Caesar

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.

Although its release was fairly silent, a new book on the NAVAIR legend Joe "Hoser" Satrapa, CMDR, USN (Ret.) was released back in July. The name of the book? "Hoser Here...Shoot!" This book is a compilation of the Hoser Chronicles thread over at Tomcat-Sunset.org, edited and with some amplification from myriad individuals on any number of the entries. The book chronicles Hoser's early life and introduction to the US Navy, combat over Vietnam in the F-8 Crusader and RA-5 Vigilante, ACEVAL/AIMVAL trials with VX-4, his current job with the California Department of Forestry as a firefighter in the S-2 among other things (not the least of which, his obsession with high explosives and firearms). The book provides insights in to air combat during war and peacetime from one of the most unique, aggressive, and skilled pilots ever to fly in the US Navy. I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking for insights into the pilot's perspective on air combat from Vietnam to now. Current price is $23.99. http://www.lulu.com/us/en/shop/tomcat-sunsetorg-staff/hoser-hereshoot/hardcover/product-20298856.html

Some of my favorite scenarios to fly are in the early 1970's time frame for the exact reason EricJ lists: missiles are either rear-quarter (AIM-9G/H) or highly unreliable (AIM-7E/-2/-4). The end result is that you have to work for the kill, and neither side is going to have a "face shooter." It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to try your hand at the F-4 first, but if you want to fly your Tomcat against the MiG-21, a great time period to do so would be between 1974 and 1977. Starting in 1978, you get the AIM-9L, which changes the fight a lot, and you don't have to work so hard for the kill. You can learn a lot more when you've got to maneuver to bag your opponent!

Yeah, jumping into the phone booth with 4 AIM-54 under the jet is not going to work in your favor, let alone jumping in with all your missiles; that's a lot of extra weight that should have been fired long before the merge. Depending on how you start the mission (if you're at 100% fuel with tanks and missiles starting right next to your opponent), you could be toting upwards of 66,000 pounds when so configured. The F-14's combat weight (60% fuel, 2 AIM-7, 2 AIM-9) is around 52,000-54,000 pounds depending on model. Assuming you did burn down to 60% fuel, you're still around 58,000 pounds, and every pound counts. Phoenix is big and draggy, you don't want it on your jet if you get in a dogfight. I did a trial run last night to see how well I could fight the Fishbed in an F-14D with 6 Phoenix, 2 Sidewinder, external tanks and max internal fuel - it was difficult as hell! With so much weight (69,000 pounds in the F-14D at fight start!) the plane was handling like a pig. My recommendation: shoot your AIM-54's at the MiG-21's very far away so that they aren't on your plane when you get into the phone booth. Indeed, shoot as many of your longer range missiles as possible at long range! In a dogfight, they are just extra weight with minimal use (catching someone trying to run, perhaps). Or, if you're more focused on turning and burning, don't equip Phoenix, take a loadout of 4 Sparrow/4 Sidewinder or 2 Sparrow/2 Sidewinder, or something to that effect. You should notice a significant performance difference.

The MiG-21 shouldn't be giving you too many problems in an F-14, regardless of model. What is your loadout like when you jump into the phone booth with them? About how heavy are you?

The older F-14 FM was damn near impossible to flat spin, though this matches reality pretty well - the F-14 was resilient to spins, and the chief cause of them was when one of its TF-30 engines suffered a compressor stall at high angle of attack, high altitude with the other in full blower. The resulting adverse yaw with one engine producing no thrust, and the other at max AB generated a yaw rate difficult to compensate for, but it was not irrecoverable. I've recently had to construct a briefing using the F-14 as a historic case study with relation to investing into defense programs early to save cost over time (and the repercussions of reckless cuts early on in an effort to save money), and after studying the accident statistics, was unable to find even one F110 powered (B/D) Tomcat lost to a flat spin. The new FM (CFMv2) can be spun, but not classically. Where as the older FMs responded as one would expect when the aircraft ran out of speed (either to skid towards the ground without adequate lift, or to enter a slide if nose-up), the newer FM will force itself to spin because it is based on the TW FM. Rather than depart predictably, if it goes negative on airspeed, or if it gets close to zero, it will begin to fling itself around like a leaf in a tornado until it gets the right attitude and rate to flat spin. After that, it is very difficult to recover because you can't manually sweep the wings to 68 degrees to force the CG back and kill lift. Regardless, if you want to spin, run your bird out of speed. I could try to tweak it at a later date, I just need to figure out its departure values. With regard to your second question, the VDI for pre-1.19 patch levels was more of a stand-in and the bottom portion does not scroll. It has an image of the VDI, but if memory serves, is actually an artificial horizon, so it won't scroll. The VDI from the later patch aircraft was only made available following the intro of SF2:NA and the new AvionicsF14A.dll file.

