WarthogOsl

But then wouldn't it make more sense to give each airplane in the flight it's own channel, and not change it per launch? If both airplanes change channels every time they fire a Sparrow, they could easily end up on the same channel anyway.

I think Mooch said something about each Sparrow being on a different channel, and the radar would switch to the new channel when the second missile was fired, trashing the first. But that just leads to the question...why would it do that? I can't think of what advantage that added complexity would give you.

So at least now you can navigate through the comms menu via a bind, so no reason to use the mouse. This has been in place for a while, but the trick is NOT to use a modifier button, as this seems to stop it from working after the first time. This isn't a problem though, because you can bind the comms menu commands to an already bound hat (or buttons), and the comms stuff will only work when the menu is open. Once you close the menu, the regular binds will resume. For example, I bound the prev/next and enter comms commands to the same hat I use for counter-measures deploy and DLC extend/retract. No modifiers required.

Well, to be fair, "jet" as a term referring to an airplane, and not just an engine, goes back a pretty long ways...maybe to the 50's. It's the same as how we refer to a rocket-engined spacecraft like the Falcon 9 as just a "rocket" I suspect it's because before no one referred to planes as "prop planes" before jets existed, simple because they were all prop planes (minus gliders). But then with turbine engines, you had the term "jet plane" to differentiate from, well, non-jet planes (heck, they even wrote a song about it). And I think it's understood that "jet" means "jet plane" in that context. Anyway, that's my 2 cents.

It's funny, because they fixed the issue where the missile would suddenly pull up when it was notched while on the way down (and was presumably active), but apparently the same thing does not apply when the missile is on the way up, and not active. I have no idea what the correct behavior would be, but somehow I doubt it would be to just divert from the current arc and pull nearly vertical (especially for the C).

Lol. I get what you're saying, though fwiw just in case, I tried it with some MiG-25's as well. Same thing :)

I remember it being more of an issue a long while ago, but fixed for the most part. There are definitely times where I see the track of the trailing bandit pop in and out, while the lead stays solid. In those cases I will hold off on firing two missiles. But in these cases it seemed I had a solid track and both, right up until launching #2.

I know there weren't any HB updates this last patch (April 10), but does anyone know of any ED changes to radar or guidance? I've been seeing some consistently wonky behavior with the Phoenix since then. In this example (on a single player mission I've often used for practice), the second missile loses track almost immediately after launch, and makes a bee-line into the stratosphere. A third, follow up shot taken while still about 55 miles away barely lofts at all. It seems like most of the time since the patch, the second missile fired at a 2 ship won't even make it even near the target, let alone any terminal problems.

To be honest, I don't touch the rudder at all for AAR (trim or otherwise). I know it was a thing in real life to use rudder rather than ailerons during AAR, but it does not seem to be needed for DCS. I've not noticed anything really different when hooked up while turning.

I would say that the Sparrows get chaffed about 50% of the time for me (this is from checking in TacView). They guide just fine...until they suddenly don't. I've just come to accept it.

I've not noticed anything, but that doesn't mean they haven't tightened up the edge cases. Are you landing in the proper configuration, with the speed brake out and dlc deployed, as well as on-speed (or even close to on-speed) AOA? I see many people on servers landing way too fast. Also make sure you below max trap weight. Quick and easy calculation is to take 10,000 pounds of fuel, and subtract the weight of any stores you are still carrying from that. That number will be the max amount of fuel you can have onboard and still land. If you've got more than that, hit the dump switch.

Of all the things that would need replacing, I'd guess that the wing box would be amongst the last. There've been cases where F-14's crashed and the wing box was found buried in the ground, pretty much undamaged.

My recollection is that if you have flat shadows selected, it makes the green glare much worse if the sun is in the wrong spot. Turning the HUD all the way down, or even off, does not remove the glare. Try a different shadows setting.

No, you can jump back and forth at will. He's saying that WHILE you are in the back seat, don't expect your front seat binds to work, and vice versa.

I'm not sure what the distinction is between flashing and blinking ...but definitely with dlss patch, the numbers don't so much blink as they do smoothly fading on a off, making it less noticeable.

I was just using the AP in the F-14A, and it worked fine for me (though I don't have an FFB stick). One thing to keep in mind with altitude hold is that you should not engage it if you are above around Mach .9, as it tends to get confused. Also, if I have AP engaged, but I'm not using alt hold, I tend to set the pitch by moving the stick forward or aft and then letting go when I reach the desired angle...I do not use the pitch trim.

Tried it again tonight...the Jester menu continues to stay stuck on the screen if it's brought up during an external view. MT version with VR.

Saw the tape yesterday, fwiw.

Tried it out last night, in VR. I'm still having the issue where, if the Jester circle appears, it stays stuck there, no matter what view you use.

A quick and dirty way to calculate your max trap weight fuel is to take 10,000 pounds of fuel and then subtract the weight of your remaining stores from that.

Yeah, I don't see how that would work either. Plus the weapons system can only account for 8 missile stations, afaik.

Neither A nor C Phoenix can guide on a P-STT lock, only PD-STT. In P-STT they will point their radars in the direction of the lock before launch, but on launch, will be immediately active the whole flight. It should really only be used as a WVR mode, because the missile is going to have to find and lock the target with its own radar as soon as its launched. Treat it like a giant Fox 2 (with all the danger that implies to nearby friendlies as well).

With the A fired in PD-STT mode, yes, it's a big Sparrow. The C can go active automatically if the F-14 loses the PD-STT lock (though I've heard this is not accurate to real life).

Shouldn't they have both? I've definitely seen pics of chocks being used on carriers.

And for the love of God, fix the F-14A launch crew animations!