FastCargo

Hell, don't worry about that. My senior year at the zoo, I got a ride in a F-16D at MacDill AFB while I was home for spring break...didn't get that shot right either. FC

The more things change... FC

There are vast amounts of information out there on how to build models, though a lot of them seem to be for much more detail then a beginning modeler needs. To start, I would recommend: 1. Supplies: A) Sharp hobby knife, preferably one with switchable blades. B) Assortment of sandpaper...fine to extremely fine. C) Modeling putty. D) Masking tape and rubber bands...an assortment. E) Clear paint...dull and/or gloss enamel. F) Paints for your model...spray for larger areas, bottles for details. Spray primer (again, enamel) is a must. G) Decent pair of tweezers. 2. Assuming an injection molded kit, wash all parts in mildly soapy water. Most injection molded models have a bit of oil left over from the process. Let them dry throughly. 3. Do NOT 'break' parts from the sprue tree...cut them out. 4. Practice spray painting...learn to do nice, even, thin coats with no dripping or running...practice on anything. 5. Anything you wish to detail paint, first use the knife and fine sandpaper and get rid of any excess plastic (sometimes called 'flash'). Then, wash, dry, and paint with primer. Things to paint before assembly are one or 2 piece small items, such as landing gear, ejection seats, cockpit interiors, etc. If some things you need to assemble first (landing gear wheels), then assemble them (making sure you don't put together something that you realize later you need to take apart due to another step in the general model assembly). If you assemble items to paint, you will probably need to use masking tape/rubber bands to hold them together until they dry. Then you'll probably notice the 'seams' will appear not to match well. Use the putty to 'fill in' the seams, then the sandpaper to get rid of the excess and smooth the area. Lightly clean with a damp cloth, then dry (getting rid of lint). Then spray with primer, and detail paint. 6. Follow instructions to assemble the model. If, as you assemble, you come across parts that should be detail painted first, follow the previous step. With any gluing, if you have painted before you assemble, make sure you scrape off the paint where the glue is to be used. 7. Decide as you assemble if you need to do the 'putty, sand, clean, paint' before continuing the model. An example would be to assemble the main body of the Starfighter, then putty and sand, then glue the wings and tail on, putty and sand, then clean, dry, primer. 8. If you can, leave the canopy until last and use masking tape to tape off the clear areas. Then glue on...and if you're keeping the canopy down, lightly putty, sand and clean if needed. 9. Also, it's almost always better to mask and spray vs brush and pray if you can...I find I get better results. However, this may or may not be within reach of your abilities. 10. Once the model is completely painted, cover it with a glossy clear coat (except for the clear areas of course). Decal after that...you'll find it helps the 'clear' part of the decal blend in and disappear. Once the decals are done and dry, cover the model in another coat of glossy clear, dry, then dull clear if desired. 11. Remove all masking and your model should be done! Realize this is a rough beginners tutorial. Most serious modelers have many more techniques that will trump my advice, but may seriously increase effort, time and/or investment. Also, realize that your model will take several days...usually I allow a full day between putty and sanding, and between coats of paint to allow full curing...assuming it's not very cold/humid. FC

Heh, reminds me of someone... FC

Do I look tired in that pic, or is it just me? :) FC

Figured you'd like it...lots o' stuff fixed...establishes a baseline for the F-15D, F-15E, F-15 ACTIVE, and F-15SE... Been working on it all week. FC

First flight of SF2 compatible F-15C Eagle. FC

If your video card is overloaded with Green Hell 2 you'll get that...notice your trees are distorted too. FC

This kind of thinking is short sighted. You do not buy weapon systems to fight the current war. You buy future systems to fight the next war. The F-35 is for the next war, not the current war. FC

Hey, I just finally got to look at those pics...VERY nice. I like that paintscheme! FC

