First ever DCS: F-4E Phantom II Feedback Thread - May 22nd 2024

[panpan9133]

I had my first flight in the F-4E yesterday and it was Phantastic ! The cockpit is a work of art. The flight model is phabulous as well, and I think this is the first simulated aircraft I have flown that gives some distinctive feedback for its energy state ! Thank you Heatblur !

Edited May 31, 2024 by panpan9133

[r4y30n]

Wait what!?! They put canopy fog effects in? 

That was my thought!

[Q3ark]

4 hours ago, average_pilot said:

And he mentions it as if it was the most normal thing in DCS. 

I’ve got to try fog up my canopy next time I fly DCS, I wonder how best to do it? 

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

5 hours ago, Q3ark said:

I’ve got to try fog up my canopy next time I fly DCS, I wonder how best to do it? 

Invite me to "join you" in the cockpit. It will be cramped, but the canopy will fog up alright  

[Q3ark]

6 minutes ago, Raven (Elysian Angel) said:

Invite me to "join you" in the cockpit. It will be cramped, but the canopy will fog up alright  

Gigity 

[Kirk66]

I'm pretty sure cockpit fogging is not modelled yet. It has been discussed and asked for. It was definitely something you had to deal with in the jet.

The current "issue" is that the gunsight glass is somewhat dark, which under some lighting conditions can make target acquisition difficult. This is also being discussed,

Vulture

[YSIAD_RIP]

1 hour ago, Kirk66 said:

I'm pretty sure cockpit fogging is not modelled yet. It has been discussed and asked for. It was definitely something you had to deal with in the jet.

The current "issue" is that the gunsight glass is somewhat dark, which under some lighting conditions can make target acquisition difficult. This is also being discussed,

Vulture

The MB-339 has it.  : ) 

I understand that the famous Italian Jet is not for everyone.   Cheers. 

 

[ColonelDoom]

On 5/31/2024 at 8:02 PM, Kirk66 said:

I'm pretty sure cockpit fogging is not modelled yet. It has been discussed and asked for. It was definitely something you had to deal with in the jet.

The current "issue" is that the gunsight glass is somewhat dark, which under some lighting conditions can make target acquisition difficult. This is also being discussed,

Vulture

LOL here I was thinking it was fogging.   The dark hud would explain the reason why I have to stick my head out the cockpit in a dive to see a target. So yeah hopefully that will be resolved soon

[gulredrel]

"If the runway was bread, you were the butter..." LMAO And this in Incirlik with it's sloped down RW23.

 

Anyone noticed Jester calling ghost contacts above airfields where non active, static or landed AI aircraft are parked?! Or is it just radar smudges because of bad weather (multiple broken layers) Got his the second time now. Forgot to save the track. Will do next time.

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

A small item: Jester doesn’t know what an Mi-24 is. Instead of mentioning the type there’s just a pause: he’ll call out “we have a at 2 o’clock, 4 miles” for example.

[MAXsenna]

The MB-339 has it.  : ) 
I understand that the famous Italian Jet is not for everyone.   Cheers. 
 

Jeff too. Don't remember about the C-101 and F1.

Sent from my SM-A536B using Tapatalk

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

I just did the Have Doughnut mission by Sedlo. I really enjoyed the concept of this mission but I have a few small remarks:

- The briefing mentions evaluating the performance of the MiG-21 but switches to "MiG-29" a but further down. It also mentions HMD, and I didn't think the RL MiG-21F-13 had one.
- Is SOUND 1 supposed to have unlimited flares? The mission has unlimited weapons available but that causes also the countermeasures to never run out. I got into the MiG-21's control zone quite quickly, waiting for the flare spam to end but that never happened. So I ended up firing multiple Sidewinders until one connected.
After the reset and Fight #2, same thing happened again: flare spam as long as I am in the control zone. Given the very poor CCM of the equipped Sidewinders, this is fairly annoying and wastes fuel: after all of the engagements I had 2200 pounds left and landed with about 1300 pounds.
The F-13 is simulated by our MiG-21Bis which didn't have internal CM but required an external pod. Did the RL MiG-21F-13 use CM pods? I opened the mission in the ME but the MiG-21 doesn't have a pre-defined loadout so it must be trigger based?
- Small nit-picks: SOUND 2 has a loadout of 4x AIM-9JULI which afaik were only used by Spain IRL, not by the USAF. It also has 3 Sparrows equipped which seems odd since the mission requires either a Sidewinder or gun "kill".

Edited June 3, 2024 by Raven (Elysian Angel)

[CaptScotty]

I have the F-4E.  I play it in VR with an Oculus 3.  When I try to use the F-4, I can't move any switches in VR mode.  If I go to flat screen mode, I can move the switches.  I can use the crew chief wheel in VR but that is the only thing besides the space bar that I can click on and have it work.  It works fine in my other airplanes, just not the F-4E  Please let me know what I need to do to get it to work.  I'm disappointed that I can't get it to work.  The F-4 was my first choice out of USAF pilot training in 1972.  I didn't get it when they withdrew one of our 2 F-4s. My email is bettascott@hotmail.com

[Kirk66]

Make sure you bind a control to toggle the mouse control; when in VR you need that to activate the mouse cursor. 

Not sure what the actual binding is called, I think it's in the GENERAL commands.

I have to enable it for all my modules to be able to use the mouse and click controls in VR (Quest Pro here) - I have it bound to a button on my throttles. 

If you are still having problems please email me at kirk dot stant at gmail dot com and we can sort it out.