Any Universe, Baby! Time for a fictional showdown. Note: You'll notice at times I turn on the debug mode. One of the reasons I fight with the debug available is to learn what I'm doing, what the bandit is doing, and to have somewhat of an equivalent to the TACTS ranges used during actual air combat training. Fight 1: F-14A+ Tomcat vs. KF2 Hammer Loadouts: F-14A+: 75% fuel, gun KF2: 100% fuel, guns The KF2 is a fictional aircraft available for SFP-1, but which functions in SF2. As a fictional, futuristic aircraft, I fully anticipated it would have a major power and maneuvering advantage, and probably heavy stealth. I was right. Something else I noticed is that the aircraft's base RCS modifier makes its return so small that the AWG-9 couldn't lock it even under 1NM, and its visual distance also limits visual tracking to around 1 mile or so. This made the fight a bit more tough. Devil 103 headed to the arena We started with the KF2 getting radar contact on me. I pulled into the direction of the threat on the RWR and spotted the aircraft at about 15 NM. I couldn't lock it (and figured I wouldn't be able to), so as he drew nearer, I tried for visual. Nope. This is a bit extreme for an aircraft about the size of my Tomcat! I finally got visual when he was around one mile away, coming speed of heat just below me, and I began to turn left just to ensure he wouldn't shoot me at the merge. The Hammer went vertical, then put the fight as a one circle. I had 6.5g on the Tomcat at around 380KIAS, lost the Hammer for a moment, then re-found him as distance closed, then realized that the Hammer was getting around to my six very quickly. Did a debug check while sustaining the turn - yep, he's got 12.5 on his jet. He needs to slow down, or he'll overshoot, and just as he starts to do so, I roll and pull into the vertical, with right rudder, full blower. I can see I won't quite spit him out, so I loose the rudders and hold the vertical pull to get the Tomcat into a loop, dropping the flaps near the apex. The KF2 starts to follow me, but I'm already on my way down as he is on his way to my altitude. As the KF2 is descending, I wrench on the F-14 to try to get the nose around so that I can get a good firing position while he is trying to regain energy. My F-14 is yelling at me to unload and my airspeed has dropped to about 100KIAS. Rather than relent, I feed right rudder to drop the nose. This turns out advantageous anyhow, as I find myself in a decent position as the KF2 passes. What happens next is one of the strangest advantage one-circles I've ever been in. My F-14 is turning well enough with the GE motors pushing it along while the KF2 plugs in the blower and instantly has vapes coming off the nose. I decide to turn on the debug again and notice that I'm around 180-200KIAS, matching the KF2 which is travelling at 1.25M! He's going so fast that I am matching his turn rate exactly at about 600 knots slower and a hell of a lot of g less! End result is that we have roughly equal turn rates, but my turn radius is far smaller than his, so I'm glued to his six. This goes on for about a minute while I realize I have to get some speed on my bird, but not so much as to allow him loose. Flaps up, still matching rate, smaller radius. I eventually get nose on and the KF2 begins slowing down, pulling hard, then reversing repeatedly to get me off his tail. The problem in this case is that he has too much power - if he accelerates, he gets speed too quick and can't sustain a good rate. Every turn he makes, I match him. The fight goes on like this for a bit, while my AWG-9 is trying to lock up what is in essence a black hole. On his six High Yo Yo to stay on his six It takes three bursts in total to kill the KF2. First one was a snap shot which knocked out his port engine (I can see this because it doesn't have an exhaust trail anymore). The second one, taken 30 seconds later, after more of the reversal/turn tantrum, takes out a wing flap on the port wing. The final burst taken 28 seconds later, after even more yanks, causes the KF2 to detonate off my nose, ending the fight. Takeaways: For SF2, the KF2 needs a smaller RCS mod and a higher viz distance, which I modified after the fight. It is massively overpowered, but this works to its disadvantage as much as its advantage, at least under AI control. A human at the controls would have no contest against a realistic fighter at dogfight range. The main reason I won this fight is because the KF2 was going like a maniac and there was no way to shake me other than to run at that high speed. Total fight time was in the 7-8 minute region with 2-3 minutes spent following on the KF2's tails. Fight(s) 2: F-14A+ Tomcat vs. F-31 Mustang II Loadouts: F-14A+: 75% internal fuel, gun F-31: 100% internal fuel, gun Fight 2 was against the F-31 and this took two attempts, not because the F-31 managed to bag me, rather, because the first one wound up in an energy circle on the deck with neither party adequately gaining, and the F-31 would have run out of gas (I was at about 6200lbs while he was about 2000 and burning it quick in blower when I called it). After circling for about 10 minutes, I had enough, and didn't feel like waiting another 3 or so for that ending. From the first fight, however, I can say that I figured out a trick to force the F-31 out in front. As the fight started, I decided to get an altitude advantage and flew up to about 28k. Rolling the F-14 on its back, I dove on the F-31. As I passed its altitude I noticed the little bastard already had his nose reversed and he was coming onto my tail! Cripes that thing's got pitch! After being in a terribly bad position and performing several split-s maneuvers, I rolled the F-14 vertical and dropped flaps at about 15k feet. Pitching hard vertical, the F-31 couldn't hold on as long against stall speed and shot out from under me. In the amount of time it took me to roll my F-14 and pull up to him, he was already maneuvering and this is where the energy circle started. 10 minutes later, no developments, both stuck at 500 feet AGL, time to call it. The trick is learned: Fight 2 was a bit different. This time, I only came up to about 18k feet, and tried for a more classic maneuver, pulling into the F-31. That little bastard was on my tails in a matter of seconds! Damn thrust vectoring! Just wait 'till I get my Super Tomcat 21...oh wait. Well, it was a good idea that never made it. Anyhow, I do the exact same thing, get him slow, drop flaps, and pull vertical. He takes about 4 or 5 bursts at me, but can't match my pitch rate, slows too far and spits out again. This time, I'm more aggressive with my Tomcat. Hard right rudder, feed in a bit of spoiler/stab with maximum pull and wind up on the F-31's tail. It is only a matter of seconds before the F-31 is maneuvering again, but this time, he never effectively reverses the fight. Applied, yielding the advantage: The pursuit was insane. It was much a repeat of the KF2, but with an aircraft than can change its vector almost instantaneously, there were a lot of harsh stick movements, blower to idle to blower throttle movements, and a set of snap shots at points where I felt I was close to the F-31. Where the F-31 made its fatal flaw was when it tried to outrun me, wasting a lot of its precious little internal fuel. Although it out accelerated my F-14 at first, I caught up to and greatly surpassed his acceleration very quickly. As I began to catch up, he was holding still enough for me to take a well placed snap at him, which tore off his rudder and thrust vectoring plates. He ran again after a few more jittery maneuvers that I had a hell of a time following. Two minutes and twenty seconds later after re-catching up while I unloaded and began a hard pulling dive to avoid overshooting, I ran a stream of 20mm through the F-31 as I came through the horizon. This set the aircraft on fire, destroyed the cockpit, and ended the mission. When I shot him down, I had around 6200lbs of fuel again, while he was down in the 1400 region. It was just a lot more satisfying to bring him down properly and not end in a neutral energy circle. Snapshot Hit, Debug On Bagged Takeaways: The X-31 demonstrator which this aircraft was based on is a highly maneuverable aircraft, and it would have been interesting to see what an "F-31" could really do. This one is an incredible fighter with insane pitch, but I'd wonder if any pilot could really handle it so rough without cracking their skull open on the instrumentation! Fights 3&4-ish: F-14A+ Tomcat vs. F-22A and F-35A Loadouts: F-14A+: 75% fuel, gun F-22/35: 100% fuel, gun Against the Fifth Generation, there was no competition. I don't know what broke, but the F-22 initially tried to press against me, even in a position of advantage (I went looking for him, and didn't notice he had spawned right next to me). Pulled hard to keep him off my tail, and once we went neutral, it was like he forgot what he was doing. I rolled low, and pulled into him, got lead and killed him with the gun. The F-35 was even worse. I spotted him, got on his tail and shot him down without any defensive maneuvering - I'll have to check on these birds, because I know from my own experience the F-35 will fight hard under normal circumstances. Will report back on those later. F-22 out of control after taking a series of hits to the port wing. He spiraled in. F-35 shoot down after flying in a painfully straight line. So, there you have it - these experimental types are certainly beatable in a Turkey (GE powered, anyway) if you have a few tricks up your sleeve. The KF2 is heavily overpowered, so you'll find yourself inside its turn if he tries to light his blowers too much. The F-31, on the other hand, is just a nasty SOB and you've got to either kill it far out, or get on its tail and stay there if you want a chance to survive...or fly a jet with more gas in it and run it out of fuel!

