SgtPappy

I think just being on the internet does that to everyone. At any rate, it's good to know that this particular engine quirk will be corrected on an already spectacular module.

I always find it funny when someone judges someone else for being passionate about something - particularly when one nerd judges someone for being too nerdy. If they were being rude about it, that's one thing but you're in one of the nerdiest corners of the internet. Let people be themselves or go somewhere else.

You were one of those dreaded Hurricane IIC pilots people feared back in the day weren't you?? I remember seeing FM2 or Hurricane IIC pilots in the axis vs allies mid war servers and thinking "glad they're on my team!" A little OT for this thread but a buddy of mine and I cut our teeth as a Hurricane and Spitfire duo in AH2 and now we're here.. good times...

100% agreed. There's no competition when it comes to facing real people. But AI could be so much better and we all know this.

Agreed on some points but it's pretty easy to see why IMO people aren't enjoying the AI. For some, it's a matter of not being able to defeat the AI. For me, it's that these "ace" AI crash into the ground more than half the time. And you're right - they make other mistakes that no human decently familiar with air combat could make. I don't enjoy any of that. Add to this the unrealistic flight modeling of the aircraft that hold too many G's and can often climb vertically at 130 kn etc and you have a very unsatisfying experience. At the end of the day, it's simply bad AI that is the problem, and some of the symptoms are that some people are having lots of trouble against AI using techniques that work against people and more realistic flight models OR some people are finding it incredibly easy to take advantage of the AI's poor choices. Either one is unrealistic and if I wanted to fly against unrealistic AI using unrealistic techniques, I'd hop on Ace Combat (a very fun and vastly different experience but not what I want from DCS).

This is the best thing IMO of this era of jets. They're closely matched, there's a lot of data out there and when someone beats you, chances are they were just better pilots. That said, I don't get the impression that people are looking for a magic bullet. I think that we're all sort of just enjoying what abilities the Phantom has and lacks vs other jets because it's fun to just nerd out and analyze and also because it's a video game where anything can happen. Two buds can hop in in a 1v1 gun fight and be evenly matched and that's where knowing nuanced aircraft characteristics shine the most. Realistic scenario or not, it's important to remember this is a game and a simulation - not real life - and everyone plays a bit differently.

I'm not sure if this is a bug or if I'm missing something but I believe about twice now, I have been unable to fire the gun and I can't replicate the cause. I have attached the track and for those curious, the video of the instance: Note at the end of the video that my the gun was selected on the stores panel, pinky switch set to GUN, master arm was on, the armament indicator was showing weapons armed, and I had not fired a single round during this fight (it was an air spawn in one of the dogfight servers) and yet the gun did not fire. If I'm missing something, please let me know and I will crawl back into my cave but I'm starting to think there may really be a bug. F-4 possible gun bug - mobettametas_Cold_War_Dogfight_Arena_-_Caucuses_-_v0.14.5-20240602-092921.zip

Holy cow, this might explain why mine never guide either. I'll try this workaround. Personally, I think this is a bug. Unless I'm missing another nuance, the Sparrows should guide. I'll check if toggling the CW switch works as well, as maybe there's an issue with air spawns. EDIT: toggling CW off then on did not work. I had the same issue as OP but I have even less success - only 3 of maybe 24 missiles fired though perhaps I'm not keeping the target close enough to boresight as needed. Please see attached track. F-4E flood mode bug.trk

I also wonder if he is using the nutation, 2 bar (RADAR mode scan pattern). My WSO and I have had much more success (when the radar wasn't broken due to desync) with MAP-B mode. I would like to see if it is possible for either Jester or myself to use MAP-B to search for contacts more consistently.

Have you also made sure that your weapon pinky switch is set to HEAT while you're in AAQ mode? The pinky switch will determine if your radar automatically scans more left, center or right. After you obtain lock, you may switch to whatever pinky switch position you want.

Bump. I have not found a solution. I've been searching for weeks and gave up while waiting for the F-4. Now that it's out, I can't join any of the servers - busy or not.

FYI, for anyone having this issue, the workaround is to cycle the compass mode knob (the one behind the right side of the pilot seat which you usually hold clockwise and the let go of when synching the compass) through all its different modes then synching. Then repeat this cycle over and over again until the ADI and HSI stop oscillating. I do not know how/if this negatively affect navigation capability but it seems to work well enough for now.

