,

if

the

hand

on the gauge is pointing to "20,"

you're

flying

at

200 miles per hour.

8.

Gun

Indicator Lights These lights

show the status of each of your bomber's
machine

guns

. The top light indicates

the nose gun, the centre

light indicates

the upper fuselage (or dorsal) gun, the
left and right lights indicate the left

and

right fuselage guns,

and

the bottom light

indicates the

low~r

fuselage (or belly)

gun. The

chart

below tells you how

to

read

these

lights, which

is

crucial to

defending your bomber.

Colour

of

'

Light

Gun

Status

Blue Gun idle

Yellow

Enemy fighters approaching

gun's

field

of

fire;

you could be

attacked

from

that direction

Black Gun

out

of ammunition or

destroyed

Red

Gun switched on

to

automatic

shoot mode

Green Gun firing

at

enemy fight-

ers in automatic shoot mode

In some

graphics

modes

on

some

computers, the colours may be different.

Consult

your

Reference

Card

to

see

which

colours

are

used

by

your

computer.

When you begin your mission from

the pilot's position, the guns

will not be

automatically shooting

at

enemy aircraft,

and your bomber will be defenceless.

To

set your guns to

fire

automatically, press

G

to

move

into the gunner role

(see

the

Medium Bomber Gunner Controls sec-

tion to choose a particular gun position).
Once you're in a position, press the A
key.

A red light on the machine gun bar-

rel indicates

that

the gun is

now

in the

autoshoot mode. Pressing

A

again

turns

off

the

autoshoot.

If

- you want, you

can

stay

and

watch

the

machine

gun

automatically

aim

and

fire

at

enemy

fighters,

but

you can't manually -

move

and

shoot

the

gun

when

it's

set

on

autoshoot.

To

activate this mode on all

your

guns,

you

must

move into

each

individual

gun

position,

and

press

A.

Pressing P

returns

you to

your

pilot's

seat. Your

gun

Indicator lights will be

red

for every

gun

position

in

the

33

autoshoot

mode. The lights will flash
green when the guns are automatically
firing

at

enemy fighters.

9.

Nameplate This gives

the

name

and model number of your bomber.

10. View Indicator This panel shows

which direction you're looking

out

of

from your bomber. In normal flight, the

panel

will

be blank. When you press the

4

key,

the

view

out

of your cockpit

Win-

dow

will

be the left

view,

and the word

"LEFT"

will

be

displayed

on

the

view

indicator.

If

your computer

has

enough

memory,

the

cockpit

screen

will

be

replaced by a picture of the

view

looking

over

the

left

wing

of

your

aircraft.
Pressing the 6 key gives you the right
view from the cockpit window with the
word "RIGHT" displayed,

or

the

view

looking

over

the

right

wing

of

your

bomber. Pressing the 3

key

gives you the

view

straight

down,

and

the

word

"DOWN"

will

be displayed.

When you press the 9

key,

you'll be
in the scan mode. In this mode, you can
look around your bomber in any direc-

tion

by

moving

your

controller,

while

your

plane

remains

on

course.

Two

numbers

will

be

displayed

on

the

view

indicator.

The

first

number

shows

how

many

degrees

up

or

down you're looking,

starting

at

0° (level flight),

and

ranging

from -90°

(straight

down)

to + 90°

(straight up). The second

number

shows

how

many

degrees

you're

looking

around, beginning

with

0°

(straight

ahead,

your

flight path). If you're looking

toward

the

right,

the

number

ranges

from

0°

to+

90° (directly right)

to+

180°

(behind you) .

If

you're

looking left,

the

number

ranges

from 0° to - 90° (directly

left)

to - 179° Oust

about

straight

behind

you).

11.

Radio

This

receiver

has

two

important

components.

The

three-digit

number

shows

what

frequency

your

radio is

tuned

to, while the light next to

It will

be

lit

when

you've

tuned

into the

correct frequency, which allows

you

to

receive

important

mission

information.

To

tune

or

use

your

radio,

press

M,

which

moves

you

to

the

In-Flight

Map/Radio.

12. Dive

Brak.ea

Lever (Ju

88

only)

This shows

whether

your

dive

brakes

are

up

or down. Lowering the dive brakes

Is

necessruy to slow down a

Ju

88

during a

dive-bombing

run

.

13.

Bomb Indicator Panel

This

give

you

information

on

the

status

of

your

bombload.

The

large

number

on

the

right indicates

the

number

of

bombs

you

have left. To

the

left, you'll see two lights,

one marked

"l,"

the

other

marked

"A."

If

the light next to the • 1 • is on, one bomb

will

drop

when

you

press

RETURN.

If

the light

next

to the

"A"

Is on,

your

entire

bombload will drop consecutively

when

you

press

RETURN. To toggle between

these two lights,

press

the S key.

14. Flaps Lever

This

gives

you

the

position of

your

bomber's flaps. If It

is

in

the

up

position,

the

flaps are up;

if

it

Is

in

the

down position, the flaps

are

down.

During

normal

flight

your

flaps

should

be

up,

but

for takeoffs

and

landings.

34

they

should

be

down to

Increase

your

bomber's

lift

and

lower Its stalling speed.

15.

Landing Gear Indicator

This

shows the

status

of

your

landing gear.

If

the

up

arrow

Is

lit,

your

landing gear Is

up;

if

the

down arrow Is lit,

your

landing

gear

is

down. Don't forget to lower

your

landing gear for a landing, or to raise

It

after takeoff. Lowering

your

landing gear

has

the effect of slowing

your

airspeed,

which

may

be

useful

in

certain

situa

-

tions.

16.

RPM

Indicators (One

per

engine)

These two Identical gauges

give

you two

readings. The dial shows the

number

of

revolutions

per

minute

(RPMs)

the

engine is delivering,

in

units

of one

hun-

dred. The higher

the

RPMs,

the farther to

the right the dial will move.

If

the throttle

setting

Is

at

•75•

or

higher,

or

if

the dial
moves into the red area, you'll be using
up

fuel

at

a higher rate. The white

num-

ber

at

the bottom of the gauge shows the

throttle

or

power

setting

of

the

engine.

For example,

if

it

reads "65, •

your

engine

is

set

for

65

percent of

the

power

it

can

produce.

17. Engine Damage Indicators (One

per

engine)

These

two

identical

dials

show

the

amount

of damage

sustained

by

your

bomber's engines in combat.

If

the

indicator

moves

into

the

red

area,

the power

output

of

that

engine will

be

severely reduced

and

your

RPM

indicator

reading

will drop.

You

may

then

have to

abort

the

mission

and

return

to

your

home base,

or

even bail out.

18.

Airframe Damage

Indicator

This gauge shows

the

amount

of

struc

-

tural

damage

done

to

your

bomber

in

combat. When the indicator

is

in the red

zone,

your

aircraft is severely damaged

and

may go

out

of control, forcing you to

bail out.

19. Replay Camera Indicator

This

shows

the

percentage

of film

you

have

left in

your

replay

camera

when you

are

recording. The

number

on

the

indicator

will

decrease

until

you're

out

of

film.

When you

press

C to

turn

on

your

replay

camera, a light above

the

indicator will

go

on,

and

stay

on

until

you have

turned

your

camera

off,

or

used

up

all the

film

.

20.

Fuel

Gauge

This

shows

how

much

fuel

remains

your

bomber

's fuel

tanks:

E

means

empty, F

means

full.

IN-FLIGHT

MAP/RADIO

To examine

the

In-Flight Map, receive

important

mission information,

and

tune

and

use

the

radio of

your

plane, you'll

need

to

move

to

the

In-Flight

Map/Radio. You can do

this

by pressing

M from

any

crew position during a mis-

sion.

ln-Ftight

Map

Once

you're

at

the

In-Flight

Map/Radio

screen, you'll see a

map

of

the

English Channel.

Southern

England,

and

the

west

coast

of

France.

In

the

upper

part

of

the screen,

the

words "IN-

FLIGHT

MAP"

will

be

displayed,

along

with

the

historical

date

and

time of

your

mission.

On

the

map

of

Southern

England

and

the

west

coast

of

France, you'll see

small

coloured

icons

scattered

about.

These

icons

represent

various

ground

installations,

including

RAF

airfields

,

factories,

and

radar

sites, plus Luftwaffe

airfields in France. To get more informa-

tion

about

each

of

these

installations

,

move the arrow over

the

icon. You'

ll

then

see

the

information listed in a column

on

the

right,

under

the

heading

MAP

ID.

This

information

includes

the

name

of

the installation, a description of it,

and

its

status

(whether

it

is

operational, or

if

it

has

been damaged

or

destroyed by any

previous action). If

your

radio is

tuned

properly, you'll also

be

shown

the

dis-

tance

this

installation

is

from

your

plane,

and

the heading

your

plane needs

to

take

to reach it.

In-Flight

Radio

Whenever you're flying a mission, the
radio is a valuable source of information.
You

can

use

the radio to determine the

position

of

your

aircraft,

and

have

it

35

appear

on

the map

as

an

Icon. The radio

will also

give you reports of aircraft

and

ship sightings in the battle area.

If

you're

flying

as

an

RAF

pilot,

these

sightings
are radioed to you from the RDF system;
if

you're

flying for

the

Luftwaffe,

these

sightings

come

from

other

German

planes

in

the

area.

The

most

recent

sighting

reports

will

also

show

up

as

Icons

on

the

map,

and

will

be

updated

every

five

minutes. To

get this informa-

tion click

on

the

AIR/SEA

ID

button

at

the

bottom

of

the

screen.

Then

click

on

the

ship

or

plane

icon

on

the

map

.

Information

about

the

sighting

will

be

displayed in the column

on

the

right of

your

screen.

To cycle

through

all

the

available

sightings

, click

on

either

the

NFXf

FWD

or

NEXf

BACK

button.

To

view

the

map

containing

Information

about

ground

installations

again

, click

on

the

I.AND

ID

button

at

the bottom of

the screen.

Tuning

Your

Radio

If

the

radio Icon in the

upper

right-

hand

comer

of the screen is lit,

the

radio

Is correctly

tuned

and

you'll

be

able to

receive Information.

If

the icon is

not

lit,

you

'll

need

to

tune

your

radio.

To do

this,

pull

out

the

Frequency

Cipher

Wheel, which you'll find inside

the

game

box. Move

the

arrow

to TUNE

RADIO

,

located

at

the bottom of the screen,

and

click

the

button. Now

you'

ll

see a unit

insignia,

plus

the

name

of

an

airfield,

in

the

column

at

the

right

of

the

screen.

Line

up

the

notch

on

the

Fre

Cipher

Wheel

so

that

the

unit

insignia

on

the

wheel

matches

the

one

on

the

screen

.

Next,

look

at

the

window

on

the

Frequency

Cipher

Wheel

that

displays

the

same

airfield

name

that

Is

on

the

screen. Beside

the

airfield

name

on

the

Frequency

Cipher

Wheel, you'll find a

window

with

three

coloured

numbers

inside

It.

These three

numbers

together

make

up

your

correct radio frequency.
Use the arrow to select the correct fre-
quency

and

correct colour from the dis-

play

on

the screen.

To

continue

your

flight, move

the

arrow to the box titled

CONTINUE

and

click your controller button.

ENDING

YOUR

FLIGHT

There are many ways

that

your mis-

sion can be ended:

Crashing

If

your plane smashes into

the

ground or

water

at a sharp

angle

before the pilot

and

crew

has

a chance

to

bail out, they are considered

to

be

lost in

action.

Crash

Landing

If

your

plane

is

forced down

or

lands

poorly,

and

is a

total wreck, the pilot and crew

will sur-

vive.

However,

If

this crash landing takes

place on enemy soil, the pilot

and

crew

will be captured, and

will

not be able to

take

part in any more missions.

Ditching

If

your

plane

splashes
down in the English Channel. it cannot
be recovered. The pilot and crew will sur-

vive,

however, and will be rescued

by

a
passing ship or a rescue seaplane from
their side. They then

will

be able

to

par-

ticipate in a new mission.

Balling

Out

Over Land

If

your plane
is plummeting down over land, and you
press

J before it crashes, the pilot and

crew will parachute out of the plane.

If

the pilot and crew bail

out

over enemy

teI'ritoi:y.

they will be captured, and can-

not

be

used

on any more missions.

If

they bail out over friendly territoi:y, they

will be transported back to their airfield

for

another mission.

Balling

Out

Over Water

If

the pilot

and

crew

parachute

from

their

plane
over the English Channel, they will be
rescued and can

fly again.

Landing

At

Your

Home

Airfield

Your mission also

ends

when you

fly

back

to

your home airfield, land safely,

and press

Q.

Pressing Q in Mid-Flight

If

you don't

want to make a landing, you may also

press a

at

any time to end your mission.

This will not affect the Combat Record

score for

your

pilot

and

crew,

unless

36

they are captured or the aircraft

Is

lost,

which can happen

by:

• Pressing Q while

flying

over enemy

territoi:y.

If

this happens, the pilot

and

crew will be

captured

and

the aircraft

lost

• Pressing Q while flying over

the

Channel.

If

this - happens, the plane

will be lost,

but

the pilot

and

crew will be

rescued.

To

avoid losing your aircraft, or hav-

ing your pilot or crew captured, press a

when you're over England

if

you're

a

British pilot.

If

you're a Luftwaffe pilot,

try to

fly

to

the

coast

of

Continental

Europe before pressing

Q.

MISSION

RESULTS

When your mission has ended you'll
see a Mission Evaluation screen. The
chart in the centre of the screen

will

list

the

type of

RAF

or

Luftwaffe

aircraft that

saw

action

In

that

mission,

and

how

many were destroyed

or

damaged. The

numbers

In

parentheses

Indicate

the

number

of aircraft

shot

down

or

dam-

aged by your

own

plane.

At

the bottom of

the screen, you'll find a chart that shows

which

ground

Installations

were

destroyed or damaged,

and

which ship

convoys were

hit

or

sunk

during your

mission.

Updating

Combat

Records

Alter a pilot or crew

has

completed

the mission you assigned them to

fly,

their Combat Records will be updated

to

reflect

their

successes

and

failures.

These Combat Records will be displayed

after the Mission Evaluation screen.

Any

additional pilots or crews that you have

selected from the Flight Roster

to

partici-

pate

In a mission will also have

their

Combat Records updated. Each pilot or

crew also

has

a cumulative score

as

part

of their Record. This score

Is

based on a

ranking

system, and allows you

to

com-

pare pilots and crews to one another.

It

too will be updated after

evei:y

mission.

Pilots and crews will achieve higher

scores

If

the main objectives of their mis-

sions are accomplished. If you're an

RAF

pilot, your

main

mission objective

Is

to
prevent ground installations, ship con-
voys,

and

other

RAF

fighters from being

destroyed in

Luftwaffe

bombing attacks.

If

you're

flying a Luftwaffe

medium

bomber or dive bomber, your main mis-

sion objective

Is

to

bomb the target accu-

rately.

