Vampyre

From the trailer it looks like all they have now are Polish and Russian skins. Will there be any other Warpac or Middle Eastern liveries?

I doubt ED will revisit the AH-64 with a radically different earlier version of an already complex module. That has not been their modus operandi with the single exception of the significantly less complex FW-190A-8 and FW-190D-9... and I think other factors might have been at play there. The best US Attack Helo you could hope for would probably be an Army AH-1P/Q/E/F Cobra for CW Germany. I wouldn't hold my breath for that either as ED also has a history of doing the most modern and capable versions of an airframe that they can legally get information for so I expect that if they do a Cobra variant, it will be a Marine Corps AH-1W Super Cobra or AH-1Z Viper. As for an AH-64A, the best one could hope for is a third party to convince ED to allow them to develop an AH-64A. The problem with that being it would rightly be considered as sales competition to ED's already existing AH-64D which would be negatives for both ED and the potential third party developer. A lot of money goes into creating this software and, at the end of the day, it has to be maximally profitable to even be considered for development. Would I like to see a cold war AH-64A? Absolutely! Do I think it is going to happen? If enough people ask for it maybe but as it stands right now, not a snowballs chance in hell. I would love to be proven wrong though.

Looks like the DCS authorization servers are down. @BIGNEWY

Back in the 80's Ramstein AB was home to the 86th TFW. They operated the F-4E from 77-85 and the F-16C from 85-92. They didn't become an Airlift Wing with C-130's until 1992. The art on the tower should look like this:

Hoping for an Army AH-1 TOW Cobra to fly around a Cold War Germany map.

Two ways to fix that. 1 Set your INS Selector Switch from NAV to IFE and it will be constantly updated. It's not realistic to the real jet but it works. 2 Go to the SUPT page on the AMPCD and select HSI (PB2). Auto start will have the page up already. Change your input from INS to GPS by selecting PB6 and then selecting the GPS selection which is PB9. GPS will keep your position constantly updated. Edit: This assumes you have completed your INS alignment properly. Your CCIP pipper is directly influenced by your INS Alignment. If you dont have the INS Selector Switch in either NAV (with GPS input selected) or IFE the CCIP pipper will be erroneous.

With the Full Fidelity 21st century datalinked, helmet sighted F-15 being essentially useless for any mid-80s cold war multiplayer scenario, and with the pending releases of both Ugra's Cold War Germany map and ED's FF MiG-29, it would be nice to have some 36th TFW and 32nd TFS liveries for the FC3 F-15C.

Seeing as the Eagle is in the works, my money is on the stinkbug right now.

Cheesy 80's video about the 21st TFW. Some jets have the CFT's most don't. My suspicion is that the Air Force only procured less than 100 sets CFT's for the C/D Eagles. The 57th FIS was probably the only squadron with enough of them to equip every jet they had. The 43rd TFS and 54th TFS used them for certain, just not on every jet. I assume small numbers of CFT's were issued to units conducting air sovereignty missions.

Oddly enough, the 21st TFW was replaced by the 3rd TFW in Dec 1991 while the 57th FIS was disbanded in March 1995. The photo with the MiG-29's was taken in Aug 1989. An argument for the above statement would be the jets were transferred out of the 57th early but then it is still true that the CFT's were used regularly by other units even if just until their next depot visit. The CFT's were used by the 57th roughly between 1985-1992 from what I can tell from photo evidence. This photo from William Tell 88 shows a row of 57th jets with the CFT's removed. That indicates that a depot visit was not required for removal and installation of the CFT's. This indicates a high probability that the presented information is bunk. The better questions would be what is your source, and why do you consider it accurate? It still remains that most, if not all C/D's, were capable of mounting the CFT's even if they fell out of favor in the 90's. These tanks, along with its latent ground attack capabilities, were usable features of the C/D Eagles and should be included in a realistic representation of the jet.

1st TFW Langley AFB VA 18th TFW Kadena AB Okinawa 21st TFW Elmandorf AFB AK These are in addition to the 57th FIS birds at Keflavik. All of the C/D units, possibly with the exception of Bitburg, flew with CFT's for the long range interception of Soviet Bombers. The Israeli and Saudi C/D's also used this capability.

You have it twisted because the AI can fly every aircraft in the game. The AI only version is called F-5E and it uses the legacy F-5E-3 model: The F-5E FC version uses the same model as the legacy F-5E-3 and now the AI F-5E version. The F-5E-3 Remaster uses a different model than the others: What is interesting to note is that while the F-5E and F-5E FC use the same legacy model, and contrary to what I typed in my first post in this thread, the legacy skins no longer work on the AI F-5E after yesterday's patch. It has three skins, one of which is called Aggressor Snake. Aggressor Snake for the AI F-5E looks like it has had some work done to it to remove the Navy markings for what is actually an Air Force skin. It isn't finished because the national insignia is in the wrong location, but it is definitely better than it was.

The AI F-5E uses the legacy F-5E-3 model. All of the old skins for the F-5E-3 work on both it and the FC F-5E.

The plane handlers feature is less than optimal at the moment. A real carrier deck is a highly dynamic place, but it does run in patterns because everything is pre-planned, deviations are prepared for and delt with on the fly. The AI not being able to see and avoid static objects is unfortunate because, with only one pathing to use, it keeps the mission maker from placing objects in realistic locations according to the carrier's current mission. As set up currently the taxi pathing is really only useful for clear deck CQ... just without cat/trap/cat ability. During all other times there is always something parked by the island be it H-60's or the Hummer. I think there should be multiple sets of taxi templates for the deck pathing depending on the mission the carrier is doing. I imagine a template for clear deck CQ, another for full deck CQ, another for cyclic ops and one more for wartime ops. The template should be selectable by the mission editor and possibly by the AirBoss position even though it's not really his job to un-F the deck because we lack a Handler. Giving the AirBoss the ability to make deck adjustments and unclog the deck by picking parking spots for jets to go in would be nice. In real life the jets can be hot refueled, but the jets have to be shut down to get rearmed... It was something about the Navy in the 60's and 70's not liking things blowing up on the decks of their carriers. As for the instant 180 and teleporting thing, I would be happy with the deck crew chocking and chaining the jet where it stops and kicking the pilot back to the slot selection screen more than that. Hot rearm is a gamification I can live with; teleporting and instant flipping is not. As for the Elevators, the only time we ran them during flight ops was to move large amounts of cargo from the Flight deck to the Hangar deck and back when a C-2 arrived. The C-2's usually arrived right before a break during cyclic ops, usually right after the first go while the next go was being set up. If they delivered only passengers and some mail bags the elevator wouldn't run at all. Running the elevator takes personnel stationed on the flight deck and hangar deck and is dangerous. There is also the possibility it will fail. It disrupts the smooth operation of the deck during flight ops. The Elevators were usually only used for moving aircraft after flight operation were ended at night and before the first go's in the morning. Here's a short video depicting standard cyclic ops in the Stennis. Pay attention to where things are parked and how the deck flows. ED has their work cut out for them to get this right and I do hope they get it as right as is possible.

Yes, but only for low power maintenance turns. The hangar bay divisional doors are closed and personnel access is limited. The jet is chained down, roped off and intake turn screens are installed. A fire crew and safety personnel are standing by the aircraft. The aircraft is positioned so the exhaust blows out of the opened hangar doors on the side of the ship. Only low power turns are authorized so the aircraft will not throttle up above 80%. The turn is performed by a engine turn qualified maintenance technician. If a turn qual tech is not available a pilot can be used to turn in the hangar bay but I saw that happen only once in my 20 years. Never seen a jet taxi in the hangar bay... ever.