Indianajon

Going through the other possible variations on your question... If you mean can you show a pilots body the answer is currently no but they are working on it. You can see yourself in the mirror with one on one movement, and you can see whoever is in the backseat but you can't look down and see yourself like you can in the Spitfire for instance. Alternatively if you mean is their an AI pilot then yes there is Wolfman which is the pilot equivalent of Jester. However he is still fairly basic on what he can do and as mentioned above, if it's the RIO seat you want to master you might struggle with VR resolution. Hopefully one of the above will answer your question.

Not quite sure about the wording but assuming you are asking about how the Tomcat is in vr. Short answer is it's great and the cockpit was designed with VR in mind. Resolution is obviously dependent on what you are using but I find the old steam gauges works well in VR, even if your headset is blured in close and you can't read the numbers, you can still get a good idea of where stuff is at by the needles. For more fiddly things like TACAN you can simply ask Jester to do it for you. I would recommend using the afterburner gate button option though as it makes it easier to keep finer control in BFM. It's certainly alot easier (I find) getting on the boat and refuelling in VR and I would highly recommend the Heatblur tomcat to anyone. Even at full price it is well worth it! That said, if you want to focus on the RIO seat I would recommend trackir and a screen for the better resolution. But, if its front seat your after, then Jester is your friend and will sort you out. As for sale prices I can't help you. Traditionally Heatblur didn't put the Tomcat on sale as it didnt need too and the quality of the product is worth the cost. That said it has had reductions on it during the last few sale events so you might be in luck. I'd highly recommend it, since it's release I have barely touched any other module. It has a real learning curve that makes you feel great once you start being able to throw it about confidently and get back to the boat, and Jester has a real personality, currently missing from George or Petrovich.

This is a great campaign to replay! Especially if you haven't played it since they updated the ai. It's certainly more challenging these days and even more fun!

Hey @IronMike just a quick fly and I note you have done a bit on the wingsweep but is it meant to be able to go fully into oversweep when using manual? Just went to do a case 1 and it gave me a bit of a shock! Ta sorry should have added I'm more than happy to attach the lua files if you don't see it.

Thanks for all the hardwork IronMike/Heatblur.

SOLD!!!!!!!

Hey Draconus, I've been playing with this using a combination of quick missions, active pause, campaigns etc and the reason I haven't started a new thread is because I think it's a change of modelling that has made it more realistic rather than a bug. It's definitely more difficult to get and keep a lock but I think this is more to do with the enemy ai being more proactive in their tactics. When sorties are compared with the relevant tacview I am noticing that the ai is now notching and ground masking more than previous. I think this is what is making Jesters job more difficult but I have changed my opinion that its a problem. Ta

Hi BD, I expect you have heard this and thought of it yourself but I was just wondering if you have ever thought of doing for the Hornet what you have done for the Warthog? I just think it would be amazing and would help dullards like me feel a bit more prepared and at home before attempting your new Raven One campaign. Just a thought and a hopeful wish. Thanks for all you do and give to the community by the way.

Hey BD, thanks for such a brilliant campaign. I'd put it to one side for a while but am now working my way through it for the third time. I love it for its uniqueness and how immersively it teaches the Warthog inside and out. I thought I knew this aircraft well nwfore this campaign but it's taught me so much more. Now, I know you have been rather busy, what with the new amazing Raven One campaign but the question has to be asked..... is part 2 in the works? Ta

Maybe it says more about my old screen than anything but I have found that VR has improved my resolution at mid to long ranges (inside the cockpit is still blurry but I know where abouts the needles need to be so no worries there). I used to fly with the spot mark but now I do without. It tool a while but I am getting better. I think the main factor in my mind is the draw distance and power of the computer.

OK will do and come back once I have more 'controlled' data.

Hi @IronMike I don't think it's just me but I've been having a hunt through the forums for a solution with no joy so maybe it is me? Anyway, since this last update Jester seems unable to find anything on radar, even if I tell him exactly where to look and refine the searches by getting data through the AWACS etc. He is consistently struggling and rarely finding anyone outside 20 miles regardless of background clutter etc. It's reached the point where I am frequently visually seeing the bandit and locking with PAL before Jester can find him. I can send tracks if it would help, but at the moment the Tomcat feels like it's lost its claws in the BVR environment. Any help, suggestions or confirmation that it's not all in my head would be greatly received! Ta.

