The smell of engine oil and exhaust permeated the cockpit of the B25 bomber. I was seated on a bench behind the pilot and co-pilot, my right hand grasping the edge of a structural beam. I could feel the throb of the huge twin radials throughout my body.

A bulky headset isolated me from some of the noise, which is comparable to that of a Beaver or Twin Otter. The engines are absolutely thunderous up close, and even the heavy insulation didn't offer anything like complete isolation.

When we leveled off I unbuckled my harness, popping my head into the gunner's turret (minus machine gun). The upper gunner's bubble sits almost dead center in the aircraft upper fuselage, affording a 360 degree view of the area.

Glancing to the right, I saw Wee Willy II, the P51D Mustang, bobbing and weaving in accord with the movements of the old bomber. Off to the left, a P40N Warhawk provided escort, framed against the soft blue of the southern California sky and the bleak tan of the rolling desert hills below.

Photo Fanny is a B25 bomber stationed at the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Ontario, CA. An old but proud lady, she became the refuge of a gaggle of gaming editors and free lance writers this past week. Microprose sponsored this event, adding some atmosphere to the launch of their latest air combat simulation: European Air War.

Click for 640x480.

Format for the day involved viewing rare examples of old war birds like the Me 262 and the Komet. The Planes of Fame museum is quite extensive, and I actually didn't find time to tour the entire collection. After spending some time touring and viewing the gold master of EAW, we gathered for a fly off competition in EAW. The winner would walk away with honors AND the opportunity to ride back seat in the P51 Mustang!

Flying head to head in a simulation one hasn't flown for almost eight weeks is a bit unnerving. Control functions are unfamiliar; even the handling of the aircraft will prove somewhat unpredictable. Matches were arranged randomly among the roughly fourteen competitiors, who were divided into two groups. The winners from each competition would face each other for the privilege of the ride of a lifetime!

As fate would have it, Rod White of PCME and I were set to square off for the first engagement. I knew that Rod would prove a tough competitor, and I quietly consigned myself to do my best and leave the rest in the hands of my creator.

The system configuration was less than idea. The hard core among us were especially unhappy with the choice of controllers and default settings. Spins and blackouts would be turned off, allowing the less skilled pilots a change to achieve victory. Moreoever, fuel and ammo were unlimited. The Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback pro, while a great force feedback device, provided our only means of rudder control. Most of us were more familiar with rudder pedals.

The ROE were fairly simple. Combatants would mount an identical airframe, and would meet at 10,000 feet. No firing was allowed on the first merge, and victory would go to the pilot with the most kills in five minutes. If no pilot had achieved a victory in that time, the battle would continue until someone recorded a kill.

Spitfire MK IX in EAW.

Rod and I chose Spitfire MK IXs for our engagement. We began at 10,000 feet and roughly three miles separation, closing at approximately 500 mph.

I don't recall the details of the first kill, but it was Rod's. I regenerated at 10,000 feet, but soon we were in a knife fight at 2500 feet. Somehow I got the advantage and Rod made a large hole in the ocean below me.

With about two minutes left to fight, Rod regenerated at 10,000 feet and came diving at me from high above. When I saw him coming I turned directly toward him, diving at about fifteen degrees toward the ocean. This tactic forced Rod to increase his dive angle while minimizing my exposure to his fire (the Mk IX throws about eight pounds of lead into the air per second).

By diving I had closed to about 500 feet of the ocean surface and I was close to 300 mph in speed. I knew that Rod's speed was probably passing 450 mph and that it would take him a great distance to complete a turn (best turn speed for the Spit (degrees per second) is achieved around 250 mph.) As soon as Rod passed overhead I pulled into a loop and performed a split S, rolling vertical when I saw Rod on the outer part of his circle about 2000 feet in front of me.

I quickly manouvered onto his tail, and a few moments later his aircraft shattered into fragments and flames. With only about twenty seconds left to the fight, Rod had no time to descend into the battle and I came up the victor!

I won my next two matches, then lost the fourth to Steve Klett. Steve prefers the Focke-Wulfe, and he won the toin coss. After one kill each, Steve came diving down on me, as Rod had attempted.

Instead of diving away, this time I attempted to meet him in a head on pass. I took a serious hit to my engine, and powerless I became an easy target for the kill. There are no second chances when you make a tactical error!

Having won the group competition, Steve moved on to a match with Tom Basham of Debrief Magazine, who had beat Tom Chick to win the other group. Tom and Steve battled for almost ten minutes before Tom finally got tally and sent Steve down in flames. Having taken top honors, Tom also got the ride in the Mustang!

Looking like he had been in a battle, I figured it was a perfect time to take Tom on in a head to head of our own! After a few minutes rest we were back in harness and reset all the configuration settings to maximum realism. Spins and blackouts were active, fuel and ammo limited.

