Interview with Gero Finke - Head of TrueGrit

[MKev]

Remark: I did not find the Interview in this Forum so I translated it to provide it to you in form of this Thread. A PDF version is also included in the Attachments.

 

 

 

The Typhoon in Detail – Interview with Gero Finke from TrueGrit

Interview by simFlight.de 28. April 2020 – Translated by Mark “MKev” P.

 

 

 

On 27 March, it came like a thunderbolt when it was announced on Facebook and in the DCS forum:

"The Eurofighter Typhoon will be added to the DCS as an aircraft module."

 

But who is behind the development of this agile and highly complex multi-purpose combat aircraft?

We spoke to Gero Finke, who is working with his team at TrueGrit on the development of the Eurofighter simulation.

 

 

 

Probably the most modern module in the DCS world: The Eurofighter Typhoon

 

 

 

The Person

 

Gero Finke was in the service of the Luftwaffe for well 30 years. After his basic training and the ENJJPT program in Sheppard / USA, he began training as a pilot on the F-4 Phantom II.

He flew it from 1993-2003 and was a flight instructor and weapons instructor there.

 

As one of the first German pilots, he was able to join EADS in Manching in 2003, where he began his conversion to the Eurofighter.

With the knowledge gained there, the foundations were laid for the conversion of future crews. In 2004 Gero was one of the first flight instructors sent to Laage.

As a standardizer, he created training documents and thus created a basis for future generations of pilots. After several stations as Squadron Captain and

Group Commander, Gero began in 2015 to spend his last years of service as Deputy Commodore in the Tactical Air Force Wing 71 "Richthofen" in Wittmund.

 

 

 

 

 

 

How does a fighter pilot get to flight simulation?

 

I have used various flight simulators since the beginning of my military career. Since Falcon 4 I have stayed right on it, I even built a small home cockpit for it.

With Falcon 4 I also started to work more intensively with the military simulators and finally stayed with DCS.

 

 

 

 

 

How did you get the idea to become a developer for DCS?

 

After my professional career I had the time to deal more with the topic DCS. The thought that you can fly your former work equipment on your home computer

was of course extremely appealing to me.

 

Due to these circumstances and through various contacts in the Falcon 4 : BMS community, the idea that the Eurofighter should also have its place in the virtual

DCS sky became firmly established. In the course of the research work a team of 15 people was formed, including the main developer of Falcon4 : BMS "Dunc".

Oliver "The_Fragger" Michel from MILTECH-5 and Thomas "TomCatz" Schultz could be won for the area of 3D design.

 

 

 

 

Even the look of this WIP panel . . .

 

 

. . . is outstanding.

 

 

 

What is the development process? What difficulties are encountered in the development process to simulate such a complex aircraft?

 

The main problem in the development of the Eurofighter and especially of all new aircraft is the secrecy of many documents. Many people in the team have the knowledge,

but there is always a certain tightrope walk in how far you can use this for the development. Many documents are not public or classified, so we rely on public sources.

These circumstances naturally ensure that we come as close as possible to the original. In terms of armament, we cannot yet make a clear statement either, as we start with

basic features and gradually add more features. But this will again require the release of documents etc. It is not possible otherwise due to the above mentioned restrictions.

In the further course of the development the implementation of the other European versions is also possible.

 

However, we are the first developers to have an exclusive license agreement with the company Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH and are therefore allowed to use

all official logos, names etc. Therefore we are of course obliged to fulfill the trust and expectations placed in us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hype surrounding the announcement of the Eurofighter has blown up almost all forums, discords and social media.

Hence the important question: Do you already know a release date and a price?

 

We have been in active research for a good year and have recently started programming the systems and the visual implementation.

 

Eagle Dynamics has classified us as an "Epic Module" because of the depth of the system we are aiming for. Therefore, the price is set accordingly.

But I cannot yet give an accurate price.

 

 

 

 

Each EJ200 Turbofan powerplant propels the Eurofighter with 90kN of thrust and ensures outstanding flight performance

 

 

 

 

Thank you for your time and good luck for your future projects.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Additional Interview from Gero in English:

GeroFinke_Interview.pdf

Edited August 26, 2020 by MKev

[ThorBrasil]

Thanks for sharing!

[Rudel_chw]

Remark: I did not find the Interview in this Forum so I translated it to provide it to you in form of this Thread.

 

Thank you so much for your translation .. I love to read about the DCS development backstage and the people behind each module. This bird will be a day-1 purchase for me and I wish them the best of luck with this endeavour. :thumbup:

[MKev]

Happy that you guys liked it. Love to help and get information out. I also added an additional interview in english to the main posting. Enjoy.

[rrohde]

:thumbup:

[Top Jockey]

Cool !

 

I look forward to the release date.

[MKev]

Does somebody know if there are any new interviews out? Was not active for a couple years.

regards.