JediMaster

I didn't say I understood the concept, just that it's their business and they can do what they want! No F-16 in the initial release, that much is certain. T-38 and T-6 I think. If you're going to debate their business model, I think a flight sim with only trainers and no combat at first is debatable!

Porsche surfing?

So...where's the Bandit?

Thanks, guys. Been a busy day, just finished watching the NASCAR race. Got to see Gordon get knocked out and the win under caution...sigh! Other than that, a great day!

Yeah, they have a pay section on their forums where they post news and shots first. After some time they put it on the free side. It's their product, they can market it however they want.

I was really into it when I was younger, but growing up in Miami you don't get much "night sky" to see. I pretty much just watched the Moon! Then when I went to college I wanted to major in astrophysics. Unfortunately, there was no such option at the school I went to (picked for reasons other than what majors it had) so I majored in plain physics instead. Some days I wish I had chosen otherwise, of course.

Richard Dean Anderson is to me a lot more entertaining to watch than Kiefer Sutherland. Therefore, McG wins!

I've considered getting this many times over the years, but never got around to it. The lack of MP and narrow time frame put me off when I've been close to buying. Of course, we have the SoW version of BoB coming soon (a year or so?) which has dampened my outlook as well. Yet I never just say "no!", I'm still thinking "maybe."

That's one of the few places left in the US for me to see. That and Mt Rushmore. If you put a pushpin in a map at FL and take a string of a fixed length you can see the states I've visited. All in the South, all in the NE, but none in the NW, not the west coast, some in the mid West. Utah has a lot of great stuff to see, as does Colorado.

I have every Pixar film on DVD, love them all!

From what I've heard, these missiles use INS guidance to get a point where their IR seeker would be able to pick up the target, then switch and start searching. Some could use datalink updates ala AMRAAM/Phoenix, but I'm not sure if any do. The only problem is target designation in any LOAL scenario is iffy. Say for example you have a transport escorted by fighters at close range and launch an IR missile BVR without a datalink. You fire the missile at the transport and it flies 2/3 of the distance or whatever based on INS measurements which put it where it would see the target IF the target has continued without changing speed/course since launch. It then switches to the IR seeker. What will it do? If the group has altered speed/course enough, it may not see anything! It may only see one of the escort fighters, and lock onto that. If it sees more than one target, what will it do? Go for the one closest to the center (assuming that is the correct target)? Go for the strongest target return (assuming weaker might be countermeasures)? Years ago I remember having to deal with this a lot in MPS' F-19 Stealth Fighter. It let you carry AMRAAMs, but you had no radar. Unless you fired so close that the radar switched on as it left the bay, it had to fly for quite a ways without any radar datalink. I sometimes had a mission where I was to shoot down a transport but NOT the escorting fighters. It was a "covert mission" and I was to ONLY destroy the target. Many a time the AMRAAM would lock onto an escort instead of the transport just because of how the formation would be when the radar went active.

Could be a good Bond villain. "Cupcake McDeath."

No, what I mean is camo should be tailored to prevent sighting from the ground as opposed to air-air sightings because that's where the majority of combat losses have come from since the end of Vietnam. How many A-10s have had to evade a MiG? How many A-6s? Now how many of those have had to evade AAA and SAMs? Seems worrying about an enemy fighter getting a visual on you is secondary for now, at least until we see a conflict where the enemy has a significant fighter presence. When that happens, we can easily repaint them quick enough anyway.

Right, they were using planes 5+ yrs out of date pulled from storage, Nat'l Guard, Reserves, etc when they could've had relatively new Sierra Hotel piston uber planes if they hadn't said "Jets are the FEWTCHA!!" and dumped all the new prop designs.

Yes, a large network of schools and other welfare programs will certainly prevent invaders from attacking. I mean, just look at the insanely difficult time the Nazis had getting past the French school system. Do people have such short memories that they can't remember WWII?? A weak defense invites attacks from A) a country in a worse situation who is jealous/thinks they can get something out of it B) a country in a better situation that thinks they can get something/distract from problems at home C) jealous fundamentalist nutjobs that can't understand why THEIR way (which MUST be correct) hasn't given them as nice a life/culture/country as those who live a DIFFERENT way (which CAN'T be correct), so obviously their "god" thinks they must attack

News flash: Boston Colonials dumped large amounts of tea into the harbor overnight!

Maybe it's ice in a wedge spanning 62 degrees?

Maybe just call it a "Foster's"? Anyway, many very promising piston-engined planes were killed early or never even put into production because of the advent of the jet age. Of course, while everyone was assuming jets were the new best thing, it would really be another 10 years before they could do everything props could do at an equal or better level. Many great props could've been used in Korea if there hadn't been some overly optimistic calls made post-WWII.

It seems to me that the largest threat to most air vehicles has been and will continue to be ADA and SAMs. I don't think anti-air camo should really even be worried about to the same extent.

You've never heard of Moron AB in Spain? Seeing how much closer you are to it than I am I would think you WOULD know about it! The other one I know there is Zaragoza AB. Both are emergency shuttle landing facilities, not that they've ever been used for such a mission, fortunately.

I feel like I've been waiting for DCS for years. Oh wait, I have!

I believe it simply replaces the cockpit for that plane. You simply fly that one and you'll see it, there's no "choice" selection. Fly an MLU F-16 and you won't see it, but hop in any CJ and you will.

Let's face it, MK2 is a better person than most of us would be in the same situation.

People always say "prices are set at what the market can bear", but I think it's more "prices are set at what the companies can get away with."

The F-111's internal gun was mounted on the belly, very far back from the nose. Roughly where you see that pod in the image. However, the ones that had it pretty much never used it and many models didn't have it. Standard M61A1, AFAIK.