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Appreciate the pictures you let us look at. Here are a couple from my own scrapbook of the many years I spent working on the A-4's even as they changed their designation and capabilities over the years. The one is our A4-2N's flying over MCAS El Toro in 1962. The other is us at NAS Fallon Nevada for ordinance delivery/practice. I'm in the 2nd row fifth from the right. Man, how many years ago that was. Looking forward to the release of this A-4E module as it will reflect my last squadron before my discharge , with VMA-311.

How long were you in 311 and what years? My dad was in 211/311 out of El Toro, eventually the CO of VMA-134.

 

He was with 311 in Chu Lai, 1965-1966.

 

Thank you for your service!


Edited by Dreadnaut

Dreadnaut

Virtual Blue Angels #2

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My honor to your Dad! Semper Fi!!

 

How long were you in 311 and what years? My dad was in 211/311 out of El Toro, eventually the CO of VMA-134.

 

He was with 311 in Chu Lai, 1965-1966.

 

Thank you for your service!

 

I spent about 3 years with VMA-121. That squadron left El Toro for carrier transport to Iwakuni Japan. I didn't have enough time left to make that Pac Cruise so they transferred me to VMA-311 which had just returned to MCAS El Toro. That was the squadron I served up until my discharge in 1965.I was with VMA-311 from mid-1964 till about May 1965. VMA-311 went from MCAS El Toro right to Chu Lai as the conflict in Viet Nam began. Their aircraft were pretty much the latest A-4E's as the Skyhawks were continually being upgraded by Douglas. My last duties, even though my MOS was a "Structural Mechanic", I was a Plane Captain on the flight and launched the pilots in the specific aircraft I was assigned to. For 4 years I was part of the "training" for ultimate combat operations. It wasn't until after my discharge that they actually called a "game". I tried to get back in so I could actually do all that they had trained us for over those 4 years. Unfortunately, since the draft was in place at that time, they would not take me back in because of "3 strikes" they laid on me. I was married. Strike 1, I was a father. Strike 2. And my official MOS (6641) was not in any sort of demand. Strike 3. Stayed in touch with a lot of the guys I served with in VMA-311 as they did their tour in Viet Nam. So long ago all that. But I still remember a lot of the things I was exposed to during my service. So look forward to this A-4E mod that's coming for DCS World. It will mostly be an actual aircraft that I knew top to bottom. Just was NOT a pilot so never actually got to take those Skyhawks off. My respect and honor to your Dad for all his service.


Edited by Chief1942

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E models got the hump late on their career. Will the AGM.12 Bullpup and the MACLOS guidance system be implemented too?

 

 

I've also wondered this, though given that the only aircraft in game to use the Bullpup or any other MACLOS or SACLOS system is the Viggen, I'd guess a no.

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My respect and honor to your Dad for all his service.

I'll pass that along! Thank you for the kind words.

 

He did 484 missions in Vietnam, 2 Distinguished Flying Crosses (both were recommended as Silver Stars and downgraded by some puke in Washington DC), and 34 air medals. He LOVED the A-4. He also did an exchange program on his second tour in 68/69 with the Air Force flying 2 seat F-100's with the Misty FAC's. He was active for 12 and 8 as reserve, all out of El Toro except for the 1.5 years in Pensacola FL between tours as a VT-3 instructor.

 

There's an A-4 on the deck of the Midway in San Diego that my dad flew. It's currently painted in Navy colors but the bureau number is 154977 which he flew in VMA-134.

 

?u=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.jetphotos.com%2Ffull%2F5%2F40226_1409393713.jpg&f=1

 

?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.grubbyfingersshop.com%2Fwalkaround_galleries%2Fdouglas_a-4_skyhawk_walkaround_a4-f_154977_midway%2Fcontent%2Fbin%2Fimages%2Flarge%2Fdouglas_a-4_skyhawk_walkaround_a4-f_154977_midway_12.jpg&f=1

 

13423882_10207770858121849_2066076440400281777_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=c3d3b4f95a006fc77b4b7d533ab11a2b&oe=5BB8BE12


Edited by Dreadnaut

Dreadnaut

Virtual Blue Angels #2

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  • 3 weeks later...

I started to panic a little when I hadn't seen this thread by the 3rd page!!! It's getting close to the end of the month and I just hate to see this project so far back in the cue :thumbup:


Edited by AG-51_Razor
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That Skyhawk looks well cared for, is it normal to see daylight through the vert-stab to rudder surface, or was there a soft baffle or flutter strip put in there?

