Nerd1000

Good kill! I've only ever gotten one F-15 on the 104th. TBH I was as surprised as he was- I got him on radar at a range of around 10km in the mountains and got a shot off before he could respond. The rest of my victims have been unsuspecting A-10s... unless you count a guy who spun his F-15 into the ocean while in a guns-only dogfight with me on the TOG Bar and Grill server (I don't count it as kill, but it was a memorable fight for sure).

Apologies, I should check my facts more thoroughly before I post. The Pilot was interviewed later on and said that he identified it as a Boeing. The GCI however did not ask him what it was, and he did not tell them. When the 747 started a climb the pilot interpreted it as evasive maneuvers, and the order came down to open fire. Anyway, as you say we're getting off topic here. I think a MiG-25 would be an interesting addition to the sim, especially because we might see people developing tactics for it against F-15s and the like. Does anyone know how good the look-down abilities of the Foxfire (and/or the later Sapphire radar on the MiG-25PD) were?

Indeed, Gary Powers's U-2 shot down with a SA-2 SAM. That incident was in many ways the origin of the A-12 and SR-71, because it became clear that the U-2 was no longer safe from soviet air defenses. The USSR also shot down airliners, most notoriously a Korean Airways 747 that became lost and wandered into their airspace. The worst part of that incident was that the Su-15 pilot sent to intercept the 747 positively identified it as a civilian aircraft... and was ordered to shoot it down anyway. Edit: As below I got part of the above wrong.

Are enemies still visible on the F10 map? Kinda makes AWACS superfluous.

Ahh, so you just put in the end of the youtube link. Thanks Sith.

Yeah, I tried to fix the video but it doesn't seem to want to cooperate. Here's a link: Artificial feel indeed does not actually reflect the forces on the control surfaces, but our sim setups typically lack even the artificial feel system (beyond the spring in the stick). Maybe that is what strikeeagle is trying to say?

The Strike Eagle is primarily an attack aircraft. One could make the argument that performance without external loads is almost totally irrelevant given that it will always be carrying them on a real mission.

I found a workaround for the above infinite lock tone issue. Switch off the generator and battery, then switch them back on. Is it me, or is fixing an issue with a complex fighter jet by turning it off and on again deliciously low tech? If only we had an option to whack the control panel Han Solo style...

Know your enemy. It helps a lot to be aware of the threats in your area, so that you know what the radar locking you is likely to be. Here's some advice on common radar threats: SPAAG- Self Propelled AA guns usually have an effective range of around 4km against a non maneuvering target. Bullets can be avoided by jinking at longer distances. Short range SAM- Short range SAM systems like the SA-15 Tor are primarily a threat to low flying aircraft- if you fly high and fast (above 8000m) the missile won't be able to reach you. Best defense is to stay out of range, which is 15 km for a Tor firing against an approaching target. Medium range SAM- These missiles (e.g. SA-3, SA-6, SA-11, HAWK) have a range of 30-40km. If you turn and run after getting locked you will almost always survive. Older designs like the SA-3 can be dodged, but generally its preferable to get out of range. Strategic SAMs- The Patriot and SA-10 are in this category. These are nasty pieces of work and can hit you 100km away. They are almost always positioned near vital targets like airbases, so just stay away. TL;DR learn where the enemy SAMs are and keep away from them if possible. If you get locked, turn around and leg it rather than waiting to see if you can dodge the imminent missile launch. Then call for SEAD.

Most aircraft with boosted controls have some system intended to provide artificial feel. This video covers the system in the F-4, along with the SAS and autopilot. ${1}

The 'APU' is is mislabeled- its actually the alternator. I suspect that the ability to start without ground power is a bug because whenever I've done it the ASP has refused to switch on.

Don't forget the cannons.

I'm not sure. Maybe the igniter needs ground power to work?

You're right, I mixed up the search pattern with the gimbal limits.

The mid-air restart function uses (IIRC) a tank of oxygen to relight the engine. If you use up too much on the first try then you won't be able to relight the engine a second time. It also won't re-start when you are traveling at supersonic speeds or less than 550 km/h IAS.

