Donut

+1 The HB manual is extremely incomplete. You are better off waiting until it is finished and not waste paper and ink. I would like to print it out as well once complete, but as it stands right now, the manual really has yet to tell us how to actually fly the Tomcat.

Take a look at the following thread that discusses the magnetic effect from the carrier... https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=238390

Did Heatblur use a museum Tomcat or photos from the mid 1990's showing in service Tomcats as their source for the cockpit textures?

How is this done? Do you need a human RIO or can this be setup to happen with Jester?

Helmet...no point, but I would think wings would be important to see control surfaces, weapons. Good point on camera location, didn't think about that. So, you are saying the Hornet mirrors in DCS are realistic? I know it doesn't make sense to have your own reflection in the top mirror, but would you not see any part of aircraft?

Wow, this is going to be great! I read all of the books...can't wait! Thank you for putting this all together! I wonder if we will need to wait for the ATFLIR or if the LITENING will work.

T/W ratios for Hornet and Tomcat in DCS... These are the lightest weights I could get the aircraft in the ME with full internal fuel only I am also finding multiple thrust values for the F-14B F/A-18C Weight: 36,445 Thrust: 35,500 T/W: 0.97 F-14B Weight: 60,239 Thrust: 56,400 (various online sources) 60,000 (HB manual) 60,400 (NATOPS) T/W: 0.93, 0.99, 1.00

In all the real life videos of the F/-18C, the mirrors seem to show the pilot and wings. Maybe ED can get with Heatblur to see how they did it... This really belongs in the bug forum and not wishlist. The current mirrors are incorrect and do not show what is seen in the real aircraft.

So nothing scientific and by no means official... Clean, full internal fuel, 59F, 29.92, Nellis runway 3L, F/A-18C vs F-14B Full afterburner takeoff, level off right above runway, and I measured the speed at the end of the runway. Both the Hornet and Tomcat reached a speed of about 420kts. I was surprised because I thought the Tomcat would surely win this, but that Hornet can move! Overall, I really don't notice the Tomcat being that superior in any performance category. Sure, top speed of course goes to the Tomcat and maybe acceleration at higher speeds but the Hornet is right there or superior in most others from what I am seeing so far.

100% agree...lack of any news is troubling. I have been holding off on getting the Warthog because I would rather have the Hornet HOTAS. Now I don't know what to do.

So for those who use curves to decrease the sensitivity around center, how do you handle the increased sensitivity further away from center? What I experience is that when I am pulling hard, AoA at 15, just the slightest increase in aft stick pressure will max out the AoA and g load and I lose control. In a real Tomcat, I would think in the scenario above, you would feel increased stick pressure, making it very difficult to rapidly add stick input and over-pull. I wish this could be simulated somehow. When I am pulling hard, I am paying more attention to my stick input and AoA then on anything outside of the aircraft. The amplified audio and visuals cues help, but nothing will prevent undesirable stick inputs other than extreme finesse and focus...which for me, has been a challenge.

Hawaii would be fantastic...depending on the years modeled, it would have AFB, NAS, and MCAS on one map, and of course plenty of sea area for carriers. If they want, they could also extend the area to include Midway as that is mostly just open ocean.

Thanks Victory205...means a lot hearing from you on this. Personally, I am not looking for a magical solution. I am just trying to simulate the most realistic feel possible. You flew the Tomcat in real life...did you ever have to think about how much you are pulling on the stick? Was it easy to over pull, snap a wing off, overstress the aircraft? I find that I have to always be conciously aware of my stick position and how much I am pulling due to the lack of feel you would get in a real aircraft. That is the issue for me.

+1 Now this is a great analogy. The Hornet is high performance, quick and nimble. The Tomcat is rugged and all about raw power and brute strength. I agree. I really wish Heatblur would have decided to make the F-14D instead as it would fit much better into the current DCS environment. I also believe that the DFCS would translate better to a desktop simulator than the AFCS does.

