Istari6

Just started my training on the P-47 Thunderbolt last night. Immediately recognized Bunyap's voice during the first Overview tutorial mission. Brought a huge grin to my face, as I'd depended on his YouTube videos to introduce me to the Bf 109 K-4, MiG-21 and Viggen "back in the day". I'd missed having his videos as new aircraft came out, not realizing he was now helping ED with actual Training voiceovers. Really appreciate the thoroughness of these Training missions. The careful overview of systems, the general orientation to the cockpit, then the detailed startup and taxiing procedures. As always, Bunyap conveys the attitude of "this is information, use what you find most helpful for your own technique". Felt just like the old YouTube videos, but now with interactive steps.

Confirmed, just flew this mission. It works fine under 2.7 if you follow the main taxiway with the resulting obstruction and interaction that results.

My pleasure. I can only imagine the work to maintain all of these campaigns, particularly as your portfolio expands with Zone 5, etc. Hopefully this switchover to 2.7 is a one-time lift for many missions, with only minor edits needed in the future. Will send along any other issues that pop up!

For context, I played through the Horrido campaign through Mission 09 back in March. No issues with any mission at that time. Work and other life issues pulled me away from DCS for a few months, so I decided to restart the Horrido campaign to get familiar with the Fw 190 A-8 once more. I didn't mind at all, since this has been a great campaign so far! However, I've noted a few issues in missions now that weren't there back in March (pre-2.7). Overall, loving reflying the campaign. Great variety in missions and sets an appropriate tone for the challenges the Luftwaffe is facing in August 1944. Hopefully this feedback can help tune it for other players starting fresh.

Agree completely. The way the campaign opens is perfect. Sets the tone for August 1944 and the growing futility of the war. Perhaps inspired by "Das Boot"'s closing scene?

Yes, you can't call the Fw 190 A-8 a turn fighter. That's what it's absolutely worst at.

Interestingly, I just checked the following site: https://maps.ngdc.noaa.gov/viewers/historical_declination/ It appears the historical magnetic declination for 1944 was 10 deg W of N for the Normandy to southern England axis, declining to 8 deg W of N for central France. This seems very different from the information above?

Yup, first day purchase here as well!

Aha, glad to find this thread. I was flying Operation EPSOM last night, and was completely puzzled how the light flak was following us up tp higher altitudes above 6000 ft. I knew the old 88 puffs, and these seemed to be light flak.

Just finished "The Big Show" Campaign, and can strongly recommend it for Spitfire lovers. Starting in spring 1943 and ending in July 1944, Reflected's done a really nice job of providing a wide variety of missions, weathers, locations and challenges. No two missions feel the same. You really feel the RAF's progression from long cross-Channel escort missions into the teeth of an active and dangerous Luftwaffe, to growing air superiority and preparation for D-Day, and the sharp transition to the "cramped shoebox" of the Normandy bridgehead. Circus, Rodeo, Roadstead, NoBall, Rover, Scramble - all examples of different RAF missions that are covered at some point during this campaign. In addition, there are PDF documents for each mission with additional historical research not included in the actual briefings. Having just finished the 12th and last mission, I now feel like I know the Spitfire LF Mk IX inside and out. Off to tackle Operation Epsom next, but this is a great campaign. Don't miss it.

Thanks all for the replies. Seems pretty clear the fuel pump is switched on after engine startup. Interesting that it's different from the P-51D which has the same engine. There the booster pump is turned on before engine start. Something about the British arrangement must risk flooding the engine if on during start.

Huh - interesting. Agree that the latest Chuck's Guide recommends turning on Fuel Pump after startup. The checklist above seems to imply it's pre-engine startup. I could have sworn I read somewhere previously that fuel pump was something you turned on once in flight. Not critical, just fun to understand how the actual systems worked.

Absolutely. I'm a long ways away from flying the F-16C in DCS, but I just purchased the campaign as a thanks to Bunyap. Really enjoyed the Operation Charnwood and Viggen Red Flag 16-2 campaigns. The degree of historical research, the effort to make you feel you are there, the sheer attention to detail... great experiences. I've also used Bunyap's YouTube videos for years to help train up on many planes like the K-4 and Viggen. Understand that priorities have changed and new ones aren't being made anymore, but they're still helping me out. Glad you're still creating content.

I'm months away from flying the F-14A Tomcat, but I've immediately purchased Zone Five as a thanks for all the great work on Blue Nosed Bastards of Bodney and Jagdflieger. These are excellent campaigns, highly recommended. The hours of enjoyment I received make this a no-brainer purchase. I want to continue to support Reflected Simulations, and hopefully if others have enjoyed these campaigns, consider doing the same. No, I have no connection to Reflected Simulations.

Is there a reason the fuel pump isn't switched on during normal startup? It seems that it never shows up on checklists, and a few folks have said you turn it only if planning to climb to higher altitudes. In the P-51D, you turn on booster pumps as part of startup sequence. What was different about Spitfire?

