Which plane

[Mr. Big.Biggs]

So now that I have my system sorted for the most part, I want to choose a primary plane. I want carrier capability and full fidelity as I want to get down to study level with at least one plane. Since my bird, the F4 isn’t a choice it seems as though the F18 and F14 are the choices. I find the f18 a tad video gamish so

Am leaning towards the F14.

Is it worth it without a human reo as I’m a lone wolf or is the ai jester too limiting. Trust me, I value the addition a good reo brings to the table but just don’t know anyone at this point to work as a team

 

My plan is to eventually join a group or squadron. I just don’t want to spend a crap ton of time only to hit a wall with jester. I’m interested in your thoughts.

Thanks

Edited December 29, 2019 by Mr. Big.”Biggs”

[CommanderRabb]

As someone who sticks to SP flying.I find Jester to be tolerable. He's not perfect, but he usually does well enough. Though he has plenty of room for improvement and I'm confident Heatblur will keep refining him.

 

Hopefully someday they finish the F-4.

[flameoutme]

As someone who sticks to SP flying.I find Jester to be tolerable. He's not perfect, but he usually does well enough. Though he has plenty of room for improvement and I'm confident Heatblur will keep refining him.

 

Hopefully someday they finish the F-4.

 

 

I echo this. I own both the F-14 and F/A-18 and hands down, the F-14 feels outstanding. And as you pointed out, the 18 is a little video-ee. Said another way, the 14 is a plane that has one foot in the past and one foot in the (almost present :)), and therefore requires more skill than the '18 to be effective. If you enjoy learning both physical and mental skills in your sims, the '14 is your baby.

[Mr. Big.Biggs]

Thanks for the input. I will bring up the Chucks guide!

[Jowen G. Bruère-Dawson]

I play both single player and multiplayer (PVE mostly though), and I play Pilot and RIO in the F-14, I also think jester is doing quite good ! My recommendation is F-14, the F-18, let it mature a little bit more

[TheCabal]

Here is my thought-process and why I bought the F-14 (incl. some others):

 

The F-16 and F/A-18 were present/represented in every possible simulation in the last 2-3 decades. These two birds are similar, simple to control & handle... dogfights are easy. This got pretty boring (after Falcon 4.0 & it's various mods like the recent BMS) but still will consider buying them in the future.

 

For now, I not only bought the F-14, but the AJS-37 and the MiG-21 as well. I like the older birds, getting to know at which limits to fly them (instead of just pulling the stick full back and to know that the aircrafts electronics will handle the flying)... birds made for "specific"-tasks... not that boring multi-role stuff.

 

But hey, that's just me.

[statrekmike]

As of right now, the F-14 module has the benefit of being largely complete and nearly fully capable in regards to systems, weapons, and features. For that reason alone, it is a good module to invest time into right now since you can pretty much learn it from beginning to end without any functionality gaps creating interruptions.

 

Beyond that. The F-14 is a very polished, very high quality experience and there was clearly a lot of love put into the module overall.

 

Now, you mention the F/A-18C and I think that it is important to offer some food for thought in "defense" (for lack of a better term) of it. When the Hornet module is completed, it will be a modern, very capable, and very versatile multi-role aircraft. It may have a (somewhat mild) fly by wire system and a lot of digital systems and that may turn off some with specific biases but that very same set of modern systems also makes it capable of missions that the F-14 is simply not configured to do on any level. If you want to explore a lot of mission types, it might be a good idea to not dismiss modern aircraft so easily.

 

To be clear, I am perhaps advocating that one should really dig into the F-14 now but not turn it into a "Tomcat versus Hornet" thing and keep a open mind about getting the Hornet and exploring its multi-role nature at a later date (when it is complete. Modern multi-role aircraft like the Hornet, Viper, and even the JF-17 may not be analog and may have a lot of computer/digital based systems but that is why they are capable of doing the things they do. I can't help but feel that a bit too much emphasis is placed on how "real" something feels in DCS based on how analog or digital the real plane is. At the end of the day, each aircraft has something to offer and shouldn't be so arbitrarily dismissed.