Since knocking

out

a target

Is

a

group objective,

if

other bomber crews

also score direct hits on a target, your

,Individual score will improve. If you're

flying a Luftwaffe fighter

as

an

escort,

your

main

mission objective

is

to

protect

the bombers from enemy fighter attack

so they can drop their bombloads over

the target. The more bombs

that

hit the

target, and the more bombers that sur-

vive,

the

higher

your

score will be.

If

you're

flying

a Luftwaffe fighter In a

free-

ranging role, your main mission objec-

tive

Is

to

shoot down

as

many

RAF

fight-

ers

as

you can. The greater the ratio of

RAF

fighter losses to Luftwaffe fighter

losses, the higher your score

will

be.

No

matter which mission you choose

to fly, helping

your

fellow pilots

and

crews

to

survive and complete their mis-

sions

will increase your score.

Campaign

Results

If

you're

flying

a Campaign Mission, a

chart will be displayed after the Combat

Records screen.

This

chart

will

sum-

marise the impact of your last mission

on the Battle of Britain

as

a whole.

It

will
also tell you how the Battle is shaping
up,

and

which side is closer

to

victoi:y.

MEDALS

AND

PROMOTIONS

Whether

you're

an

RAF

pilot

or

a

Luftwaffe pilot or crew member. medals

and promotions in rank will

be

awarded

If

you

and

your fellow fliers repeatedly

fulfil mission objectives

and

have out-

standing flights. The following honors

were bestowed upon those who distin-

guished themselves in battle in

1940.

RAF

Medals

(Listed

in

order

of

rank)

37

Vktoria

Cross

The

highest

award

in

the

Royal

Army,

Navy,

and

Air

Force, the Victoria

Cross was given to officers

or

enlisted

men for "most conspicuous

bravei:y or
preeminent act of valour, self-sacrifice,
or extreme devotion

to

duty in the pres-
ence of the enemy." Some 1,346 Victoria
Crosses have been awarded since

the
decoration was originally established by
Queen

Victoria

in

1856.

Flight

Commander

James

Nicolson was the one

RAF

Fighter Command pilot to receive

this award

for

combat action during the

Battle of Britain.

George

Cross

Established in 1940, this medal was

awarded

to

men and women

for

deeds of

bravei:y,

either against

an

enemy, or in

peacetime.

It

Is

the

second-highest
British decoration, ranking only below
the Victoria Cross.

Distinguished

Service

Order

Awarded

for

meritorious service while

engaging

an

enemy, the Distinguished

Service

Order was established in 1886.

It

was given

to

officers and warrant officers

of the

Royal

Army,

Navy,

Marines, or

Air

Force for

numerous

acts

of

bravery,

rather than

for

a single individual

act

If

a

recipient

had

already

received

a

Distinguished

Service Order, they were
awarded bars, which were worn on the
ribbon of the medal.

Distinguished

Flying

Cross

This medal was awarded

to

Royal

Air

Force officers

and

warrant

officers for

courage and valor while

flying

against

an
enemy. Like the Distinguished Service
Order,

It

was usually given for several

acts of

bravei:y.

Bars were awarded

if

a

person had already won this medal

for
previous actions.

Battle

of

Britain

Star

This

was

given to

all

Fighter

Command aircrews who

flew

at

least one

sortie against the Luftwaffe between July

10

and October 31, 1940.

Luftwaffe

Medals

Knight's

Cross

of

the

Iron

Cross

This

was

the highest award in

the

German militruy, and was given

for

valor

and

heroism

against

an

enemy.
Luftwaffe fighter pilots could be awarded
the Knight's Cross for shooting down a
set

number

of

enemy planes. Werner
Molders was awarded the Knight's Cross
for

shooting down twenty aircraft, while

Adolf Galland received his for downing

seventeen. Molders

and

Galland were

also

the first fighter pilots to receive Oak

Leaves, which were awarded if a pilot

recorded forty aerial victories, and worn

on the Knight's Cross. Swords were given

when a pilot reached seventy victories

(Galland was

the

first to do so), while

Diamonds were awarded for one

hun-

dred victories

(a

mark Molders was first

to reach). Both

the

awards

of Swords

and Diamonds were initiated specifically

by Hitler

to

honor these extraordinary

accomplishments

of

Luftwaffe fighter

pilots.

Iron

Cross

FiBt

Class

This medal

was

first

instituted

in

1813, and reinstated in

1870 and 1914.

It

was awarded

for

an

outstanding feat of

heroism,

and

usually given when

the

individual

had

already received the Iron

Cross Second Class.

Iron

Cross

Second

Class

This award was commonly

given

for

acts of bravery or distinguished service

by the German militruy.

Wound

Badge

This medal was reinstated by Hitler

in 1939, with three different classes.

If

an individual in the German militruy was

wounded one or

two

times, he earned a

black badge.

If

he was wounded three or

four times, or lost

an

eye,

a hand, a

foot,

or

his

hearing,

he

received a

silver

badge.

If

he was wounded

five

or more

times, lost

his

eyesight, suffered brain
damage, or was totally disabled, he was
awarded a

gold

badge.

38

Ranks

and

Promotions

For both the Luftwaffe and the

RAF

promotions

in

rank

were

awarded

to

those pilots who demonstrated success
in battle and exhibited qualities of lead-
ership.

New

Luftwaffe

pilots began their

careers

with

the

rank

of

Lieutenant

,

while new

RAF

pilots

started

out

with

the

rank of Pilot

Officer.

Worid

War

11

Commissioned

Offkers'

Ranks

Luftwaffe

RAF

Oberst Group Captain
Oberstleutnant

Wing

Commander
Major Squadron Leader
Hauptmann Flying Lieutenant

Oberleutnant Flying

Officer

Leutnant Pilot

Officer

U.S.

Army

Air

Fon:e(for

comparison)

Colonel

Lieutenant Colonel
Major

Captain
First Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant

German

and

British

Aircraft

and

Weapons

Three types of aircraft were used

by

the

RAF

and the

Luftwaffe

in the Battle

of Britain: fighters, dive bombers,

and

medium bombers. World War I fighters

were highly maneuverable biplanes,

but

the

1930s

saw

the

evolution

of

the

faster, though less maneuverable, mono-

plane fighter. There were those, especial-
ly

on the British side,

who

believed

that

the biplane fighter's greater maneuver-

ability would

give

it

an

advantage over
the swifter monoplane fighter. However
as

subsequent

World

War

11

aerial

bat

-

tles proved,

superior

maneuverability

was not nearly

as

important

as

superior

speed.

The faster a fighter was, the quicker
it could move into a favorable position
from which

to

attack a slbwer, though

perhaps

more maneuverable, enemy.

These new fighters also had metal wings

strong enough to hold

as

many

as

eight
machine guns, while the biplanes could
only

carry

two

fuselage-mounted
machine guns. Although the British had
some biplane fighters in use during the
latter

part

of 1940, they were stationed

away from heavy fighting

and

eventually

replaced

altogether.

In

the

Battle

of

Britain,

the

RAF mainly relied on

two

monoplane fighters,

the

single engine

Supermarine

Spitfire

and

the

Hawker

Hurricane. The Luftwaffe

flew

the single

engine Messerschmitt Bf

109

and

the

twin-engine Messerschmitt Bf 110, both

monoplane fighters.

Like

the monoplane fighter, the dive
bomber also evolved between the two
world wars. The

theory

that

called for

using a plane

to

dive

steeply on a target,

drop

its

bombs from a relatively

short

distance, and pull

out

in time

to

escape

the

blast

was

first

tested

by

the

U.S.Navy. In 1933, German pilot

Ernst

Udet

used

a

couple

of

obsolete

American-made

Curtiss

Helldiver

biplanes

to

demonstrate the accuracy of

dive-bombing

to

the

German

Air

Ministry.

The

demonstration

was

impressive,

and

eventually resulted in

the development of

the

Junkers

Ju

88

Stuka

dive bomber. The single-engine

Stuka

was a formidable weapon in the

conquest

of Europe, when it attacked

ground

targets

in

coordination

with

German troops.

It

saw more action in the

Battle of Britain

than

any

other

dive
bomber, although the larger twin-engine
Junkers

Ju

88 was sometimes used in

this role.

Though

not

as

accurate

as

a dive

bomber,

the

twin

engine

medium

bomber

could

carry a greater

bomb

-

load.

On the German side, these aircraft

were

originally

developed

as

Schnellbomber,

or

bombers

that

could

fly

faster

than

the

fighters

that

were

attacking them. During the Spanish

Civil
War.

the

Schnellbomber proved to

be
successful against the slower, obsolete
opposition fighters. But in the Battle of

39

Britain, British Spitfire

and

Hurricane

fighters

were

much

faster

than

the

Luftwaffe

medium

bombers,

which

resulted in heavy losses

for

the

German

air

force. Like

the

dive

bomber,

the

medium

bomber

was

designed

to

bomb targets in concert with

an

attacking army; Goering himself can-
celled the development of a longer-range
heavy bomber, since he did not see the

need

for

one. This proved

to

be a mistake

that

would

come

back

to

haunt

Germany,

as

many of Britain's factories

and

airfields

could

have

been

hit

by

heavy bombers

but

were

out

of range of
the Luftwaffe medium bombers. During
the Battle of Britain, the

main

German

medium bombers were the Dornier

Do

17,

the Heinke!

He

111,

and the

Ju

88.

RAF

AND

LUFlW

AFFE

AIR

UNIT

DESIGNATIONS

In 1936

the

RAF

was

reorganised

and

divided into "commands," each of

which was a large operational unit con-

sisting of aircraft with the same function

and responsibility. The major commands
were Bomber Command,

Fighter

Command,

Coastal

Command,

and

Training

Command.

Alter war was declared in 1939, Fighter

Command, the

new

fighter arm in charge
of defending Britain from aerial attack,
divided

fighter

coverage

into

four
"groups," with each group responsible
for

covering a designated area of Britain.

(See

the Historical

Overview

chapter

for
a map of the area each group covered.)
These groups were in

tum

divided into

"sectors" with the most important airfield

within a sector designated

as

the "sector

station."

At

various airfields within each

sector were "squadrons," each of which

consisted

of

twelve

aircraft.

Each

squadron

was

broken

up

into

two

"flights" of six aircraft, designated

•A"

and

"B."

In

tum,

each flight was broken

up into

two

"sections" of three aircraft,

and given the designation "red,"

"yellow,"

"blue,"

or

"green."

Two

or

more

squadrons

were

sometimes

Joined

together to form a "wing,"

and

three to

five

squadrons formed a

"big

wing."

(See

the maps

at

the back of the manual

for

more infonnation.)

Unlike the

RAF,

the Luftwaffe did not

split

up

command of its aircraft accord-

ing to function. Instead,

It

was

divided

in

to five self-con

talned

air

fleets,

or
"Luftflotten," each of which was respon-
sible

for

air operations over a given sec-

tion

of

Europe.

(See

the

Historical

Overview

chapter

for

a map of the areas
of Luftflotten coverage.) A Lufttlotte was
made

up

of approximately one thousand

fighters,

bombers,

transports,

and

reconnaissance planes,

and

was in turn

divided into

two

"Fliegerkorps," consist-

ing of these four types of aircraft.

As the

war progressed, the Fliegerkorps, which
had

started

out

as

units

of mixed air-
craft, became more specialized. Within
each

fllegerkorps

were

three

to

six
"Geschwader "which were specialized
units of around

80

to 120 aircraft. Each

Geschwader was named

for

the type of

aircraft in the

unit

A "Jagdgeschwader"

(JG)

was

a

fighter

unit,

"Kampfgeschwader"

(KG)

a bomber unit,

"Stukageschwader"

(ST.G) a Stuka

dive

bomber unit,

and

"Zerstorergeschwader"

(ZG) a Bf

110

Zerstorer

unit.

These
Geschwader were divided into "Gruppen"
of about thirty aircraft, which were

usu-

ally

based

at

the

same

airfield.

Each

Gruppe was divided into three "Staffeln,"

Top

Speed,

Fighters

Spitfire

370MPH

Hurricane

320MPH

Bf

109

354MPH

Bf

110

340MPH

40

and

each Staffel consisted of nine or ten

of the same aircraft.

(See

the maps

at

the

back

of

the

manual

for more informa-

tion.)

GERMAN

AIRCRAFT:

1940

Messerschmilt

Bf

109E-3

Emil

righter

One of the greatest fighter aircraft of

the Second World War

or

of any war the

Bf

109 was a mainstay of the Luftwaffe

from the time of Spanish

Civil

War right

up

until the defeat of the Third Reich.

Nearly thirty-five thousand Bf

109s were
produced, more than any other fighter of
that

era. Bf 109s saw service in nearly

every German offensive of World War

11,

and

were the only German single-seat

fighters

used

in

the Battle of Britain.

There

the

Bf 109s,

with

their

small,

stubby wings, were

an

even match for

the

Spitfire,

and

swifter

and

more

maneuverable

than

any

of

the

other

British fighters.

The

Bf

109E-3

was

developed

in

1939

as

a faster, more heavily-armed
improvement over the earlier models, the
Bf

109B and

C,

which had been deadly

in

the

Spanish

Civil War. (Although

designed by

Willy

Messerschmitt, the Bf

109 was named after his company

at

the
time, Bayerische Flugzeugwerke.) The
Emil featured a more powerful

and

reli-

able Daimler Benz 660 lAa engine,

as

well

as

20

mm

cannons in the wings in

place

of

machine guns. The Bf 109E-3

saw service in the invasion of Den mark

I

I

and

Norway,

and

in

the

campaigns

against

France,

the

Netherlands,

Belgium,

and

Luxembourg,

where

It

gained a fearsome reputation.

Messerschmilt

Bf

109E-4/B

Jabo

righter/Bomber

As the Bf 109E-3 was tested in bat-

tle,

certain

modifications

were

made

based

on

its

combat performance. This

new

version,

the

Bf

109E-4,

had

a

redesigned

and

reinforced canopy for

better visibility

and

durability, plus more
powerful wing-mounted cannons. When
It was later decided to

use

the Bf 109E-4

as

a Jobo,

or

fighter/bomber, a bomb
rack was mounted underneath the fuse-
lage. This model, the Bf 109E-4/B, saw
its first action in

July

1940 against con-

voys

in

the

English Channel,

and

was
also used against coastal radar stations
in the Battle of Britain.

The Bf

109E-3

and

E-4/B

were fast,

agile fighters

that

could dive

and

climb
quickly. These planes had a tighter turn-
ing radius

than

either the Spitfire

or

the

Hurricane, though

few

pilots found this

out

because

they were afraid

that

the

stubby wings would break

off.

Like the

Spitfire,

the

Bf 109

was

a joy to

fly

at

medium speeds,

but

tougher to handle

at

high speeds,

and

could easily tire Its

pilot in a dogfight. Takeoffs

and

landings

were also tricky,

because

the Bf 109s

had

a tendency to swing right

or

left.
During the Battle of Britain, their limited
range became a factor, since they could
only

fly

as

far

as

London

and

back. As a

result,

the

longer-range bombers they
escorted would sometimes be left unpro-
tected,

and

many

BF 109 pilots were

forced to ditch in the

Channel when they

ran

out

of fuel.

Bf

109E-3

Performance

Powerplant: one Daimler
Benz

DB

6601Aa

12

cylinder liquid

cooled engine
Horsepower:

l,

l

00

Top speed: 354 miles per hour

Rate of climb:

3,280 feet per minute

41

Bombload,

Fighters

II

:

..

Celling: 34,450 feet
Range:

410 miles

Crew:

one

Dimensions

Wingspan: 32 feet 4 inches
Wing

area: 174 square feet

Length:28 feet

4 inches

Height: 8 feet 2 inches

Weights

Empty:

4,

189 pounds

Loaded:

5,520 pounds

Armament

Guns:

two

20 mm

MG

FF cannons

with

60 rounds per gun, mounted in

the wings.

Two

7.92

mm

Rheinmetall

Borslg

MG

17

machine guns with

1,000 rounds per gun, mounted in

the fuselage.

Bf

109E-4/B

Performance

Powerplant: one Daimler
Benz

DB

601Aa

12

cylinder
liquid cooled engine
Horsepower:

l,

l

00

Top speed: 354 miles per hour

Rate of climb: 3,280 feet

per

minute

Ceiling: 34,450 feet

Range: 410 miles

Crew: one

Dimensions

Wingspan: 32 feet 4 inches

Wing area: 174 square feet

Length: 28 feet 4 inches
Height: 8 feet 2 inches

Weights

Empty: 4, 189 pounds
Loaded: 5,875 pounds

Armament

42

Guns:

two

20 mm

MG

FF

/M

cannons
with 60 rounds per gun, mounted in
the wings.

Two

7.92

mm

Rheinmetall

Borsig

MG

17 machine guns with

1,000 rounds per gun, mounted in

the fuselage.

Warhead load: one 110 pound bomb,
or

one

550

pound bomb, mounted

beneath the fuselage.

1.

Ractio

2.

Bomb

Release

Light

(Bf

109E·4/B

Jabo

lighter/bomben

only)

3.

Flaps

Lever

4.

Compass

5.

Ct.mb/Dive

lndkator

6.

RPM

lndkator

7.

Banking

Indicator

8.

Ammunition

Round

Indicators

9.

GI.Insight

1

0.

View

lndkator

11.

Nameplate

12.

Ahimeter

Durability,

Fighters

Spitfir&

Hurricane

Bf

109

Bf

110

13.

Airspeed

lndkator

14.

Engine

Damage

lncfw:alor

15.

Airframe

Damage

lnd'w:alor

16.

Pitch

lnd'w:ator

17.

Replay

Camera

lnd'icalor

18.

Fuel

Gauge

19.

Landing

Gear

Lever

Messerschmitt

Bf

11

OC·4

Zerstorer

F"ighter

Noted for

its

sleek design

and

dis

-

tinctive twin

rudders

and

engines, the

versatile Bf 110 served

in

a variety of

roles

during

World

War

11

. Heavily

armed

with

two

cannons

and

four

machine guns in its nose, the Zerstorer

or "destroyer," was

originally designed

as

a fast,

long-range

fighter

that

could

escort bombers deep into enemy territo-

ry, while blowing any opposition fighters

out

of

the

sky. During

the

invasion of
Poland in 1939 Bf l 10s proved success-
ful in

this

role,

and

were also used to

destroy Polish airfields

and

communica-

tions lines. As a fighter

and

a close sup-
port weapon for the German Army, the
Bf 110 was highly effective in the inva-
sion of Denmark, Norway, and the

Low

Countries,

as

well

as

in

the

Battle

of

France.

The

Bf

l lOC

series

was

the

first

Zerstorer to be widely produced.

It

fea-
tured the more powerful Daimler Benz
60 lA

engines, which

enabled

it to

fly

faster

and

farther

than

earlier models,
plus a shallower radiator which eliminat-
ed a turbulence problem. The Bf l

lOC

-4

43

I

I

I

version had extra

annour

protection

for

its

crew

of

two,

the

pilot

and

rear

gunner.

It

arrived in France

just

in time

for the Battle of Britain.

Messenchmitt

Bf

11

OC-4/B

Jabo

F"ighter/Bomber

In

the

summer

of 1940, a modified
version of the Bf l lOC-4 began arriving
at

the

Luftwaffe

bases

in France. This

new model, the Bf llOC-

4/,

had a pair

of bomb racks beneath the fuselage

and

could

carry

two 551

pound

bombs

.

It

also featured

the

newer Daimler Benz
601N engines, which gave a slight boost
in horsepower. A special Bf l lOC-4/B
unit, known

as

Experimental Group 210,

was

set

up

to develop

fighter/bomber

tactics, and in August this

unit

success-

fully attacked

radar

stations, airfields,

and other targets in the south of Britain.

During

the

Battle

of

Britain

the
weaknesses of the Bf 110 began to out-
weigh its strengths. On the plus side it
was almost

as

fast

as

the Spitfire,

was

formidably armed, a delight to

fly,

and

extremely capable in the fighter/bomber

role. When combating enemy fighters, Bf

110 pilots enjoyed the most success by
diving down on enemy aircraft, blasting
them with their superior firepower

and

then

flying

away from the action.

But

in

a dogfight the

much

larger Bf 110

was

no

match

for

the

more

maneuverable

Spitfires

and

Hurricanes,

and a great

number

of l lOs were lost in

the

sum

-
mer's fighting. Many Bf l lOs were forced
to

fly

in defensive circles, to protect each

...

other's more vulnerable rear.

As

fighter

escort for Luftwaffe bombers, Bf l

lOs

fared so poorly

that

they themselves had

to

be

escorted

by

Bf

109s, and

were

eventually removed from

that

role. The

versatility of the Bf

110 did prove to be a

vital

asset

for

the

Luftwaffe In

later

action

in

North

Africa

and

on

the

Russian Front, where the fighter opposi-

tion was less intense.

Bf 1 lOC-4

Perfonnance

Powerplant:

two

Daimler benz

DB

44

601A

12

cylinder inline engines

Horespower:

l,

l 00 per engine

Top

speed: 340 miles per hour

Rate of

Climb:

8.5 minutes to 18,000
feet
Ceiling:

32,810 feet

Range:

680 miles

Crew:

two-one

pilot

and

one rear

gunner

Dimensions

Wingspan: 53 feet 4 inches
Wing

area: 413 square feet

Length:

40 feet 4 Inches

Height:

11

feet 6 inches

Weights

Empty: 9,920 pounds
Loaded:

15,290 pounds

Armament

Guns:

two

20mm

MG

FF cannons

with

180 rounds per gun, mounted

in the nose.

One flexible 7.92mm

MG

17

machine guns with l ,000 rounds
per gun, also mounted in the nose.
One

flexible

7.92mm

MG

15

machine

gun, mounted

In

the rear of the
canopy.
Bf l lOC-4/B

Performance

Powerplant

two

Daimler Benz

DB

601N

12-cylinder

liquid

cooled

engines

Horsepower:

1,200 per engine

Top speed: 349 miles per hour

Rate of climb: 2,255 feet per minute

Ceiling: 32,800 feet
Range: 528 miles
Crew:

two-one

pilot

and

one rear

gunner

Dimensions

Wingspan: 53 feet 4 inches
Wing

area: 413 square feet

Length:

40

feet 4 inches

Height:

11

feet 6 inches

Weights

Empty: 9,920 pounds
Loaded:

15,430 pounds

Armament

Guns:

two

20mm

MG

FF cannons

with 180 rounds per gun, mounted

in the nose. Four 7.92mm

MG

17

machine guns with 1,000 rounds per

gun, also mounted in the nose.

One

flexible 7.92mm

MG

15

machine

gun, mounted in the rear of the

canopy.

Warhead load:

two

550 pound bombs,

mounted beneath the fuselage

1.

Flaps

Lever

2.

RPM

lndkator

3.

Engine

Damage

lndkators

4.

Ammunition

Round

Indicators

5.

Raaio

6.

Altimeter

7.

Pilth

Indicator

8.

Fuel

Gauge

9.

Banking

lnaicator

10.

Gunsight

11.

V'iew

Indicator

12.

Nameplate

13.

Automatic

Pilot

Light

14.Ctimb/Dwelnaicator

15.

Airspeed

Indicator

45

16.

Airframe

Damage

lnaicator

17. Replay

Camera

lnaicator

18.

Compass

19.

Bamb

lnaicator

Panel

(Bf

11

OC-4/B

Jabo

fighter/bombers

only)

20.

landing

Gear

Lever

21.

Autoshoot

Light

22.

Ammunition

Round

lnaicator

Junkers

Ju

878-1

Sluka

Dive

Bomber

At

the

start

of

World

War

11

the

Junkers

Ju

87

was

the

most

feared

weapon in the arsenal of the Luftwaffe -

and

perhaps

even

of

the

entire

Third

Top

Speed,

Bombers

Stuka

242 MPH

He

111

273 MPH

Do

17

265 MPH

Ju

88

280 MPH

I

J

Reich. With its bent wings,

fixed

landing
gear, and screaming sirens, the intimi-
dating

Stuka proved to be nearly unstop-

pable during the Spanish

Civil

War and

the Invasion of

Poland. Since it could

deliver

bombs

with great accuracy,

it

was

unsurpassed

as

an army-support

weapon, despite Its lack of speed

and

maneuverablllty. Coordinated

attacks

with

Stukas

and

German Army troops,
part of the tactics of the Blitzkrieg, were
responsible for the incredible string of
German successes during the early part
of the war.

The

Ju

87B- l was the first model

to

be produced in great numbers,

and

it

incorporated

many

of

the

lessons

learned from Spanish

Civil

War combat.

It

featured a more

powerful

engine,

redesigned landing

struts,

and

better

quarters for Its crew of

two.

the pilot and

the

rear

facing gunner/radio operator.

The

Ju

87B- l even had lines etched into

the port side of the canopy showing

div-

ing angles, and

an

automatic pilot which

pulled the plane

out

of its dive

if

the pilot
blacked out. This was the model that -
gave

the Stuka its notortous reputation,

and

it

saw

service In

the

campaigns

against

Poland,

the

Netherlands,

Belgium, France, Greece. and Crete.

Junkers

Ju

878-2

Stuka

Dive

Bomber

In late 1939, a slightly more powerful

version of

the

Junkers

Jumo

211 Da

engine began

to

arrtve

at

Ju

87 assembly
lines. The Stukas fitted with this engine
were designated

as

the

Ju

87B-2.

Along

46

with

the

new powerplant this new ver-

sion

had

a number of minor modifica-

tions, including a deeper

radiator

for

better

cooling,

and

adjustable-pitch

wooden propeller blades to replace the

thin

metal

ones

on

the

B-1. Despite

these changes, the performance of the

B-

2 differed little from

that

of the B-

1.

The

first

Ju

87B-2s

arrived in France

just

as

the Battle of

Britain began. At first B-Is

and

B-2s

enjoyed success against

British convoys

in the English Channel. But after August

13,

1940,

Eagle

Day,

Ju

87s

were

ordered

to

attack airfields

and

radar sta-

tions on

the

south

coast

of England,

which were barely within

the

Stuka's

range. For the first time in the war, the

Ju

88

had

to

fly

against

significant

enemy fighter opposition

in

an

attack

role

for

which it was ill-suited. The

Ju

STs

slow

speed, lack of maneuverability,

and

poor crew protection proved fatal

against

RAF

Spitfires

and

Hurricanes,

especially when pulling

out

of a dive,

and over

forty

were shot down in

just

six

days.

Ju

87 losses mounted, and after

August

19

the Stuka, its invincible repu-

tation

shattered,

would see no more

action in the Battle of

Britain, though it

would continue

to

be successful on other

fronts.

Ju

878-1

Perfonnance

Powerplant one

Junkers

Jumo

211

Da

12

cylinder

Vee

liquid cooled

engine
Horsepower:

1,200

Top

speed: 242 miles per hour

Rate of climb:

12

minutes

to

12,

140

feet

Ceiling:

26,250 feet

Range: 373 miles

Crew:

two

- one pilot and one rear

gunner

Dimensions

Wingspan: 45 feet 3 inches
Wing area: 344 square feet Length:

36 feet 5 inches Height:

12

feet 9

inches

Weights

Empty: 6,080 pounds
Loaded: 9,371 pounds

Annament

Guns:

two

7.92 mm

MG

17

machine
guns with 1.000
rounds per gun, mounted in the

wings.

One flexible 7.92 mm

MG

15

47

machine gun with 900 rounds,
mounted

at

the rear of the canopy.
Warhead load: one 1,100 pound
bomb.mounted beneath the fuselage.

Four

110 pound bombs, mounted

beneath the wings.

Ju

878-2

Perfonnance

Powerplant one

Junkers

Jumo

211

Da 12-cylinder

Vee

liquid-cooled

engine
Horsepower:

1,200

Top

speed: 237 miles per hour

Rate of climb:

12

minutes

to

12,

140

feet

Ceiling:

26,250 feet

Range:

373

miles

Crew:

two one pilot

and

one

rear

gunner

Dimensions

Wingspan:

45

feet 3 inches

Wing area:

344

square feet

Length:

36

feet 3 inches

Height: 13 feet 2 inches

Weights

Empty: 6,060 pounds
Loaded:

9,320 pounds

Annament

Guns: two 7.92

mm

MG

17

machine

guns, with

1,000 rounds per gun,

mounted in the wings.

One flexible

7.92

mm

MG

15 machine

gun

with

900

rounds, mounted

at

the

rear

of

the canopy.

Warhead load: one

l,

100 pound

bomb, mounted beneath the fuse

lage. Four

110 pound bombs,

mount

eel

beneath the wings.

1.

Compass

2.

Bomb

Indicator

Panel

3.

Ammunition

Round

Indicator

4.

Dive

Brakes

Lever

5.

Automatic

Pilot

Light

6.

Ahimeter

7.

Ct.mb/Dive

Indicator

8.

Nameplate

9.

Pitch

Indicator

10.

Banking

Indicator

11.

G\Jnsight

12.

V'iew

lnd'icator

13.

Airspeed

Indicator

14.

RPM

Indicator

15.

Replay

Camera

Indicator

16.

Rad'io

17.

Engine

Damage

lnd'icator

18.

Fuel

Gauge

19.

Flaps

Lever

20.

Airframe

Damage

lnd'icator

21.

Autoshoot

Light

22.

Ammunition

Round

Indicator

48

Dornier

Do

17z-2

Medium

Bomber

Originally designed in 1934

as a pas

-
senger aircraft, the twin-engine "Flying
Pencil" was rejected by the German air-
line Lufthansa because the slender fuse-
lage did not leave enough room for its six
passengers.

The

design

attracted

the

attention of the Luftwaffe, however

and
prototypes were developed into bombers
and

reconnaissance planes that could

fly

faster

than

pursuing fighters. The feasi-

bility of

this

Schnellbomber

idea

was

tested

at

the Zurich Air Show in 1937,

where a

Do

17 prototype startled onlook-

ers by finishing ahead of all the fighters
in the competition.

