My Contuning Quest for Flight Sim Gadgets

[+Dave 2,322]

http://www.thrustmaster.com/products/mfd-cougar-pack

 

I just ordered those cheap. Also bought Adm Gilchrist Tomcat book.

 

I'm almost to where I want my combat flight experience to be. Can't wait to see how these puppies work!

 

 

[Zola25 3]

http://www.thrustmas...mfd-cougar-pack

 

I just ordered those cheap. Also bought Adm Gilchrist Tomcat book.

 

I'm almost to where I want my combat flight experience to be. Can't wait to see how these puppies work!

 

 

 

 

I can definitely recommend Adm Paul Gilchrist's book. I was given it as a gift in the late 90s and must have read it half a dozen times, and each time it is still exciting to read. If you can source it, the World Air Power Journal's F-14 Shipborne Super fighter is a superb reference book too.

[crl848 9]

Also bought Adm Gilchrist Tomcat book.

 

I was flicking through my copy the other day, and was surprised to see his conclusion on AIM/ACEVAL that "F-14 and F-15 equipped forces can achieve exchange ratios of 2:1 against a well-trained, larger force operating low tech (Mig21) airplanes". This presumably with WP AIM-9L equivalent. That's a sobering statistic when relative costs are taken into account.

 

I see that there's been some treatment of AIM/ACEVAL on this site before so I don't propose to open that conversation again; just that I was surprised re-reading the low expected kill ratios of the big fighters.

[+streakeagle 871]

Comparing the ThrustMaster MFDs to the CH equivalent, http://www.chproducts.com/retail/mfp.html , I must say ThrustMaster has the much better deal if you are replicating the standard MFD frame. As I have the Warthog, they would make even more sense for me.

 

However, as I am about to travel to Pensacola in mid-April and get the photos and measurements I need to replicate aspects of the F-4 cockpit, MFD frames are not what I need. I could make a CH panel work for what I want, but more than likely I will mount real knobs and switches to a faux main panel and interface them through some sort of crazy keyboard mod or third party generic USB input card. But making a control panel is the lowest priority. First, I want to build a semi-scale Martin Baker Mk 7 seat and the left side console to mount a throttle. Then I need to arrange them around my F-4 B-8 stick and rudder pedals along with a large monitor. If I had the money and a PC able to drive it, I would get a 30" 2560x1600 LCD. For now, I will settle for a 24" 1920x1200 LCD already in my possession.

[Toryu 156]

Is the Gilchrist book on the Cat similar to his work on the Sader, or does it contain more technical info than war-stories?

[+streakeagle 871]

As for AIMVAL/ACEVAL and large expensive fighters versus small cheap fighters, read "Red Eagles: America's Secret MiGs". Interesting pilot anecdotes are sprinkled throughout this otherwise non-technical unit history. Some of the "Red Eagles" are F-14 pilots who were Top Gun graduates. Overall, the book reads more like a soap opera going into details about personal issues, but there are plenty of insights into MiG capabilities and how they compared with contemporary US fighters to make it worth the read. One conclusion that can be drawn from the MiG pilot experiences in this book is that F-14/F-15 fighters flown by well trained pilots who aren't hampered by safety rules of exercises will decimate MiG formations before ever being seen (much as F-22s claim to be able to do the same to F-14s/F-15s!). But it also makes it clear that if you are going to get into close range dogfights that F-16s are the way to go. The combination of a much smaller size, superior thrust/weight, and exceptional turn performance made the F-16 very difficult to beat if the the pilot made no major mistakes. I think history shows that a balance of F-14/F-15 size aircraft supporting F-16/F-18 sized aircraft is a better solution than exclusively flying one type or the other. Having the right plane for the right job is much better than trying to make one plane do every job.

[+Dave 2,322]

I have the CH MFP too and I love it however the twins somehow got a hold of it and now 90%of the buttons are missing. For some also the Control manger is not working with my computer.

[Toryu 156]

The issue on the MiG isn't so much it's low-tech heritage, but it's castration of A-A capabilities by evermore integrating the airframe into the USSR's interceptor and air-defense network.

The Eastern Block's understanding of an interceptor was hugely different from the western idea.

The USSR saw it's interceptors more like mobile and forward-deployable SAM-stations (I'm oversimplyfiing to a degree, off course).

 

At the time the US and western European countries started geting their aircraft "smart" and digital, the russians were still keeping their fighters on the leash - they have never quite "freed" them.

 

 

An intelligently-designed "simple" aircraft is still a very potent adversary - especially when used up to it's best capabilities.

 

"The primitive can be a weapon, too!" - Adolf Galland

[DWCAce 19]

Tomcat! is awesome book. Had it since '97

[+Dave 2,322]

Got the MFD's in and man they are great. Plug and play. Easy to program.

[Wrench 9,852]

I gotta ask ....

 

does the chair have heating/cooling/ventilation and massage functions?

 

(cause you'll be sittng there a LOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGG time, and should be comfy!)

[+Dave 2,322]

The chair is ok, I need a new one. Right now I have my leg propped up next to it from the knee surgery yesterday. Make using the rudder pedals a pain in the ass.

[+ST0RM 145]

Use your cane on the opposite rudder pedal, Steven Hawkins.

[+Dave 2,322]

Use your cane on the opposite rudder pedal, Steven Hawkins.

 

jerk....