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Pearl Harbor

MiGMan’s Combat Diary, 2001

One new flyable plane, 20 missions and one pack of Hawaii scenery to go... is Pearl Harbor worth your hard earned shekels?

At it's original release price which was near that of a full sim it would be a bit hard to justify. At re-issue prices (USD$5-10) it is definitely worth it for an easy-to-set-up enhancement to your Microsoft Combat Flight Sim 2 experience.

If the P-40 could be installed into Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002 the value would have been enhanced significantly.

The missions by and large work well and with 8 US and 8 Japanese missions to fly. There are many re-attempts if you fly like me. And there is a lot of dogfighting fun in Pearl Harbour.

Curtis P-40B Warhawk

There seems to be no torque modelled. The aircraft should pull severely to one side as you rev the engine but this P-40 just sailed straight up the runway,

Torque aside, this is an exceptionally well presented aircraft model - possibly representing the upper limits of the Microsoft Combat Flight Sim 2 graphics engine. It is unfortunate that the aircraft can't be imported into Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002.

Curtis P-40B Warhawk

Cockpit | This image was taken at 1024 x 768 with full screen anti-aliasing on a Hercules 3D Prophet III Titanium 500.

The default cockpit

Nicely rendered
Mixture, pitch and throttle and flaps controls can be operated with the mouse
The throttle moves in synch with your controller
Dials are a just a little on the small side in my opinion.

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From the manual

The first P40 prototype flew in October 1939 with a total number of 13,738 built.

The P-40 was out-classed by British and German fighters when it rolled out for production, however the P-40 was utilized in almost every allied air force and theatre during WW2.

Durable, and reasonably agile once learned techniques were applied, the P40 proved to be an aircraft that could hold its own well and served with great success as a tactical fighter-bomber."

Visual Model: Roger Dial

Flight Model: Steve Small

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USN Mission 1

December 7, 1941

AIRFIELD: Haleiwa Field

MISSION TYPE: Fighter Sweep

TIME: 08:15

MISSION SUMMARY: George Welch's mission. You are a Lieutenant, returning t base after a long evening of cards and dancing, when you hear the sound of distant gunfire and bombs. Drive back to base as fast as you can and get aloft.

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This is where it all starts - Haleiwa Field - about 10 miles NE of Pearl.

Vastly outnumbered, the name of the game was survival

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USN Mission 2

December 7, 1941

AIRFIELD: Haleiwa Field

MISSION TYPE: Intercept

TIME: 08:45

MISSION SUMMARY: Kenneth Taylor's flight over Hawaii. You and your squadron mate, George Welch, heard the first wave of Japanese planes come across the island, wreaking havoc as they did. You have returned to Haleiwa and are ready to get into the air and fight!

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A flight of Japanese a/c overflew Haleiwa as I climbed into the P-40. It took a few minutes to catch up with them, by which time I was over the harbour and all hell was breaking loose!

Smoke trails were everywhere as FLAK and cannon took their toll.

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USN Mission 3

December 7, 1941

AIRFIELD: Wheeler Field

MISSION TYPE: Intercept

TIME: 08:04

MISSION SUMMARY: Scramble at Wheeler Field! We have multiple reports of unidentified aircraft coming in and attacking American forces. Get aloft as quickly as you can to investigate.

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11 kills on this mission! Woo hoo ! That has to be a personal best!

Mind you - I did use over 8,000 rounds of ammunition (using unlimited ammo) and I only had a 4% hit rate.

There is a lot of replayability in this mission - the air above Wheeler Field was swarming with targets. I really should have called it a day at 11 kills but I got greedy and inevitably was shot down.

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USN Mission 4

December 7, 1941

AIRCRAFT : F4F-4

AIRFIELD: Enterprise CV-6

MISSION TYPE: Escort

TIME: 07:45

MISSION SUMMARY: A Semi-historic recreation of the flight of SBDs returning to Hawaii from the Enterprise. In actuality, there was no fighter escort for the SBDS. In this mission, you and your wingman will be the escort for a handful of SBDs returning from what has, to this point, been a tense but uneventful resupply mission.

