In the Task Force Admiral demo you can task Wildcats AND pilot them

In addition to a choreographable Coral Sea clash between taskforces linchpinned by the Lexington and Yorktown, and Shokaku and Zuikaku, the due-out-later-this-week Task Force Admiral demo includes an Easter egg the size of a Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp. Courtesy of a “crude experiment” called Fleet Defense, trialists will get to experience a small Japanese strike from the cockpit of a controllable Grumman F4F fighter.

I say ‘cockpit’… cockpit interiors aren’t actually visible at the moment in FD (you don’t even get GUI instruments). However, hit ‘8’ on your number pad and you do end up with a fair approximation of a Wildcat pilot’s perspective.

Although the prototype runs for just ten minutes and supports post-mortem plane switching, underestimate or lose track of the Zeros escorting the incoming Kates, and sessions could conclude much sooner.

Damage modeling is very basic, but when peppering a wave-skimming B5N intent on eel delivery, or twisting and turning in a desperate bid to shake an overly familiar Zeke, that simplicity is unlikely to be uppermost in your mind.

Will FD make it into the full release? Could it ever mature into a fully-fledged light flight sim option with first-person or chase cam landings and take-offs, and torpedo and bomb dropping? That probably depends on the outcome of a Kickstarter campaign set to go live tomorrow. If said campaign generates sufficient moolah, TFA is in line for 1943 scenarios and weapons, visible matelots, mannable AA guns, an orchestral score, and controllable ships and pilotable aircraft!