Jayhawk1971

I just flew mission 1 that you kindly provided as a download. That was a fun mission! Love the more elaborate ATC at Akrotiri (which was actually not that hard to follow). It's a long mission, but there is lot going on that keeps the player entertained. Really looking forward to this campaign!

Honestly, I can't remember. The RWR was pretty much cluttered at that point. If it was up, it wasn't locking me, though. IIRC, I did see a "6" on the HAD, because I was contemplating strafing it, in case Bug's HARM would miss (of course I forgot to set a mark point previously; I became rather rusty in the Viper ). I also forgot to check in the debriefing afterwards whether my CBU's killed the SA-6 radar or not. I never thought about it, since I heard the "kill message", and I saw from rising smoke that I definitely did kill multiple "somethings" on that SA-6 site.

Hi Chris, I just got back into FIWOS to finally finish the campaign (took a break after mission 9). I'll put the question in spoiler tags, as it's related to the plot:

I keep hearing "sugar breakers" instead of "circuit breakers" during the checklist. Maybe I should eat a Snickers bar before flying? Oh, and happy (slightly belated) Birthday, @Reflected.

I had something similar happen in another Tomcat campaign recently. In my case, for some reason, DCS couldn't load/ find the player skin anymore, and froze. Doing a slow repair fixed the issue in my case. You can try by opening the mission in the mission editor and choose a different skin for your aircraft.

Apparently, if you use the radio command instead of the "salute" key bind to launch the catapult (or the other way round?), Paco's trigger may not work. So whatever you have been using to launch so far, try the other option. The mission works for me, but I am using VAICOM and use a voice command (that probably uses the "salute" key).

Absolutely fantastic! It's amazing how far you and your fellow creators like BD and Chris from Ground Pounder Sims have pushed (and continue to push) the boundaries of campaign creation.

I just saw your announcement video on YouTube. What an amazing addition. Thank you so much for your dedication to keep your older campaigns up-to-date! Now, if we could some day also get the interactive crew chief from your upcoming Viper campaign for the Tomcat and the Phantom.... *ducks, rolls, runs for cover*

Cool! Can't wait to find out what it is! Regarding the issue with the freeze: Slow repair did the trick, mission is loading again as it should.

Didn't the A-7 have the first "real" HUD in the US military, 1967-ish? Or was it introduced with later A-7 models? If the former, I wonder why that technology didn't make it into the A-Tomcats? Edit. A quick search found this article: https://www.twz.com/34405/the-a-7-corsair-iis-heads-up-display-was-a-revolution-in-air-combat

Neither. Get the Tomcat!

I am really looking forward to the flight deck directors and any other love they could give the SC. Even though it will be a lot of work (I can only imagine) to rebuild these missions, I'm sure it will be awesome once the "dance on the deck" works! Now, if ED would just make their planned briefing room available for single player missions...

Then it must be something on my end. Maybe something got corrupted (file path or something)? It can't be the skin itself, since it works in other missions. Well, since today's patch apparently was delayed until next week anyway, I'll try a slow repair and see what's what. If that doesn't work, I'll ask someone at ED. Thanks for checking! Playing S&A again after a couple of months break was a real nice experience. It went a lot smoother for me than during the first playthrough (same with Zone 5). Now, since I got lured into WW2 by the latest DCS sale (bought Normandy 2 and Blue-nosed Bastards), I have a P-51 that's waiting for me over in England.

Yesterday I tried playing mission 15 again, and Paco got "stuck" on CAT 3 and wouldn't launch. Taking a closer look, I noticed that the CAT crew got "stuck" (AI pathfinding issue), which caused the launch sequence to not initiate. There were two variants of this problem: 1. One crewmember get's stuck next to Paco's jet, and/or 2. If/when unstuck, he walks over to the CAT and gets stuck there, within the cluster of the rest of the crew. Solution: I taxied around Paco's jet, which unstuck the single crewmember, then again taxied through the crew cluster, after which they "snap out of it" and proceed with the launching procedure. Just use CAT 1 or 2 afterwards, mission proceeds normally. Hopefully ED get's the AI sorted out soon!!!

