Combat Pilot

We just uploaded a few snippets to share and showcase what our Patreon lectures are like. Enjoy! youtube.com/playlist?list=… #flightsim #sim #ww2 #pacific #combatpilot #history #science

Attention Pilots! The Steam Next Fest Free Trial of Combat Pilot: Carrier Qualification has ended. Thank you to all who have given it a go and given us feedback. The team will evaluate the feedback and continue to work hard improving Combat Pilot. Again, thank you for your feedback, bug reports and support! The Combat Pilot Team

UPDATE V 0.518, We have released a minor update with a few tweaks, which we think are important to test before the demo period is over. The throttle in the F4F-4 now has a detent at 95%. Reaching the detent equals full power without WEP. Pushing past it activates WEP. On the F4F-4, the WEP is not supposed to be activated with the push of a button or another mechanism., When launching in VR with the OpenXR toolkit or NeckSafer active, a warning message will now show to prompt the player not to use such incompatible softwares., ‘Ignore Manual Cockpit Camera Controls When Head Tracking Is Active’ is now ‘On’ by default. This means, that when you have TrackIR/OpenTrack/etc, the mouse will no longer combine with your head movement., World space cursor option has been added for clickable cockpits. This option, when turned on, will NO longer move your clickable-cockpit cursor along with your camera, instead, it will remain in the same spot., Varjo headset compatibility solution has been added (to be tested!)., Update size: 80MB. Happy flying, enjoy the weekend. The demo will remain active until monday 10am PST / 7pm CET. The Combat Pilot Team

@Lanzor_Roznal Thank you and enjoy the Free Trial!

@combatpilotsim I'm so excited!!!

The Steam Next Fest Free Trial is now LIVE and AVAILABLE! store.steampowered.com/app/2761800/CO… Thank you to all who have tried it so far! The Combat Pilot Team

@jwtweets058 Until March 2nd.

@combatpilotsim How long is it available for? I'm unfortunately heading into work right now

Attention Pilots! We are proud to announce that we will be participating in the STEAM NEXT FEST from February 23rd - March 2nd, 2026, and offering a Free Trial of Combat Pilot: Carrier Qualification. This demo will include our latest Alpha version and is open to everyone on Steam. If you have not already taken part in our Patreon Alpha, this is a great way to give Combat Pilot a try! The demo is available for a limited time so don’t miss it! The Next-Fest Free Trial of Carrier Qualification includes the following: - Easy to create Quick Missions - Flyable US Navy / Marine Corps F4F-4 fighter and Imperial Japanese Navy A6M2 Model 21 "Zero" fighter - USS Enterprise and IJN Akagi aircraft carriers - Realistic flight physics and systems modeling - Realistic carrier take-offs and landings - Midway Atoll (Sand and Eastern Island) Full Steam Announcement - store.steampowered.com/.../view/71001… Steam Store Page - store.steampowered.com/.../COMBAT_PIL… Don't miss the wire! The Combat Pilot Team

Attention Pilots! A short Clickable Cockpits Test video. Make sure to Fly the Free Trial during Steam Next Fest Feb. 23rd - Mar. 2nd. 2026. More info on the Free Trial very soon! youtu.be/iYE_ohMFvtk Enjoy! The Combat Pilot Team

@TALister90 Excellent! Flight-simming is a great hobby!

@combatpilotsim Looks amazing. Looks like I’m going to have to purchase a joystick when this comes out.

Attention Pilots! We have released a new trailer featuring Alpha gameplay footage of Carrier Qualification. Look for a new limited Free Trial Demo later this month which will be open to all - and other announcements coming in the near future. youtu.be/_wHu6J304I4 The Combat Pilot Team

@Chunky_Moes Yes we have a Steam page. store.steampowered.com/app/2761800/CO…

@combatpilotsim Steam page yet?

Just grabbing some screens from the current Alpha. A couple standout shots. Oh I can't wait for them to meet in battle.