The R3R radar guided missiles are invaluable for head-on engagements because the MiG-21 doesn't have any all-aspect heatseekers. They're also very useful for destroying targets with weak heat signatures such as A-10s and helicopters. I always carry two, usually backed up by a pair of R60Ms. If you've got AWACS or GCI assistance, keep the radar in standby until you are at an appropriate detection range- probably 15km (max lock range) for tail chase and 30km (max range) for head on. On the other hand, if you're looking for targets by yourself you will need the radar to be on whenever you are in the target area. Keep in mind that it can only see 1.5 degrees downwards, 28 degrees upwards and 30 degrees on either side.

TO add to this, make sure you're tuning the right frequency dial. I was getting really confused a while back because I'd tuned the radio to the correct frequency (133Mhz), set the radio rotary to the correct position, etc. but wasn't getting a reply. Eventually I realized that I'd tuned the radio direction finder rather than the VHF radio :doh:.

The Grom is not what they mean by 'guided missiles'. They're talking about weapons in the R3S and R3R weight range, so around 80kg per missile. The Grom's warhead weighs more than that by itself. That said, the MiG's landing weight limits assume that you're operating from a forward airfield, so they're not only taking the strength of the gear into account: they also account for stopping in a reasonable distance. On our nice long DCS runways you're probably okay so long as you can touch down with a sufficiently low vertical speed while also remaining below the speed limits of the tyres. A landing while loaded to MTOW with fuel tanks and missiles is a no-no, but you can get away with a lot more than the manual tells you. Landings at high weight are much more difficult. I usually burn off excess fuel before touchdown by flying around on full afterburner with the airbrakes deployed :music_whistling:.

As mentioned above, you might have encountered rotor clashing. Flying forward decreases the lift on the blades that are moving towards the tail of the helicopter, which makes the rotor disc tilt. The rotors on the Ka-50 are spinning in opposite directions, so the rotors tilt in opposite directions, bringing the blade tips on the right hand side of the helicopter closer together. The faster you fly and the more collective you use the more the rotors will tilt, and if you go too fast the rotor discs will intersect, causing the ends of your rotor blades to crash into each other and snap off. If this happens your rotor RPM will start to increase rapidly, your engine RPM will decrease, the helicopter will become impossible to control and you will start to lose altitude. Its easy to run into this problem on that first campaign mission because the Hind flies really fast. There are a few things you can do to avoid rotor clashing. The most important thing is to stay below the never exceed speed for your current altitude and weight. The helicopter has an alarm that will sound when you are flying too fast- if you hear a loud, high pitched beeping you must reduce your input on the collective (this will move the blades apart a bit) then pull back on the cyclic to slow down. Secondly, try to only make gradual movements of the controls when flying at speeds above 250 km/h.

Its a little hard to understand you. Am I correct in saying that you want the game to display a message when the Tornado detects the enemy planes?

How about a F-111C?

They'd be averaging 1 engine per module if they followed the F-14 up with a F-111 (It also used the TF30). Of course, they'd have to implement Dump-and-Burn capabilities, which might take a while...

The museum's site doesn't tell the full story. The reason for the absence of drop bear reports in general is a consequence of the drop bear's urine, which smells like Bundaberg Rum, and its habit of peeing on its victims. As a result, everyone who gets attacked and survives is assumed to have fallen over in the bush while drunk :P. To everyone else out there, don't be too afraid to visit my homeland. There aren't anywhere near as many venomous snakes as some people make out. Mostly because they all got poisoned by the spiders.

A few tips for guns in general: Firstly, make sure to trim the plane before attempting a guns attack. You'll find it much easier to aim if the plane is trimmed slightly nose down. In my experience, aiming accurately while pushing the stick forwards is practically impossible. For similar reasons, check your control curves. If they're straight, try altering them so the stick is a little less sensitive near the centre- it will make aiming much easier. With a radar lock the Flanker's 30mm cannon has the range and accuracy to be used effectively on non maneuvering targets like bombers 1000m away. The funnel is a different matter: When you are using the funnel your fire control computer has no way of knowing what the target plane's range or velocity vector is. The computer instead bases its calculation on what your plane is doing (for example, If you are traveling north in a 4g right hand turn, the computer assumes that the target is also traveling north in a 4g right hand turn) and draws the funnel so that you can work out the range by yourself (by touching the target's wingtips to the funnel). This means that the funnel's firing solution is only valid when the situation matches the assumptions the computer is making about the target's movements. Said assumptions are never more than an approximation of the reality. You need to get in close so the inevitable error isn't big enough to make your bullets miss.