Check your options panel. FC

Edited loadout.ini I would imagine...the engine doesn't get THAT creative. FC

Look them up in your Options panel. FC

When this sim is 'on', it really can be awesome. I remember during a campaign, I'm on takeoff roll (at night) when I see the Chapparel unit next to the runway let loose with a missile...then the AAA unit lights up. As I get my wheels in the well, bombs start going off everywhere it seemed like...a flight of Floggers was attacking the base! I manged to get airborne and eventually exact some revenge...but not before watching one of my wingmen literally get blown up with a missile during the takeoff roll! FC

Folks, the Pave Tack on the F-111 is integrated into the model. However, in normal flight, the Pave Tack is 'stowed' (like the real aircraft). The bombbay key is used to 'deploy' the Pave Tack which activates the animation for it rotating into position...and a separate ini entry makes the Pave Tack sensor appear to 'actively' seek targets if you are looking at the aircraft externally. So don't screw with loading it...otherwise you could cause problems on the F-111. FC

There is song done by Dick Jonas, a former F-4 driver talking about the Thud: All you have to do is look at a Thud to figure out why it takes so much runway and turns like...well, it doesn't. FC

This isn't Ace Combat, where aircraft have stupid amounts of power and turn rates. All aircraft, especially on hard mode, should feel like they have mass...which means they may feel heavy. In addition, flying at 250-300 knots is the low end of manuverability...ESPECIALLY for the bigger 60's era aircraft. Finally, if you have any sort of stores on the aircraft, that will affect your turn rates. FC

Or the original poster make it so that no one can comment. That's how I post my videos on YouTube...no comments allowed from the rabble. FC

So you're saying you've drank carbonated piss? FC

Because SFG and the WOx series did not implement GPS homing properly. That has now been fixed. However, this also means certain weapons are now broken. In the older series, GPS homing was treated as an extension of TV/IR homing, therefore moving targets could be engaged. I used this guidance system to simulate using a millimeter wave radar that the actual Brimstone and AGM-114L Hellfire use. However, now GPS homing is more true to actual implementation, which means the weapon now guides onto a coordinate, not a particular object. That's why your missiles are hitting where the target was, not where it is. What's that mean? Any weapons currently using GuidanceType=8 that are meant to engage mobile targets must now use a different guidance type. I've switch mine to GuidanceType=6, and that seems to have fixed the issue. FC

You can overstress both (engines and airframe) depending on the aircraft. FC

Thanks Dels! FC

Your broadcaster messed up...sorry to say. FC

I do have some patches, the few I can give away because I have redundant sets include the 87th FTS, 96th FTS, a few others of squadrons that have or are currently flying the T-38. Hours patches of course I can sell...and I can sell them at a discount from what you see on the website (no shipping cost). You wouldn't have to start as a FAIP to get that many hours in a T-38, there still are fairly clever ways to do so. For me, I wasn't a FAIP, but I did a tour as a SUPT instructor when I was young and single after a tour of Bones. But I've also flown T-38s while I was flying B-1Bs, and have flown T-38s in ACC, and fly T-38s as a part time reservist and I have 3000+ hours already. Heck if you do the math, in theory you could hit 4000 hours by 20 years if you only flew 20 flights per month for 10 months out of a year. You start going cross country and the hours REALLY start adding up. Nope, IFF and SUPT T-38Cs are all the same aircraft, software, etc. All T-38s in AETC (T-38As and AT-38Bs) have been converted to this common standard. Only the paint scheme is different. The weapons training is all virtual. Now that the T-38C has a GPS/INS and radar altitmeter, you can either designate or preload a target/targets into the computer and it will show up as a diamond caret in the HUD. When you start your attack run and 'pickle', the computer in the aircraft basically takes all the conditions (wind, temp, alt, aircraft parameters, etc) and calculates where the bombs or gun would have hit in reference to the target. It's sort of like a simulator, except you're still manuvering a real aircraft. I don't particularly agree with this philosophy...there's something visceral about dropping real iron or shooting a real gun that 'trons can't duplicate. FC