Caesar

I've been splashed by my wingmen while going for guns. Any time I'm in a gun pattern, and then hear "Fox 2" I start pumping flares out like a madman, because I've had it happen too many times that one gets zealous and goes for a heater shot while I'm well inside of its seeker's cone of visibility. I think the most random thing to happen though was when I got a kinetic kill against a MiG-17; I was firing at a different aircraft (about 5-10 miles away) when immediately after the Sparrow came out from beneath my Turkey, I noticed an explosion below my nose straight to 12 o'clock. The lead Fresco got lanced by the Sparrow right after it left my aircraft! I think I was shooting at a MiG-23, because I remember reading in the outbrief something to the effect of "Fired at MiG-23 Flogger/Hit MiG-17/Destroyed MiG-17." Its rare, but it does happen. With respect to getting hit by a friendly RHM, I've had them pass by way close before, and changed my flight path as a result, but I don't think I've ever been hit by a friendly Sparrow/Phoenix/AMRAAM.

I think I was one of those people, FC. It was pretty craptastic, basically a glorified rail shooter that took away from everything that made Ace Combat good. You never really fly to outmaneuver your opponent, you fly to get close to their six and then enter "DOGFIGHT MODE!" during which one of my friends held the controller above his head, mashed some buttons as best he could, and still managed to splash the bandit with missiles about 250ft in front of him. It's like you are watching a movie. Got a guy behind you? Don't try to evade classically, get the arrows on the HUD to meet up as you slow down and do a "DOGFIGHT MANEUVER!" to get him off your six and watch a cool animation as your jet does a tight high yo-yo or cobra to take the advantage...egh... Sorry for the rant. I'm just utterly unimpressed with AC:AH, am glad I didn't buy it for XBOX, won't be buying it for PC and will stick with SF2, which gives me props to 5th gen and a customizable range of realism, or DCS when I'm feeling up for some in-depth detail.

Congratulations on the release, guys!

Was over at T-S and ran into this little gem on Youtube: Setup is 3 F-5E Tiger II vs. 2 F-14A Tomcat ca. 1985, video is the gun camera/HUD camera from one of the F-14's. At least two of the simulated "kills" are with guns, I wasn't able to deduce if the third (made by the second F-14) was as well. On the radio you can hear one of the Tomcat pilots is "Snort" Snodgrass. Check it out if you've got some spare time!

Well, not microwave, but Patrick Bateman did test the efficiency of wood axes on Paul Owen* - results were fatal. You can read about it in American Psycho. *Yes, in the movie his last name is Allen, in the book, it is Owen.

SZ, When we tried to fix the HSI wheel, we had Brain32 look at the extant .max file. It isn't the same as the one in the released F-14 (I don't know if the released pit was revised, reworked, a different copy, a tweaked copy, or what), a lot of stuff is jumbled and the hierarchy was found to be too complex to work with, without a lot of time spent/without the original creator doing the work (as pointed out by Sup Gen). So, putting a patch over that portion of the pit in 3d Max with the existing .max file and exporting it will not work. ToS did a great job with the pit, but he even said upon release that it was unfinished/Beta status. Best recommendation is either adjust the view limits, don't look there, or understand the pit technically isn't finished, may never be, and you'll just have to live with that.

Well, not quite yet. I played Age of Chivalry, the Half Life 2 mod, and although fun, it wasn't really my cup of tea. I think one of the biggest faults in AoC was the weapon wind-up and swing execution times, which were painfully slow. I recall having to hit the attack button and then run up to someone, and hope they weren't running back so when the weapon came down upon them it would do damage. Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, however, I have no experience with, so I do wonder if its combat mechanics have been improved. I might check it out.

