no F-18 boring?

[Chaffee]

On 2/2/2024 at 2:43 AM, VDV said:

Do you know whats the Hornet logo? "It can do everything,  but its best in nothing ".

I have both,  I'm flying both and I definitely think that F-16 is better. It has better radar, more powerful engine  (but better and with more economic fuel consumption). Also the Viper is wayyy better in AA in every aspect (dogfight,  BVR, everything). Do I even need to mention the Hornet's shi.ty radar??

Also, the Viper can do everything that Hornet can in AG mode (except maybe anti-ship, but I think Maverick can be used vs ships too) and it can do it better.

And the end F-16 has more advanced displays and can perform better SEAD/DEAD tasks. And I will not even mention the visibility of the Viper's cockpit,  which is ages above the Hornet's cockpit.

For me, the only interesting thing on the Hornet was the naval operations (landings on the boat).

 

I think it's enough for me to chose Viper instead of Hornet.

So Viper all the way!

 

I think most Hornet drivers (or anyone else) will take a Harpoon over a Maverick for sinking a ship any day. 

Also, dude, SLAM-ER. It's good. Block-50 Vipers don't have it.

The Hornet is also vastly superior in a 1-circle fight, and in a world of high off-boresight Fox-2s, like the AIM-9X, it's as big an advantage against the F-16 as can be when that situation arises.

And while the Viper is surely the greatest 2-circle fighter ever built, the Hornet driver can decide whether to go 1- or 2-circle depending on the opponent: tactical flexibility is a plus when death is on the line, I hear.

Better radar? No. Neither of them is a Strike Eagle.

Have you heard that the Hornet has 50% more MFDs than the F-16 and internal ECM? You won't believe what happens next!

All that said, the F-16 is a burner, with all the advantages that gives, and it has a better targeting pod (just wait until the Sniper too), but it'll roll right off the end of the carrier into the sea on both takeoff and landing. (Keep in mind that the worse optics on the F-18 are BECAUSE those optics have to withstand carrier ops. These things don't suck in a vacuum. They suck because they have to withstand the catapult and the trap).

Also, the Hornet has better landing gear.

Edited February 5 by Chaffee

[oldcrusty]

I was wondering... there has to be some sort of aviation oriented GPT AI derivative available to blend in with our forums and quickly plaster vast amounts of data without leaving any corners uncovered.  Let it run through all possible scenarios... for instance:  Hornet takes Viper into 1circle, Viper reverses, Hornet reverses then realizes he has no 9x's, next...  Everything categorized and placed in nice little 'boxes'.    After 3 or 4 pages of reading, OP will probably give up and be happy. The comments would follow. If not, AI would spawn forum users and keep the thread going. Next thing you know...  now I'm getting ahead of myself .

[Roy35150]

Just got the hornet on steam sale about 2 days ago,

 

Wow what can i say?

The module is just amazing,

Carrier capable and you got slammers and harpoons to boot,

Much as i looove the viper i have to admit the hornet is a great ALL ROUNDER.

Also got the rising squall dlc  and its super stuff and has great tutor missiions to learn the airframe.

 

Greetz from Ireland

 

Edited February 12 by Roy35150

[Stearmandriver]

On 2/2/2024 at 1:43 AM, VDV said:

Also the Viper is wayyy better in AA in every aspect (dogfight,  BVR, everything). Do I even need to mention the Hornet's shi.ty radar??

Obviously this is all personal preference... But I'll point out that I routinely splash vipers in the 1 v 1 dogfight servers with my hornet.  The 16 is definitely not superior at AA in "every aspect", or this would not be happening.  All you gotta do is get a 16 scissoring and the fight is over.

[markom]

To be frank, that's probably pilot and not the airplane :-).

[Stearmandriver]

6 hours ago, markom said:

To be frank, that's probably pilot and not the airplane :-).

