RaceFuel85

It says specifically that the manual is only valid for AFFTC jets, which are all hard-wing.

It also required an act of congres to be donated/acquired

Its really kind of frustratingly unfortunate the F-8 isn't on the front burner, but it is what it is.

They have similar AOA limitations and such. By most accounts the Mirage F1C flew very similarly to the hard wing F-4D (IE no slats) so the F-4E we're getting should be similar.

Fly the Mirage F1. It has similar maneuvering characteristics to the F-4 and also shares a need to carefully manage speed and AOA. In terms of avionics, the F-5 will be the best primer for you.

Yes, a number of RF-4C's were refitted with the frameless windscreen also. No F-4's were actually produced from the factory with the one piece windscreen, as can be seen in the last McD produced F-4E (#5,057 which was a F-4E-67MC). You can see in this picture the standard framed multipiece windscreen. This F-4E went to Korea, btw.

Right...

For bridle vs launch bars, the only real change is the shuttle, which can be unbolted from the catapult and changed out with the other type.

The F-14, F-16, F/A-18, A-10C Update, etc all had pre-purchases.

Maybe? The Phantom we're going to be getting intially at minimum had the Aim-7E-2, the "dogfight sparrow", so I'd expect that would probably be the baseline, with the Aim-7F being the next line up

Okay, now that Mikes spoken up, we're all good. Thanks for the communication!

No I know, I am disputing the statement that HB's radio silence and then sudden reveals and big releases is normal and how they always work, this is false. The first F-14 FM video came out in 2017, a full two years before the release..

That is absolutely untrue. You either weren't here for the F-14 lead up or you're intentionally misrepresenting what happened.

Yes, and it stayed in the back seat of the F-15D as well even after the front seat got the Hornet style stick

That is where I am at. I'm an old school DCS guy, was in the trenches of the F-14 hype train, the whole "2017 no exceptions" misstep, which turned out okay because the module really looks great..but had they said in August or September "Hey guys, because of the global issues we're all watching in Ukraine and some developer family situations that came up, we're not going to make a 2022 release" and then finish off the year with an update, or something like a "Here's the cockpit tour" or something..I'd be so very okay with that. But this sudden and really fairly absolute silence isn't really feeling great.