Grundar

A human RIO is a second pair of eyes, it increases your situational awareness greatly. Maybe if the RIO AI is prescient and sees absolutely everything it will be redundant to have a human RIO, but where is the fun in that!

Just finished reading that myself, was a good read. Gave a good bit of insight into how the RIO in the F-14 operates. Also he experienced a live ejection out of a 'cat just off of a carrier, so the guy's got credentials there! His Top Gun info was very interesting as well, not to mention the reaction to his Top Gun shirt once the movie came out lol. Detailed enough info, but not detailed enough to make it feel like you are reading a drawn out tech specs manual. Was interesting to see how the RIO deals with the AWG-9, comms and how it enhances the pilots ability to function.

A quarter price for an RIO only version AND the full version pilot gets to assign the callsign to the RIO. "What's our distance to base there Electric Boogaloo?" There's the price of admission right there, for me at least :P

Iran/Iraq or Libya would make the most sense seeing that is where the F-14 has seen combat. That said, as long as there is a carrier and some bogeys, i'm good either way.

AIM-54 was designed to destroy bombers and/or anti-ship missiles. Getting a fighter at vast BVR ranges would be possible though. The AIM-54A was replaced by the AIM-54C in 1986 (i think( and it used digital technology rather than the analog of the AIM-54A) The Phoenix had some reliability issues though with it's engine, phoeni-bombs I believe they were called. I remember reading that that the missile had surprising maneuverability when working right. To achieve it's longest range it would use mid range updates from the Tomcat and gain altitude developing gravitational potential energy on it's climb . When it entered it's internal active homing radar phase, it would then dive towards the target converting that energy into kinetic energy gaining speeds up to Mach 5. I'm trying to remember where I read it, it may of been Tomcat: bye bye baby or another Tomcat resource. Spectators watched an AIM-54 destroy a drone and the second AIM-54 arriving soon after managed to home onto the largest piece of wreckage, now just dropping from the sky, maneuvered rather sharply it appears in it's terminal phase and destroyed that as well. I would feel much better if I could find the exact quote about that. The F-14 itself was a maneuverable enough bird it seems, not the most maneuverable jet on the world, but surprisingly agile for it's size and punch.

*faints* This is the best news in flight simulations for a very long time. So flippin' excited for this one, day one purchase/beta purchase/run around house with paper airplanes making gun and missile noises as I dogfight children, pets, wife, friends, door knockers, postman and exasperated work colleagues.

Uni students never have money, which is fine when you are a Uni student, but sucks when you have graduated and your "professional student" uni friends start mooching off your new found (to a uni student) wealth :P Like seagulls to cast chips on the beach when Uni friends pop around for a visit lmao. Mig 21 is a beautiful module, just start ferreting away a little each week, don't sacrifice the food budget for it - unless you have employed ex-uni friends to mooch off. :P;)

A zero would be very, very cool to fly with,a long overdue WW2 plane and one that is not frequently modeled.

The opening bars of the Danger Zone fade into and out of my head every time I check this section of the site (like 6 times a day) Hopefully we will get news on the Monday that is forthcoming rather than any old Monday :P

Too bad the interview wasn't a video interview - in it we would of seen Cobra alternately stroking two large cats (phoenix and tarps) sitting upon his lap - Dr Evil style. I'm surprised the interviewer didn't bring it up!

Every time I think about a Leatherneck F-14 sim the initial riff from "Danger Zone" comes straight into my head. i hope that is in a trailer for it. Also it means I can assign random names to my RIO - Goose, Maniac, Crazy Legs etc... the possibilities are endless. Sure my RIO might really be Jeff from Tasmania, but in my mind and via all methods of chat and verbal in game communication he will be "Electric Boogaloo" my happy go lucky, potentially of surly disposition from being referenced to breakdancing, RIO. When we aren't flying Tomcats we are riding motorbikes, conquering beach volleyball and making commanding officers spill coffee everywhere. I understand if Leatherneck can't simulate that portion of the game :P

Hmm throwing money at the monitor is not making an announcement of DCS: F14 by Leatherneck appear any quicker. Must be a bug.

Even better it's much easier to model than any other craft listed here! Radar doesn't work. Sidewinders, if you are lucky, even luckier if they work Radio doesn't work. HUD unreliable, aka doesn't really work. ;) At least it seems to plague the Gr3, Sea Harriers seemed to fair better in the Falklands. Had a read of an interesting book called: RAF Harrier Ground Attack Falklands by a quite unhappy RAF pilot by the name of Jerry Pook. Personally I would like to see a Harrier. Would love to see an F14 though, yeah the US is in Europe right >_> same hemisphere...... :P

The 109's featured leading edge slats which were designed to help reduce spins and enable them to be recovered more easily once in a spin. Is modeled entirely correctly? *shrug* I have faith in Yo-yo and co's ability to produce a quality and accurate sim, if something is wrong they will attend to it.

Saw that banner and started feeling giddy at the tantalizing prospect lol A decent FA18, been a long time since Janes FA-18.

