Raisuli

Yeah, cuz, you know, I've been doing touch and gos in an F-16 at Tel Nof the last few days and the concrete is still kind of soft. You would think by now it would have plenty of time to set, especially with all the crosswind I have dialed in, but my aircraft still pulls to the left. Makes take-offs with a full load of ten CBU-97s challenging, even if I manage to find a place to put them before I land. --- So, off topic, but seriously? The F-16 can carry ten (10!!??) 1,000 lb class CBU-97s, and still have room for 4 AIM-120s, an external fuel tank, and a TGP? My dad's 'heavy' bomber only carried 8,000 pounds of bombs! Ok, it could carry them a bit farther, but their idea of accuracy was all the bombs fall on the right country! Come on, it wasn't that long ago was it? Was it? Come on...say something...

If you're a naval aviation guy the answer is semi obvious, because there are really only three full-fidelity ship capable aircraft. Oh, and the overweight wanker. It doesn't have a launch bar, though. The next question to ask yourself is whether or not a particular period of time gets your motor running. Then what kind of pilot you are? A real pilot, or one of those kids who play in the dirt? Then whether or not you really care about country of origin And whether you want full-fidelity, or FC3 Right now the F-18 is hands down the air frame I have the most hours in, by an order of magnitude, and the reason I got into DCS, but I own them all. Lately I've been flying the F-16 for no particular reason, other than it's cool. The rest I might have controls configured for, and I might be able to take off and land, but I probably can't find where I'm going. What should you buy? None of them. Do the two week test drive, take notes, watch tutorials to get the basics down, and then decide where your hard earned bongo bucks should go after you've got a few hours of flight time behind you.

Apparently I'm a little behind the curve; I can't fly more than one aircraft at a time and I don't fly any of them to their limits, so I'm a lot less concerned about models and a lot more concerned about the world around them. Weather, because every time I start a mission the same cloud is in the same place every time. More targets, regardless of fidelity, because the idea is to blow them up. At that point I don't really care if the wire harnesses are laced or zip tied Less detail in modules, because see above. I have quite a few hours in the Ka-50 III, and none hours staring at the playboy centerfold behind the access panel. When I see developers proudly showing off cartoon Amphenol connectors on cartoon avionics behind cartoon access panels I start to wonder what cool things that might actually be visible could have been done with that time Better maps, because I do see the terrain I fly over and I'm bloody sick of desert Dynamic missions, because that's what I do when I'm not just flying 1v0 or landing practice or improving consistency to burn off a bit of stress If they made modules out of some of that; real time weather, for example, I'd be happy to pay for it. Object bundles with ground equipment and personnel. Dynamic missions. Those are a lot of work and I don't feel entitled to my lunch for free.

They sit on the other side of the building because I quit writing real code decades ago. There's one in whose office I sit all the time because somehow I ended up responsible for finding all the bugs in his code. The good news is he also collects actual parts from real airplanes (as opposed to my fake airplane collection) so we also have other things to talk about. Despite their best efforts I still refuse to go into QA. Voice acting, as I understand it, is much more complex and difficult, not to mention time consuming and expensive, than people realize. Not as simple as asking your buddy to speak a few words into the boom mic on his headset...

Land based IFOLS and arresting gear in general would be a really cool (and limited utility) low priority, which makes me wonder why they took the time to model the hooks. Maybe the hook was easy? I'm sure that was an informed decision, just don't know the criteria for it.

Radioed the Big Stick, got 'Not authorized to land' back. I've never seen that response before...not even sure when it showed up, because this isn't my first timehere...last time I got no response at all. Now I wonder what else they've snuck in under the radar. Ignored the twit behind the radio because that is, after all, my carrier. Got the IFOLS on approach, but I was a little flat and died spectacularly in a ramp strike. Maybe I should move all those aircraft away from the aft end of the boat while I do this. But...me. A little obsessive at times, and that's not going to stop me. Now that the F-16 has a movable hook, and there's no arresting gear at land bases which makes me wonder why they bothered, I'm going to find out just how poorly modeled the undercarriage is! Sure, I'll have to do a repair to get the hook back up, but I have to do that with the F-15E, too. I know there's enough deck to get airborne with a slick jet! That or I just switch slots, but I see no reason not to get as proficient in the F-16 as I am in the F-18 (which isn't very according to the LSO, but I ignore him, too). (It would be seriously cool if they got women to do voice work for things like LSO, A2AR, ATC, RIO/WSO/Gunner, etc, but that's a different topic for a different thread) Besides, Wonky and Mover did it, so it must be okay. No, I won't do that on a multi-player server. You're not likely to find me on one of those anyway (and I use the -18 around bird farms out of respect for the spirit of the game and other players), so problem solved. As long as the selective realism crowd stays off my single player server everyone will remain happy

