FastCargo

Bringing up some old memories... Well, this and the fact I just found a buttload of B-1B stuff while cleaning out the garage, including my old checklists, T.Os, regs, and patches...hehe...some good patches... FC

My opinion, it can be worth using as a learning tool to get familiar with 3ds max and 3d modeling in general. But converting models requires some hoop jumping. It's better to buy 3ds max if you can. Kind of a pain about that limited license thing....sounds like rent. FC

Making an engine nozzle move in any direction isn't hard, you don't even have to make an invisible link. The F-15 ACTIVE nozzles' pivot points are in the middle of a 'ball joint'...so you could make them pitch linked, or rudder linked or both. However, this doesn't fix the 2 essential problems (and a smaller problem). 1) The thrust is still only adjustable Harrier style...you cannot link the thrust to any flight control and have it work properly. 2) The flame goes in the direction of the thrust only...so since you can't have any other type setup than a VTOL setup, that's the limits of your flame. 3) The AI only uses the thrust vectoring in the default thrust angle...it doesn't do VTOL/STOL. Also, the thrust flame/angles has nothing to do with the LOD...it is not attached to the LOD in anyway. What you do to make a nice looking TVC setup is make sure that the range of motion (either hardcoded animation - F-35B or clever ini edits - F-22/F-15 ACTIVE) for the LOD matches the ini range of motion exactly...otherwise, you will get mismatched flame/nozzles. FC

Dude! So totally didn't see Dee planning that! FC

Because I like convertibles...got a problem with that? I'll be fixing that before release (along with trying to figure out why it has a really heavy wing). FC

And will any answer to this question deter you from downloading it? FC

That's actually a great price (assuming the 13 month term refers to the minimum time the student has to be in school and not to the length of the license). FC

Maybe. Couple of things to point out here: 1) Birds ******* suck! 2) The real story isn't complete until the final accident and safety investigations are done. Until then, everything is heresay. 3) There are tons of ex-military in the airline biz, the Captain being an ex-USAF F-4 guy is not unusual by a long shot. 4) Successful ditching of a modern airliner is very rare. In training, they even tell you to expect a breakup of some sort, usually due to one nacelle hitting the water before the other and causing the plane to get sideways, or ripping off a wing, usually causing a cartwheel. "Miracle' is actually not a bad word for how intact the aircraft was after it came to a stop. I've seen aircraft run off the end of a runway into the water that looked more broken up. 5) The story is that the aircraft was airborne for 5 minutes. That's damn short for just about any emergency. In a T-38, if I lose an engine while still on the runway on takeoff, it will take at least that long just to travel the distance around the pattern to get my checklists done. And that's in an aircraft doing 300 knots...the airliner probably never got above 250 knots. Also, there are a buttload of checklists to run during an engine failure (dual failure even more so), the plane will be screaming at you with lights, tones, and voices, ATC will want to know what the hell is going on, you've got to get the aircraft prepped for ditching, and your F/O is trying to get whatever you need to make a proper decision. Most ditching scenarios assume you have some time...the Captain in this case had NO time. 6) For those who think airline pilots are glorified bus drivers...there's a reason we get paid the big bucks. It's not about how things go 99.9% of the time that forms the basis of pay. It's about what pilots do to avoid the .1% ... or how they handle it when the .1% comes up. Assuming the crew wasn't culpable for the accident, I'd say 'Well done' and buy them a pint of their favorite beverage. FC

Peter01, I want to say thanks as well for all the work you're putting in to what in a lot of ways can be considered a tedious topic...yet can change fundamentally how the sim plays and feels for anyone. FMs are one of the few things I haven't tried dabbling too hard into yet. FC

I know Wrench has been working on an updated version, the old version is pretty out of date. FC

The C version is actually pretty much done...needs decals and some FM tweaking is all I think. FC

What the man said. AB use during VTOL fixed...engaging AB during VTOL will now have bad consequences. Yet, VTOL bring back capability retained, but no extra thrust available outside of realistic values in conventional mode at anything above .2 mach and/or 5000 feet. FC

It IS amazing, and yep, over one mile long...I actually saw the building start fading in the distance...INSIDE! I got a tour of the factory back in the late 80s...some of you might have heard this story. FC

I have to admit, this is why I don't normally do popular aircrafts...cause everyone and their brother wants a say! Just givin ya grief there Storm... FC

I actually tried making a custom CAT file to see if those functions actually worked...but it didn't... FC

The one at Wright Pat is MUCH better looking, took a bunch of pics of that one... FC

Eric, I lied eariler...the gear animations are porked, however, already starting the process of importing the old gear and wheels, so that should be fixed soon. Main flight control links (wings) fixed, rudder and spoiler links still need updating. Nozzles remapped. Hopefully late tonite I'll have the basic LOD and updated data.ini to you. That should be enough to make sure your skins work and look right. Enhancements to the basic LOD will come as I get time. FC

Man, I've GOT to fix that lateral problem... FC

How does that statement in any way make sense? If the F-20 should have been an F-18...then it would have a different name. The...wait for it...F-18! FC

I'm beginning to think that only the textures and actual lods can be different across seasons and that everything else (tods, inis, etc) has to be the same. I won't swear to that though...I've only just scratched the surface of the multi seasons integration. FC

Okay...fine...(fake exasperated sigh)...yet one more thing to do... Also, those pics you provided definitely show the wingtip rails being longer than the winders...just the winders are WAY forward on the mounts. EricJ, I'll run a few ideas by you on the special things I want to add to the E,F,and G models...I think you'll like them if I can get them to work and look correct. FC

CA_Stary, Thanks for that...it's kind of show stopper for the 'all in one' terrain mod unfortunately. FC

Resurrecting an old thread that provides some relevent info on AMRAAM racks: http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?showtopic=20230 FC

I'll probably make it a separate part then...that way the legacy Hornets can have it available too. FC

Thanks, I think. Because it looks better having a real AB tube...no pipe, no hype! Okay, I've got some room on the map to get that to ya. I was planning on letting the game engine use the standard LAU-105 dual rail (all you need is a new weapondata.ini entry)...or is the dual rail THAT different... Also, can anyone tell me exactly what the hexagonal and small rectanguar doors near the aft end on the top side of the aircraft actually specifically do? I've heard acronyms, but no concrete information, with no info on how it works, if there is schedule of deployment of the doors, etc. FC