Hi Bignewy, I put it up here in the first instance as I wasn't sure if it was a bug or my not understanding how the Sparrow worked. As has been shown above its my knowledge at fault rather than the modelling. Ta

Thanks. If it had disrupted the lock I would have understood more but as I had a solid lock throughout and thought that is all the Sparrow looked for i was a little confused. I guess as you say it might be due to a more simplistic model. Thanks

Hi all, I've recently noted in my tacview replays that the sparrow appears to have become more susceptible to counter measures which has got me confused. My understanding is that the Aim-7 was basically slaved to the aircraft radar so as long as there is a good lock then it shouldn't matter. I had a good solid STT-PD lock throughout the intercept from about 12 miles through to the merge and fired 2x sparrows, both of which tracked most of the way and then when for the C/M. Is this correct or is it a recent bug? It might be because it's happened repeatedly recently that I'm more conscious of it but it does appear to have only been an issue recently.

This is an amazing resource! Thanks for all your hard work! It's proven that the front seat is a much easier position but this is too tempting a challenge not to follow through with.

Thanks both! Likewise I have always gone to ful sweep and then lifted the handle so its a case of reteaching myself. I'll give it a shot tonight.

I can't remember if I read or heard on the Tomcat podcast that the A model launched predominantly in zone 5 or MIL dependant on its load out due to the poor thrust of the TF30s. By contrast the B and D models launched primarily on MIL but could (if their take off weight was near the limits) use zone 2, which was the equivalent of the A model in zone 5. Nothing greater was allowed as the F110s could buckle and/or melt the surface blast shield if used. However normal procedure if heavy was to go light on fuel and immediately top up after launching.

Hi all, maybe I'm being stupid but since the latest update I can't get the wings back into the oversleep at the end of a flight. I'm in vr and using the mouse. I've never had any issues and reading the changelog it's clear you have implemented something on purpose but I can't for the life of me work it out. What am I doing wrong? Also, great job on the A4 falklands campaign! Loved it! Felt a proper beast in the last couple of missions!

That's Greg, fair enough. That's what I thought previously but the new Falklands campaign had me wondering. Thanks for the rapid reply.

Hey Greg, I hope you are well and I'm thoroughly enjoying the new Spit campaign so thank you. I don't know if you have seen it but with the release of the Falklands map they have also released a small F14 campaign which, a version of, can be played if you have the community mod A4. So here is the question...... Have you considered something similar? A single mission or missions in which the class flies against A4s that could be done as an optional extra? Maybe your trial mission 1v1 could be adapted? Just a thought as I daydream about Jester calling '<profanity>! It's Jester!' As the Skyhawk rolls in

If you don't already follow Growling Sidewinder on YouTube. His videos have taught me loads. As said above maybe try an old warbird first. I find I barely move the stick to getbit where I want. If it starts rattling you have gone too far and are bleeding energy. Remember to use rudders too. Unload between moves to keep your speed and energy up. You will get there. I also recommend the quick mission guns only fights to help get you up to speed. For me the A model is easier to learn in as you can be a little rougher. The B has so much thrust it's easy to stick into a high alpha situation which it hates. That said, once you have mastered the A model, learning to manage the engines and slipped into the B you can do all sorts of extra fun things like keeping it in the vertical. Good luck with it.

Question. Does Jester change his radar search pattern when awacs are data linked and providing BRA calls? In a recent game awacs spotted a group roughly 15,000 below us at a range of 30-35 miles and gave an intercept BRA call giving us the required information. In Jester's defence at the time we were in a mountainous landscape and given our angle to them it's no surprise he couldn't see them through the ground clutter. We descended till we were level with them but still he couldn't get them on his scope and we had only the awacs data link to guide us. At 10 miles I got frustrated, switched to PAL and almost immediately locked one up and off we went. Given the starting nature of the intercept I'm not surprised that Jester couldn't find them and the Question arose if the AI awacs are too powerful in their godlike ability to pick up the majority of things. That said I felt frustration mount as Jester continued to sound oblivious to the bandit calls ahead and at no point in the intercept was he in the game until we hit the merge. Hence my question above, and if there is anything more I can do to aid him beyond descending to try and remove the ground clutter element. The only change I made to his search pattern was dropping the range to 50 miles. So I assume he was in TWS auto. What would others do in this situation? Any help, advice and explanations would be gratefully received.

Thanks. My understanding of sparrows must be wrong then. I thought they were completely passive and simply followed the radar beam in the various STT modes.

When I heard you mentioned it made me smile.