The first

Do l 7s

saw service in the

Spanish CMl War

as

reconnaissance air-

craft.

The

Do

l 7z-2,

which

had

extra

protective

armour a redesigned

nose,

and a cockpit

with

more

room

and

greater

visibility,

was

delivered to

the

Luftwaffe

in

1939. Unfortunately,

the

Messerschmitt factory

had

top priority

and

got to use the Daimler Benz engine

for its Bf

109s, forcing the

Do

l 7z-2 to

use

the less powerful

BMW

Bramo Fafnir
engine, which greatly reduced its speed.
During the Battle of Britain the

Do

l 7z-2

was first used against Channel convoys,

then

on

bombing missions

against

air-

fields

and

factories inland, where it did
extensive damage despite suffering heavy
losses. The

Do

17

enjoyed success

as

a

Rate

of

Climb,

Bombers

..

'"'

....

I

low-altitude bomber, since

it

could dive

on a target with

its engines

at

full throt-

tle

and

then

pick

up

enough speed

to

get

away

after

dropping

its

bombload

.

Although

it

had

several

drawbacks

,

including a relatively light warhead load,

the

ruggedness,

maneuverability, and

stability of the Flying Pencil made it pop-

ular with the men who

flew

it.

No

H-

Gunne

r

Bombardi

er

/

Do

17z-2

Perfonnance

Powerplant:

two

BMW
Bramo Fafnir 323P nine cylinder air-
cooled radial engines
Horsepower:

1,000 per engine

Top speed: 265 miles per

hour

Rate of climb: 3.3

minutes

to 3,280
feet
Ceiling: 26, 7

40

feet
Range: 721 miles Crew: four one
pilot. one radio operator, one flight
engineer,

and

one aircraft comman-

der /bombardier

Dimensions

Wingspan: 59 feet 10 inches
Wing area: 592 square feet

Length:

51

feet 10 inches

Height 15 feet

Weights

Empty: 11,484

pounds

Loaded: 18,913

pounds

Durability,

Bombers

Stuka

He

111

Do

17

Ju

88

I

49

Annament

Guns:

five

7.92 mm

MG

15

machine

guns

with 750 rounds per

gun

- one

mounted in the nose, one mounted

at

the upper

part

of the canopy

fac

ing

rear

, one mounted beneath the

canopy facing rear,

and

two

at

the

centre of the fuselage facing left

and

right

Warhead load: four

550 pound

bombs totalling

2,200 pounds

1.

Ahimeter

2.

Ct.mb'Dive

Indicator

3.

Automatic

Pilot

Light

4.

Banking

Indicator

5.

Pitch

lnd'icator

6.

Compass

7.

Airspeed

lnd'icator

8.

G\Jn

lnd'icator

Lights

9.

Nameplate

10.

View

lnd'icator

11.

Radio

12.

Bomb

Indicator

Panel

13.

Flaps

lever

14.

landing

Gear

lnd'icator

15.

RPM

Indicators

16.

Engine

Domage

Indicators

17.

Airframe

Damage

lnd'icator

18.

Replay

Camera

lnd'icalor

19.

Fuel

Gauge

20.

Autoshoot

Light

21. Ammunition

Round

lnd'icator

J

22.

Gun

lndkator

Lights

Heinke!

He

111

H-3

Mecfium

Bomber

The

bomber

used

most

by

the
Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain, the
twin-engine

He

111

was originally intro-

duced

as a civil

airliner

but

secretly test-

ed

as

a bomber. In fact early versions,

marked

as

Lufthansa airliners, actually

flew

photo reconnaissance missions over

Britain, France, and the Soviet Union in

1937. The

He

111

was first used in the
Spanish Civil War with a great deal of
success,

as

It

flew

faster

than

the

defending fighters. _ Then

In

1939

it

was

mass

produced

as

the

main

50

Luftwaffe

bomber. Called "1he Spade"

by
its crews because of Its broad, rounded
wings, the glass-nosed

He

111

saw ser-

vice In

campaigns

against

Poland,

Belgium, the Netherlands, and France.

The

He

111

H-3 could carry

twice

the

bombload of a

Do

If,

and

over a thou-

sand pounds more

than

the

Ju

88. But

since

the

Messerschmitt

factory

was
using all available Daimler Benz engines,
the

He

11

lH-3,

like

the

Do

17,

was
forced to use less powerful engines that
reduced its airspeed.

To

compensate

for

Its slowness, more machine

guns

were

added, along with extra armour

protec-

tion.

He

ll

1H-3s did extensive damage

to British targets during the Battle of
Britain, when protected by fighter escort,
and gained a reputation

as

a tough air-
craft capable of remaining airborne even
when shot

to

pieces. But when fighter

protection was unavailable, the

lumber-

ing "Spade"

was

shot

down

in

great

numbers

by

the

much

faster

British

fighters. Alter the Battle, however,

He

111

s were the main Luftwaffe bombers

Ceiling, Bombers

'"'

.,,.

used

in

the

Blitz,

and

nearly levelled

London.

He

111

H·3Perfonnance

Powerplant:

two

Junkers

Jumo

2110-2 12-cylinderVee liquid
cooled engines
Horsepower:

1,200 per engine

Top speed: 273 m:les per hour

Rate of climb:

30 minutes to 14,765

feet
Celling:

25,590 feet
Range: 745 miles
Crew:

four or

five

Dimensions

Wingspan: 74 feet 2 inches
Wing

area: 943 square feet
Length: 53 feet 9 inches
Height:

13

feet 2 inches

Weights

Empty: 15,873 pounds
Loaded: 28,924 pounds

Annament

Guns:

five

7.92 mm

MG

15

machine

guns with 750 rounds per gun - one

51

i

•

..

~.,

8

('

;)

.l

- -

t·

26

I

\.

23 . f

I

'\.

·_;,,_

1

1.

',

I

27.

i

:

'

24

}

-

..

2a

....

.._

I

I

/.

!

I

I

mounted in the nose, one mounted
in the fuselage above the wings

fac

ing rear one mounted in the gondola
beneath the fuse !age facing rear,
and

two

mounted

at

the waist win

at

the centre of the fuselage

Warhead load: eight 550 pound

bombs or four

1,

100 pound bombs,

totalling 4,400 pounds

1.

Altimeter

2.

Climb/Dive

lndkator

3.

Automatic

Pilot

Ught

4.

Banking

Indicator

5.

Pitch

lndkator

6.

Compass

7.

Airspeed

lndkator

8.

Gun

lndkalor

Lights

9.

Nameplate

10.

View

lndkator

11.

Radio

12.

Bomb

lndkator

Panel

13.

Flaps

Lever

14.

landing

Gear

lnd'icalor

15.

RPM

lnd'icators

16.

Engine

Damage

Indicators

17.

Airframe

Damage

Indicator

14.

Replay

Camera

Indicator

19.

Fuel

Gauge

20.

Autoshoot

Ught

21.

Ammunition

Round

lndkator

22.

Gun

Indicator

Ughts

23.

Ahimeter

24.

Airspeed

lndkalor

25.

Compass

26.

Banking

Indicator

27.

Bomb

lndkalor

Panel

28.

Bombsight

Junkers

Ju

88A1Medium

Bomber/Dive

Bomber

The newest and best of the German

medium

bombers

in

1940,

the

twin-

engine

Junkers

Ju

SS

did not see

as

much action In the Battle of Britain as

the

He

111 or the

Do

17 because

fewer

of

them had been produced.

Swift,

reliable,

and

tough, the

Ju

SS ended up

as

the

primary

all-purpose

bomber

of

the

52

Luftwaffe,

and

nearly fifteen

thousand

were built during

the

course of World

War 11. Based on a 1935 design by a

team

led

by

two

Americans, the first pro-

totype

flew

In December 1936. Limited

production began

In

1939, too late

for

the

testing grounds

of

the Spanish

Civil

War,

and

it

saw little action

In

the conquest of

Europe. The

Ju

SS

was used on a limited

basis

against

British

warships

in

the

North Sea prior

to

the Battle of Britain.

The

Ju

SSA-I

was the first of these

models

to

be widely produced, and fea-

tured

underwlng

dive

brakes

that

enabled

it

to

be used

as

a dive bomber.

It

was faster, stronger more maneuverable,

and

could

fly

farther

than

any

other

Luftwaffe

medium bomber. In the Battle

of

Britain, the

Ju

SSA-1

initially enjoyed

success attacking

RAF

airfields. But

as

the Battle progressed, the

Ju

S8A-l, like

the other

Luftwaffe

bombers, proved vul-

nerable

to

the

RAF

fighters, though crews

had a better chance of getting back

to

their bases

In

this excellent aircraft than

In the others.

Range,

Bombers

Stuka
373

miles

He 111

745

miles

Do

17

721 miles

Ju 88

1.453

miles

Ju

88A·I

Performance

I

Powerplant:

two

Junkers

Jumo

2 l lB-112 cylinder

Vee

liquid-cooled

engines
Horsepower: 1,200 per engine
Top

speed:

2SO

miles per hour

Rate of climb:

23

minutes

to

17,715

feet
Ceiling:

26,500 feet

Range:

1.453 miles

Crew:

four - one pilot, one born
hardier/nose gunner. one radio oper-
ator/

rear gunner, and one gondola

gunner

Dimensions

Wingspan:

59

feet 10 inches

Firepower,

Bombers

Stuka

I

He 111

Do17

Ju

88

J

I

53

Wing

area: 540 square feet
Length: 4 7 feet 1 Inch
Height: 15 feet 5 Inches

Weights

Empty: 21,73S pounds
Loaded:

30,S65 pounds

Armament

Guns: three 7.92 mm

MG

15

machine guns with 750 rounds per

gun - one mounted

In

the nose. one
mounted on the top of the fuselage
above the wings facing

rear, and one

mounted

In the gondola beneath the

fuselage facing rear

Warhead load: six

550 pound bombs

or three

l,

100 pound bombs,

totalling 3,300 pounds, mounted
beneath the fuselage.

1.

Ahimeter

2.

Ct.mb/Dive

lnd'icator

3.

Automatic

Pilot

Light

4.

Banking

lndkalor

5.

Pitch

lnd'icator

J

J

6.

Compass

7.

Airspeed

lnd'icalor

8.

Gun

lndkalor

Lights

9.

Nameplate

10.

View

Indicator

11.Radio

12.

Dive

Brakes

Lever

13.

Bomb

Indicator

Panel

14.

Flaps

Lever

is.

Landing

Gear

lnd'icalor

16.

RPM

lnd'icators

'

17.

Engine

Damage

lnd'icators

54

18.

Airframe

Damage

lnd'icator

19.

Replay

Camera

lnd'icalor

20.

Fuel

Gauge

21.

Autoshoot

Light

22.

Ammunition

Round

Indicator

23.

Gun

lndkator

Lights

BRITISH

AIRCRAFT:

1940

Hawker

Hurricane

Mic

I

righter

The first monoplane fighter ever

used by the

RAF,

the sturdy, reliable

Hurricane

was

a workhorse

during

the early

part

of World War

11

when

it

outnumbered

all

other

modern
British fighters. Its fuselage was con-
structed

of metal

tubes

surrounded

by wood and fabric, which enabled it

to

sustain

a good deal of damage

in

Ceiling,

Fighters

..

....

battle and to be quickly repaired on the
ground.

Although

not

as

fast

or

as

maneuverable

as

the

German Bf 109,

the

performance

of

the

Hurricane was

nevertheless

close

enough

to hold

its

own in dogfights

If

its

pilot was skilled

enough.

Also,

since it had better range,

Spitfire

Hurricane

Bf109

Bf

110

I

I

55

it had the advantage of staying in the

air

longer

than

the

Bf 109.

The

rugged,

heavily-armoured Hurricane proved to

be devastating against the other German
aircraft. Frequently British fighter tactics

called

for

this

fighter

to

attack

the

bombers, while the more maneuverable

Spitfire would

take

on

the

109s.

The

Hurricane

proved more

than

capable,

and

88 percent

of

the

German aircraft

lost in the

battle

of

Britain were

shot

down by Hurricanes.

The Hurricane

Mk

1 was the first pro-

duction model to

go

into service. Later

versions of this model featured

an

all-
metal wing, replacing the earlier fabric-
skinned wing, plus extra armour protec-

tion around the cockpit area. These were
used in the defence of Singapore against
the

Japanese,

and

in

the

Battle

of

France

and

the Battle of Britain.

Hunicane

Mic

1

Performance

Powerplant: one Rolls
Royce

Merlin II or

III

12-cylinder liq-
uid-cooled engine
Horsepower:

1,030

Top speed: 320 miles per

hour
Rate of climb: 2,420 feet
per minute
Ceiling:

35,000 feet

Range: 460 miles

I

Crew:

one

Dimensions

Wingspan: 40 feet
Wing

area: 257 square feet

Length:

31

feet 5 inches

Height: 13 feet

l inch

Weights

Empty: 4,670 pounds
Loaded: 6,600 pounds

Annament

Guns: eight Browning .303 calibre

machine guns, four mounted in each
Owing,

with 334 rounds per gun

I .

Fuel

Gauge

56

2.

Ammunition

Round

lndkator

3.

Pitch

lndkalor

4.

Ahimeter

5.

Airspeec:l

lndkator

6.

Gunsight

7.

View

lndkator

8.

Banking

lndkator

9.

Compass

I

0.

RPM

lndkator

11.

Ct.mb/Dive

Indicator

12.

Replay

Camera

Indicator

13.

Nameplate

14.

Engine

Damage

lndkator

15.

Airframe

Damage

Indicator

16.

Radio

17.

Landing

Gear

Lever

18.

Flaps

Lever

Supennarine

Spitfire

Mk I righter

Perhaps

no

other combat aircraft in
history can match the reputation of the
Spitfire. In the eyes of the British public,

the performance of this aircraft, more
than any other factor, decided the out-
come

of

the

Battle

of

Britain

and

changed

the

course

of World War

11.

The first all-metal fighter

to

be produced

for

the

RAF,

the Spitfire was noted

for

its

sleek

design

and

unique

thin,

oval

w1ngs.

While the Hurricane

evolved

from

a

biplane

design,

the

Spitfire

was

designed

as

a monoplane from the start.

And

while

the

Hurricane outnumbered
the Spitfire in 1940 and shot down more
German aircraft,

the

Spitfire

captured

the imagination of the British people.

Originally based on a design for a

record-breaking

racing

seaplane,

the

first Spitfire prototype flew in 1936.

Though

its

complex design delayed Ini-

tial

production,

-

the

first Spitfires,

model

Mk 1,

were

delivered

to RAF

squadrons

in 1938. The first seventy-

seven aircraft had twin-blade

fixed

pitch
propellers, and succeeding aircraft were
flt with three blade two position pro-
pellers,

there

by raising

its

ceiling by

7,000 feet

and

Improving climbing and
diving. Later modifications - Included
the addition of a high visibility bubble

cockpit hood

and

extra armour protec-

tion. - The Spitfire

Mk

l first saw action

in October 1938

at

the Firth of Forth in

Scotland, where

two

-

RAF

squadrons

intercepted

Ju

88 bombers and shot one

down.

Supennarine

Spitfire

Mk

11

Fighter

When the more powerful

Rolls

Royce

Merlin

XII

engine was developed in 1940,

It

was delivered

to

a new Spitfire plant

Range, Fighters

Spitfire

SOD

miles

Hurricane
460

miles

Bf

109

410

miles

Bf

110

680

miles

I

I

I

I

57

near

Birmingham. The Spitfire model

that used this

engine was known

as

the

Mk

11,

and the first one rolled off the

assembly line in

June

1940.

Along

with

a

higher

level

of

performance,

the

Spitfire

Mk

11

was more combat-worthy

than

the

Mk

1,

with self-sealing fuel

tanks, a bullet

proof windshield,

and

extra

armour

protection for

the

pilot
added during assembly. Certain versions
of

this

model could also carry bombs

and extra fuel

~s.

During the Battle
of Britain, the speed and maneuverabili-
ty of the

Spitfire made

it

an

even match

for

Its main German adversary, the Bf

109,

and

gave

it

a decisive advantage

over other German air- craft. Although

the Spitfire could not

out

climb the Bf

109,

it

could

outrun

it,

unlike

the

Hurricane. The Spitfire's engine,

howev-
er, would sometimes cut out in combat
when the &forces caused fuel to

flood

the carburettor.

To

prevent Bf 109 pilots
from taking advantage of this, British
pilots would execute a half roll

and

dive,

which kept the Spitfire's engine running.

The carburatlon

flaw

was later corrected,

and the Spitfire would

go

down in histo-

ry

as

perhaps the best defensive weapon

of the war.

Spitfire

Mk I Perfonnance

Powerplant: one Rolls

Royce

Merlin

II

or III 12-cylinder liquid-cooled engine
Horsepower: 1,030

Top

speed: 355 miles per hour
Rate of climb: 2,530 feet per minute
Celling:

34,000

feet
Range: 395 miles
Crew:

one

Dimensions

Wingspan: 36 feet

10

inches

Wing

area: 242 square feet

Length: 29 feet

11

inches

Height:

11

feet 5 inches

Weights

Empty: 5,067 pounds
Loaded: 6,409 pounds

Annament

Guns: eight Browning .303 calibre

machine guns, four mounted

In

each

wing, with

300

rounds per gun

Spitfire

Mk

11

Performance
Powerplant: one Rolls

Royce

Merlin

XII

12-cyllnder liquid-cooled engine

Horsepower:

l,

175

Top speed: 370 miles per hour

Rate of climb:

2,600 feet per minute

Celling:

34,000

feet
Range: 500 miles
Crew:

one

Dimensions

Wingspan: 36 feet 10 Inches
Wing area: 242 square feet
Length: 29 feet

11

inches

Height:

11

feet 5 Inches

Weights

Empty:

5,

142 pounds

Loaded: 6,484 pounds

58

Annament
Guns: eight Browning .303 calibre
machine guns, four mounted In each
wing, with

300

rounds per gun

1.

Fuel

Gauge

2.

Ammunition

Round

lnclkalor

3.

Pitch

lncl'icalor

4.Altimeter

5.

Airspeed

lnclkator

6.

Gunsight

7.

V'tew

Indicator

8.

Banking

Indicator

9.

Compass

10. RPM

Indicator

11.

Ct.mb/Dive

Indicator

12.

Replay

Camera

lnclkator

13.

Nameplate

14.

Engine

Damage

Indicator

15.

Airframe

Damage

Indicator

16.Rad'io

17.

Landing

Gear

Lever

Bombload, Bombers

59

GERMAN

AIRBORNE

WEAPONS

7.92

mm

MG

15

and

MG

17

Machine

Guns

The

MG

15

and

MG

17 were

the

standard

German

airborne

machine

guns,

used

by

both

Luftwaffe fighters

and

bombers. The

MG

If

was

mounted

on the wings, fuselage,

and

nose of the

Bf 109, the Bf 110,

and

the

Ju

87. The

MG

15

was

drum-fed, and

flexibly-

mounted Inside the canopies

and

gondo-

las of the

He

111, the

Do

17,

and the

Ju

88. In performance, these weapons

had

a slightly slower

rate

of

fire

than

the

British

.303

machine

guns,

although

they fired slightly heavier bullets.

20

mm

MG

FF

and

MG

FF/M

Cannons

The

MG

FF

and

MG

FF

/M

cannons

could do a great deal of damage

at

close

range, especially the

MG

FF /M, which

had a higher firing rate. Mounted

In

the

wings of the Bf 109

and

In

the nose of

the Bf 110, they fired a thin shelled pro-

jectile

that

exploded on impact. These

cannons, however

had

a limited maga-

zine of sixty shells, which could be used

up

In

just

eight seconds! Worse yet, they

had a

low

muzzle velocity, meaning

that
the shells were slow to reach the target.
Since

It

was hard for Luftwaffe pilots

and

gunners to keep the swift

RAF

fighters

In

their gunslghts for long,

this

proved

to

be a great drawback.

1,

100/550/110

Pound

(500/250/50

kg)

Bombs

The

1,100,

550,

and

110

pound

bombs

were general-

purpose

bombs,

with

bodies

made

of a solid

piece

of

forged steel,

then

packed

with explo-

sives. From the

He

111

, the 550 pound

version was dropped tall-first, which the

British

and

other Allied enemies claimed

reduced Its accuracy.

.303

Browning

Machine

Guns

With eight Browning machine

guns

mounted on the wings of the Spitfire

and

Hurricane,

these

fighters provided

an

even match for the firepower of the Bf

109,

with

Its

two

cannons

and

two

Pitch

Axis

Roll

Axis

Rudder

Pedals

machine guns.

However,

a lot of machine

gun bullets were needed

to

bring down

the

more

durable

bombers.

These

machine guns

bad

a somewhat greater

muzzle velocity and rate of

fire

than their

German counterparts, the

MG

15

and

MG 17.

FLIGHT

FUNDAMENTALS

This section covers the dynamics of
flight, both in a real aircraft, and in the
fighters

and

bombers you

fly

in

Their

Finest

Hour

Those

paragraphs

that

apply

to

flying

in the game are in italics.

At

the time of the Battle of Britain,

aircraft

had

- become larger, heavier,

and

faster

than

ever before. Yet

these

1940 fighters

and

bombers,

like

the

supersonic

military

aircraft

of today,
utilised the same aerodynamic - princi-
ples

that

the

Wright

Brothers

first

Lift

Airflow

F

aster Air

(l

owe

r p ressure)

applied in

1903

at

Kitty

Hawk.

And the

most

important

of

these

principles of

flight is known

as

lift.

Try this simple experiment. Hold a

piece of paper

by

one of

its

edges

and

blow across the top of

It

The paper will

rise

. Why?

Because

the

air

moving

across

the

top of

the

paper

creates

a

high

pressure

zone

greater

than

the
pressure zone below the paper, which in
tum

creates suction and pulls the paper

up. This

Is

known

as

lift.

Substitute

an

aircraft wing

for

the
piece of paper, and you have some idea
of how a plane becomes

airborne

. Of

course, a wing

has

a more streamlined,

aerodynamic

shape

than a piece

of
paper. This shape Is designed spacially
to

create high and

low

pressure zones,

and

to

ensure

a

smooth

flow

of

air
around the wing. Without a streamlined
shape, too

much

drag, or wind

resis

-

tance,

Is

produced, which reduces

the

amount of lift

A continuous

flow

of air is needed

-

- - - -

....

over and under a wing

to

sustain lift.

To

- - - - -

....

do

this,

an

engine is used

to

push

the

Slow

er Air

(high

er

press ure)

60

aircraft through the air by providing

for-

ward thrust, or movement. The faster

the forward thrust. the more

lift

is creat-

ed.

As a result,

an

aircraft can be large

in

size

and

weight

as

long

as

It Is

equipped with a powerful engine.

To

increase your thrust,

use

the +

key

on your keyboard.

To

decrease

It

use

the -

key.

Stalr.ng

If

the smooth

flow

of air around the

wing is interrupted, a dangerous situa-

tion known

as

a stall can occur.

An

air-

craft.

usually stalls when the wing

Is

tilt-

ed

upward

at

such a steep angle that

It

obstructs

the

airflow. A stall

can

also

occur when

the

aircraft Is moving too

slowly.

When

an

aircraft stalls,

It

can

go

out of control and crash.

Your

aircraft

may

stall

If

you've

pulled the nose up

at

too

sharp

an

angle,

or

If

you let your airspeed drop

to

60-80

MPH

in level flight (this

Is

known

as

the

stalling speed of your aircraft).

If

a stall

occurs,

push

the nose of your aircraft
down by moving the controller forward .
When the message

STALL

RECOVERED
appears on the screen, quickly pull back
on the controller until your aircraft

Is

in

level

flight again. Stalls frequently occur

when you're trying

to

engage an aircraft

thats

at

a much higher altitude. Learn to

gain altitude gradually.

Also,

keep an eye
on your airspeed indicator and learn to
listen

for

the distinctive sound that your

engine makes when the plane is about

to

stall.

In-Flight

Maneuvering

While

an

aircraft

Is

in flight, It can

maneuver three different ways . It

can

61

\

~

/-l~

.-.~>/9\,

---

~,

~

,,

" .

•

R

°"

right:

push c

on

trol

cotumtl

ng

ht

pitch, or

move

up

and down;

It

can yaw,

or

swivel

left and right; and It

can

roll, or

tilt left or right.

To

execute these maneu-

vers, the pilot moves a

control stick

or

column, which controls pitch and roll.

Yaw

is controlled by a combination of

pitching-

and

rolling.

To

make

an

aircraft. dive, the pilot
pushes on the control stick. This moves
the trailing-edge

(or

rear) horizontal por-

tions of the

tail, called elevators, down.

To

climb, the pilot pulls

back

on

the

stick. This moves the elevators up.

To

turn

, the pilot moves the control stick

either left or right and

banks the plane

left or right This moves the trailing edge
vertical segment of the tail, called the

rudder, along with the small, trailing-

edge sections of the wing near the wing

tips, called

allerons

. As

the

aircraft

banks, Its wings

will

tilt more and more

to

one side or the other. The steeper the

bank, the faster the tum, up

to

a full

90°
with the wings pointing straight up and
down.

As you steepen a bank

tum,

and

as

your wings become closer and closer to

perpendicular to the ground, your air-

craft

will

lose

lift

and the nose will start

to drop.

To

counter this, pull

back

on
the controller slightly or increase your
throttle setting when you bank.

To

come

out of a banked

tum

, and return

to

level

flight,

move

your controller in the oppo-

site direction of your bank.

Takeoffs

and

Landings

To

help

an

aircraft gain lift

for

take-

offs,

and

allow

it

to

slow

it

down for

landings, flaps are used. These are the
large trailing-edge sections of the wings

that, when extended downward, increase

lift

. This added lift allows the plane to

fly

at

a slower

speed

before stalling. Of

'~

,~

,

course, landing gear is also

used

for

takeoffs and landings.

It

consists of the

wheels of the aircraft and the supports

for

those wheels.

To

takeoff from

an

airfield increase

your planes throttle and

taxi

down the
runway When you reach the end of the
runway,

tum

your plane around so that

its

pointing

down

the

runway

in

the
other direction. Then, lower your flaps
and

increase

your

throttle

until

the

white digital number

at

the bottom of the

RPM

indicator

reads

"100%.

"As

your

aircraft

rushes

down the runway wait

until

the

air-speed

reaches

125

MPH

Then, pull

back

on

your

controller to
become airborne. Retract your landing
gear (unless you

are

flying a Ju

87 Stuka

with

fixed

landing-gear), then decrease

the throttle setting with the -

key

to con-

seive fuel. When approaching

an

airfield

to land, begin

to

slow your airspeed

by

decreasing

the

throttle

setting.
Gradually, flatten your descent, then line
up your aircraft with the

airstrip.

As you

continue to descend, lower

your

flaps
and your landing gear and decrease the
throttle setting until it is

just

above the
stalling speed of your aircraft. When you
touch down, decrease the throttle setting
to

0 and let your aircraft taxi until it

has

come

to

a complete stop.

Dive

Bomber

Maneuvering

Speed brakes are special flaps found

only on dive bombers. They open both
up

and

down from the trailing-edge of

the wing and are full of small holes

to

keep

the

aircraft

from being buffeted

when they are open.

62

If

you 're

flying a Ju

87 Stuka or a

Ju

88

use

your

speed

brakes

to slow

your diving speed

as

you make your

dive
bombing run on a ship convoy or ground
installation. This

will

make it easier

to

line

up

the

target

and

drop

your

bombload more accurately.

TACTICS

This section of the chapter describes

tactics used

by many RAF and

Luftwaffe
pilots durlng the Battle of Britain. Those
paragraphs that will be helpful to you in
the game situations of Their Finest Hour

are in italics.

Also

note

that

the replay camera is a

useful tool for analysing

your

perfor-

mance in combat

and

improving

your

aerial tactics.

It

lets you "film" your

dog-

fights, bombing

runs,

or

other

aerial
maneuvers, and then view the "motion
picture"

from

any angle. See the

Review
Combat Film section of the manual for
more information.

fighter

Tactics

As

the slower, more maneuverable
biplane fighters of World War I evolved
into the faster less maneuverable mono-

plane fighters of

World

War

II,

the tactics

of aerlal combat

evolved

as

well.

Yet

one

of the keys

to

aerlal victory remained the

same throughout both wars: surprise the

enemy.

Gaining a height advantage was one
way to achieve this element of surprise.
The higher a fighter could get, the faster

it could pounce upon the enemy aircraft

below, hopefully without being detected

until it was

too late. Another way

to

sur-
prise the enemy was to attack from the
direction of the sun. Hidden in the sun's
bright glare, a fighter pilot could

strike

before the enemy spotted

him and retali-

ated.

RAF pilots had

an

expression for

guarding

against

this

type of

attack:

"Beware of the Hun in the sun."

Attacking from the direction of the

sun

is a valuable tactic, since the enemy

fighters

or

bombers

you're

attacking

can't see you.

To

attack from the angle of

the sun, first use the scan

view

mode

to

locate the sun, then use it

to

locate the

enemy fighters or bombers you want

to

attack.

Next.

adjust your flight path so

that your fighter

will eventually be posi-

tioned between the

sun

and the enemy.

When you reach

this

point,

turn

your

fighter

around

and

head

toward

the

enemy Ideally the

sun

should be

at

your

back,

- if you

can

see the

sun

in

your

rear

view mirror you're in a perfect posi-

tion

to

attack. Since you can't be seen,

the enemy fighters won't take any eva-

sive

action or fire

at

you until you

fire

at

them. Likewise,

the

bomber

gunners

won't

fire

at

you until you open fire first

In

all of your missions, keep in mind
that enemy fighters may use these same
tactics on you.

