Chris

Hi Chris, First, I love the way X2 is developing. Second, I have a request to cater for Australian Cold Warriors (i'm 65). Back in the 1960's an Australian children's author named Ivan Southall created an Australian version of Biggles, called Simon Black. Simon was a WW2 era airman who, after the war, developed a rocket-powered aircraft called Firefly. The aeroplane had rotary blades in the wings powered by electric motors so could take off and land vertically, the main rocket engines were of a secret type, and the whole aircraft was produced by an Australian Govt secret facility and the only country which could field them was Australia, by the RAAF.

I would love it if, should the player set up a base in Australia, the Firefly is made available as a special aircraft. Maybe with marginally better capacity than the "standard" fighter in the game?

Actually, as I write this I am thinking Why Not have country specific fighters for the UK, USA, and Russia? eg setting up a base in the UK give you the Electric Lightning, in the USA, maybe the Starfighter, and of course a MiG for the USSR? Each country could have slight differences between the aeroplanes (not too much so as not to bugger up play balance) but maybe enough to male a player prefer one country to another to get better tactics?

If you like the idea and want some artwork for a Firefly, let me know. BTW, Ivan Southall's relatives live near me, I dont think there would be any problem getting their permission if it was still needed after all this time.