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I think the thing to always remember, and I've made this point before, is that the pilot/aircrew is the single greatest deciding factor in air combat. If you look at E-M doghouses, power curves, etc. one aircraft might completely outclass another on paper, only to be defeated by that aircraft in 45 seconds by a pilot or aircrew that has better knowledge of his own aircraft, where it best performs, where it doesn't, and where it does so relative to his opponent. One of the ACE/AIM Tomcat pilots who later joined with the USAFR recalled that one of his most memorable Dissimilar Air Combat Training sorties was against an Active Air Force Lt Col flying the F-15C. Our USAFR pilot and his RIO were in the age-old F-4D Phantom II. The Lt Col, while all crews were doing pre-flight inspections, slapped the back of his Eagle to get the attention of his opponents, and said something to the effect of: "take a good look at the tail pipes, because this is the last time you'll see them today!" (i.e. I'm going to out turn, out climb, and out fight your antique and eat you like a grape). The end result was that the Eagle driver suffered severe pipper burns to the back of his neck, utterly embarrassed and defeated by what was to him a last-gen, solid-wing interceptor, which had no advantages over the Eagle from a charts perspective. The fight was apparently very quick. This is not a unique example, just one to illustrate that above all else, the pilot makes the difference. You could cite hundreds of air combat exercises where "less-capable" aircraft have bettered others, and the F-4 "gunning" the Mirage 2000 isn't too much of a surprise to me, but it takes a good pilot or aircrew with excellent understanding of his jet, and his opponent's jet to do so.

S!

Finally got it (F-8J vs F-14A). Fight started as normal, but upon tally, rather than dive down on the F-14, I pulled into him, and had .97M on the aircraft. The Crusader was able to sustain about 7g throughout our one circle for a good 15 seconds, as speed bled down. The F-14 was again gaining on me. This led to the series of loops that I had been getting in and more than one set of shots taken against my Crusader. As we battled, the altitude got lower until the fight was on the deck. As per the last three fights, the F-14 had me highly defensive, but because we were so low, I knew one of us would make the mistake of making a diving press at too low altitude (like I did in my first fight). In this case, however, it was the F-14 that tried to roll onto my tail with too little space to work with (AI still not deploying flaps!) What this did was allow me to shoot up into the vertical as the AI made a hamfisted recovery. I didn't have a lot of energy, but I realized that departing the plane and quickly recovering it might actually help, so I overfed the rudder and lo and behold, the F-8's nose sliced down toward the F-14's six. Recover, flaps, good pitch and I've got nose-on! I take a snap shot which doesn't hit, but the AI starts burning its energy by pulsing the jet, maybe in an effort to cause me to overshoot or as a jink. Regardless, I pull hard, get the nose ahead of the F-14 and let a stream of 20mm into his flight path. These rounds strike, but don't destroy the aircraft. They do, however, cause it to fly far less aggressively, so the follow up was easy. I then took up an A- Tomcat against the F-8J. I was driving the fight, I had the power, rate and radius advantages even at 100% fuel. That fight started with myself going high and looping into a turn from above to below the F-8. After a series of two loops, I was behind the F-8, who began diving for the deck. Flaps down, keeping the nose low, I found myself inside of the Crusader's turn and from here, the AI was unable to shake me. But damn did it move that F-8! It took some 180 rounds before I finally landed a clean hit and kill. Takeaways: The F-8 can defeat the F-14 (as any airframe can defeat any other!), but the fact of the matter is that I was not driving the fight. When I tried, shooting for the F-14's tail, the Crusader, as before, wasn't in a good enough position as the F-14 either continued its turn or brought itself vertical, usually firing just as we passed each other. The F-8 doesn't have the lift, the power, or the maneuverability of the F-14A. I knew this going into the fight, as with the previous ones, but I didn't expect to loose as many times (the F-14 doesn't have the maneuverability of the F-31 concept fighter or the fictional KF-2, but I was able to secure a victory more quickly against them!), and even when I finally got my victory, I was able to get the kill more so because the AI didn't want to become a lawn dart and had to worry about recovery. This in turn allowed me to get onto its six for the gun shot. Well, a kill's a kill! Perhaps, I shouldn't have been trying to put my nose towards the tail, now that I think about it. As one pilot put it, "Lag Pursuit is for [sissies]!" (didn't use that word, but it is more family-friendly). Time to work on that high angle-off gun shot...

