Lt. James Cater

If Iron Hand is your thing, you could fly F-105s during Linebacker 1 and 2 in WOV. In WOE after hooking up the Nato Fighters mods you can try the F-4G.

That SPAD strike loadout is really a monster load!

It all depends on the aircraft. Some have indicaters for things such as ECM and landing gear. Most of the old ones have nothing so you have to pay attention to what you are doing. Just remember, "Gearup, flapsup" and "Geardown, flapsdown". When in doubt of stuff like radar range just toggle through to make sure. The initial settings can be changed in your options menu. Go there and you will be able to put things to where you want.

I'm not trying to rain on the parade but my reaction is a shrug of the shoulders. I've wondered for years about certain people who possessed skills enough to be legendary in their chosen fields but since they weren't part of the mainstream mass media circus, were more or less ignored when they died. To think of a few-Roy Buchanan, Danny Gatton, D. Boon, and Chuck Schuldiner. Schuldiner's passing from cancer at age 34 was comepletly ignored even though he pushed the boundries of his craft for years, while some female R/B singer who only released a single LP was lionized after a plane crash just a few months before. Other than a few pop item films and such, i can't really see anything remotely noteworthy in Murphy's work to justify her instant deification.

That's correct, Fubar! Hell, if you are carrying 9Bs you might as well use them for A2G as you probaly have a better chance of success than if you use them against enemy aircraft.

The way i look at it, having 1965 as a starting date gives the chance for a lot of flying. Well, provided you stay alive.

Oh yeah, i can't wait! I've resisted the temptation to do some more combat and so am just on the Range. I've even been working on a new approach to dive bombing seeing as the flak has some real punch now. I'm still thinking about how i'm going to get out of the target area in one piece after weapons release. I've really wanted to fly A1s for a long time and with the new MOD, it's a whole new ball game.

Ok, i'm ready to declare my info. Pilot-Miguel (Mike) Perez Campaign-Steel Tiger Aircraft-A1H Skyraider Squadron-602nd SOS Base-Pleiku Air Base Difficulty-Hard. Enemy hard, Campaign length hard, weapons, collision, ammo, fuel hard. All else normal at the moment(still need new gear) MOD(s)-WOV Air And Ground War Expansion Pack, Ejection Mod I know i was all hot to fly Thuds but once i did a couple of check missons in a SPAD i knew i was in for something else. For starters, EVERYONE doing WOV should get the pack mentioned above. The experience is so radically different it is vitually a new sim. The Triple A is incredible now! So good i have to rethink tactics seeing as i got shot down while cruising home at 10,000ft. A situation i would have easily ignored in the past. Many, many salutes to everyone involved in producing that MOD I even have a back story for my pilot!

Willy Peter...Will Make You A Believer!

Just wondering..How many people are practicing by flying combat missions vs those who are not? I'm trying to do it the "purist " way and am just using the Range to check things out and try new weapons and tactics.

Disregard question everyone. Seems that the comp was just acting very weird but i nailed down why and fixed things. I got everything set up more or less how i want now.

While preparing a seperate install for the DID challenge i noticed the remnants of some earleir installs that i totally screwed up a few months ago by messing around with various things. Anyways i got to tracking and deleting them until the last one. I know i uninstalled WOV but somehow this file survived and when i went to delete it i got a message that it was being used and couldn't be deleted. So before i got methodical to get rid of it bit by bit, i remembered that i also had a merged WOE/WOV setup but couldn't figure at the moment if the file was really important. Does anyone know if that has anything to do with it? Or can i continue cleaning things up? Thanks in advance.

Believe me i would love to have a go at a few politicians. But as a 42yr old myself, the thought of hitting (and having to use a weapon no less) on a 73 yr old man would disgust me to no end. Those are the actions of a yellow dog.

Merry Christmas to you too, Prowler! Everyone who doesn't have this should take advantage of the sale. This is a real bargain and you never know when you might make use of the materials included.

