Zomba

Well I'm learning a fair bit from this thread. I have to agree with Moos, looking at displays of the Mirage it looks very good with agility. I can't really see much of an answer to that sort of performance in a merge if the pilot is good. Here's a video I recorded earlier today of a merge with a F-15. Even though the Eagle can out turn a Mig-21 and has better energy retention, if the pilot isn't careful with his energy a Mig can still get into a lag pursuit.

My God, man. How many instances of Max do you normally run?

More variety will always be good. It will make the environment just that much more challenging.

I wish the best of luck to the LN team with their push to 1.5! I'm happy to wait for whenever they're ready with their future announcements and module releases rather than get target fixation on dates. It takes as long as it takes, just patience is all. They have awesome workmanship and looking forward to seeing what else they turn their hand to.

One thing I notice about many F-15 pilots, I don't want to appear antagonising, it's just an observation, but they are often very complacent. So many times I've caught them just motoring along at mid flight level at subsonic without a care in the world, head down staring at their radar and RWR unaware that you're blasting up from the clutter behind their 3-9 line. I've flown formation with enemy F-15s and they weren't even aware that I was there. I guess they are so used to dealing with adversary much like themselves and having that incredible radar and AIM-120 combination that they become too settled in that profile? With the F-15 being more capable in the BVR than the Mirage maybe that will encourage Mirage pilots to explore different tactics to address that problem? Which leads onto Mirage pilots operating in a different way, placing more emphasis on positioning and avoiding counter detection. To me this would make the Mirages much more dangerous to deal with than an F-15; being less predictable, harder to detect, more likely to counter-detect you and more likely to encounter them in the low level. I don't think encountering a Mirage at low level would be a very pleasant experience. Normally with F-15s I have a reasonable idea of the rough area they are in and always make sure I remain undetected and have either an energy or positional advantage to avoid fighting on their terms. What am i supposed to do against this little French fighter if it refuses to fly like I want it too!:cry: I'm just guessing here, who knows how things will turn out. It'll be very interesting at least.

What were the Viggens like in agility? I know next to nothing about them.

I think the comparisons are partly because they are the only high fidelity fast jets for now. Also I suspect a lot of the more experienced Mig drivers are very interested in the Mirage, not only to fly themselves, but also to fly against. It's easier to gauge an aircraft's capability when comparing it to another, even when that other aircraft has a different level of capability. We have endless discussions comparing the Mig-21 to the F-15C because that is one of the aircraft we have to contend with online. I've noticed some people take offence to that for some reason (not in this thread) and can get very argumentative about it, yet despite their protests, at the end of the day we still have to fight against F-15s (and soon Mirages!) whether we like it or not, and to be successful you have to be very familiar with their capability. Everyone loves to point out how hopelessly outclassed the Mig is and technically they are correct, yet the Mig-21 can still rack up impressive kill counts against far superior foe. So why do they seemingly do better than one might guess? Mig pilots love to do their homework first and are well aware that their aircraft doesn't dominate on a technical level, so instead we concentrate on exploiting vulnerabilities and ensuring the Mig-21 is being driven to the max of it's ability. So it's pretty understandable why the Mirage is getting so much interest from us; we have to fly against this awesome little aircraft and the more we know about it the better!

Again, where did I say they were matched? "If you want a French match to the MiG-21bis, it is the Mirage IIIE." I just find it interesting that you feel compelled to tell people what they can and cannot say, that's all.

Where did I say anything about matching? Where did you get that from? Also that wasn't sarcasm.

I think you might have made the unfortunate mistake in thinking I care. As a small aside, the Mig-21bis is a third generation fighter and was deployed in the '70s. Just a teeny bit different from it's 1950's variety, but lets not get drowned in details.

Actually I'm glad it's the slightly older M2000C RDI variant, it places the Mirage as an underdog to the big modern powerhouse fighters. It's so much more rewarding to splash an F-15 with the Mig-21bis than something on par with it and i'm looking forward to a similar feeling with the Mirage. Using less capable aircraft forces you to rely on your wits and skill rather than the sheer brute capability of the machine to dominate. I can see people using very similar tactics as those developed for the Mig-21 to engage the top tier fighters.

I just hope this FM confusion doesn't repeat again like before with all the mess that caused.

I don't know why it's so difficult for you guys to accept the next aircraft as the Sopwith Camel.

No, I currently maintain the mission and setting it to allies only was one of the first things I did. I'd personally prefer f10 showing nothing at all, but it is still a training server as well and needs to cater to that too. It's free fire now as well, the bases of the respective sides have SAM cover so those wanting to train just have to make sure they don't wander outside the reservation. The weather also gets changed every few days or so.

That is a problem as the defaults are not identical between AWACS and Mig, so it makes it rare to see them set up to be compatible. [shameless_plug]The Australian hosted AEF Playground public server is a free engagement server and the Mig-21 radios work with the AWACS on both sides. AWACS coverage is intentionally a bit patchy to make life interesting.[/shameless_plug]

I'm not sure if it was for the radar to be sure, but drums of alcohol would accompany Mig-25 deployments which proved rather popular with the personnel. I'd definitely be keen for Mig-23 or Mig-25 for their own reasons. Very interesting and difficult aircraft to master, I bet. Just one side question, many pictures I see of the Mig-23 cockpit have no obvious radar scope. Others have a TV screen, which I assume are later variant Mig-27 with optics. Are the scopeless cockpits I see really just early Mig-27s, or am I being completely confused? If they are Mig-23 cockpits then what is the radar output to, some sort of HUD indication?

I have to announce my profound disappointment at there being no RSBN, PRMG or ARC in NTTR. I can't even find my own bum without RSBN. I can see myself landing at Groom Lake thinking I'm in Nellis and wondering why everyone is looking at me weird. :music_whistling::lol: Map and compass is hard for us who are navigationally challenged.

I'm with you there. i wasn't much interested in Soviet aircraft before, but the Mig-21 and Mig-15 have changed that completely. Mig-23 would be an excellent aircraft for DCS.

Awesome little update, great news with all the progress and the ambitious theatre projects too! Awesome support for the Mig-21. Looking forward to Sopwith Camel announcement later this month.

I was just being facetious. Sticking weapons on it that it was never operational with is very Game Mode.

Maybe just put the 120s on when in game mode? Would be a suitable compromise when operating in Mario Kart mode. That way there would be no undermining accuracy in sim mode.

I'd personally prefer the F-14 to be as close to how the fleet aircraft were like, good and bad. Putting 120s on it seems more like a pleasant fiction. Would be useful, but a fiction and I think wishful thinking is a path best avoided where possible with sims like this.

I'm surprised at how useful the rudder is in the Mig, even at relatively higher speeds. It also has a huge amount of authority at low speed/high alpha, even more than the ailerons.

The AEF server is open to anyone and is up 24/7. The numbers vary greatly depending on time and day, it can range from just a few to over 20 or so, it's always a bit fluid like that. I work nights a lot so often up during your day hours, and so will be at least idling in the TS channel if not in server. The main mission on it uses the entire Georgian map and is designed to accommodate both training and general red versus blue air to air combat. All aircraft types are supported and the Mig-21 radios are compatible with the AWACs in use. So the doors don't close, just show up whenever you want.

You are always welcome in the AEF server. It's aimed at training and there are a few Mig-21 pilots. You're welcome in our Teamspeak dcsts.aef-hq.com.au:9988. As a bit of a public service we give free one on one training to anybody that wants it.