Just a small update in the meantime.
Getting the flight model right wasn't an easy task... turns out IL-2 is mostly incapable of dealing with such a large and heavy plane and at the required high speed and altitude.
Most of the issues are solved, albeit it was necessary to adjust the wing lift in Java code - I hate that, but there's no other chance.
Did I mention that RATO boosters are available too?
Without them, AI can't reliably pick the plane off medium size runways with full load.
Talking about full load: The plane has a range of ~20.000km with 5 tons bomb load.
I'm not sure how we're gonna make use of this feature in IL-2, but that's what it is.
Even if you pick the maximum bomb load of 20 tons and 10%, you still get a range of ~1.000km. It's insane.
Oh and talking about loadouts again, we've got a total number of 132 available loadout options now.
Sounds like a lot, but it's not really that much of a difference.
You get 800kg, 600kg, 500kg, 250kg, 100kg, 60kg, 50kg and 50kg incendiary bombs, plus japanese versions of the Hs-293 and the Fritz-X.
Each of them in different numbers - if you pick less bombs, you will have the option for "extended range" (+ 10 tons) and/or "long range" (+ 15 tons) fuel tanks inside the bomb bays.
Furthermore, each of the loadouts can be selected either with or without RATO boosters.
Mike