I'm using a twist stick for my rudder so I throw in a dead-zone and a slight curve just to balance out any unintentional twisting while maneuvering. Joystick Axis wise I have a small deadzone (mainly because the X55 doesn't have it's own deadzones preset like many joysticks do) and gentle curves on both pitch and roll. Just helps iron out the input a little, I'm supposing that I could do without the curvature without too many problems, with the X55 I think the dead-zones are required though, would have to look in my Dora Real settings to see what the numbers are.

The Dora is a piece of art I far prefer it over the 109. Edit: Not to say that the 109 is trash as it's clearly not and it is the most identifiable luftwaffe aircraft of WW2. If you hear people talking about WW2 craft in general it's always Spitfire, 109 and Mustang and after that sometimes Zero. DCS: Zero, get on that by the way guys :P

It must be a bug because I lost the gun sights then the ability to fire the guns within 10 minutes of take off. This is just flying around at mid - high RPM, no combat at all, no radio use, just standard flying.

The FW-190 D-9 was a great example of fighter design. It's cockpit was laid out very well - ergonomic, user friendly. The Bediengerat device took throttle input and barometric condition measures to optimise and automate engine/propeller function (magneto timing, propeller pitch, fuel mixture and RPM) Taking those tasks away from pilots afforded them advantages: 1. More time looking outside the aircraft 2. Reduced distraction in combat/emergency situations 3. Increased ease of use facilitating increased successful pilot training/conversion The Dora also had some armour which again gives the pilot greater safety and survivability. While losing planes was bad, losing trained and combat capable pilots was worse. Some of the Dora's were equipped with the EZ-42 gunsight allowing lead prediction of targets with the appropriate input for wing diameter and distance. While potentially a "big deal" I believe that more often than not they were fitted with standard deflection sights. The K-4 was certainly the pinnacle of the BF-109 series, it saw limited action though then the Dora so if we are comparing variants we have more info on the Dora and far less on the K-4. If we generally compare the 109 with the 190 series the 109 had more kills. Factors influencing this include aircraft availability, pilot familiarity with their craft, opponent technology/aircraft etc.. All that sides with the 109 - it was flown much longer by many more pilots and against much weaker opposition. By the time the 190 came up we were starting to see the marked increase in allied airpower. Some see the Dora as a "nOOb" craft which is a derogatory generalisation given that it was built for combat and it took away a lot of restrictions/blocks towards that exact goal. I do believe that Adolf Galland said that for him the 109 series was the best of the war as it "fit like a glove".

Yep I tried to bail out of a badly damaged Dora and as soon as I hit the bailout key he turned to face me pushed back the canopy, beat out the flames with his silk scarf then lit his cigarette on the exhaust and climbed back in and closed the canopy. I crash landed the Dora a little and again in flames I hit the bail out key and he popped the canopy climbed onto the tail and just stood there as it burned, all viking funeral like. BAD. ASS.

I just assign my toe brakes to the Z and X keys respectively. Pull back on the stick at start up to keep the tail wheel locked and things straight and just navigate with toe brakes. Not as nice and fluid as having actual pedals with toe breaks, but I lack the pedals anyway :P This way I can assure myself of a much nicer line up by the time I get to the runway. For Take off itself I keep a bit of back pressure to lock the tail wheel until i lift it. I also give full power and I am able to use the rudder from the prop wash, rather than the toe brakes to retain alignment on the runway.

Any idea of what exactly the Take Off Assistance does? Does it limit inputs etc..? Would be interested to know simply because it doesn't seem to assist at all :P Possibly this is because people playing these sims are usually already adept/experience in flying other sims . Maybe for someone truly new to flight sims it might be just what they need to get airborne? The first time I was flying(crashing) the Dora I kept ending up as a fireball along or to the side of the runway and I couldn't figure out why. Looking to tweek my controls I noticed a Take Off assistance option at 100%, turned it to 0% and suddenly the aircraft was responding a lot better and from there I could work out what worked for my take offs. I'm looking to pick up the 109 when it his Steam (somewhat OCD about collections lol :P) and I'm glad i noticed this thread or it could of been Fireball Dora all over again!

I usually get success with takeoff in the Dora by: 1. Stick back to lock the tailwheel (presuming I have already ensured I am straight). Flaps in take off position - you may want to retract flaps though if you find the Dora is getting too much lift before enough speed is gained. 2. Full throttle 3. A little right rudder when required to correct the course and some corrections to the right side (Dora likes to drop it's left wing near lift off). If you don't have back pressure on the stick you will find that the Dora quickly slews to the right and your rudder compensation will become an overcorrection and then you are flipping over the runway 4. Slacken off gently on the back pressure on the stick as you gain speed making minor corrections as you go. I imagine I would find it a lot easier with rudder pedals than a twist stick rudder, but I get by (often without take off damage) ;) Everyone seems to have a slightly different take on how to get the Dora off the ground for them, find your happy medium. If it's pitch perfect awesome t/o each time - great, if it isn't *shrug* who cares? as long as you are up in the sky and enjoying yourself :)