Caesar

How much gas you got in the bird? The F-15, especially with FAST packs can carry a lot of gas, which equates to a lot of weight, and that's gonna tax your performance (in exchange for range). At the merge, I try to have about 60% or as close to that as possible. EDIT: IIRC, the F-15's best corner velocity was around 385KIAS back in the days of the F-15A (probably also thanks to its lower g-limit). With 9g avail, it might be a bit higher, but 900 kph IAS is close to 500 KIAS, and that's a bit fast for hard turns (you got the g, but not the rate).

Merry Christmas, all!

Happy Birthday!

For your situational awareness: http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/18/world/asia/north-korea-leader-dead/?hpt=hp_t1

Diamondback 100 loaded for Bear (or Backfire, or Blackjack, for that matter!) Devil 101 firing a Sparrow before hitting the merge Viper over the Desert

Concur with previous comments. Would have been cool to see it early, but if that meant cutting parts, that's not good. Will gladly wait to see the product completed as intended!

Yes, which also makes it somewhat clear as to why the date was chosen, rather than sometime in spring (timeframe when Jesus was most likely born). The thing is, to me the date doesn't really matter; Christmas is the feast day of Christ, or, Christ's Mass. It could have been put at any date, simply as the date that is used in remembrance specifically of Jesus of Nazareth. My own birthday, 29 September, is St. Michael's Mass, and there's Masses for other saints, martyrs, etc. on every day of the year. It would make it easier for integration of Christian celebration into pagan nations to use a day already highly celebrated (winter feast) to mark that day as the Mass for Christ, and that's what happened (if my memory from those college courses is intact - correct me as necessary, but I think I got it). Which brings my own opinion of Commercialism Day into perspective. 25 December is indeed Christmas, namely Christ's Mass, but that isn't what is celebrated. I don't specifically hate that day, or everything about it, but I dislike quite a bit. The "War for Christmas" as has been mentioned is a joke, I am in total agreement with Olham's comment, and yes in America we've got people hocking their Christmas stuff even before our Thanksgiving Day has begun. And the carols/music...ugh.

I always script my DACT missions, so I know who is going to be there and start in the arena. That said, yes, I have used the Alt+N feature, only to get jumped en-route home on non-scripted missions. Usually stops about halfway home and indicates "Enemies Nearby!"

Happy Birthday, Sid!

That looks friggin' awesome.

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RIP. Sad to see a great actor go.

<S>

What type of aircraft are you flying? I'm always flying on Hard FM, but I recall someone had mentioned that overstress damage has been modeled even in Normal (and maybe Easy) FM for AI wingmen, as for the player. Your wingmen and the AI in general do not follow the g-limits on the airframe and in certain aircraft (esp. F-5, F-16, F/A-18, EF-2000, I've noticed) will yank the wings right off by pulling too hard on the stick. If, as a player, you put the stick in your lap at between 400 and 450 KIAS, you'll probably get the -18 to spike to 18-20g and apparently the EF-2000 can hit 30g, so I'd call the damage modelling realistic, but it has also been pointed out that the AI has no control over how hard they pull, and so are liable to break the jet every time. I have not noticed enemy AI breaking aircraft without being damaged first, that is to say if they do a hard yank on the stick after taking a hit, sometimes a wing will come apart, for example. Next time you're up and engaged, I'd check your wingies (F6) and see if they are spiraling to earth without their wings or horizontal stabs just to see if that's your problem.

D-Fend kind of makes it tricky. It's easier to use than DOSBox alone overall, but I've found for Fleet Defender I do not use D-Fend. I think if you follow the setup here you should be good to go.

Will have to re-read the book!

I think it is a good idea; I know I personally haven't been super involved - a few RL things have come up and taken away from sim time. At the bare minimum I would like to thank all those involved in planning/execution, and especially Wrench for putting the packages together. The NAG install is pretty SH in my opinion, and it would be nice to see this thing pick up again.

Happy Birthday!

Also might depend on the model of the plane. USN A-model Tomcats used to have the option of using burner or not (you can see them launching on their inaugural cruise in '74 without lighting the cans), but as I understand it, as early as the late 1970's the requirement was to bring the jet to Zone 5 on the catapult. B and D model Tomcats were prohibited from using afterburner on the deck (GE engines burned hotter, might have been able to damage the JBD's). I also know that when British F-4's visited American carriers in the mid 1960's, they wound up being prohibited from using afterburner when their engines began burning the flight deck (this was largely due to the cant of the jet made by the longer nose landing gear compared to American F-4's, but also because they were using a more powerful, hotter engine) - ref: Roger Ball!.

