Andrew8604

I think it goes here...right? C:\Users\..\Saved Games\DCS.openbeta\ Your path to Saved Games may vary, as well as the name of your DCS folder under Saved Games. I think if you copy and paste the downloaded "mods" folder into your DCS.openbeta folder within Saved Games, it should place the items into their correct folders and subfolders under \Saved Games\mods\. ...right? Does that help?

Now, who would not want this? ...airplane module? Radio operator on the left, Navigator's table on the right. Although, this is looking aft, so the navigator's actually on the left side of the plane. A 50-cal mounted inside the big side blister windows, which roll up to open, on left and right. Multi-crew positions: Front: Bombardier's window and forward gunner's turret. Pilot and co-pilot Mid-ships fore: Navigator on the left and Radio Operator on the right; Engineer's seat up above in the wing mount. Mid-ships aft: 4 bunks Aft: Left and Right Observer/Gunner positions. Even if just 2 players, they could move around positions. AI/autopilot could fly and the players could man the left and right blister windows for search.

I'll take all of the above: Helldiver, Avenger and Hellcat (and FM-2 & SBD-5). Those are the planes of 1944-45. I also want Wildcat F4F-4 or FM-1, SBD-3 and the MIGHTY TBD-1 Devastator!! Those are the planes of Coral Sea and Midway! Hell, I'd piss on a sparkplug if I could get the Devastator ...with a late 1944 Mark 13 torpedo!! ...although, I'd probably be the only one flying it. Maybe in 2037 for the 100th anniversary of its entering service.

Most definitely would love this! Well, that's a video of Destroyer Simulator on Steam, I think. We might not need all that animation. If ED makes: a player operable Mk37 gun director for the 5-inch/38 gun mounts (which is dual-purpose and can be used against surface targets and shore bombardment) player operable Mk51 director with Mk14 lead-computing optical sight for the twin- and quad-mount 40mm guns a player operable 20mm gun mount with the same Mk14 lead-computing optical sight (or iron sights)... ...these three gun systems make up the standard anti-aircraft armaments on virtually all US Navy surface combat ships from 1943 to the end of WWII. Then include ship models of the... Fletcher and Sumner class destroyers (in WWII configuration) Cleveland, Atlanta and Baltimore class cruisers North Carolina, South Dakota and Iowa class battleships Independence class light carriers. Including compatibility with VR. Eventually, include a simplified, integrated CIC (Combat information center) in each ship so that one or two players might be able to use air search radars, direct a group of ships in speed, direction, formations and combat action against enemy contacts, as well as direct fighter aircraft via comm menus or radio comms to players to intercept airborne targets. Also, have the plot board. Sonar could be operated from CIC, as well. I think it would be a heck of a lot of fun to be able to man a Mk51 director to remote-aim a quad 40mm mount to try to shoot down attacking dive bombers and torpedo bombers to defend the ship and task force. With the help of AI gunners manning the other guns on the ship that other players are not in control of. I used to try my best at this when we were able to occupy a gun mount on the Samuel Chase ship. In a formation of other Samuel Chase and LSTs, with 24 or so attacking AI Fw190's in Zero skins, it made for quite a sea battle scene in sights and sounds!! ...especially with a couple mods of other WWII ships. Puffs of black dotted the skies with tracers flying everywhere!

I had a case where after landing on the carrier, I accidentally retracted the gear instead of the hook (I hit the wrong switch on my hardware). Engine was running so it bent the props. I did a repair, and the aircraft was set down with left main gear partially retracted. Tried a repair again and same thing. Then I figured out if I pump the hydraulic hand pump several times, it extends the partially retracted gear and I'm good to go...hydraulic pressure had been zero.

Yes, gun emplacements on ships could be awesome! We used to be able to sit at and operate guns on the Samuel Chase attack transport ship. In VR, I couldn't get any gun sights to work, but I could sight down the barrel of 5" and 3" guns and fire at attacking planes. Occasionally, I could get hits on them. Traverse and elevation could be mapped to joystick axes. Sometime in the last year or two, that was apparently deactivated. I can't get it to work now. I had set up a mission in Marianas with 3 Samuel Chase ships and some LSTs escorted by Fletcher destroyers and Pensacola cruiser mod escorts and then have about 24 FW190's in WWII Japanese skins attack in waves of 4. It was a regular Pacific battle!! It needed improvement, sure, but it was a lot of fun even as it was, especially in VR!! ...and the sounds of all the gunfire! My wish is that they would bring it back with a lot more functionality. Or maybe as a separate module in DCS called "Ships GFCS" (Gun-Fire Control System) or "Task Force", which might include the animated, automatic spotting of planes (like the F4U) on WWII aircraft carriers. They have to be moved forward for landing operations and aft for launching operations. But the guns were generally aimed by remote Gun Directors. See my other wish list post:

That comment under the picture about the length of the ladder. I noticed that, too. With the F-4, you have to stoop down to walk under the wing, trying not to whack your head on doors and antennas. With the F-105, you look up at the underside of the wing like it was a ceiling in an average room! Of course, the F-4 is low-wing, and the F-105 is mid-wing, but still.