Version 0.516 (Patreon Alpha Update #9) Dear Pilots, We are very happy to announce that we have released Alpha Update #9 (0.516) for our Patreon Ace Tier subscribers. Just update your Steam install to apply. patreon.com/combatpilot You can read the full Changelog here on our forum with more details about our updates - #findComment-18741" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">forum.combatpilot.com/topic/1899-pat… Changes and Additions 1. Fly-by Camera now repositions itself after a short period of time. 2. Instrument needles now vibrate according to aircraft vibration. 3. Cockpit Lights added to F4F-4 and A6M2. (These will be tweaked more in the future.) 4. New Anti-Aliasing methods in Graphics Options added. 5. Lumen On/Off setting added. 6. Graphics optimizations added which should improve overall performance to some degree. May help with VR performance. Turning Lumen Off should increase framerate on most machines. 7. Fixes in the external camera: no more jitter and bugs when active-paused. 8. Control Assignment table scrolling behavior has changed. 9. Yes and No buttons position inverted on prompts. 10. A Minus sign now appears with any inverted binding. 11. Added new mesh version of A6M with minor external fixes. 12. Added new cockpit version of A6M with control animations. Altimeter Controls Implemented 13. Zero Altimeter (QFE) - calibrates altimeter to zero wherever you are, 14. Reset Altimeter (QNH) - calibrates altimeter to 0 = sea level, 15. Decrease Altimeter reference pressure - step -0.01 in Hg, 16. Increase Altimeter reference pressure - step +0.01 in Hg Custom Skins System Added 17. Custom skins need to have files with these names: - FrontFuselage_BC.png - RearFuselage_BC.png - WingRight_BC.png - WingLeft_BC.png - Normal maps and ORM maps can also be edited by changing the file name to end with _N or _ORM instead of _BC. If no Normal or ORM maps are included then default files will be used. - Any custom skins need to be saved inside - C:\Users\[username]\Documents\CombatPilot\Skins\[PlaneID]\[NewSkinName]\ - PlaneIDs are F4F4 and A6M2 - NewSkinName folder can have any name you want to assign to the new skin. 18. Skin system now supports multiple Official skins. - A6M2 Pale-Olive - Default skin added. - A6M2 Dark Green - No Unit skin added. Basic skin templates and additional information now available on the official Combat Pilot Forum to assist you with making new paint schemes. Click on the link below to learn more. forum.combatpilot.com/topic/1994-det… Bug Fixes 19. Engine couldn’t re-start after turning off. 20. Some engine startup procedures had animation glitches. 21. Engine shutdown sound was playing wrong in certain situations. 22. The main menu was unusable after exiting a mission in VR. Engine Thermal Model Upgrades 23. Improved Cooling Simulation: Implemented a method for forced convection and velocity-dependent heat transfer coefficient based on NASA/NACA correlations for air-cooled radial engines. 24. Induced Velocity Cooling: Improved calculations regarding effective cooling velocity, incorporating discharge coefficients and induced velocity. 25. Cruise Scenario (F4F-4, 2550 RPM, 7000 ft ISA, 224 kts TAS, 44" MAP): Steady CHT 183 °C closed flaps. Engine MAP Model Upgrades 26. Changed cranking behavior: Implemented suction-pulling effect on MAP during engine startup for accurate cranking stage dynamics. 27. Starter duration increased: Increased starter engagement time, customized per aircraft based on starter type and model specifics. Flight-model Changes 28. Modified prop wash effects on yaw stability. F4F-4 29. Landing gear physics reviewed. 30. Reviewed propeller model. 31. Modified the drag produced by the landing gear and flaps. 32. Solved bug related to control surfaces locking when diving. 33. Increased elevator trim effectiveness. 34. Reviewed yaw sensitivity during take-off. 35. Reviewed stall response. A6M2 36. Modified the drag produced by the landing gear and flaps. Enjoy! The Combat Pilot Team

Friends, HAPPY NEW YEAR to all the virtual pilots the Combat Pilot community!!! Be safe wherever you celebrate tonight and thank you for another great year and all the support and enthusiasm! A special shout out to those who have subscribed to our Patreon. Your early financial support means the world to us. 2026 will be the most critical year yet for Combat Pilot. We look forward to another year with you guys! The Combat Pilot Team

... and a few more. All pics in our Forum.

...more from Developer Diary #20.

Dear Pilots, Developer Diary #20 is now live on the Official Combat Pilot Forum. As our final DD for 2025, it covers a lot of ground and talks about our accomplishments for this year, what we are currently working on, and then looks ahead to next year. Lots of cool new pics of the Val, Zeke, B-17 and Hiryu among others are included. We wish you all a very Happy New Year and we'll see you in 2026 which will be a very important year for the Combat Pilot franchise. #findComment-18554" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">forum.combatpilot.com/topic/48-comba… Don't forget to Back the Attack and join our Patreon! patreon.com/combatpilot Enjoy!

What's red and green and flies around dropping gifts (often unwanted) down the chimney? If you said Santa, err wrong! Merry Christmas to everyone in the Combat Pilot community!

Dear Pilots, We want to share with you a special fundraiser being conducted by our friends at the Commemorative Air Force chapter in Camarillo, CA. To keep their Zeke flying they are taking donations to overhaul the landing gear some other parts that need refurbishment. They have asked to partner with us to help get the word out about this fundraiser. The CAF chapter in Camarillo has been great to the Combat Pilot team and given us access to their warbirds. We want to try and help them keep their A6M3 airworthy, so we ask that you consider contributing to the fundraiser as a Christmas gift to warbird fans around the world. The goal is achievable, so let's help them out! Here's the link to the fundraiser: fundrazr.com/Zero_2025 Some fun vids: youtu.be/upVFInW4m74 youtu.be/1TEfov1a-qQ youtu.be/_Flbw9eoWlo On behalf of CAF Camarillo I thank you for your assistance and support! The Combat Pilot Team

Dear Pilots, Merry Christmas to everyone here in the Combat Pilot community! We hope Santa brings you all the presents you asked for and have a relaxing day with family and friends! And don't forget some great food!! The Combat Pilot Team