Caesar

There is a B in progress, but I don't know about the D.

How do you know so much about swallows?

Like this? I think the Navy version of the LANTIRN pod is the ASQ-173; for some reason, I didn't have the ASQ-173 3D model either so I went into the weapon editor and set the ASQ-173's 3D model to AAQ-14. And yes, that's an A-model Bombacat (my own tweak,) not the B or D.

Although the Tomcat will always be my favorite fighter, the F-22 draws a close second. In my opinion, it'll be the fighter of the 21st century, at least until mid. Watching it preform is amazing, and the fact that it can't be seen on radar until it's damn close is a major advantage in air combat. I see stuff posted on other boards about "what'd happen if an F-22 encountered an Su-37" or some similar combat-modeled demonstration a/c, and I always think to myself, where's the argument? Can't shoot what you can't see! Doesn't matter how maneuverable your plane is if it gets killed 60 miles from its target. Expensive, yes, but I think it'll prove its worth to doubters over the next few years, especially as it has been doing so in simulated combat against 4th gen fighters like the F-15 and -16.

The Tomcat did have a manual sweep option, allowing the pilot to override the CADC/Wing Sweep programmer; aside from the fact that this allowed the a/c to keep its wing sweep options if the computer had a problem, it also made the Tomcat less predictable in a dogfight because the other pilot didn't know the 'Cat's real energy state if he just assumed the aircraft was on automatic (though I'd assume keeping the wings at 20* going near 1M or 68* at 150 knots probably were not great ideas.) As for fuel-dump, the pilot might do this to get the a/c's weight down for recovery aboard the carrier; as to before a dogfight, I have no idea. Modeling it? I'll leave that question for somone in the know.

AFAIK rapid throttle changes causing stalls/failures/fires of the engines is not supported in ThirdWire series games; being a "light sim" it doesn't have things like air-starts or stalls for engines, and the only way to set an engine on fire is to either get hit by enemy fire, or go too fast and overheat the engine for too long. The FM modders out there could get into a lot more detail on how to accurately model flight characteristics/engine response at altitudes or airspeeds; even how to make the aircraft depart controlled flight (which, I understand, is a royal pain) but unless, with the addition of First Eagles to the series, some of the less predictable aspects and unreliability of early flight such as engine issues have been added (haven't played FE yet,) I don't think you'll be able to get the engine to blow up based on throttle movement. That said, because the TW series is so flexable, there might be a way to work around and add the function of throttle movement causing engine failure, but I don't know enough about the game-engine to say definately, and there would be no airstart to get it back on if it did stall.

The F-14A's engine nozzles compared to the B and D's are the biggest visible difference. Also, the B and D do not have the glove vanes of the A. The D has a double-chin pod housing the TCS and IRST pods, and I believe has a few extra ECM antennae around the A/C. Also, the D uses a different ejection seat. Anything I'm forgetting?

Kick. Ass.

I know someone somewhere has a new F-14B (A+, not the B from 1973) in the works, but I have no idea how far along it is or any other data; you can check it out at C5's site in the forums; there are some pics of the 3D model.

IIRC a Tomcat almost did shoot down a MiG-25 in a dogfight, or a one-sided engagement, I guess you could call it. I believe it was the high-time Tomcat pilot Dale "Snort" Snodgrass who had the Foxbat in his gun-pipper for a good long time but was never given permission to fire. I'm pretty sure there's guncamera footage of it too, but I have had trouble finding it online.

Yeah, they're great games, but I agree totally: SHUT UP ON THE RADIO!!!! No tactical information is ever given by your wingmen at any time during the games; it's all personal feelings on this, that and the other thing. In AC5 I think there's two responses that actually matter, which decide the next mission, but other than that it's just damn frustrating. If I want to talk about the philosophy of war/hatred/why every wingman but Snow is a hardcore pacifist that somehow managed to become a fighter pilot, I'll do so after the mission, i.e. after I'm done getting shot at left and right trying to bomb some hardened target with five bandits on my tails, not during! (Sorry for the vent) Otherwise, good games.

Well, this plane is just great! I took her out a few more times; really fantastic; that sucker can turn. On the flip side, I've fought against it, but am yet to dogfight against it...haven't built up the confidence to let it inside the range of my AIM-54's...yet... Edit: I've gotten into a couple fast 2V2's Tomcats on Flankers. It's almost frustrating how much more thrust and maneuverability the Flanker has than the Alpha Tomcat. At the same time, for me anyhow, I've noticed the AI actually puts itself at disadvantage for the same reason. The Flankers will go into the vertical on me, and after a few twists and turns, gunning for position and as my 'Cat's running low on speed, the Flanker will shoot way out infront of me, trying to rotate the nose above me; I just stand the 'Cat on its engines and get a perfect AIM-9 shot every time (got a few screens.) Maybe I can get my friend in the cockpit of the Flanker next weekend when I have time to MP; that ought to tap the immense potential of the airframe. Again, kickass plane guys!