When attacking from the direction of

the sun, pilots would usually

rely

on the

stern attack.

To

execute this approach,

which dates back

to

the First

World

War,

the attacking pilot would dive on a tar-

get.

pull

out

of his dive when he was on

the

tail of the target, then

fire.

If

the tar-

get aircraft had a rear or

tail gunner, the

attacking pilots would Usually pull

out

of their

dive

and

fire

at

an

angle slightly

beneath

the

tail of the target to avoid

gunfire. if you're flying a Spitfire or a

Hurricane, and a Bf

109 is attacking you

from behind never

try

to

dive

away from

it since it can accelerate in a dive faster

than

you can. Instead, try to make a

tight

tum

inside

to

shake it. A series of

S-tums

can also throw off its

aim.

But

if

you're flying a Bf 109 you can shake a

pursuing

RAF

fighter by going into a

dive.

If

you're

flying

a Bf 110 you won't

be able to lose

pursuing

fighters with

maneuvers, so use your rear gunner

to

ward off

stem

attacks, and try

to

brlng

your Zerstorer around so

that

you

can

use its forward firepower

In

the

early

part

of

the

Battle

of

Britain,

RAF pilots would sometimes

fly

straight

at

approaching enemy forma-

tions,

and

fire

at

them when they were

63

within range. This

was

known

as

the

opposite attack,

and

it was phased

out

after a number of head on collisions.

With

stem

and opposite attack tac-

tics, a fighter pilot could bnng down

an

airplane

by

shooting

straight

ahead,
since the target was right in front of him.
But when approaching and attacking

an

enemy plane from

an

angle, pilots on
both sides had to learn deflection shoot-
ing

to

score a kill. This meant

that

the

pursuing

pilot would shoot

at

a point
ahead of the enemy plane's flight path,
so

that

the

bullets

would

reach

that

point

at

the

same

time

as

the enemy.

Mastering

deflection

shooting

was

extremely difficult,

as

Spitfires

and

Bf

109s could reach speeds of nearly

400

MPH,

leaving little time to

judge

dis-

tance.

Deflection

shooting

is

a skill you

must master

to

enjoy success

as

a fight-

er

pilot

You'll

need

to

compensate

for

the

speed of

your

target

the

angle

at

which it crosses your line of sight, and

its distance away from you, which you
can judge by comparing the size of the
enemy aircraft

to

your gunsight ling.

If

the enemy aircraft is faster

flying

a per-

pendicular flight

path,

or flying away

from you,

you

'11

have

to lead

your
shots more. By taking all these factors
into account and rememberlng to shoot
ahead of your target

you'll

be able to

score hits every time.

You'

11

know your

shots are hitting home when pieces of

the enemy plane break

off,

or

if

smoke

pours out of it.

To

maximise a pilot's

chances

to

score a

kill, the eight machine guns on

the Spitfire and the Hurricane were

har-

monised. This meant that the guns were
adjusted so

that

when they were fired,

the bullets would intersect

at

a certain

point

in

the

distance.

This

gave

the
pilots a large "area of lethal density"
ahead of them. Unfortunately, this often

penalised pilots

who

liked

to

shoot

from

close range, since their bullets did not

intersect

In

the

vicinity of

the

target.

These pilots countered by adjusting their

own guns so

that

their intersection point

was much closer, allowing them

to

pour

on highly concentrated gunfire

as

they

neared their

target

The machine guns of your

RAF

fight-

er

are harmonised so

that

they will do

more damage

at

close range

than

from
long range. When you're approaching
enemy fighters, there may be a

few

sec-

onds when

you'll

be so close

that

you're

able

to

make out the details of a particu-

lar aircraft. This is the time

to

open

fire.

Since

the

machine

guns

on

the
Hurricane were more closely grouped
together

than those of the Spitfire, it had

a denser bullet pattern. This made the
Hurricane

more

suited

for

attacking
bombers, since a bomber required more
gunfire to bring it down

than

a fighter.

Factored into this tactic was the knowl-

edge

that

the

Hurricane

was

not

as

maneuverable

as

the Bf

log,

so while the

Hurricanes

took on

the

bombers, the
more agile Spitfires attacked the German
fighters.

A

good

rule

to

remember

as

a fighter
pilot is that when you're in hostile skies,
never

fly in a straight or level

path

for

more than thirty seconds.

Fighter Formations

After the Luftwaffe fighters suffered
heavy losses flying in tight three plane
formations during the

Spanish

Civil

War,

German ace Werner Molders developed

and

tested

a loose fighter formation.

Known

as

the Schwarm, it consisted of

four fighters flying in pairs, or Rotten.

The leader of this formation was the best

pilot

and

best

shot,

and

always flew

ahead

of the

other

three fighters. The

second aircraft was the leader's protec-

tive

wingman,

and

his job was

to

never

leave

the

leader's

side. The wingman

always flew on

the

side of

the

leader

where the

sun

was, though

at

a lower
altitude so that the other aircraft would
not have

to

look into the

sun

to

see him.

64

On the opposite side from the wingman
was the leader of the second Rotte, and
at

his side, though

at

a higher altitude,
was his wingman. The second wing- man
always had the job of scanning the sky
around the sun, and watching

for

enemy

attacks

from

that

direction. Since

the

Schwarm

was

so

spread

out,

it

was

harder

for

enemy fighters to spot it, and

it

had

the added benefit of minimising

the

risk of collision within a formation.

The result was a high rate of

kills

for

the
Luftwaffe fighters during the remainder
of the Spanish

Civil

War and the early

stages of the Battle of Britain.

During

the

time between

the

two

world wars, the British, believing

that

their

fighters

would

be

attacking
unescorted bombers, developed a tight
formation known as the vie. Essentially
the same formation the Luftwaffe aban-

doned in

Spain,

it

consisted

of

three

fighters

flying

at

the same altitude, with

the middle fighter slightly ahead of the

other

two.

Flying wing tip-to-wing tip,

the

vie

was a great

formation for

air

shows,

but

with each pilot constantly

wonying about

collis1on,

it left little time

to look for

the

enemy. This made

the

RAF

fighters easy targets

for

the looser-

flying

Luftwaffe

fighters,

who

could also

spot the tight

British formation sooner.

As the Battle of Britain progressed,

RAF
pilots, who lacked the vital experience
the

Luftwaffe

had gained in the Spanish

Civil

War, gradually abandoned the

vie,

and

adopted

their

own version of

the

Schwarm, which they called the finger

four formation.

If

you're

flying

as

the

leader

of a

Schwarm

or

a vie

formation,

you're

responsible

for

leading the attack on the
enemy. Its important that your wingmen
remain

at

your

side

for

protection,·

therefore don't fly so radically

that

you

lose them.

if

you're

flying

as

a wingman

in either of these

two

formations, your

prlmazy responsibility ls

to

cover your

leader and

to

stay

by

his side.

A controversial fighter formation that

the

British developed during the Battle

of Britain was the

big

wing

.

It

was made

up of three

to

five

squadrons, totalling

some

thirty-six

to sixty aircraft. The

advantage of a big wing was obvious -

more guns were brought

to

bear on the

enemy aircraft.

Moreover,

the sight of so

many fighters proved to

be

a show of

strength unnerving

to

the

Luftwaffe.

The

disadvantage of

the

big wing was

the

amount of time

it

took all the aircraft to

takeoff

and

assemble usually over half

an hour.

Also, the more

RAF

fighters in
the air, the more that could be knocked
out

by

the

Luftwaffe, who

saw

aerial

combat

as

the

best

way to finish off

Fighter Conunand.

The debate over the feasibility of the

big

wing

divided

Fighter

Command.

Eleven Group felt

that

the big wing was

impractical, since its besieged squadrons

simply

did

not

have

enough

time to

assemble such a large formation.

Twelve

Group, which originated

the

big wing,

was

located

further

north

than

11

Group, and this

gave

them more time to

put a big

wing

together

before

the

Luftwaffe arrived. Twelve Group's big

wing

proponents believed

that

it

was bet-

ter to

hit

the

enemy

hard

after it

had

dropped

its

bombs on

its

targets

and

was

returning

to Continental Europe.

But since many of these targets were

11

Group's fighter airfields,

11

Group vehe-
mently disagreed with this philosophy,
and

usually

tried

to

intercept

the

Luftwaffe

beforehand, with

single

squadrons.

The formidable Bf 109 was often

used in a

free-ranging

or

free chasing

role, in which formations of l

09s

would

simply fly about looking

for

RAF

fighters

to attack. When

the

defensive-minded

RAF

avoided engaging these free-ranging

Bf

109s, the Luftwaffe used the

Ju

88

Stuka and other bombers

as

bait

to

lure

the

RAF

fighters into combat.

Using fighters to accompany

and

protect bombers on their way

to

the tar-

get

and

back

was

known

as

fighter

65

eacort. The Bf 110 was originally devel-

oped

for

this role,

but

during the early
part of the Battle of Brttain, it proved to
be a failure against the more maneuver-

able

Hurricane and Spitfire. The

Bf

110

was successful only when it could dive

down and blast the enemy with its

two

cannons

and

four machine guns, then

get away. As Bf

110 losses mounted,

they were given a protective escort of Bf

109s,

and

the

109

became

the

main

escort

fighter for the

duration

of

the

Battle.

If

you're flying fighter escort,

your

main responsibility ls

to

make sure the

bombers reach their targets and escape

enemy fighter

attacks

. Tzy to keep

the

bombers

in

sight

at

all

times,

and

beware of enemy fighters pouncing on

them from the direction of the

sun

, or

from high above.

During

the

Kanalkampf

providing

fighter escort for

Ju

87s

proved to

be

next to impossible durtng a

dive

bomb-

ing run, since the

Stukas were slowed

by

their dive brakes

and

bombload. Their

escorts, the

much

faster Bf 109s,

flew

right past the Stukas during a

dive,

leav-

ing them unescorted,

and

easy targets

for

Spitfires

and

Hurrtcanes. As

Ju

87

losses

increased,

their

crews

began

demanding more fighter escort.

and

the

fighter to-bomber ratio, which

had

been

one to one, was increased

to

two

to

one.

When

the

Stukas

were

withdrawn
from the Battle of Brttain in mid-August,
Luftwaffe

bomber

formations

were

escorted by formations of

Bf

l

09s

,

flying

several

thousand

feet higher to gain a

height

advantage

over

the

attacking

British fighters.

But

British fighters

in

tum

took advantage of this height differ-

ence, and pulverised the bombers before

the Bf

109s could

dive

down. Again, the

increasing

bomber

losses

forced

the

Luftwaffe to

change

its

escort

forma-

tions.

Bf

109s were then ordered

to

fly

alongside the bombers,

at

the same alti-

tude. The fighters were forced to throttle

way back

to

stay

at

the same speed

as

the

bombers,

and

often weaved in

and

out

of the bomber formations. This

cut

down on bomber losses,

but

it also

cut

down on

RAF

losses, since the

l09s

were

now in a defensive, rather

than

an

offen-

sive, role.

The

fighter-

to-bomber

ratio

was increased to three to one,

and

for-

mations of fighters

flew

ahead

of,

along-

side,

and

above the bombers.

Div.-Bombing

Tactics

When

the

tactics

of

dive-bombing
were being developed during the period
between

the

wars,

the

RAF

took little

interest.

But

the Luftwaffe, seeing dive

bombing

as

a way to soften

up

an

enemy

before

ground

troops

moved

in,

embraced

the

concept,

and

developed

the

Ju

87

Stuka

dive bomber in 1935.

The

Stuka

became a formidable weapon

in

the

conquest

of Europe,

although

it

had

limited success against the convoys

and

coastal

targets

of

the

English

Channel during the Battle of Britain.

What made dive-bombing so appeal-

ing

was

its

pin-point

accuracy.

Theoretically,

if

a

plane

could

dive
straight down on a target before releas-
ing a bomb, there was no way

it

could

miss. Though

Stuka

pilots rarely made

vertical dives,

80° dives generally result-

ed in deadly hits.

Flying

at

an

altitude between 10,000

and

15,000 feet, the

Stuka

pilot would

spot

his

target,

and

begin to dive when

he

was nearly over it. Dive angle lines

were even etched onto the glass canopy

of the

Ju

87, to give the pilot

an

idea of

his

angle

of

approach.

As

the

Stuka

picked

up

speed

in

its

dive,

the

pilot

would

extend

the

dive

brakes, which

slowed

the

airspeed

and

enabled

the

pilot to

make

a more controlled dive.

Along with the brakes, the

drag

on the

fuselage

caused

by

the

externally

-

mounted

bomb

and

the

fixed

landing

gear slowed the

Stuka's

diving speed

to

around 350

MPH.

With the landing gear-

mounted sirens, called the "trumpets of

Jericho,· screaming in the wind, the pilot

would

release

the

Stuka's

fuselage

-

66

mounted bomb

at

an

altitude of

3,000

feet.

If

the bomb was released any lower,

the

Stuka

would

be

in danger of being

destroyed

by

the

resulting

explosion,

since

it

needed another 1,500 feet

to

pull

out

of

its

dive

and

level

off.

Once

the

pilot

had

released

the

bomb

and

pulled

out

of his dive, he would often make eva-

sive

turns

to

avoid any anti-aircraft fire

or enemy fighters. And

if

he looked over

his

shoulder,

he

might get a glance

at

the damage inflicted by the bomb he

just

delivered.

If you're flying a

Ju

87

dive-bombing

mission

with

other

Stukas,

there

will

always

be

one

or

more

Stukas

flying

ahead

of you. When

you're

about

five

miles from the target, all the

Stukas

will

assemble into a line

astern

formation,

lined

up

one

after

another

If

you've

strayed away from the formation,

you'll

see a space where your

Stuka

should be.

After you've

returned

to

the formation,

you·

11

be able to

follow

the

Stuka

ahead

of

you

as

it

dives

down

to

attack

a

ground installation or ship.

When

you're

piloting a solo

Ju

87

Stuka

or

Ju

88 switch on the

scan

view

mode to help you locate the target you

want

to

dive-bomb (see the Double-Seat

Fighter

and

Dive

Bomber

View

Controls

section

for more information). In

this

view mode, you

can

fly

the plane in one

direction while searching

in

any

direc-
tion. When you spot the target, make a
note

of

its

location in degrees, switch

back

to normal flight,

and

change

the

direction of your dive bomber so

that

will

fly

over

the

target. Switch

back

to

the

scan

view

mode

if

you

have

trouble

locating the target

in

normal flight. As

you get closer to the target, switch to the

straight

down view mode.

If

you

have

lined

up

your target correctly it will slow-

ly

begin

to

appear in the screen. This is

the time to

begin your dive. Ideally, you

should be

at

an

altitude of 7,000 feet

or

more

when

you

start

diving,

if

your
starting altitude is below 5,000 feet, you
may have trouble pulling

out

of your dive

7,

000

feet-

Open

dive

brakes

Enter

70

°

dive

2,

000---

3,000

feet

Bomb

releas

e

I

1,

000

feet--+

I

in time.

