Beldin

So while researching the Admiral's Bowen Mod (Knox Class) I came across a bit about how the ASROC launcher was modified to fire both Harpoon missiles and RIM-24 SAMs. The Harpoon load out of 2 in the launcher and 2 reloads seems to be the more common used but this did give some ships a SAM capability they had previously lack. So after a bit of tweaking I was able to get the the ASROC launcher on the USS Bowen to fire both Harpoons and a new "Tartar" RIM-24C SAM simultaneously at air and surface targets. If you look close you can see the different missiles leaving the launcher

Coming soon. Expanded deck layouts for the the Cuesta Brother's Clemenceau class for use with the VWV mod F-8E(FN) Crusader.

Be sure to check out the VWV MOD It includes the CVA-31 USS Bon Homme Richard with expanded runway layouts for use with the F-8 Crusader and A-4 Skyhawk. Also includes a nice ai SH-2 Sea Sprite helicopter for the smaller frigates

There is a link for the Ford class on this page of the thread. and an update runway file a few post later. I'll get around to adding links for the other carriers I've done runway updates to soon in the Nato Carrier update thread

I’d suggest trying to join some of the various modding discords then. They are many more “wip” type mods and static things to be found there. And yes, we all play DCS differently.

You must reset take off order when using runway start. This is DCS issues and has nothing to do with my updates. In ME waypoint menu look for the PRK number for planes set to runway start. planes 2 and 3 will be backwards and need to be rest. Ramps start is with the engine off so a player can do the start up routine. Parking hot has the engine running so player can skip that part. For AI planes ramp start is slower as the "ai pilot " has to start the plane. Again landing is a WIP and I'm not sure I even did anything to the Invincible' s parking spots. Look at the original runway lua for that ship and compare the "parking spots" to the ones in my update. If they are different just replace the data for parking spot in my update with the original data. If the spots are the same then that's how the ship umm... shipped from the developer. Just be careful when you replace the data. There can be no missing comas or extra text. and back up your files

As far as I know there are still issues with some of the older mod prop planes launching from carriers. I will try and take a look over the weekend. But it needs some model/texture work and that's out of my hands. Not much work, but the bomb bay door needs to be animated and something with the textures seems a bit off. But I'll take a look at the aircraft lua and see where I left off.

More spawn points and weapons update for the USS Forrestal. I'm sure this breaks IC so it's not for all. 20 spawn points and updated Sea Sparrow SAMs I only tested this with F-14A and the VSN F-4B. Other aircraft and mixing type may cause taxi issues. This goes in the main DCS install folder so be sure to back up your files. If you only want the new spawn points just replace the "runway" lua. If you want to try the new Sea Sparrow use all the files This update also includes updated/fixed spots for HMS Invincible First post is updated with the new files

This has always been a well put together mod. Nice to see updates

I thought I checked and was not seeing it, But I'll check again and look at the ship lua. There are some lines of code that go in the damage section that should prevent player aircraft from causing damage to the carrier.

I've never seen that. I need to recheck my "bda" settings. BUt if player aircraft are causing damage there should be a lua fix for that

Some notes on AI landings with STOVL aircraft using the updated runway luas or any STOVL carrier in general. 1: Keep in mind these are WIP, especially the landing parking B: I maybe, most likely, are testing with "custom" versions of some aircraft. I will share these aircraft luas at some point. III: From what I've seen when the ai is taking off or landing it's all about the weight with STOVL aircraft. In general when landing vertically the lighter the plane is the farther forward it will land on the ship, the heavier, it will land more to the rear of the deck, at least on the QE2 but I'm pretty sure that applies to all STOVL carriers. I've also seen them use the helicopter spots at times depending how many planes are on the deck. When doing a "rolling" landing if the plane is to heavy it will roll off the deck. And in the case of the QE2 through the ski jump no less. BUT this is true of all carriers. At least the mod ones. I know this from watching F-4s and F-8 slide off the front of the smaller CATOBAR carriers like Joey's Hermes 69 or the VWV CVA-31. But here's a very short video of a F-35B doing a "short" landing on the QE2 without rolling into the ramp. The weight was at 43,000lbs, which is right around the weight where the plane will switch landing modes. I will provide a update F-35 lua soon. But I normally use a fictional "F-35RN" with the QE2 that's more suited to the QE2 and I need to compare that to the normal VSN F-35B. I do recall editing the weights a bit. Nothing that unrealistic but it gave better control over the load outs/ take off mode

