Buren

Cobra, is the F-14 manual going to be 'print-ready' for release or is it going to be a draft "beta" in the same way as it is currently for the Viggen? Many thanks.

I have a hunch feeling that the next aircraft is going to be either the F-111 or the Panavia Tornado. Both excellent aircraft, altough I have a slight preference for the former. Either way, I am really excited for the Tomcat -- 2018 is going to be great for DCS, can't wait for the release.

I remember from the book "Eleven Days of Christhmas", that B-52s used to fly in 3-ship formations for mutual ECM support in 1972 at least. I am not sure about present day practice.

A short news sequence from last year about the russian air operations in the Middle-East, featuring a focus on the Mi-24P. Of particular interest are the loading of the cannon, the glimpse into the troop compartment and the fact, that the russians still use (or used at that particular time & place, at the end of 2015) the original, unmodified configuration of the Mi-24P in frontline service. (full-length wings, retractable undercarriage). EDIT: Whoops, I meant to post this in the Mi-24 thread. Mea culpa, please move post accordingly, thanks.

Just squint harder. ;)

Honestly, Wings over Flanders Fields is the markedly superior WW1 sim product (vis-a-vis RoF). Unfortunately, it does not have multiplayer (currently), but I am more of a solitary type of simmer (as many others in this hobby). Also there are relatively frequent paid addons/updates, but it's currently available iteration (which came out a few weeks ago) with all of the previously released stuff has a reasonable price taking into consideration the huge amount of content included. The focus is on the extremely well developed and historically researched dynamic campaign... DCS, from my experience and impression of playing it as an end-user, presently has a focus on aircraft operating procedures and system management. Stuff, which are not important for WW1 aircraft. Basically, the latter are motorcycles with kites attached. There is simply not much onboard equipment to simulate. Also, there were literally several dozens/over a hundred types of different aircraft, with frequent equipment changes in units, not to mention period assets (buildings, ground/sea units,) which would require additional work. Note that Rise of Flight and WoFF reached their current amount of content after oh-so-many years. I am content that DCS focuses on WW2≤Contemporary aircraft. There are modern/current generation alternatives for WW1 air combat; i.e.: if you want to fly WW1, you don't have to dust off the Red Baron series from the early-mid '90s...

In my opinion Rise of Flight and especially Wings Over Flanders Fields already cover the era generously; frankly, there is no need for DCS to step into this period (at least for the time being) -- as mentioned above, I'd rather see the current projects expanded and enhanced. I'd suggest you to try out the aforementioned games if you want to fly in the era of the First World War.

Damn, I thought they were working on the Space Shuttle...!

Never use Wiki as a primary reference. It is good for starting researching about something, but not as a final say and not for reliable citations. Look what books they cite and see if you can get hold of those. I based my information on technical orders (there's none in english). Try finding Yefim Gordon's MiG-23/27 book from the Aerofax series. It is out of print and available for outrageous prices -- but the internet is a big place, with a lot to find. But take Yefim Gordon with a grain of salt. In the past, some information he provided turned out to be false or inaccurate. There's discussion about this in other threads (especially in his MiG-21 book and why it is not good to use it as only reference). Also, Yefim Gordon is probably not a real person, but a pen name for various russian writers writing/translated into english. The best sources are technical orders/offical manuals of course... but you have to be proficent in (technical) russian/etc. to understand them, as most of them are not translated into english (or at least not shared -- see MiG-21bis manual, which was I think the translation (by an american intelligence service) of a captured arab (?) manual and was available first on the old pre-LNS MiG-21bis website)

False. Only the pre-series/test series MiG-23S had seperate radar display. The radar information was displayed on the HUD from the next batch onwards.

At least with the upcoming Hormuz map, some of them (i.e. F-5E, F-14A, Mirage F1) can be genuine OPFOR for more realistic PvP scenarios (and yes, I know most of them are tinkered with and do not match original specifications in their current form... but that's not that big of a deal to me). I would also like to see more full/high-fidelity Soviet/Russian aircraft in the (preferably near) future, though.

