streakeagle

I have the track file, which I could record and upload. It was too late to even post a screenshot last night. Paid for lack of sleep at work, but well worth it! Been waiting for this addon for quite a long time.

I spent some time getting my stick and throttle mapped. I tried a takeoff and a little flying... Then I jumped into the instant action Dogfight: guns only vs an F-4E Phantom. It only took a few flights to figure out how to get my nose around on the F-4 in a way that set up a classic 6 o'clock gunshot. Took a few more flights to get a feel for the lead angle I would need as the gyro sight isn't as useful as US gunsights on the P-51D and F-86F. Squared up and fired two small bursts. F-4 went down in flames. So far, the MiG-21bis is everything I hoped it would be. It is going to take awhile to get all the clickable switch locations and/or key mappings down. My F-4 B-8 grip is perfect for modeling the MiG-21 stick... just missing the wheel brakes paddle (using the left throttle stick on the Warthog Throttle). The Target software allows a decent way to model the landing gear lever and lock operation as well as the 3-position flaps. Clearly, with so many toggle switches, it would be better if I built my own MiG-21 control panels!

F-86 vs F-86 is great fun, with 3:1 odds even more fun. Love this plane and real people instead of AI.

I am not really excited by this map. I pretty much want the same maps that SF2 has: Vietnam, Israel, and Cold War NATO vs Warsaw Pact Europe, plus Korea... although what I really want is a globe that gets filled in as the different maps are released. I am guaranteed to buy the map for variety and general support of ED the same way that I bought everything TK/Third Wire released. Given the current plane set... Korea for the F-86F vs MiG-15bis, though a Vietnam terrain for the UH-1H would be sweet, too! MiG-21bis would thrive best in a Syria vs Israel (F-15C as stand-in for F-15A) setup, though quite applicable to many theaters with late MiG-21 owners.

I will reserve my excitement for the moment I am in the air with gear retracted on my own PC. For now, I remain dedicated to the F-86F.

If you are going to find anyone flying SFP1/WoX online at all, start with Hyperlobby, the only place to find such people. There was a very small core group that was there for years. Just a year or two ago I was trying to get back together with them. Hyperlobby is just a meeting place. They ultimately fly using Hamachi if they are still flying at all. So hang out in the Wings Over Vietnam lobby or Strike Fighters lobby during all hours, and maybe you will see someone, if you are lucky. If you never see anyone within a week, there is no one left to fly online.

After their recent announcements, if 2.0, Edge, and the MiG-21bis don't make it by the end of the year, there will be big problems among many if not most of the current DCS community. I could spend 2 to 4 years just enjoying the game in its present state, so I might be a bit more patient than some. But I will be strongly disappointed if the MiG-21bis misses yet another release date. I like the World War 2 aircraft, but I don't really want them. Give me the Strike Fighters plane set or other mainstream aircraft from that generation in DCS if you want my continued support (F-5E would be a great complement to the MiG-21bis!). In the mean time, I am going to keep flying the F-86F awaiting the MiG-15bis for great historical player-vs-player jet dogfights.

Aside from a clickable cockpit with more detailed radar operation, SF2 captures everything up to the F-15A exceptionally well. No other sim will let you fly anything from the Wright Flyer to the F-14/F-15/F-16 in a comprehensive combat environment. Until aircraft start having search radars with displays and knobs, SF2 isn't really lite. Very little has changed between me flying F-86 vs MiG-15 dogfights in SF2 KAW mod and DCS other than I have the option to do a full cold start and can break my engine. The flight models are different. I presume Belsimtek's model to be better, but haven't done any studies of my own to prove it one way or the other. The transonic region matters a lot with jets, and SF2 doesn't normally handle that well unless a very high resolution FM data ini is created and populated with good data. I would like to see a current or past F-86 pilot's opinion of the DCS F-86. P-51D pilots love the DCS P-51D, very few complaints and lots of complements of how well it mimics the things they experience at the edge of the envelope while performing air shows. I hope the F-86 is just as detailed/accurate.

Nothing new to me in the newsletter other than the mention of an F/A-18 specific map and the implication of a Korean War map. It just summarizes everything that has already been stated over the past year with the latest revision to the release dates that will be missed :P I hope Edge/DCS 2.0 significantly improves performance and looks better too. As long as performance doesn't get worse, I can live with just an image quality improvement. But what I have been waiting for all along is the MiG-21bis! Smash the bugs and release a stable/complete version with little need for further patches!

I don't know what I don't know what you mean by "antenna elevation". TK's radars most certainly care about their elevation angle and vertical beamwidth... they just don't stabilize relative to the horizon as real radars are normally used, instead, the search angle is always relative to the aircraft nose level line. So, to change your elevation, you merely pitch your nose up or down rather than twisting a knob on your stick. It is a rather elegant solution since he had no intention of providing an elevation knob for a "lite" sim. If it had been auto stabilized, there would have been no means to look up or down. Kind of like the gunsight depression knob: he wouldn't make it available to the player during the game, but you could select custom settings in the ini file for the various modes, which was more than good enough for those that wanted a particular depression angle. LOMAC/FC represents the next level up in complexity where the elevation angle can be adjusted in real time and is autostabilized to search the same angle relative to the ground despite aircraft pitch variations until the mechanical stops are reached.

SFP1 Sparrows were always a bit more effective than reality, but were still unreliable at launch and fairly easy to dodge. Fired within parameters against a co-operative AI target, I could hit at least 75% of the time with the AIM-7E2 and about 50% of the time with the AIM-7E. The advertised AIM-7 performance in the 1960s based on ideal range tests was around 50%, but Vietnam performance averaged somewhere around 8 to 12%. But keep in mind, pilots decided to fire pairs to help overcome launch reliability issues and also frequently fired outside the interlocks, so the actual PK might be quite a bit higher -- maybe 20 or 30 %? AIM-7Ms in combat conditions scored around 35% in "recent' years (think Desert Storm). They generally did not fire in pairs and waited to see if the first tracked before firing another missile. SF2 Sparrows started out being less effective than SFP1 AIM-7s as flying low over terrain became a valid way to break a lock. Initially, AIM-7Fs were completely worthless as AI would always beam the firing aircraft and break the F-15's doppler lock. AI were detuned to use less than perfect beaming maneuvers. After the release of SF2NA, a lot of (new?) players complained about the ineffectiveness of missiles... too many were completely missing which frustrated many players. I liked the difficulty as it seemed more realistic. But in response to complaints Third Wire enhanced the effectiveness of missiles to make the game more fun. I can now hit just about every time if I shoot carefully against targets with no chaff or ECM. So, yes, in my opinion, Sparrows are too effective in the present patch version of SF2.