OK, folks, I ain't beat yet, but I sure had my ass handed to me on the last three fights I took up! The F-14A Tomcat is underpowered and large, to be certain, but it is a maneuverable SOB, as has been proven time and again in history, and taking the F-8J in-game up against it is not the easiest fight. I feel like my biggest mistake was trying to go slow with the Turkey, even though the AI never dropped the flaps. If it had, I wouldn't have stood a fraction of a chance, but as it turned out, even without this tactic, I couldn't capitalize on my position of advantage against the F-14A nearly enough to gain victory. I'll bag the Turkey yet - here's what we had. Loadouts (all): F-8J: guns, 100% fuel F-14A: guns, 100% fuel All three fights were very similar, so I'm only going to list what generally happened, and what end results were. In all fights, I was picked up by the F-14's radar first. I was unable to lock the Tomcat until about 7-10NM or so away. By the time I had lock, I was near visual range, and typically with about 1.3M to play with. In all fights, I went high, and then rolled the F-8J on its back to try to get on the Turkey's tail with gravity and "g" aiding me in the press. The AI (in all fights) turned hard into me and went for my tail as I went for its. The problem is that the AI was getting the Tomcat slow, and so didn't need so much "g" to out-rate my F-8J. Every time, as I came back up and over, the Tomcat was gaining a position of advantage. All fights ended up with me dropping the F-8's flaps, and the Tomcat able to out turn me as speed bled down, however, I was able to get a position of advantage several times against the Turkey. This usually happened by performing a vertical press and working the rudder to direct my nose at the F-14, the problem being that I was running into the F-8's lift limit, and when I thought I would end up in a firing position, wasn't able to hold the nose long enough to shoot. As can be seen in the various shots I've included, I was able to get the Tomcat on my gun camera, just not in a firing position. Those few times I was in a position to fire, I took the shot, but it was never good enough to land a hit. Example: I end up with an angle-off shot, but the F-14 is already in the middle of his turn, and if I try to follow, gain nothing. Reversing into a two-circle still isn't good enough, and the F-14 typically gets nose on first. In the first fight, I wound up going too aggressively for the F-14's tails and put my nose into the dirt from a low-altitude vertical press. Fight two saw an elongated horizontal scissors with the F-14 in the position of advantage, and when I tried to pull hard to force an overshoot when I saw he was getting a firing solution, we had a midair collision. Fight three ended with the F-14 following me through the vertical, and as I saw it run out of energy and unload as I came down, the AI pilot flopped the Turkey on its back to follow me. I ran for the deck, then put the stick in my lap, but the F-8's worse alpha saw me run into the lift limit my wings/stabs could sustain, and the F-14 put a stream of 20-mike-mike through my starboard wing. The F-8 caught fire and I was forced to eject. Crash in fight 1: About the closest I get for a shot: Turning with the F-14: Mid-Air fight 2: Vertical press in fight 3: End of fight 3: Takeaways: I'm not done yet - I wound up in a position of advantage too many times to say this fight isn't winnable, but I will say that the F-8 is certainly outmatched by the F-14A. To win, I'm thinking that I have to maintain the slow fight, keep those vertical presses, but I need more available energy so I can capitalize when I'm behind the F-14. Every time I tried, I could get nose on but could not sustain the turn, and the F-14 kept pulling and got away as I could not match the AI's pull, forcing the fight neutral, then forcing me defensive as it came around. I tried multiple times to go from one circle to two circles and the AI still got on my six. I think fight three had the closest call for me, as I wound up on the F-14's five, six and seven o'clock on several occasions, but never long enough for a shot, and again, the F-14's better angle of attack limits and higher available "g" at lower speeds thwarted my presses until I went vertical and the F-14 followed, ending the fight with a gun shot.

Good stuff, saisran! With regard to the F-8 against the F-14, I'd be more willing to take on an A model Tomcat in the Crusader, in spite of the fact that it, too, outclasses the Last Gunfighter in every category I can think of. The A's ~.75:1 T/W, lower sustainable "g" and worse Ps curve compared to the B/D, I feel, could more easily tip the scale in the player's favor in the F-8. Generally, against the F-4J I don't have a hell of a hard time in the F-8J, but I do find the Crusader more of a handful if I'm flying the Phantom II. I took up an A-4 Super Fox (hard wing) two nights ago against an F-14A and an A+. The A shot off my starboard stabilizer and ran for home. I caught up and shot off his port rudder before RTB. Against the A+, I was painfully defensive through most of the fight, but it ended in my favor, because we had gotten low, and the AI pilot had made a few hard vertical presses, including one which caused him to have to pull hard and into my flight path to avoid hitting the ground. Estimated his position and put a stream of gunfire in his flight path. Not a very satisfying victory, but at least both fights were fun! Will test out the F-8 tomorrow.