I'd buy a B-52D!! But I can see where others might not. The F-105D, however, is a single-seat, single-engine, fighter-bomber that will exceed Mach 1 on the deck with a significant bomb load. I'd think more would be interested...until they realize it doesn't carry Mavericks or JDAMs. Now, 20 years ago, I had the impression the F-105 was not very good with a name like "lead sled" and that something like a 3rd of them were lost in combat because apparently the planes were terrible, and the pilots weren't that smart. Others might have a similar perception and lack of interest. That is, until I read Col. Jack Broughton's book, "Thud Ridge". And I realized I was wrong! They lost so many because they were always being sent "downtown" into the thick of the most heavily defended airspace at that time, on the same exact route every time. And that those pilots had courage, dedication and determination, knowledge and skills that were impressive. And another book, "When Thunder Rolled" by another F-105 pilot, Ed Rasimus. Anyway, I'd sure like to fly the F-105D to get a much better feeling for what it was like. We need that Vietnam Map, though. Well, the F-105D could join the F-4E on the Germany Cold War map. It's just that I suspect the F-105D will take an effort close to that of the F-4E, minus Jester. Either Heatblur or Grinnelli...but like 2028 or 29, at the earliest, the way they've been going.

I think you meant F-100D. Grinnelli is doing the F-100D, not F-104. Aerges is doing the F-104. I'd hope Grinnelli could do the F-105. I think that's right up their alley. I'd like to see Magnitude do the SBD-5 Dauntless...assuming they've learned enough from the F4U-1D and have enough people to make it a 2- or 3-year job and not 10. Although, I hope they will make refinements to the F4U-1D module.

Not to take anything away from your request but did you watch this video by Reflected Simulations. I watched it a couple times and tried it and practiced it. I made about ten circuits around the carrier pattern gradually getting down to the altitude and speed required and to where I was coming out of my turn to final very close to the aft end of the carrier. When I felt comfortable, I cut the throttle (requiring left rudder to stay straight), eased it down a bit and flared to three-point attitude and caught a #5 wire. It worked!! It can be done with a little patience and practice. I was determined to do it without crashing, and I succeeded. And I'm not a great pilot. I think landing the F/A-18 and A-4E on a carrier is more difficult. I had the Essex carrier steaming 22 knots into an 8-knot wind to get about 30 knots wind-over-deck, too. It's not easy, and I've had some wave-offs and bolters that would have sent me into the barrier gear...but I realized on those that I had not fully cut the power! I've made about 5 traps of about 8 attempts. It can be done. My bolters were on a fully clear deck, so I powered through and back into the air. The barrier wires and barricade rigging don't seem to be present in the sim...that's a problem. But it's always nice to have an easy-mode option for this difficult task, if it improves the enjoyment. Same should be for in-flight refueling! ...which I still have too much trouble accomplishing. And, yes, it pretty much requires a quality joystick, throttle and rudder pedals. I use old Oculus Rift S VR goggles, too. Here's an example from a movie which edits together studio set scenes with real carrier operations involving F9F Panther jets filmed in about 1954, right before the angled decks came into use. This is also an Essex-class carrier, the last one completed (Oriskany CV-34), but with a more modern island. In about 1959, it received and angled deck, too.

The Carrier Ops one is excellent. Really got me dialed in pretty quickly. I went with 40 flaps and flew a dozen circuits around the carrier, slowly lowering my altitude and the speed, getting everything trimmed up...including a little bit of cowl flaps open and full open oil cooler. I used 2400 RPM and whatever MP gets me about 93 kts. In the turn it will slow to 90. I used 10 deg nose-up trim, 6-deg right rudder and maybe 1/2 deg right aileron. And then just be easy on the controls. Minor corrections. I made multiple passes over the end of the deck where I could have cut the throttle but just kept going around and around the pattern to get used to it. Many of my passes were wide right on the rollout, close-in to the deck. On those I could imagine getting the wave-off from the LSO. Tomorrow I'll go to 50 flaps and with a fully clear deck give it a try. In VR it looks like if you wave-off, you'll hit the island with your right wingtip. I always offset just a bit to over the port (left) edge of the flight deck, just enough of a climb to get maybe 50-75 feet above planes parked forward. I don't even change the throttle setting for the wave off, I just ease the nose up just a smidgen to get the altitude and then fly straight ahead for 15 seconds or so before turning back into the pattern to try again. I only use 25-30 deg of bank. I figure, once you cut throttle for the landing, you're committed, there's no waving off after that. Now this sequence in the movie "Bridges at Toko-Ri" makes a lot more sense to me. When do we get the F9F-2 Panther in DCS? Compare this. It's like the same pattern we'll use with the F4U. Same straight-deck Essex-class carriers (this was filmed on Oriskany CV-34 and Kearsarge CV-33, with updated islands and twin 5"-gun turrets removed).

In Mission Editor. When you place an F4U aircraft in the mission, you can click the "Additional Aircraft Properties" tab "..." and there you will see selection boxes for inner, middle and outer guns. Also, a checkbox for custom pattern, but I don't know what that does. Found this on Wikipedia under "Gun harmonization"...

...and pilot-figure models of all these guys! I'm joking...but it would be cool, at the same time.

Also, the "AI" F4U-pilots taxi on land airports with the wings folded. I'm 99.44% sure that's not a good idea. I suspect that's a side-effect of making it work realistically on the aircraft carrier. They also spawn, start up their engine and begin taxi all in about 1-2 seconds. And they seem to taxi a bit too fast.

Is that supposed to be as if the aircraft is up on jacks for repair? I think they should get rid of that. Just fix what isn't working on the aircraft. Don't do the animation of the jacked-up aircraft. That's my suggestion. I mean; to be realistic, the repair timer should be like 1 to 300 hours depending on damage, not 180 seconds. But no one would wait for that, of course. It's probably an obsolete feature. Most people just eject and go grab another aircraft, I think. But at least get rid of the "raising of the aircraft" part of "repair". But I'm pretty sure this is an ED thing, not the F4U module or Magnitude 3's doing.