Mr.Scar

Sounds very nice. Be sure to share :) As for me, well in Top Gun Viper told Maverick this: "A good pilot is always compelled to evaluate what has happened" I do not think I am a good pilot yet, but I do like to think I learn from mistakes. And so far the A-10C really taught me a lot of stuff I was not paying attention to. Getting the grips on stores management and weapon employment was the easy part. The way the Hog is built and thanks to that it is slow, it taught me several new skills. I realized, when I was driving the Hornet before the Hog, I was learning it the wrong way. I have focused on doing specific maneouvers without being comfortable with the aircrafts handling and systems, 0 multi tasking ability and it struck me as hell that i even had problems having the Hornets(!) velocity vector level, when doing turns... And now i have no problems with that, with a plane that has no FBW. So let me just make bullets on how it worked for me: - I did the in-game tutorials and read Chucks Guide - After that i started the Georgian Campaign, which is quite easy but makes a perfect training range that forces me to use what i have already learned and gives you essential SA, Stick time skills in a combat envirioment while also performing multi-tasking - Trouble in doing something? Pause in the middle of the mission, go to chucks guide or YT tutorials. Recreate in the mission, be happy you learned something new. - After around 10-15 hours of stick time in a campaign enviroment I stopped thinking how to fly the Hog. I started to do it naturally. Turns, dives, line ups for the attack and managing weapons and CMS. All smoother with each sortie - Paying attention to RWR. Listening and looking what pops up to avoid danger - I forgot for now how to learn things like formation flying, landings etc. how real pilots do it. For me, it is more important to have a better feel of the aircraft and its systems. The specialized parts come later. - Airplanes without FBW REALLY teach you how to fly. Switching then to an FBW one is a sweet feeling. - I shortly jumped into the Hornet and the Viper, and had suddenly started flying them in a very different more comfortable way. Coincidence? I doubt it. It was thanks to the Hog... So to sum up, if anyone who is reading this has or had the same problems as I had, and you are not sure which aircraft to pick. I can recommend you this. No matter if your "end-game" is the Hornet, Viper, Harrier or anything else... if you struggle the same way I did, learn the A-10C first because The Hog will teach you in a slow but steady manner and you will start developing skills and systems knowledge easly transferred to other western aircraft. It worked for me very nicely and opened my eyes to a whole new things. I hope it will help you too. And all this above is just the beggining in getting better and better, because i really feel the difference in what i can do now. In the meantime, I am going back to BRRRT and wish you all: Fly Safe :)

I agree with you in 100% but, what made me choose A-10C is the content available for it + the incoming A10C II with the Scorpion HMCS and APKWS, which will make it basically a weapons platform with Harriers night capability. I love the Harrier too, but unfortunately it lacks the most important things for me - Basically no campaigns and missions (and I do not have the time to tinker around the mission builder aside from training purposes, or to play with not entierly working player created missions) - I would probably focus on the Harrier if I would be a multiplayer person, but I am not. At least not now. Due to real life reasons. Meanwhile the A-10C offered me all that i need 1. Great step by step tutorial 2. Extensive knowledge sources (Chucks guide, A-10C real life pilot manual from 2012, massive tutorials on yt etc. 3. It is basically a complete module, if not counting the incoming A-10C II. 4. Great campaigns, I am in the middle of the Georgian Hammer now. 5. A-10C is a great teaching platform when it goes to RWR, invluable source of experience for someone like me who had no idea what S6 on RWR was. 7. It is ugly, it is tough, it is slow and brings the pain train with it while making BRRRT. In other words, just what a old guy like me needs. So all in all, i do not say no to the Harrier/Viper/Hornet but as far as my needs go, the A-10C fulfills all of them.

We all have our decisions to make, but I am glad this topic helped you as much as it helped me. And also thank you for your insight Buzz, it was invaluable. As for what Dimitri wrote, I agree with you 100% but I have choosen the Hog. Im old and I like to take it slow but sure. I also love the Hogs resilience, weapons and loiter time.