Spoke to an airframer over at T-S, even those vanes were removed. The F-14D( R) and F-14B rebuilds had the airframe/avionics changes of the new-build B/D, from modified boat tail with the ECM antenna (the D( R)s were built out of Block 85 and 110 aircraft), to the necessary changes to support the F110 engine, glove vane system removal, glass cockpit and other system upgrades (dual TCS/IRST, APG-71, etc.). One of the only differences between the D( R)s and new build D's was that when the upgrades were in progress, some of the D( R)s (5 airframes) didn't get wired for TARPS. I haven't been able to find evidence as to whether or not they were retrofitted with the system later on. EDIT: Wow, didn't know the parenthesis R made the copyright symbol automatically.

That sounds like an intercept mission against cruise missiles fired at an aircraft carrier (Call "VAMPIRE" when a missile is launched at a ship in the CVBG) which is a bit outside of Dissimilar Air Combat Training - more so running an intercept. In the real world this is a very important mission, and one you'd better not dick up, since you have literally thousands of lives relying on you. In game, however, I don't see that as a very exciting engagement to read about. Just thinking about our airframes, we've covered a lot in the F-14A/B/D and F/A-18E/F (especially) but not a hell of a lot in most of the others. An engagement with the F-4 here and there, an F-8 in one or two, I recall doing an F-101 v F-100 once, and an A-4 Super Fox on an occasion. Any interest in other aircraft?

F-14A/B/D Super Pack for SF2:NA. Also works in other installs (merged, or individual), so long as they are at least at April 2012 patch level. http://combatace.com/files/file/12327-tmf-f-14-tomcat-superpack/ That includes the AIM-54 and other Tomcat-related weapons, as well as the IIAF/IRIAF F-14A. I'd recommend you check the download section in general for weapon packs, aircraft, etc. If you want it to be available in SF2:Israel but have an un-merged install, you can either install the jet into your SF2:I mod folder, or direct SF2:I to look into SF2:NA's mod folder. I'd recommend the former option. Welcome aboard.

Got an idea, do you have a specific set up you'd like to see? We've had a heck of a lot of missions, and although there have been some FM changes over time to various aircraft (new F-14, new F-16, updates to the F/A-18, program patches, etc.) we've flown a lot against a lot. Is there a scenario you had in mind?

10 to 30 mins is a LONG video and the file is gonna be HUGE! I have one of my exploits in an F-4E vs a MiG-17F which was shot at 30FPS, half size and its 1.92GB. Now, once you re-render it as, say a .wmp file using something like Vegas, it gets a lot smaller, but if you're trying to record 30 mins of video in FRAPS, make sure you've got the room! FRAPS doesn't have a time limit if you buy it; the freeware one has 60 second clip limits and probably some others (I bought FRAPS a while ago, so I can't recall what the limitations are). For now, it sounds like you have the freeware version, don't think you can get rid of the limits on that.

Sounds like they were a common complaint among the maintainers, then! Heard the exact same thing at T-S (constant maintenance, and a pain in the a**). One of the folks there had said they could get jarred loose even after they were deactivated and had seen them pop out on carrier landings every once in a while. Also brought up that if certain seals went bad, they could lead to airframe corrosion from saltwater getting inside. They were omitted from the B and D for the exact reason you say: they were designed to counter the aerodynamic forces on the stabs, but didn't do much for high speed maneuverability until the plane was above 2M, and if you were travelling that fast, you were going to have a piss poor turn rate and radius anyhow. Even at 1.4M (their normal programmed out speed) they didn't do a whole hell of a lot (apparently, the ride "felt smoother" at low altitude if you rolled out the vanes, based on what some of the drivers and RIOs said). They were also automatically set to out in "bomb" mode - W/S 55deg, vanes out. I suppose if one is a stickler for details and wants to fly an F-14A in a mission set in the 1970's, 80's or early to mid 90's, they might complain (if an "A" even is released by IRIS), but most, if not all were locked in towards the end of the A's service life (late 1990's, early 2000's), and anyone calling for them on the B and D is outright wrong.