Hey Eric, I've never seen Migs south of Vihn. Good thing to know just in case! The next two are almost exclusively for the Air Force guys flying out of Thailand. For Thud drivers heading Downtown it is required knowledge. 10...The Peaks-This is a good place to go before swinging east and heading towards Thud Ridge. Gives you a bit of distance before the Red river to get everyone set up properly so you can get up to speed in case the Migs are active over the valley. Another plus is that it allows you to avoid SAM. Also a nice setup spot for strikes into Yen Bai. 11...The Lineup-This area is the moment of truth. It is THE most important spot on the map for Thuds. It puts you in the right place to begin your attack on targets downtown. A full power dive from altitude and away you go. Any Mig Problems are now over seeing as nothing around is going to keep up with a Thud on the deck. Personally, i've made all runs using the east side so i can't comment on the west.

Neat vid! What is the title so i can find it on Youtube?

Since doing a tour flying up North is difficult to say the least, i thought i'd share some of my personal intell concerning certain landmarks which can help you in the mission and most importantly, to stay alive. 1...SAM knoll-Anyone heading to a target in the Hanoi area WILL encounter SAMs as soon as they are here if they are coming from the west. For those egressing it can act as a shield when evading a 6 o'clock SAM shot but you have to be careful with the terrain. 2...The Dogbone-Right up there with SAM knoll as far as SAM activity goes, but hairier to use in avoiding SAMs due to AAA in the area. 3...The Clown's Nose-Anyone coming in off the water should avoid this place. SAM is really agressive here. Stay at least 20 miles away. 4...3 and a half Isles-Nice place for pre and post strike re-grouping for targets in the Haiphong area. Just keep in mind that half an isle is in range of SAMs. 5...3-9 Valley-Best way to hit targets behind the Clown's Nose is to come up over the hills and turn down this valley. Keep alert though, because you can be engaged by the Dogbone SAM site during ingress and egress if you are slightly off in your navigation. 6...The Line Of Departure-This river is a reminder that you are now in serious bandit territory. At no point should you relax until you are south of here. Even out over the hills and over the water this river can be seen from altitude. Those flying closer in are now in the big leagues! Take heed or perish. 7...The Garden-Not only is wonderful for navigational purposes, but it is the shortest path between the hills and water up North. 8...The Arrowhead-The nastiest flak south of Vihn can be found here. Complacency will get you killed due to the remarkably dense light AAA and the alignment of the terrain. Navy pukes can use the area as a convenient marshalling point provided they stay above 5,000ft. BTW the red dots are SAM sites in the stock WOV. I have a few more spots to show but that is all for now. I hope this helps.

Depending on where i'm at,10,000ft is usually the minimum before i relax and look for screen shots.

For targets in Hanoi proper, i always swing north of Yen Bai and head towards Thud Ridge. The dive from altitude to just above the trees on the north side will get you moving so fast that no MIG will ever be able to engage you succesfully and you will be able to reach your pop up point with relative impunity. After bomb drop is when it really becomes in interesting. Deep into enemy turf and everyone and everything doing their damndest to kill you as you try to get away.

Doing things as historically accurate as possible has been rather successful. Ingress is usually 18-20,000ft. Approaching the target i'll go nose down a bit to increase speed and get to drop in altitude. The AOA of choice is 45 degrees with the release depending on the target type and location. The rule of thumb is to keep above 4,000ft if you want to live a long life. Going lower does increase the chances of a hit, but also adds to the odds of you getting downed by AAA, which is rather formidable in certain areas Egress also depends on the target. If it's Hanoi, usually egress is at full burner in the weeds until it's safe. Meaning SAMs are paying attention to someone else or you've reached a point where you can zoom up for a climb over the Red river and back over the hills with the slightest chance of SAM engaging you. Thorough knowledge of SAM locations and envelopes is vital whenever venturing north of Vihn.

You ought to get in on the DiD challenge if you haven't already. There are so many things that can go wrong outside of contact with the enemy. I've collided with others while assembling formations 3 times and collided with a wingman while changing course at altitude. Not to mention Blue on Blue!

That's what i thought. So far i've spent time at the Range and over West Germany getting a feel for the Thud once again. I've lined up a number of mods so it's really going to be beyond previous experiences in WOV.

Someone correct me if i'm wrong. As far as i knew, it was January 1st for the start of all this. If there is a change, let me know because the suspense is killing me.

OK, i'll take a look when i fire up the comp later.