Kalasnkova74

Sounds like you “windmilled” the motors. The generators run off of engine rotation. Ideally, that’s provided by a running J-79. If your engines flames out or compressor stalled, diving fast enough will create enough airflow to spin the compressors (the aerial equivalent of push-starting a manual transmission car). Thus, running the generators and enabling engine re-start in flight. In your case, with no fuel your only option was a controlled ejection.

Not necessarily: https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Upcoming/Photos/igphoto/2000541099/ “Battle-damaged F-4E-32-MC (S/N 67-321) of the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing. 1Lts. Wesley E. Zimmerman and David J. Craighead successfully recovered their crippled F-4E after receiving serious damage in engagements with MiGs, SAMs and AAA. With two hydraulic systems gone, the rudder shot away, no drag chute, half the trailing edge slat on each side destroyed, and moderate damage to the right engine and wings, they nursed their fighter home. Despite the high speed required by the no-flap approach, Lt. Zimmerman made a successful landing and barrier engagement. (U.S. Air Force photo)” Note, many Israeli & Iranian F-4s returned to base despite extensive damage from AAA and missiles (AA and SAM). In one instance , an Iranian F-4E lost a Sparrow duel with a U.S. Navy F-14 in the 1980s. The Phantom II still made it back to base despite being hit. https://theaviationgeekclub.com/the-story-of-the-us-navy-f-14-tomcat-pilot-that-scored-an-aim-7-sparrow-soft-kill-on-an-iranian-f-4-attacking-a-us-navy-p-3-and-saved-the-lives-of-the-orion-crew/amp/ Then we have Showtime 112 flying long enough to get feet wet even after being hit by a SAM. The F-4 Phantom II is surprisingly resilient for a tactical fighter.

Close. In the 80s they omitted one 750 in exchange for a single AIM-9/Python. The problem was later solved with a dedicated AIM-9 pylon attached to an adapter hardpoint using the forward Sparrow missile well.

It depends USAF F-4s flew with wing, centerline or both based on circumstances and mission. On many sorties, especially MIGCAP coming from Thailand, they flew with all 3 plus full A/A loadout. Since the MIGCAP flights jettison all external tanks anyway before engaging, the centerline store interlock wasn’t a factor. To highlight the variety of setups some operators used, the Israelis ran an asymmetrical loadout in October 1973 featuring centerline bombs, 750s on one wing station, AIM-9s on the other & two wing external tanks. Much later the USAF used centerline tanks for F-4Gs operating in Kuwait , but both deployed squadrons later switched to a three bag setup to maximize fuel range when the Weasels needed to cover Iraqi airspace too. It just depends on the mission and operational need.

That’s one side of the equation. The other is the energy state of your bandit, especially the MiG-19 which has superior acceleration to the F-4E in some parameters. If you’re up against a MiG with high energy , going vertical won’t necessarily save you. The name of that game is staying fast while baiting the MiG into bleeding energy. It’s harder than it seems , especially if the MiG driver knows what they’re doing.

I had issues as well with the speedbrake keybinds. I totally stumbled on the solution by using a hat switch on my throttle to open and close. From what I can tell, the speedbrake is not a “click once -it opens” switch. It’s a graduated action where you hold the key to open until it’s fully deployed and hold the key again to fully close. (See why using the throttle hat switch paid off?) Using a momentary switch will just crack them open (and similarly crack them closed). When the speedbrake opens you’ll see a yellow caution light on the right telelight panel. Good luck on the remap!

It’s an aerodynamic leftover from the F-4s Naval roots. The first versions of the F-4 were launched off of ships. Thus also the “unusual for an Air Force bird” landing procedure.

This. Note also the NWS doubles as a quick air to air acquisition mode for the radar in-flight, so you want this on your HOTAS.

At that point in the process (after you’ve switched on the engine master ) , move left/right throttle out of the cutoff position (I use a dedicated keybind) & move the throttle to halfway and back (it’s a cross-check to ensure its rigger correctly) while simultaneously holding down the engine igniter button (another keybind). Release the igniter button once the RPM goes above 40%.

I’ll lead off with my errors. As I was following the startup checklist, the left engine didn’t want to start up. After staring at the 20% RPM gauge like a drooling idiot and wondering if my last mod broke the game- or perhaps a throttle keybind error - I looked at the left panel….. <profanity>… (Click) Turns out the left engine won’t start without the left engine master switch in the “ON” position. Guess that’s in the checklist for a reason!

Shoot the bandit in the face with a Sparrow, and use the time saved to beat your wingmen to the squadron bar .