They weren't welded shut in the B and D, they were completely omitted! Only the A model had the gove vanes in production (the F-14B prototype had them for both the F401 and F110 flight tests), and most were locked shut by disconnecting the actuators that pushed them out during the 1990's. I recall talking to some of the airframers when we were trying to nail down an exact date for their deactivation over at tomcat-sunset (might have been a modelling discussion) - the best answer is that there wasn't one: one of the airframers recalled that in his squadron, if the vanes worked, they didn't touch them. Once they broke, they "pulled the plug" so you would sometimes see footage or images in the late 1990's with A models, vanes out at high speed. Other squadrons were more adamant about deactivating the system. For DCS, apart from the F-14 being anachronistic following 2006 (except Iranian F-14A's), having an A model with working vanes would be nice, but if you were to assume taking up a mission in the A Turkey now, they probably wouldn't have the vanes active (kind of like how we disabled them in F-14A_96 in the Tomcat Super Pack for SF2). Regardless of how it is handled, I can't wait for an F-14 in DCS, and thanks for sharing the screenies and the news!

Go Air Force!

Did a set of F-4 fights against the MiG-21PF Fishbed-D, one fight with the unslatted F-4J and one with the slatted F-4E. Final fight was in an F-14A for a point of comparison. Generally, the F-4E was an excellent match for the MiG-21, but problematically, was too much of a match! That fight, which isn't described in as much detail, remained neutral for a very long time. The F-4J, on the other hand, requires a better stick than myself to handle well against the Fishbed. While I still brought it down, I lost control of the bird twice (and recovered), and the fight was almost never in my favor until the very end. F-4J vs. MiG-21PF Fishbed-D Loadouts F-4J: 4x AIM-7, 4x AIM-9, 100% fuel MiG-21PF: 2x AA-2, gun, 100% fuel Fighting in the Phantom took a bit of getting used to again - it had been a while since I've been at the controls of the F-4. I know that the Super Mysteries gave me a hell of a lot of trouble when I was flying the F-4EJ Kai with superior avionics and weapons systems, so I don't have a lot of confidence in my abilities with the baseline J model, but I know if I stick to the vertical, I should be able to outfight the Fishbed. At the start of the fight, I enter the "arena" area and spot the MiG on radar, locking it up at about 20NM from the F-4's nose. As the aircraft close, the MiG fails to beam my radar, so I figure right about now, I could get 4 Sparrows in his direction and call a range kill, but the purpose of this fight is to get visual, and assuming VID rules, I would never get the Sparrow shot to begin with. The MiG is below me, and I begin to get some angle-off because I don't have a gun, while the Fishbed does. The MiG comes a bit higher, and near the merge, I get VID on the Fishbed. He continues to climb above me, rather than to just try for a snap shot, and then pulls left into my Phantom. For a second, I think about turning into him, but I know there is no way that's going to work. Rather, I bring the F-4 into the vertical, but make the critical mistake of not pulling away from his turn direction for building an angle off, instead, pulling vertically into his turn. The MiG decides to come up stairs and a long loop begins, but the MiG runs out of airspeed at the apex of the loop. In this case, it didn't matter, because my Phantom didn't have enough to get back to the top of the loop, or at least, not in time to shoot. This time, the MiG has the positional advantage, and as I'm trying to press on him with too little air speed to work with, he pulls into me, generating a two-circle fight that for a moment I think I am winning. Oh wait, I'm not. Hard rudder to get the Phantom's nose going somewhere the MiG isn't, and the Fishbed is near my tail. Fortunately for me, my wreckless handling of the F-4 has departed the bird and the MiG can't get a shot on me. Counter rudder, neutral stick and the phlailing Phantom gets back in shape. Got control and now I am behind the MiG. What starts next is an energy circle that remains neutral for about 5 circles, with the MiG eventually gaining as I realize I'm going to need some smack if I want to do something. Allow the MiG to build by loosening my turn, extend and run. The MiG has rear-aspect heaters, so I know I'm not in a good position if I keep my tail end facing him too long. Now that I've got some speed (.91M!) I cut back across the MiG to deny him the missile shot, and keep the nose a bit low so I can put on a sustained 7g turn. The MiG follows and matches. I put the Phantom into the vertical plane, but the MiG follows me, this time