HB_Zander

I agree, this last update is very nice.

I also cannot place F-15E/I in ramps 102-105 in that northern section. I can only place F-15's on ramps 100-101 and 106-107.

There's not much in common. Aviron is doing the C.2 first, the Cheetah C has more in common with the Mirage F1 than the Kfir C.2 and even that is a little. They did say that they plan to follow with a C.7, which has a lot in common with the Cheetah E, maybe like 80%, slightly different aerodynamics due to different canards and wings and weight, different fuel system, different engine, different EW systems but avionics is about 90% the same and WDNS should be exactly the same functionally with the exception of different weapons and sensors. The Cheetah C can only borrow a little from the Kfir C.7, it seems though the WDNS in the Cheetah C is an extension of what is in the Kfir C.7 but I know almost nothing about the WDNS in the Cheetah E/D/Kfir C.7 - I've just seen MFD screens here and there that I recognize from the C's WDNS. And to reiterate, I just did scans of the Impala and Rooivalk and Cheetah E and D because they were there, there aren't any plans at the moment for those until the Cheetah C is done which itself is not a guarantee yet.

Me too, with many more units to have an entire theatre, like Combat360 SAAFOPS was planned to be. The biggest issue for these kind of assets is 3D modelling, especially a map which is more modelling than programming compared to an aircraft module. During last year I tried to find someone who can help with the 3D modelling. What I found was a few who were interested from eastern Europe but that is paying someone's full time salary for a few months out of my pocket because they would only be doing it for the combination of income and experience/portfolio, with no real interest in the specific aircraft. They were looking for full time employment and not a hobby. Another issue is the specificity of the aircraft, making it a hard sell on model market websites for those artists, especially at a higher quality and price. I can't pay someone's full time salary for a few months but I was able to pay for something at times. I discovered that the quality I was aiming for was in this gap between "cheap" and modern module quality, i.e. I can pay for more than cheap but no one is interested in doing more than cheap but less than modern module quality. (I'm aiming for old F-5E level at least). I am not interested in taking the cheap route as I know I will want to redo it again and that is a waste I am not willing to pay for. My financial situation also varied, at times I could do it, and at times I rather spent it on something that was more immediately useful. I also looked around locally where there would be people who have a genuine interest in the aircraft and the history and who might share the same goal. There are very few people in South Africa with the skill set, and those that do have the skill set and passion are like many others rather spending their spare time doing side jobs that produce income to supplement their main income as the purchasing power is really not that great here and declining rapidly. Something good that came out of last year was the 3D scans that were done at the Swartkop AFB museum. I purchased an iPhone 15 Pro specifically for the photogrammetry capabilities and then I flew there to get scans and take photos of the Cheetah C's undercarriage (the other one I took photos of had an incomplete undercarriage) and to do a scan of the interior cockpit shape as that is quite a complex shape. I also took the opportunity to take photos and scans of the aircraft itself as well as some of its munitions and a bunch of other aircraft that were available. The people at the museum were very enthusiastic to help me and they even opened the Cheetah E's cockpit for me that has not been opened in at least 10 years, it was quite a struggle (the hydraulic piston no longer works so it is not really safe). They also don't usually open the Cheetah C's cockpit, it is quite incomplete with missing components which doesn't really matter since I already have all that, but I got to meet the legendary Cobus Toerien who helped to open the cockpit of the Cheetah C. I am attaching some photos of the scans, some of the exterior scans drifted, they are from an iPhone, it is not a professional scanning device. The scans aren't copied and pasted into a DCS model, they are used as a reference for the positioning and size and shape, so the model is modeled on top of the photogrammetry reference model. There are different levels of scanning that I did, some are more detail oriented, and other less detail but more reliable for larger objects.

No there is not. They are focused on the Kfir. If there were collaboration then that would take away from the development of the Kfir, and not to mention that the Cheetah C can currently only be a mod where the Kfir is a full module.

