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    An Interview with Capt Robert Ward
    Dave
    By Dave,
      I want to thank Capt Robert Ward for doing this interview.   Can you tell us little about yourself? I was born and raised in a little town in west-central Indiana. Went to Purdue University as a member of the Class of 1966, where I received my Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering. Upon graduating from Purdue, I went to USAF Officer Training School at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, receiving my commission in April 1967. Then on to pilot training at Williams AFB near Phoenix, Arizona. After the 53 week pilot training program, I received my wings in May 1968.   I left the Air Force on December 7, 1974 and moved to Mesa, Arizona (my wife’s hometown). Her Dad was also a USAF pilot and went through undergraduate pilot training (UPT) at Williams, AFB, where he met his wife, as I did mine.   Once out of the Air Force and settled in Arizona, I put my engineering degree to use and have been practicing civil engineering ever since. I have been self-employed since 1987, working out of my home.   I stumbled onto computer flight simulations around 1997 and was thrilled at the realism of the technology. I dove into it head-first, bought a HOTAS system and built a cockpit chair on which to mount the controls. The grand-kids all love to watch “Grandpa” fly. Of course, they are always wanting to push buttons and fire the weapons to watch the tracers, rockets, etc.   What all aircraft did you fly and how many hours have you accumulated?   T-41, T-37, T-38 during UPT, F-111, F4, F-100, A-37. I don’t remember how many hours I accumulated. I am thinking somewhere around 2000-hours.   What units did you fly with?   My first assignment was to an F-111 squadron (428 TFS) with the 474th Tactical Fighter Wing at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas. At that point in time, no new pilot graduates were being assigned to the “left” seat in the F-111, so I was in the frustrating position of flying “right” seat and running all the navigation and weapons delivery systems. Although my aircraft commander was very good about giving me a lot of stick time. The F-111 was a real state-of-the art aircraft in 1968.   The terrain following radar (TFR) was amazing, when it worked right. You could dial in the altitude above ground that you wanted to fly and set the ride to soft, medium or hard, the difference being the “briskness” of the aircraft adjusting pitch as you went up a hill or down the other side. For example, on the “hard” setting, as you approached a hill, the aircraft delayed the pull-up point to a little closer to the hill than in the “soft” setting. This resulted in a little higher positive G-load as the plane pulled up and a little more negative G-load as you descended down the back side of the hill. The “hard”setting kept you as close to the ground as possible as you went over hills, mountains, etc. – good for radar avoidance.   There were some technical problems with the early F-111 avionics systems. I think we lost 2 planes while I was at Nellis. If I remember right, they were all TFR problems, primarily flying at night, on the deck and in weather. I believe the weather issue (heavy clouds, rain, etc.) was causing some confusion with the radar system, causing some planes to fly into hills at night.   As far as a thrill in the F-111, I remember a daytime flight where we were flying on auto-TFR at about 200-ft AGL. We started up the side of one of the Nevada mountain slopes that had its summit covered in clouds. The TFR system worked correctly and as we nosed over the top of the peak (in the cloud cover with negative G), my left-seater did not pull the throttles back (he had increased power as we went up the front slope to keep our airspeed up). As we emerged from the cloud cover going down the back slope of the mountain, the Mach indicator was passing 1.1 before he realized what was happening and pulled back the power. Mach 1.1, 200-ft above ground – on TFR autopilot! I would have liked to been on the ground and seen that going over my head (with ear protection of course).   On a little side note, the USAF Fighter Weapons School (USAF version of Navy Top Gun School) was (and probably still is) located at Nellis AFB. So while I was there in the F-111 program, I wandered down to the Fighter Weapons School operations building one day and asked if they would let me fly in any empty F4 instructor pilot’s back seat. I hit pay dirt, the next day I was strapping into the back seat of an F4. I flew probably 6 or 7 missions with those guys before my F-111 squadron commander found out about it and said “no more”. The F4 instructor pilots gave me a lot of stick time, so it was a real fun experience. I included some F4 pictures that I took while flying with these guys.   