This map has its charms despite being a desert, like (almost) all the other maps. In general I'm not a fan of Vegas, despite having been there too many times. Zip down Las Vegas boulevard from the north at mach 1.25 around 100' AGL with the blower lit, slide under the Strat, hang a 9.2G left turn at the Mirage, and blast down to the south side of McCarran (they renamed it after a different corrupt senator lately) dodge all the signs, pull another hard left and circle over the international airport, then back up north, with nothing but shattered windows and car alarms to mark my passing. That gets adjusted a bit for the F-18, but the net result is the same. It's almost as much fun as bombing a certain individual's house in Damascus, and at no point does ATC radio and tell me they have a number for me to write down when I have a moment for potential pilot deviation flying over four runways at very low altitude without clearance. Head over and land at Groom Lake, which isn't allowed. Two ridges to the west is Craters of the Moon National Security Area, the most bombed real estate on earth, followed by Pahute Mesa, one of my favorite places to park bad guys. A little farther is Tonapah Test Range, also not a place anybody gets to visit. At the speeds I 'drive' down the strip I don't even notice the goofy names, or the low res textures, or the cartoonish colors. The rest is pretty much like every other map. Potential target areas separated by runways. <edit> I should add there's no urban area on any map I like to watch bombed more than this one (did I mention I don't like Vegas?), so any time I want a mission where BadGuys(tm) are attacking a city it's usually here. Of course then the challenge is to attack the raiders rather than join them...but maybe that simulates the conflict pilots go through in combat. Sort of. In an extreme way. Maybe just one 2,000 pounder on that tower over there? Okay, two. Don't want to unbalance the aircraft. </edit>

Really? I had a guy in the barracks at Great Mistakes (A school) threaten me with a blanket party if I didn't wear green on St. Patrick's day in, I think, 1981, and I haven't worn green on that day ever since. Of course 42 years later it's more a tongue in cheek habit, but that's where it started. That was also the year my lead petty officer threatened us with BadThings(tm) if we didn't 'voluntarily' contribute to the CFC. I never gave them a penny, even when the XO on the 85 west pac made me sit in his office to listen to his threats. Different people respond differently

I can flare an F-16 in beautifully even when I do overhead breaks at mach 1.25 now. It's not quite as graphic as blowing asterisks up, but it's kinda fun. Still working on refueling the Air Force way; I totally get where people complain about the visibility of the lights on the KC-135. New and shiny stuff? I'll be long dead of old age before I can master all the old and dirty stuff. Of course I still have to go do carrier ops and refuel my F-18 to keep the muscle memory. I still tap in too much throttle to taxi the F-16 because it takes off where the F-18 grudgingly starts to roll... In the mean time I'll try to remember to pitch a 4YO ASDL3 fit because $featureSet didn't get included in the goodie bag ED gives us when it arrives.

Real jets hit the ground with 750 feet of vertical descent and the outboard wing panels like it.

I was at dinner with a bunch of cow-orkers at a restaurant in Omaha a couple weeks back and a guy I've worked with for sixteen years put A-1 on his $80 steak. Of course I was the only one who defended him, and pointed out that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Even if it is dangerously stupid. <edit> Should have added that A-1 is a 'steak sauce' that's got enough flavor to overpower anything you put it on. Put it on a steak and you taste sauce. SWMBO didn't know what it was either as we collectively gave him a hard time about it... </edit>

I expect that dream might coalesce into an actual cartoon aircraft about the time ED releases the core code needed for it to fly.

You were correct; it was, as GrEaSeLiTeNiN said, the need to turn that knob to 'GRND CREW', which is also why I didn't see it in bindings. Radios are generally the last thing I learn in aircraft; in large part because I get tired of ATC granting permission to take off only to deny it once I start rolling and re-grant about the time I rotate. In helos I typically take off where I am because I can. For me radios are the lest important part of the flight. MilSim? I've been in the mil without the sim part. Not a place I feel driven to revisit... One radio at my right elbow and the other on my left wrist and having to select between them with a knob? That's a bit clunky! Does explain why I wasn't able to find an equivalent to COM1 and COM2 in the bindings, though. So, yes, definitely a bug which ED fixed after a few minutes going through the manual and Chuck's guide with everyone's (hugely appreciated) help. It's just amazing how they do that!

Intercom. That's a mystery; don't see a key binding for it either (just the right wall power switch). Some digging will be required. Radio works; I got permission to do a bunch of things in English and in Russian (set up a red KA-50 on a red base to test that), but ground crew menu and rearm/refuel window gets no response with the door open or closed. Tried all four ways. So far blue/blue and red/red comm menu-ground crew-rearm/refuel and the regular rearm/refuel window (key binding) I use everywhere else gets crickets back. Intercom might be my last hope, but it's odd that this is the only module where none of that works (the only module I've tried, and I've only tried it on a couple) I'm liking the bug theory more and more, like the bug where I don't pay enough attention to descent rate and end up in a pile of burning wreckage. That one used to get me all the time, but as I started paying attention ED secretly fixed it in the middle of the night. Hoping they do the same with this one.

