ChrisBV

I had thought about keeping the BOZ107 and Sky Shadow pods as default loadouts for all missions but I think I'd rather go for a modified "strike" loadout instead. Anyway, you can always change that to the stock loadout (I think it's 8 1000lb iron bombs in double racks) if you like in the loadout screen or revert to the new default one I'll be modifying (2 LGBs and targeting pod for precision strikes). I also take advantage of the ocasion to ask if anyone's interested in making a backseat cockpit for the GR/IDS Tornado. AmokFloo did a very cool and smart thing with his Mirage 2000D so you can have the two cockpits: simply select "caged mode" for your gunsight display mode and, boom! There you go, you're in the back seat! I think a rear cockpit would be very cool in order to deploy PGMs properly and so forth.

Absolutely beautiful!

Sweet! Time to fly for the evildoers I'll give it a try sometime in the afternoon, thanks!

Open source RL...? Seriously, now... yes, I agree, it's quite unimpressive but consider this: how many countries on Earth can actually design/modify/upgrade, build and fly expensive and complex pieces of technology, like combat helicopters or aircraft? If you live in the US, France, Germany, the UK, Russia or any 'decent' country with the means - economic and technological (and also the social framework) - to do it, you can take things like these for granted but for a developing country, I think it's a fairly good achievement.

The GR.5 (in this case, a GR.7, though) has 4 external ordnance attachment hardpoints per wing: The AV-8B and AV-8B plus have 3: I believe this was a RAF-specific requirement in order to load a pair of AIM-9s without having to take any of the other existing stations.

I don't know about you but I'm not really concerned about not having guns on board, given the fact that the British Harrier II series have two extra underwing hardpoints vs. the American version (the AV-8B has 6 while the GR.7 has 8) to hang ordnance from. That's plenty of firepower available, if you ask me, and I can even carry 2 Sidewinders for self-defence without having to sacrify room for A-G ordnance or even external fuel tanks for range, which is a problem I constantly face when flying the AV-8B (say) in ODS. The aiming system is very good as well, allowing you to place a rocket on target with almost pinpoint accuracy and the BL755 performs outstandingly against soft targets so... I think that pretty much covers the eventual uses of the 25/30mm cannon in combat. Anyway, that's just me

It's not a problem but a feature: they don't fire in real life either so the way they are modeled is accurate. This has been already discussed here; BattlerBritain already posted a 'fix' to make them work, so you can try that if you like.

The mini-sub actually looks interesting :yes:

OMG fougamagister, that was lucky :biggrin:

Whaaaaaaaaaa...? What in the world is going on here? :dntknw:

Bobrock's Harrier GR.7: sexy, down to the last poly:

I don't speak Portuguese but when the HUD shot comes into view, you can hear the Brazilian Air Force pilot speaking in Spanish to the small plane pilot, he's saying: "intercepted aircraft, CP1424, you are disregarding instructions from the air defence. The aicraft flying alongside yours is armed and has authorisation to use its weaponry in order to make you comply with the orders you've been given. Look out for warning shots (...)". And then, he fires two bursts of cannon fire...

Yes, that's true but it wasn't just us alone. AFAIK there were CIA/DEA liaison officers involved in drug interdiction missions and they were the ones who determined it was a drug plane when in fact, it wasn't. There were also severe communication problems between the liaison officer and his translator and Peruvian military personnel and clear violation of rules of engagement - the small plane was engaged without warning shots being fired first or even radio contact or visual gestures to the pilot ever performed - that resulted in the death of a female missionary and her child and other passengers being injured. The CIA/DEA officers where the ones in charge of calling the shots, they incorrectly identified the aircraft as a valid target and authorised Peruvian Air Force aicraft to shoot it down. The CIA even covered up those facts to prevent reaction from the US Congress against joint anti-drug operations in South America.

Not exactly the bloom mod, but cellinsky's WideSky. The dawn/dusk sun flare effects are very nice. Flares come with CA_Stary's Enhanced Explosion Effects 3 pack.

That's because they are not meant to fire in RL :yes: Bobrock's modelling is spot-on. However, BattlerBritain already posted a tweak to make them work if you like.

"2 weeks" is the mythical deadline, the Holy Grail of flight simulation mod-making in terms of time constraints. My best guess is that it originated from within the Falcon 4.0 community; when the average Joe asked a modder or developer when any given addon or mod was to be ready for release, the usual answer used to be "in two more weeks". It's funny since flight sim developers are known for taking their time in finishing their work, so "in two weeks" is usually an unrealistic, overly optimistic deadline for release that, I would say most of the time, is never met.

:shok: :shok: Having fun at the range and enjoying this new beauty:

Just a very, very bad day to be ...

¡Gracias, suicidal! Me agrada mucho que mi trabajo guste. En este caso el skin no es 100% fotorrealista, es básicamente pintado a mano por capas con tantos detalles fotorrealistas como me es posible implementar (por ejemplo el radomo, las ruedas del tren de aterrizaje, algunos detalles menores, etc.). The skin is far from ready and all (I haven't even finished the 'basic' skin on top of which I will do the different custom nose arts and particular features of each aircraft - I'll see if I can do that using decals; I'll figure that out later) but just for fun I started doing some loadout tweaks (the TIALD pod is 'borrowed' from the GR.7 until bobrock releases a new version for use with the Tornado) and downloaded the GR.1A (recce) version also by Sundowner & Co. which, model-wise, is identical to the GR.1 with some minor exceptions like the lack of the two Mauser BK27 27mm cannon ports an the side-mounted thermal imaging sensor window (port side) which is just a texture feature. The cannons are no problem since they can be easily rendered using textures ... but this one has updated/added aerials and antennae and I'm sorry if this sounds silly but I just go crazy over stuff like that plus it has 3D navigation lights which means I won't have to do them as textures for better looks... anyway, just tested it and, boy, does it look sexy! So I think I'm using it. Stay tuned for further updates.

:biggrin: Just saw that documentary "Fighter Pilot Afghanistan" (or something like that) a few months ago... and for what I saw, the pilots of JFH aren't particularly concerned about not having a gun on board, most of the time a simple fly-by or a rocket pass is enough to keep the Taliban away. Although, should the need ever arise and considering the changing nature of the British kit, I wouldn't be surprised if they could field a gun/cannon system for existing Harriers within months of a UOR (Urgent Operational Requirement) being approved.

RAF Harriers are 'gunless' since the GR.5. A 25mm revolver-type cannon replacement for the ADEN was in development for the GR.5 but there were serious problems with the cross-feeding and feeding mechanism itself and the project was finally abandoned. US Harriers were fitted with the GAU-12/U gatling-type gun, but RAF Harriers remained gunless ever since. The 30mm ADEN cannon was still available for the Sea Harrier FA.2 up until the aircraft's retirement in 2006. Empty gunpods can be seen in frontline GR.9/GR.9As in Afghanistan today but they are there solely to provide better exhaust flow performance during vertical/short take-offs and landings - a function otherwise performed by the LIDs (Lift Improvement Devices) purposely designed for that effect.

Well, guess what... it worked! Thanks malibu. Now all I need is a rear cockpit to deploy those beauties from...

Fantastic, I'll try that sometime later and report for results. Thanks!

Only 6 groups are allowed? Hmmmm... seems I ran out of groups, then; the 6 fuselage stations (except the centre one which is independent) are grouped (groups are: (1) underwing jamming pod (2) underwing countermeasures pod (3) 2 underwing drop tanks & weapons (4) 2 Sidewinder stations (5) 6 fuselage and (6) 1 centre fuselage). Too bad, I would have loved an assymetrical configuration such as this one: But in the light of the events, I think I'm going to have to settle for something like this:

Yes, of course! [LeftCenterlineStation] SystemType=WEAPON_STATION StationID=6 StationGroupID=5 StationType=EXTERNAL AttachmentPosition=-0.60,1.000,-1.278 AttachmentAngles=0.0,-3.3,0.0 LoadLimit=2050 AllowedWeaponClass=LGB,BOMB,2BR,LP AttachmentType=UK ModelNodeName=pylon_center_left PylonMass=31.75 PylonDragArea=0.02 LaunchRailNodeName= MinExtentPosition= MaxExtentPosition= FuelTankName= LengthLimit=4.0 [RightCenterlineStation] SystemType=WEAPON_STATION StationID=7 StationGroupID=5 StationType=EXTERNAL AttachmentPosition=0.60,1.000,-1.278 AttachmentAngles=0.0,-3.3,0.0 LoadLimit=2050 AllowedWeaponClass=LGB,BOMB,2BR AttachmentType=UK ModelNodeName=pylon_center_right PylonMass=31.75 PylonDragArea=0.02 LaunchRailNodeName= MinExtentPosition= MaxExtentPosition= FuelTankName= LengthLimit=4.0 [LeftCenterlineStationRear] SystemType=WEAPON_STATION StationID=8 StationGroupID=5 StationType=EXTERNAL AttachmentPosition=-0.60,-1.750,-1.150 AttachmentAngles=0.0,-3.3,0.0 LoadLimit=2050 AllowedWeaponClass=BOMB,2BR AttachmentType=UK ModelNodeName=pylon_center_left PylonMass=31.75 PylonDragArea=0.02 LaunchRailNodeName= MinExtentPosition= MaxExtentPosition= FuelTankName= LengthLimit=4.0 [RightCenterlineStationRear] SystemType=WEAPON_STATION StationID=9 StationGroupID=5 StationType=EXTERNAL AttachmentPosition=0.60,-1.750,-1.150 AttachmentAngles=0.0,-3.3,0.0 LoadLimit=2050 AllowedWeaponClass=BOMB,2BR AttachmentType=UK ModelNodeName=pylon_center_right PylonMass=31.75 PylonDragArea=0.02 LaunchRailNodeName= MinExtentPosition= MaxExtentPosition= FuelTankName= LengthLimit=4.0 [LeftCenterlineStationMid] SystemType=WEAPON_STATION StationID=10 StationGroupID=5 StationType=EXTERNAL AttachmentPosition=-0.60,-1.000,-1.160 AttachmentAngles=0.0,-3.3,0.0 LoadLimit=2050 AllowedWeaponClass=FT,ARM,ASM AttachmentType=UK ModelNodeName=pylon_center_left PylonMass=31.75 PylonDragArea=0.02 LaunchRailNodeName= MinExtentPosition= MaxExtentPosition= FuelTankName=Tank1500_Tornado [RightCenterlineStationMid] SystemType=WEAPON_STATION StationID=11 StationGroupID=5 StationType=EXTERNAL AttachmentPosition=0.60,-1.000,-1.160 AttachmentAngles=0.0,-3.3,0.0 LoadLimit=2050 AllowedWeaponClass=FT,ARM,ASM AttachmentType=UK ModelNodeName=pylon_center_right PylonMass=31.75 PylonDragArea=0.02 LaunchRailNodeName= MinExtentPosition= MaxExtentPosition= FuelTankName=Tank1500_Tornado I removed LGB from Left/RightCenterlineStations, added them to Left/RightCenterlineStations and fixed the ModelNodeName entry on both of them. PS: backup your original Tornado_GR_DATA.ini, just in case PS2: do you know how to make individual stations appear in the Loadout screen? I'd like to load a targeting pod in the left one and two LGBs in the centre and right ones but in the loadout screen the option is set to select ordnance on both left and right hardpoints...