King_Hrothgar

Thanks :)

It's a single module that includes two aircraft and a map. But the initial release will stagger the components. So you will get the A first, then the B and then a map (this is only an example order, not the official one). But it's all still one module sold as a single package for $60 or whatever.

Content wise, they are about the same (very minimal) but both are a joy to fly. That said, I like the MiG better. I find it more interesting to fly due to it's ability to exceed its maximum mach while in level flight. In terms of combat effectiveness, I'll take a potato cannon over a spitwad straw any day. Get up close, and that 37mm will ruin anyone's day. The actual performance between the two is fairly balanced, the MiG climbs and accelerates better while the F-86 is a little faster and a better diver. They have similar agility up to mach 0.75, at which point the MiG stiffens and eventually becomes uncontrollable while the F-86 stiffens and gets difficult to control. As for flight models and systems, they are both full fidelity. Being 1950's aircraft, there isn't much there systems wise. The F-86 has a radar sight + manual backup while the MiG-15 has manual only. I only ever use the sights in fixed mode though, it's impossible to hit anything with the cross hairs bouncing around. In terms of versatility, the F-86 has bombs and up to 16 rockets in addition to the guns. It also has a pair of GAR-8 air to air missiles, but those things are hilariously bad. You couldn't hit Sochi with one of those even if the whole city were on fire. The MiG-15 has a pair of small bombs and its cannons. The bombs aren't terribly interesting, but the cannons are fairly effective in strafing.

Same, though disappointed implies I'm expecting one, which I'm not. I expect it will be a WW2 thing, the Viggen and the F-14. I know I won't buy the WW2 thing. The other two are a maybe, depending on other releases at the time, price and additional content.

What's going on is a lot of us, myself included, are asking for a frontline version of the F-5E as used by Iran, Saudi Arabia or any of the other dozens of countries that used it instead of the downgraded US aggressor ones. Changing it from one to the other should not be difficult as they all share the same airframe, engines and vast majority of systems. It's basically just a radar display mode and a couple extra switches that the maverick capability requires. IRL that can add a lot to the price tag of a plane but in a video game, it really isn't a big deal if you can get the information on the system.

The fact that they are talking to us now about the mavericks says a lot to that end. Clearly they were planning the downgraded US model. But if we can come up with the info for a frontline version, they may adapt it into that. In any case, I consider the F-5E a principally non-US fighter and certainly not a Vietnam bird. If there is a war that defines it, it's the 1980's Iran/Iraq war imho.

It is an issue worth addressing. Part of the problem is that Russia took a 20 year hiatus from advanced weapons design between 1990 and 2010 due to budgetary issues. The genuinely new stuff is likely too new to get enough info on + permission to model and we already have the 1980's stuff included with FC3. I think the best solution from a MP standpoint is shifting down to the 1970's instead of trying to fill in the 1990's. Things were a lot more even then, and it allows for full DCS level aircraft without doubling up on the FC3 planes. We are already getting a little bit of that, with aircraft like the UH-1H, MiG-21Bis and F-5E. But I think a lot more could be done.

That's unfortunate. Sure it can carry a ton of rockets, but a pair of AGM-65's makes anything better.:smilewink:

Similar issue here. My FPS according to nvidia is still around 60 to 120, but it's stuttering so badly that I doubt I'm actually getting more than 10. None of the other modules have this issue. The stuttering occurs in both cockpit and external views. System specs in my signature and all drivers are the latest version. I'm running at 1080p.

Looks like a flare launcher maybe.

This is all I turned up, but it doesn't say anything about what equipment it has: http://www.checksix-fr.com/downloads/falcon4/topolo/zip/project-21/natops_flight_manual-f-5e-3.pdf Important point, that isn't a real manual, it's for another flight sim.

What I gathered from those comments by Cobra is that the systems are more complicated to program than the tomcat's on an individual basis. But he also said that although they are more complicated, there are fewer of them. That implies a single seat aircraft.

I care. The main reason I and many others want the F-5E is to have a direct western opponent for the MiG-21Bis. That said, I don't think much was done to them in the 70's and 80's other than the addition of a basic RWR and the ability to shoot early mavericks. And that's exactly what I want. Weapons can be restricted in the mission editor but we can't swap radars or add an RWR.

They've said they are going for a typical 1980's F-14A and a 1990's F-14B. I expect it will be TCS instead of IRST.

3d model is what I assumed, I even read it that way until you pointed out the mistake. Regardless, I'm glad to hear we will be getting an F-5E with an RWR. Still waiting on word about it being a regular production model, though, as opposed to the spare parts and duct tape models the US always used.:P

I thought that was an A. Either way, the MiG-21Bis definitely wasn't there. But it did fight F-5E's in the skies over Iran/Iraq in the 1980's along with the SA-342 Gazelle, MiG-29A and Su-25A. I'd much rather see one of those F-5E's represented. :)

Neither aircraft served in the Vietnam war. The F-5A and C were used there, not the E. Additionally, the MiG-21PFM was the most modern aircraft used by the north. It predates the Bis by about a decade and is far less capable.

It's a lot more even if you make it a pre-1991 scenario.

The MiG-21Bis is quite a bit different from the older MiG-21's the Vietnamese flew. It has 4 missile hardpoints instead of 2, an internal gun (the older ones typically didn't), improved radar, a more powerful engine and a different canopy. It's about like the shift from a Bf-109E3 to a Bf-109K4. Technically the same basic airframe, but you can't interchange them in a historical scenario. They are too different for that. The MiG-15 vs MiG-17 isn't any better. They don't even share the same basic airframe, nevermind the other bits.

Ok, what would the North Vietnamese fly? They don't have a single aircraft in DCS, not even an AI only one. I'm not opposed to adding a whole bunch of Vietnam stuff, I think it would be a lot of fun. Just pointing out that so far, the only Vietnam aircraft we have for DCS or even publicly announced for DCS is the UH-1H.

The F-5E faced the MiG-21Bis on many occasions which resulted in shoot downs (actually pretty even from what I've read). The F-4E fought them just as often, but no more often that I'm aware of. I suspect you're looking exclusively at the US usage of the aircraft during Vietnam, in which case neither the F-4E or F-5E ever faced a MiG-21Bis. How do I know? Vietnam didn't have any.;)

Nah, skip the A-10C and keep it period appropriate instead. F-5E + A-10A + UH-1H vs MiG-21Bis + Su-25A + Mi-8. No AIM9-M's or R-60M's allowed. I think that scenario would be lots of fun assuming the air defenses were on the lower end (ie chapperals and SA-8's) and the targets were fixed bunkers, infantry and light armor (M113's and BMP's). In any case, I don't think the US aggressor ones would be a good one to model. They were not characteristic of the F-5E production line. Instead, they were essentially pre-production prototypes intended for a nation that didn't survive long enough to receive them. The "standard" F-5E, if there ever was such a thing, had an RWR and AGM-65's.

Agreed, I hate it with a passion. I have my zoom on a rotary and DCS ignores that rotary command until it finishes the slow zoom out to fish eye view nonsense.

It does have 2x 20mm cannons with around 1000 rounds of ammo though, that's a lot of boom-boom. In any case, I'd like to see the AIM-9J modeled too, since it was widely used by the F-5E in addition to the L and M versions. The AIM-9J is also a bit more balanced with the IR missiles the MiG-21Bis carries.

lol, me too. Google decided I meant "his joystick"... you can imagine the results.:megalol: