FastCargo

Alrighty then...LGBs on MERs in the Weaponspack. Any of you encountered this problem? Ignore the quality, I had to up the contrast and brightness to make it easier to see the weapons. On the aircraft, left to right (LODs): GBU-12P1, GBU12B, SUU30, GBU12B, GBU-12P1 Upper left inset (LODs): SUU30, GBU12B, GBU-12P1 The problem: The lengths are wrong in the Weaponspack for the GBU-12 series of weapons. The length is stated as 2.18 meters for all the GBU-12 variants. Looking at the inset, the SUU30 canister is about 2.18 meters long...WAY shorter than the LGB models. Assuming you applied the fix to the MER in the Weaponspack for the Mk82 and CBUs, your max weapon length can only be 2.24 meters on a MER. In addition, the model used for Weaponspack versions of the GBU-12 (GBU12B and etc) is not the model used by the stock TW sims (GBU-12P1). In the stock versions of the TW sims, the length of the GBU-12 series of weapons is stated as 2.65 meters. This seems to closely match the actual size of the LOD file (GBU-12P1) based on the inset picture. Raytheon's own website source material state the length of the GBU-12 series of weapons is around 3.3 meters. This seems to match the visual model used by the Weaponspack. So, who's right? Well, that depends on which page you look at. Going back to designation-systems.net (awesome weapons site btw), they have separate pages for Paveway I and Paveway II weapons. The visual picture on the Paveway I page for the GBU-12/B seems to conform roughly to the TW model (note the large fins on the front and rear). However, the length stated is 3.2 meters...significantly longer than the actual visual model. The author of the website stats that several sources had variations in the specs listed...so the numbers might be off. However, the Paveway II page shows models and specs that match very closely with the visual models as used in the Weaponspack. So, what to fix, and how to fix it? Actually, this is pretty straightforward...all we need to do is the standard Weapons Editor dance. Be forewarned though...you will NOT be able to load GBU-12s on MERs after this fix. First, BACKUP your WEAPONSDATA.INI and WEAPONSDATA.DAT files. Then going into the WEAPONSDATA.INI file, look for the weapon entries that have ModelName=GBU12. Variants of this (ModelName=GBU12B_N, ModelName=GBU12_P4, etc) are affected too, including other countries (AUS, PAK, etc). Every weapon that uses a variant of this LOD model (GBU12), change this:Length=2.180000 to this: Length=3.30000. There are exceptions for 3 specific weapon entries. First, GBU-12, Paveway I (first generation). We are going to switch to the stock TW model. It doesn't look as nice as the Weaponspack models, but I think it's a bit more accurate as to what the first generation Paveways looked like. Find this entry: And change it to look like this: [WeaponData114] TypeName=GBU-12 FullName=GBU-12/B Paveway I LGB ModelName=GBU-12P1 Mass=226.800003 Diameter=0.270000 Length=2.650000 AttachmentType=USAF,USN etc... Note the changes in bold. Second, GBU-12B/B Paveway II (second generation). Just a minor text change in the description. Also, since development was started on Paveway II in 1976, all non US models are Paveway II or newer. Find this entry: And change it to look like this: [WeaponData115] TypeName=GBU-12B FullName=GBU-12B/B Paveway II LGB ModelName=GBU12B Mass=226.800003 Diameter=0.270000 Length=3.30000 AttachmentType=USAF,USN etc... Note the changes in bold. Third and final change, Paveway IV (fourth generation}. As far as I can tell, from what I've been able to find, Paveway IV uses a combo laser and GPS setup, and gets rid of the 'ring/lens' sensor at the front of the weapon. So it's just a bit shorter than the rest of it's siblings. And change it to look like this: [WeaponData118] TypeName=GBU-12E FullName=GBU-12E/B Paveway IV LGB ModelName=GBU12_P4 Mass=245.000000 Diameter=0.270000 Length=3.00000 AttachmentType=USAF,USN etc... Note the changes in bold. Okay, so after all that typing...save your WEAPONSDATA.INI file, open up the Weapons Editor, and do the standard Weapons Editor dance for EVERY entry you altered (which will be a lot). Save, and you should be good to go! FastCargo

Lots of changes to the first post. I'll update the loadout thread stickie. Had to correct some errors and clean it up a little. Thanks! Now to get to those LGBs.... (This is what I get for being anal retentive...no comments from the peanut gallery!) FastCargo

