Sam

It CAN lead to a bolter, but you would still be consistent with your traps ;) So I'm guessing that a realistic trap model means that you would bolter once every x times if you do things properly

If I'm flying on speed AoA together with a good line up and rate of descent, I should be able to trap consistently right ? In that case I don't feel the arcadish trap model, so I don't find it to be a big deal atm.

You have to ask Jester to scan left, left center or right, right center when you crank. The elevation is also manual, and you have to ask him what you want

First, join the observation area and make sure you're in trim. You can set your wings in bomb or also manual to prevent them from moving. Those 2 steps are key to achieve maximum stability prior to connecting to the basket. Then go to the precontact position, get the basket out, and only focus on the tanker, never look at the basket. Align the probe with the basket only using your peripheral vision. Takes some practice but it gets easier and easier :)

Simply select TWS manually before any engagement and the RWS switching won't happen.

Exactly ! It's not difficult to get on the boat, but flying a proper CASE 1 pattern at the right speed and altitude, at the right abeam distance and with the correct groove time... that's a lot more challenging :D

It works, and with practice it works quite well

Happy new year IronMike ! Enjoy your time with friends and family and thank you for your hard work !

"Notch or die" :D Speed is one thing, but evading missiles by killing their energy is not the only thing you can do, and is certainly not the best strategy in most cases against the phoenix. However, I believe I read a post from IronMike where he said that the missile was very sensitive to chaffs so they might reduce chaff effectiveness against it.

I guess it depends on the distance, altitude, which missile is shot at you and the plane you're fighting. I tend to avoid the merge in general, and especially against F-16s, F-18s and Su27s because of their AIM-9Xs and R-73s... At 10Nm and at medium/low altitude, you can snake, pump or notch a missile like the AIM-120, R-77 or R27ER. Watch out for the R27ET though since you won't get any RWR warning. As soon as you spot the launch thanks to big smoky trail, start flaring and you'll be fine. Less than 10Nm and things start to get tricky. I can make a defensive shot to prevent the bandit from shooting at me and maintain a slight offset (crank) so I can either start a barrel roll and stay hot on the target, or notch then pump and recommit. I would also like to know how other people do it !

Of course realism has always been the main priority, I didn't mean the missile should be fixed to be competitive. I meant that if it's competitve we will see it being used in SATAL by people far more skilled than I am, and I like to take every opportunities to learn a thing or two :)

So the F14 can't compete in SATAL because of the actual Phoenix ? Hopefully it will after the fix !

Yeah my bad, I was thinking about something else when I wrote this :D The point is learning how to use that to our advantage

I think I also use the stick for roll control around 15 units of AoA, but I definitely use the rudders more. As Schlomo said, with practice you will know when to use stick and rudders or rudders only. I never look at my AoA indicator, I only listen to the amount of buffet I generate. Victory's documents are a must read ! I remember seeing a picture on this forum showing the different sustained turn rates from different aircrafts and the F14 had the tightest circle. I am no expert, but I believe that you can fight any other fighters in the Tomcat. It's all about knowing how to exploit other planes (or pilot) weaknesses and use them to your advantage. PS : I out turned an F-16 on a PVP server the other day :D He pulled way to hard and bled his energy while I remained at corner speed... sometimes it's as simple as that. Pilot skills is what matters the most (don't get me wrong, I am far from being skilled !)

Heatblur did a fantastic job not only with the flight model but also in the way the airplane provides you with direct feedback in relation to where you are in the flight enveloppe. It's all about keeping your energy, and therefore knowing how far you can go into the buffet depending on what you're trying to achieve... Do you want to gain speed ? - no buffet Do you want to maintain corner speed ? - light buffet Do you want to bleed energy to gain a position advantage on your opponent ? - strong buffet Also, the amount of buffetting tells you immediately whether you need coordinated stick and rudder to roll, or rudder only. So when you get used to those cues, you don't need to look at your AoA indicator anymore, you just need to pay attention to what the airplane is telling you. That's why it is very hard for me to go back to a FBW airplane at the moment. The Tomcat is just a joy to fly ! The AI, even in Excellent, becomes very easy with a bit of practice. I attached an ACMI file of me against 4 F-16s. I didn't even have to defend when they were on my 6, I just maintained a speed close to corner speed and they couldn't keep up... 1v4.rar

Oh that's good ! I think the new Phoenix will come together with TWS A. I hope the HB team has everything they need now !

TWS A together with the new Phoenix flight model. I think a lot of people would love to see an F-14D although I'm not sure if HB will ever do it

How close is it from being complete ? :D Anyway thank you for such an incredible airplane... Well deserved break !

Pilot skills and tactics ! Would you mind commenting your engagements so we could learn a few things out of them ?

That's exactly what I was thinking ! Most people are still learning the Tomcat, especially RIOs that have to deal with the complex AWG-9... I tend to think that it's more about pilots/RIOs skills and tactics rather than which airplane is best.

In the RIO cockpit, you can set the Phoenix to go active off the rail as GGTharos said. Did you mean that by doing so, it didn't work as well ?

From what I read, the ECS is extremely loud in the real plane. So loud that you almost don't hear the engines.

What would happen if one fighter goes vertical ?

I really like the fact that we need to rely more on the gauges and not so much on a fancy HUD. Plus having to coordinate turns with rudder inputs and rely on buffet at high AoA really makes the aircraft feel real and old school ! :D It will require some time to adapt but I am sure it will be a lot of fun and rewarding, especially when you catch that 3rd wire ! Hopefully we'll get a video soon about CASE I recoveries in the Tomcat !

Thank you ! Looks like I have a new book to read and a few stuff to practice ! :joystick: I wish there were more discussions on actual tactics people use in dogfight scenarios... I'm sure some guys are really good at it and would be really interesting to read ! If anyone knows interesting threads on this forum about it, don't hesitate to share !