The Bf109 E4 should of been included IMHO.

His first post and it starts with a whine already.. C'mon.. check the IP someone..lol!

Why is it weak to have "only" 12 aircraft? I think you don't realise that each plane is modeled to the last detail. It's supposed to be a realistic flight simulation and not an arcade air war game with 200+ flyable aircrafts. It's about quality and not quantity.
That's what made games like falcon 4, DCS balckshark, A-10... so great for flight sim enthusiasts. Mastering one complex machine is hard but rewarding and therefore interesting.
I give you this advice: Try COD, and if you feel that it's too boring for you because of the few planes, then buy a console and play ace combat. ;)

Honest question, I really don't know the answer: How many flyable planes were in the original IL-2 Sturmovik release in 2001, before any expansions?

Edit: Wiki tells me it was originally 31 planes, but is now 256. So if this game follows even slightly closely to the original's path in the future expansions we'll all be fine, thanks very much.

Cliffs of Dover
13 flyable (with a few more likely after release),
15 AI
?? built in modding potential

Compared to other BoB sims:

WOV
6 flyable (one added by modders after release),
3 gunner controllable only
2 AI

TFH
8 flyable (some with identical cockpits)

So, Cliffs of Dover will have about twice the number of flyable planes as any previous Battle of Britain sims and will have over a dozen AI as a bonus... (plus modding potential).

Seriously, if you want to complain about something pick the lack of a German trainer...

IL2 in release had not a single flyable bomber beside the IL2 variants...
And were there realy so much flyables..perhaps if you realy count evety variant of one type.

Yes, Il-2 had:
- The Il-2 variants
- The Bf-109F
- FW-190A4 (only guns)
- LaGG-3
- Mig-3
- P-39

I'm not sure about the Yak, La-5FN or Bf-109G (one might have been available from the start)

Anything else?

I think it is a good number of planes, especially considering how detailed every plane is.
Though I would prefer that the Ju 88 and He 111 were unflyable, while they made a flyable Defiant and Whirlwind. But I guess that the bomber pilots need to be satisfied too, and those planes were more common.

Far more common indeed, I can't wait till I fly over London at night, the flak burst around me and dropping my payload on top of the harbors.;)

I think your first post is rather weak. This is the first sim in a series of sims with the new IL-2 engine. The amount of aircraft in the series will probably exceed the huge amount already in the original series. If you knew the sim has been in development for years you should understand the process alittle better. The initial release only includes aircraft in the Battle of Britain. Before you describe a development as weak in your first post you should do your homework.