I want to say the only fictional bird I took on in the F-14 was the (X)F-29 "Polecat" and it was a bear to fight, though that was with an older FM, I believe the original one from 2010, so the outcome might be different now, either positive or negative. Against any of these fictional fighters, there is a LOT of power and maneuverability to contend with, so it would be an interesting thing to try out. I've taken the older F-14's up against the F-35 a while back, don't think I did the F-22. As I recall, the F-35A handled a lot like the F-16, though it seemed more "jittery". The AI would pull hard, stop, then enter the turn. That behavior also might have changed with the new patches. I can take the Turkey up against some of these opponents if you want to see it, but I have a feeling they're going to be long fights with either party running out of gas, or crashing into the ground before they are decided.

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Devil take you, Baby! (VF-74 F-14A+ vs F-16C Blk 30 DACT)

I don't think we've tested it on an other than all 5 merged, but if I remember correctly, the avionics features themselves derived from AvionicsF14A.dll. Best answer: you could check it out and see if it works without SF2NA. If so, so much the better! If not, uninstall it.

Tomcat SP: http://combatace.com/files/file/12327-tmf-f-14-tomcat-superpack/ Understand, however, that it needs to be run on at least April 2012 patch level due to the new avionics.

Never seen that after the merge! Did you change the flaps from manual to an automatic setting? (Auto mach/auto aerodynamic load?) If not, your AI must know something mine doesn't!

Challenge Accepted...or, kind of - for whatever reason I can't get SoCal working right (yet) so I made the mission in Germany CE and flew it 3 times. This fight isn't really a DACT as much as ACT, since the airframes are essentially the same, with minimal differences between the two (Navy F-14 with TCS, certain new wiring for -9M and -54C compatibility, etc.) Both aircraft, thus, will handle identically for all intents and purposes. The F-14A is underpowered and this shows especially at high altitudes (above 20K) where the anemic TF-30's REALLY don't like to operate, so I intend to use this to my advantage (I'm certain I can handle the jet better than the AI at high altitude!). Also, flaps. If I get into an energy circle, the fight will go on forever, since neither aircraft is going to end in a position of advantage, given equal pilots. Starting loadouts (all fights): Both: gun, 100% fuel, no tanks Fight 1 started from each respective base. In this case, I was cheating a little, I suppose, since I burned a bunch of gas getting to the arena. At about 30,000 feet AGL, nose down, I picked up the Iranian F-14 at about 70 miles just as he was taking off and locked him up. He put his nose in my direction and I plugged in the blower again (had been riding it a bit through the first two waypoints) to get my jet under 54,000 pounds. No need to maneuver for either of us since this is guns only. At about 5 miles I cut the blower, and homeboy is still about 9k feet below me. He starts pulling hard on the stick to try for a gun shot or maybe to get onto my tails, and I roll my F-14 on its back and begin to pull down into him to perform a loop. Because I'm so high up, my F-14 starts a heavy energy burning pull, even when I light the cans yet again, and with gravity aiding me. Towards the bottom of the loop (26k ft) I'm at least accelerating, and have about 6.3g on the aircraft as I look up and see the Iranian Turkey run out of airspeed, desperately trying to put his nose down and recover before the aircraft slips. He does so, and I'm coming up on his tail. Notice, I didn't use the term "rocketing" like I would in a GE powered bird. I'm running about 250 KIAS and loosing speed, nose up. I am able to get nose on with takeoff flaps, while the Iranian is trying to get airspeed. I'm at 90KIAS and the F-14 is starting to loose altitude even with the nose up. I have the stabilators at full deflection, takeoff flaps, and barely start accelerating, but what is working in my favor is that my nose is on the opponent, and now he's trying to maneuver with no airspeed. A chase-down ensues. He's burning airspeed trying to make futile turns and reverses, while I'm making minute corrections to keep threatening him. I get in range, cut the throttle when I see my Vc at about 150, and send a few bursts in his direction. One set hits and he pulls hard vertical. I do the same and send another two second burst in his direction. The aircraft explodes off my nose. Fight 1 is over. Well, that wasn't too much of a challenge, time for fight two. Rather than try to burn away my gas, this fight starts in the air about 5 miles apart. We pull into each other, and after the merge, I pull into a left-hand turn, at about 5g, recalling that the Flanker hadn't done well keeping his energy up in the circle, maybe this guy would burn his available smack - unfortunately, we're at 15,000 feet, not 25, and I can see him gaining, so I pull harder. This begins not an energy circle, but an energy BURNING circle, with the bandit going down to about 270 KIAS, and myself burning to below 250. Flaps down, gain and gain and gain, but not quite enough to capitalize, so pull into the vertical. Here, I was close to the Iranian's tail, so I can tell it's going to take him a bit to threaten me. He goes low to continue his circle while I'm high in a loop. Just as he gets to a point where (I can tell) he's going to try for a head-on climbing gun shot as I'm descending, I put some negative g on the F-14 to prolong my vector, forcing him to pull harder and burn more energy in an effort for the solution, then roll the jet and pull towards him when I can see he doesn't have enough authority to get his nose on. He passes below me trying for all his might to get his nose on (he's not even close) and pulls hard right, which gives me less work in a left-hand turn to stay on his tail. I reverse and pull with him. Because he was ascending and I was descending, I massively out-rate his turn and wind up in a position that will give me a high angle off gun shot. Get some lead and fire a burst. The bullet stream takes out part of the left wing and the cockpit. The aircraft begins to tumble and crashes into the ground a few seconds later. The third fight started very similar, nose-on, start of energy circle, him pulling harder (this time damn near getting nose-on) and me having to respond, energy burning circle, flaps, only this time, I decide to reverse the direction of the circle to try to get on his tail quicker, rather than press the vertical. This did not execute as well as I had hoped, and I could see his nose getting close to my bird. Roll the F-14 to make a thinner target and fly below him, flaps still down, then roll and pull back up into the vertical. In a maneuver for which I'm somewhat proud, I pull back the throttle a bit, stand on the left rudder with near full deflection of the stabs and some spoiler, and cause the F-14's nose to skid down in a slicing motion that lands my plane in a very advantageous position from my piss-poor "maybe he won't hit us" position I had been in earlier. Full blower and begin cutting off his turn angles. After about 3 turns (he reversed a few times), I'm in a good position for a high angle-off gun shot, like the prior fight. I bring the pipper slightly ahead of his right wing and pull the trigger, knocking out his right engine and taking off some flaps. Continue to follow and line right up on his six. Fire a second burst and take out the left engine, setting it alight. Final burst and the entire jet catches alight, and canopy comes off. Kill #3. Takeaways: This wasn't as easy a fight as the prior CFM, and it did last a little longer than the few fights I did with the beta birds. In general, these aircraft were still relatively heavy (two fights at 100% fuel, the first, like I said, I burned a bunch of gas getting to the range), but against the "A" model F-14, the easiest way to kill it is to get it high up where the TF-30's don't like the thin air. The other thing to remember is that the AI doesn't drop its flaps, so if you get the AI F-14 slow, it won't be as effective, and in that regard, I guess I cheated a bit on fights 2 and 3, too. Then again, I can't think of a single F-14 pilot I have spoken to that DIDN'T drop the flaps at slow speeds, only comments about eating alive those that didn't use the same trick.

Interesting when you read the whole article. "Two other German officers, Col. Andreas Pfeiffer and Maj. Marco Gumbrecht, noted in the same report that the F-22's capabilities are "overwhelming" when it comes to modern, long-range combat as the stealth fighter is designed to engage multiple enemies well-beyond the pilot's natural field of vision - mostly while the F-22 is still out of the other plane's range. Grumbrecht said that even if his planes did everything right, they weren't able to get within 20 miles of the next-generation jets before being targeted." - Kind of difficult to get to the merge when you've been killed 20 miles before! And what of past performance in Red Flag? In excess of 200:1 kill to loss is heavily lopsided in the jet's favor. As I've long said, and as MigBuster's video illustrates, in a dogfight, it is the better pilot who is going to win. Certainly, the hardware is going to affect the fight, but consider the Starfighter defeating the F-15, F-4F's defeating MiG-29G's following the reintegration of Germany, even the F4 Wildcat holding a kill to loss in its favor against the Japanese Zero! In this case, we have two fighter which at visual range are both highly maneuverable, one with canards the other with thrust vectoring, both 9g capable (not assuming temporary limits), both with better than 1:1 thrust to weight ratio at combat weight - these jets are very comparable in terms of fighting statistics, so should anyone be surprised when one betters the other in a series of exercises? Of course the F-22 "looses $79B advantage" at visual range! Every aircraft at visual range is going to loose most of its technological advantages, and we've known this for decades. This is not news. Look at ACEVAL/AIMVAL - F-14 and F-15 crews only managed 2 to 2.5:1 in their favor against the F-5 with an all aspect missile. Because of ROE that mirrored Vietnam (VID before shoot) visual range combat was anticipated every time. That multi-million dollar AWG-9 and APG-63 weren't very advantageous at such close ranges, were they? True, many of the F-5's kills were possible because of a relatively inexpensive bit of hardware: the AIM-9L (they had been getting smoked during the workups), but with all the electro-wizardry packed into the Tomcat and Eagle (Radar, VTAS, TVSU, etc), you'd think the Tiger II would be outmatched every time. But how well does an F-5 defend a carrier battle group? How well does it do sweeps into hostile nations? It doesn't. It has neither the range nor endurance without huge tanks attached to it, nor can it engage at beyond visual range. At best it is a point defense fighter. Unsurprisingly, when the Tomcat crews started using the TVSU, having one F-14 spot the F-5's and positively ID them, pull away, and have the second F-14 shoot, the kill to loss ratio was again lopsided in their favor. The tactic put range back between the fighter and bandit and the AWG-9's long range detection and the AIM-7's BVR engagement range was again working to the fighter's advantage. This tactic got flagged, and it was back to the drawing board. So now we have two aircraft, each with advanced air-to-air systems in the forms of Radar, IRST, stealth, HMDs, etc., most of which is entirely negated when the aircraft close to visual range, specifically set up in a situation where the EF-2000 isn't getting shot somewhere between 20 and 70 miles from the Raptor to see how the aircraft perform in a dogfight, and the news is clowning on the F-22 because the EF-2000 got the better of it in a couple rounds? One aircraft beat another one with comparable performance at visual range!? YGBFSM! ...What a joke.

Just flew with it, nothing broke...yet.

This is a set of Dissimilar Air Combat Training (DACT) reports - GUNS only! F-14A+ Tomcat vs. Su-27 Flanker-B gun fight This fight had been done before, but the F-14A+ (B) that I'm flying is using a new flight model - Combined Flight Model version 2 (CFMv2) which will hopefully be released in the next few days. It is based on the ThirdWire flight model, but also includes elements of the older FM, specifically the flaps/slats and spoilers. Fight started about 20 miles apart. I initially locked the Su-27 up at about 18 miles away, and he promptly began to beam my radar, although neither of us had missiles. Working the angles with the nose to prevent him from going perpendicular and causing a relative closure of 0 (would have broken lock), I maintained lock on the Flanker and took a lag persuit vector, knowing he'd probably turn his nose into me as the distance closed. Wouldn't you know it, at about 5 miles he did just that. I could see his velocity vector change to point at my jet, and pulled myself a little right of the vector, then rolling towards the Flanker to spoil his shot. He pulled into me, but was never able to achieve a snap shot. What happened next was an energy circle. The Flanker was not putting on a sustained g turn, but instead varying g between about 5 and 9. I was at a steady 6.5g throughout the first circle we traveled, building to about 7.2. After travelling through about half of the second circle, his pulling was burning his energy, while mine maintained, but I wasn't gaining good enough positional advantage. I was now behind his 3-9 line and it was time to pay the maintainers with a keg. I allowed the g to build to about 10, burning energy quickly, but also putting me on the Flanker's tail. Unfortunately, as the "g" declined, I wasn't burning energy fast enough (I had gotten on his tail inside of 1 mi!) and I realized I was going to overshoot. Full stab deflection into the vertical, left rudder and cut the engines to try to stay inside the Flanker. I rolled and pulled into him, from my position straight down towards ground, but my Tomcat went right in front of his nose. He must not have had a firing solution, since I was not a fireball. Flaps, roll back into the Flanker, full blower as the Flanker puts his nose in my direction, but not quite enough for a snap shot. Rocket up through the vertical, flaps up, now travelling 180 degrees to the Flanker's nose, pull, flaps back down because I'm doing a split-S and I want it in the smallest circle possible. A bit of rudder to the right, and I pull out at the Flanker's altitude in a right turn. The flaps put me close enough to the Flanker that he begins to reverse. They are generating lift at such a rate that I have to retract them, unload, put on about -2g and rudder roll the jet onto his tail. I have VSL-High selected and lock up the Flanker, taking a snap shot as he pulls to my left. Drop flaps again (to take off setting) to keep up with his turn rate, and he puts a bit of vertical on his jet. Second stream of Vulcan rounds and they are off the the left. Ok, calm down. I'm at his 6, Vc is nearly zero and we're just building past 250 KIAS - any hard pull he does might out-alpha me, but it'll also burn his speed, and then what's he going to do? Line up more carefully, still stuck to his six, send my next burst and the Flanker detonates into a ball of fire front of my Tomcat, the fuselage eventually spiraling in. Total fight time from the merge: approx 3 mins 30 seconds. Take Aways: the better slow-speed maneuverability of CFMv2, based heavily on the ThirdWire Tomcat is probably what helped me the most. In general the energy circle didn't last as long, but I think the earlier F-14 FM would have yielded similar results given that the AI was doing pulsing energy burns at that time. I found that CFMv2 is easier to keep in sustained turns, possibly because it takes a second for g to build as the stabs react to the stick input, while instantaneous inputs are a little more difficult to achieve at slow speed. F-15C Eagle vs. MiG-29A Fulcrum Although I've spent most of my time in the books and manuals studying the F-14 and flying it in the virtual environment, anyone who would say Caesar ain't a fan of the Mighty Eagle is a liar! It occurred to me that I haven't really flown this beast in DACTs, so this is long overdue. I am not as familiar with the F-15, so I don't trust myself with it going against a Flanker, but knowing the history, I figured the Fulcrum would be a good challenge in a jet which I'm less familiar with. Going into the fight, I know the Eagle doesn't fight like a GE-Tomcat at slow speed, though at higher speeds the aircraft are comparable. I know I can sustain a better than 7g turn at about 400 KIAS, even at high altitudes, and this is what will work in my advantage. Or so I thought. The fight started again at about 20 miles separation, followed by an energy circle. The problem is that I quickly found out the F-15 needs slightly more than 400 KIAS to sustain its 7g turn, around 450. At about this speed it'll do 7 and around 500 it'll do 8g just fine. Problematically, I pulled vertical and left into the MiG, which burned my energy too soon and as I came down, wound up in a 4.5g sustained turn against the MiG-29 when I got the bird into his plain of turn, and it was becoming obvious to me that he was starting to get too close to my tail. I dove to gain energy, rolling the Eagle on its back and performing an afterburning low loop, bringing the MiG down to about 8,000 feet with me, and pulling into him. This got the energy to where I needed it (480 KIAS) and I was able to get into a strong sustained turn against the MiG with slight vertical elements to help speed control. After about three iterations