[Mr. Big.Biggs]

Spent the day configuring the F14 today and took her out for a spin. What a wonderful plane to fly! Not sure who said this thing couldn’t clime but its a rocket! Obviously if ya yank back the stick ala Maverick, your done, but take it just inside the edge of shake either in the vertical or horizontal and this thing pulls! Funny thing is I haven’t been able to get the Hornet back on deck yet but went 5 for 5 traps today.

Im hooked already but do understand it’s primarily an air to air bird so will continue with the F18 as well.

Thanks for all the assistance so far!

[veenee]

Here is my thought-process and why I bought the F-14 (incl. some others):

 

The F-16 and F/A-18 were present/represented in every possible simulation in the last 2-3 decades. These two birds are similar, simple to control & handle... dogfights are easy. This got pretty boring (after Falcon 4.0 & it's various mods like the recent BMS) but still will consider buying them in the future.

 

For now, I not only bought the F-14, but the AJS-37 and the MiG-21 as well. I like the older birds, getting to know at which limits to fly them (instead of just pulling the stick full back and to know that the aircrafts electronics will handle the flying)... birds made for "specific"-tasks... not that boring multi-role stuff.

 

But hey, that's just me.

 

 

It is not just you ;-)

[Richard Dastardly]

I find the 14 much more satisfying ( well, usually ). The 18 is competent but has no soul, I come away with the satisfaction of completing a task rather than continual gratification while doing it - partly I think it's because the FM is still a bit odd ( or the FBW is a bit odd, maybe ) & the aircraft feels very flat & a little unresponsive. Not so the Tomcat, for sure. Can't help want the 18's HMD in a furball though...

 

Jester is OK, has his bad days but usually does reasonably well ( and he has magic X-ray eyes for missile spotting ), and working with a human RIO is something else.

 

Throw me in the "peak time was the early 90s" bucket as well.

[Mr. Big.Biggs]

Not dogging on the hornet but In my opinion the delay between power request and power output is really off putting. Of course she’s a Cadillac when in cruise!!

[power5]

F-14 is, by a far margin, the best fighter module in game. The feel is definitely there when flying. This is so hard to do in a video game, but I can feel the envelope in the Tomcat. Just wish the wings would not break off so easily but getting better at keeping them attached. Other planes I am basically waiting for AoA and Stall indicator lights to inform me. The Mirage and the F-14 are the only jets I really fly. The older the better in my book as well. F4 will be purchased when it is available. A6 will be purchased when available as well. I love all those planes as they were my childhood icons. And getting them right just has satisfaction. I mistakenly purchased the F18 thinking it was releasing complete. What a mistake. That plane has not left my hangar in at least a year. ED will not get any more purchases from me unless they are complete.

[DC2009EGUC]

I just want to also share my same sentiments here with all the F-XX drivers as I had put aside the DCS module for years or so, but with the recent holiday sales at DCS, I took the plunge again to see if the F-14B can spark my online virtual flying experience, and so far it has renewed my interest and I have been spending several hours practicing ACLS on CVN-74.

Like all, I also have F-18C but easily got bored as I seem to have run in to a very steep learning curved, and set is aside collecting dust in my virtual hanger for years. But since experiencing the interface with the F-14B, this jet seems to have something different that I kept coming back and for hours since I acquired this module several days ago.

 

The texture quality of the model is so stunning that I could just literally sit there and admire it for hours on end on the deck of the Stennis. Wow, Heatblur has really done a magnificent product, like someone mentioned in this thread, the F-14B somehow bridges the past and the present with its analog gauges, but yet so advance with ACLS, that the F-18C does not even have with its fly by wire technology.

 

In addition, the introduction of the Jester character has me amazed as I mostly fly solo until I hone my flying skills worthy of joining online squadrons. I just wish the AI Iceman and do more than just change heading and altitude, but would be interesting if it can land, dogfight, & bomb run the jet too.

 

The F-14B has definitely brought me back to the virtual flying simulation, brings me back as a young sailor on board CV-62 Independence watching these birds fly off during the last gulf war… I just hope to not crash this puppy when cockpit starts to shake violently, (any tips will be highly appreciated), I guess this is where no fly by wire self-correct, but got to learn somehow…lol

Edited January 8, 2020 by DC2009EGUC

[earnil]

So now that I have my system sorted for the most part, I want to choose a primary plane. I want carrier capability and full fidelity as I want to get down to study level with at least one plane. Since my bird, the F4 isn’t a choice it seems as though the F18 and F14 are the choices. I find the f18 a tad video gamish so

Am leaning towards the F14.