After about a year at Nellis, I managed to secure an F-100 assignment to SEA. So first it was off to sea survival school in Miami, FL, then up to Fairchild AFB in Washington state for land & POW survival training. Once that was out of the way, I headed to Luke AFB in Arizona to begin F-100 training. I was so thrilled the first day I got to climb in the Super Sabre. I had studied my rear-end off during the ground school that we had gone through the prior few weeks, so I had all the system operations and emergency procedures down pat. I had absolutely no problems during my first flight – it was like I had been flying it all my life. My instructor didn’t even demo a landing (1st flight was in an F-100E two seater, front & back), he let me do the first touch & go. What a fun day.   After being checked out in the F-100, I headed for South Vietnam in early January 1970 (commercial airline). However, we had to make a stop at Clark AFB in the Philippines to spend another week going through jungle survival and more POW training. Was not real fond of sleeping on the ground in the jungle for 2 nights, I had a real concern about snakes and rats chewing on me. Anyway, no bites; did have a close encounter with a snake though while trying to hide under some brush during an evasion exercise.   Next stop was Phan Rang AB, South Vietnam. I was assigned to the 612 TFS, which was part of the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing. During my tour at Phan Rang, I flew 165 combat missions, mostly in the south. However, I did make a few trips into Cambodia and southern Laos to hit supply routes. Our primary mission was close air support for the ground troops.   Our typical weapon loadouts were both "slick" and high-drag 750 & 500 lb bombs, napalm, rockets, and occasional CBUs. Of course we always carried high incendiary 20mm for the four canons.   On a few missions we carried some exotic ordinance. There was some CBU type ordinance that scattered little “whirly” maple-leaf-seed type explosives that drifted down to the ground and just layed there until someone stepped on it – then bang! I don’t remember exactly, but I assume that these things degraded over time and became inert.   Another exotic weapon was one that we used for underground bunker complexes. When this thing hit the ground, it spewed an explosive gas all around the impact area. After about 30 to 60 seconds, a detonator went off and ignited the gas. The idea was that the gas would have filtered down into the tunnels during the delay. Well, you get the idea.   We also dropped a lot of time-delay bombs on the supply routes coming down through Laos. These were like 8-hour time delays. So we would hit the supply routes in mid-to late afternoon. The bombs would bury themselves upon impact and then later that night when the VC were transporting supplies, under the cover of darkness, the bombs would detonate.   Some of the attached pictures show an F-100 (in-flight) with a load of 750-lb bombs with “fuse extenders” on the front-ends. These extenders caused the bomb to detonate about 3-ft above ground, throwing out a very lethal shrapnel pattern. We were frequently called in to use these to clear jungle landing zones for the choppers. These things really “sawed down” the trees.   Depending on the mission, we delivered ordinance from both high and low altitude. When there were no friendlies close-by, we typically did 30 and 45-degree dive bombing. When the ground forces needed help, we would come in with low-angle high drag bombs and napalm and get right down in the "trees". We had more than one case where pilots scrapped the trees on pullout. The F-100 tended to "mush" a little bit when you started your dive recovery, i.e., you kept on a downward trajectory for a little bit after you pulled the stick back.   We always carried gun camera film and quite frequently had an aft-looking belly camera to record the bomb release and impact. On one mission, I was dropping napalm at tree-top level. One of the napalm tanks detonated a split second after it came off my wing – it may have taken a hit from small arms fire. Anyway, I got the whole sequence (in color) from my belly camera. I still have the film and have transferred a lot of it onto VCR tapes. Now I need to get it into a digital format – when I get that done I will send you some footage.   I did not have any missions that I would call unusual. I do remember strafing the barb wire at a Special Forces camp that was under attack by the VC. Also remember coming in on a target where they had radar-controlled 20mm quad cannons. I remember pulling off the target after one low-level strafing pass and seeing "orange tennis balls" zipping by my right wing. The FAC saw the gun emplacement after the tracers were flying and got my wingman & I vectored in on the next pass and we saturated the target with 20mm. Nothing more happened after that.   Having been a Range Officer on numerous occasions at state-side gunnery ranges, I can personally attest that a 20mm attack by a Century series fighter is a very impressive experience. While pulling Range Officer duty at England AFB, the range tower (they have a newer range now) was located between strafing panels 2 & 3 (there were 4 panels total). The Range Officer tower was probably about a 1000-ft in front of the strafing panels. When the F-100s rolled in they started firing around 2500-ft out. The 20mm frequently went supersonic as it passed the tower, followed about a second and half later by the defining roar of an F-100 passing the tower about 300-ft above the ground at 450 knots. No one would want to be on the receiving end of that. The sounds alone would scare the hell out of you.   I also remember the first night I pulled alert duty at Phan Rang. Things had been quiet all evening. I remember sitting in the pilot lounge and watching “The Graduate” (Dustin Hoffman) until around 1 AM. Started getting tired after that so I layed down on one of the cots. I was just about asleep when the scramble alarm went off around 2:30 AM. I jumped up and ran for my plane, got strapped in, cranked the engine via cartridge start, rolled out to the end of the runway and got immediate takeoff clearance. About a minute later I was hurtling through a pitch black sky at about 400 knots and thinking “here I am about a half a world away from home, in the middle of the night, and enroute to some as yet unknown destination to unleash a barrage of destruction on some target”. Needless to say, it was quite an exciting experience for a young guy.   My room-mate was shot down while at Phan Rang and managed to eject. He landed in the top layer of a triple canopy jungle of trees. The VC saw him floating down, but once he hit the trees they could not see him anymore. So they just started randomly spraying the tree foliage with machine gun fire. They finally got some close air support in to get the bad guys flushed out of the area, then picked him up with a chopper.   The 35 TFW was rotated out of Phan Rang in Oct 1970. We got to fly our planes across the Pacific, that was quite an experience. I have attached several pictures of our F-100s and KC-135 tanker support as we came across the Pacific.   We did not fly with the tankers all the way back. We had gaps where the initial group of tankers had to turn back to their base. They would give us a compass bearing before they left so that we could head in the general direction of where the next group of incoming tankers was to rendezvous with us. The F-100 did not have inertial navigation; all we had was a radio and magnetic compass and TACAN. So it was a little uncomfortable for those periods when we were flying on “good faith” towards the incoming tankers. If we had failed to make the intercept (or had they had mechanical problems and had to turn back), we would have run out of gas and had to ditch.   Anyway, we made all the tanker intercepts and went all the way to England AFB in Alexandria, LA. First hop out of South Vietnam was to Guam (I lost my hydraulic system to lower the landing gear - had to blow it down with emergency compressed air); 2nd day to Hawaii; 3rd day for rest to catch up on time zones; 4th day to Cannon AFB in Clovis, New Mexico; and 5th day to Alexandria, LA. We were assigned to a different fighter wing after relocating to Alexandria, I don’t remember the wing designation, but I was flying with the 68th TFS.   Shortly after being relocated to Alexandria, I, and 4 other squadron pilots, were sent to Madrid, Spain to fly some F-100s back to the states. That was a one-hop flight all the way from Madrid to North Carolina. Seems like it was close to 8-hours, we were pushing against about a 100 mph jet stream all the way. Several in-flight re-fuelings with KC -135s. So I had the privilege of flying a single seat fighter across both the Pacific and Atlantic. Wouldn’t want to do it again though!   I spent my last couple years in the Air Force at England AFB. The F-100s were eventually phased out by the A-7s while I was there. At that time I was re-assigned to an A-37 Special Operations Training Squadron as an instructor pilot for young South Vietnamese pilots.     What was one of your most humorous moments?   Well this was not humorous to me, but it was to my student pilot. In addition to the South Vietnamese pilots that we trained in the A-37 program, we also had several Air National Guard units come through the A-37 fighter training program.   So I had an American ANG student on a dive bombing mission at the range one day. First few drops went fine. We were doing 45-degree dive bombing. I think on about the 3rd pass, he released the ordinance and snatched the stick back so hard (while I was looking out the canopy to the right and not expecting such an abrupt pull-up at that instant) that he nearly over-G “ed” the plane and completely blacked me out.   I had never experienced that before. I have been grayed-out before (intentionally by my instructor during pilot training), but I have never been blacked-out. I have cranked 9-Gs on an F-100 in Vietnam (G-limit was 7.33) and never had a problem even graying-out.   Well this time I was totally blind and in a state of semi-consciousness as a result of what my A-37 student did. I knew what had happened but I was completely unable to react. I did not know if my student had blacked out as well or what was going on. I was in a dream-world and just thinking that if he does not have control of the aircraft, we’re dead.   Fortunately, he was in full control, so I got to live another day. I debated whether to tell him about it during our mission debrief, knowing that I would be ridiculed to no end if he knew what had happened to his “combat-veteran instructor”. But in the interest of safety, I advised him to be careful about such an abrupt pull-out and used my black-out experience as a possible by-product of such actions. We didn’t wear G-suits in the A-37, so everything was the old “grunt” maneuver. BTW, I did get some ribbing about it after the word spread to a few other instructors.   What was one of your hairiest moments?   Well, it was not during my combat tour in Vietnam. Again, it was actually during my stint as an A-37 instructor pilot with a young Vietnamese pilot. We were practicing some 2-ship formation flying – my student was flying on the right wing. The flight leader decided to do a loop. As we were coming down the back side of the loop, he dove right into a dense cloud layer, we were probably under 4500-ft AGL at the time. We totally lost site of the flight leader (we were only 3-feet off his wing) and were headed in a direct 90-degree dive at the ground when he entered the cloud layer. Fearing an instant mid-air collision with my student at the controls, I grabbed control of the plane, chopped the throttles to idle, popped the speed brake, and initiated a break to the right (away from the last known position of the flight leader). Then I just started pulling the stick back and praying that we would get the nose up before we hit the ground – we were still in the clouds at this point so I had to get on the gages ASAP. We came out of the clouds about 1500-ft AGL in only a slight dive, so things worked out.   What was your favorite and why?   Well, this is an easy one, the old F-100. A fighter pilot’s dream, a single-seat, single-engine, bent-wing, burner fighter! Back in my day, that was quite a machine to have strapped to your rear-end. The first Century series fighter to break the sound-barrier in level flight.   I remember a joint air operation (Exotic Dancer IV) that was held at Camp Lejeune, N.C. in May 1971. Our F-100 squadron, from England AFB, flew up there for a week and a half to play the “opposition force” role for Marine & Air Force F4 squadrons. We went head-to-head with those guys on several occasions and really held our own. How someone never had a mid-air I’ll never know, it was a real free-for–all, usually 8 fighters, four 1 on1 engagements, in a relatively confined air space.   Lt Bob Ward, F-100, South Vietnam, 1970   F-100s Arming Guns, Phan Rang AB, South Vietnam, 1970   Rocket Attack, Phan Rang Officer's Club, 1970   Rocket Attack, Phan Rang Officer's Club, 1970   Capt Bob Ward's F-100, #949, Phan Rang AB, South Vietnam, 1970   Capt Bob Ward's F-100, #949, Phan Rang AB, South Vietnam, 1970   Capt Bob Ward, F-100 #949, Phan Rang AB, South Vietnam, 1970   Capt Bob Ward, F-100 #949, Phan Rang AB, South Vietnam, 1970   Capt Bob Ward Climbing Aboard F-100, Phan Rang AB, South Vietnam, 1970

    Hat In The Ring
    Erik
    By Erik,