<S>

TO: JFC SHAPE FROM: CO, VFA-11 SUBJECT: INTELLIGENCE ON RECENT IRANIAN F-14 SPLASH DURING STRIKE TIME: 162333ZNOV11 OUR LAST OPERATION WAS OUTLINED IN AN AFTER ACTION REPORT. A FLIGHT OF 2 F/A-18F ENGAGED AND DESTROYED A FLIGHT OF 4 IRANIAN F-14A WHILE EN-ROUTE TO STRIKE A TARGET AT ESFAHAN. NOTED INTELLIGENCE INCLUDES THAT THE F-14'S IN THE AREA WERE NOT ARMED WITH AIM-54 PHOENIX MISSILES, BUT RATHER AIM-7E AND AIM-9P CLASS MEDIUM AND SHORT RANGE MISSILES. ALTHOUGH THE AWG-9 CAN SEE AND BURN THROUGH THE MORE ADVANCED SUPER HORNET ECM AT LONG RANGE (NOTED 47MI), MAX ENGAGEMENT RANGE IS ROUGHLY 12-15 MILES IF THE IRANIAN AIRCRAFT ARE NOT ARMED WITH AIM-54, AND AMRAAM EQUIPPED AIRCRAFT WILL OUT-RANGE AND HAVE FIRST SHOT. DOGFIGHTING CAPABILITY OF IRANIAN TOMCAT PILOTS APPEARS POOR, AND THEY WERE UNABLE TO OUTMANEUVER THE BOMB-LADEN F/A-18FS. FORWARD AS NECESSARY. //END

Mission: Strike factory at Esfahan Aircraft Strike Package: 2x F/A-18F, VFA-11 Red Rippers Target: Factory at Esfahan, probable location of Uranium Enrichment operation. Flight started off normal during ingress; we were flying in mountainous regions to try to avoid radar contact with enemy fighters. I was not surprised, however, when Red Crown came over the radio to indicate interceptors headed our way. Knowing what is stationed at Esfahan, I had a pretty good idea what they were; the fact that they began trying to lock us up at about 70 miles solidified my beliefs. F-14's. I hit the ECM and brought myself and my wingman low, putting a mountain between us and the Iranian Turkeys. At about 47 miles out, we were out from behind the mountain, and the powerful AWG-9's had burned through our ECM already. LD/SD meant that even flying low would be risky. The F-14's still hadn't fired on us, which gave me an idea - if they had AIM-54's, they'd have shot by now - I've got some AIM-120's on this bird, I out-range them! Looking at the TWS, there were 4 in this flight. Bring the nose on and fire a Slammer at the lead F-14, which struck, and then locked up the second Tomcat, telling my wingman to engage, and send a Slammer his way - a short three seconds later, the (now) lead F-14 fires in return, followed by another. Break right and start pumping chaff. Both his missiles go stupid, and I get a call that my missile has struck and shot down the lead Tomcat. As I pulled back, another pair of Sparrows were fired at us, fooled by chaff. I fired a heater at one of the F-14s as we came to the merge. It impacted, but did not shoot down the number 3 F-14. The number 4 Tomcat presses for nose-on and nearly shoots off my tails with 20mm at the merge, just missing high. I pull into a 4.5g vertical loop and notice F-14 #3 is on one engine and tell my wingman to engage him. He gets a shot at me with an AIM-9P, but it does not hit, and I press on #4. As I am waiting for my wingman to shoot #3, I get a call that #3, probably with too little power to pull out of his own loop trying to follow me, crashed into the desert. #4 will be killed properly - I fire my gun, which catches the F-14, but doesn't kill it; fast readjust, fire and the Tomcat detonates off my nose, no ejection by the crew. (Personal note: I loved flying that bird, best ride I ever had, but if an enemy dares come up to me in that jet, both he and his corrupted steed are dead). Onto Esfahan! I've punched my fuel tank off, so this is a max-loiter slow flight. We get another call about bogey aircraft, but they are well off in the distance (I can't see them on radar at 80NM, so they're out there). Get into the area, get a LOT of altitude (30k feet) and drop the first set of GBU-31's on the factory. These damage both the factory and an attached Gaseous Diffusion Facility, but do not destroy either. Lucky for me I have another 2. As I am pulling around, a SAM is fired at me, but it fails to guide. Get leveled off, drop #3 and 4. These strike and destroy the factory, and cause further damage to the GDF next to the primary factory. Another SAM comes up and misses. Head home, no sighting on the other bogey/bandit aircraft (likely F-4 Phantoms). No flyers coming from Esfahan AB. Results: Suspected nuclear factory destroyed at Esfahan, GDF damaged, could now be radioactive area. 4x F-14A's shot down. 4x JDAM expended, 2x jettisoned by wingman.

Greyman, Cockpits are one of the most difficult parts of a model; its one of the reasons we see a lot of 'pits reused or modified for other aircraft (A-4 stand-in for MiG-17, for example). If you want to take a hack at it, download the SF2 F-14A/B Tomcat and modify it or its cockpit to work in the SF-P1 series. It is about 6 years newer (if memory serves correct), so obviously looks a lot nicer and is more accurate - I wouldn't hold your breath for a new 'pit for the SF-1 Tomcat.