Most realistic DCS aircraft

[Ghostmaker]

To all those, what do you think is the most realistic Aircraft in DCS? I have the fa18c, f15E, F4 phantom, spit fire. Peronally i think the phantom is visually the wow factor in VR also. What would you think out of all DCS air craft not just those mentioned above

Edited August 24, 2024 by Ghostmaker

[Dragon1-1]

If I was to pick one, it'd be the A-10C, because it's very comprehensive, and being the first fixed wing aircraft in DCS, some of its quirks don't hurt it as much. The latest offering from Heatblur will typically be visually impressive, but as far as realism goes, both Phantom and F-14 still lack some features. Phantom is very WIP, the Tomcat is almost done, but is still missing some stuff even from the basic startup checklist, such as EMER GEN and OBC tests. There's probably more things missing in the backseat, but I don't fly as RIO, so I don't know. Meanwhile, in the A-10C you can not only perform all the checklist, you can go into deep menus that you don't need 99% of the time, and change some obscure parameter if it's the 1% of missions where doing that can help you.

I wish more time was spent on bringing newer aircraft to that standard. Generally, the older the aircraft, the simpler the systems, but OTOH, modeling an analog radar system is very much a complex task.

Edited August 17, 2024 by Dragon1-1

[Ghostmaker]

Do they do a trial on the a10c? Before you buy. Might have to invest.

[G.J.S]

I remember reading somewhere that some USAF A-10 units actually use DCS and the A-10 as part of their training. If that’s not an endorsement, I don’t know what is!

 

https://www.twz.com/40620/a-10-warthog-pilots-are-using-the-digital-combat-simulator-video-game-to-train-in-vr

Edited August 19, 2024 by G.J.S

[sirrah]

44 minutes ago, G.J.S said:

I remember reading somewhere that some USAF A-10 units actually use DCS and the A-10 as part of their training. If that’s not an endorsement, I don’t know what is!

 

https://www.twz.com/40620/a-10-warthog-pilots-are-using-the-digital-combat-simulator-video-game-to-train-in-vr

 

And special honorable mention for @MilesD, as they also use his PointCtrl

[TKhaos]

55 minutes ago, G.J.S said:

I remember reading somewhere that some USAF A-10 units actually use DCS and the A-10 as part of their training. If that’s not an endorsement, I don’t know what is!

 

https://www.twz.com/40620/a-10-warthog-pilots-are-using-the-digital-combat-simulator-video-game-to-train-in-vr

 

They use military versions of the game to train pilots that are different to commercial, so although it might be DCS by Eagle Dynamics it's a lot more in depth than the consumer version and has a lot of stuff added that we don't have. They have used the F-16 module to train Ukrainian pilots and also the Mirage 2000 for French pilots.

[Ghostmaker]

How realistic is the f16? In the way of visuals aswell? Detail wise as its quite an old model now isnt it? 

Ill also have a look at the a10 to see what i think. 

[TKhaos]

17 minutes ago, Ghostmaker said:

How realistic is the f16? In the way of visuals aswell? Detail wise as its quite an old model now isnt it? 

Ill also have a look at the a10 to see what i think. 

According to real world pilots of the F-16 it's pretty good, but then most say in all the military versions of software there are still subtle differences. The training of the pilots is more to make them familiar with the aircraft. It might be an older aircraft but one that is still in use, there's loads of skins and missions and mods for it in the User Files section.

I think the original A-10C was very good and I still use it from time to time, I've got the upgraded A-10C II as well which is very good, although it was just an update. If you want fast then the F-16 is good, if you want slow and more of a close air support setup then the A-10C II is fine, only other slow thing I fly apart from rotary is the third party OV-10A Bronco by Split-Air.

Edited August 19, 2024 by TKhaos

[Aapje]

I suspect that the biggest difference in the military version is that the rockets will have more accurate specifications. The exact performance of the rockets is big secret, since you want the opponent to accidentally get too close to escape your rocket, or fire from too far away, since they are afraid, rather than know exactly how far away they should stay.

Modern rockets is almost certainly the biggest upgrade that the old planes got.

Edited August 19, 2024 by Aapje

[bies]

Slightly older aircrafts like F-4 Phantom will always have an advantage of being declassified and possible to model to the detail.

In case of less older aircrafts like F-16, JF-17, F/A-18 etc. some systems, real life functionalities, weapons parameters and even some critical flight model regimes have to be omitted/changed, being classified.

[Ghostmaker]

Yeah so when i sit in the F4 Phantom vs say the f15e or Fa18C the phantom has a more realistic look to the cockpit.. i assume this is die to the makers adding in more ware and dust? Different makers. I use the f18 90% of the time as ive learnt more in this so far. But i wanted to purchase the f16 only i wasnt sure how realistic it was compared. I use hp reverb g2 VR. Some videos online look great. Some look really fake not realistic. That said i assume its depending on there setup/ settings. Im running a 4090 system and ryzen 7 7800x3d. 

[Dragon1-1]

Other videos you've seen might be from older sims. DCS F-16 looks amazing, but it's quite unfinished, with several features missing. It's getting better, but it's not as comprehensive as the A-10C, which really does simulate everything, right down to the smallest switch (except the Pave Penny pod, but IRL they were often left disconnected, too).

On 8/19/2024 at 3:18 PM, Aapje said:

Modern rockets is almost certainly the biggest upgrade that the old planes got.

More accurate weapon performance would likely be a significant change, but it's something that you'd likely only notice if you flew the real thing. Physics are the same, and tactics will be mostly the same, too. The devil is in details, using DCS numbers with IRL weapons would likely get you killed against a competent opponent, but the overall physics of BVR and dogfighting don't change. There may be some parts of the envelope that are classified, but it's often possible to make an educated (with CFD) guess.

Also, small correction, we usually call them "missiles". There's not much classified about actual rockets, which are unguided and rather straightforward to both model and use.

[C3PO]

On 8/19/2024 at 2:18 PM, Aapje said:

I suspect that the biggest difference in the military version is that the rockets will have more accurate specifications. The exact performance of the rockets is big secret, since you want the opponent to accidentally get too close to escape your rocket, or fire from too far away, since they are afraid, rather than know exactly how far away they should stay.

Modern rockets is almost certainly the biggest upgrade that the old planes got.

 

Do you mean missiles like the AMRAAM?