      Over Flanders Fields announces a new upcoming add-on release called, "Hat In The Ring." Designed with the community in mind it includes a tremendous amount of new and updated features. The new release is greatly anticipated and promises to be more than newly stretch canvas for the prop-heads among us. Expect a full review of the upcoming release when it is available. Some of the highlights we are greatly expecting in Hat In The Ring soon to be released are below. We hope you are as excited about this as we are.   NEW FLYABLE AIRCRAFT • Nieuport N.28 - Initially deploayed by the US Air Force the Nieuport N.28 was a good fighter only hampered by upper wing problems, and the odd spontaneous fire at take off!   • Nieuport N.24 - Both British & French Versions are being released as one of the most beautiful designs from nieuport in several variations.   • Nieuport N.24 Bis - British & French Versions   • Nieuport N.17 Bis - The Nieuport N.17 was based on the n24 design, the n.17 bis unusually for nieuports sported two guns, Lewis over wing and Vickers!   • Fokker E.V "RAZOR" - Late to the fight but notable as the first thick wing mono-wing aircraft with excellent performance from a 110 HP ENGINE.   • Airco D.H.5 - Biplane with a rearward stagger. The Airco D.H.5 known for its lacking performance at altitude forced this sturdy craft into the ground attack roll where it excelled. fitted with 4 cooper bombs. Said to be a sight to be behold the D.H.5 diving onto the enemy vertically is sure to be a great addition!   NEW FEATURES • Extra Squads and Amended Squads - take the NEW Aircraft into account for full campaign immersion for all OFF aircraft. Includes American Squads as a key part!   • 100'S of NEW Authentic Aircraft Textures - NEW or UPDATED for the squads and existing aircraft for full immersion in the campaigns! Fully researched and bringing the total number of available aircraft in OFF to over 4000.   • Personalized AIRCRAFT Skins - players can now fly with their own unique custom skin in a single player campaign!   • Actual Wind Buffeting Effect - as you fly wind effects get worse with the weather conditions (configurable as off or on in workshops).   • NEW Wind Sounds - available in every craft so they are speed dependent and increases with speed.   • Revised Rail Yards - all are now co-incident with railway tracks and further improved with switchbacks and revised textures.   • Revised Textures - overhauled high resolution airfield textures and revised airfield tree models.   • Revised Terrain - Revised forest and woods layouts.   • Revised Auto-generated Tree Models - available in high terrain detail only.   • Improved Mobile Ground Unit Deployment - for theater play.   • NEW Artwork Manager - main menu picture now changes according to players pilot nationality.   • NEW Aircraft Roles - now Aircraft Roles are depicted in enlistment and in campaign screens and missions will match. As an example the DH5 will be assigned ground attack roles.   • Revised Effects   • Auto Exit on Damage on/off Setting   • Allied Flak Smoke Improved   • Many Other Minor Tweaks and Features     GET YOUR COPY SOON                                

    Virtual Festival of Aerobatic Teams 2009
    Ruggbutt
    By Ruggbutt,
    The VFAT Staff and over 100 virtual aerobatic pilots would like to invite you to the Virtual Festival of Aerobatic Teams 2009.     The Virtual Festival of Aerobatic Teams or VFAT is a big international airshow like RIAT or MAKS and spectators will be able to watch the demonstrations flown LIVE through our VFAT TV.   The pilots mostly simulate the displays of real aerobatic teams like the Patrouille Suisse, Thunderbirds, Blue Angels, Russian Knights and Blue Impulse, however, many teams also create their own spectacular displays instead of simulating real life counterparts. VFAT is currently the only virtual airshow where such a large group of performers gather and after 4 years of great succes we now celebrate the 5th anniversary of VFAT!   Witness the result of another year of hard work by the pilots, simply for the enjoyment to the general public!   ----------------------------------------   VFAT 2009 Dates: Rehearsal Weekend - November 27/28/29 VFAT Weekend - December 04/05/06   Watch LIVE here: http://www.virtual-a.../english/vfattv   ----------------------------------------   To get an idea of what VFAT will be like, watch the VFAT Promo Video:     The VFAT 2009 Performers:   Teams FSX Blue Eagles The Virtual Horsemen Virtual Blue Impulse Virtual Patriots Jet Team Virtual Blue Angels Virtual Aerobatic Team "Berkuts" The patrouille Suisse Virtuelle Virtual Thunderbirds Virtual Red Arrows Advanced Precision Aerobatic SQuadron Virtual Falcons Aerobatic Display Team Smile Pilots Club Double Dutch Display Team USAF Virtual Heritage Flight Virtual Ukrainian Falcons Frecce Tricolori Virtuali Virtual Blues Brothers ADA Mod Team Voltige Victor Virtuelle The =RAF= "Virtual Swifts" & "Virtual Russian Knights"   Solos Virtual F-16 Solo Displayteam Flanker Demo by Frazer HDF 59th "Szentgyörgyi Dezső" Virtual Air Base Black Shark Demo by Frazer Golden Star - Solo Display Team Virtual Staffel 11 Solo Team Furious Wasp Demo Team Reservoirs Elite Su-25 Black Shark Demo by Cygan Virtual Falcons Su-27 Ammafrion   More information about the 2009 participants can be found here: http://forum.virtual...index.php/topic,367.0.html     We hope to welcome you in our VFAT TV Chat during the event!

