In February, 1943, the Royal Air Force decided to plan an attack on the five hydroelectric dams on which the Ruhr industrial area depended. Barnes Wallis advised the Royal Air Force to use the new bouncing bomb (actually it was a mine) he had been developing at the National Physics Laboratory in Teddington. Twenty-three Lancaster bombers were revised to carry the upkeep mines. On March 21, a special squadron was formed to take this particular weapon into action; based at Scampton it was given the number 6l7, under the command of Wg Cdr Guy Gibson. Thus the Dambusters were born. Just Flight have recreated 25 of the original raids flown by the Dambusters squadron in this add-on for FS2000/2002 and CFS2.
The first thing that impressed me about this addon was the presentation, the 96 page manual is superb and contains 15 pages of detailed instructions on installing, configuring, and getting the best out of the addon. It then follows with 10 pages detailing the individual raids followed by another 10 pages on operating the aircraft with a further 11 pages detailing the aircraft and instrument panels. The manual then finishes with 10 pages of very interesting historical information. The final part of the manual is a German translation of the instructions. The manual is very well written and rivals the manuals in many stand alone sims. I found it very helpful but thanks to the history section I also found it very interesting.
Installation
Installing the add on was simplicity itself, the installer gives the choice of installing the add on to CFS 2 or FS2002, I selected CFS 2 and as the addon really requires CFS 2 to get the best out of it the review will focuss on th CFS2 addon side of things. The installer auto detected my CFS2 directory and away we went. If your CFS2 or FS2000/2002 directory is not auto detected the installer allows you to browse for the folder. Once installed a Dambusters icon was placed on the desktop.
When running the Dambusters you are given the options are broken into 2 sections. Authentic raid times and alternate raid times. All of the raids on the Dams were flown at night and so Just Flight included the alternate times to allow you to fly the raids in the day time in order to enjoy the aircraft and terrain. In each section you can choos between Summer and Winter raids. You also have the option to run normal CFS2. Once you have made your selection (assuming it wasn't "Run normal CFS2") you are presented with a new UI offering you the choice of Free Flight, Quick Combat, Single Mission, Campaign, and multiplayer.
Missions
The missions themselves are faithfull recreations of 25 of the original raids flown by the 617 Squadron. A lot of attention to detail has gone into these missions. The raids are flown on the same dates as the real raids. All aircraft have the correct codes and serial numbers. The routes used on the dam raids follow the actual routes used as closely as possible. In the Mohne raid Gibson's and Martin's aircraft fly accross the dam to attract the defenses while you attack the damWhen you fly the Sorpe raid past the Mohne Dam the Dam is still broken from the previous raid, you then have to fly around the dam dropping marker flares to enable you to locate the dam. On this mission you drop the mine on the top of the dam running in from the side just as in the real raid, rather than from the water side as at the Mohne.
I have mixed feelings about the way the missions follow their real life counterparts so closely. On the one hand it adds an extra element of challenge and also helps you to appreciate the original pilots that flew these missions, but on the other hand it is quite linear and does not allow you the opportunity to alter the course of history. If 617 failed a mission you too must fail that mission. That said there are a wide variety of targets, the Dambusters didn't just bust dams. The missions include raids on factories, Rail yards, E Boat pens, ships and more. You also have the training missions and practice runs and the original upkeep mine test drop at Chesil beach in the Wellington. The raids include detailed briefings and have use of recon pictures. The night missions themself include working flak guns and moving search lights which make the missions very immersive.
Aircraft and Panels
There are 3 variants of the Lancaster including the Dam raid upkeep version and the Tallboy/Grand Slam versions. The Mosquito is included complete with target marker flares. There is also a Wellington modified for the mine dropping trials. The 3D models for each of these planes are very good, each has authentic markings and insignia, moving control surfaces, rolling wheels, transparent glazing and a virtual cockpit. The upkeep Lancasters also have the 60 ft height finding lights operational however these are not visible from within the pit and can only be seen from the external view.
The panels and guages are excellent with custom guages based on the real aircraft rather than the defaults within the host game. Having been in the cockpit of a real Lancaster I can attest to the accuracy of the Lancaster panels used in the game. The Lanc panel is very detailed allowing you to individually control the magnetos and engines. As each mission starts on the ground you have the option to manually start each of the engines. A high visibility panel is also included to help with landings. There is also an option to display the yoke, this can be turned on or off which brings us to a minor bug. If you have the yoke displayed it will also be visible in the bomb aiming view so it needs to be switched of before switching views. This is a limitation of the host program and is something Just Flight could not avoid, it is only a minor problem though.The Lancaster also has the authentic peice of wood with 2 nails used to aim the upkeep mines (hehe wasn't technology wonderful in those days :)).
I was also very impressed with the virtual cockpits of all of the planes. This is an area that I have found quite disappointing in some of Just Flights earlier titles but they have certainly got to grips with it now.
Sounds
The sounds were very impressive, particularly when starting up the Merlin engines. There is nothing in this world like the sound of a Merling engine and Just Flight have captured that sound beautifully. All of the aicraft sounds are sampled from the real thing. The sounds of the flak exploding really adds an element of tension to the missions. The radio communication has British voices and phrases, each raid has custom audio voices and Morse code success messages, some of these are based on the actual reported words spoken on the raids. Some of the in game phrases are tongue in cheek and can be fairly humerous. I must admit that some of these phrases seemed a little cheesy to me and they seemed odd because I know the person that recorded them. It was odd to me hearing a persons voice that I know in a defferent context within the sim.
Conclusion
Personally I really enjoyed this addon. I think the subject matter was long overdue for coverage in a sim and I think Just Flight have done it justice. This addon is officially licensed by the Royal Air Force who are quite particular about what they put their name to. In my opinion this is Just Flights best work to date, particularly considering how they have overcome the limitations of the host program to include the bouncing upkeep mine. If you are already a fan of their work then you will not be disappointed by this title. If you have never tried one of Just Flights addons before, and like the subject matter then this is definately the time to take the plunge. All in all it is a very polished product and one that I highly recommend.