While I don't really see any new information, it does cover a lot of ground with some new pics and info about long term projects. http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=2165343#post2165343 Dear Pilots! Summer 2014 is certainly proving to be a very busy and productive time for Eagle Dynamics and our 3rd Party Partners, as you may have noticed. In this September Newsletter, we would like to update you on some of our current projects but also some others that are currently in development. There are a lot of changes and improvements to DCS World underway that we believe will bring DCS to its next stage of evolution. DCS Autumn Sale is On! Massive Savings! From September 4th to September 16th, we will be running our Autumn DCS Sale. We hope you will use these great deals to fill out your stable of DCS modules. DCS: Flaming Cliffs 3: $39.99 to $15.99 (60% off) DCS: A-10C Warthog: $39.99 to $15.99 (60% off) DCS: Black Shark 2: $39.99 to $15.99 (60% off) DCS: Combined Arms: $19.99 to $7.99 (60% off) DCS: UH-1H Huey: $49.99 to $24.99 (60% off) DCS: P-51D Mustang: $29.99 to $11.99 (60% off) DCS: Mi-8MTV2 Magnificent Eight: 49.99 to $24.99 (50% off) F-15C for DCS World: $9.99 to $4.99 (50% off) A-10A for DCS World: $9.99 to $4.99 (50% off) Su-25 for DCS World: $9.99 to $4.99 (50% off) DCS: F-86F Sabre: $49.99 to $39.99 (20% off) DCS: Fw 190 D-9 Dora: $49.99 to $39.99 (20% off) Buy now from the DCS E-Shop: http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/shop/ Pre-purchase DCS: Bf 109 K-4 Kurfürst! The Fighter Collection and Eagle Dynamics are happy to announce that DCS: Bf 109 K-4 Kurfürst is now available as a pre-purchase from the DCS E-Shop. The pre-purchase provides both a 20% discount off the retail price and access to the Open Beta coming later this year. Like previous DCS World titles, DCS: Bf 109 K-4 Kurfürst features a painstakingly reproduced model of the aircraft, including the external model, fully interactive cockpit, mechanical systems, and a Professional Flight Model (PFM). Along the lines of our DCS: P-51D Mustang and DCS: Fw 190 D-9 Dora titles, DCS: Bf 109K-4 Kurfürst places you behind the controls of a powerful, propeller-driven, piston engine combat aircraft. Designed long before "fly-by-wire" technology was available to assist the pilot in flight control or smart bombs and beyond visual range missiles were developed to engage targets with precision from afar, the Kurfürst is a personal and exhilarating challenge to master. Powerful and deadly, the last production model of the only single-engined German fighter to see service throughout World War II, the Kurfürst provides an exhilarating combat experience to its drivers, and a worthy challenge to all fans of DCS: P-51D Mustang. Key Features of the DCS: Bf 109 K-4 Kurfürst: Unmatched flight physics that allow you to truly feel what it's like to fly this legend. Highly detailed, six-degrees-of-freedom (6 DOF) cockpit. Interact with cockpit controls with your mouse. Accurate Bf 109 K-4 model, squadron markings, and weapons. Detailed modelling the Bf 109 K-4 instruments, weapons, engine, radios, fuel, and electrical systems. Fly along with fellow DCS: Fw 190 D-9 Doras as you battle DCS: P-51D Mustangs in single and multiplayer games. Sabre and Dora Update Over the past month we released two pre-purchase modules, with access to Open Betas, for DCS World: DCS: F-86F Sabre and DCS: Fw 190 D-9 Dora. We are carefully reading your feedback and we and Belsimtek (Sabre Team) are busy improving the projects. This includes not only bug fixes, but also new content such as interactive training missions and campaigns. This is not to say that work is not continuing on other previously released projects. For example: Work on the manual for the DCS: Mi-8MTV2 and tuning of the F-15C professional flight model continues, also various adjustments and bug fixes are in work. DCS World War II: Europe 1944 Update If you have not done so already, you can view our current listing of rewards here: http://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?...08&postcount=1 For backers, you can use the updated Backer Page to select your aircraft of choice based on your contribution level. http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=128080 In addition to the release of DCS: Fw 190 D-9 Dora, the team is also plugging away on the next aircraft for the series: DCS: Bf 109 K-4 Kurfürst. This is being done internally by Eagle Dynamics to the same exacting standards of the Dora. The pre-purchase with 20% discount is now available and we plan to make the Open Beta available in the October – November time frame.Other warbirds in work for this project include both the P-47D and Spitfire. These will be welcome additions to the growing stable of Second World War aircraft as we flesh out this era of air combat. The other major element of DCS World War II: Europe 1944 is of course the new Normandy map. The team is currently working on a new combat theater map to support DCS: F/A-18C Hornet, but once complete, will be returning to this map. At that time, we should be able to start sharing images