    Lock On/Flaming Cliffs 2.0
    Ruggbutt
    By Ruggbutt,
      http://forums.eagle....ead.php?t=47143   THE FIGHTER COLLECTION AND EAGLE DYNAMICS TO RELEASE LOCK ON: FLAMING CLIFFS 2.0 UPGRADE   DUXFORD, UK, November 17, 2009 – The Fighter Collection and Eagle Dynamics will release Lock On: Flaming Cliffs 2.0 in early 2010. This will be an upgrade to the unofficial Lock On: Flaming Cliffs add-on. Lock On: Flaming Cliffs 2.0 will feature all the flyable aircraft of Lock On: Flaming Cliffs and include several fan-requested upgrades to aircraft, sensor, and weapon systems. Lock On: Flaming Cliffs combines a large stable of modern U.S. and Russian aircraft to fly over Russia and Georgia with game play for both casual and hardcore flight simulation enthusiasts.   Lock On: Flaming Cliffs 2.0 will feature the same world environment and game functionality as the Digital Combat Simulation (DCS) series and will be online compatible with the Ka-50 attack helicopter simulation DCS: Black Shark www.digitalcombatsimulator.com. Lock On: Flaming Cliffs 2.0 will allow Lock On pilots and Black Shark pilots to now fly online together in both cooperative and head-to-head online play.   The Lock On: Flaming Cliffs 2.0 upgrade for owners of Lock On: Flaming Cliffs 1.12 will be available for sale as a download from the Eagle Dynamics Lock On web site for $14.99 USD. http://lockon.co.uk/. The upgrade will first be released in English and Russian with French, German, and Spanish versions to follow.   By using the DCS environment, Lock On: Flaming Cliffs 2.0 users will have improved terrain, mission editor, AI flight models, 3D objects, artificial intelligence (AI), and multiplayer. The aircraft of Lock On: Flaming Cliffs 2.0 will include:   • Su-25 (new 3D model) • Su-25T • A-10A • Su-27 • Su-33 • MiG-29A • MiG-29C • F-15C   Flaming Cliffs 2.0 Upgrade FAQ   Q: What new features does the Flaming Cliffs 2.0 upgrade add? A: The following features are added: - Runs under DirectX 9C - Improved Mission Editor with trigger system - New terrain area to include much of Georgia. This will be same map as used in DCS: Blacks Shark. As such the Crimea has been replaced with the addition of Georgia. - More detailed terrain to include more ground objects, larger forests, and higher resolution elevation data - Improved clouds - High resolution airfield textures - Improved multiplayer system with embedded game browser - More robust online cheating prevention - New and improved menu system - Numerous new, highly detailed ground units including infantry - Improved flight performance for player-controlled aircraft - Improved flight models for all artificial intelligence (AI) controlled aircraft - New, more realistic G-tolerance modeling - Limited 6 DOF cockpits that move up, down and sideways according to maneuvering - New and highly-detailed Su-25 model - Advanced ballistics are implemented for all flyable aircraft, including ricochets of AP rounds - F-15C locked target IFF indication - More realistic ranges, seeker guidance and fuzes for air-to-air missiles - More realistic electronic countermeasure operation and performance - New and improved sound engine - New radio message voice-overs   Q: Will my Flaming Cliffs 1.12 missions work with Flaming Cliffs 2.0? A: Due to a change in the world location and mission editor, they will not. However, when installing the upgrade you have the option to create both Flaming Cliffs 1.12 and Flaming Cliffs 2.0 parallel installs. Flaming Cliffs 1.12 and the upgraded Flaming Cliffs 2.0 will not be online compatible.   Q: Will Flaming Cliffs 2.0 and DCS: Black Shark be online compatible? A: Yes! You will now be able to fly head-to-head and cooperatively with players flying the Ka-50.   Q: Is a player flyable Ka-50 included in Flaming Cliffs 2.0? A: No. To fly the Ka-50 you must own DCS: Black Shark. However, AI-controlled Ka-50 helicopters are included in Flaming Cliffs 2.0.   Q: What mission content will be included in Flaming Cliffs 2.0? A: Each aircraft will have several new single missions and new Su-25 and A-10A campaigns will be included.   Q: Will new documents be provided? A: Yes. A new Flaming Cliffs manual will be provided as well as a new Install Guide.   Q: Will 3rd party modifications created for Flaming Cliffs 1.12 work in Flaming Cliffs 2.0? A: Yes, in most cases. However, some minor modifications made need to be made for 3rd party-created aircraft.   Q: What operating systems will be supported? A: Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.   Q: What copy protection will be used? A: StarForce online activation (only) will be used. Based on the success of DCS: Black Shark protection, we feel this provides the best compromise of user-friendliness and protection of property. Unlike the reported hardware problems reported with an earlier version of StarForce applied to the original Flaming Cliffs, no such issues have been reported with the current online activation method that does not install any drivers to the user’s computer.   