Swordsman422

I can't wait for the Heatblur A-6 Intruder. I'm all about moving mud, so when it comes out, if it's as good as the F-14, I don't know how much I'll use the Tomcat after.

55. It got a good bit of combat use there in the last 8-10 years. I'd love to see it, but I understand why they are not planning on it.

Yeah, the S-3 Viking really is a challenge. I've learned, though, to just stay plugged long enough to get 3,000-5,000 pounds. The way I build missions, I normally only refuel from S-3s for post launch top-off or overhead the carrier on return. Since the S-3 only carries about 13,000 pounds of fuel on board, a thirsty Tomcat needing a full refill can drink one dry and still not be filled. The tanker crew will cut you off, reel in the hose, and go home. I'm hoping ED will introduce a KC-135 with the wrecking ball fitted to the boom so we can all know the misery of taking a full fuel load from the iron maiden. Getting it right has been a most rewarding experience, and the pride I feel at pulling up to the tanker and taking a full refill without breaking contact is unequaled.

Probably since the F-16C doesn't use an AESA radar like the Block II Super Hornet. Fewer classified systems means that they can better simulate the aircraft with fewer operational gaps.

I'm the opposite. I'd rather the full Tomcat family be replicated before we move on to the jet that replaced it. Given classification, the F-14D is more likely than a Super Hornet. But I'd still be excited to see one, preferably an F. I'm too happy to have Jester along. Flying alone I start talking to myself.

Add it to the list with "why do my guns jam if I fire them while pulling more than 2 Gs?" and "why don't my AIM-9Bs ever hit anything unless I'm dead aft and the target doesn't maneuver?" I can see it now. "HUD doesn't show up! Fix this bug!"

True words. It's unfortunate that a lot of simmers, used to arcade sims or study sims of more modern fighters, assume that such a simplistic HUD (compared to what they are used to) can't possibly be realistic, as if the Heads-Up display as introduced in the 1960s must have been the fully evolved, full detail instrument we have today. They've crutched on it for so long, they've forgotten why the instrument panel exists at all except as a convenient place to house the full color MFDs that must have been present even before the advent of color television. One of the things the Heatblur Tomcat really taught me was how to fly again. It's the first module that really feels like what it is, a high-powered, complex fighter jet from an age where man went to the moon on the processing power of a pocket calculator and the term "avionics" was analogue.

1. The analogue nature of the F-14 and the requirement to coordinate turns is much closer to what I've actually flown than the single-axis control I have in the F-16 and F/A-18. That said, this DLC more than any other has taught me how to pattern fly in a sim. 2. Aerial refueling. Holy crap, I have never been quite so challenged by a hose & probe jet than I am when trying to plug the F-14 into an S-3 tanker and then hold it. I thought the AV-8B was challenging with its blind refueling, but once I was plugged, I could actually hold it with minimal effort. The F-14 requires constant, unblinking management even with good trim. Practice with the F-14 has given me the skill to hold the F-16 still long enough to take fuel from a boom. 3. Appreciation for double-cycling the 1+45. I do a lot of custom missions that are non-combat operational flights. Quiet CAPs in the NAG where nothing happens for hours except remind the Iranians that there is a line in the sky they shouldn't cross south of. I usually fly these at max conserve for either one or two cycles before being relieved on station, taking on enough fuel to be at max trap, and heading back to the Boat. It's not exciting, but it's a time builder, and sometimes I use them just to practice holding altitude through turns if I don't fly at time acceleration. It's a relaxing time, just me and the jet. Oh, and Jester playing awkward 3rd wheel. I'm loving the B, but I'm looking forward to the A and its specific challenges.

...And we already have the S-3B tanker for carrier operations.

I also have FC3, the F/A-18, AV-8B, A-10C, and F-16. The F-14 is the one I keep coming back to. It's so incredible. This weekend I buddy-lased for my AI wingman and guided his LGB onto a target. It was so freakin' cool! I love this jet!

"I'm Morgan Freeman, and this old thing is going to a museum now."

Isoko, your VF-32 pack should probably be included in the next official update of the F-14B. The level of detail is phenomenal. It should become an official skin! Heatblur, look at this guy!

That's pretty much what we're looking at. For OEF/OIF aircraft, the modex and bunos of all squadrons involved can be seen in the Osprey Publishing books F-14 Tomcat Units of Operation Enduring Freedom and F-14 Tomcat Units of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Canopy names will be problematic, however. For my yet unreleased VF-102 OEF set, I'm leaving this area blank, both because I don't have adequate reference material and because, this being a game, I'm not ever expecting to 100% replication of historical events. We'll be throwing these skins into fictional scenarios. The squadron crews could remain fictional and nameless.

I've done the .lua modification for the cheek stations just in the interim. You'll have to redo it every time there is an update, but if you know what to copy it's a 30-second task. I also don't do MP for the time being so that's a non-issue.

Not just one. Almost all of them across the 30 year career of the F-14A had unique modex placement, style, and size. VF-1 was just the most egregious example. VF-51 in 1979, VF-2 in 1975, VF-154 from pretty much the mid 1990s onward, VF-21 post-Desert Storm, VF-201, VF-302, the list is probably shorter of squadrons that consistently followed the "standard." And that's just nose modex. Let's not even get started on rudder modexes where some aircraft in the same squadron didn't even have it in the same place.

Hornet modex placement variation is fairly minor between liveries. When the F-14A comes out and the modex number doesn't line up right with, say, the racing stripe on a VF-1 livery because they're the only squadron that ever put it there and in that size, plenty of people will be having the same complaints about immersion. Each modex getting its own skin isn't a space saver, but it's the way it's gotta go right now. Blame ED for creating a decal system that doesn't serve US Navy jets very well.

The F-14 had modex numbers on each side of the nose, the flaps, and the rudders, and often on each side of the nose gear doors. The Heatblur F-14 modex numbers are not dynamic because of the wide variety of modex number styles, sizes, and placement on the various liveries combined with the limits of the placement options in DCS. You are not likely to see this implemented soon.

Naugahyde. And a matching naugahyde-covered empty hydraulic fluid can to put your feet up on.

Try looking under bombs. Calling the Walleye an AGM is a misnomer.

VF-41 and VF-14 were the Tomcat squadrons that developed F-14 FAC(A) and COIN ops during OAF. They also were in one of the first air wings in position for OEF and often configured as quad bombers because of the F-14A's higher bring back. For OIF, VF-154 deployed 5 jets to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar and was primarily tasked with supporting special forces units. All three of these squadrons were operating A models.

Nor can I. The F-14B is my favorite variant, but the F-14A did a lot more interesting stuff in the final decade.

Nice looking Camelots. Those will look even better on the A when it's released.

That doesn't cover everything. There was a LOT of variation between the gull grey over white of the early 70s and the TPS the jet retired in. Also, quite a few of the squadron histories are incomplete, especially any that were operational after 2001. The "Colors and Markings" section of this page shows a wider variety that MATS misses. Nothing against Torsten Anft. He's been one of the internet's SMEs on the F-14's history and MATS still makes for good reference. https://www.cybermodeler.com/aircraft/f-14/f-14_all.shtml

I hope if they do the Iranian Cat, it actually has the external details of a -90-GR. If it's not available US side, the .lua can probably be modified to allow it.

Isoko, think about it this way. If you fudge it so the existing model looks right, you'll have to correct it later if they fix it. I'd gamble on the fix and place the placards and fasteners accurately.