Is it worth it without a human reo as I’m a lone wolf or is the ai jester too limiting. Trust me, I value the addition a good reo brings to the table but just don’t know anyone at this point to work as a team

 

My plan is to eventually join a group or squadron. I just don’t want to spend a crap ton of time only to hit a wall with jester. I’m interested in your thoughts.

Thanks

 

You need to ask yourself first what do you want to do. While F14 has some limited A/G capability, it's primarily an fleet defense interceptor so you're mostly limited to A2A missions. Moreover, while Jester is imho fully adequate in A2A, you still lack the capability for controlling the TPOD.

 

Also, you need to realize that most of the things you do in F14 with Jester, is telling Jester to do things. Essentially, you're limited to the 'pilot shit' (flight + dogfighting) and everything else, especially BVR / advanced A/G is run from backseat. If you want to change scan distance, you need to tell jester. If you need to lock contact, you need to tell Jester, if you need to set up bombs / rockets, you need to tell jester. So the actual gameplay consists a lot of just clicking in Jester menu.

 

I still enjoy it, but I think it's fair to point out that it may get very repetitive for some and since you said that F18 feels bit videogamish, trust me, that F14 with Jester is far more videogamish in that regard. For example, let's say you're setting up bombs - in F14, you just tell Jester to do it. In F18, you need to do it yourself. In F14 you just tell Jester to set up waypoint. In F18 you need to do it yourself. More over, as far as I can tell, most squadrons will tell you to get a RIO and GTFO with Jester.

 

F18 is pretty versatile jet and will allow you to do everything. A2A, A2G, antiship, SEAD/DEAD,... So as a study plane, it gives you much more broader pool of things to study. Granted, the FBW is far less satisfying to fly, but I think anyone can confirm that putting it back on the ship at night in heavy rain is not substantially easier then F14:-)

 

So again, up to you depending on what you want to do, but I just wanted to pierce a bit the myth that F18 is gamish while F14 is proper analog plane. With Jester, not really.

[draconus]

What stops you from doing all yourself if you wish? SP only of course.

[earnil]

What stops you from doing all yourself if you wish? SP only of course.

 

Well yeah you can, but sometimes, actually, most of the time you need to both maneuver the jet and set those things so switching between seats is kind of tedious. And the OP said he wants to join the squadron ultimately so that kind of precludes that SP part too.

[CaptJodan]

A longtime DCS flyer who has every module, I can say that the F-14 just doesn't stay long in the virtual hanger for me (thank goodness I don't have to sim flight maintenance costs). Almost a year on, and I still find HB's F-14 to be my favorite module. It's not just about the plane (though it probably has something to do with it), it's about the attention to detail and the "feel" that HB put into the module that makes it so great. I've always loved the F-16 as a favorite aircraft, but sadly it has to slip to second-ish place when up against the Cat. I still find moments of awe on what a good job was done on this module (especially when compared to some others). Plus learning things about an icon I never knew.

 

I just hope to not crash this puppy when cockpit starts to shake violently, (any tips will be highly appreciated), I guess this is where no fly by wire self-correct, but got to learn somehow…lol

 

Listen/"feel" the aircraft.

 

I've been playing DCS for so long, but I was always terrible about pulling too hard in most other aircraft. The FBW birds let you do this all day long, and even some non-FBW birds don't give you too much grief over it. Enter the F-14, where over-pulling has major effects, both at high speed (wing snap) or even low speed (just losing control) and I finally started to get through my thick skull that you have to pay attention to AOA, pulling, airspeed, etc.

 

The best part is, all that shaking is telling you something. The Cat as modeled is incredibly effective at giving you warning before a stall. Watch your AOA indicator and fly around seeing what about 15-17 degrees of AOA sounds/feels like (F-14 masters can give you the exact numbers). Listen to the sounds of shaking and how much shake, and you'll eventually learn where the plane is just warning you, and when it's screaming at you to stop being an idiot.