with enough energy to keep threatening. Okay, well, I'm gonna do it again! This time, the MiG runs out of energy as he is climbing with me, while I have about 300 KIAS at the top of the loop. I reef on the stick a bit, burning energy, nearly depart the F-4 again (lots of rudder needed), and as I pass through the MiG's altitude, opt for aggressive pulls again, as he just barely recovers his Jet and starts a right-hand pull into my F-4. I've got the blowers engaged, and now the MiG is trying to force an overshoot. As I begin to catch up to him, climbing, I realize this and cut the throttle and pull a bit to follow him. He starts speeding up for a second, then slows back down, and again I have to cut throttle, but this time I have less speed. Figuring he's going to do something like put the stick in his lap and leave no doubt about forcing the overshoot, or cause me to depart due to harsh stick movements on the third attempt, this time, I need to get a shot off. AIM-9 selected, max rudder into the threat, good tone, just about Rmin, FOX 2! As the F-4 skids to the other side due to lack of airspeed and with too little lift, the MiG yanks on the stick for all he's got, but he hasn't got the airspeed to get away - the AIM-9G finds its target and detonates off of the MiG's tail, shredding and setting ablaze the Fishbed. Phantoon 1, Fishbed 0! F-4 post shot, skidding to the right Fight 2: F-4E Loadouts F-4E: 4x AIM-7, 4x AIM-9, gun, 100% fuel MiG-21PF: 2x AA-2, gun, 100% fuel This fight was almost identical, but without any departures and with better energy thanks to the F-4E's slatted wings. I also had a gun, which was very comforting to know. Similar start, only this time I nearly had lead on the MiG after the loop, and I tried to get back on him by pushing the vertical. This didn't end up working and in the end, bled too much speed. Energy circle to the deck again, vertical push here and there, nothing resulting in anything. I need speed again, extend and the MiG can't quite match my escape, get about two miles lead and 30k feet to work with and pull to bring the F-4's nose around. As the MiG tried to follow me, he ran out of energy. At the top of my loop, I'm low on smack, get the flaps out, and can see the MiG is having a hell of a time trying to follow. He gets his nose down (I think he actually departed the plane), but this exposes his exhaust. Nose on the MiG as he's gaining speed and maneuverability. I fire two AIM-9's at him for good measure, but the first impacts and destroys the MiG (second unnecessary). This fight actually took longer than the first, and I had a lot less gas at the end, but the two aircraft were far more comparable. Departures weren't what saved me, and the MiG was never in a good firing position vs. the slatted F-4E. Fight 3 (control): F-14A Loadouts F-14A: 4x AIM-7, 4x AIM-9, gun, 75% fuel MiG-21PF: 2x AA-2, gun, 100% fuel As many other fights in the Tomcat, this one wasn't much of a match. Lock at 15NM like the F-4's, but this time at the merge, the MiG opts to get some altitude and passes overhead. I pull into him in an elongated yo-yo. He's able to sustain his turn well enough that I have to come back up and around, but as I come back down on the second time (noticing he's diving for the deck), I've got lead on the Fishbed. Gun selected, flaps unneccessary, good off boresight shot and gun kill on the Fishbed. Lead inside the MiG's turn Shootdown Takeaways: The slats on the F-4E really do help its performance, and make it more of a match for the Fishbed if you keep it at high speeds. Even at low speeds, the likelihood of departure is less (didn't loose the jet once) and the aircraft easier to control. The gun is always an excellent fall back option if you can't get a missile kill and its a great feeling knowing it is available if your missiles are failing and you end up inside of Rmin.

I think the MiG-17 is known to be massively overpowered, if not by thrust, then by aerodynamics (too little drag), because the Fresco should not be able to hang with an F-4 in the vertical. I know it has too much turning authority at high speeds (saw it pulling more than 9g at 480KIAS with the debug on - due to its lack of hydraulics, it should have about 3-4g available in that region if memory serves) and it seems to regain energy too quickly. That said, the best way to fight it is still to push vertical advantages in aircraft with better T:W (F-4, F-8, F-14, F-15, etc). Don't try to turn with it, its wing loading is extremely light.

Never thought structural factor affected damage - always seemed to affect when the aircraft broke from overstress. Looks like there's more to it than that.

The IN SW/SP/PH are .tga's if memory serves correctly, and the designations are found in the avionics.ini of the F-14. You could make your own if you wanted.