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Will we need FC3 or will it be a stand alone MOD like the MB-339 ?

 

It will be entirely standalone and not require any other Modules to be installed.

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As Skate mentioned, it will not require an other modules installed and can be run on a "clean" version of DCS World (Thanks Skate!). Update will be on time, arriving sometime tomorrow in the PM EST.

Former A-4E-C 3D Artist

 

Logo Credit to Plusnine

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July 2018 Update

 

Hello again and thank you for indulging in another update from us! This month we’ll be featuring the advanced texture work done by Plusnine, including a few of the skins he’s been perfecting at a rapid pace. Other highlights include bug fixes, an update on carrier ops, and the usual release time anecdote.

 

This we had a great deal of work coming from Plusnine as he went on a painting spree throughout the month. The PBR texturing on these really requires a lot of TLC, but as you can see below, the fruits of his labor are spectacular. Later in the month we also had some unwrap adjustments from Kryb that will bring up the detail in certain areas of the external model.

 

kNN1RkG.png

 

ByHgofX.png

 

FvDBE51.png

 

schqefk.png

 

Additionally, we have a few breakthroughs in bug testing. Much like myself running in the hot, humid weather of the capitol, we’ve been squashing bugs left and right. This includes our long time issues with our canopy glass. Previously, during a storm or any other time a bump map was in use, strange gray shapes would appear in our glass. After discovering that it was mixture of weird polygons and the result unwrap (whoops) we’ve corrected it with no additional work needed to adjust the texture.

 

dvCKP2e.png

 

Speaking of the cockpit, Plusnine has also been hard at work with interior textures. In the weathering phase, there is a lot that happens in the cockpit, included paint chipping and sun fading on certain surfaces. There’s also and awesome texture for our glare shield. Check out the screenshots below!

 

ABjc2Vl.png

 

ZwZ0HbD.png

 

cGVlUUS.png

 

Moving on, I have an update on carrier ops. We will unfortunately be unable to include catapult-assisted takeoff with the current configuration of the SFM and the carrier takeoff coding in DCS. Never fear, however, as you can still takeoff using the rolling takeoff method that our flight model allows for. Perhaps post-release we could build an EFM to allow for such takeoffs and more realistic flight dynamics, however in the interest of releasing in the near future, it makes sense to go with what we have now.

 

Q2KqnIR.png

 

Next month we hope to complete our unwraps of the external aircraframe and continue our work on PBR textures. With the changes to our external unwrap, we will have a much more detailed external textures but will bring with it some additional work to get all of our skins up to the latest standard. There is also some standing issues with internal lighting for objects such as the gear handle and our warning lamps which need resolution. Our bug tracker also has an assortment of random other issues that we’ll be looking into.

 

Going forward we are continuing at a good pace with minimal road blocks. As always, we’ll be sure to post here once we have a solid release window, which we'll likely do around 2 months before release. We also had some fun streaming this month, check out a short clip aerobatic clip from our last group flight!

 

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/270622368

 

 

I hope to make some additional videos covering our cockpit systems in the near future once I have access to be a better mic. :lol:

 

Thanks again for your continued support!


Edited by Merker
Added carrier landing screenshot

Former A-4E-C 3D Artist

 

Logo Credit to Plusnine

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Wow, excellent work! :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

 

 

I wouldn't hesitate for a minute, if I could buy it as a full DCS module. :D

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nothing is stopping a server from using a Mod plane

 

 

Compatibility. With the way DCS handles the check, if you don't have the A-4E, you won't be able to join the server. Since it's an unofficial module, making it a staple on larger servers like Blue Flag could be a bit difficult.

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  • 2 weeks later...

WOOOW .. so excited for the release of this beauty .. the newest WIP pics are just stunning !! nice textures, beautiful liverys ..neat plane .. keep it up guys..fantastic !!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Quick question, I saw that it had been discussed previously that the Skyhawk wouldn't be able to launch off the Stennis with the catapult. Does that mean visually it wouldn't, like the add on mod planes and the older CVN mod, where you could use the cat but visually it wouldn't "hook up" to the cat, or does that mean it just plain wouldn't work?

 

~Rob

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Quick question, I saw that it had been discussed previously that the Skyhawk wouldn't be able to launch off the Stennis with the catapult. Does that mean visually it wouldn't, like the add on mod planes and the older CVN mod, where you could use the cat but visually it wouldn't "hook up" to the cat, or does that mean it just plain wouldn't work?

 

~Rob

 

Catapult interaction requires EFM.

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