Now I start to feel bad that I, swayed your decision. But so far, as an aspiring Hog driver and from a nuggets perspective I can tell that the Hog is really taking care of me. And I think I understand also why it deserves more frome me too :) As for what Notso wrote. Funny thing you mention the F-15E, because when i began with DCS my favourite was the F-15C and i recall the Eagle with a lot of nostalgia. It was my entry point to this World. But i stick to the Hog now :)

Haha, i almost imagined Palpatine when i read goooood goooood. And Yes, that is my choice. Cant wait for that Scorpion HMCS and APKWS... Will make the Hog have everything i want :)

Yes, things you mention are also in my scope of interest :) Raven one campaign also Got my attention, and i Will most probably try it when i Focus on the Hornet. But for now, The Hog is what got me hooked. Sorry for typos, using my Phone.

Hehe, yeah I own a lot of modules... and I`m a bit ashamed to admit that although my history with DCS reaches out to around 2012 and I have still not mastered any of the aircraft. But this is about to change with the Warthog :)

Thank you very much, was asking for real world things, but this is even better. As for the Engine power thing, yeah in the meantime I was looking for info after i made this topic. Seems I was mistaken and misunderstood something. So my bad, but thank you for correcting me.

Hey, I just picked up the Hog and have only a few hours in it, but since i hear that A-10C II is coming I have started to look what exactly will the differences be. I dug through the internet and some ED forum posts, but only found bits of pieces of info. Or maybe simple since I am still a rookie when it comes to the Hog, I am not sure at what to look excatly. So far I found out that the "new" Hog will get the Scorpion HMCS and will have more engine power. So i hope this is not a stupid request, but if possible, can you guys please provide more legit info about the upgraded package in comparison to the Hog we currently have? I am not asking for the features that DCS will have, only for the real life ones, so that i can see what to expect. Many thanks for the feedback and information. Also sorry if a thread like this already exists somehwere, was not able to find it.

Thank you once again, for all the feedback and information. I do not exclude the F-18, the Harrier or the Mirage. That I am sure of. What really convinced me to try out the Hog are the posts of Buzz and Hawkeye_UK. The Hog is a really specialized aircraft, yes, however thanks to that it is slow, it provides ample learning opportunities that then can be applied to other aircraft. Like for example learning the RWR and symbols in a correct way, threat evasion, and SA based on sensors. Lessons invaluable i feel for when the Hornet time comes for example. I`d say there is nothing wrong with learning any of the modules, I simply choose the Hog because it suits my style and it basically babysits me on my way of learning it. Also, i kinda feel like a medieval warrior while flying it. Where the Hog is the shield to protect me and those behind me. Maybe Im just old and don`t make much sense since DCS is "only" a simulation, but i simply love the idea of protecting allied ground units and raining hell on those who want to hurt them. As for learning the Hog I went through Chucks guide yesterday, and did the training missions up until the Gau-8 and unguided rockets. And boy oh boy... how does the Hog fly. Controls are very intuitive, all the required stuff is always in my face and if not I can switch it when I want. The munitions programming software is just amazing. In general, although the Hog seemed to me simple at first, there is much complexity hidden under the obvious and intuitive things. And thats what I start to love about the Hog, it starts out quite easy to teach you the general things so that In time i will be able to tinker around different settings to customize things more to my liking. Sorry for not using any acronyms for specific systems, im still learning and memorizing them. But in the end, after flying the Hog for around 3 hours of training missions, I can say... this is it. This is what i wanted, and I think after learning it, it will be even more fun to have my hands on the A-10C II once it comes out. And as for other planes? Their time will come to, i wont be surprised if after the Hog, learning the Hornet,Viper or even the Harrier will be easier for me :) In the meantime, fly safe.

I am using the TM T16000M FCS HOTAS, and have downloaded this profile https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/2829162/ Seems to work for me for now. I dream about the Warthog stick, but unfortunately cannot afford it now.