Back in my favorite mount (Spit IX), immediately after the merge I dropped flaps and attempted to pull around on Toms' six. My opponent was nowhere to be seen! Invoking padlock view, I saw Tom spiralling down toward the sea, twisting and spinning out of control. It seems that he had forgotten that spins were now back in place!

Taking advantage of the opportunity, I dove after him with throttle at minimum. Guns blazing, I pulled up at about three thousand feet, promptly losing consciousness for a full six seconds!

Meantime, Tom had regained control and was attempting to gather some airspeed. When I regained my sight I attempted to pull around on him, but promptly blacked out again. Good grief, this was a very different game at full realism! We decided we both needed a break and would have to continue the fight another day.

In virtually every area, EAW is a worthy successor to Pacific Air War. TK and team have done an excellent job, and the attention shows throughout the simulation.

For starters, flight modeling actually exceeds Combat Flight Sim. Departure characteristics in particular have been modeled with greater care. But one can also select individual guns, a feature omitted from CFS (although you can select guns, cannon, or both). And in EAW, you cannot drop your flaps at any speed.

But EAW is also a squadron simulation, and as in WW2 Fighters you can issue orders to your wingmen. Microsoft's new simulation doesn't allow you to issue commands to wingmen.

Microsoft has pushed the envelope for both fixed cockpit and terrain graphics. At high resolution, its a gorgeous simulation. But EAWs aircraft are still beautiful at 640x480, and their virtual cockpit is much nicer than that in CFS. Moreover, the clouds are better done and very atmospheric.

Equally important to me personally, the force feedback effects are more complete than those in CFS, including buffet and stall. And for those who prefer it, MPS allows the selection of an Arcade mode for force feedback. Pilots can also adjust the gain (the amount of energy the stick applies to each force). Strangely, WW2 Fighters may be released without force feedback at all!

Attention to detail shows in virtually every area of European Air War. While terrain isn't as photo realistic as that in Combat Flight Simulator, it's still beyond that of WW2 Fighters and looks especially good from anything over five thousand feet.

Padlock in EAW works very well, and you have a couple of basic choices for the view system. You can use a fixed cockpit view, where an "x" will float around the edge of your screen to represent the direction which you must pull to put your current target in front of you. You can also use this system with a no-cockpit view.

Alternatively, the standard floating padlock is simulated. Choosing the virtual padlock will simulate your head turning to retain your opponent in your field of vision.

The snap view system is placed on the number pad and works well also. Its a quick way to regain orientation relative to your target or simply to scan the air space around you for enemies.

Incidentally, you might wonder whether your own vision is really necessary for spotting bandits. In the two brief missions I've flown today, it was me who first called the bandit location in the second mission. I expected that the flight would then engage, but since I was flying as wing leader they waited for my signal.

P51 Padlock

While the views and padlock of EAW work well, I could wish for something other than a small x around the edge of my canopy to indicate the direction to target in fixed cockpit view. The "x" can be difficult to see, and if it disappears altogether it means that the bandit has gone outside of your ability to turn your head and your peripheral vision.

As I noted after my E3 report, EAWs engine can place up to 250 aircraft in the air at one time. What this means in real (virtual) life is that you will encounter situations with up to 120 aircraft. Add some flak to this melee, aircraft taking damage and making smoke, and you will find that your screen will become very busy indeed!

Sound and effects in EAW are state of the art. I was surprised to hear the deep rumble of the engines even on the small speakers that were used at the Planes of Fame Museum. Sound quality seems more complex than Combat Flight Sim, and to confirm my impression I invited an acquaintance who also had the CFS beta to comment:

"Yes, the sounds are richer and more varied. After only the first five minutes I was noticing more variation than I had heard in hours of running Combat Flight Simulator."

This comment carries over to the voice interaction. Whether its a call from ground control or from your Squadron leader, you'll appreciate the accent and intonation. This is especially true if you fly for the Luftwaffe. German language with subtitles takes the sound immersion to the max!

By the way, pulling high negative or positive G's while firing your guns can be very, very risky. Gun jams are modeled, and G effects or overheating your guns can place them permanently out of commission. There is no way to repair them in the air and you will be forced to return to base.

Finally, European Air War is the only WW2 sim this fall that models a fully dynamic campaign. This means that your next mission is not predetermined, and will vary depending on the success or failure of your previous mission. Furthermore, an element of randomness will also impact when and where you will encounter the enemy, as well as enemy numbers. No two missions will ever be quite the same, making for high replayability.

That's all for now. I wanted to give you my impressions from a few hours of exposure to the Gold (final release) version of EAW. I'll withhold comment on the AI until I've had more time in the simulation. Since I made this trip at Microprose expense, I have assigned the final review of EAW to Jim Tittle. Expect to see his review in the next week or so. The release date for EAW is set at November 3rd.