of the new era map, complete with period ground units. DCS: L-39C and L-39ZA Albatros Coming to DCS World Another new aircraft coming to DCS World later in 2014 will be the venerable L-39 jet trainer, developed by Eagle Dynamics. We will first release the L-39C variant and then later the L-39ZA variant. This aircraft has acted as the primary jet trainer for many countries around the world for several decades. In addition to its training role, the L-39 can also be loaded with ordnance and act as a light attack aircraft. We also plan for this module to include multiplayer front seat / back seat capability. We believe that this feature will add a new dimension of gameplay for this aircraft and several others like the UH-1H, Mi-8MTV2, Hawk, and C-101. Stay tuned for more details! Su-27 for DCS World As we did for the F-15C, we will be updating the Su-27 for DCS World to include a Professional level flight model. Development of this updated Flanker is well underway and will be free as part of Flaming Cliffs 3. We will also sell the Su-27 for DCS World as a separate download later in 2014. DCS: MiG-15Bis Coming to DCS World As a perfect bookshelf match to the F-86F Sabre, Belsimtek in cooperation with Eagle Dynamics are developing the MiG-15Bis for DCS World! As with the Sabre, the MiG-15Bis will be a fully detailed module with Professional Flight Model (PFM), mouse-interactive cockpit, and detailed cockpit systems. Combined with new maps, the battle of Sabre's vs. MiGs will be an amazing experience and further help us achieve our goal of providing an air combat experience spanning several decades. MiG-21Bis, Hawk and C-101 Coming Soon to DCS A couple of years ago, we started the initial steps of allowing qualified third parties to develop and sell modules for DCS World. The fruits of this effort are almost ripe and have taken the form of the MiG-21Bis (Leatherneck Simulations), Hawk (VAEO Simulations), and the C-101 (AvioDev). All three projects are making great progress and are either in or close to the Eagle Dynamics testing phase. We see these as just the tip of the iceberg for future partner projects. Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) Map Work continues on the NTTR map. The primary objective is to adapt the various map assets to work within DCS World. Once this effort is complete and DCS World 2.0 is available, we plan to release this map soon afterwards. DCS World 2.0 Coming in 2014 The next iteration of DCS World (formerly 1.3.0) is currently in internal testing and will be available as a free download later in 2014. All DCS modules will be fully compatible with DCS World 2.0. As with DCS World 1.0, 2.0 will also include the FREE TF-51D and Su-25T. New features of DCS World 2.0, but subject to change, include: DirectX 11 support Improved game performance New and improved lighting Improved effects New water animations Improved shadows Unified GUI that eliminates the need for separate GUI and simulation .exe while also speeding up mission load times. Later, this will also allow us to integrate simulation elements into the Encyclopaedia and Mission Editor Ability to access new maps that will be sold as separate modules New grass and clutter New clouds Ability to create dedicated server Skeleton animations Depth of field support Improved Oculus VR support Some of these features may not be included in the initial DCS World 2 release. DCS: F/A-18C Hornet Update Perhaps the most eagerly awaited DCS module, the Hornet, is indeed in progress... it really does exist! More so than any other of our past and current projects though, the Hornet requires a massive amount of work, not just the creating of the art assets and programming of the cockpit functions, but also a great deal of research, design documentation, building of supersonic aircraft flight dynamics (F-15C with BST and Su-27 have been helping to create this technology), acquiring source data, and creating several new technologies like air-to-surface radar. In addition to the actual aircraft, there are other elements that need to be created such as an improved Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, much better carrier operations, and a new combat theater map tailored to this aircraft. We hear you and realize that many of you are very anxious and looking forward to hearing more about this project. As we get closer to an early beta, we will be discussing this more. Here are some very early images of the cockpit. Sincerely, The Eagle Dynamics Team __________________ DCS World: http://www.dcs-world.com Falcon Northwest Tiki: i7 4770K, 8 GB RAM, GTX 780ti, Windows 8.1, and 512 GB SSD. EVERYTHING IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE Warning: Prolonged customer exposure to flights simulations may cause tourette syndrome. The Hornet appears to still be a long way off... But hopefully, the MiG-21bis and DCS 2.0 are coming very soon! But ED rarely keeps to any kind of schedule, so I won't get my hopes up too much this time. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the modules I already have while hoping for the best. I want the new Su-27 PFM as well!

