Hey, guys,
Sorry to butt into the conversation late. I work with an F15 squadron ANG squadron, and know many of the pilots. We fly both F15A's and F15C's (currently). I'm also working on F15's for MS Flightsim, and we've got pilots from each version of the F15 (from A to E) helping us with verification, including a former test pilot.
Now, I'm not a math guy, I'm a 3D dude, but having dug into the TO's, here are some generalizations you guys probably know about.
1. F15 top speed is borked. The statement about the wall is correct, that's a vmax issue with the engines and some airframe components. Not many people know, but an F15A with (I believe) 229 engines was flown to Mach 3+ (canopy vmax was exceeded) over Edwards a number of years ago. The canopy melted and warped in many areas.
2. Wing loading and turn performance is way off. Turn performance charts are really important. I'll see if my FM guy would be willing to post up some real turn performance numbers. Part of the problem may be in how they tried to model the Pitch Ratio of the hydromechanical system. Here's a general excerpt of how it works:
The Pitch Ratio is scheduled to give you about the same stick travel per G throughout the flight envelope. The ratio is about 4.25 lb/g. It is scheduled by Mach number and altitude and does a rather good job; however, it won't quite cover the full range of aircraft and stabilator power and there is some scatter of the Fs/g, i.e., some mild increase in sensitivity during low altitude/high speed flight, and some decrease in sensitivity at low speeds.
Pitch Trim Compensator- This basically changes how control surfaces are deployed when something disturbs the aircraft in pitch, ie.: speed brakes, transonic trim changes, flap extension, etc. So, the stabs need to trim automatically, and their deployment rates need to change to maintain the 4.25 lb/g schedule.
Now, from our tests in lomac, it appears they tried to model this system, and it's impacting the flightmodel. When we compared the turn rate to our current model, it just seemed as if the stick was getting in the way, in that at certain areas of the turn the stick was losing authority (this was all flown at half stick rates).
Sorry for the geekiness, there's just one more thing I wanted to point out.
3. Keep in mind that the F15A, even with -100's, is more maneuverable than the F15C. The F15A has a faster nose, and can crank tighter than a C. The C has a ballast in the nose because of the extra fuel weight when they added the extra fuel cells in the centerline and in the wing. This was done to bring the CG back to it's original configuration in the A. Thus, this created a slower nose. Now, I say slower, but the F15C's nose in lomac feels like it's anchored! Again, I'll see if I can have my FM guy post some real numbers.
Oh, and this is just a gripe... FIX THE EYEPOINT!!! No F15 driver would ever be able to work with his body scrunched in the pit like that! hehe. A more realistic view would be to atleast have the HUD centered on the center of the monitor.. And radar/nav avionics don't match any F15 version it seems.
Jamal