The latest IL-2 Great Battles Series developer diary give us a whole bunch of screenshots of the Spitfire XIV “bubbletop” version as well as some details about its expected release date.
The bubbletop
Bubble canopy aircraft were introduced by most countries during WWII at one point or another. The bubble canopy on the P-51D, P-47D-25, Typhoon and others are legendary from the west while other countries including Japan and the Soviet Union also introduced them.
Supermarine began work bubble canopy Spitfire models for quite some time before introducing into series production and the Mark XIV model saw this changeover happen for aircraft in early 1945 with a limited number of bubble canopy versions serving in the last month of the war.
1CGS today have released a bunch of new images of the Spitfire XIVe “Bubbletop” which was announced earlier this year and is currently available for pre-order.
Two wing variations, the standard and clipped wing, are confirmed and other modifications are teased but not yet detailed.
According to 1CGS, the Spitfire XIVe “Bubbletop” won’t be ready or released until Spring of 2023 so there will be a bit of a wait for this Collector Plane.
Other updates
The next project for the 1CGS team was also teased with mention of new technology, design documents for new aircraft and objects. They mention six Collector Planes that are currently in development and that some of them will release before the end of this year while others will release early in 2023.
I’m not sure if six Collector Planes means that an additional airplane is in development or if the IAR80 and 81 are being counted as separate. The others include the C-47A, Siemens-Schuckert D.IV, and the Sopwith Snipe.
Check out the update right here for more details and even more screenshots.
Stormbirds 
Li-2??? It’s different enough from the C-47A to be its own variant (plus I think it is being marketed as such).
Fafnir_6
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I had forgotten all about it! That might be it.
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I like the part where they compared Fw 190 to A6M Zero as contrasting canopy designs.
Took me years to realize that the early conversions to bubble canopies caused issues because of the “missing” dorsal fuselage.
and curious like you if there’s a “secret” collector’s out there as there’s only 5 listed on the store page…
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The A6M and 190 are not technically ‘bubble canopies’. The reason being – and not just for pedantry – that a seamless, curved perspex type was really difficult to make. Only US / UK had the resources and technical capability to get these right for a production series.
Russian aircraft had the ‘cut down’ fuselage quite early as did the Japanese, but I am pretty sure than neither nation ever made a single-piece canopy. Same with the late Fws and of course the Me. series never had them.
The technology change is well illustrated by the development of the Typhoon fuselage / canopy.
BTW, don’t ask why the DD suggests pre-paying for a module not expected until 2023 but does not answer where is Jason: you get banned for that…
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The UK and US really did have some impressive glass that it seems like others struggled to replicate. I’m sure there’s some interesting history here.
The bubble canopy version is going to be a longer wait than I had expected when it was announced.
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Would love to see a release order for the Collector planes.
They probably want to get the C-47 and IAR 80 out the door first.
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I hope one of those items “teased” would be a 4 x 20mm cannon variant.
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There were no four cannon Spitfire XIVs produced so it seems unlikely. These were rare in the Vc series (with nearly all converted back to a mixed canon and machine gun configuration) and then didn’t reappear again until the redesigned wing with the Mark 21 which came after the war.
I do suspect there will be the usual gunsight options, 150 octane, and perhaps the fitting of a camera for photorece.
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