Okay, I know someone brought up that 2 bombs (of different weights) were using the same LOD, and someone (I think it was Wrench) posted the solution. But I can't find it anywhere! I've been using the search function with no luck. Anyone remember where they saw it? Driving me nuts...I think it had to do with Korea era aircraft... FastCargo

Yep, I'd love to! My availability will be spotty depending on my flying schedule. But yea, I think I'd like to jump into some multiplayer. Mud movin' would be my preference...:). FastCargo

I've heard lots of good things about Doghouse. I look forward to getting schooled. FastCargo

Neither which has anything to do with this discussion. FastCargo

I haven't heard anything. FastCargo

That's pretty simple actually. If the wars had gone badly for the Israeli's, I'd imagine we would have fulfilled mutual defense obligations...which would then cause the USSR to step in... Aircraft...even simpler. We probably would have use our Europe based assets initially. Just look at what we flew at the end of the Korean War and in 1967 for the Vietnam War to get an idea of what aircraft we would have used back then. FastCargo

Give more specifics please. What aircraft? What airspeed...IAS or TAS? What altitude? What are you comparing it to (ie what other air combat sims have you played)? FastCargo

Russia certainly didn't lack the technology for swing wings. Su-17, Su-24, MiG-23, MiG-27, Tu-22, Tu-160. Of these, only the Tu-160 is newer than the Su-27. In fact, the Su-17 predates the F-14. Grummans lifting area number almost doubles the amount of the wing area. My estimate barely adds 50% for the Su-27. I stand by my estimate. I flew swing wings with lifting body fuselages...so I have a pretty good idea of what shapes work. FastCargo

Nope, no inflight mission recorder. FastCargo

Dude, You need to SHORTEN the catapults...not delete them! Otherwise, the game will try to put all the aircraft in the same place. Instead of deleting, change this: [Cat1] SystemType=CATAPULT CatapultID=1 StartPosition=-4.9,85.01,22.7 EndPosition=-4.9,105.01,22.6 LaunchTime=1 LaunchEffect= CatapultEffect= ReadyAnimationID= ReadyAnimationTime= to this [Cat1] SystemType=CATAPULT CatapultID=1 StartPosition=-4.9,85.01,22.7 EndPosition=-4.9,85.02,22.6 <------ note the change here! LaunchTime=1 LaunchEffect= CatapultEffect= ReadyAnimationID= ReadyAnimationTime= FastCargo

Actually, just tested shortening the carrier catapult (LHA-1) to barely a centimeter in length. Worked like a champ...was able to lift off using a combo of vectored thrust and flaps with very little forward thrust from the catapult itself. However, be careful with this technique. Any aircraft which uses that catapult will not get the velocity it needs...and your wingmen aren't smart enough to use the vectored thrust to takeoff... FastCargo

Well, I know you can shorten the catapults....other than that, I know of no other way to get the aircraft ON the carrier in a campaign mission. You need the catapults to be able to show the aircraft in your flight. FastCargo

Tactics 101 - Offensive & Defensive Maneuvers by Ed "Skater" Lynch For those who've made it this far, welcome to Tactics 101 Part 3. Here's where we talk about some more complicated maneuvers. This course will now concentrate on specific offensive and defensive maneuvers against specific threats, both from the air and from the ground. Get a frosty beverage now, this is gonna be a long one. First, here are a few more F-driver words and acronyms to add to paste to your O-mask… ASL: Above Sea Level. Any altitude level that is above the mean sea level, which is a constant. AGL: Above Ground Level. Any altitude above the current elevation of the ground level below you. This is not a constant. Wizzo: WSO, Weapons System Officer. Also known as GIB (Guy In Back). In the Navy, they are known as B/N's (Bombardier/Navigator) and RIO's (Radar Intercept Officer). HARM: AGM-88 High Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM). Missile used into persecuting radar guided surface to air missile sites and radar installations. SMOKER: Jet engine. Generally a reference to the smoky J-79 engines that power the American versions of the F-4, but can be used in reference to any jet engine. Lesson Three - 13 JUL 98 - Defensive Maneuvers versus Ground Threats or "How to Move Mud Without Getting Dirty" We are gonna break from the offensive for a bit and talk a little about how to survive when a dirt-eating non-pilot is trying to kill you. Defending against the ground threat can get quite hairy at times, particularily because ground-based weapons systems are big, powerful, highly capable, and in many cases (like the SA-10 and SA-12), very, very, deadly. Let's start with the most common of all ground threats… Guns. Trip-A comes in all shapes and sizes, and every one of them, down to the 82-year old farmer with a flintlock, can be the beginning of a very bad day. The easiest way to defeat gun systems is to fly above their effective altitude. In most cases this is an altitude between 8,000 and 13,000 feet AGL. Integrated Trip-A defensive systems have rings of guns that are of varying calibre and guidance. The most elaborate of these have multiple targeting systems (laser, optical, radar, etc.) and multiple altitude levels can be blanketed with fire from varying calibre gun systems. These are the most dangerous, as they are more effective, and tightly directed and concentrated. For these systems, flying above their effective altitude is probably not an option except for the most sophisticated and modern aircraft and weapons, because their effective altitude may reach as high as 20,000 feet AGL or higher. Few targeting systems can accurately place iron on target from that altitude. An F-117 can place the pickles in the barrel from Angels 20, so can an expert Mudhen Wizzo do it with an LGB from that alt, but an F-4 can't, and an AV-8B, no way. For less sophisticated aircraft and weapons systems, we're gonna havta get doity! (I'm a Noo Yawka and proud of it!) Target approach to a heavily defended integrated air-defense system should be made at a relatively high altitude. I like to ingress at about Angels 08. This allows me to get a good view of the target and surrounding area, as well as staying above much of the smaller calibre trip-a, and at the extreme altitude range of the man-portable SAM's. Take this time to jink port and starboard for a few seconds each to get a good view of just what is out there. Your best visuals are gonna come from the port and starboard Plexiglas. Keep one eye on the threat display. Look out for any SAM radar's just lighting up for a look-see. If you see any Gladiator's (SA-12/S-300) or Grumble's (SA-10), hit the deck fast! Get as low as possible, and rush at them. They WILL kill you. Hope for good Weasel support, or get your HARM off ASAP. If you don't have a HARM, then start praying. Chances are better than good that these systems are either going to get you, or they are gonna cause you to get light in a hurry, and either way, they win. If there are tracers coming up around you, the trip-a has your altitude, and it's time to start jinking. Make your flight path erratic, and unpredictable. If you fly at a constant altitude or on a continuous heading, you will get got. Move the nose around the horizon, roll around a bit, change altitude in the positive and negative, go faster. All of these things are effective countermeasures against guided and unguided anti-aircraft weapons. Once you've got the target in sight and everything is greened up, then choose a direct route to the target, taking into effect any threats you've managed to eyeball from the IP. Put the nose on that vector and go fast! The only thing that will get you out of a bad area faster is more speed on the nose and more fire on the tail. Keep your eyes peeled for bandits; don't get fixated on the ground threat. When you've got a good target picture, put the nose in a shallow dive at the target, place the dot on the baddies, and pickle away! Your very next motion should be to slam the throttle all the way forward pull the nose up about 10 degrees (or head for the deck if you have heavy duty SAM's in the area) pick a vector, and get outta Dodge at the speed-o-heat! Remember the less you have to think about over the TA, the better. Get everything for getting bombs off and the target destroyed done BEFORE the ingress. You don't wanna be looking for the Master Arm switch 2 Mikes from the target with AAA and SAM's flying all around you. Ok, now we know what to do while over a defended target, but you say you are running into individual or groups of air-defenses en route to the TA. What do you do then? Well, in those cases, it is best to dissect the threat, and defeat the actual threat with a proven effect defensive measure. So, let's talk about the behavior of certain threats... SAM's: Surface to Air Missiles are usually large, and fairly easy to spot. If they hit you, you will usually go down in flames. Few aircraft outside of the A-10 and Su-25 can survive even a single hit by a SAM. They move very fast, and carry with them a significant amount of kinetic energy. They also contain a highly explosive fuel, and usually, a very large warhead. Suffice it to say, a direct hit by a SAM is usually a lose-lose situation, and even a peripheral hit or concussion hit can kill your aircraft, and you. A concussion hit will do the least damage, but it can still down you. To successfully defeat a missile, you first have to SEE it. Next, employ countermeasures, and last MOVE. When employing countermeasures remember two things. One, too much is better than not enough, and Two, you have just enough time to react, no time to think. SAM's almost always fly PURE PURSUIT to you, and at a very high rate of speed (most fly at speeds beyond Mach 3). Only the most sophisticated SAM systems (Gladiator, Grumble and Patriot PAC-II and PAC-III) can fly LEAD PURSUIT and course correct in flight to achieve a high PK. You should place a SAM on your beam, drop chaff and flares, and make a hard turn into the missile as it gets near to you. This is a judgement call, but don't wait too long. At Mach 4 or 5, that golf ball sized missile will be telephone pole sized in a few seconds flat! Turning hard into the missile causes the missile's guidance system to turn hard to correct its flight path so that it achieves a direct hit. While you may only be pulling 8 or 9 g's, the missile may be pulling 40-60 g's. In most cases, you will out turn the missile. In others, your parents will be burying a sponge in Arlington. I have put together a little anti-SAM checklist. If you follow it, you should be alright. Eyeball the missile. Put the missile on your beam (90 degrees off the nose. i.e. off the port or starboard wing). Deploy countermeasures (chaff AND flares, don't worry about if the missile is IR or RADAR guided, just dump both). Turn on the music. Turn hard INTO the missile. Pray. Trip-A: The best way to avoid AAA is to stay above it. If that is not possible, the best way to survive it is to not get hit. :-) To do that, you need to jink wildly, and generally make your flight path as unpredictable as possible. As I stated before, move the nose up, down, left, and right. Roll all over. Climb and dive. Just be generally as ornery as you can be. It just may save your life, and your airframe, and in most cases both, because if you bring your bird home with holes in it, that Crew Chief with his name plastered on the starboard side of your aircraft will kill you. Again, you need to eyeball the threat. This is easy, cause when guns fire on you, they usually miss before they hit, and the tracers look real purty too. Place the gun on your beam, turn on the music if you have a threat radar indication on the TEWS, and pump up the volume on the smoker. No where does the credo "Speed is Life" count more than it does here. Keep jinking until you are out of range. Let's go to the Trip-A checklist... Eyeball the threat gun. Turn on the music if you have to. Place the gun on your beam. Put fire on the tail. JINK JINK JINK! Jink some more Kemosabe! DLO: The DLO for this lesson is basically that there is no substitute for practice and good old fashioned hard maneuvering. If you have a missile on you, follow the checklist, and move. If you have a gun firing on you, follow the checklist and move. There is no substitute. Practice the checklist's against simulated threats in instant action or against designer missions that you have set up. When flying in a campaign, a competition, on-line against a friend, or with a group of buds over the LAN, you get only one chance. No do-overs. It's do or die at that point. Practice, practice, practice, and maybe you won't die. The checklists should soon become second nature, and you should live a bit longer. At least until you fly against me. :-)

Tactics 101 - Pure and Lead Pursuit by Ed "Skater" Lynch Ok, we left off last time with a description of the Lag Pursuit, and how to make it work for you. Now let’s discuss the two other general types of pursuit flying. Here are a few more fighter-speak words and acronyms to add to your sock drawer... DICK: Verb. To get waxed (killed) in general. Ex: "Don’t let the strike flight get dicked." LCOS: Lead Computing Optical Sight. A type of gunsight that takes into effect many variables such as wind, lead, aircraft speed, projectile velocity, etc. for accurate aerial gunnery deployment. PIPPER: The focal point of a gunsight or a HUD weapons mode. Also known as "The Kill Dot" to Mud Hen drivers. 3/9 LINE: An imaginary line running through your aircraft from the 3 o’clock position through the 9 o’clock position. This line denotes the forward and rear hemispheres. Lesson Two - 06 JUL 98 - Pure and Lead Pursuit or "How I spent my Summer Vacation" Pure Pursuit is basically flying directly at or directly behind your bogey, and staying there. For example, when you and your wingman are flying in an extended Lead-Trail formation, the wingman is basically flying Pure Pursuit on you. And, as with all fighter maneuvers, the most basic goal is to keep the baddies in front of you, exhaust baking the paint on the glare shield. There is simply nothing more disheartening for a bad guy than a Western-built aircraft sitting in deep six. Revel in that, and flip him the bird for good measure! :-) The main use of Pure Pusuit is to close the range or to decrease the angle-off on your bandit, in order to close to within weapons firing parameters (the ultimate goal IS to kill the bandit after all), or to get to a position where the bandit is of less threat to you or other allied aircraft. Generally, if you are already in the bandit’s six, you will have already have shot him, if you need to be told to do this, then Tactics 101 will not help you, you need to fly C-5’s and haul Dixie cups to La Paz and back, not fly fighters. You types may leave the classroom now. For the fighter-types still left in the room, we’ll continue... Now let’s talk a little about Lead Pursuit. Lead Pursuit is basically an intercept course to your bandit. Again, this type of pursuit course is mainly used to close range to the bandit or angle-off from the bandit. It is also used when maneuvering for a guns kill. For example, while maneuvering in lag behind your bandit, you manage to pull the nose across the bandit’s plane of motion and put your nose out in front of him and begin firing. The lead that you pull on the bandit allows your rounds to reach the same airspace as the bandit at the same time. In many modern fighters, the gunsight is of the lead-computing type or will have a LCOS mode. In those cases, maneuvering to put the gunsight pipper on the bandit will actually have you flying a lead pursuit course in order to accurately deploy the gun onto the offending bandito (almost all bandits are quite offensive, disgusting, vile things). Lead Pursuit is most probably the most common form of pursuit flying, and also the most commonly unrecognized. You probably already fly this type of pursuit quite well and do not even know it. If you ever fired in front of an aircraft in order to make bullet and airframe meet in WarBirds or Air Warrior III, you have been flying Lead Pursuit. If you have ever flown at an off angle in order to close the distance on a bandit and end up sliding in behind him by simply pointing your nose out in front of his nose and flying straight in Jane’s F-15, you have been flying Lead Pursuit. Congratulations Tiger, you are well on your way to becoming a Sim Ace. In the next installment of Tactics 101 we are going to discuss some more complicated maneuvers and tactics. Stay strapped in to your ACES II ... DLO: The Desired Learning Objective for today is basically to keep the bandit in front of you and to keep you in control of the bandit. Keep the bandit forward of your 3/9 line. Use Lead Pursuit to chop the distance between you and the bandit, and use Pure Pursuit to calculate a course to slide in behind him and to stay there. Use Lead Pursuit to put the pipper on the target and start rocking and rolling. Pretty soon, you can show the bandit what 4th of July in the good old USA is like from a first-person perspective!

