If the simulation has it's limitiation and you can't get it right for that reason ok, but intentionally making the FM worse than it actually is for 'security reasons' is simply a no-go for me.
I'm designing high quality FMs for other sims and e.g. I fine tuned my F-15 FM until both F-15 IPs said that it's spot on and it did match the performance charts. Same goes for a few other civil and military FMs.
If I would design a jet where performance data are available and the max RPM would be 4% too low, and/or the top speed would be off by 10-15kts (my own design limit is +3kts), I could imagine the complaints from the customers.
I'm strictly judging this issue from an FM designer POV and I don't see anything ridiculous here.
Since the F/A-18 was only a stop gap for the F-16 for, I sincerely hope that NineLine is correct that the F-16 doesn't suffer from this artificial restrictions. But since the F-16 is also still in service and it's much more widely used than the F/A-18, I don't understand why it would be different than with the F/A-18.
Btw, since I'm flying the A-10 only clean or very lightly loaded, I'm of course looking very much forward to the new cockpit! :) :) The A-10 and the F-5 are still my most flown modules by far.
@ironhand, thanx a lot about taking your time to not only post the links but also for providing the time stamps. :thumbup: :)