Lucas_From_Hell

I've had mixed luck with it. Frontal aspect shots are pretty terrible, the lock is lost as soon as the target turns hard, but rear aspect is working OK for me.

Right-o, thanks for the info! :)

I've found it to be accurate enough, but it needs to be used within the right parameters to work. From the manual (bold mine, with the mistakes I make the most): CCRP (flat): 1. Minimum altitude should be 2000 feet AGL and speed above 350 KIAS. 2. Fly in a slight dive towards your target. It shouldn’t be more than 15º. 3. Place the CCRP piper over your target 4. Click on the AG DESIGNATE button (refer to HOTAS title in Chapter 1). 5. Pull up and resume level flight. 6. The target cross will remain over the target. 7. Fly towards the target. 8. When you are 15 seconds from the release point, the release cue will appear. 9. Press the trigger as soon as you see the release cue. Keep the trigger pressed while the cue is visible. 10. The bombs will be released automatically when the cue cross the CCRP piper. 11. The system will clear the target designation as soon as the bombs have been released. CCRP (dive): 1. Level start. ~ 350 kias. Idle thrust when diving. 2. Target designation. Trigger held down. Follow guidance cues. 3. Start of pull up. Follow guidance cues. 4. Bomb release. 5. Bomb path. 6. Breakaway. Thrust as required. CCIP (bombs): 1. Upon activating the CCIP, raise the seat so your downwards view is better 2. For diving runs minimum altitude should be 1500 feet AGL. 3000 AGL feet is better, especially if you are going to do a high angle dive. 3. Minimum indicated airspeed should be 400 KIAS. 4. The CCIP pipper will appear at the bottom of the HUD. 5. When nearing your target, fly in a dive. The steeper the dive the better. 20º to 25º dives are very precise. 6. Check the safe altitude cue position. 7. Press the trigger to release the bombs when the CCIP piper is over your target 8. Pull up. 9. DO NOT release the bombs if the safe altitude cue intersects the FPM or is above it.

I'd venture it to be like the Mi-8 since it was developed from it. Google says only the newer versions have an auto-hover mode, but I don't know if that's accurate.

As per title, the Mk 82s now sit too high, with the pylon inside them. As far as I can see this problem does not affect the training bombs or the Mk 83.

This little bandit would be ideal for DCS.

Check the fuel state in the mission editor or selection screen. Any quantity below 100% internal will be taken from the external tanks and transferred to the internal tanks upon spawning, that could be happening.

Right. While there's no template, you can either open a tank file from a default skin or the default tank texture, make alpha channel for colour (on GIMP it's right click on image > transparency > alpha for colour > pick the main colour of the tank in the default skin) then create a layer under the main one and add paint there. That way you can keep the weathering from the default skin, but still colour it the way you want.

Does the paint you're trying to put on the tanks look like these, or different?

My workflow usually goes: 1. Cockpit familiarization (either a glance through the manual or starting cold and checking the tooltips) 2. In-game training missions, writing down each important step in a way that makes sense and thus making my own checklist 3. With a good idea of what is where and how each component works, I go over the manual Of course, between the serious learning there's the usual Take-Off instant action mission to get a feel for the plane, then some aerobatics and finally the inevitably heavy landing or crash.

BD, some something-somethings from the AWACS mission. I'll be a little cryptic to avoid spoiling it for others. For some reason the hand-holders don't stop holding hands contrary to the radio indications, and they don't react to any attack, overshooting or other stimuli. The dialogue also mentions visual identification a few times but for reason or another in 2.5 it's completely dark until the very end of the mission so eyeballing aircraft types and such is impossible.

"Mostik", what a name! Russian superstition goes that you need to let a cat through to your new home before a person goes in, because the cats can feel 'bad' and 'good' energy, spirits and the likes.

Nah, not at all. The Hornet is fun but people have the aircraft they actually like and love, and that's beyond capabilities. The majority of players would rather die in their favourite ride than live in one they don't connect with.

I'm talking both, if we take historical context into account. The R-77 was introduced after the fall of the Soviet Union, but the necessary modernisation of the fleet, financial challenges and constant refinements to the system meant that it only became commonplace much later. The MiG-29S, in combat against a Mirage 2000C, would have used the same R-73/R-27 combo.

The MiG-29 without R-77s is a great match for the Mirage 2000C. Short legs, modern radar interface and a non-obnoxious supply of missiles. Against the F-5 and MiG-21, though from an underdog position, the L-39 and Viggen are really dangerous since they both match the F-5/MiG-21 in their strengths (manoeuvrability for the Tiger, speed for the Balalaika).