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It was a 90 mile flight to Pearl and an ideal opportunity to practise a bit of formation flying. The SBD's held a nice steady box formation at 1500 feet.

Oh yes and at Pearl, surprise surprise, there was a massive aerial attack under way. Another fun mission.

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USN Mission 5

December 7, 1941

AIRCRAFT : P-40

AIRFIELD: Wheeler Field

MISSION TYPE: Escort

TIME: 18:45

MISSION SUMMARY: (This is a fictional mission, assumed to have taken place on December 6, 1941). PBY rescue north of Hawaii on December 6. Even though our two services haven't always seen eye to eye, the Navy has called us for a favour. One of the PBY's out of Kenohe has fallen out of radio contact north of the island. >They're asking us to send a flight to go find her and lead her in, based on her last reported position.

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On my first attempt I flew the 30 or so miles out to the rendezvous and spent some time jostling about for a photo opportunity with the Catalina. This was interrupted by a "Bandits in your sector" call.

Bandits they were, but over 2 miles away and apparently flying away so I elected to stay with the Catalina. To my dismay it flew lower and lower until with a rather late call of "bailing out" it dove into the briny sea.

Next time out I skipped to the first action point with the "X" key. This time the Catalina appeared ahead of us and headed to the next waypoint... and lo and behold the bandits took an interest in us.

After a frenzied dogfight during which I think I shot down 2... or 3 ... the Catalina bailed out again!

Feeling the least I could do was to deliver the bad news I person I landed at the next waypoint.

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USN Mission 6

December 7, 1941

AIRCRAFT : P-40

AIRFIELD: Haleiwa Field

MISSION TYPE: Escort

TIME: 08:15

MISSION SUMMARY: (This is a fictional mission, but based on information available to the military command at Pearl). The War Department is relying on the nation's B-17s to project power throughout the Pacific, but Hawaii has been light on the aircraft due to the needs of the Philippines. A flight of B-17s is due in at 0830. Radar reports the aircraft coming in now! Go escort them in.

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First time out I dutifully flew to the waypoint - no B-17's !!!!!!!

I hit X to skip to the next waypoint and was back at base with the option to land.

OK - try again - this time I slipped to the first waypoint and sure enough the bombers showed up. So did the Japanese interceptors and although I tried the mission several times I couldn't

A - defend the bombers
B - survive

... and that's not a criticism - this was a fun mission.

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USN Mission 7

December 7, 1941

AIRCRAFT : F-4F

AIRFIELD: Enterprise CV-6

MISSION TYPE: Intercept

TIME: 15:25

MISSION SUMMARY: (This is a fictional mission, but would have been the ultimate objective of the Japanese). The Japanese raiding party has discovered our position southwest of Hawaii. If they destroy us, our ability to project power in the Pacific, our ability to defend our territories, and our ability to aid our allies will be nil.

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A scramble in the F-4F and my first move was to crash head on!

Tried again and my wingtip was shot off on the first pass.

Next time up friendly FLAK damamged my control surfaces os I limped back to land on the Enterprise, Meanwhie all hell was breaking loose and some unlucky pilot collided with me as I turned to finals.

Several attempts later and I managed to stay in one piece and apparently help to drive off most of the Japanese Dive Bombers... satisfied but weary I landed on the carrier.... only just !

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USN Mission 8

December 8, 1941

AIRCRAFT : F-4F

AIRFIELD: Haleiwa Field

MISSION TYPE: Search and Destroy

TIME: 07:45

MISSION SUMMARY: (This is a fictional mission, and frankly something of a pipe dream). The Japanese flattop fleet has been sighted. We have a scrawny group of planes we can arm and put into the air! It ain't pretty, but it just might stop this war before it starts. It's in your hands now.

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Very heavy FLAK in this mission - each time my plane sustained grievous damage.

Needless to say I didn't hit the carrier once either.

Definitely a challenge!