of an energy circle, where I found I could put on about 8.3g sustained while moderating the afterburner, it was now the MiG who dove for the deck as I was closing on his six. One of the things to remember about the F-15 is that its thrust to weight can wind up putting it into a situation where it starts pulling less "g" as its stabs get loaded up, and the turn circle widens. You can have the stick in your lap at 550KIAS and the jet will just keep accelerating. As it stood I was at about 520 KIAS in an 8g turn when I curled into the MiG's six, and there was no way this Fulcrum was outrunning me. What happened next was me being saddled on the MiG for the next two minutes and ten seconds trying to get a damn gun solution! Snap shot here and there, but man was that pilot moving the Fulcrum. He tried two break turns to shake me, but neither worked, the Eagle followed him flawlessly. Finally I got lucky, firing as he nosed down and catching him in a stream of Vulcan rounds that I had tried to do earlier but managed to miss. (6,000RPM and he flies through it!? WTFO!?) Fulcrum down, RTB. Total fight time: 7 minutes 45 seconds. Takeaways: The F-15 would have probably not encountered as many issues if I hadn't burned its energy so soon (I hadn't anticipated so much loss early on), but at least I never let the bird below 300 KIAS, recovered smartly, and then used the bird's powerful engines and good sustained turn rate to my advantage. If you can manage the energy properly, the sustained turning capability of the F-15 is exquisite at higher speeds. F-4EJ Kai vs. MiG-23MF Flogger-B This last fight puts the Phantom against a comparable aircraft. I do know I normally get waxed a few times flying the F-4, but every other time I've flown the jet it has been against a more maneuverable opponent. The MiG-23 is generally similar to the Phantom, so this should provide a more even ground. One of the things I know about the Phantom, and have listed in past DACT reports, is that unless you're a master stick, you try to keep the bird above 450 KIAS. Guys who could draw the most out of the Phantom knew little "intentional departure" techniques and aerobatics that worked with the jet at slow speeds, but I am not one of those folks. Started the fight nose-on, and decided to take the altitude advantage from the MiG, passing high, pure vertical, at about 19,000 feet. Rolling down and pulling hard on the Phantom in a descending turn, the aircraft put on a very high "g" turn that I anticipated would put me at the Flogger's six early on. Unfortunately for me, the Flogger was also loading very high "g" and what happened for a while was...you guessed it, an energy circle. This one kept me focused, however, since I had to do my damndest to keep my speed and "g" up in the F-4. At about 10,000 feet, the Flogger shot low, so I followed, was going to overshoot, so brought the Phantom back up into the vertical which the Flogger reversed into and followed. I came down and back up into another loop, shaking him and almost put the nose into the dirt coming back down, pulled for all I had (actually wasn't as low as I thought) and found that I was coming up on the Flogger's tail. Like in my F-14 vs Su-27 fight, I overshot when I tried to pull hard into the Flogger coming back up. I brought the nose of the jet up to try to keep a neutral position, but the F-4 kept going. Chopped throttles, pulled into the Flogger, whose nose was getting dangerously close to my tail. I knew I had the F-4 at its limits and was fully expecting the jet to slide and enter a spin, but this didn't happen. It could have been because I began deflecting rudder to roll around the Flogger in the general direction the aircraft was naturally travelling... Regardless, this desparate slow speed dance wound up spitting the Flogger out, wings full forward (a rare sight in this sim, he must have been at sub 250 KIAS, if not 200 since I was in the 190's and he was overtaking). I nursed the Phantom's nose down, travelling in the same direction as the MiG-23, but with far less energy. The Flogger pulled away, and I pulled into him very moderately. It was unlikely I'd achieve a position of advantage here, but I was building energy back up and wasn't about to let him loop back around onto my tail. We passed by each other again, but the Flogger never adequately rebuilt his energy. Wings were back out again, straining for air as I brought by Phantom around. I was able to keep higher g and turn rate than the Flogger long enough to get the nose on his tail. It probably didn't help that he went high after we had passed. After a few more turns and one snapshot as we passed (figured I'd get lucky - figured wrong), I was more solidly on his tail. Took a moment to set up and ZZzip! Good kill! Total fight time just under 9 minutes. Takeaways: The aircraft were so evenly matched it hurt! The energy circles found no advantages and it was the AI that broke the circle initially. It was the burning of the Flogger's energy and the AI's inability to get it back up that won the day. Although I myself ended up well below the 450 I should have been at, I was able to successfully rebuild usable energy, and in the end, was able to get back onto his tail. Overall, a successful night - 3 for 3, I was able to use at least some of what I knew and came out alive at the end. I'll take that any time, baby!

Happy Birthday!

Ctrl+L, which is an in-game command for all aircraft, not specifically the F-14. Cycles through flashing, steady and off. EDIT: Did you test the weapons?

PM me, if 27MB is too big, try to compress only the .ini files, nothing else (I don't recall if you can outright send .ini's so I usually compress files into an archive). We'll get your Turkeys working yet.