Caesar

I'm not certain, but I was able to get the June 10 patch over a span of time and it seems like the enemy AI planes have less physics working against them. In the MF F-14A at about 40% fuel and out of missiles (I'm at about 1:1 thrust to weight here) I'm still being out-accelerated by the MiG-21 for a good chunk of the persuit. Also, the Mirage 5 is able to sustain its turn as well as I can, even though I have superior wing loading at around half fuel quantity/guns only (where I try to jump into the dogfight). For obvious reasons, I have an easier time with the F-14B. Now, I'm flying with the AI set to HARD, so I'll recheck on NORMAL and see if there's any change, but having read this thread, it has made me curious. It's also not just the Turkey, but also the Eagle and Phabulous Phantom, I've noticed similar issues (also noting the Phantom isn't a turning fighter).

All of the AFN commercials up here. Every...damn...one...I don't know how many times I've seen Fraud, Waste and Abuse/Know the local customs of your country/sexual harassment/human trafficking/proper diet, exercise/that damn girl with the cell phone while driving/drunk driving can ruin your career/That one that turned into "LT Bockus, goin' for a riiiiiiide"...actually, that one's all right. Anyone who has ever been on a US military base outside CONUS should know what I'm talking about. EDIT: Oh, yeah, and Major Savings gets irritating after a while. Good bits here and there, but I'm sick of "What would you do for a million bucks?" with that stupid beat in the background.

Happy Birthday, gents!

Think that's Bobrock's Tornado. It might already be compatible with SF2, I can't remember if I modified it to make it work, but suffice to say if not already, you can make it.

<S>

Oooookay, looks like I'm gonna have to try for another day in the community center to get the latest patch (still running Dec 09 up here). That is friggin' sweet! I can't think of how many times I've hit that command only to hear "Negative, we have no extra fighters available at this time."

To be honest, I like the teen-series in general; each one had its own unique advantages and each one was a hell of a fighter in its own right. Favorite? Tomcat. Any Time, Baby! (as if it weren't plainly obvious...)

<S> My condolensces to you X RAY; I'm sorry for your loss.

I used to use Hard, but as it has been mentioned, because areal refuelling isn't modeled, and because the AI never runs out of fuel, I've started to use Normal. It would get very frustrating to me when I see the AI using burner liberally, while if they tried to bug out, and I tried to chase them down, I wouldn't be able to catch them before running out of fuel, even if they were in a smaller jet using burner through out the fight, and for their bug out. Using Normal also has its drawbacks - aside from a slightly less realistic feel, it makes a heavier fighter in a dogfight. It's less noticeable in a smaller fighter, but I really notice it in the F-14, F-15E; fighters that carry a lot of gas. I'd prefer to be around 50%-60% when I get into the dogfight, burn gas in the fight and max loiter my way back to base afterwards. Trying to turn or zoom even in the more powerful F-14B or the Eagle with near full fuel makes it a royal pain to keep energy up to effectively fight, or to fight slow in a high alpha vertical fight/scissors. Earlier, real life fuel burn rates were discussed; over at the Tomcat Sunset website the same subject was discussed and the sim is quite accurate in Hard settings based on what was discussed there, and as FC mentioned here: your fuel consumption rate in burner is exponentially higher than in military power. We're talking about depleting fuel in minutes here, which is why mid-air refueling is such a necessary tool for long missions.

Congratulations and good luck!

To add on to what USAFMTL's explanation (ILS/TCS); Another function of the VDI is that it displays targeting data to the pilot when the RIO has a target locked up in Single Target Track mode, displaying the radar range selected, weapon selected, the target's orientation vertically to the F-14, an ASE circle, and the target's range on a solid scale as well as a Break-X when the target falls inside minimum range of the selected weapon; but if you're that close, you'd best not be looking down at the VDI for target info!. Pics/functionality is found in the 01-F14AAA-1 (F-14A) or AAP-1 (F-14B) manual. In the new release, all 3 of these modes are at least partially modeled (TCS, as has been stated, is a forward camera, but both ILS and most of the targeting nomenclature is there). I friggin' love this mod.

Fleet Defender for me; loved the control over the AWG-9.

Just flew the A and B in a couple of missions. Out-friggin'-standing, first of all. The models for the plane are top-notch and the cockpit is awesome. Got into a guns dispute with some Su-27's and MiG-29's in the Bravo. The dispute ended with the Tomcat still flying. Awesome stuff, gents, and thanks again for all your hard work!

OMG, my connection held for the whole 40 minutes required to get this beast! With only myself in the community center, I had enough bandwidth to finish the download in record time (normally would take about 6 hours, if I didn't time out) AND didn't time out...the second time. Either way, bringing zee files to the dorms to install onto my desktop. Thanks again to TMF; can't friggin' wait.

Okay, I haven't studied the F-18 nor the F/A-18 nearly as well as I have the F-14, but I can provide at least a little insight: The F-16 was initially designed as an inexpensive, highly maneuverable fighter, whose sole purpose was to dogfight. Initially, the F-16 wasn't even wired for the AIM-9L all-aspect IR missile! The only reason I know this is from reading one of Bob Wilcox's books that covered the "teen-series" and the section on the Viper covered its development. Eventually, "gold plating" was added that wound up turning the plane into a nasty air to air, OR air to ground platform, including the ability to carry all-aspect IR missiles, AIM-7's and percesion guided air to surface munitions. I think Block 15 was the first to carry the AIM-7, but can't say definitively, so that's as far as I'll go. Hope this helps, and I'm not totally off base! Don't got the book with me at the moment, so that's from memory recall.

Friggin' Awesome, Baby! Congratulations to TMF for the release, and now I have to figure out how I'm going to download it from up here...

My first true sim was Fleet Defender on the PC, because I don't think "Combat" for the Atari or After Burner for Nintendo counts. I do recall playing a Harrier sim on C64, F-15 Strike Eagle II, and another Atari title "Tomcat, the F-14 Flight Simulator" which I own today, but FD was really my first SIM.

Congratulations on your deployment completion and on E-7! Welcome home.

Felix Natalis Tibi!

Felix Natalis Tibi

S!