Not a proper F-5 question but i would like to hear from you

[edup71]

Hi folks! It´s been already a bit more than a year since i started in the fligth sim stuff, for the record... i still have two left hands for flying! xD  

Among the little things i learned is that i don´t like "Fly By Wire" and i love cold war planes, and that´s why i love my only full fidelity plane, our beloved F-5. My approach to this hobby is not get my hangars full of planes, but to fly two, may be three (max) planes that i like and try to be fairly competent on them, and even try to make a nice deskpit for the one i pick as a  main.

It´s been a while now that something is attracting me to learn...BVR combat, and given the fact that that´s not possible with the F-5...i tried the F-14, the Mirage F-1 and the Mig 29 (obviously the FC one) and i like them all with pros and cons!

Which one do you think is the best choice for my second plane? I would love to hear you thoughts and opinions!

Cheers!!

Edited July 23 by edup71

[diego999]

Well, if it's BVR what you're after, go with the king, Tomcat + Phoenix combination. Con: you're not doing much radar wise, it's all down on Jester.

Mirage F1 doesn't have a very capable radar so your experience will be limited. It has a very good SARH missile tho (the smaller one, can't remember the name).

The FC MiG-29 is BVR capable but its systems are extremely simplified, like all FC planes. But it has a very interesting selection of R-27 variants.

 

[theRealTrickFlare]

The Mirage F1 is basically 4 modules in one (once the F1-M is done) so bang for buck is big.

Mig-29 may seem awesome, but early access is bound to have bugs and it could just collect dust due to frustration. 

I don't own the F14, I trial it every so often but have not purchased it.

I'd say if you want to do naval stuff, F14 otherwise Mirage F1

[Exorcet]

The F-14 being a two seater is the big question. Do you mesh with Jester? Do you have a human to sit in the RIO seat (or the pilot seat)? The F-14 is fantastic in a number of ways but I prefer single seat aircraft and as such have not used it as much as some other planes in complex missions. If you feel comfortable with a backseater, either AI or human, I'd certainly recommend it. The F-15 that is coming, with no timeline yet, will be similar while offering a single seater experience, so maybe consider that.

The F1 and MiG-29 are pretty different being West vs East and a generation apart. The MiG has amazing performance and good missiles but is designed around less pilot autonomy which restricts how it can be used. The F1 isn't the best BVR fighter with shorter range less capable missiles. It's the most demanding to fly of the three as well.

I wouldn't say that any of them are a bad choice, but the have their own pros and cons.

[edup71]

Thank you all!! Yeah, its a tough one! The F-14(probably the best module on the game and a beauty) i think it´s gonna be too complex for me. In a couple of days i can try the F-1 and then the F-14 again, lets see how i feel them this time.

I love the F-1 also, the lines , the flying... and obviously when im talking about BVR im thinking on the M version, that i guess can be bit better,. But there is a point that matters a lot to me and is why im loving the F-5 so much....the clear cockpit, i mean the canopy. It is the reason im not flying more the A-4E, cos i feel like in a cave..., does this make sense to you? For that matter Mig is the winner and i love it as well, and the radar it looks more simple than the F-1 (although in the F-1M can be better than it is now) and i can probably get used to the F-1 canopy....decisions, decisions! xD

[Volator]

Try the F-4.

[edup71]

On 7/27/2025 at 11:20 AM, Volator said:

Try the F-4.

Hi!! I think it´s not possible to try it yet, anyway if i need to pick one between two seaters i would pick the Tomcat xD 

Thanks for your comment!!

 

Edited Wednesday at 08:09 PM by edup71

[edup71]

I´m already flying the F-1 in trial. I like it, it has a lot of feeling... i need to pull harder on the stick than in the F-5. It is more complex too, i got warnings every two minutes! lol but i guess its a matter of getting deeper in the manual once i buy it. There is though a very anoying thing that i didn´t remember from the last trial and it could be a no go for this plane for me... i understand the realism ( i like it) but they should have an option to avoid the insane amount of switch covers in the plane. If they did it with the landing gear and the gun trigger, why don´t do it with the rest???

Edited Wednesday at 11:01 PM by edup71