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Happy New Year, you're a bunch of old farts! CombatACE turns 20 years old this year. Thank you for being a part of who we are for the past two decades.

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To celebrate 2022 We release the Mirage F1CE Late. Available soon. Happy new year from the Mirage F1 Team. The preview :

Okay, so I'm not exactly sure where to post this AAR (This is my first), but I guess I'll just leave this here. Mods used: Kuril terrain by Gepard JASDF F-15CJ_Kai by ace888 Kuril F-15 Shootdown Incident 1985. (Please bear in mind, this is a totally ahistorical what-if scenario for fun. absolutely nothing was paid attention to the accuracy of paint jobs, markings, and units operating in the area.) Background: The Soviet Union has occupied the Kurils since August 1945, a major, lasting irritant to its proud island neighbor, Japan. In the 1970s, with Japan's ascension into the world stage as a major Global economic power, nationalistic sentiments grew. The Status of the The Kuril Islands is once more brought into question. In response, the Soviet Union denounced Japan as a "superstitious feudal puppet", closed its Embassy and fortified the island with surface to air Missiles and a Naval infantry brigade. To add insult to the injury, they re-named the Kurils "Ponomarev Islands" in 1982 after the Soviet naval commander that oversaw the Kuril invasion operation who died in the same year. Japan's military build-up has commenced in the 1970s with the modernization of its Air Forces. The high mark came in 1981 with the acquisition of the unmatched F-15C Air Superiority Fighters. There were also talks of acquiring F-16 Fighter-Bombers, an act that would ultimately imperil Soviet control of the Area in case of an open conflict. This so-deeply disturbed the Soviet Politburo, especially the new General Secretary Yuri Andropov (still recovering from his kidney transplant surgery) that they rushed the development and production of the first Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker squadrons to December 1984. Then they were immediately rushed to the Far East Military District in April 1985, along with the new Buk Surface-to-Air Missiles, ignoring the loud protest of Soviet commanders in East Germany. (due to the extreme remoteness of the Kurils and the severe logistics problems, by the time the shootdown happened in May 1985 however, most of the Flankers were still in crates, waiting to be assembled.) Pilots: Pilots 2nd Lieutenant Nishikawa, Yuuji. A native of Saga prefecture. Graduate of National Defence Academy class of 1981. Flew F-4Js, training for the F-15J with the 16th in 1985. 2nd Lieutenant Kana, Haru (wingman), Kanagawa prefecture, a graduate of the National Defence Academy class of 1983. Training for the F-15J with the 16th in 1985. Unit, 16th Flight Training Squadron (with the color and markings of the 23rd Hikotai). Nakashibetsu Airport. Suspected of conducting low-level reconnaissance and intel gathering flights over Kurils since 1982. The Shootdown: (based on incomplete fragments recovered by the Soviet Union, as the official data has allegedly been "lost" by the Japan Air Self Defence Forces headquarters.) On May 11, 1985, at approximately 10:30 am when two F-15Js, Piloted by 2nd Lt. Nishikawa and his wingman, 2nd Lt.Kana took off from Nakashibetsu Airport on a routine familiarization flight. Upon takeoff, they were immediately tracked by Soviet radars. For some reason, the two pilots continued on their path. A single missile was fired when they entered the Soviet Airspace, the two F-15s dipped down below radar. 2nd Lieutenant Nishikawa, pulled up to avoid a mountain. the radar was back on tracking him but the RWR beeped another missile fired. 2nd Lt. Nishikawa attempted to evade once more but the missile was clearly not a Sa-2 like it was before. (Soviets would later reveal that it was their new Buk Missile System that shot him down.) 11:05:39, 2nd Lt. Nishikawa was hit by an unknown Surface to Air missiles on his right-wing, the shrapnel peppered the jet canopy, instantly killing him. He crashed near the Mendeleyevo Air Defence Base No. 1. With the lead pilot dead, the inexperienced 2nd Lt. Kana immediately panicked and slammed forward the throttle, (unwittingly flying further north, deeper into Soviet territory.) At 11:07:59, Anti-Air artillery open fires on 2nd Lt. Kana, putting the inexperienced pilot in a hard position: rise and get shot down by SAM or get shot down by AAAs. The panicked pilot then regained his senses and decides his only chance at survival is to veer east, exiting through the Pacific Ocean while dropping chaffs to avoid SAMs. The Soviets scrambled several dozen MiG-23 interceptors just as 2nd Lt. Kana exited the Pacific Ocean. he found himself swarmed by MiGs. An ensuing air battle erupted and 2nd Lt. Kana fought bitterly to the end, managing to shoot down 2 MiG-23s, one with a head-on AIM-7 sparrow kill and another with AIM-9 Sidewinder. (3 claimed by a U.S E-2 Hawkeye, observing the battle.) 2nd Lt. Kana was overwhelmed by a salvo of R-60M Aphid Infrared missiles and he was hit in the engine on 11:19:50. His F-15J burned and finally broke apart and crashed in the Pacific on 11:20:22 off Iturup Island. Soviet pilots claimed they saw 2nd Lt. Kana eject and a chute but his body was never found. (Damn! it seems that I've reached the 1.9MB limit so I had to cut this short, unfortunately.) Aftermath: Mid-1985. The Soviets were put on the highest alert and the Politburo recommended a massive retaliatory strike on Hokkaido, but General Secretary Andropov dismissed the idea. The shootdown of two F-15J, by their Buk surface to air missiles and MiG-23 interceptors still proved that the Soviet Air Forces, with its aging but vast air inventory could still overwhelm Modern but thinly stretched western air forces in an open battle. The Soviets basked in the political victory and the technical knowledge gained from salvaging the F-15Js. By April 1985, Su-27 Flankers have begun to patrol the Kuril Islands and further Japanese Air Self-Defence Forces incursions were discouraged. Secretary-General Andropov died in 1996 and Soviet-Japan relations were not restored until 2000. Late-1985, Early-1986. Both 2nd Lt. Nishikawa and Kana were awarded the wound medal posthumously. The shootdown was a massive scandal in Japan. Japanese leftist opposition politicians accused the Prime Minister of violating Japan's pacifist constitution. The nationalist Japanese cabinet collapsed with the Prime Minister's resignation. The planned acquisition of the Japanese F-16 was suspended indefinitely, until the introduction of the Mitsubishi F-2A (Japan's homegrown tactical fighter based on the F-16) in 2001. The entire JASDF general staff was put on inquiry and forced to early retirement, while the 16th's wing commander attempted seppuku, only to be rescued by enlisted personnel wandering in the woods.

