WynnTTr

Very cool story. You are a lucky man and I hope that you have kids of your own. Need more of this type in this world. Unfortunately the COD kiddies are spat out like mice spawn.

I wouldn't want either giving me a peck.

Not exactly a guy's favourite three words to hear.

Hi guys, So after finding some time to finally try update 1.2.3 I've noticed that my TM cuts out intermittently. DCS:BS2 does not recognise any input (usually when I'm very low level). See the trk file provided. At the end before I crash you'll see the WH stops responding. I've provided a TARGET device analyser file that shows input right throughout that flight. I then spent 20 minutes in teh control panel joystick properties watching the input of my WH as I moved it around. No problems there. I've been playing BMS, CloD, RoF and hence felt the itch for DCS come again (it goes in circles) and there has been no problems in any of those games with the WH cutting out. I've recreated my TARGET script and used the provided stock BS script and every time it's the same result - DCS loses input. This has only started happening with the 1.2.3 update. That is the only thing that has changed. Has anyone else experienced control loss with the 1.2.3 update? And if it's at all possible can ED have a look into this. If not I'll just wait for future updates, plenty of other sims to keep me going but it is still disappointing. control_loss.trk

You should look at their main site http://www.williamsfoundation.org.au/ and the biographies of the Board. All of the pilots hold high rank. They've operated 4th gen aircraft and know the RAAF. They're 100% independent, have no political or industry ties. I'd trust what they say over any political party or forum poster.

Very good read Major. I'm Aussie so this was particularly relevant but even as a read about the F-35 in general it's good and from experts in their field. I'll admit I'm one of those "general population" that holds a skeptical approach (misconception?) but this has opened my eyes. However I still say roll out the real world tests rather than simulations but paint me slightly as a believer in the JSF program.

Don't matter to me which C it is, 15 or 18, so long as it's got the F- in it.

He's a fan of A2A - and that's ok. Doebro, let me know how firing the guns are like in A2A.

Small cities, persistent internet requirement and EA will keep my money in my wallet for this one. I'll stick to SC4.

Yes and having knowledge of how well the F-16 did I'm wondering why, with the cost of the JSF program, that they didn't build something like the F-16, the aircraft they're replacing, so that it can be a true multi-role aircraft. Some planner along the way decided that it was better to totally depend on the F-22 for air coverage without taking into contingencies such as costs blowouts or budget concerns? I find it really hard to believe. We have the benefit of hindsight and knowledge and we still build the F-35 as is? What about those countries that don't have the benefit of the Raptor? - read every other country in the world. What do they rely on for air superiority? Well from your post it's definitely not the F-35.

With all the talk about other modules the biggest news for me is the .... DYNAMIC CAMPAIGN. Hell yeah.

You're right - you don't egress from a furball - you get the hell out of there as fast as you can, which in the F-35 isn't as fast as you'd want it apparently. Which would you rather in a battle - overestimate the enemy or underestimate him. Don't go on about what you really want is exact intel cos we both know that that doesn't always happen if at all. And how do you know that the Chinese haven't already cracked DAS? If we know about it and what it can do I'm willing to bet that the Chinese military are way beyond what we know. Sure the F-35 is better than any 4th or 4.5 generation but consider it's performance against the PAK-FA, J-20, J-31, or even the SU-30MKI? You know aircraft that the F-35 will most likely fight against in the next few decades. We don't have data on them either but can you honestly say that the F-35 is superior to them? If anything it sounds like its performance is barely scraping past current gen fighters let alone for it to be pitted against those fifth gen fighters. But again, it's all theory at this point. Roll it out and we'll actually see how it performs.