Well, I am a newb and not the brightest bulb on the string, so... Blue KA-50 (USA) on a blue base. Attempt to rearm/refuel, I get no response from my somewhat prickly crew chief. Same KA-50 on a blue DDG, same cold shoulder. Same on a CVN. Same on a CTFB Kuz. It's like everyone is sharkist or something and won't even let me borrow a rag to get the bugs off my canopy. Does the KA-50 have to be red to get refueled, or am I missing something basic, which is my first inclination. Or is it a bug? I like bugs. Those make it someone else's fault when I prang the nose gear landing on a submarine.

This is how it's done. Changing of the guard airshow. Ran into this looking at old scans of slides; it's a bit of history...

Would it date me to say something along the lines of 'pay no attention to the rudder behind the curtain'...nah, just forget it

So, maybe I'm dense (osmium comes to mind, particularly the 'black' bit), the image with the back cockpit panel skin the right rudder is missing, the version without the skin the right rudder is visible...what did I miss?

So...had the Forest Fire out for, maybe the second time, and since I'm bouncing between ships in an egg beater actually took a look at it rather than blasting by at hundreds of knots. Anyone else notice the radars all spin backwards? Maybe it's just me. Been a long time since I did radar training at A school, but every other ship in the fleet spun their dishes the right way.

How do you get the DDs to go into flight quarters? Apart from the (probably apocryphal) story of the helo that went into a backwards hover in front of the bridge of the USS Neverdock; the pilot pointed at himself, then at the OOD, then pointed down. Apparently the OOD asked someone what that meant (they tend not to the the brightest bulbs) and took the ship to flight quarters so the helo could land before it ran out of gas. <edit> And the answer is: Once your wheel touch the ship goes to flight quarters. Watched the nets go down on the next several landings. NOW we just need HIFR capabilities. That would be cool... </edit> This is not it, but once I landed everything was rigged for flight. Dicey landing with that aft flag pole up!

It's a surprisingly fun distraction. Did really tight figure 8s around the pyramids with it, then landed and got the heck out of Egypt before they could track me down. It lacks a little polish here and there, but...dang. The only thing that will out turn it is a hovering helicopter. Even the I-16 is a sled in comparison

At my age? That would probably be fatal. I'm going to get my controls set up and find out...there are worse ways to go! <edit> Mission Report: The OP was blonde or brunette, and I have to say the blonde, but that might be because I rarely fly soviet...aircraft. I've probably been in the MiG-21 a little, I flew the MiG-19 a bit when it first came out, but I have several hundred hours to one in western style aircraft and had the most difficult time with the L39. I'm sure some practice would iron that out, but there were also some really strange graphics issues with it that were extremely distracting. Nothing in the F2 view so I suspect a problem elsewhere. The Blonde is a little underpowered, even for a blonde, and the differential breaking took a little practice, but it was a lot of fun to fly. Once you get her up to speed, and that takes a gentle touch, she'll get you where you're going. Landing was a breeze and she tracked right down the centerline. As a bonus I took the redhead up as well. I have a thing for redheads anyway, and in fact I'm married to an ex-soviet redhead. In some ways the blonde was more fun, but that fiery redhead gets going a lot quicker and the steerable nosegear gets her going in the right direction right away. A little bit more dancing on the landing; anti-skid was on but the brakes put her into a skid anyway. That could easily be operator error. Since I already have all three I don't need to choose, but I'd need more time to pick between the blonde and the redhead. The brunette will probably be relegated into the hanger with the other 'soviet' style aircraft and might not get much time in the air. To answer the original question, C-101 for me. Might be the western bias, but it got the most time doing laps around Tel Nof.

Just to complicate this to death speed is everything. From the looks of the photo in the OP they were making some turns. If you're doing 30(+) knots there's a lot of froth; I have pictures of that from a two screw ship boat. If you're doing 15, which is a pretty common 'get from point a to point b' speed, there's not nearly as much wake. I have those pictures as well. It's all about power curves; power is a cube function of speed, wake is a function of the amount of power being applied to the water, cavitation, blah blah blah. So if the boat needs to make all thirty knots of wind across the deck, big wake. If there's a ten knot wind, less wake. If it's doing five turning circles on station, you get the DCS wake. That doesn't even get in to the bit about the tail end oscillating when all those turns are happening. Not sure if that affects the deck in close because I've never been above (or on) the deck of a carrier doing 30(+) knots, but it sure gives you a ride on smaller boats. Then there are the poor slaves in the berthing compartment converted from the ships brig, with port/starboard racks right over the top of the screws. Above 15 that 'sleeping' area is a hazardous noise area, and the whine from the steering hydraulics, which never ends, is loud enough to keep the dead awake. <edit> That was unsat. Got my power curves bass-ackwards. Good thing I don't do that stuff anymore... </edit>

Ah! Learned something that really wasn't too surprising given Russian design philosophy. That makes it a good day. Thanks! Of course given my advanced level of ignorance about the Ka-50 I learn things all the time since I started to fly it, which is kind of cool.

The dust effect from the helo landing was also much, much better. Makes me wonder if some of those Soon(tm) to be released modules aren't waiting for core features in 2.9 or 3.0