Fighter pilots themselves have changed everywhere. It's funny how the generation that graduated in the last decade or two is completely different from those immediately before them. The new guys are more serious, strict, procedural and direct in their approach - they're exactly what modern air forces want from a pilot, in other words. However, the 'old school' fighter pilot is a completely different animal. Intrepid, adventurous, cocky to no end, often pick the cool way over the standard or safe way, hopeless romantics and avid social drinkers, with a love for dangerous low passes and good old guns dogfighting. Those who've spent time, are friends or grew up with fighter pilots of different eras know what I mean. Despite the new crowd being the most tactically efficient, the older generation is the one that made fighter aviation what it is. Without them there wouldn't be the magic and the romance of fighter aviation, and though the change makes sense from a military point of view, it's really sad to see the old school fighter pilots bow out one by one as time goes. EDIT: Right, so how this ties into the first post! I completely agree with the sentiment Windy, but I think the developers need to treat all tastes equally, as they're going for accuracy over experience. We as players can create spaces where we do it the old way, and spaces where it's done the new way, and that's the cool bit. This also applies to air-to-ground, laser bombs and cruise missiles are all fair and fun but they don't get anywhere close to the grit of rolling over straight into the fire to deliver destruction up close and personal.

Remember that almost always the winner is proactive, and the loser is reactive. You can never tell what the opponent's exact plan is but there are many ways you can reduce their choices to a point where they become predictable. For example, if you see a MiG coming into your tail, make a turn to one side and reverse after a while to invite them to play scissors. Their options here are either to blow through or accept the challenge. If they do the former, you end up far apart but with the enemy in your frontal hemisphere which allows you to meet any attack with an attack. If they enter scissors, you'll both be at low speed which is a Tiger pilot's paradise. Force an overshoot and take them to the cleaners! At high AoA during scissors keep the ailerons level and use small rudder inputs to turn the F-5 around.

Before stuff goes up for testing it's entirely up to the marketing & sales department to convince whatever acquisition committee to even consider their option in the first place. The marketing guys need to put together a good brochure demonstrating why their product matters, then string up a good presentation for possible meetings/state visits, and make sure that the product's positive qualities are highlighted and overshadow the negatives. From a general public perspective, though usually purchases are made for an organisation (the military) and evaluated by officers and experts, the decision to support and fund said purchase is made by politicians, and politicians' decision are usually motivated by popularity and votes, and these come from people unrelated to the defence industry. If you make everyone including the politicians themselves think, even if in vague terms, that your offering is the finest in the land and that it'll solve all the country's defence problems related to that area, then when the time comes to decide on whether to acquire the offering politicians will feel encouraged to support it since people will be feeling good about it.

Trim, or add a training missile on the other tip to balance it out.

The link to the radar gif is broken, here's a functioning one :)

Another one, this time a little more bothersome in the HVACAP mission that follows those two: while taxiing, Lambert's (I think) Mirage 2000C 'freezes' on the ground as soon as the audio file about the F-117 and Type 1000 storage plays. As far as I can tell there are no objects obstructing his path, and his aircraft stops at whatever point it is when the audio file plays. I tested this twice, passing the F-117 trigger area once he was on the taxiway, then once he was on the runway, and both times he just came to a halt. Waiting it out or trying to go further/closer did nothing. Not sure if related or not but he taxiis through Foxtrot instead of the taxiway instructed by Vaziani control, Golf.

Two very, very, very, very minor things I noticed. 1. In the ELINT mission, at the very end there are trucks parked too close to the taxiway on the left by the final parking spot. Unless the player is offset to the right, the left wing clips the trucks. 2. In the following mission (Combat Air Patrol) there is still an S-3B parked next to the runway, while the mission and the rest of the campaign already use the KC-130H. No other problems to report so far, the 2.5 version of the campaign is running smooth as silk and looking gorgeous! :thumbup:

Thanks for sharing it Big Newy, watching it now. These interviews are nice to watch in parts, leave them playing in the background and go on with your day, you can get through them easily in two-three days without having to make extra time for them.

A Soviet MiG-29 painted for air combat training: And a MiG-23: Click for a good read on the Soviet 'aggressors', with more photos.

For a brief period, the Brazilian Air Force had an 'aggressor' group based in Natal, flying the AT-26. The project didn't last long, but it was one of many roles this warrior played in Brazilian service. In Russia, the bad guys are played by the experts at Lipetsk. The Chinese air force is one of the frequent customers of their training services. Back in the day though, the Soviet Union got their hands on some foreign toys, and used it to refine their air combat tactics for them and their allies. Here is a South Vietnamese F-5E in Soviet colours: Zhukovsky's test center also hosted a Mirage and a Phantom: