CheckGear

Team Apache was such an underrated game! It sacrificed realism for the managerial side of the game, which is what its appeal was. I loved dealing with the crew and ordering ice cream to boost their morale, at the expense of delaying spare parts and ordnance.

It really shouldn't have. When it retired, the increased submarine threat from China, Russia, and even Iran was clearly on the horizon. That said, the real critical decision was made 10 years before the S-3 was retired, when they effectively neutered the platform by removing its ASW capability. That sort of set the stage for the Viking's ultimate retirement.

Here's a website you might find interesting, a fairly accurate directory of carrier deployments and the embarked air wings. Good reference if you want to be historically accurate. http://www.gonavy.jp/CVf.html The limitations of DCS definitely make things tough. The S-3 was out of service for over four years by the timeline of OitW, but, without the S-3, you've got no organic air wing tanker, since there's no Super Hornet in DCS. So, I just imagine the S-3 is a Super Hornet.

Well I cannot wait to see what you produce. If your "Oil in the Water" campaign is anything to go off of, I can only imagine it's going to be good! I hope you continue to improve OitW, BTW, because it's outstanding and deserves to get better! Maybe, for total authenticity, we can have timeframe-accurate air wings and squadron liveries!

What surprises me is that there seems to be a lack of interest in Syria-related missions and campaigns. This, despite the fact Operation Inherent Resolve is a contemporary air war that's still ongoing and is indisputably the most high-tech air campaign in history. Possibly the most high-tech war in history. It involves the air arms of over a dozen countries and warplanes of every origin. You'd think there would be more interest in this topic, but there isn't. Except for the people in this thread, of course. I'd soon like to see campaigns and single missions that cover the early days of OIR and perhaps we can re-live this contemporary historical event that still has chapters being written all over again.

I've mentioned this once already, but I'm wondering if we'll ever see a more complete set of flight deck crew hand signals. I realize it's probably neither ideal nor possible to feature every single hand signal in DCS, but a few of the more important ones would be nice. Specifically, I'd like to see the catapult director hand off control to the Cat Officer (Shooter). Also, before that, once the aircraft is engaged on the catapult, the director is supposed to give signal #4 seen in the graphic below to instruct the catapult operator to tension the catapult.

This is really good info! What's your source? And thanks!

Anyone interested in creating a mission or even a mini-campaign based on the ACEVAL/AIMVAL Joint Test & Evalution from the 1970s? ACEVAL/AIMVAL is a big reason why we have the AIM-120 AMRAAM today, among other outcomes. We have everything we need to create such missions - F-14A Tomcats and F-15 Eagles, along with the F-5E Tiger II as the aggressor fighters. ACEVAL/AIMVAL also took place at Nellis AFB. Basically, the scenarios played out like this - F-14s were armed with Sparrows and guns, while the F-5s had the all-aspect AIM-9Ls. Positive VID was required before engaging. This was before the F-14 was equipped with TCS (known in development as the TVSU), so the aircrews had to see the bogey with their naked eye. Here's a great Grumman Aerospace Corp. documentary on the tests: ACEVAL - AIMVAL

Uh... are you about to slide off the end of the flight deck here?

I love blue hour. Beautiful shots!

That is UNSAT!!! IS THAT THE KIND OF PRIDE YOU TAKE IN YOUR AIRFRAMES? WHAT'RE YOU ALL DOING ALL DAY, ANYWAY? NOBODY GOES HOME UNTIL I CAN SEE THE TAIL INSIGNIA CLEARLY FROM A HALF MILE AWAY!!!

Same! I loved the mid-to-late-1980s liveries and the mid-to-late-1990s liveries, both! On that note, I'd love to see a full array of lvieries for VF-213's sister squadron, VF-114:

I'd also love to see all the VF-21 liveries, especially the final four on this decal set: VF-21 liveries in the 1990s were some of the best ever.

Same here. Really like that tail insignia!

Anybody up for creating these skins?

Yes! I'm so happy I'm not the only one who thinks VF-213's mid-1990s livery was awesome! I'd love to have both the CAG and toned-down versions available!

Now that we have a full-fledged Middle East theater, let's see some Inherent Resolve campaigns and single missions!

NAS Lemoore's over 250 miles away from Nellis AFB. Furthermore, Lemoore isn't like Nellis nor Fallon. It's not much of a training site and pilots have to fly out west over the Pacific Fleet or east to the desert to conduct training, anyway.

1. Iraq/North Persian Gulf 2. Korean Peninsula 3. Afghanistan

Your reply had no basis in anything I actually said. I pointed that out, that sounds like a refutation. Go have your "grown man" conversation somewhere else, preferably where people tell you exactly what you want to hear.

YOU need to quit getting all bent out of shape. Don't start throwing shade and getting snarky and be surprised when the same comes your way. And now that everything you said got refuted, you're just trying to save face now.

You do realize I never said such a thing? Find me where I said that - you can't, because I didn't. All I said was, you can fly alongside an F-14D, most likely in an F/A-18C, since those two planes certainly flew alongside one another. I never said we should use D- markings with B- airframes. Where are you getting this from? And I realize it's not easy to make hyper-accurate air wings based on what's currently available, but we can get close to it. That's what DCS is all about - get close to real-life as possible. The A-6 served into the late-'90s, so it's not just a period piece. All I did was offer a compromise. You can be part of the solution or a part of the problem. Take your pick.

How about this, folks? Heatblur's developing a "full-fidelity," AI-only A-6E Intruder, right? Then why not, some point down the line, a "full-fidelity," AI-only F-14D? This way, the matter of avionics and cockpits will be a non-factor. It'll be full-fidelity in terms of dimensions, weight, aerodynamics, to the extent possible based on available data and the laws of physics. At the very least, you'll be able to fly alongside F-14Ds and, with accurate squadron liveries, create real-life air wings that include F/A-18Cs and the AI A-6Es. That sounds like a reasonable compromise. I definitely agree we're not going to have a flyable F-14D, at least not in the next 10 years.

Bruh, I didn't know you got to take part in the filming of Top Gun! Did you get to meet Tom Cruise???

Flew the A-variant for the first time. Looks great, sounds great, feels great! Those TF-30s have some big-time giddy-up!!! I feel like I'm flying *THE* Tomcat now, the way "Maverick" and all the 1980s Topgunners got to fly it! Thanks for all you do, HeatBlur, and for making my dreams come true!