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Microsoft's Combat Flight Simulator

More combat for Microsoft. Fortunately, this time it's a game. Microsoft has a long history of Flight Simulator titles that have allowed millions who have never been in the cockpit of a real aircraft to get an idea, anyway, of what it's like. Now that technology is being put to use in a new title called Combat Flight Simulator. It includes two significant campaigns from World War II, the Battle of Britain and the Battle Over Europe. You can go through all the training or just click on Quick Combat to jump right in. Microsoft says it is the closest you can get to being a World War II fighter pilot. Bob Lawrence who flew 33 combat missions as a Captain in the 99th pursuit squadron of the U. S. Army Air CorpsÂ….agreesÂ….

"It's quite remarkable. It's really a good simulation of flying the actual aircraft with the exception of the smells and the feels."

You can take on computer generated enemy planes or go head to head with opponents over the Internet at Microsoft's zone.com. You can fly eight different American, German or British aircraft. Lawrence, who is 76, says he's been having fun with the gameÂ…andÂ…

"I talk to my grandson and other kids and they say, Grandpa, how was it like to fly World War II? With this, my grandson, I can actually sit down with him and put him through and he can get the feel. He can actually handle a computer better than I can because he doesn't have arthritis in his fingers, but it's just that sensational. It's really great."

He wishes it had been around to help train pilots back then.

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