I share your frustration. I have not been able to find curve settings that work for me either. I have tried positive curves, negative curves, and zero curves. I have an X-55 on my desk, no extension. Positive curves dampen/decrease sensitivity of inputs around center which helps when more precise control is needed such as with AAR, formation flying and landing. However, the drawback is that it increases sensitivity and amplifies control movement the further you deflect the stick from center. This makes it very difficult to not over control the aircraft when performing aggressive maneuvers and often leads to over stressing the aircraft and snapping wings. Negative curves have the opposite results with increased sensitivity around center, making it difficult to perform precise inputs, however; you gain much better control with larger stick deflections making it much easier to aggressively maneuver the aircraft. I have never over stressed or snapped a wing with negative curves but do it every time with zero and positive curves. With this being a desktop simulator, an aircraft such as the Tomcat which relies heavily on being able to feel the aircraft and the pressure on the stick, will be difficult to control because we lack those sensations. Heatblur has tried to compensate for this lack of feel with shaking and sounds but the lack of force/pressure on the stick is what really makes the aircraft difficult to control effectively and realistically. There have been several post on the forums about curves and the responses vary greatly between positive, negative, and zero curves. What work for one person and their stick setup may not work for another. I have yet to see Heatblur respond to any of these threads and I really wish they would. What curves are they and their SME's using? Was the Tomcat designed to be used with certain curves? I have spent way too much time trying to find the right curves and I still can't find something that works. I don't need stick curves in any other DCS aircraft (F/A-18, A-10, F-5, F-86, P-51). I don't know what makes the Tomcat different. Finding the right control settings is critical to being able to fly and ultimately enjoy the aircraft. It shouldn't be this difficult and frustrating. It would be great if Heatblur could in some way simulate the force/pressure on the stick needed at high G loads.

I'm with you...don't get the muscle car : minivan analogy either but I have heard it before. I grew up in the 80's and 90's and lived right next to Oceana NAS. The Tomcat holds a special place in my heart. After flying it though, I find a lot may be legend and hype. It's performance is not what I grew up believing or was lead to believe by what I read online, at least when compared to other teen fighters, especially the Hornet. The Hornet is an incredible high performance aircraft, and so was the Tomcat. However, I wonder what things would be like if the Hornet was in Top Gun and the Final Countdown instead... I always have wondered why the Hornet was never as popular or as highly regarded. I find it to be one of the most capable and exceptional aircraft. Sure, it has it's weaknesses, but so does every aircraft in some way.

It would be nice to see Carrier Air Wing tail codes added to the Marine Corps squadrons we have in DCS. Each VMFA squadron would then have tail codes for when ashore and when deployed on a carrier as part of an air wing. This would greatly add to the immersion and realism, especially with the upcoming carrier module.

Incredible and exciting stuff for sure. I have not seen it mentioned anywhere, but will graded landings be a feature of the new module as well? I also, just purchased VoiceAttack and it looks like it could work well with the improved comms. Can't wait!!!

Great stuff! Thank you for taking the time to answer my question. This is the procedure I will follow....seems pretty straight forward and obvious, but I wanted to make sure I was doing it correctly.

Thank you for the help guys but I am looking for real life procedures and practices.

At what point is afterburner disengaged and brought back to mil power after taking off from land and the carrier? At positive rate of climb, I retract gear and put the flaps to auto, but I have not found any procedure detailing throttle control after that.

I made a post asking about the GPU and air cart awhile back... https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=230596&highlight=Gpu I did not receive an answer from HB but hopefully you will have better luck.

Good stuff shagrat, you make a lot of sense...gives me a new perspective on things. Ugh...was this necessary? It is stuff like this that really makes the Tomcat community an unpleasant place...some of you Tomcat fanatics are nuts! Now, I love the Tomcat and it holds a special place in my heart, but I am also realistic and want to get a better understanding of what was legend and hype, and what was reality. Like I said previously, I obviously know that an aircraft does not need a HUD to land. What I am doing is asking serious questions in which I would like serious answers to in order to get a better understanding of the Tomcat and it's intended functions.

I do not like or understand Heatblur's approach to how they artistically represented the interior of the Tomcat. Take the sounds for example...they are amplified and overdone to add to immersion and compensate for the lack of feel with this being a simulator. I wish the same would have been done with the interior visuals as well. Now don't get me wrong...Heatblur's work is absolutely incredible, but in some ways, does not translate well to a desktop monitor.

Yes, contemporary...the F-14 is considered a 4th gen fighter, correct? I also would not consider 2 years before the F-15 and 4 years before the F-16 as "years later." It is been said on here that Tomcat pilots routinely turned off or dimmed the HUD for landing. During testing, what did the test pilots think of the landing mode? They must have found it useful is someway to make it to the production aircraft. The video by IronMike makes it appear that the E-Bracket and FPM are useful while landing. I find that to be the case on land, especially with a stable and long final but not so useful while landing on the carrier or when making significant changes on final approach.