This is where I am hanging out:

I check the combatace Teamspeak server every night between 9pm and 10pm, but then I go to the server for the F-86: 314th Mixed Air Division lobby @ ts32.gameservers.com:9105 As long as the F-86 Sabre Combat Range is up, that is where I will be if I am online. Great server for playing with the Sabre. I have copied the mission so I can play it offline and potentially host it. I haven't tried hosting yet. I have no idea what port forwarding settings are required. The F-86 Sabre is almost the perfect airplane for me until I can get the MiG-21bis. I even hit a MiG-15bis with a GAR-8 (AIM-9B) tonight. External fuel tanks don't seem to be working, so I usually run clean with full fuel and gun ammo. But someone else was using GAR-8's, so I gave them a try. If the target is oblivious to you and flying straight... great choice. If a MiG-15bis AI sees you, he isn't going to let you keep your load down to 2g's... so very little chance of using the GAR-8 once merged in a dogfight... as it should be!

I have been hanging out on a Sabre Combat Range where I can fly the F-86F on air-to-air vs AI MiG-15bis and find some live pilots. I have got Teamspeak 3 working great. If I only had the SFP1 plane set available as flyables, I would be back where I was 10 years agos: having a great time flying the planes I love with other people. I had some lag issues last night. Not sure whose connection was at fault. I know I played with no lag the first time I flew formation with someone else a few nights ago. I can't get better internet service than I currently have (other than to pay to increase the bandwidth). I miss the Verizon FIOS I had back in Tampa.

If you wanted a Mach 2+ interceptor for a good price, the F-16/79 was a great option. Pure turbojets are better at higher speeds than turbofans. At Mach 2, the F-16/79 was actually better than the F100 -> higher top end meant higher thrust/weight.

The J-79 has its own distinctive sound. I could identify those planes flying over while I was still inside a hangar.

Okay, I installed Teamspeak 3 and connected to the CombatAce.com TS3 server, voice.combatace.com Seems like everything worked okay, but there was no one present to verify my ability to send/receive voice.

Sure thing. I have taken the next steps toward multiplayer: got my headset mic set up and working. Still need to install a chat program, seems like teamspeak is still the main player for flight sims? I also got Shoot 1.6.4 working again so that I can navigate the radio menus for atc and ground using my voice rather than fumbling for the keyboard while flying. This is important for the F-86F, as I can say "Chief, turn on the ground power"... and he does, shortly followed when I am ready by "Chief, turn off the ground power"... which he also does. DCS needs appropriate period terrain and objects for WW2 Europe, Korea, Vietnam, Israel, India/Pakistan, Kuwait/Iraq, and a few AI tweaks... then the only limit will be how fast new aircraft can be released. Of course, successfully adding fighters with two crew members and the option to fly with AI or a real back seater would be icing on the cake for the F-4/F-14/F-15E crowds. The F-86F is almost the perfect trainer for DCS:World. It is easily the least complex non-FC3 aircraft to operate "by the book". The P-51D requires much more engine management and switchology for even basic flying as well as being a tail dragger. Whereas, I can get in the air, dogfight, and land the F-86F hardly pushing any more buttons than the SF series. I can't wait for the MiG-21bis! I typically have free time starting somewhere between 9 PM and 10 PM EST and stay up as late as 1 AM if I am not too tired.