Pullout

/

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

Dive-

Bombing

To begin your dive, make

sure

you're

in normal flight,

and

extend your speed

brakes.

You

may

want

to

tum

on your

replay

camera

to record

your

dive

and

see

if

your

bombload

hit

home,

and

check your bomb indicator to determine
which of your bombs will drop.

if

you're

bombing a large target,

such

as

a ship,

you'll

want

to drop your entire bombload

at

once. If

you're

attacking

scattered

ground targets,

such

as

airfield hangars,

67

you'll

want

to

scatter

your

bombs

on
ferent targets. Then, when you're ready,
push

the controller forward until you're

in a

70° to 80° dive. The

Ju

87

has sev-

eral diving angle lines etched in the left

window. Four of these lines are labelled

50°, 60°, 70°,

and

80°. Switch

to

the view

left mode

to

line

up

any

of these dMng

angle lines with

the

horizon. You

can

also

use

your

pitch

indicator

to

judge

how steep your descent is.

If

its needle is
pointing three-quarters of the way down
the minus

(-)

part

of the indicator you're

in a

70° dive.

Tiy

to keep the target in

your gunsight ring on your way down.

As you dive, you may find

that

your

approach to the target is off

and

that

its

straying

to

one side or the other Simply

moving your controller to the side

to

cor-

rect

this

is

dangerous,

since

it

could

cause

your dive

bomber

to move side-

ways relative to the direction its headed

(a

condition known

as

slipping

or

skid-

ding). To correct

your

approach,

push

the

controller forward

until

your

dive

bomber

is

in

a

near-vertical

dive,
approaching 90°. Then, move your con-
troller left

or

right

until

the

target

is

lined

up

correctly

and

pull back

on

the

controller to

return

to your desired div-

ing angle.

If

you're attacking a ship in a convoy

a

longitudinal attack along the line of

the ships course,

is

best. since this gives
you a longer area for your bombs to hit.
Approaching

the

ship

from

the

bow

is

more preferable

than

from the stern,

as

in a

stern

attack the ship will sail away

from you

and

you'

11

have to flatten

out

your dive

to

catch

it

further along.

Ho

we
don't waste valuable time making a per-
fect approach. With practice, you'

11

be

able to score direct hits even with a per-

pendicular attack on a ship.

If

you're

attacking

ground

installa

-

tions,

they

will

be

easier

to

hit

than

ships, because they

aren

't moving.

But

no

matter

which type of

target

you're

attacking

, ignore

the

bursts

of flak

or

gunfire around you,

and

concentrate

on

your mission objective, since

it

is vital.

When

your

altitude

reaches

3,000
feet, you should get ready to release your
bombload,

and

release

it

before your alti-

tude reaches

2,000 feet

If

you're

In

a 70°

dive,

your

gunsight

should

be

pointed

just

ahead of where you

want

your bomb

or bombs to

fall.

Tilis

will

compensate

for

gravity pulling your bombload

out

of the

line of

your

dive. Once you've released

your

bombload

pull

back

on

the

con-

troller to pull

out

of

your

dive. In

the

Battle of Britain, this was the time when

dive

bombers,

particularly

the

Ju

87

Stuka,

were

the

most

vulnerable

to

enemy

fighter

attack,

since

their

air-

speed was slowed

and

their fighter escort

gone,

unable

to

stay

with

the

dive

bombers

in

a dive.

To

avoid

what

the

RAF fighter pilots called a

'stuka

party',

"make

sure

that

your dive bomber is

In

level flight after you've pulled

out

of your

dive,

tum

on the autopilot, then switch

to

the

rear

gunner

Use

your

forward

guns

if

an

unlucky

fighter

happens

to

wander

In

front of you.

If

you're flying a

Ju

88 you

may

want

to switch to

the

upper

dorsal

gun

position to

ward

off

fighter attacks.

You

can also weave your
dive bomber around to make it a harder
target for enemy fighters to

hit

Low

and

Medium

Altitude

Bombing

Tactics

Low

altitude

bombing

raids,

from

heights of several

hundred

feet

or

less,

proved to

be

highly successful

against

airfields,

radar

stations,

and

other

tar-

gets. At

the

low

height

these

bombers

flew,

the

RDF

system

couldn't

detect

them,

and

the

Observer Corps

on

the

ground

had

trouble spotting them.

Low

altitude

surprise

attacks

also

gave anti-aircraft batteries little time to

react,

and

thus

gave the planes

an

excel-

lent

chance

to get away after dropping

their

bombloads.

Bombers

also

had

a

better chance of

scoring more accurate

hits from

low

levels. The main Luftwaffe

bombers

for

low altitude bombing raids

were the

Ju

88, which was structurally

reinforced to serve double-duty

as

a dive

68

bomber,

and

the

Dol

7.

The

fighter/bomber

versions of

the

Bf 109

and

the Bf 110 were also used for low

altitude bombing.

If

you fly your mission from

an

alti-

tude of less

than

500 feet, you won't

be

detected by the

radar

system,

and

they
won't send any fighters after you. More
important, you may

be

able to fly to your

target

without

being

seen

by

any

high
altitude fighter patrols. However there's
always a chance

that

a low altitude fight-

er

patrol

will

spot you. For low altitude

bombing,

Its

more

accurate

and

less

dangerous to drop your bombload from

the pilots position

than from

the

bom-

bardiers position.

The

majority

of

the

Luftwaffe's

bombing raids came from medium alti-

tudes of

11,000 to 18,000 feet, depend-

ing on the cloud cover.

It

was essential

to

the success of medium bombing raids

the

the

ground

be

visible

from

the

bomber, since

In

1940 landmarks

had

to

be

visible from the plane for navigation,

and

targets

had

to

be

spotted before they
could be bombed. In a medium altitude
bombing

mission,

the

bombers

flew

directly

to

the

target,

released

their

bombs,

and

headed directly back to their

bases. If the bombers

spent

more time

than necessary over England, they would

be

in

jeopardy

of

losing

their

fighter
escort, because the Bf 109s only carried
enough fuel to remain over England for
twenty to thirty minutes. The

He

111,

the

Do

17,

and

the

Ju

88 setved

as

the
main medium altitude bombers for the
Luftwaffe.

If

you're

flying a

bomber

and

are
attacked by enemy fighters, maintain a
tight formation. This allows the gunners
on the other bombers to protect the for-
mation.

It

will take a lot of practice to learn
how to drop a bombload accurately from
a medium altitude.

To

give

yourself some

benchmarks,

always

drop

your

bombload from the same altitude

and

at

the

same

speed

on

all

your

missions.

'Ihen,

use

the rings

on

your bombsight
to gauge the precise moment when you
should drop your bombs

on

a target.

Bomber

Gun

Positions

The

best

way to defend

your

bomber

from enemy fighter attack

is

to learn to

read

the

flashing yellow

gun

indicator

lights. When you see a flashing light. it

means

that

an

enemy plane is approach-

ing.

and

you could

be

attacked from

that

position. Look

at

the

lights, determine

which

position

is

being

attacked

and

move over to

that

position.

If

you feel

that some positions

are not

as

critical to

defend

as

others,

switch

those

less

-

Important

positions

to

the

autoshoot

mode. However

bear

In

mind

that

when a

position

Is

in the autoshoot mode,

it

will

use

up

its

ammunition

cluster

Also, it

will

not

be

able

to

see

enemy

aircraft

attacking from the direction of the

sun

,

which

you

yourself

are

able

to

do.

Deflection shooting

is

as

important for

bomber gunners

as

it

is

for fighters (see

Fighter Tactics above for more informa-

tion).

N'ight

Bombing

Tactics

The Luftwaffe made scattered bomb-

ing raids

at

night throughout the spring

and

summer of 1940,

and

switched over

entirely to night bombing in the

fall

and

Winter,

as

daylight

raids

were proving

too costly. Night

bombing

had

many

advantages. The bombers could

fly

virtu-

ally

undetected

after

they

passed

the

coast, since then the

RDF

system could

no longer pick

them

up

and

the Observer

Corps

could

not

see

them. British

ground defenses

had

to rely on listening

for

the

sounds

of the bomber's engines

to

track

them,

and

this

difficult

task

was

made

virtually impossible by

bad

weather

and

the

varying

speeds

of

German

aircraft. Since airborne

radar

had

not

yet

been

developed

for

RAF

fighters, they were virtually

useless

in

the

dark,

and

only

a few

German

bombers were brought down by fighters

at

night. Yet

this

same

darkness

that

69

hindered Fighter Command also prevent-
ed the Luftwaffe from finding

and

hitting

blacked-

out

targets accurately.

However, the Luftwaffe did possess a
navigational aid which could have made
night bombing much more formidable.

It

was a radio beam known

as

Knlckebeln,
or "crooked leg." The Knlckebein signal
radiated from Germany

or

France,

and

pointed toward a

target

in England. A

bomber

pilot, flying

along

this

beam

,

which

was a few

hundred

yards

wide,

heard a

series of dot

and

dash

codes

if

he strayed too far left

or

right. As

the

bomber approached the target,

it

would
intersect with a second beam, which was
transmitted from a

different location

on

the Continent. This beam gave a differ-

ent

sound,

and

was the signal to prepare

to

drop

the

bombload.

The

bomber

released Its bombs a predetermined dis-

tance from where the second beacon was

received.

But

the

British,

who

had

known
about Knlckebeln ever since early 1940,
developed

counter

measures

to

hinder
its effectiveness. Special detection equip-
ment

was Installed

on

top of

the

350

-

foot-high

RDF

masts

along

the

British

coast,

and

technicians precariously

sat

on the

masts

and

listened for incoming

beams

. The

Germans

usually

tested

a

beam the morning before a raid,

and

by

plotting

the

direction of the beam, the

British usually figured

out

which target

was

likely to

be

bombed

that

night.

Then,

the

British

overpowered

the

Knickebein beam by transmitting

beams

of their own, making

It

Impossible for

Luftwaffe bomber pilots to

hear

the cor-
rect beam. Often the British beam would
be misinterpreted

as

the second German

beam, and

many

German

bombloads

were dropped in the ocean or scattered

throughout the

countiyslde by crewmen

who thought they

had

hit their target.

These British counter measures were
not always successful, yet for the most
part

they

blunted

the

weapon of night

bombing. Although airfields, factories,

ports,

and

cities

were

hit

at

night

throughout

the

close of 1940

and

into

the

beginning

of

1941,

these

raids,

which might have brought Britain to its

knees, did not.

·

MISSION

BUILDER

When you

use

the

Mission Builder,

you get a

chance

to become

your

own

game designer.

'Th.is

utility lets you cre-

ate missions,

and

then save them to disk

for

yourself

and

others

to

fly

in Their

Finest

Hour. You actually

construct

a

battle scenario by deciding the composi-

tion of forces for

both

the

British side

and

the

German

side

in

the

Battle

of

Britain. You decide

the

number

of

air

-
craft for each side, the types of aircraft
to be used, the flight groups they'll

fly

in,

and

more. Once you finish designing a

mission, you save

it,

and

then select

FLY

CUSTOM

MISSION

from the Main Menu

of Their

Finest

Hour

to

fly

it. You

can

even go

back

and

modify it

later

If

you

want

With the Mission Builder, there's
no end to the variety of combat mission
challenges you

can

create, both for your-

self

and

for your friends.

HINT:

Before you sit down in front of

your computer to create a mission, plan

It

out

on

paper. Since there are so many

choices

you

need

to make,

building

a

mission with the computer

can

be

tricky

without a plan to work

from.

LOADING

THE

MISSION

BUILDER

To

start

up

the

Mission Builder

on

your

computer, look

at

the

Loading

Instructions. Mission Builder section of

your

Reference Card. Then continue by

following the instructions below.

USING

THE

MISSION

BUILDER

Once you've loaded the utility, you'll

see

a

special

map,

which

shows
Southern England, the English Channel,
and

the west coast of France, with the

words

MISSION BUILDER

at

the

top.

70

This

map

Is

nearly

identical

to

the

Campaign

Map

you

access

whenever

you're

playing

Campaign

Missions.

If

you've already fought a campaign battle,
you'll notice

that

many

of

the

controls

used

for

playing a campaign

are

the

same

ones

used for building a Custom

Mission. You'll

use

this

map

and

the

buttons

on

It

to determine the forces for

both sides of your mission.

The

markings

on

the

map

Indicate

different ground installations

that

can be

attacked by the Luftwaffe

or

defended by

the

RAF.

To

learn

the

name

of

any

of

these

ground

Installations,

move

the

arrow over a

ground

installation icon.

You'll

see the information in the column

In

the

lower

right-hand

comer

of

the

screen.

At the bottom of the screen, you'll see

five

buttons:

LOAD

This lets you load the missions

you've already created, so you

can

make

any

modifications to

them.

When you

choose this, you'll

be

shown a list of your

missions.

If

the

list

is

long, move

the

arrow to the down arrow icon,

and

hold

down

the

controller button; to look

up

the list, move the arrow to the

up

arrow

icon,

and

hold down

the

button.

Click

the arrow on the

name

of a mission to

load it. The name of the mission

you've

selected will

appear

next

to

the

word

NAME

at

the top of the screen.

SAVE This lets you save a mission

you've

just

created, so you

can

play It

from the game program

at

a later time.

Your mission will not be saved unless

It

has

been given a name. To

name

your

mission, click

the

controller on the white

area

labelled

NAME

at

the

top

of

the

screen. A text cursor will appear. Use

It

to type

the

name of

your

mission,

then

press

RETURN.

NOTE:

If

you

build

a mission with

more

than

three

different types

of

air

-

craft, you won't

be

able to save

it,

as

It

requires

too

much memory during game-

play.

.

NEW

'Th.is

cancels

any

mission-build-

1Jlg

choices you have made, so you

can

start building a mission all over again.

SETTINGS

'Th.is

lets you change the

mission settings for the plane

that

you

yourself will

fly in

your

mission.

EXIT

'Th.is

returns

you to your com-

puter's operating system.

Fl'ight

Groups

When you create a Custom Mission ,

you'll begin with

up

to sixteen aircraft,

although you don't have to

use

all six-

teen

in

every

mission

you

create.

To

divide

these

available aircraft between

the British

and

the

German sides, you'll

need

to

assign

them

to

various

flight
groups for both sides. A flight group is a
given

number

of aircraft flying together

as a

unit

. By choosing the type of air-

craft

and

the

number

of aircraft

for

each

flight

group,

you

allocate

aircraft

to

either the

RAF

or the Luftwaffe in your

mission.

Here's

an

example. Let's say you're

creating

three

flight groups for a mis-

sion; the first with six

He

111 bombers,

the second with six Bf

109 fighters. The

Luftwaffe now

has

twelve aircraft on its

side in your mission.

Now,

the most air-

craft the

RAF

can have

on

its side in the

third flight group

is

four.

Of course, you

can

put

all

of

your

available aircraft

on

only one side,

and
create a mission with no enemy aerial
opposition. But,

as

you'll find

out.

it

won't

be

very challenging or interesting.