Happy New Year to everyone of you. May it be peacefull. Stay healthy. Because firework is not allowed this year in Germany, i use flares to send you the Happy New Year greetings.

Death Nell

Checkertail clan in the works...

Gotcha!

Happy New Year to all brothers at canvas wings! :)

TB2 over Vietnam . Happy New Year folks .

Sea Furies Over Socotra

beach road buffet

Jinkin' & Prayin'.....worked this time....

I made a Manchukuo 1944/45 install. The Russian against Japanese forgotten war. calabash style cooking carolina beach delivery food Happy NEW YEAR!!!!!

Wow, Happy birthday and Happy New Year to all!!! And maybe more important, thanks to all for the job done for us player!!!!

Already two decades? How old am I already? This site definitely brightens my old man's life. Thank you. Happy anniversary and happy new year.

Interesting Backstorie, nice pics. Keep playing :)

Nice post, Lou! I missed that one in the other thread, but sounds like my experience wasn't unique! catch, I just hope that if someone offers you the brown acid in the future that you Won't Get Fooled Again...

no not that kind either. this is a family-ish site https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/43677/behold-the-naked-warplanes-of-tinker-air-force-base?fbclid=IwAR0M94tq5s_ZGM1whNaryY8z2TKglCdWWdsC0acVtbHOLMpl79ov3jfvK6Q

Happy New Year from me to you all as well!!

Happy New Years as well!

It would also take a long time too. I mean it would be cool for sure, but given the limitations of the game I'd pass personally.

