RustBelt

You’re doing gods work.

Yes, and all else is Quake. I restate my hypothesis.

I’m guessing by “they” you mean an infinitesimally small and fully insular group of players. Which blurrs the line between online and Walled garden multiplayer.

Great video!

Most of the tomcat’s service was puttering around a boat for an hour or two.

You mean PvE?

There has and will ever be only ONE online PvP play mode. Quake. Doesn’t matter if it’s an RTS, an FPS, a Flight Sim, and it doesn’t matter what play rules you set up prior. Once play begins it’s just Quake. Been that way since before even Quake. Just ask any hard core Doom Grognard or Air Warrior grey hair.

TACAN can reach pretty far at high altitudes. And unless it’s a hard ferry flight, you’re never going blue water for too long, or you’re flying with something with a more robust INS that can Link4 with you like a tanker every couple hundred miles. And there’s also the good old handheld Garmin GPS to poop out LAT/LON for you. The important thing is setting up and being gentile with the INS and pulling a fix as late as you can before a long stretch.

Good thinking. Since TARPS is so no feedback in the jet, your method works basically as well as the way it actually worked. Fly the plan, run the pod, come home and see what it saw. Only down side is no “you took a picture of nothing” instances when you don’t nail the flight plan.

Because “the other sim” is using a primitive autopilot implementation back from version 4 or 5. In that product HDG only means Heading bug. It has no faculty to capture and hold a current heading. Some planes fake it by running an invisible HDG Bug 2 that snaps to the current heading. But in the current all online all locked down implementation of “the other sim” it’s difficult and unreliable. Like the rest of “the other sim”. And like it’s 2024 “half update” will also be.

Yea, the F-16’s canopy was a big deal for a reason.

I mean, that's a whole other argument they don't allow here.

By knowing what they’re attacking, and the speed its moving. Scrambled for Fleet Defense? If it’s fast its a missile, if it’s slow a bomber. On CAP, odds are good it’s a fighter sized target. Context clues, and the briefed mission.

Look at almost any picture of a pilot flying an F-14 and they’re hunched forward.

A 1996 Supra Twin Turbo is still “Popular” today. Doesn’t mean Toyota is still spending resources updating them for 2024. At some point limited resources can’t go everywhere.

Sigh….I gotta get started on my 500x500 ratrig….

I mean, at some point “End Of Life” needs to be talked about. It’s not realistic to keep pretending every module will be maintained and supported forever. Modules will sundown at some point. Or rather, it needs to be acknowledged this is already happening intentionally or not.

No, “at minimum” expect nothing. As has been proven repeatably by past performance.

Basically, what your saying is just be a superpower with better equipment. Yea that’s not the F-5 way. F-5s were cheap fighters for poorer nations to “fight communism”.

Sounds like they have a lead on some -1A. But not anything in hands yet. Or nothing “officially” in hands anyways. Perhaps there’s some sanitizing projects being done to provide the screens but not the classified whole deal.

I mean, buy what you like. Reality is we get what we get when we get it.

I didn’t think it was mean. I mean these are really kind of a digital grownup version of a Busy Dashboard. I loved those things as a kid. Had one strapped to the back of my dad’s drivers seat so I could drive too! AND I had a wycked Nightrider one with lights and sounds and everything! It’s what we’re all making when we make game cockpits when you get down to it. Embrace play, don’t take it as an insult.

Some day all the button and key assignments will happen. Some day.

You assume they have the ability to. There’s a lot of “only I may touch this” going on with DCS.

Carling switches are cheap, beefy and full sized. Beyond that, you’re looking at $50 Honeywell's or surplus on eBay. And you’ll never find cheap 1/2 throw switches which planes are full of. Honestly, build to need. You don’t need fully sealed waterproof switches with a paper trail because you’re not in an actual cockpit environment. And you’re not building a museum replica because you’re 3D printing what should be engraved backlit acrylic on aluminum panels. Best bet is look for switches with fixed batons (they’ll have a little pivot pin in the middle of the bushing) so you can put 3D printed caps on them and they won’t spin. Because finding surplus real switches like that are unicorn turd rare. And you can’t even order new ones. They were all special manufacturer run lots. also. I dig your captive nut design on these. Smart!