Customer Reviews

Wings Of Power: WWII Heavy Bombers & Jets add-on for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This add-on would be worth it for the B-29 alone. "Doc's Deadly Dose" is so meticulously modeled, both visually and flight-model wise, that I simply don't know how it could have been done any better on a PC. As a bonus, you also get a Lancaster, two different models of Flying Fortress in 2 paint schemes, a Liberator, a PBY4 patrol plane, and some exotic German jets, all modeled with fanatical perfection in every area.

As a real pilot, I'm looking for flight simulation, not gaming. The ultimate in PC simulation is as follows:

FS2004 "A Century of Flight" plus
"Wings of Power" plus
"Simcharts" from Jeppesen Sandersen.

Together, the 3 titles will set you back about $130 or so, but imagine this:

File IFR and blast off into the rainy overcast in the B-29 Superfortress. Climb into the sunshine on top. Cruise in the stratosphere making contrails from big radial engines. Descend back down into the muck, and test your skills shooting an ILS down to minimums, using the printed-out approach plate on your kneeboard. Break out over the REIL's, and grease the landing in a rainshower, and then pull onto the ramp and shut her down. Don't forget to shut the cowl flaps to keep the birds out. It's literally all that realistic. For more challenge, repeat the above but on a pitch-black night.

The whole time, you participate in fully-interactive ATC communications, and the entire IFR environment right down to every last SID, STAR, ILS, VOR, NDB, outer, middle and inner marker along with runway lights is fully and completely modeled for your flying pleasure. The Simcharts CD from Jeppesen is designed to work with the nav data in FS2004, and all you need for a completely all-inclusive IFR flight simulation, is high and low altitude enroute charts which you can order from them as well.

The combination of these three software apps, gives any Instrument rated pilot the perfect way to maintain and increase his/her skills at an extremely low cost; since $130 equals about 1 hour of dual instruction in a new Skyhawk.

Of course, if you just want to blast around the sky, you can do that too, and it's fun. But the more you ask of FS2004, the more you shall receive; and for simulating the IFR flight environment while flying some truly righteous airplanes, this is simply as good as it gets.

Now, how about an "Age of Propliners" add-on, with the DC-7, Boeing Stratoliner, Yankee Clipper and Constellation? Huh? Huh? I'm salivating just thinking about it... We can only hope.

The add on is great.
but the sellers here are ripping people off for it.
one has it New for $79.95
and another has it Like new for $64.99.
I paid $30.00 NEW from EB Games for mine.
shop around and you will find it much cheaper then here.

I highly recommend this product, if not for the two B-17 variants alone! The engine sound effects are professionally recorded and mixed, and the virtual cockpits are fully functional. I swear I can feel the 'soul' of each plane through the joystick ... I loved this product so much I went back to the developer's website (ShockWave Productions) to also get the indvidual download packages representing several variants of the P-47 Thunderbolt, P-51 Mustang, Focke Wulf 190, Fw-190 "Longnose" and Heinkel 219 Owl. ShockWave Productions has an online store at their website and I strongly suggest any prospective buyers of "Wings of Power: Heavy Bombers and Jets" should visit their site for more information.

The "Wings of Power" bombers are very enjoyable to fly and will perform according to published military specs and manuals. Be forewarned, however, that you can't explore any crew stations other than the cockpits. ShockWave's sister product "FirePower" for Combat Flight Simulator 3 allows the player to move to each gun station including ball and dorsal turrets and also fire the guns; the models in "WoP: Heavy Bombers and Jets" look nearly identical but the pilot is restricted to pilot/co-pilot duties. The player can open and close the bomb bay doors but as far as I know the bombs can't be released. The WoP planes should be regarded as civilian planes that fly at combat weights and power.

Everything you could want to add to FS4! Just wished I could drop the bombs.

Very realistic. Excellent graphics and play. Hard to get off the computer with this.

I think that this is the best game ever invented for the computer, because it has diffrent kinds of bombers.

CONSIDERING THE PRICE RANGES OF THIS PRODUCT AND ALL THE HYPE REGARDING THE SAME FOR THE LAST YEAR OR SO, IT IS DISAPPOINTING.

I have this add-on for some time and can hardly leave it.
The best simulator a fan can have.