There is a reason that polished metal finishes went away toward the end of the 1950s. The materials needed to support Mach 2 caused airplanes to start having a "patchwork" appearance when unpainted. By the 1970s, composites further complicated the unpainted colors. The F-4 Phantom was the first Thunderbird aircraft to have the all-gloss white finish because of this with the F-100D (and F-105B) being the last Thunderbirds with the natural metal finish.

I have been flying this free module for quite some time now and watched it develop. There are few bugs left. It works as well or better than any payware module. I am friends with one of the guys coding the systems. What he has done with the ground mapping radar is fantastic. It is one of the best modules in the game with its ability to perform almost any role except all-weather interceptor since it lacks air-intercept radar and Sparrows. It is a fun challenge to land on a carrier.

I thought many of you would enjoy this multi part series. Part 2 and 3 have sound issues 1-4 and 5 were fine. It was still worth the watch just turn the sound off. CVWR-30 was home to some of the most highly experienced pilots in the US Navy.

Very early stage of China vs Vietnam terrain. At the moment i use Green Hell 2 tileset. And i'm not really happy with it. Green Hell 3.5 i dont get to run. There the _data.ini file is missing, so that i get strange TOD trees. It are only the first steps on a long, long way. I have also played a little bit with the files for a modern Battle of Britain terrain in the timeframe of the 1960th or 70th. It is faster to make, because the majority of the terrain, the tiling, setting of rivers and roads etc is already done. So only the target areas must reworked. I will sleep over the ideas, before i decide which terrain becomes the first in the development line. BTW, today i got an other idea of a terrain. What if the Argentinians after the conquest of the Falklands would have sent their Carrier Group to Ascencion Island, the british base mid in the Atlantic Ocean on the shores of Angola? This base would become an important supply base for the british Falkland campaign. If the Argentinians would have destroyed the RAF base at Ascencion island, the Brits would have had big troubles. Screenshot vietnamese F-5E vs chinese J-7I The insignias are very similar. Hard to tell who is who.

Fairey Gannet A.S.1 - No.14 (Swordfish) Squadron, Royal Dhimari Air Force, 1956

F-4B off the coast of Socotra

First Post This is the tale of a not-so-young Bulgarian man, Lyuben Anastas Mladenov. Born in the now far 1881 in Radomir, Bulgaria, he moved to Dresden at the age of 3. As the war was becomeing clearer and clearer, in 1914, he believed that he'd move back to the then neutral Bulgaria, to go back to his roots and the rest of his large family. Just a few months prior to his departure, though, something awakened in him. He had spent all of his life, until then, as a humble shoemaker. He wanted to give a twist to his life, he wanted adventure, adrenaline. Given his already mature age (33) he wasn't striving to join the army, so he opted to get his life onto the path of that new trend they called aviation: he was going to become a pilot. He enlisted in early 1914 and finished his training at the beginning of 1915. Enlisted with the rank of Feldwebel, he recieved a letter a couple of months later: he was to report at his nearest aerodrome. He was going to be deployed at the front, alongside Feldflieger-Abteilung 32.

Warhawk!

Early Seafires

The Mirage F1CE v2.9 is uploaded. This is an early version (1975-1991). The Late version will follow. The preview by Coupi :

Hello everyone, I took some time with these models, I commented that I could not solve a rare situation with the rockets for the F models, so I will launch it like this, with respect to the TA-152 I acquired a publication of Luftwaffe in focus 29, where This is the known operations diary of these machines and some topics with the tactical numbers when they operated on the jg 301, I remade all the skin to 4k and new historically correct license plates and new radiator petals. This is how some of the new skins look like

Over Iraq.

The Mirage F1CH Late is uploaded and waits for approval. The Preview by Coupi :

The terrain is my personal heavily modified Vietnam, the trucks & stuff are things I've made in the last few weeks. Wip Da Nang...set up as 2 seperate bases .

Lets have a ride around the ramp......

We uploaded an early version (1978-1985) of the Mirage F1CH. The late version will come soon. The preview by Coupi :

The "second hand users" version of the Mirage F1AZ Late is uploaded. It's waiting for approval. The preview by Coupi :

High over Norway