Q: When will Flaming Cliffs 2.0 be available? A: We plan to make the upgrade available for download from the Eagle Dynamics website in January 2010. http://lockon.co.uk/   Q: How much will this upgrade cost? A: $14.99 USD   Edited 11/25/09   Flaming Cliffs 2.0 Upgrade FAQ   Q: What new features does the Flaming Cliffs 2.0 upgrade add? A: The following features are added: - Runs under DirectX 9C - Improved Mission Editor with trigger system - New terrain area to include much of Georgia. This will be same map as used in DCS: Blacks Shark. As such the Crimea has been replaced with the addition of Georgia. - More detailed terrain to include more ground objects, larger forests, and higher resolution elevation data - Improved clouds - High resolution airfield textures - Improved multiplayer system with embedded game browser - More robust online cheating prevention - New and improved menu system - Numerous new, highly detailed ground units including infantry - Improved flight performance for player-controlled aircraft - Improved flight models for all artificial intelligence (AI) controlled aircraft - New, more realistic G-tolerance modeling - Limited 6 DOF cockpits that move up, down and sideways according to maneuvering - New and highly-detailed Su-25 model - Advanced ballistics are implemented for all flyable aircraft, including ricochets of AP rounds - F-15C locked target IFF indication - More realistic ranges, seeker guidance and fuzes for air-to-air missiles - More realistic electronic countermeasure operation and performance - New and improved sound engine - New radio message voice-overs   Q: Will my Flaming Cliffs 1.12 missions work with Flaming Cliffs 2.0? A: Due to a change in the world location and mission editor, they will not. However, when installing the upgrade you have the option to create both Flaming Cliffs 1.12 and Flaming Cliffs 2.0 parallel installs. Flaming Cliffs 1.12 and the upgraded Flaming Cliffs 2.0 will not be online compatible.   Q: Will Flaming Cliffs 2.0 and DCS: Black Shark be online compatible? A: Yes! You will now be able to fly head-to-head and cooperatively with players flying the Ka-50.   Q: Is a player flyable Ka-50 included in Flaming Cliffs 2.0? A: No. To fly the Ka-50 you must own DCS: Black Shark. However, AI-controlled Ka-50 helicopters are included in Flaming Cliffs 2.0.   Q: What mission content will be included in Flaming Cliffs 2.0? A: Each aircraft will have several new single missions and new Su-25 and A-10A campaigns will be included.   Q: Will new documents be provided? A: Yes. A new Flaming Cliffs manual will be provided as well as a new Install Guide.   Q: Will 3rd party modifications created for Flaming Cliffs 1.12 work in Flaming Cliffs 2.0? A: Yes, in most cases. However, some minor modifications made need to be made for 3rd party-created aircraft.   Q: What operating systems will be supported? A: Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.   Q: What copy protection will be used? A: StarForce online activation (only) will be used. Based on the success of DCS: Black Shark protection, we feel this provides the best compromise of user-friendliness and protection of property. Unlike the reported hardware problems reported with an earlier version of StarForce applied to the original Flaming Cliffs, no such issues have been reported with the current online activation method that does not install any drivers to the user’s computer.   Q: When will Flaming Cliffs 2.0 be available? A: We plan to make the upgrade available for download from the Eagle Dynamics website in early 2010. http://lockon.co.uk/   Q: How much will this upgrade cost? A: $14.99 USD   Q: Will Flaming Cliffs 2.0 use the same "engine" as Black Shark? A: It would be more accurate to say that both Flaming Cliffs 2.0 and Black Shark use the same generation of The Fighter Collection Simulation Engine (TFCSE). This was done not only to improve the Flaming Cliffs series in many key areas, but to also allow multi-player compatibility between the two brand series. Given this, they share many things in common, including: • Map and airbases • Multiplayer and network code (sorry, no dedicated server yet) • Log Book • Encyclopedia • AI units and AI actions • Track file system • Options • Mission Editor • Campaign Editor • Modding openness • World lighting and shadowing • TripleHead2Go support • Force feedback implementation • Monitor resolution support   Q: What are the system specifications for Flaming Cliffs 2.0? A: The same as for Black Shark. For most users, the game will run faster than Flaming Cliffs 1.12 due to TFCSE optimizations.   Minimum system requirements: Windows XP, Vista or 7; CPU P4 2 GHz; RAM 2 GB; video card 256 MB RAM, compatible with DirectX 9; 5 GB HDD space; sound card; keyboard and mouse.   