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.

Yes, I know the F-4 is complex..and it's totally understandable that all good things take time. The point I was making is going from "We're still optimistic we can release in 2022", then it being all over the 2023 trailer, and no other statements or even a brief "Hey, we know it's 2023 now and the Phantom is still not out, but here's some basic info about XYZ"..hell I'd settle for a post about the J79 modeling

It did

Beyond Vietnam even, the F-15A/C used it until the very very late 80's and into the early 90's

I saw that also. I guess I just am trying to square "We think we can still make 2022" in October/November to "Maybe before June" around six weeks later. There's just something that isn't adding up

Yes, I know Nick said that they'd likely not release much, if anything, until unveiling time Yes, I know that they stated that "2022 might not happen".. However.. As of early last month there were still statements saying that they hoped for 2022, etc. The Phantom was featured *very* heavily in the 2023+ Video by ED, it seems like the golden time to release some more information, an update, etc was last week. I know there's a lot going on in the world, lots of difficulties, but I would think maybe at least some information release would go a long way. During the F-14 lead up we got roughly quarterly updates, snippets of development here and there. The fact that there's been none of that with the Phantom is a bit jarring, and despite HB's stellar reputation (well earned for the F-14 and Viggen)..there's an undercurrent of uncertainty right now

The options for this are an F-4B/F-4N (N's were remanufactured B's) or the J/S (S's were rebuilt J's)

The sticks are largely the same, the only major difference being a rocker in one position instead of a push button.

Absolutely zero

There's no reason the assume the A-6 is before a naval Phantom. Nick has said on this forum that they're going to be starting on the Naval F-4 immediately after the F-4E is complete

Classification is only one part of the story, ITAR is another factor that can block even non-class materials from getting used.