Will do:thumbup:

I made my decision already, but what you wrote makes much sense and only reinforced me in the opinion, that choosing the Hog was a good move. So thank you very much friend. And cant wait now for A-10C II... As for Syria, yeah i got it and Nevada :) Syria is absolutely gorgeousl and interesting. As for the original thing with the Harrier... you speak sense again, I had this feeling too after reading through posts on different sources. Now dont get me wrong, i love the Harrier and it would be possible that I would choose it instead of the Hog since it would provide a similar expirience with CAS, however the lack of campaign and when I hear about the bugs etc. well it scared me off a bit. But anyway thank you for your help, now it is the time to take a careful read of Chucks guide, do the training lessons. Step by step i will make it.

Hehe, well I am not a youngster anymore either. Good to see this topic helped you. As for me, yeah... now that what you wrote i think I always prefered resilience and endurance. Because what i forgot to mention, is that i like to take it slow but sure. And the A-10C seems to be built for that. There is of course no stopping me from checking out other aircraft, but I think it is the Hog for me too.

Thanks! Ill be sure to check it out.

Thank you for info about that. Makes me feel more comfortable now that i know it. As for the rest 1. I like carrier ops in the Hornet, however i seem to have a harder time in mastering them, and such a need for more practice. It simply takes me very long to master even the CASE I recovery. I was training on airfields and pretending that some portion of it is a carrier deck, and then I moved to the carrier landing with the whole procedure of overhead break, going into the groove etc. was doing this for two weeks, 2-3h daily, just practicing the landings. And i still had problems although i know the theory. So now you have the idea that i seem to very slowly learn how to put the Hornet down and hit that 3rd wire. Speaking of Carrier Ops, are Harrier landings on the Tarawa harder than the ones done by the Hornet on the Stennis? I have not tried yet to land the Harrier on a carrier, and have not done much VTOL so far. I am asking, because this might also be a decisive factor for me when choosing the aircraft in the end. If i have trouble with the Hornet, and Harrier landings are even more difficult, then I at least know that the Harrier is a no go for me. At least not now. 2. The Hog. Thanks for the feedback, there are some really good comments and make the Hog really interesting for me. As for the Mirage, i like it very much, but it I am looking for something with better CAS capability. So Ill pass this time on it. So far i still have to make a decision between Hornet/Warthog/Harrier, but judging from the content (campaigns, missions) that are available for the Hornet and the Hog it will probably be one of them i choose. Question is, should i re-learn the Hornet and give him a shot again, or start the process of learning the Hog... Damn, this is thougher than i expected...

Thanks for the reply :) Yeah, seems that it starting to become a choice between the Hornet or A-10C, especially if A-10C II is coming. But i will see also if anyone else can say something. I would probably consider the Harrier too, but after I would learn it, there would not be that much to do. That is of course if the development state is really that slow and there are no dedicated official campaigns. I simply don`t want to wake up one day and have very little options to fly this bird.

Many thanks for the quick reply. A question, will the A-10C as we have it now, be upgraded to the A-10C II or will it be a totally new module? Just occured to me i have not seen any info about this.