Recommended system requirements: Windows XP, Vista or 7, CPU Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD X2; RAM 3 GB; video card with 512 MB RAM (ATI Radeon HD4850+ or nVidia GF8800+), compatible with DirectX 9; 5 GB of HDD space; sound card; keyboard and mouse; and joystick.   Q: If I install the Flaming Cliffs 2.0 upgrade to an existing copy of Flaming Cliffs, will I still need the original Flaming Cliffs CD to launch it and still go through activation? A: No, only the Flaming Cliffs 2.0 protection system would be used.   Q: Will the upcoming DCS: A-10C Warthog be online compatible with Flaming Cliffs 2.0? A: We do not know yet as DCS: A-10C Warthog is still in development.   Q: Can I port Flaming Cliffs missions into Flaming Cliffs 2.0? A: No, due to significant changes in the map and Mission Editor.   Q: Will a combined package of Lock On and Flaming Cliffs 2.0 be released? A: This is possible and something that is under investigation with Ubisoft (owners of intellectual property rights of Lock On).   Q: Will it be possible to build missions in both Black Shark and Flaming Cliffs FC 2.0 and use them interchangeably? A: For the most part yes, but some mission modification would probably be needed due to a different set of flyable aircraft.   Q: Will all Flaming Cliffs 2.0 flyable aircraft now have the Advance Flight Model (AFM) system? A: The Su-25 and Su-25T most certainly will and will have some performance tweaks. The other aircraft will have the Standard Flight Model (SFM) but will see more realistic performance in regards to such items as climb rates, acceleration, and top speeds.   Q: What if I do not have a copy of Flaming Cliffs to upgrade to Flaming Cliffs 2.0? A: Likely in the Spring of 2010 we will release Flaming Cliffs 2.0 of DVD. This version will be a complete Flaming Cliffs 2.0 install but will still require Lock On to be first installed. You can purchase Lock On at: http://www.kengray.co.uk/lockonbuy.htm   Q: What about including 3rd party models, textures, etc.? A: While 3rd party developers are certainly free to add these to Flaming Cliffs 2.0 after release, they will not be integrated due to past issues attempting to use 3rd party content and legal issues.   Q: Will the released terrain tools be compatible with Flaming Cliffs 2.0? A: Yes.   Q: Will Black Shark and Flaming Cliffs 2.0 be run from the same executable? A: No, they are two separate programs. They only link together in regards to online compatibility.   Q: Has the AIM-120B/C performance been improved? A: Yes in regards to range, speed, fuze ranges, and counter-counter measure effectiveness. Other missiles have also been improved. In a related manner, ECM burn-through ranges have been moved significantly out (based on aircraft type) and a 15 second ECM warm-up time has been added to address ECM blinking online.   Q: What are the payment options for Flaming Cliffs 2.0? A: Most major credit cards will be accepted through: http://lockon.co.uk/index.php?end_po...g=en&cat_sid=0   Q: Will the Flaming Cliffs 2.0 aircraft receive the same level of detail regarding navigation systems, lights, and radios as the Ka-50 in DCS: Black Shark? A: No, that level of detail is reserved for the DCS series. Except for when indicted in this FAQ, Flaming Cliffs 2.0 aircraft will be as they are in Flaming Cliffs.   Q: Will multi-player aerial refueling be supported in Flaming Cliffs 2.0? A: As in Flaming Cliffs 1.12, the answer is no.   Q: Why are the Flaming Cliffs 2.0 limited 6 DOF and not full 6 DOF? A: Unlike the Ka-50 cockpit in DCS: Black Shark, the Flaming Cliffs 2.0 cockpits are not full 3D in every aspect that allows unlimited 6 DOF movement around the cockpit. Yaw, pitch, and Z-axis are as they were in Flaming Cliffs, but X, Y, and roll are limited.   Q: Will the training tracks be updated? A: Yes.   Q: Where will the boxed version of Flaming Cliffs 2.0 be available? A: Outside of TFC website (http://www.kengray.co.uk/lockonbuy.htm), that has yet to be determined.   Q: If there are future Black Shark patches, will Flaming Cliffs 2.0 still be online compatible? A: We will make every effort to retain this compatibility.   Q: What will be the activation limits for Flaming Cliffs 2.0? A: 8 activations and 10 deactivations. Note that just reinstalling the game does NOT use an activation! An activation or deactivation is only used when there is a significant hardware or OS change. Even if the user has exhausted all of their activations and deactivations, more are provided with proof of purchase. If in the unfortunate circumstance Eagle Dynamics were to go out of business, our intent would be to release a final patch to remove copy protection.   Q: What would be the Flaming Cliffs upgrade paths be? A: Either Lock On + Flaming Cliffs unofficial add-on (you would not have to activate) + Flaming Cliffs 2.0 upgrade or Lock On + Flaming Cliffs 2.0 DVD.   Q: Is it true that bird injection has been added? A: Yes, but it can be set on or off with .LUA setting.   FaQ update

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