Swordsman422

I worked for one of those on your list in one of the data production departments. Let's just say I was not shocked by the hack. It was just a matter of time. I've been convinced by this thread not to update to 2.5.6 for a while...

Anyone up for this one? I've tried, but CS4 isn't up to the task. I can provide decal scans of the tail art if required.

Yeah, that's one thing about the S-3. Never take a fuel-critical F-14 to it expecting a mid-mission fill up. A single Tomcat will suck it to bingo and still not be topped off. Take 3-5 thousand pounds and move on. I wish we could tell our wingmen how much gas they can take from a tanker.

Good catch Tread Head. That is definately the port side wing root of an A-6 Intruder. The vent below the canopy is a dead giveaway. It might be a KA-6D.

CVN-71, -72, and -73 in EA with -74 and -75 added later, if I read right.

Loving the VF-2 jets! If I might make a suggestion/request, these Bounty Hunter jets from 1989 and ODS would be cool:

Maybe by then we'll have playable Super Hornets to fly from them as well. Neither of them ever saw Tomcats and a deck full of legacy hornets would look just weird.

There are 5x as many operational Nimitz-class ships carrying 5x more aircraft, though, so it's bound to be the case just by gross numbers. What's the mishaps per operational hour rate?

That VF-1 jet looks fantastic. It's almost a shame Heatblur's Tomcat collection won't also include a Block 70 or 75 model.

Looks like he cross-controlled. I don't think the real world results would have been anywhere near as positive. Supposedly Mugs McKeown used a similar maneuver in an F-4B to get a MiG-17 to overshoot, but it's apparently a hell of a ride.

The good news for you is that the glossy sheen didn't last particularly long on deployment. The GGW scheme didn't weather as badly as the TPS, but it did deteriorate and take on a more matt appearance. I'll see if I can find a few for you.

Longest serving and most common variant, only F-14 variant with any recorded air-to-air victories, first variant to drop bombs in anger, only Tomcat version featured as a centerpiece in any movies, only Tomcat "everyone's" favorite squadron flew. I can understand the enthusiasm. Don't kink shame.

Considering the F-14A was still in service in 1989 and remained in service until 2005, yeah, a nugget pilot probably got training in the A, especially if the fleet squadron they were planned to go to flew that version. In 1998 F-14A BuNo 161445, flown by a student pilot training with VF-101, collided with instructor-flown F-14B BuNo 163218 during a night time interception exercise. So newly-minted nuggets continued to train in the F-14A until there weren't any As left in the fleet.

This might be counter to the pursuit of accuracy, but considering DCS takes place in a fictional world, sometimes skipping the crew names might be okay. Who is to say that in the DCS universe those same aviators are in the player's squadron? It's a stretch but just a thought. These all look fantastic, guys. I'm also +1 for VF-103 and VF-74 circa Desert Storm. AA212 would be a particular ask. If needed, I can provide scans of the Afterburner Decals 1/48 sheet which includes 200, 201, and 212 from the ODS deployment.

YES!!!!

Well... Felix is packin'...

If you actually bought and paid for the product, razo+r's suggestion is the quickest way.

You also wouldn't ever pull on it by accident... unless you're a surface warfare guy taking a ride in the back seat and think the lower handle is there to hold onto during high-G maneuvers. But no one has ever in the history of humanity been that dumb...

They've already made it pretty clear that the B(U) PTID can't be modelled partially because they don't have access to all the menus. I doubt we are going to see a more advanced version of the B than what we have now, and that's fine.

Even being related to someone who flew it wasn't enough to really get me interested. Every time someone brought up the Tomcat, I rolled my eyes and awaited the inevitable quotes from Top Gun or the fanboying over whichever incarnation the Jolly Rogers were currently in. I liked the A-6 Intruder, the F/A-18 Hornet, the jets that could do the cool smart bomb stuff we saw on CNN during Desert Storm. I laughed at all the fighter kids waving their skull-and-crossbone flags when the F-14's air-to-air haul in the Gulf War was one whole helicopter... But then 1995 rolled around and they started putting bombs on the Tomcat. The A-6 Intruder went away and the F/A-18's legs were short. The F-14 became THE precision strike fighter for US power projection, and essentially did a "oh, you can fly fighter or attack, hold my beer" to the Hornet community. By the time Operation Allied Force was in swing and VF-41 and VF-14 were putting bombs on target, I was sitting up and paying attention. I always liked the way it looked. Its aggressive lines are a marvel to behold. But as my love for the A-6, A-7, and F-8 prove, a plane has to do more than look pretty to get my attention. Now that it's more than just a fighter, I can't get enough of it.

MTBMA and MTBMF were much improved. How else the later Sparrowhawk might otherwise be better operationally than the earlier Kaiser HUD is a better question for the guys who spent their careers looking through it.

Only 82 F-14s were fitted with the Sparrowhawk, and all were B models upgraded in 1999-2000. It should feel like a step back after flying the Hornet. Technologically speaking, it is.

I've done this in the F-14 using the Attack My Enemy command and then guiding their bomb for them. I haven't tried it in the F/A-18 yet.

If I remember right, May 1, 1991 was when the redesignation went into effect. I think there was some mention of the BuNo plate in the cockpit being dynamic. Is it different with each skin or different with each flight? I'll have to test this at home. I looked up BuNo 160889. God, what a hideous livery they put it in. It looks like a knock-off VF-84 scheme painted by a subpar modeler with a decal sheet but no reference photos. From what I could find, looks like it was an F-14A-105-GR that actually served with VF-124 and VF-24 among others. The museum probably only painted it in VF-84 colors due to "popular" demand and to attract tourists. Before this, it was painted in an equally poorly replicated VF-1 livery. I guess HB must have used the cockpit as a reference during research.

The F-14D didn't get the Sparrowhawk. Only the F-14B(U) got it, and only 82 of them. The F-14D used a Kaiser HUD, which the Sparrowhawk surpassed in performance and sophistication. I'd want the F-14D it for completion but it's not a must have. I got my exact favorite variant already in the mid-90's F-14B we've got.