Many thanks to Heatblur for the awesome "Wrath of Thunder" campaign! I just completed it last night, and it was one of the best scripted campaigns I've experienced, going back to the days of F-19 Stealth Fighter and Falcon 3.0. What's particularly appreciated is the emphasis on realism. I don't want to give away any spoilers for folks who haven't played it yet, but the missions "feel real" in what they ask of an AJS-37 Viggen in 1994. They require careful study of the Viggen and cover a wide range of skills and weapons. Yet none of the missions felt like puzzles, nor did they veer into Hollywood drama where you're forced to "save the day" for the entire Coalition through individual heroics. I've been so impressed by the Viggen overall and this campaign in particular that 5 min ago I just purchased the F-14 Tomcat. I was planning to wait for the A model and a sale, but this is a concrete way of saying thanks to the Heatblur team. For those who haven't played through the campaigns, I've had a great experience following this order: 1. All Training missions for Viggen 2. Instant Action missions 3. Red Flag 16-2 4. Mjolnir Response 5. Wrath of Thunder Looking forward to diving into the F-14A soon!

Bunyap, First, love your work. Your Test Flight series was very helpful in learning the Viggen, and I recently completed your P-51 campaign in Normandy. Stopped by to report the same bug as I'm starting the Red Flag campaign. Completed the mission 3 times, even ensuring I was carefully parked in the designated space. But failure with score 50 everytime. I came here and learned about the F10 workaround, but other new pilots might not be so fortunate. Hope it's an easy fix!

It gets easier with practice. The key is to touch the throttle as little as possible. The Mustang seems very sensitive to power changes at slow speeds, causing that big nose to yaw widely back and forth which really throws off my aiming point. So I try to come in at ~110 on final, throttle and RPM in fixed position, glide it down. Once nearing the runway I straighten out and fly level above the ground while easing throttle back slowly. I find the biggest problem with the Mustang is the tendency to bounce on landing. When I was less experienced, I bounced a lot and you see the same in the Grim Reapers videos from new pilots. It's dangerous and can easily lead to stalling a wing and crashing. So come down and then just fly straight above the runway while dropping power. It'll settle down on it's own without the excess speed that leads to the bounce.

Confirmed, I'm having the same with Mission 5 and 6. Exactly the same pattern as Surrexen.

Hi all, Thanks for the replies. I've been on a long business trip and fell behind on this thread. Looks like Thasiet was the first to reply for inside USA shipping. FIN_Centurion1, let me know if you have an inside US address and I'll ship there instead. This is for the stick only, do not have the Cougar throttle. Will get pricing on shipping when I return back home this coming weekend. Chris

I'd be happy to ship to someone who's interested if they're willing to pay for shipping costs. I am in the US. Please let me know!

I have an older Thrustmaster Cougar joystick that's begun to be pretty glitchy. I've upgraded to a Thrustmaster Warthog, and now I have a big heavy Cougar that 1) I won't be using going forwards and 2) I'm not interested in repairing. However, it's a big heavy chunk of metal and electronics, and I feel badly just throwing it in the trash. Seems wasteful. Any tips on recycling older joysticks? How to ensure the materials get reused, or if someone else is interested in repairing and using, they could benefit?

Is there a way to know what the proper order is for the missions? Isn't this a branching campaign? I saw the mission names seemed to have several variants for each of the steps (e.g. several for 02, 03, etc)

Kronos, Thanks for the reply. Does anyone else know if there's a way to fix the mission triggers? Is there some edits to the campaign file that can restore the proper order? Chris

First, I absolutely love the MiG-21. I've played all the training missions, all the SP missions and downloaded a number of user-created missions. Now I'm trying to do my "graduation exercise" by playing successfully through the included "Stillness in Time" campaign. However, after 13 missions, I can't make any sense of what is happening or how to proceed. My very first mission was "Joy Ride", the tour of the Georgian airspace. OK, good intro flight. But then the 2nd flight was "Last Drops", where I'm shuttling MiG-21s from Anapa down to Kutasi. This seems backwards. I've then proceeded to fly "Human Probe" alternating with "Titan Falls" multiple times, with one mission in there at night where I was asked to fly standoff jamming without any clear victory conditions. I've just flown "Human Probe" for the 4th time, but ran out of gas on final approach. Now the campaign is saying I'm back to "Last Drops" again?!!?! I love the MiG-21, but I'm getting pretty frustrated with this campaign. It's not clear what I need to do to move forwards. "Titan Falls" seems to be a point I keep hitting up against and failing, although the victory conditions aren't clear to me. I've flown it twice. The first time I was hit and ejected, but the 2nd time I did pretty well - downing both a MiG-23MLD and an F/A-18C while returning home safely, yet still the campaign can't seem to break out of the rut of these first four missions. Is this campaign simply broken under 2.5? Is there a way to modify it so I can proceed and enjoy some of the other missions I see waiting in the campaign folder?