Sometimes it could be.  But there are things the Hornet undeniably is better than the viper at, like high alpha nose pointing (and it sounds like it's about to get even better at that.). You could say the pilot won the fight by knowing his platform's strengths, but in the end it's still the plane's capabilities that win the fight.

The viper is very definitely not "waaay better in every aspect" of air to air. 

[markom]

9 hours ago, Stearmandriver said:

Sometimes it could be.  But there are things the Hornet undeniably is better than the viper at, like high alpha nose pointing (and it sounds like it's about to get even better at that.). You could say the pilot won the fight by knowing his platform's strengths, but in the end it's still the plane's capabilities that win the fight.

The viper is very definitely not "waaay better in every aspect" of air to air. 

Superior pilot is the one whose decisions don't lead to them needing their superior piloting skills

That aside, my progress was F-16->F/A-18, and I am really not looking back with much nostalgia. Landing on fixed runways is boring. That said, I don't fight other airplanes :-).

[BuzzU]

There's that word boring again.

 

Nothing about flying a fighter jet is boring.

 

[markom]

Sure. Except I don't fly jets, only pistons. But you know... details and artistic license.

[Raisuli]

4 hours ago, BuzzU said:

Nothing about flying a fighter jet is boring.

 

Possibly; I've never flown a jet.  I've done other things that sound sexy when you read about them, but turn out to be a grind at times.  The inconvenient truth I've discovered is any adventure turns into a job now and then.  Listening to real pilots talk I think that happens on station while you wait for tasking and your butt isn't quite dead yet, but it's well on the way.

I do know pretending to fly a jet can get boring, particularly that gap between when your last LGB hits the target and you land a hundred miles away.

[Cytarabine]

On 2/4/2024 at 1:32 AM, Exorcet said:

I really don't understand when people look down on the Hornet's radar. It's definitely better than the F-16's. If you mean the radar display and symbology, then fine, I think the F-16 is superior there as well. The actual radar though? I wish the F-16 had the 18's radar so much. The extra range and azimuth would mesh so well with the F-16's performance for BVR.

I think in part because you have to do a little more to get the most out of the Hornets radar, but if you do that more you get a whole lot more back. The Vipers radar is pretty good with doing nothing (though I hate the way TWS works in it), while the Hornet you have to deal with its quirks a bit.

[falcon_120]

As mentioned many times before, people complains on the hornet radar comes from a not fully fleshed implementation of MSI by ED.

Had we the full implementation you would never change the TWS Auto mode during BVR once the sorting phase has finalized since:

1. The hornet should be able to designate outbound tracks without the radar needing to detect them first
2. If you select an outbound track with the radar in TWS Auto, the radar automatically centers on that contact
3. You can do that for contacts outside of your TWS azimuth 

[rajdary]

Reply to OP.

I have been into Flight Sims since the 1980s, being F/A-18 Interceptor for the Commodore Amiga the first Sim into which i really spent time and dedication.

Then i went through the majority of Flight Sims since then, Microsoft, All Microprose, All Jane's, All DiD, Novalogic and on and on until in 2011 i came across DCSW and Su-25 and then bought A-10C (which was not my type, being a slow jet) but i ended up mastering it and loved it but then moved on to the F/A-18C in 2020 and love it because of all those extra things you can do with it, which have been very well explained here in this thread. I think its so involving and entertaining apart from the inmense variety of scenarios and weapons it can be used in.

I really enjoy it, its a masterpiece of equipment.

And reffering to  "If this is a new golden age of Flight Sims", for me the answer is YES. All you need to experience is DCS and MS Flight Sim in 4k or VR, and couple it with the MIP of WinWing and Virpil Base Stick and Thrustmaster Throttle and Grip, Buttkicker, TrackiR etc...Nothing before it, comes close!

By the way i am really looking forward to the Eurofighter module, Im sure it will be a superior aircraft in many ways to the F/A-18C, but as an enjoyment, will it be able to beat it?

Happy Flying to all!

Edited February 22 by rajdary