Sorry I should have been more clear. I meant that when it comes to furball range and HOBS comes into play can the F-35 defeat a HOBS missile? That's the point I was trying to make. With it being sluggish, probably not. With it being slow it might not even get a chance to egress. I did mention what with the delay the program is having that by the time it comes into production the other side may well have developed their own versions of DAS/HOBS. Hell the way its going now my kids might see it in operation let alone me. Also never underestimate the enemy - I'm sure that's a Sun Tzu quote or something. I'll say it for the third time - with the cost, time and knowledge of what we have currently we should be getting a superlative aircraft that excels in all aspects particularly its performance, given its price. And thanks Paul for -

And the enemy wouldn't have it's own version of a HOBS missile? The way the F-35 program is going it'd be more likely that Russia or China would have caught up with their own versions... and the F-35 might be "too sluggish" to even defeat that. For that amount of money and with what we know surely a superlative plane could have been built without all these delays and cost blowouts. But we're going in circles. Like I said earlier, bring it on. Roll it out already so that we can really study its performance and then see if its worth it.

Basically this for me. Sure it'll be a nice aircraft to fly and fight but at what cost? And to those shrugging off it's inferior agility versus older aircraft - you're heaping a whole lot of reliance on your tech. Technology fails and it'd be nice to know that you could mix it up with a Flanker, or F-18 or F-16 and still have an advantage (given equal pilot skill). Closing one eye to a problem doesn't make it go away. "Yeah well we'll shoot you before you see me" "well what about when you're jumped by the enemy managed to get within furball range?" "Um..." No tech is foolproof. I'm saying for its cost, delays and insight into existing tech and insight with the F-22 (which works stunning well) I'd be expecting an aircraft that's far superior to any 4.5 in every regard.. not just one or two aspects that they'd rely on. Welp.. bring it on I can only say. Roll it out so that real world tests can be done against retrofitted existing 4, 4.5 aircraft. Let's see if it's worth three times more. Who knows it might blow them all out of the water but the critics can't be all wrong and the backers can't be all right.

Having something is better than nothing at all. It's not claiming anything that it's not trying to be so there's no harm. I'll be giving it a miss personally. I hear it's still got a time limit to it.. which would suck.

Nevermind the politics, the cost blowouts, the delays, all those can be shrugged off in the long run if the aircraft performs. What the real problem is this - If it can't out-turn a gen 4.5 fighter or a missile, or doesn't have enough speed to get anywhere or outrun anything why are we (Australia) buying it? Especially since a Super Hornet is a third of the price.

Is this still on track for later this month? I'm hearing that all the next gen cards from both camps are delayed and won't be released until Q4 2013 at the earliest.

Way to diss nearly every dev that's worked on FSX. I might just quote this on the A2A, VRS, PMDG forums to see what they think of it. I'd love to see your attempt then. Put your money where your mouth is.

To code a full combat environment with AI triggers, responses and situations is no small feat and it remains to be seen whether FSX can handle that. We don't know how open the SDK will be and what can be done with it. No-one knows as it's not been released. If the SDK can create sufficiently smart AI, triggers, events to simulate a combat environment why not do it in the first place as a sample? Someone has to change all those FSX objects, give them AI and create a combat environment. I'm sceptical but not without glimmer of hope. We'll see what can be done but I'm not holding by breath or getting my hopes up that FSX will become a fully fledged combat environment. As a novelty thing yes but not one where there would be a campaign to play with. We'll see though.

Yes but then they go out and actually fight in real life combat environments in real conflicts. That's what we mean by "combat environment" in a simulation game for our desktop computers. None of us here are actually going to fly any jet in combat but we can simulate that experience to the best of our hardware. I personally would simulate the full combat environment then play a simulation of a simulator for combat pilots.

The only downside to getting those items is that you're going to be playing with the best kit right off the bat.. and thus not going to really appreciate how good the equipment you're buying is ;) Believe me when I say that there's no other HOTAS on the market that's feels as precise or as sturdy and well made as the WH right out of the box. Everything other HOTAS that I've had over the years felt like a toy. The WH feels like it was ripped from the aircraft itself. I still remember the feeling of awe when I first unpacked it. Almost as good as the first time I finally "got" BS and could fly without crashing.

Sorry Subs, with a FM that's acknowledged that "is good enough" I'd say VRS aren't quite there yet. It's getting there yes but not yet. But yeah.. it's the Hornet, where's ED's fast jet?

Thanks very much for this. Can't wait to try it out MP. Rep inc.

Thanks very much for that. I'm really tempted but this close after Christmas justifying $80 for a mod is a bit much. If it came with a campaign though.... Will see how long I can hold out.