Hi all, I am a returning DCS pilot after basically 2 years of absence, and its going to be another of those topics "Which aircraft to choose?" I need help on which aircraft to focus on, since most of my time in DCS i was hopping around aircraft. Tried a bit of everything, but did not go in-depth in any of those. This time i would like to choose one particular, learn it, and master it. I did a lot of reading, mainly changelogs and forum posts but some of them are outdated and I hope you will help me out with current information about the modules in case i have missed something. Now a bit about me. My plan is to go thorugh Chuck`s guide, do the training missions and then apply what i learned in single player missions or better, campaigns. I am not into multiplayer. I would like to, but unfortunately real life and my time schedule hardly allows me to do it, and what is more, id like to learn the aircraft first and then maybe, when the time allows, jump into multiplayer, buddy up with someone and do missions together. Now that you have a picture of me, as a pilot i will hop in to the modules of my interest below. Before i start describing i will mention a few additional points about me. 1. I seem to have a better feel for being CAS and general ground engagement focused pilot. I like blowing stuff up, because I got a feeling it is something that really makes a difference. And i think i simply like to bring the pain train with heavy payloads 2. I am not bad at dogfighting, but i feel that mud moving is more my thing, than soaring high above the sky and picking of targets with amraams. 3. I love helicopters, and will tell you more about this further in an honorable mention, but truth is if DCS had a AH-64D, i would definitely fly and master it. 4. I prefer Western aircraft and helicopters 5. I do not mind a long learning process, this is my aim, to learn, to become very familiar with a plane before I decide to hop into another one. Now about the modules mentioned in the topic title that are in my scope and what i have read about them. Please bare with me on this one, and if you can provide me with info on the current state, or other things i might have missed. 1. AV-8B Harrier I have only around 10-15 hours in it, but those are my impressions and the information i managed to dig up. Pros: - Very fast and agile, handles very well even with heavy loadouts - Very nice payloads and limited but still, SEAD capable - Vtol feels like flying a chopper but more difficult - It looks like a strong and fast Bulldog to me and sure feels that way when I fly it - Tools for night flying are absolutely fantastic - Feels very unique, cant tell in which way, but it does. - Great tutorial that forces me to apply the knowledge from previous training sessions - Flexible options when it comes to operating from different places. FARP, Tarawa, airports etc. Cons: - Limited SEAD capability - No official campaigns and missions, and honestly I am shit at the mission planner and I am a bit reluctant to try out the unofficial ones. So this is a big let down for me. - From what i read, the development and implementation by RAZBAM are very lacking, and there are still bugs that are like 2 years old. I might be mistaken on this one however and my info might be outdated. - The Harrier seems to be a craft that puts a lot of workload on the pilot. Remembering about switches, nozzle settings, calculation of plane weight in order to perform a successful takeoff/landing, customizing the plane systems depending on the situation you are in etc. and more. This is a lot to digest, and I am not that comfortable with that. - A2A refueling gives me a headache on this one... 2. A-10C I have little hours on this one, so the impressions might not be accurate. Pros: - Very polished module and I heard that the Hog is getting an upgrade to a newer version - The loadout options... - A lot of campaigns, missions and tutorial information that are done like real pilots do it - Can really deliver a lot of pain to the ground - Good handling - Very long loiter times - Very complex (just going to the instructions makes my mind explode, what you can do with it)but rewarding in the end, providing ample learning opportunities - Great for coop - BRRRTTTT.... Cons: - Very slow - No SEAD capability at all, aside from sneaky style maverick AA busting. - Dependent on Air cover in order to get to an AO 3. F/A-18C Hornet I got the most experience with this one, however my carrier landings, A2A refueling and dogfighting skills need much improvment. I also have the Supercarrier module here. Pros: - A lot of updated stuff, reading through the changelogs after 2 years gave me goosebumps - Easy to fly, pliot workload is not that heavy - Can basically do everything the Harrier and the Hog can do + strong SEAD and A2A - Tons of campaigns and missions (I see you Raven one...) - Good learning curve Cons: - I do not know if this plane has any. Only con i can think about is that its a jack of all trades and master of none, but it is also a balanced pros. I always have however that feeling that the payload was a bit lackluster or I could have made more damage in a more efficient way. But i might be doing something wrong and the only thing bad about this plane is me as a pilot in it because: * I suck at carrier landigs and trimming the aircraft, plus i have strong trouble to feel the lagging throttle even after long hours i did before my pause. Doing the overhead break CASE I recovery is still a pain for me. * A2A refueling is black magic for me 4. KA-50 Black Shark (honorable mention) I love this heli, although i prefer western aircraft. Have quite a bit of hours in it, but still a lot to master. What i dont like about it is the lackluster night-ops package. Tinkering with SKHVAL to adjust the brightness or using flares to light a target to destroy, is a let down for me unfortunately. And VIKHRS are well... not Hellfires. Summary: Now that you have an overview of everything, my question to you is: What would you recommend me to focus on and master? Back in 2018 I did a lot of flying in the F-18 and it was my plane of choice for many days, but I am not sure that I am that good ad A2A and Carrier Ops, even after hours of practice. Or maybe you would recommend something else? This is the list of modules (aside the ones mentioned above) i currently have: 1. Viggen 2. Mirage 3. FC3 4. F-14 Tomcat 5. F-16 Thank you for reading this, your time, and thank you for any advice you can give me. Fly safe.