Vulture

[Freakmeister51]

5 hours ago, CaptScotty said:

I have the F-4E.  I play it in VR with an Oculus 3.  When I try to use the F-4, I can't move any switches in VR mode.  If I go to flat screen mode, I can move the switches.  I can use the crew chief wheel in VR but that is the only thing besides the space bar that I can click on and have it work.  It works fine in my other airplanes, just not the F-4E  Please let me know what I need to do to get it to work.  I'm disappointed that I can't get it to work.  The F-4 was my first choice out of USAF pilot training in 1972.  I didn't get it when they withdrew one of our 2 F-4s. My email is bettascott@hotmail.com

I don’t think you can do anything with the switches when the crew chief wheel is present. You have to remove the wheel before continuing, if that makes sense.

Edited June 4, 2024 by Freakmeister51

[Old Dude]

Any one have an issue with the gear toggle activating as you move the throttle ? I have a Virpil throttle, I use the same button on other modules without an issue and the Virpil test program shows no connection.

[Arecibo]

First off, I absolutely love this plane, it's phenomenal piece of work from your team. A small thing though. What about an option to hide the seatbelts sitting on the seat? They look great, but it feels a bit weird flying about with them just sitting there. I'd also love an option with just legs visible, as the arms get in the way and I sometimes sink behind the pilot model and can't see.

[Baldrick33]

1 hour ago, Old Dude said:

Any one have an issue with the gear toggle activating as you move the throttle ? I have a Virpil throttle, I use the same button on other modules without an issue and the Virpil test program shows no connection.

Have you checked axis mapping as you can use an axis for gear?

[Old Dude]

Dam, no problem when throttle moved, but in button is pressed throttle causes off toggle, so wire chaff, will use other button for now.

[Elf1606688794]

On 5/27/2024 at 4:51 PM, Kirk66 said:

Never been to a Red Flag? Or a squadron ramp during a sortie surge? Pretty loud, and my custom fit helmet did a good job of muffling the sounds - including anything the CC would say until he plugged in with his headset - which had special mouth cups to block the ramp sounds. So before puttin on helmets and starting the dash-60, sure you can talk to the CC. Once the start process begins, it's hand signals or a plugged in intercom. At least that's the way we did it.

Vulture

Not every pilot put his helmet on immediately. Most of them did, but some didn't.

Bolded part. Red Flag twice with F-15's from the 21st TFW. Sortie surge? Yeah, plenty of times. Seymour Johnson we had 104 F-4E's and every squadron (4 of them) ran surge operations at least twice a month, once for the entire wing and once for each squadron. If your performance wasn't up to par then you got to run surge ops even more. (During our surge ops we sent 4 aircraft at a time on their missions and takeoffs were staggered throughout the day.) At Elmendorf we only had 1 fighter squadron when I was there so we didn't do surge ops as often.

Something I noticed as a weapons mechanic is that the jet engine noise (and -60's) didn't affect your hearing unless you were on the same parking spot or right next door but even then, if there was an aircraft between you and the offending engines you could still communicate in normal voices.

Ever been on the ramp during an Elephant Walk? I have, 104 F-4E's participated in that one. That's a noisy ramp. 

I enjoy swapping war stories. Getting to hear your perspective on the noise levels of the ramp is interesting.

 

On 5/27/2024 at 5:09 PM, Kirk66 said:

now we need the wing vents pissing like a horse on a flat rock on a hot day after a fillup of cool JP-8 starts warming up.

They had fuel bowsers on the flight line because of that very issue. lol

[=DROOPY=]

On 5/29/2024 at 8:42 AM, Freakmeister51 said:

We always used throat mics for our aircraft operations

Even working a completely silent 'civvie' ramp, once the helmets were on, crews had no idea you were even talking unless you were actually went up to them. Even then, they had to pull the respective side of the helmet away from their ears to hear you at anything less than 10ft. 

[IronMike]

On 5/31/2024 at 9:44 PM, YSIAD_RIP said:

The MB-339 has it.  : ) 

I understand that the famous Italian Jet is not for everyone.   Cheers. 

 

That's icing though, which is planned as well. But fogging is different, as in you really get fog in your cockpit, for example if you dive low very fast, etc.

[GrEaSeLiTeNiN]

I know the F4 module is very well done. I have the F14 and it wasn't my cup of tea and I rarely ever fly it. I'm more into modern stuff like the F18/16 and Apache and fly solo. So just wondering, is there anyone like me out there who still went ahead to buy the F4 and how has it been so far? Thanks!    

[freehand]

I did and I bought the f14 which was not my cup of tea the f14 is surrounded with so much boooolicks because of the film and the nonsense on the forum....

I always go back to the F18 after the honeymoon period has ended with a new module but must say for some reason I like the F4 much more that other new modules.

That being said not sure how long it will last before I  go back to f18 but so far like it lots hope this helps.

[YSIAD_RIP]

37 minutes ago, GrEaSeLiTeNiN said:

I know the F4 module is very well done. I have the F14 and it wasn't my cup of tea and I rarely ever fly it. I'm more into modern stuff like the F18/16 and Apache and fly solo. So just wondering, is there anyone like me out there who still went ahead to buy the F4 and how has it been so far? Thanks!    

• I view any well made DCS module, like the F14 and F-4E, as digital works of art. The F14 always felt and reminded me of the old Toronto TTC Buses of the 1980's with the noises of the windows and suspension shaking and rattling along every bump in the road.
• F14 also feels like a WWII Warbird on Super Captain America type Steroids with way to many Covid-19 boosters.. "Thanks Fauci-Pfizer"
• The F-4E is more tame, quiet and just looks and feels like a very efficiently coded, visually upgraded, technological upgrade with little hit on FPS. Hurray for Multithreading and I even saw some reference to Vulkan in the F-4E Files as well.
• Looking forward to "years from now" when the F14 should get some similar makeovers -- No real rush at all!
• Many of my DCS purchases are based on experience with the planes as toys or models in my childhood - so there is that nostalgic aspect to it all as well.

Cheers.