I basically stopped online flying when my son was born. I got to fly a few more times with my SFP1/WoX friends whenever I traveled out of town. But once I got a new job where I was home every night, online gaming was not an option. Years later, my son is much more independent and both he an my wife typically go to bed fairly early. I am in a new house (for nearly a year, so not so new) where I have my own isolated PC room (an upstairs "bonus" room in a single story house). So voice chat should be an option without any problems. Tonight, I dipped my toe in the DCS online. I saw a server labeled "F-86 test" and joined that one. The F-86 is the perfect DCS aircraft for me to mix it up with real people. Even on full realism settings, it is almost as easy to fly as an SF2 aircraft. There are a few more buttons/switches for selecting weapons, gunsights, etc., but aside from the difficulty of landing, I can already fly the DCS F-86F as well or better as I can the SF2 F-86F. I picked a base/aircraft, joined, performed a cold start (almost as easy as pushing a single button in SF2, just a few more clicks), requested permission to taxi, requested permission to take off, and launched into the air. I found the nearest player flying another F-86 and joined formation. I had fun just trying to fly formation and barrel rolling around him. Then he says to be aware MiG-15's are intercepting us. About that time, he crashed into the ground for some unknown reason. I pick up the MiG-15s on my tail visually and engage them. I takes me a moment to shift gears from playful formation flying to kill or be killed flying. I calm down, arm the guns, and settle on which one I am going to engage first. While lining up on the first one, the other one got a few hits on me. But I killed my first target and reversed into the second one. I stalled to get the shot, but took him down with relative ease. I would guess the AI MiG pilots were the lowest rank, "Average", but they could have been one rank higher. I saw my fuel was low, landed at the nearest base, refueled and rearmed with my canopy open and admiring the view. DCS multiplayer is everything SFP1/WoX multiplayer wasn't. People came and went in the middle of this open co-op mission. The AI kept going as well. I could start from the ground, parked and ready to perform a full cold start and also land for fuel and ammo. If SF2 had multiplayer this good, it could rule the market with its planeset and modability (if mainstream people actually knew about it and how easy and fun it could be). It won't be long before the MiG-21bis is released. I will fly offline for quite a while having fun learning the systems and air combat handling qualities. Then I will come back looking for F-15Cs to kill :) Shot of other player I had originally flown with in formation:

Historically, 9Es did worse than 9Bs! It was the AIM-9D that made the F-8 Crusader the MiG Master. Once F-4Js started toting AIM-9G/Hs, they were MiG Masters, too. The early AIM-9J performed the same or worse as the AIM-9E in Vietnam. Most of the missiles in SF2 work much better than historical rates since SF2NA patches intended to reduce the frustation of missiles always failing/missing. While this kills the realism of the outcomes of dogfights allowing many more kills to be achieved than ever possible in reality, it does make the game more fun. A MiG-21 can actually take a US/NATO first rate aircraft down using an AA-2 or better yet an AA-8. There were quite a few years in the SFP1/WoX series where AI couldn't hit targets with guns or missiles at all. Having AI that is capable of killing me makes the single-player only SF2 series much more interesting/fun, even if the means to do so are unrealistic.

You don't need radar WVR. You just need to be able to get WVR without getting smoked first. It can fairly easily be done in SF2, where I can beat F-15s using MiG-21s or MiG-23s. If anything, missiles are less effective in DCR than SF2, so getting to a dogfight might be even easier if you can find the target while hanging out in the weeds. If the MiG-21bis RWR gives a good enough indication of the threat direction, it can be done with patience as long as the F-15 keeps approaching rather than trying to stand off. A squadron of MiG21's trying to take out an AWACS defended by just two F-15s is the case the F-15 is supposed to handle without loss at 5:1 odds. It is the mission I would seek to replicate and play from both sides.

After missing March and July release dates... still waiting forever for this one. I love the F-86F, but if the MiG-21bis is as good as it looks, it will be my main ride. It may even bring me back to online flying to see if I can beat real live human F-15C pilots. As much as I like the P-51D and Fw190D9, I should already be trying to fly online... but I am content flying against AI for the moment. But if I can beat AI F-15Cs in the MiG-21 the way I can in SF2, then I want to face worst case F-15Cs flown by skilled people.

I still need to show these pics to my son. He likes Godzilla a lot.

If you read Robin Olds' autobiography, you will find that he didn't like RWRs. He said he normally turned his off since it continuously distracted him from what he was trying to do. He already knew he was surrounded by radars lighting him up and didn't want or need a thousand beeps to tell him this. Of course, he was using early variants crammed into F-4Cs that were not nearly as good as later versions. He also was exceptional at maintaining situational awareness. He was sure he could detect SAM threats well enough visually.