Damn that is a kickass plane. Well worth the wait. Extremely well done Marcfighter and team!

AIM-54C Phoenix missile; cures all ills, be it Foxbat/hound, Fulcrum, et cetera. Though I am more of a fan of using the 'Cat's gun against the new Foxbats...allows me to get up close and appreciate the detail and fine work of the mod...before ripping it to shreds. Any time, baby! Side Note (on topic): I had the AB problem too, glad to see it's fixed, I'll re-d/l it.

The weapons pack didn't cause a problem for me when I MP'd it over LAN, but if it's modified on one install and not another, there was a problem. For example, my friend and I tacked on some modified missiles so that the countermeasures wouldn't work as well when we took eachother on in dogfight mode. If there was a variance, it'd CTD; or at least when we used the same A/C with dissimilar loadout.ini's and weapondata, so I'm pretty sure you all should be safe with the latest WP; at least that's from my own experience.

You can certainly play it online or over LAN for co-op missions or dogfights; you choose. The only problem is that compatibility relies a lot on the number of mods you have. I have multiple installs of WoE (also SFP1 and WOV), one for single player, one for multi; the multiplayer set is a merged WOV/WOE install, with minimal mods; only the patches and weapons packs were installed, along with the F-14. My friend and I play with that set up. If any other mods are done or added, we modify the same data before playing or install extra a/c, etc. to be sure the games are identical. This gaurntees the game will work. When we tried with our other installs we ran into massive problems; even if the games saw each other, they'd CTD while loading the mission, for example. So, for online play, you might need some pre-planning to ensure there's not too much variance between the installs you're playing on.

IIRC, I saw this footage when it aired on the military channel; part of a special on aircraft carriers (still featuring the Tomcat !). The pilot did not get back into the air, but he most definately punched out. You could see the seat shoot just as the A/C went over the edge of the deck. And then they replayed it in slow motion, but also showing the resulting chaos on the deck from the wire whipping back towards the deck crew (the footage in the links.) I still can't believe that guy jumped it twice.

Sounds great; I'd definately appreciate an accurate number system.

Just something I noticed. My VF-124 skin has decals for 400-435; I noticed that if the game uses its randomly assigned numbers, anything outside of that range will result in no numbers showing up on the nose, and only appearing on the wing (ex. the random number 460 results in no nose numbers and 60 appearing on the right wing). Also, I have my numberlist to show only 400-435, so if the player selects the numbers, only those valid ones show; but if the game is left to itself, it can go outside the range and result in no decals on the nose. There may be a way to prevent this, but if there is, I don't know about it, so I'm not sure if a decal pack (though I would definately appreciate one) might not be a fix.

Lookin hot

Salvete, Just to add in some input; I'd estimate some of it has to do with the weapon's range. Without editing any .ini files for WoE, my AI wingman (#2 A/C) will attack at absolute maximum range with AIM-54's when we're flying Tomcats. I.e. I'll have my wingman fire at 96+nm at targets designated by me; though after my #2, they seem more hesitant (they don't engage generally until we're a lot closer, but this is on and off). I haven't tested it with other missiles yet. Vale, -"C"

There's an afterburner pack right here at Combat Ace. I think it's in the Object Mods section for SF/WoV/WoE/FE.

Check Fist of the Fleet (skyhawks.combatace.com). They have a low-viz VF-31 scheme very similar to the one in your picture. I'm surprised that it isn't here; most of those skins are.

File Name: 1975 VF-24 Red Checkertails File Submitter: Caesar File Submitted: 9 Jun 2006 File Category: SF F-14 Skins This is the scheme of VF-24 in 1975, during their first cruise with VF-211 when -24 was known as the Red Checkertails. Click here to download this file

File Name: A Hot Cold War File Submitter: Caesar File Submitted: 29 Apr 2006 File Category: Thirdwire Series (SF/WOV/WOE/WWI) This is a video done to 99 Luftballons by Nena; a Cold-War-Gone-Hot type movie with fighters and bombers duking it out...with the inevitable end... I haven't figured out how to do a Credits section to my movies yet, so I've included a Readme with everyone I could find who had anything to do with the planes, mods, effects and skins you see in this movie. Click here to download this file