Flying Circus FAQ

[Baeumer]

 

 

 If you are newer to WWI Flying Circus, or just want to keep up with the essential new information, consider subscribing to this topic in order to get automatically notified when there is a post here.


Which of the volumes of Flying Circus should I buy first or second, in what order?

Spoiler

 With rare exception, Volume 1 is definitely the best starting point but after that it gets tricky because what makes sense is not necessarily the same order that subsequent volumes were released! 

 

What makes sense next largely depends on three things, in order:

 

1. What time-frame of the war you want to be able to fly?

 

Why this is important: Some multiplayer missions and career scenarios can be early war that obviously won't include Volume 1 planes at all.  If you are wanting to fly on a multiplayer mission or a career phase in the early part of the war, if you only have Vol 1, you can't fly that mission/campaign/career.  On a multiplayer (MP) server, that means finding somewhere else to fly for a few hours until a later period mission starts.  That said, most of the time with Vol 1 you'll usually have something that is available to fly; just be prepared to occasionally be 'grounded'. 

 

2.  What what kind of missions you like to fly (dog fighter or or reconnaissance/bombing)?

 

3. What coalition (Central or Entente) do you want to fly most and associated specific planes?

 

So the answer is, it depends....but in most cases for most people to enjoy the game in all its flavors,  VOL 4 is often the best second purchase after VOL 1.  This way you always have a plane to fly from early war to late war missions.  VOL 2 and VOL 3 are good for specific planes after that, depending on whether your prefer flying Central or Entente planes and fighter or two-seater/bomber type planes the most (decision points #2 and #3 above).

 

If you can pair an initial double purchase of Vol 1 with Vol 4 at the same time, you wont feel grounded because you have no plane to fly required for that mission. 

 

That's probably the best place to start out your Flying Circus career! After you've flown a bit with Vol 1 and 4,  the choice between Vol 2 and 3 will become clearer to most players.

 

To summarize:

Volume 1 + 4 ideal, otherwise...

First purchase Volume 1

Second purchase Volume 4

Third purchase Volume 3 (for more late and mid war fighters) OR Volume 2 (big heavy bombers and reconnaissance type two-seaters).

 OR, purchase the combined volumes together in the new bundle introduced in late 2025.

Look for sales quarterly and refer to the plane sets listed for each Volume of Flying Circus on the 1C store here:  https://il2sturmovik.com/store/flying-circus/.

Here is a link to a excellent video by @Enigma89 reviewing in more detail the challenge and joy of Flying Circus WWI airplanes, and providing overall a walk-through of the different volumes in order of publishing.  

https://youtu.be/-JLw0KrZXkg

 

Does Flying Circus Have Career Mode, Solo Campaigns and Offline Missions?  YES!

Spoiler

YES, as of Spring 2023, the official Flying Circus Career Mode was released with the official release of Volume 2, and is expected to experience continued upgrades over time.  New planes never previously released by FC or its predecessor are already released and others mentioned. 

In addition to the official FC career mode released as part of Volume 2, the following community created solo player options are also available.

 

There are campaign available called "Kaiserschlacht".

 

There are also several other options for offline solo play.  Search the archived legacy 1C Flying Circus forums. 

Where can I find out about Flying Circus and Virtual Reality and VR Settings and Tips?

Spoiler

Many reviews of Flying Circus by VR users are very, very positive with a common comment being that VR is much more immersive in Flying Circus than WWII due to the slower air speeds allowing a richer experience of one's surroundings.  You can find out more reading some of the comments on this thread from players of Flying Circus using VR and searching this forum for other threads. 

 

Where Can I Fly Multiplayer Flying Circus?

Spoiler

Flying Circus Flugpark - since 2019, this server continues as one, if not the most active WW1 server.   It features full real server settings and historically based missions that provide interest to newer and experienced player tastes alike, whether you want to duel in a furball or engage in the many other roles the server has to offer, including reconnaissance or low level and high level bombing!   All within a dynamic flying environment that has some AI when things are slow that disappear when enough live players are on to make them unnecessary. 

Register for the parser here and keep track of your performance and hundreds of other Flying Circus players: 

http://www.flugpark.org 

The Flugpark known for its extensively researched historically based award and recognition system for both fighter aces and bomber/two-seater aces.  Just click your pilot name on the parser after flying on the Flugpark and click on the awards tab to see what you've earned!  You can monitor current server activity via main page of the server parser page.