I own the F-14, F-16 and F-18 and I can tell you this, at least from my experience I feel great in the F-16 and F-18, but after flying the F-14 and then trying out the Viper/Hornet again I feel an itch to get back to the Tomcat, which I do. It is hard to explain using words, but with the Tomcat it is about feeling the aircraft. And I mean really FEELING, learning and knowing what to do, judging from its behavior, current wingsweep setup, to use or not to use the flaps etc.. Because it can do whatever you want, but you need to know how to communicate with it. The more you do it, the more addicted and compelled you feel to tame this beast and to make it do what you want it to do. It is a very satisfying experience, which for me the FBW does simply not provide. This gives you a large and very unique learning curve only for the pilot. Someone might tell you that the Tomcat is easy to fly, because the RIO makes all the click-around cockpit stuff and the Pilot workload is smaller. From my perspective, this is only partially true. Flying and making the F-14 respond at your will is a high enough workload for me. I still get my hands sweating, when flying it. Where the Viper/Hornet do all the hard work for you. Simply put in the Tomcat, YOU are the FBW. I do not want to make the Viper and Hornet look bad. I feel great in them, but in the Tomact... I feel Legendary. And this is the Tomcats biggest both pros and for someone cons. It really teaches you how to fly and punishes you hard if you dont. But after learning the Tomact, any FBW modern jet is a walk in the park from the flight perspective. Here is a link to one of the Grim Reaper vids. There is a guy who shares his experience about how to fly the Tomcat and he basically covers in a very professional manner what i wrote above. Vid is 1,5h long but I think it is worth its time, because after watching it I started flying the F-14 on a regular basis. I hope I gave you some insight and it was in any way helpful.

Indeed, thank you very much. Btw. I just thought about it. Based on the feedback, If anyone wants to use the questions from the opening posts as a template, to be able to pinpoint/recieve feedback and recommendations. Please feel free. It might be useful for others, since the questions and descriptions gave me really precise information on what to choose. Just a recommendation since I have not seen such Q/A template on the forum (or just missed it), so maybe it will help others when in doubt, and they will recieve the info needed as I did.

Once again, all the posts above are highly appreciated. Thanks to you I have made my decision. What is more, in the passed weekend i have jumped into the F-18. Here I want to thank a friend of mine, who is already quite adept with the F-18. He helped me a lot with key bindings, and expressed a lot of patience in teaching me and providing a step-by-step learning curve. During training we have covered the following - Takeoff (airfield) - Landing (airfield) - Autopilot - Some BFM - Bombing (CCIP and Auto aka CCRP) with MK82 - CM System - RWR What do I plan to do next? Not necessarily in that order. - Go through Chucks guide, to gain a better understanding of the planes systems - General familiarization with what I already know - A2A Radar - A2A Combat - More A2G - Carrier Take-off and landing - Navigation - Formation flying - Stick time... Stick time... Stick time... Summary: I can already tell one thing. The more I fly it, the more I love it. The Hornet provides excellent balance between learning and mastering the aircraft and does not overburden the pilot which is excatly what i was looking for. Someone also wrote here about the Open Track and PS3 Eye camre, I have tinkered around it too, before the flight. It works perfectly now, so thank you very much for advice. Now that I made my decision, thanks to Your advice people, I can also highly recommend the F-18. If you want an all-rounder, with great flight characteristics, step by step learning which really is not that time consuming and is a lot of fun, this is really the aircraft for you as it is for me. Thank you one more time people.

Thank you very much for all the feedback. Then it seems the chocie is the Hornet. If you have other suggestions/ideas, please feel free to share. Meanwhile, wish you all great flying.