I have some specific details on day to day events, like take off times and locations, formations, loadouts etc. My dream is to one day tell some of these stories through Angolan Theatre campaigns. But a map requires a lot of 3D modelling and that is a big obstacle when it comes to South African content. After a few years of working on a project (Cheetah C mod, not related to border war I know but the documentation and resources I have on it is unrivaled so I remain committed to it), I realized that the only people who are interested enough to make a commitment to working on these things are South Africans. And I have also realized most South Africans who are interested either don't have the skillsets or have the skillsets but cannot commit due to other side projects making part of their income. With the Cheetah C mod requiring 3D modelling, I have only encountered a few people from eastern Europe who seemed interested but not interested enough to make the commitment, or requiring me to pay their monthly salary which I cannot do out of my pocket. The modelling of one single aircraft, or a map, is at least a multi month endeavor. I have also met someone who can help with the CFD but even though he is a South African with a passion for SAAF aircraft, he could not commit due to his side projects taking priority as they produce income. There are some people who worked on an Impala mod but that also came to a halt as far as I can see, looks like due to a lack of interest in development work. I believe we can get a fleshed out Angolan Theatre in about a decade or two if we can overcome this obstacle of not having people with enough interest to make a commitment and the skills required to see a project through. I am only a programmer, and I understand how DCS aircraft are developed, and that is where I can spend my efforts. We have some documentation on Impalas and Mirages and maybe even the Buccaneer (I can check with someone maintaining the one at Ysterplaat), not enough for official modules but enough for EFM mods. I know there are people at Ysterplaat and Swartkop who will help when asked, they even opened the Cheetah E and C cockpits for me after years of not being opened. We also have many photos of the region from the time, especially the people in the `South African Border War: Operation Savannah` Discord channel for Arma and Squad mods. Maybe we just need to congregate and put together what we have and then decide if we can achieve something with what we have, and then what we are going to work on and take it one project at a time.

@Stratos There is a guy going by the name of "Sprinkbok" who made a mod for Squad and did some really nice work for that mod, he made some of the vehicles. Currently he is a bit busy and no longer has the time to work on it but just pointing out some nice modelling work that has already been done. Currenthill has made some nice asset packs for some countries, maybe he would be willing to make a ZA pack one day.

Hello! thank you for your interest, I'm always surprised by the interest from outside South Africa. It is going very slow, basically no significant coding at the moment. We need to progress with modelling the exterior model which will hopefully pick up in the first few months of 2024. I will post an update once there has been progress on that front.

That would be nice yes, but unfortunately I don't think that will happen. I could be wrong, but a lot of things would have to be different for it to become a possibility. I have not given up on that possibility, even if I have to let someone else do it (which will be very sad for me but I would like a Cheetah C module more than not having one), I still explore avenues to get rid of the various problems in the way.

Me and friends. And note, this forum post was made before I started doing work for Heatblur, as "TheEscapist___", no association.

Here are some of those photos I mentioned in my previous comment

We will take it as far as we can but it is very unlikely to ever become an official module. We will have a fully clickable cockpit and its systems are modelled with the EFM. However, we have been struggling with 3D modelling the last few months. After discussing with more experienced module developers and modellers they all urge us to get the external model done before we spend too much effort on the cockpit, the cockpit should follow the external model. They also emphasized the importance of using photogrammetry to make the model. And a general update: I was at Makhado AFB in December where I captured pictures of a Cheetah C. I took about 2400-2500 pictures of the exterior. We don't have an experienced enough modeller to take on the job. I cannot pay for something of this magnitude at this stage but will be able to some time in the future, months from now, not weeks. I did my best with the photos but I don't believe they are photogrammetry material because of the limitations I had with the surroundings and the time it took to capture them. About a full day and the sun is not stationary. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agreed

We have started work on the Cheetah C over here in the link below. I dream of creating what Combat360 - SAAFOPS set out to do but for DCS. The Cheetah C was chosen because someone wanted to make a Cheetah and asked for information, but I was only able to get good information on the C variant, so C it is.

The work in progress MFD model, it is subject to change or get updated.