Everyone is invited to join in with other flyers on communications via Discord to learn tips and tricks, meet flying mates, and increase your success and enjoyment.  

The next section shows how you can meet other players online to fly and learn from them using a free tool called Discord.  Once you install Discord using the link in the next section, click this invitation link to join the Flying Circus Flugpark Community Discord: 

  

https://discord.gg/TPQqE4bbnS
 

  

Where Can I Meet Other Players?

Spoiler

Here in the 1C forum. After awhile you will get a feel for some of the characters that make up our diverse "colorful circus" community!

 

* On the popular multiplayer servers listed above. 

 

* Fly with a group of players and significantly shorten your learning curve and increase your performance which usually decreases frustration and increases enjoyment. Here is a link to a thread that lists the ones active enough to request being listed. You can also look at the squad ranking list.of the more popular Flying Circus servers with a parser.

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/38404-active-central-power-jastas-and-entente-squadrons/

 

* Join in on communication platforms provided by servers or groups.  The two platforms you should download are Discord and Teamspeak. You will need a inexpensive headset with two ear speakers and a built in microphone for $20 -$50 USD.
 

After you download Discord (see the video below), click on this invitation link to join other players (both Entente and Central) playing Flying Circus on the Flugpark Discord server:  https://discord.gg/TPQqE4bbnS

 

Here are some tutorials on what Discord is and how to use it.
 

https://youtu.be/TJ13BA3-NR4

https://youtu.be/ppN9YbPX1Zo

https://youtu.be/nPmdafMo1b8

 

Where can I find personalized/customized skins made by the community?

Spoiler

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/70078-haluter’s-skin-downloader-for-the-il-2-sturmovik-great-battles-series/

  

Where Can I Keep Up with Flying Circus Community News and Happenings?

Spoiler

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/81186-the-circus-chronicles/

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/66544-the-circus-post/

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/54962-the-aviators-chronicle/

  

Twenty scores makes you a legend.  Eighty makes you as good as the Red Baron.  Scoring your "century" earns you the Oak Leaves never earned by the Red Baron.  Are you better than the Baron (or Bishop, Mannock, Coppens, Baracca, Rickenbacker, and all the others)?  In Flying Circus Multiplayer you can actually find out!

Spoiler

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/54929-pour-le-merite-blue-max-and-distinguished-service-orders-and-higher-awards/

Where Is The Manual?

Spoiler

Three resources are needed depending on your familiarity with iL2. See links below.

1. The technical  manuals for the game.

2. Hellbender and Trupos Aircraft Manuals

3. Requiems Video Flight Tutorials

4. Drookasi's Guide for new pilots.

 

1. iL2 Technical manuals and setup etc
https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/47213-il-2-sturmovik-resources/ (by Jim)
 

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/forum/82-manuals-tutorials-guides-and-tips/

 

2. Hellbender and Trupos Aircraft Guides

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/44035-flying-circus-aircraft-guide-—-by-bender-larnedras-trupo-updated-28122021/
 

3. Requiems Video Tutorials

https://m.youtube.com/user/RequiemBoS/playlists?view=50&flow=list&shelf_id=11

 

4. Drookasi's Guide for New Pilots.

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/66960-roundels-and-crosses-becoming-and-efficient-wwi-pilot-in-flying-circus/
 

Also see:
Air Combat Tutorial Library – FC planes
https://youtu.be/iOcmT47IjOk?list=PLnyigzFtHeNqWmpw6BObrgeVQO2ndvp6z

 

 Should I Buy Flying-Circus?

Spoiler

Likely.  If you like or are interested in WWI flight sims, Flying Circus is THE community of the only next generation WWI flight sim currently on the market.  It has a continuous and growing multiplayer base built over decades drawing from multiple previous WWI flight sims.  Flying Circus has dozens of players at a time flying on the most popular multiplayer servers regularly throughout the week, and especially on the weekends.

 

Read the complete review by Shamrock 5 of Stormbirds here.  You may also like watching this video by Shamrock 5.

https://stormbirds.blog/2019/11/18/flying-circus-vol-1-full-review/#jp-carousel-21894

 

 

 

Where can I learn more about World War One aerial flight combat history?

Spoiler

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/58956-world-war-1-aviation/

 

Edited December 3, 2025 by Baeumer
maintenance/updates

[jokash]

Do troops in trenches fire on planes like in "Wings over Flanders" game?

