A2597

Great deal. I'd jump on the pedals but am in Tennessee.

Awesome, hopefully I can get in on the first round, but I know around April I'll have some extra spending money from a side job. :)

Ok, so how would one do a proper instrument approach to a land base in an f18c? The landing plate does give latitude and longitude, runway course, etc, but no idea if that's on the runway, or just for the airport. So what would be the "real" way to do an instrument approch?

So I know the F18c doesnt support ILS, but does TACAN. The issue then is that the TSCAN beaton can be a couple hundred feet off center of the runway. Is there a way to adjust it to be on center? Like a course offset?

Question...why use ground crew vs. the APU and starting the engines? Save fuel while programming waypoints?

Having tried this, it's...at best...a taste of it. And a poor one. No positional head tracking, constant stutters, graphical artifacts, etc. (Completely different once I got my Oculus)

Really looking forward to this. I certainly will buy one, just not 100% when. Are you planning a "One time release" or will you keep some small inventory stash going for later purchases? (I'm just in the boat of "It takes awhile to save money, and torn between these and a new joystick" as next purchase)

How are you guys liking the new version?

I feel this too sometimes. I get one gamenight a week, after my son is asleep. Depending on when that is, I have between 2-3 hours to play. Thats a decent amount of time, true...but when it's weekly it's amazing how fast things need to be re-learned. (I'm still relatively new, got the F-18 a few months ago, and still try to play some other games too. I have 51 hours in this game, but at least 20 of those were in the MB-339A before I got the Hornet....). So, rather than missions or MP, I wound up spending some time practicing landings...then doing some free flight for fun. Had a little time for hopping on MP, but I also started Zelda BOTW, soooo... All that said, Devs...keep doing what your doing. Aim for maximum realism. Anything less and it wouldn't be rewarding to learn.

well...today I learned that the F-22's super cruise wasn't as special as they made it sound.

Random thought... Applies to MP servers only...but could it be set up so that the cockpit is left in whatever state the last player to fly that slot left it in, is the state in which you'll find it? (Just switch positions, trim, etc, damage would all be repaired. Essentially a clean aircraft). Would mean you would have to do some additional pre-flight checks, and potentially make a more realistic startup.

Awesome news, posts from the dev's saying that vr is very important are excellent!

Note: you can duplicate this using the "unlimited ammo" cheat to skip the rearm phase. Same issue, as soon as the missile is fired, it goes dark. It does seem to work after the 3 minute cooldown, but no visible countdown.

I keep going back and fourth on this. The X56 has an awesome button layout for me, and at a decent price point. But even the new Logitech Grey one seems to suffer from some issues. (Seems like it's either perfect or terrible depending on who you asks). The warthog...I just can't justify it's cost. I mean, I get to fly between 3-5 hours a week. $400+ is a lot. (even breaking it up between two purchases). I may wind up just getting the TWCM Throttle and then start modding the HOTAS X throttle into a button box. (There's 8 bind-able buttons on the throttle of the HOTAS.X, just put those on a couple switches and buttons, and maybe one back into the stick as a pinky button and switch...) Hmm..might be more fun to do that... Wish I could get another 4 way HAT on the stick though.

Umm..at which point we'll need two missions. There is a need for a mission where we can just learn the basics and get onto the boat..save the variation for another mission for those who have mastered basic procedure.

My dad had the t16000, I just really hate the button layout on the joystick. It's far worse than the hotas.x

Few days ago...tried this, not a single successful case 1 landing. Few bolters. Last bolter I didn't have enough power and wound up in the water a little frustrated. Today... 4 attempts, 1 bolter, three rough carrier landings but no damage. (I've improved everything up until the downwind leg and final approach. I keep coming in at the wrong angle, straight at the #2 cat. Makes the next takeoff easy, but...not what I'm aiming for. LOL) Still, massive improvement! Thank you for this sir!

So, I'm currently rocking the Thrustmaster T.Flight HOTAS X with the TFRP pedals. E.G. The budget of budget HOTAS setups. I'm saving up for a new hotas, mainly because I have a single hat switch, so I'm using two modifiers on the throttle to get the other hats to fly the F18 (which...kinda works?) I'm looking at either the Grey X56 which apparently address the many issues with the older release. or...save up for the Warthog (Hoping the F-18 version comes out soon, so I can just get that one and be done). My main question is this, I've been practicing case 1 landings, and really struggling with the throttle management to maintain AOA and a proper rate of descent. Would a better HOTAS/Throttle help with that? Or is it purely a matter of continued practice? (Also pondering just getting the Warthog throttle, and keeping the HOTAS X stick for the time being. Cost difference is negligible buying separate vs package)

For free, somewhere with Islands makes sense. More interesting, you could make two versions with minimal work, WW2 and Modern versions. (Same map data, just different structures)

I started with the F-18, and in open beta there are a *lot* of training missions. From cockpit familiarization, cold start, hot start on the ramp for taxi and takeoff, landing, carrier landing, instrument landing, and loads of weapons and combat training. (I haven't counted, but maybe 20 training missions now?) The F-18 is also super simple to fly, almost too easy being a fly by wire aircraft.

Agreed, love the open communication!

Haha, ouch. Another reason to case 1 eh? :) Flew the above mission again, lost my wingman, but mission accomplished and returned to base. Only took three tries to case 1 properly. Haha. (In my defense, I got hit and had zero communications so no ICLS, was landing entirely by sight. )

A tanker hornet?! ...learn something new everyday...

For a new person still getting started in flight sims, recommending a $400 stick is a bit much IMHO. While it's the "Best" that doesn't make it the best for everyone. To dip your feet into the HOTAS world, maybe look at the Thrustmaster T.16000M. It gives you enough buttons to control the F-18 effectivly, although not everything is in the ideal location. (Stick has one HAT, the others are ALL on the throttle). I've flown with it, and it's far better than my Thrustmaster T Flight Hotas X (which is a PAIN to fly the F-18 in). I'm personally saving up for the X56 (The revised version, grey, which apparently solved the issues of the previous version) As I like the button options better on it than on the Warthog. Which kinda leads me to the point of recommending the $100 T.16000M, it lets you hop in and fly now, while also letting you learn what you really want in the HOTAS before dumping hundreds of dollars into it.

Awesome work sir! It's shaping up to be a very nice product! I'd be curious to see how it functions in X-Plane 11. (My dad flies that more than DCS, but if it works well with X-Planes mouse cursor implementation then I'd wager he'll buy one too) Oh, and I'm still interested, but may not be able to be a Day 1 purchase. (My spending budget isn't that high, and holidays wiped out my reserve, so might take me a couple months to have the funds to purchase)