Swing wing aircraft have the disadvantage of increased weight (especially for the hinge points) and complexity. That's why you'll notice none of the 4+ and now 5th generation fighter aircraft have them. Envelope expansion is good for low speed landing characteristics and high speed flight...but doesn't do anything for you when it comes to a rate fight. Rate fights are still subject to wing loading, G limits, and engine power. I'm still not seeing anything here that says the Tomcat has the advantage. Everything I see says the F-14 would lose a pure turn circle contest against a Su-27. FastCargo

Isn't that neat when you find stuff like that? My dad gave me a couple of patches back when he was enlisted. Found out about 5 years ago that both squadrons still exist...one of them at Randolph AFB as a IFF squadron no less. Neat stuff. I could spend all day at an aircraft muesum...and spend even more money on books I buy at the aircraft muesums...:). FastCargo

Square footage of F-14 wings = 565 sq feet Square footage of Su-27 wings = 667 sq feet Both fuselages are 'lifting bodies', that's where you get 1008 square feet. Lifting square footage of F-14 = 1008 sq feet (your numbers) Lifting square footage of Su-27 = 1000 sq feet (conservative estimate based on the size of the LERXs) Total combat weight of F-14 = 55440 lbs (your numbers) Total combat weight of Su-27 = 50690 lbs Weight over lifting footage of F-14 = 55 lb per sq foot Weight over lifting footage of Su-27 = 51 lb per sq foot Thrust to weight of F-14D = 55600 lbs thrust / 55440 lbs = 1.003 T/W Thrust to weight of Su-27 = 55200 lbs thrust / 50690 lbs = 1.089 T/W My numbers show the Su-27 having an advantage in both wing loading and thrust/weight. In a sustained rate fight, assuming combat loads, the F-14 is showing a disadvantage. Typhoid, any thoughts? FastCargo

I wouldn't think so. The Su-27 has a superior thrust to weight ratio at typical loadouts. More importantly though, it only has 2/3s of the wing loading an F-14 does, critical for sustained turn performance and can easily pull as many Gs as any modern fighter. I'd be curious as to what Typhoid thinks. FastCargo

No, it isn't fair. But you can't dismiss it out of hand either. Folks, as people who have worked with nukes will tell you, positive control is EVERYTHING! It is a Big F*****g Deal everytime a nuke is moved, and the paperwork is miles long. An example: During an exercise (mind you, just an exercise), once the aircraft had weapons loaded, the area around it became a 'no lone zone', ie no one was ever suppposed to be alone inside that area. It was guarded by a single SF person. Unfortunately, one of the guys guarding fell asleep. He wasn't chewed out by his supervisor. He didn't get a letter of reprimand. He didn't get an Article 15 (administrative punishment). He was court marshalled! For an exercise. That is how serious we take positive control. FastCargo

You do realize that the problem isn't the fact that the B-52 flew with nukes...it's the fact that no one figured that out until AFTER it landed. FastCargo

Okay, That's what I wanted to know...not 'rare', but not what I would call common either. FastCargo