~Salute~ Fumps mate.
Welcome to the best darned squadron in the whole IL2 community. I have been flying this game for about one year now. I was a first person shooter nut. I played UT 2004, Battlefield 2 / BF 2142, Doom 3, and most of the other all out frag fest shooters.
I got into IL2 out of being frustrated by them darn jet jockies in BF2 dropping their stinking bombs on my tanks and APC's all the time so I got me a CH Combat stick and was going to learn to fly a jet. Well, the game came with the original copy of IL2 and of course I loaded it and flew it for awhile and I got hooked. I never did go back to BF2 and learn to fly them jets.
Like it has been suggested you really need to upgrade to the IL2 1946 version. You can get a new copy for $20.00 dollars on amazon.com plus shipping that is. Shipping is free on orders over $25.00 of amazon stuff.
Ah yes, the learning cuuuuuuuuuuuurve. Like you mentioned before, I got tired also of playing a game for a couple weeks and finishing it and wondering, what now? This game will probably never get boring because you will always be progressing and learning new things. Plus every sorty is unique to itself. I don't recall any two sorties comparing to one another.
Well, enough blah, blah, blah. It's nice to have you here and we have pilots from all skill levels and many that can help you out with any questions or problems you may encounter. Just give a shout on the forum and some one will get back to you relatively quickly. Keep at it man and try to keep the war paint on the plane.
DD_Logos