[Flashy]

10 hours ago, jokash said:

Do troops in trenches fire on planes like in "Wings over Flanders" game?

Not by default no. I made a group for the mission editor to address this exact problem though, but you do need to import it manually into your missions using the mission editor. 

[Z_F]

Flugpark still running a monopoly on the MP scene then.

[Catch]

Indeed. Somebody needs to reinstate a fast food WW1 server for the more, shall we say, casual players what!  Them what want fun over commitment and not bound to a schedule. Live for the moment, not to a calendar! Viva the spontaneously unprepared.

[Blitzen]

My rear gunner in my Halberstadt didn't pop up and do his job...why? Killed by thefirst bullet or what? Did he need to be alerted in some way?😳

[Baeumer]

@Blitzenthey can be slow to react.  You might check your in game gunner commands. You can select at what range they fire.  If you have it set too short (which is good at times /circumstances) you can find they don't react nearly quick enough, depending on the planes you encounter and their rate of closure.  Set the range to normal or long and make sure you aren't set to attack ground targets unless that is what you really want.  That can explain what happened as well.

 

8 hours ago, Z_F said:

Flugpark still running a monopoly on the MP scene then.

Actually there are a few other servers. Players do seem to choose to fly the most on one server the most.   The Dogfight area on the Flugpark is geared for the kind of action you describe.  The AI are there until a handful of live players are flying on each side, and then they disappear.

[jokash]

13 hours ago, Flashy said:

Not by default no. I made a group for the mission editor to address this exact problem though, but you do need to import it manually into your missions using the mission editor. 

shame...it should have been included...flying over enemy trenches (and friendly for cover),would have opened some tactical options for player and AI

[Flashy]

9 hours ago, jokash said:

shame...it should have been included...flying over enemy trenches (and friendly for cover),would have opened some tactical options for player and AI

Agreed. Its been a complaint from the community since Rise of Flight was released in 2009. As far as I remember, even Red Baron 2 from 1997 had ground fire over the trenches if you went too low. 

Edited December 4, 2025 by Flashy

[Todt_Von_Oben]

22 hours ago, Catch said:

Indeed. Somebody needs to reinstate a fast food WW1 server for the more, shall we say, casual players what!  Them what want fun over commitment and not bound to a schedule. Live for the moment, not to a calendar! Viva the spontaneously unprepared.

IMOHO, "The Gang" has the best fast-food.  Lots of action with large numbers of very aggressive, highly accurate bots.  When I don't have a lot of time and just want to find some fast dogfights, this is where I go.  

S!  👍

Edited December 4, 2025 by Todt_Von_Oben
Punctuation.

[Z_F]

16 hours ago, Baeumer said:

Actually there are a few other servers. Players do seem to choose to fly the most on one server the most.   The Dogfight area on the Flugpark is geared for the kind of action you describe.  The AI are there until a handful of live players are flying on each side, and then they disappear.

I didn't refer to any type of action.

The point is that this appears as a pinned, all of FC thread. So if you're going to represent the whole game, I don't think you should be using it as a personal advertisment for your own server, without at least naming a few others options.

Otherwise it's a good thread !

[Czech693]

8 hours ago, Flashy said:

Agreed. Its been a complaint from the community since Rise of Flight was released in 2009. As far as I remember, even Red Baron 2 from 1997 had ground fire over the trenches if you went too low. 

I've had an MG pit zap me when I got too low over the enemy trenches during a dogfight.  That's happened a couple of times.  But the infantry, no they don't shoot.

[Flashy]

20 hours ago, Czech693 said:

I've had an MG pit zap me when I got too low over the enemy trenches during a dogfight.  That's happened a couple of times.  But the infantry, no they don't shoot.

Yes, technically there are no "infantry" in WW1/ FC. There is an infantry squad for the Americans and British for WW2, which you could use as stand-in's, but generally ground fire for WW1 will always take the form of an MG nest in this game. 

Edited December 5, 2025 by Flashy

[Catch]

The trenches are badly designed that's why there's no infantry. They can't fit the infantry into the badly designed trenches. There were complaints but they were told by the brass that they were designed that way to reduce rat infestations. It was a kind of catch22 WW1 style.

[Baeumer]

The infantry are crucial to the win objectives for the Black September campaign and the Flugpark Muese and Argonne missions.