Banzaiib

If you fly the F-14 a bunch you won't much care about the hud... I kind of like it. Feels old, but still works, and I've become less dependent on it... makes you feel like you're flying the plane not just staring at the hud the whole time. I just want the 14D for the link16 and JDAMs and 10/10 would pay another $20+ for the addon :)

Ouch.

RAZBAM said very clearly they have no intention of creating an AI weapons officer for the 15E, and given how poorly jester functions, i have no desire for it. The 15E can be piloted and operated solo, unlike the F-14.

No. That is not the question. What he means is, AWACS can detect an enemy at 300 miles as it is showing up on a tactical commander view, but it does not show up on link 4a data link until that same enemy is less than 150 miles from the AWACS.

what I mean is, The buffet feels quite strong compared to what I've read... my head is shaking like i'm pulling 7g's... it's pretty annoying. <shrug> Maybe it doesn't bother anyone else, but the actual mach buffet is pretty unremarkable...

Feels ok to me, but I'm used to trimming the Su-27... have you flown the DCS SU-27? One tap of the trim is like 15 degrees of elevator (exaggerating... but not much).

The cockpit shakes if you maintain about mach .9 ... that shouldn't be the case.

Excessive drag when 6x AIM-7M are loaded. At 30k ft full burner, I struggle to get above mach 1.1. With 6x AIM-54 I have no problem at all. Also, there is a huge increase in drag with 4x AIM-9M's loaded. I'll post drag races as evidence... It may be the launchers causing the drag with the AIM-9's, but the AIM-7's shouldn't cause more drag than AIM-54's

I'm 100% with you Hummingbird... learning the ACM feel is very difficult right now given the thrust reduction in the last patch, and BVR is very tough without at least having TWS auto. Thank you so much Iron Mike for the response. It is nice to know that you hear us. I would be satiated with an ETA on TWS auto functionality... :)

The 15E is still a crazy dog fighter... it's still an F-15. It may be a little heavier, but it's engines are WAY more powerful than the original 15C. The thrust:weight ratio is better in a 15E than in a 15C with equivalent fuel and armaments... its a monster...

When we get TWS and the targeting pod, and they've gone through a couple patch cycles each, i'd say it might be ready for you... but until then, the hornet is really lacking some core features, and the technical craziness that comes when large new features like those are released may not be tolerable.

I'd say another year in EA. There is a metric butt ton of details not integrated yet.

If they would get their act together before they announce a pre-order, this wouldn't be an issue. Feels to me like they need a PMP framework overhaul...

I know ED will deliver a good product. They always do. It's more about when. That "fuzzy" release date scares me.

... to make me part with my money on Wednesday, given the track record of delays and the nature of software development. /dons flame suit

If you switch radar modes, you lose the missile unless it's already gone active. And TWS auto is not modeled, but when it is, the flight computer will put the radar in the TWS mode that is best suited and will allow you to crank left or right and still maintain radar contact (it'll slew the radar automatically).

I hope it doesn't take 9 months before we can fire a maverick...

AIM-9 Causes Massive Drag A little footage from some internal TAW testing... Far right F-14 is clean, middle-right F-14 has 4x AIM-9M and 4x AIM-54C... the far left has 6x AIM-54C and 2x AIM-9M. The 2 extra AIM-9 cause a massive increase in drag.

Ahhh... thank you for the explanation! I wish i could tell him not to do that... :) Also, it doesn't correlate with his call outs. For example, he's able to identify aircraft at long ranges without switching to the TCS.

After Jester has STT locked a bandit, and we've been tracking him for 30 sec or so... sometimes the radar display goes black, then comes back on. The target doesn't break lock, I'm just wondering what the heck Jester is doing when that happens? It's pretty annoying if I'm looking for a range or altitude and it just goes blank for 5 seconds... (I've told him not to switch to pulse locks automatically, and that doesn't help).

you can feel it when the burners light up (especially at low speeds with high AOA, like right after takeoff)... they don't always light at exactly the same time and it pushes the nose left and right a bit

are you hitting the master reset during your startup procedure?

About 20 degrees off my nose to the right, co-altitude, I was flying level when he fired... no RWR spike (lock warning), and no launch warning... You can test it yourself in about 90 seconds. Just stick a Mig-23 in a mission with R-24R's on it facing you at 15 miles. You won't get a launch warning... just like when the AIM-7 had the same bug. I guess people don't fight mig-23's very often... I'll just make the mission when I get home from work and submit the bug report with the track file.

good point... they were R-24R's

Last night, flying with some homies in the F-18 and F-14, we were engaged by some mig-23's and they fired R-24's at us... there were no launch warnings and no RWR spikes from them locking us. This reminds me of the AIM-7 bug that was recently fixed in which the same thing happened. Anyone else notice this?