First- I extend my appreciation to HB for their sweat, blood and toil put into this module. It shows, and I thank you all. The preorder goodies ain’t bad either. Next- what a difference a day makes around here. This time yesterday on the forums people were ready to go Walking Dead on each other.

“Where’s my Playboy mansion party invite?”

Or, it’s symptomatic of a niche business where investment in systemic quality management processes is not available. If EA is Toyota, HB is the hand built sports car company working out of a garage. Scalable processes don’t work for niche businesses because there isn’t enough capital to finance repeatable process development. Which is why you can buy a Toyota truck off a showroom lot and drive the thing for hundreds of thousands of miles with no issues , but a handbuilt Morgan sports car might have quality problems before it even leaves the dealer lot. I’m sure HB and ED would love to implement better quality management steps, but those quality management practices cost money. Unless Taylor Swift picks up DCS and brags about it on social media, that revenue isn’t realistic. So, like the Morgan customer, we must grin and bear the occasional process failure and delivery delay.

Even if HB delivered on time with no incident and an expenses paid trip to a party at the Playboy Mansion, the first time a fellas PC stuttered they’d be lighting up the forums complaining about “flawed modules- why can’t they wait to release until they get it right?” People, let’s put this in perspective. It’s not cancelled, it’s not missing critical features, it’s just delayed ONE business day. For goodness sakes people don’t act like this when their Amazon parcel is late a day, but they’ll take HB and ED to task for QCing the release. Nobody’s gonna remember this thread 12 months after release.

The same people complaining about a one business day delay would be ROASTING HB if the F-4E dropped on time with any flaws. These modules are nearly as complex as real world aircraft, and we know how often delays happen in that profession. It may drop tomorrow, it may be delayed until June 2024…or even later. Stuff happens. I’ll be ready when HB is.

Iran never operated the KC-135. Under the Shah they purchased modified KC-707s and KC-747s. Interestingly they were the only country to ever operate a 747 tanker. Of course neither aircraft is modeled in DCS, so properly fixing this means adding a KC-707 tanker. Incidentally this benefit Israeli scenarios too (via the Re’em tanker). A KC-747 would be nice for novelty , but I doubt the development ROI checks out given only one nation flies it.

Bless the Maker Heatblur and His Phantom II. Bless the coming and going of Him. May His passage cleanse the skies of Mikoyan. May He keep the world for His people.

Mike “Starbaby” Pietrucha noted that the F-4G WW (and by extension the F-4E) shared the same AIM-7 capability as the period F-15 Eagle. This came up in his interview as recalled USAF brass restricted the Phantom IIs Sparrow parameters in exercises, but those same limits weren’t applied to the F-15 even though both could use the same missile.

Spotted in S1 , Episode 2

Supporting this point, the Israeli Defense Force/Air Force used loft attacks with CBU to suppress Arab AAA in the Yom Kippur war. While the gunners were ducking CBU, the rest of the Kurnass strikers then hit the main target. Given the threat - like SA-6s which didn’t trigger alerts on their RWR and murderously dense AAA - it was probably the best tool in the drawer .

Brigadier General Olds flew the F-4E in combat. During Operation Linebacker (circa 1972) - years after his 8th TFW tour flying the F-4C & D - then Colonel Olds had a staff job at the Pentagon. After the improved North Vietnamese GCI system took down multiple USAF F-4s in quick succession , he was dispatched to Thailand with orders to audit the air to air training level of the USAF wings. His Linebacker tour was supposed to be ground-duty research only, but “somehow” Olds wound up flying combat missions in the F-4E. He delivered a candid report informing HQ USAF its pilots were woefully underprepared for air combat. Nothing was immediately done to address that.

Not to spoil your enthusiasm, but “MiG-21 vs F-4E” won’t be as exciting as you may think. IRL, 60% of the kills on both sides in SEA were unobserved ambushes . No turns or aircraft maneuvering kung fu, just a supersonic GCI/ Red Crown managed pass and a burning victim. Lacking those resources , in DCS it’s going to come down to pilot familiarity with their aircraft. IMO, the “airplane kung fu” match I’m curious to see is the MiG-19PF vs F-4E. The Farmer has much better subsonic acceleration, canopy visibility, and comparable low speed turn performance vs the F-4E.

Yeah, I’m with you there. Shame there probably isn’t a business case for an F/RF-101 module….

Apparently, Heatblur is born to lose. Unless they execute a module of advanced complexity with 100% accuracy and ahead of schedule , people will complain and criticize the effort at the first sign of adversity. Much gnashing of teeth lately since the delay announcement. My two cents? I’ll quote Edward R Murrow: ”We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men”