LOL, yeah I've got an update for the Mistral as well. I created all 4 ships and got the weapons working. But I had to use the incorrect weapons at the time. Now that I'm starting to have a clue about how to do custom weapons any sensors I'll take another look at them. The darn French carrier Clemenceau is being a real pain about working with the F-8 Crusader from the VWV mod. I had it working right up until I tried to improve it. I also have the French CDG but I need to redo the weapons on that. I thought I'd start with something simple like deck layouts . But I have many updates for ships. Some are "fixes" and some are just updates to suit my play style. I will release as much as I can without stepping on anyone's toes. Tonight I hope to release a new deck layout for CV-59 and a ship update with Sea Sparrows that actually fire . It will only be for single play/ai use because I'm sure it will break IC but it's a nice update to the ship

Don't forget about that stupid little fence thingy that blocks the rear SAM launcher. I think I had most of the weapon angles sorted in what I sent you, but I don't think I got to the sounds. Can't wait to see the update.

I can add it to the list. I think I did the spawn points at one point .But the only mod I've found of that ship has a static harrier and/or a F-35 on the deck that can't be removed. Also I don't think the model had anything else animated as far as weapons go so it would just be a takeoff-landing platform/nice background ship.

I'm not saying that, physics is. . Weight affects EVERYTHING on a plane and DCS models much of that Have you tested with the AV-8B yet????? It's quite possible the VSN-F35 mod has never been able to land correctly on any of the STVOL carriers. I don't recall how the original lua was configured. Like I said I will send you my F-35B lua later after I test it and make sure it works as I recall. But if you want to keep messing with the F-35B try this, load fuel at 50-60% percent, fit a heavy weapons load to force short take off and give the plane some targets so it fires ALL weapons then see what happens when it returns to ship. I don't recall thinking I had to move the landing point forward, and that's not as simple as it sounds, sometime it is, sometimes it's not and can affect other things. Good luck

I'll send you my F-35B lua later. BUT 70% fuel is still a LOT of fuel . Lower it to 30%-40% and try that. Unless they hit a tanker on the way back planes returning from a mission normally do not have a 70% fuel load. NOTE: you can adjust internal fuel load in the ME loadout screen. Also I would test with the AV-8B and the Tarawa/Invincible until you get feel for how the STVOL aircraft work. Then try the AV-8B with the QE2. Although this is not "real world" testing a "mod" with "mod" is always a little tricky. I thought that every STVOL carrier ship (mod or not) was broken until I figured out the weight issue. Also check how the F-35B works on the "Stock" STOVL carriers. I'll run some test when get home tonight and double check what I changed in my VSN F-35B mod. It was not much but I do think I played around with the weights a bit to make it work like it should.

Yes an No. There is a "landing spot" but with the STOVL aircraft it all depends on landing weight/mode. In vertical mode the AI seems to use the helicopter spots and picks whatever the heck it wants. But moving the "landing spot is not the answer. If you are rolling into the ski ramp on landing your returning planes are to heavy. Again this is a limitation that carrier planes face in real life. Now because the RN does not like to waste what little money they have they tend to try and bring back unused weapons. You should be able to land with a "normal weapons load" and about 50% fuel just fine. But It's been awhile since I did landing tests. But think about it, planes do not normally return with full fuel tanks. If you do find a way to set take off mode/ landing mode please let me know. BUT again weight has to come into play No matter what mode you select, if there is even an option, you are not going to get an AV-8B or F-35B to do a vertical take off at max weight.

As far as I can tell planes in DCS determine take off and landing mode by aircraft weight. Above a certain weight you get short take off and landing while below you get vertical. I've made adjustments to my F-35B so that when fitting with external tanks it's heavy enough for short take off and without tanks it will do vertical. This depends on the weapons load mind you. Like I mentioned in the pervious post this makes landing AI aircraft in a mission very difficult because you do not really know what weight they will be when the return to the carrier. If they fired all weapons and used most of the fuel you'll get a vertical landing. BUT you'll have 1 or 2 planes that DID NOT release weapons and because of their weight they will try to do a short rolling landing. Which will not go well if other planes have been landing vertically. SO... to sum it up using STOVL and carriers in a mission requires some careful planning in ME. AND you will need to experiment with the AV-8B and F-35B mod to find out what weight they switch modes at. The best way to do that is vary the internal fuel load (no weapons) until you find the weight. It should be around 20, 000 lbs for the AV-8B and around 40, 000 for the F-35B (depending on the mod)

Just like in real life you have to keep the weight of the aircraft in mind when landing on a carrier. The easiest way to test this is to lower the internal fuel load and find a landing weight that works. Note, having the ai land STVOL planes in DCS during missions is complicated because below a certain weight you get a vertical landing and above a rolling landing. Planes returning from a mission and trying both types of landing does not work well for taxi/parking

I thought something strange was going on, lol. I can adjust the planes a bit to take care off the lift raft and wheel issues.

That's strange. Those spots looks a bit different than the ones in the pic I posted That's an easy fix but let me take a look in game and get a better pic of Invincible Ok, I think you are using my Invincible runway made for the Razbam/SA Invincible (included in game) for T-pap's Invincible mod. That's why there is a plane with it's wing in the deck. My Invincible file should be installed in the main DCS install folder,(coremods, tech, SA mod assets) not your saved game folder. But the fact that's it's close is good news for when I get around to those ships.

The name of the RunwayAndRoutes lua needs to match the name of the one found in the " dofile(current_mod_path..'/scripts/QEClassRunwaysAndRoutes.lua') " of the ship's lua file. You can either change the name of the file to match the ship, or change the name in the "dofile" line of the ship lua. Sorry for the confusion and I will try to included a more detailed install read me with the next update. I've had most of these MODs for a long time and most of my Mods are, ummm heavily modded. This is to update issues the developer did not have time for or just simple things like changing the ship name so it shows in the ME list and map the way I like I think the liveries for the Joey's QE go in the bazar folder in your saved game folder. You may have to create this folder. Maybe, You can rename my file to match the Illustrious ship lua or copy the "GT.TaxiForTORoutes" data/position from mine to the orig. I will try and get to that one in the next update. But that's one of the few carriers I never tried. T-pap stopped development on those ships when the SA map/units came out so I never spent much time with them.

These runway luas have not been test for MP and are meant for single player AI. Each carrier has the 4 "runway" spawn points and between 8-20 more cold/hot ramp start spawn points. The ability of a carrier to support player aircraft depends on more than just the runway script. So some may work for MP and some may not.

Having done many updates for the aircraft carrier flight decks I thought I'd share my take off luas. These are all still a work in progress but there should be no planes taxing through anything. Landing needs more work than take off. It some cases it might be the same as the original mod. I will update these when I can. I decided to start with the NATO STOVL carriers simply because there are really only 2 planes to worry about, the AV-8B and the VSN-F-35 mod. This is only a lua file that updates the spawn points. You will need the original mod. To install back up your mod and then either replace the "RunwayAndRoutes" lua with the new one or replace the runway data in the ship file. (some mods are setup this way) Ships include: L-61 by desdemicabina-simulation (4 runway 8 ramp) Príncipe de Asturias by Eric et Patrick (4 runway 8 ramp) HermesR12 by Joey45 (4 runway 20 ramp) HMS QE Class by Joey45 (4 runway 20 ramp) HMS Invincible by RAZBAM (4 runway 8 ramp) Note: may break IC USS Forrestal by HeartBlur (20 ramp) Note: may break IC More ships to follow soon. NATO Carrier Update V2.zip