Also, if you have a slow machine, you

won't

want

to have the aircraft bunched

together in the same location, since the

mission

will

be

more

enjoyable

when

they're spread out.

HINT:

Even though you have a limit-

ed

number

of aircraft, If

you

create

a

fighter flight group,

and

It

is destroyed, a

flight group of similar composition

can

be vectored to take its place.

If

you'd like

to

use

this feature in your missions, see

the

WAVE

button

below.

Building

Your

Opposing

Forces

To

determine

the

composition

of

71

your

forces, you'll

use

the seven Flight

Group

buttons

on the right side of the

screen:

FLIGHT

GROUP Click

your

con

-

troller

button

to

cycle through the flight

groups

that

are available to be filled ,

and

to look

at

the ones you've already creat-

ed. To

create a

light

group, you

must

select a plane type (see

below)

and

allo-

cate

at

least

one

plane

to

that

flight

group.

You

yourself will always

fly

in

the

first flight group, called

FLIGHT

GROUP

l.

The default setting for this group will

always have you flying a Spitfire.

This

can

be

changed

by

using

the

PLANE

TI'PE button below.

PLANE TYPE Click

your

controller

button

to cycle

through

the

different

types

and

models of

aircraft

that

can

make

up

a flight group. (For example,

"

SPITFIRE"

is a type of aircraft,

and

"MK

I"

designates Its model number.)

Each

flight group

must

consist

of

the

same

model of aircraft For instance, you

can

-

not

create

a - flight

group

with

both

Spitfire Mark

Is

and

Spitfire Mark Ils.
However, you can create one flight group
of Mark Is

and

a second one of Mark Ils.

#

PLANES

This lets you change the

number

of

aircraft

in

the

flight group

you're creating.

You

need to have

at

least

one plane in the flight group before

that

group can

fly

in your mission. Pressing

the left controller

button

increases the

number,

and

pressing

the

right

con

-

troller button decreases it.

The

number

of planes you have left

to assign

will

be

displayed in the upper

right-

hand

comer

of the screen. next to

the words

PLANES

AVAILABLE

.

The

number

of planes on your side,
along with the number of planes on the
opposition side,

will

be

displayed below

PLANES

AVAILABLE.

The maximum number of planes you

can have in flight group is six.

FORMATION

Use

this

to

cycle

through the available flight formations

your

current

flight

group

can

fly

in.

These fonnations are the

"VIC"

(a

trian-

gular

three-plane

formation),

the

"SCHWARM"

(a

spread

out

four plane

formation),

"AS1ERN"

(a

single-

file

for-

mation),

and

"ABREASl

(a

side-by-side
formation). For more information about
the

vie

and the Schwarm, see the Flight

Fundamental

and

Tactics chapter of the

manual.

EXPERIENCE

Use

this

to cycle

through the

amount

of combat experi-

ence a flight group can possess.

ORDERS Click your controller

but

-

ton to

cycle

through the mission orders

for

the flight group you're creating. When

you're composing

the

RAF

forces, you

can choose

to

have your fighters attack

either enemy bombers or fighters, or

to

ignore or avoid

an

attack.

If

you're com-

posing the Luftwaffe forces, the choices

vary, depending upon the

type of aircraft

in your flight group. The

He

ill

and the

Do

l 7z-2

can

level-bomb,

the

Ju

87

Stuka can dive-bomb, and the

Ju

88 can

be used

for

both level bombing and

dive

bombing. The Bf 109

and

110

fighters

can

be used

for

bomber escort [protect-

ing a bomber

flight group),

for

free -rang-

ing [hunting

RAF fighters), or

for

strafing

airfields.

Bf

109

and

110

Jabo

fighter /bombers

can

be used

for

either

level bombing, or

for

bombing and straf-

ing airfields. Both RAF

and

Luftwaffe

forces

can

also be ordered to return

to

their home airfield.

WAVES

Use

this

to

choose the num-

ber

of

times

the

fighter

Combat

Air

Patrol

(CAP)

aircraft in

an

enemy flight

group

will be

reinforced. What

this

means

Is

that

if a wave of fighters is

destroyed, another one will be vectored

to

the battle area

to

take its place. The

number

to

the right of the

WAVES

but

-
ton indicates the total number of waves
that

can

appear in your mission. This

number

also includes

the

initial wave

that you start with. For example,

if

you

choose

"4,

•your

first wave of fighters will

be reinforced

up

to three times.

If

the

number

to

the right of the

WAVES

but

-

72

ton is

"l

,"

the flight group will not be

reinforced.

If

you've chosen to have the flight

group

fly

a fighter escort mission, this

button

will change to ESCORT. Then,

you

use

this

button

to

select

which

bomber flight group

your

fighters will

escort.

Flying

Your

Own

Aircra~

as

Leader

or

Wingman

At

the top of the screen, in the upper

right-

hand

corner, you'll see a

button

marked

PLAYER

Pressing this

button

switches your plane between the LEAD-

ER.

whose plane is leading the forma-

tion, or

WlNGMAN,

whose plane

has

the

responsibility of covering the leader.

If

you're

flying

a bomber, you cannot

fly

as

the leader.

Ftight

Rosters

Like

the

other

missions

in

Their

Finest Hour you

can

select pilots

and

crews

to

fly

the aircraft in your custom

mission when you're

at

Flight Briefing in
the program. However, if you create a
mission with more than seven aircraft on

your side, you'll only be able

to

assign

pilots

and

crews

from

the

ROSTER

screen

to

the first seven planes.

Creating

a

Ftight

Plan

After you've created a flight group,

you need

to

implement a flight plan

for

it

to follow.

You

create

a flight

plan

by

placing a series of navigation markers on

the Mission Builder map. A flight plan is

composed of up

to

six of these navigation

markers,

including

its

starting

point

(BEGIN),

four rendezvous points

(WAY

PT

1,

WAY

PT

2,

WAY

PT

3,

and

WAY

PT

4)

and

an

airfield

to

return

to

(LAND).

To

create a flight plan, look below
the Flight Group buttons. There, you'll
see a chart that looks like this:

FLIGHTPLAN

ALT

ATK

BEGIN
WAYPTl
WAYPT2
WAYPT3
WAYPT4

LAND

DELETE

To

choose where you want a flight

group

to

start

its

mission,

click

on

BEGIN

. A

star

will

appear

next

to

the

word

BEGIN. Move

the floating arrow to

the location on the map where you want

the flight group to begin

its

mission,
then click the controller button. A start-
ing point icon will now

appear

on

the

map.

If

you decide you want

to

relocate

the starting point,

move

the arrow

to

the

desired location,

and

click the

button

again.

RAF flight groups can only begin

their

missions

over

England

or

the
English Channel. Luftwaffe flight groups
can

only

begin

their

missions

over

Continental

Europe

or

the

English

Channel.

Now,

look for the word

ALT

next to

the words

FLIGHT

PLAN

. This shows the
current cruising altitude for this flight
group, in thousands of

feet.

Clicking the

left controller button increases the alti-

tude

at

which

that

group begins

your

mission, and clicking the right controller
button decreases it.

The locations of the four

Way

Points

are set the same way you set the

BEGIN

location. First, click on

WAY

PT

l ,

move

the arrow

to

the desired location on the

map,

and

click your controller button.

An

icon will appear on the map

to

repre-

sent the location of

WAY

PT

l.

To

adjust

the altitude

for

your flight group flying

toward

WAY

PT

l,

click on the number

below

ALT.

Repeat

this

procedure for

WAY

PT

2,

3,

and

4

if

you want. With

these different

Way

Points, you can plot

a course for each side to

follow

in your

mission.

During

fighter

Combat

Air

Patrol

(CAP)

missions,

the

flight group flies

between the

Way

Points until

it

runs

low

on fuel. For bombing missions, the flight

group only

follows

the flight plan once.

For fighter escort missions, the

fli

ght

group stays near the bomber flight group

it

is escorting, regardless of the

fli

ght

plan created

for

it

, unless the bombers

have all been destroyed.

73

Any

bomber or fighter/bomber flight

group

will automatically bomb a target

if

it is located where you've placed a

Way

Point icon.

If

you don't want the flight

group

to

attack this target, look

for

the

word

ATK

(attack) next

to

ALT

. A

YES

will appear

if

an attack will occur. Click

on

YES

to

erase this word, and call

off

the attack.

To

assign each flight group to a land-
ing area after you have assigned them to
different Way Points, click

on

LAND,

move

the arrow to

the

desired airfield,

then click the controller button.

After

you've created a flight plan, you

may want to remove one or more of the

Way

Points.

To

do this, click on the

Way

Point you'd like

to

remove, then click the

DELE1E

button, which is located

to

the

right of the

LAND button. This removes

the

Way

Point icon from the map.

As

you create flight plans for all of

the

flight groups for both sides, their

starting points

will be marked by icons

on the map.

Convoys

If

you're looking

for

a suitable dive-

bombing target

for a Ju

87 Stuka or a

Ju

88 flight group, you can include a ship

convoy in your mission.

To

do this, look

at

the buttons in the lower right-hand
corner of the screen. Click the controller
on

CONVOY

to choose between a YES or

a

NO

setting.

If

you choose

YES,

click

the controller on

#

SHIPS

to

choose

how

many

ships

will

be

in

the

convoy. To
determine the location where the convoy
will start, click on

START

LOC.

Now

,

every time you click

the

controller, a

black convoy

Icon will move around to

v

arious

locations

in

the

English

Channel.

Keep

clicking until the convoy

icon is positioned in the desired location.

Changing

the

Settings

for

Your

Aircraft

If

you'd like

to

modify the

fea

tures of

your aircraft in your mission, press the

SETilNGS button

from

the Flight Group

buttons. You'll then see four new

but

-

tons:

TIME

Use

this

to

change the time of

day you'll

begin your mission, from 0 to

23:00 hours.

AMMO

Use

this

to

change between

"STANDARD"

or

"UNLIMITED"

amounts

of

ammunition

you'll

carry.

In

the

"STANDARD"

mode,

you'll

carry

the
same number of gun or cannon rounds
as

German and British aircraft In 1940.

In the

"UNLIMITED"

mode, you'll never

run

out of ammunition.

FUEL

Use

this

to

change

between

"STANDARD"

or

"UNLIMITED"

fuel

capacity.

In

the

"STANDARD"

mode,

you'll

cany

a finite supply of fuel,

and

use

It

up

as

you

go

along.

In

the
"UNLIMITED"

mode, you'll have an end-

less supply of fuel.

DAMAGE

Use this

to

change between

"STANDARD"

or

"UNLIMITED"

amounts

of battle damage

that

can be sustained

by

your

aircraft. In

the

"STANDARD"
mode, your plane can be damaged and
shot

down

by

enemy gunfire.

In

the

"UNLIMITED" mode,

your

aircraft

Is

Invincible.

If you change the

AMMO,

FUEL,

or

DAMAGE

settings

to

"UNLIMITED,"

the

results of your mission

will

not count on

your Combat Record.

A

SAMPLE

MISSION:

STEP

BY

STEP

Though

the

Mission

Builder

may

seem complex

at

first glance,

It

Is

actual-

ly

fairly easy

to

create a mission with

It.

For example, let's say you

want

to
create a mission where you defend the
RAF

airfield

at

Hawkinge

with

three

Hurricanes

against

a level

bombing

attack

by

three

He 111 bombers

and
three escorting Bf 109 fighters. First, set
the

composition of

the

RAF

forces by

clicking on

FUGITT

GROUP.

For

FUGITT

GROUP

l,

choose

"HURR

MKI"

from the

PLANE

1YPE,

and

"3"

from #

PLANES.

Choose

"VIC"

from

FORMATION,

"TOP

ACE"

from

EXPERIENCE,

"CAP

PRIORI-

1Y

BOMBERS"

from

ORDERS

(ordering

the Hurricanes

to

go

after the bombers

74

instead

of

the

fighters).

and

"l"

from

WAVES.

Since

the

Luftwaffe will

be
attacking Hawkinge, create a flight plan
where your fighter

CAP

covers this air-

field

from many directions. Finally, you

might

as

well

designate the aircraft you'll

be

flying

to the leader position.

Now

for

the

Luftwaffe. For

FUGITT

GROUP

2,

choose

"He

11

lH-3." and

for

FUGITT

GROUP

3,

choose

"Bf

109E-3."

For #

PLANES,

choose three for

each

flight group. Then,

go

down the flight

group list to set

the

other variables

for

the

two

flight groups. Since Flight Group

3 will be escorting Flight Group

2.

be
sure

to

designate that with the

ESCORT

FG

button. Then, create a flight plan

for

Flight Group 2 so that the bombers will

fly straight

In

to

Hawkinge, bomb it, and

then head

for

home. Create a flight plan

for

Flight Group 3 In case you manage to

shoot down

all of the bombers in Flight

Group2.

The mission you're building is nearly

completed.

Now,

click on the name bar,

and

type In a name for your mission.

Click on

SAVE

to store It on disk.

(If

you're using a floppy disk to save the

game, Insert one

at

this time.)

To

fly

the

mission, exit the Mission Builder,

and
start up the game program. When you're
at

the Main Menu, select

FLY

CUSTOM

MISSION,

then select the name of your

mission.

Soon,

you'll

be

flying a
Hurricane over Hawkinge - against a
larger

Luftwaffe

force.

Good

luck!

SUGGESTED

READING

When

we

began working on the game

design and manual

for

Their Finest Hour

we

were pleasantly surprised

to

find that

a wealth of information exists

on

the

subject of the Battle of Britain.

To

gain a

better

understanding

of

this

epic

air

duel,

we

recommend the

following

books:

Battle for Britain by Ronald

W.

Clark

Fighter

by

Len

Deighton

The First and

the

Last

by

Adolf

Galland

Summer 1940: The Battle

of

Britain

by Roger Parkinson

Duel

of

Eagles

by Peter Townshend

The Narrow Margin by Derek

Wood
and Derek Dempster
A visit to

the

Smithsonian Air

and

Space Museum

In

Washington,

D.C.,

ls

also highly recommended. Besides being

one of

the

most

Interesting

museums

around, it's also one of the most fun. The

Air

and

Space Museum features

an

actu-

al

Spitfire and Bf 109, plus many other

famous World War

11

aircraft and mem-

orabilia.

It

also

has

a research library,

whose

staff

graciously _ supplied

us

with many of the photographs used In

this

manual,

and

was

of

Invaluable

assistance.

In addition, we encourage you see

the movie

The

Battle

of

Britain, which

was

released

In

1969.

It

features plenty

of

terrific aerial acrobatics by Spitfires,

Hurricanes, Bf 109s,

and

even

He

11

ls

that will really

put

you In the mood to

play the game. For a more documentary-

type look

at

the

events

of

1940,

part

three of the series Why

We

Fight is also

recommended. Although it was a

U.S.-

made propaganda

film,

and consequent-

ly

is

heavily

biased

(a

map

of

Scan-

dinavia

and

Northern Europe turns Into

"the jaws of the

Nazi

whale"), its docu-

mentary footage ls

well

worth seeing.

75