This was my third attempt and out of the 6 missiles fired, two did not fall short and one hit. I have to try again today. My strategy is to force the SA-3 missile into the ground and then pop up, force the next missile into the ground and repeat until I'm so close, I can smell them then I launch both shrikes and turn away with lots of chaff. In real life, I doubt this would work since my understanding is that maybe the SA-3 prevents its missiles from colliding with the ground in some cases but then again, the real SA-2/3 missiles weren't as maneuverable and jammer pods worked very differently.

I noticed this as well. I had Mavs onboard with a centerline tank. I selected the centerline station only and when I moved the selective jettison knob to stores, the mavericks ejected in addition to my centerline tank.

Confirmed that the Mk 36 works against the SA-3. I've had consistent tone and consistent guidance... but only one hit. You have to pop up REAL close. I haven't got around to using loft yet.

Please see the attached track. Thanks for looking into this! server-20240523-213806.trk

Forgive me if I'm incorrect but aren't your last 2 pics E-2's (clipped wings)? I don't remember regular E's having anything but fully pointed wings wings. Maybe this is a field mod?

I tested sustained turns with a buddy of mine yesterday at several loadouts: Clean F-4E, 50% fuel vs clean F-5E at 50% fuel. Clean F-4E, 50% fuel vs clean MiG-21 at 50% fuel F-4E with 4xAIM-7E-2, 72% fuel (to match plots in TO -1) vs F-5E with 2xAIM-9J and 50% fuel (also to match -1) F-4E with 2xAIM-7E-2 and 4xAIM-9J, 50% fuel vs F-5E with 2xAIM-9J and 50% fuel F-4E with 2xAIM-7E-2 and 4xAIM-9J, 50% fuel vs MiG-21 with 2xR-3S and 50% fuel. At SL, the F-4E had a better sustained turn than all of these other loadouts. The most difficult for me was the last one where the F-4 is carrying quite the payload and the MiG can keep up sometimes due to its inaccurate low speed sustained G's. As others have predicted here, the Phantom is not as good in the instantaneous turn and suffers if either plane goes into a rolling scissors. Still, the F-4E can fly at very low speeds with more control than the hard wing must have so you could maybe get cheeky if you're real good.

It's obvious that Heatblur went the extra mile to get multicrew working better than ever before. The active re-syncing is a welcome feature and clearly lessons learned from the F-14 made their way to the F-4E. Amazing work! That said, when my buddy tried to join my aircraft in my own private training server, he got a prompt like in the F-14 that he had to wait for approval from me as the pilot. However, I saw nothing on my screen - no prompt, no chat message, nothing. We have a workaround though. He had to choice the to wait for his message to disappear or to click "FLY" which would force him into my aircraft. This may be an issue online though, where someone who you do not want joining your aircraft can force themselves into your jet. I'll attach a track when I get home if needed.

Amazing!! I had to tune my FFB settings a bit but now it really feels like a real plane - reacting to inputs and oscillations. All I've done was test some turns and landing and I have to see it really matches known data and just feels so immersive. Worth the wait and I haven't even fired a missile yet. Amazing work, HB! Amazing!! I had to tune my FFB settings a bit but now it really feels like a real plane - reacting to inputs and oscillations. All I've done was test some turns and landing and I have to see it really matches known data and just feels so immersive. Worth the wait and I haven't even fired a missile yet. Amazing work, HB!

Jettison the pylons - what a perfect interim workaround! Can't wait to fly tomorrow.

Thanks Lance. I suppose its not too much extra drag and weight anyway so probably won't be too impactful in the meantime.

I noticed that the 370 gallon tanks, when jettisoned in the videos, leaves the pylon attached to the wing. My understanding was that the pylon was a part of the tank itself and therefore should be jettisoned with the tank: http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?/topic/108453-f-4-phantom-370-gallon-drop-tanks/&do=findComment&comment=943891 Am I incorrect? Other than that, I'm absolutely gawking over all the detail to everything - good job, Heatblur!

There was an F-4D on loan at the Empire State Aerosciences Museum near Albany, NY. It was a surprise to see it there and my first time getting close enough to touch one. We also visited the last F-4E ever built which is currently sitting pristine in the Air Park in Hamamatsu, Japan. This was the first time I'd seen an F-4E in person. That whole museum was a great experience.

To my knowledge, the latest F-4E's that fought in Vietnam only ever had the APR-36/37. I'd be glad to be proven wrong though. And correct me if I didn't understand the original question but the ALE-40 adds chaff and flare dispensers to the F-4E. Before then, no Air Force F-4 could dispense chaff or flares other than the big dedicated chaff bombing pods.