There were definite plans for the MiG-23 and Su-22, all for variants used by the Hungarian Air Force (specifically the MiG-23MF and Su-22M3), before the Team reformed into Leatherneck Sims and the old lead member took leave (due to in-team dissension as far as I could tell -- but probably that's still too sensitive a case and would lead to bitter off-topic discussions). There are no current information regarding old plans, but probably everything in the internal roadmap was rethought.

What would be a comparable aircraft to the attack-variant Viggen in role/capabalities? (not in aerodynamics/avionics) I'm thinking about the Su-17 family from the soviet side and probably A-7 from US side? It would be good to know for the inescapable stand-in/squint harder scenarios.

You guys might want to look/ask around here: http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=4708&sid=c9d6a1074f66b1302328dbea49ca50d0

Yeah, but it would be probably much faster to actually learn russian, than to wait for the *finalized* aircraft manual. (I'm looking at you, Mi-8 )

There was a time when my biggest wish was a DCS B-52. A Desert Storm-era upgraded -G model. Perhaps it would be a good a compromise if we pushed for a F-111 and/or Su-24 (and A-6...). In my opinion they are the most realistic options for a bomber type aircraft, from a gameplay standpoint. I remember the F-111 winning a wishlist some time ago. I would like to see a C-130 on the other hand...

The Mi-8 has so much soul in it.

Are we going to get internal machine guns on the Mi-8? For example the optional PKT in the cockpit: There are also pictures with gun mountings at the door and at the rear cargo door, but the most common gun mounting seems to be the nose one, at least as far I can tell.

The fan is the most advanced subsystem on the aircraft. In the absence of classified documents, it needs to be reverse engineered using complex arithmetics from the ground up. Don't underestimate advanced soviet air conditioning technology. It can't be rushed.

Another question -- on Silver Dragon's roadmap, he has a B-17F as a planned AI craft; if that rumour is true, why the "F" model is being made? It's strange that not the definitive "G" version is being considered, especially if one thinks about that the "G" was used from late 1943 and that almost all other DCS WW2 aircraft in comparison are the latest and greatest variant...

The F-105! Don't forget the Thud! It bore the brunt of the bombing in the earlier campaigns (i.e. Rolling Thunder). Forgetting it would be akin to forgetting the B-17s in the WW2 ETO.

Understandable. Very complex machine, which beyond that, needs both the extension of the game world and AI crew. In a certain regard, a WW2 version of the Tomcat, one might say. (do not take this literally -- I mean that both are complex, multi-crew, unique machines, which are -- unfortunately for authentic simulator developers -- are extremely popular). There are rumours that Spielgerg and Hanks are going to adapt the book 'Masters of the Air' into a miniseries in the same vein of 'Band of Brothers'. Hopefully, if actually made and successful, it is going to raise public awareness of the B-17 and its missions, so greater demand will be generated for a modern B-17 combat simulator. One can dream.

Without scrutinizing the 20 page thread, is a flyable B-17 planned in the long term (I understand that an AI version is in preparation, at least in disclosed plans)? Absolute beauty of a machine, probably the only aircraft besides the P-47 (quite sad for its delay) which interests me in the currently proposed WW2 line.

True. My bad.

So far, all point towards the next "modern"/not-ww2 release being the Viggen... but what if, in a surprise plot twist, it's actually going to be the Intruder? it may have more to do with their company/team name (videlicet, the A-6 was flown in USMC squadrons) and still be in concordance with most of the announced features (see LN sept. update post) and long-term plans (carrier ops). At the same time, however, I do not dismiss the Viggen as a more realistic possibility (just look at how many swedes they have in their team, more than half of the introduced ones... and IIRC the company is registered in Sweden -- can't find that though now -- plus the obvious hints, so......), just loud thinking from my part.