Cytarabine

Agree - I thought it seemed much harder to rip the wings off and I could go at things a little more aggressively. Just have to remember she is not a Hornet and pulling crazy high AoA will just get me shot down.

I agree entirely, seeing an F-5E perform vertical loops with almost complete energy conservation makes for a frustrating experience. It is far from unbeatable but it still doesn’t make the experience good when you have to fly against an opponent that in no way replicates how the real aircraft flies (or even how a human opponent would be).

Fantastic mod, took my F-14 experience to new heights in VR, beyond the clarity which is phenomenal it really gave the feeling that rather than sitting in some museum relic you were sitting in a maintained Tomcat treated with the appropriate love by the crew chief who you are borrowing the plane from. Heatblur should seriously consider making this mod a standard option.

I am flying all the time with my Rift S now - flat screen be damned (just for reviewing Tacview afterwards). It is not perfect but it is a great experience, night and day compared to my ultrawide display with tracking. The price for entry is a real plus as well. If money is no object then there may be better options (Index, Reverb, Pimax) but for a value proposition to enter the VR world it is hard to beat.

I’ve been practicing my trying to move a plane by my wingtip vortices. :pilotfly:

I must say the AIM-7 seems much more useful now (I particularly like the Cold War scenarios taking Fox 1’s over Fox 3’s for a bit of a challenge) and now I find the Sparrow substantially more useful. I can send a first missile at range in loft (which seems to arrive with some reasonable kinetic energy) crank and then fire my second and subsequent shots closer in normal where they clean up. Makes them more useful up closer similar to the 530D.

I think this would be great, it would be particularly good for those of use whom Real Life gets in the way of flying epic campaign missions. If people want to save scum then that is their choice, what does it matter to anyone else? Maybe include a hardcore option which prevents the user from saving?

IIRC they are adding a substation program so will be able to have a separate program for each JDAM/JSOW even when carrying eight. Will be great for double ugly load outs as well. Remember in particular for the JSOW the firing aircraft will be at stand-off ranges so may well have egressed before impact occurs.

Absolutely. Depth perception makes it so much easier to plug in and more importantly stay plugged in.

Good point - 5 targets instead of 1 (the Tomcat carries 4 TALD right?)

Well the F-14 does have a huge RCS so it should help bait some of the missiles away.

In major systems the big 3 are TWS for A-A (which at least is getting mentioned and given LTWS is largely complete we can hope it won’t be too long), targeting pod (with the LITENING apparently imminent but ATFLIR a while off) and A-G radar (which will be longer to wait). There are other things (like jammer for example) but these are more minor. With respect to weapons systems there are a lot, all the A-A ordinance and most of the more common A-G ordinance (particularly once the Harpoon and SLAM-ER are introduced). They do lack some modes. It isn’t a bad time to jump in, the Hornet is very capable with lots to learn already and will only get more capable. It is already more capable than the largely complete Mirage (sure the Mirage has TWS but without active radar missiles it seems a bit moot) and really the only module that matches it for capability is the Tomcat, which it will surpass for stand-off weapons (at least for A-G, in A-A those Phoenix missiles will lead to a bad day). (Not throwing shade on either module, I love both the Mirage and Tomcat but am spending more and more of my time in the Hornet).

If you have NTTR there is Red Flag Iron Hand by ED which is a blast, though not for beginners (if you go Rambo you will die, stick to your fragged tasks and times and keep your head screwed on).

https://akaagar.github.io/Headquarters4DCS/ Update on the website on the 21st :) Seems like the project is alive and well, and going open source as well so who knows what we will see. I can't wait for the update personally, even beta 1 was such an improvement over the basic mission generator in DCS. The dynamic campaign generator campaigns are also entertaining. Between developing skills, single missions, campaigns, hq4dcs and DCG there is plenty to do in single player. (Always happy for more, certainly I find doing a single player sortie much more engaging than hitting randomly spawned targets on a PvE server or playing air quake PvP)

Looking great. Just started listening to the audiobook. Looks like I am going to have to get practiced at night time pitching deck recoveries (into a barrier?) and tanking.

How would it work out for carrier landings where you need to trim for approach?

So given range relative to map size; take off, get to altitude, fence in, release, turn home, land, shirtless beach volleyball on the deck.

What mode are you in, PB or TOO?

Surely you are aware of the Camel-D variant which could mount 4 AIM-120 AMRAAMs and wingtip AIM-9X Sidewinders?

I found dogfighting in VR to be such a great experience, it was so much easier to keep track of my target than using head tracking. Haven't tried air to air refuelling in VR yet - but that is high on the list of things to do (when my replacement headset arrives).

Or just below the hud where there is a nice big, easy to read AoA meter.

Just remember the Tomcat will do what you tell it to, right up until the point where it won’t and at that point you are in trouble. I generally go for a one circle fight either vertical of going fast (with the aim of getting to corner speed without bleeding too much energy) or horizontal if close to corner speed at the merge. She fights well, just don’t fly her like a hornet.

Not unless you know exactly where the target will be at the time of impact. There is a version with terminal IR guidance but that won’t make this version of the Hornet (maybe a paid Super Hornet update down the track :)). Use a Harpoon at stand-off ranges of an LGB at TPOD ranges.

Just ordered my Rift S, arriving next week, cannot wait (perfect timing along with the VR performance boost in 2.5.5).

I try conserving my missiles but it costs me. Last time I tried to get in for a guns kill on the Mig-31 and ate an AA-9 for my trouble.