Fjordmonkey

Sadly, the PIDS-pylons didn't come into service until after I left, so we only had two buckets. The chaff-bucket on the right, flares on the left. I'm glad the flares were on the left side, though, since it was my job to pull the chaff/flare-pin at launch. The thought of having a 3000c flare getting ejected a few inches away from my face is a ****ton worse than having a ball of chaff :P

Nah, not that I noticed. For the most part we had little issues with the chaff/flare-system, apart from a few electrical issues that ment that the system dumped out 3-4 of each instead of singles, and we had one jet dump the entire box when a single flare was commanded. Don't think they ever found out if it was the flare-box or the countermeasures-system that was at fault, but the jet didn't have that issue when it came back from Phase.

I know what I'd say: THE F**K HAVE YOU DONE TO MY JET!?!? Much like I said to the pilot of 279 when he recovered to Banak AFB with a missing ventral-fin and quite a lot of shrapnel embedded in the skin after releasing a Mk82 too low. Had a hand-sized piece miss the flare-box by less than an inch, too. That could have been very nasty.

Impressive landing a Viper with 5 feet of missing wing, but that midair can't be good for MP2's carreer, heh.

In some cases it does, yes, but the systems and functionality behind the instrumentation is where the stonewalling really starts, as well as some of the stores. Either way, it'll be interesting to see just how, what and which systems we'll get on the DCS Viper. Much of my knowledge about the jet is specific to the MLU'ed Block 10 and 15's with the F100PW220E-engine we flew here in Norway, and while the OCU and MLU M1-jets I worked on are similar to the Block 50, there's a ton of differences.

What you have to realize is that many of us are still bound by oaths of secrecy about what we've learned through our military service. There's things about the RNorAF Vipers that I'm STILL not allowed to discuss, even though it's 19 years since I left the service, and despite our jets being 40 years old. Thus when someone say something on these forums, it's better to do a little research instead of calling someone a troll.

Umm, I'm pretty sure MVSGAS knows far more about the Vipers than damn near anyone else in here. You might want to go back through his posting-history before you call him a troll. Just sayin'

Well, we can hope, although hope is the first step on the path to disappointment :D Now where did I put that massive tub of liquid patience to slather myself with....

If that happens, the DCS-community will split quite nicey between those that die laughing and those that has an ABSOLUTE aneurysm out of utter rage :P It would be glorious :megalol:

Either an engine hotstart, or an engine that's been preserved. There's quite a bit of white smoke after the flames die down, so I'm guessing that's unburnt oil. Saw the smokeshow after we did an engine-swap on a Norwegian Viper back when I served, but we never had the massive fireball. Just a LOT of white smoke until the engine stabilized at idle.

Hmm, I need to check if our Vipers have actually gotten integral ECMs in the later MLU-tapes. They didn't have it when I worked on them back in 2000, but I've seen that some of the birds have gotten the new wings with the beercans on them. And the Penguin-missile? Yeah, no, those things weren't very effective in operation, speaking about the Mk3 which could be fired from the Viper. They were mostly phased out by the time I went onto the flightline, although we did load a captive one during training and once during checkout, just since it was on the official roster. The only thing they properly tracked was the sun and/or water, and had a very nasty habit of either maddogging into the wild blue yonder or go tits-up into the water after launch. The Mk2 Mod 6, fired from the missile/torpedo-boats were quite deadly, however, but those were taken out of service in 2008 with the Hauk (Hawk) class of MTB's and replaced with the NSM on the Skjold (Shield) class missileboats. Now, if we could get the NSM, though....That would be fun. Fat chance since most of the performance-data is classified.

Know what the easiest sign of a bad craftsman is? He's the one that blames the tools and not himself. Sure, the Tiger doesn't have all the latest bells and whistles like the 9X, 120's and whatnots, but it can still be a very nasty surprise to anyone fighting it. I've seen many cocky pilots in both the Hornet and Flankers eat it bigtime because they underestimated the little jet that could (and can). The correct tactic is half the fight, just as using the correct tool is half the job. Know your aircraft, know your tactics and know your enemy, and you'll come out on top more often than not.

It's hell when you have to tow the bird on the ground in the summer, and you're the designated Cockpit-man :P Hot doesn't even BEGIN to cover it, and that was in Bodø here in Norway. Can't even begin to imagine having to tow a Viper from one end of the field to the other at for example Nellis.

It still remains to be seen which version of the Block 52 we'll get in terms of which weaponry etc we actually end up with. Don't think I've seen any info on that.

Even so, the Viper is iconic in its own right, and it's a valid member of the stable in DCS. Plus you have to look at this from a business-perspective as well. The Double Ugly is an icon, but there's a bigger market for the Viper. I'll buy both, of course.

I'll take it :D

As much as I love the Viper, the Rhino has always been an aircraft I've liked. Would love to see one in DCS, preferrably a G for some proper SEAD-work. Of course, I'll take an E or hell, even an RF4C! Running Photorecon would be rather interesting :D

Is it so wrong to ask for both? :D

Now that's a beauty! Which kit is this? Hasegawa?

BURN THE HERETIC!!!! :P

The problem with this reasoning when you're dealing with flightsims is that flightsims is an EXTREMELY niche market, and development-time costs money. In addition, the studios are small and many depend upon Early Access in order to fund their production and eventual release of said product. Yes, there's always a risk of another VEAO-situation. That's also why the community is EXTREMELY wary against new production-teams promising the world.

Doesn't matter, it still applies. It's up to YOU to weigh the risks vs the rewards. Early Access is there as an option, not as an instrument to force you to buy. You're told well in advance what you're purchasing, which flaws the product has and which features that are complete. Heatblur isn't forcing you to do anything, whatever you feel that you're forced to do is all in your head.

Caveat Emptor. It's the customers task to judge if the risk of purchasing a product in early access is worth it. For some it will be, for others it won't. If you can't/won't take the risk: Wait until the product is OUT of EA and THEN buy it. Simple, easy and clean. No need to clutter a develeopement-thread with crap like this.

I wish, but doubt it due to RAZBAMs MiG-19P and Heatblurs Tomcat-module.

And yet I still find you to be an enormous tease, NineLine :megalol: