I first played IL-2 Sturmovik 1946, when it was released here on GOG. Before I tried many other flight sims like, MS Flight Simulator, Falcon 4.0 with BMS Mod, DCS Warthog, but they couldn't make me hooked on. The main reason is, that they have a steep learning curve. Yes, they are very realstic but it's more a kind of work than fun flying a plane. In IL-2 Sturmovik 1946 you can choose how realistic you like the game and turn the realism up step by step. But even if you choose the most realistic option in IL-2 Sturmovik 1946, as a beginner you will be able to take off with any plane and fly around really quick. The reason that I see is, that you mainly fly older planes that are not that hightec, with may boardcomputers to operate and hundreds of buttons to press. If you play a flightsim with modern planes you can spend many hours in learning how to operate the boardcomputer before you can even think of starting the engine or txiing out. Your first flight is far away. So I can say IL-2 Sturmovik 1946 is more about the fun of flight, not about learning how to operate computers, which do the job for you. The graphics of the game might not be top-notch for todays standards but they are still decent. Where other flight sims might be focused on a specific planetype, in IL-2 Sturmovic 1946 you can fly a lot of different planes and play different roles on a plane. For example on a bomber you don't need to be the pilot, you can also play for example the gunner. The flying will then be overtaken by the AI. I recommend installing the HSFX Mod which adds a lot more content to the plenty of content the game already has. So the game won't become boring any time soon. How you can install this Mod, you can read in forums here on GOG. I can't say much about the realism of the flight physics in this game because I'm not a trained pilot and I never flew a plane myself. But I can say, that the physics in this game seem to be plausible. So it's the best flight sim for me so far.