Since this is my first post, I would like to say hello to everyone. I hope this is the right place, to start this thread. If not, I am very sorry but I could not find any relevant place. As you probably realized, it will be one of those topics - which plane should i choose? However I would like to elaborate a little more in this case, so that you guys can provide me with feedback for which i kindly request. Because of this, i will try to point out some things about me and my experiences so far. 1. Why am I posting this, and what do I expect? As an introductory part, I am not new to DCS. However I have decided to get help from You, by creating this topic. You can probably call me more of a "casual" pilot (if something like this exists...) so it means i fly time to time, jumping from one plane to another. Point is, I would like to change that. I would like to focus on one plane for a longer period of time. Learn it, fly it, gain more than a few hours of stick-time. Not that trying out new planes is and enjoying them is wrong, but i think i lack the proper focus to um... focus on one particular plane, which will suit me like a glove and I will be able to master it after a few months. A one that i will truly love to fly. 2. What do I like/feel is right for me in planes? I would say it is balance. I like stable planes, with good electronics, which you do not fight and trim-constantly. Able knife fighters, with BVR potential, and some ground pounding possibilities. Creeping around the mountains on, but also being able to fly high and scan the horizon if needed. 3. What modules do I own? - Flaming Cliffs planes - Mirage 2000C - A10C - F18 Hornet - Black Shark - Pre-Ordered the F-14 Tomcat (yes, I was raised on Top Gun. Would be a sin if I had not pre-ordered it...) 3. What did i try so far, and have (i think at least) most experience in? Well, a lot of them. The longest time i have spent in the past was on the following planes: - F15C - I liked the BVR aspect quite very, but was not that good in dogfights, the Eagle bleeds speed and can be very unforgiving, requires a lot of focus when going knife to knife. Also spent a lot of time, switching constantly with radar options with my head over the radar display. I like the options of the weapon loadout. - Su-25T - I enjoyed this flying tank very much. Very interactive and adrenaline pumped flying. Good stability, and maneuverability. What discouraged me, were the bombs. Felt like dropping nerf gun ammo in buckets on tanks. - Mirage 2000C - Love its FBW and power. Very agile and quick. Quite nice systems, some BVR potential, great knife fighter. Lack of more AA missiles is a bit disturbing, however I can live with that. - Mig29 - Before PFM, was flying it quite a lot. Sneaky style, hiding in the valleys. After PFM release, i tried it out. It is one hell of a knife fighter, but the constant trimming and the pilots struggle to fight the plane controls, can be tiresome. Also, fuel consumption can be a real SOB. Sometimes I was more worried about not to burn too much fuel, than to focus on a fight. - Black Shark - handles very nicely, popping up from the hills and lurking behind them can also be fun. However the loadout... well, not that much to play with here. 4. What did I try a little bit, and have no opionion or simply lack experience to be talking about - F18 - just a few sorties, but seems to be handling pretty well - A10C - handles quite nice, but to be honest if it comes to specialized ground pounding i think I prefer the Black Shark. However the loadout seems fun, but still it is a ground pounder. - Su27 - pretty much felt like flying the mig 29 pfm, but smoother and he is heavier. The missile options are great, but still... lots of triming. So i am not that convinced. 5. What was I thinking about? - F5 Tiger - from what I have read, very nice and agile. Easy to learn. Somewhat old fashioned AA capabilities. - Viggen - striker, seems to sound like fun. But really no big opinions also did not read too much about it. 6. Clickable or not clickable cockpit? To be honest, both. I do not have anything against the FC options, and clickable ones. 7. My setup Thrustmaster T.16000M FCS Hotas + PS3 Eye Camera and Open Track. Yes, I use the cheap version with IR lights. I think this might be relevant, since Open track does not appear to be that good (it is sometimes bouncy) when it comes to knife fights. And bounciness during knife fights, seriously disturbs my situational awareness. I am planning on buying a Trackir in the future, but need to save money for it. Summary: As you can see, I seem to lean towards modern fighters, but i might be wrong. I cannot decide what to pick/focus on. Any recommendation will be highly appreciated and I hope I described all above clearly, since DCS has changed very much, and up to date feedback is very important to me. Also, what i do know for sure is that I will jump into the F-14 when it comes out. For now however, please help me with choosing the right plane. Thank you very much for all the feedback and assistance.