Just tried to play mission 16 again, and DCS froze on loading the mission (after the briefing screen). I tried to start it via the Campaign tab, the mission tab (copy/pasted the mission files to saved games) as well as straight from the mission editor, with the same outcome. I found this line in my log: ERROR_ONCE DX11BACKEND (9988): texture '/textures//liveries/f-14b/vf-213 aj204 by reflected/HB_F14_LOD3_3in1' not found. Asked from '' " So I went to the mission editor and chose another skin for the player Tomcat, and the mission (16b) loaded normally. When it was time to proceed to 16c, DCS froze again while loading the mission. I did not have any issues while playing the other missions (11 through 15) during the last couple of days, during which I assume I've flown with this particular skin. I have no mods installed except VAICOM, but I assume that is some directory issue, not a memory issue? Is there anything on my end I could do to fix this, except changing the skin in the mission editor for 16a, b, c?

The only time I ever involuntarily departed the Tomcat was when I practiced using crossed controls (to increase the roll rate while at high AOA). Otherwise, I find the Tomcat handles very nicely in DCS. Even the A. Just don't yank the stick like a maniac, and it'll be fine. Anyone who wants to get into the Tomcat (and hopefully soon, the Phantom) after only ever playing in FBW jets (Viper, Hornet), my advice would be to "take a detour" via Warbirds or early jets (F-86).

Regarding the Fishbed/Fishcan FM: I saw a video by Sedlo on YouTube recently, where he uses some script to add additional mass to the MIG 21, to make it behave less like a UFO. Maybe something to consider for future updates, until he Fishbed's FM gets fixed some day........in the fuuuuuture? (relevant part starts at 4:36)

For me it's the other way around. I always found the Tomcat to be easier to refuel in: as soon as you have trimming figured out (practice on Warbirds), it's very stable. The Hornet, at least with my HOTAS, is twitchy along the y-axis, which needs more attention during AAR. Viper is the same. Tomcat for me is way less of a hassle, again, if you trim properly.

I hope this new FM will also solve the pathfinding issues on the ground. Oh, and if anyone from ED reads this: planes should stop catching fire just because they taxi into an object, like the pillar holding the roof over a parking spot at Nellis, when my wingman slowly taxied into one after one Zone 5 mission. That should result in a dent, not a violent explosion. I've been reflying most of Zone 5 last week, and I'm happy to report that thankfully I did not encounter any severe AI hickups. All missions worked fine as far as I could tell, except Outlaw (I always seem to get the Eagle on every playthrough, by the way) "pulling a Jester" during the Grad 1v1 (he went below the hard deck when I got on his six). Which is still fine, since it didn't break gameplay: it's absolutely conceivable that hard decks get broken during BFM. Zone 5 is very replayable, I still enjoy it even after numerous playthroughs, especially since finishing Speed and Angels!

The issue indeed seems to have been fixed! I could install the map, everything is fine now.

I also just bought Normandy 2.0 map (didn't have 1.0 before), it doesn't show up in the module manager.

I have two Logitech G940 HOTAS which I treat like raw eggs until I'll invest in something newer (for which I'd have to wait up to 1 year or so I've read). The throttle is spiky and imprecise, but the FFB with the stick is nice. I'll get a Winwing throttle base soon, haven't decided which throttle yet, though.

Which mission was that? "Hello Ivan"? Re. CASE III in the campaign: Reflected provided kneeboard cards in the campaign, which include "CliffsNotes" versions of Case I/II/III recovery/ departure procedures. The radio menu carrier comms required to "initiate" CASE III are identical to the DCS Hornet.

Thanks, let's hope ED can optimize their MT code soon.

Yep, Reflected's campaigns aren't "beginner friendly". They require a certain level of advanced module knowledge. Probably the best way to get into the Tomcat would be to first complete Heatblur's training tutorial missions, then do some of the single missions and the Reforger campaign. Also, there are some very helpful tips and tutorials floating around these forums and YouTube. Heatblur's SME wrote up some very helpful PDF tutorials if you can still find those. Once you feel you have a good grip on our F-14, "Speed and Angels" will be a great start if you have the patience to work through it yet (and it is work during the "RAG" phase of the campaign). An alternative route would be to start with "Fear the Bones", as it is more entertainment-oriented and not as "hard" as the other two Tomcat campaigns. Caveat: that does not mean the campaign is "easy", though. You are required to do a night trap qualification as your first mission. Also A2A refueling is required in at least two missions (IIRC). And one somewhat dicey night trap surprise (ironically, my best night trap in the Tomcat ever, proving @Victory205 's point about us all being virtual HUD cripples who would improve greatly if we would only fly by the analog instruments ).