ST0RM

Most people don't give two shakes, but to Dave, FC and some other friends here, my appologies for not being around for a few months. With the holidays and the new year came new tasks. Headed to Red Flag in a few days, so I'll try and post some pics. Maybe I'll even buy SF2I if it's ironed out. -Jeff

F*** my life! I was just told that I've been pulled off of the Red Flag trip to prep for the ASEV in 5 weeks. I guess being the "go to guy" doesnt pay off. The lazy SOBs in the unit make out with the good deals, just to keep them out of the squadron. Why do I even bother to get out of bed sometimes???

I got a used Samsung SM-348 CD-RW/DVD combo from a buddy. I'm going to install it on my comp (Win XP), but have a few questions. He didn't give me any disks with drivers, but I read that since Win 95, the OS already has native drivers for this. Or am I reading it incorrectly and will need something else? I'm grabbing the 1.41 firmware from softpedia. Are these correct? Moving into new territory, so thanks in advance! -S

Thanks for the help. I'm simply swapping one for one, so the jumper settings won't be an issue. I've done several H/D installs, so that was familiar. Ok, so I'll go and install it and see if Windows will need extra drivers. If so, I've got some downloaded. Just wanted to get another eyes on, so to speak, as backup to make sure I wasn't missing something. Thanks!

Looking at some of the stock airbases we've got in various forms in this series, has always left me with wanting more. With the few 3rd Party airbases released (Korat and a few others), I see that custom bases can be built and used. What tools do I need to do this? My hopes are to build some proper WP/Mid Eastern bases with the fighter "Christmas trees" leading from protective shelters to the runway. Also, dual parallel runways. Is it as simple as moving two bases right next to each other? While the AI wouldn't utilize them properly, at least they would look the part. Any tips or ideas are appreciated. -Jeff

By tuning the IR seeker to "see" in other IR Bands, the AIM-9 or another IR missile could be used to track a ground target. Obviously a truck does'nt put off the same energy a jet does, but those engineers are crafty people. -S

I got to "play" with a SA-6 Straight Flush radar during a visit to the Polygon EW range near Ramstein a few years ago. And I'm one day away from graduating from the Combat Aircrew Tactics Studies (CATS) course in St. Joseph, Mo. I'm definately going to download this, since I just spent the last couple of weeks learning about our threats. Thanks for the link. -S

ATAC flies a mix of Kfirs, Drakens and Hunters in the Adversary role. They've got a pretty large contract with the Navy, so I'd put my money on that.

Yea, this thing is all over the boards. What better way to test a new design, than under actual conditions? Maybe it was just swamp gas?!?!

The main issues with the F-35 is that its two years BEHIND schedule and the price tag is increasing. In today's shrinking defense budgets, this is unacceptable. Many countries and militaries have "placed all of their eggs in one basket" when they signed on for the F-35. The USMC has nothing to replace it's Harriers and has no other option but to sticking it out and wait. The USAF thinks it can replace the A-10 and F-16. The RAF is now rethinking it's numbers and types they will buy to replace the Harriers and Tornado GR4. Stealth is great, but if you can only bring two bombs to the fight, then what real benefit is the aircraft? I could go on, but I'll leave it open for others. As for the SH. It's great for the Navy as a replacement for the Legacy Hornet. It has slightly longer range and can bring back a heavier bomb load to the ship, instead of jetisoning them prior. However it does have some compromises that some people can't get past. Time will tell for the F-35. Personally, I'm not a fan. -S

Welcome Home!

Had an interesting one today. I'm flying a 1971 campaign over Europe. I'm a "Wolfhound" assigned to the 32nd TFS based out of Soesterberg. Our base was put out of action on the first night by a sneak attack by An-2 Colts, flying low and dropping frag bombs. Several of our Phantoms were hit, but a few made it without a scratch. So, were on detachment to Twenthe AB. Anyhow... My flight was assigned a CAP over Giessen, Germany. It's about 60 klicks north of Frankfurt. This morning, I had a brief conversation with my crew chief. She explained that she had cleaned the cockpit, but everything should be ok. Well as I'm rolling down the runway and pull back to lift off, the Phantom immediately rolls hard to the right. WTF!?!?! Luckily I had a few feet of altitude and caught it quick. I re-trim the jet and off we go. During the fight, I bag 3 MiG-21s with a pair of AIM-7s and an AIM-9, plus a Il-28 with another Sidewinder and gun. My flight did well and we RTB'd without incident. Upon shutting down, I ask my crew chief about the trim issue. She was embarrased and promised to do better next time. The real part of this story is that my wife dusted my computer and sticks and must have hit the trim knobs and knocked them out of allignment. Funny huh? We both laughed about it.

While I don't have my notes anymore, but I did have something similiar for various sims. We're nerds Cool find!

This thread had me look into my own drivers and see what I was running. Apparently I was several behind, despite updating a few weeks ago. Got the Beta 195 drivers and am installing now. -S

Love the VFA-122 bird Eric. No worries on the delay. I've been on-off with simming. Thanks! Jeff

Non-subscribers are limited to a few downloads at a time. If you do create another logon name and are caught, you will probably be banned from the site for good. Dave and Erik are good at catching people. Subscribe and you are unrestricted.

Horrible Top Gun knock-off, but awesome to the Buc and the Hunter T.8

Nav's fuel/wind calculations. I don't want to spoil it further.

The only thing "What-If" about that scenario, are the Raptors actually deploying to a combat zone.

Sadly EA went down hill years ago. It was only a matter of time when sales plummeted low enough for people to take real notice. You don't give people what they want, they won't spend money.

Fun add-on. Using it in early Europe for anti-ship mission. Had to install a sight, but it flew great from the get go. Nice work! Thanks

The EAF F-16s use Sky, Fahd, Viper, Falcon, Sniper, Tiger, and Silver. -S

I was flying the Rolling Thunder campaign in SF2V, as part of VA-113. They start out flying the A-4C and were due to upgrade to the A-4C_65 in June 1965. However, that date came and went, without the switch. So I looked into the DATA.INI for CampaignV1 and it shows the date format as 6/1965. Other single digit day/month formats have a 0 in front. So, should it read 06/1965 to enable the fixed upgrade? Thanks, Jeff

I've seen this bahavior in scale modelers also. Because they've studied a certain aircraft for a project, I've seen and heard them ask some off the wall questions to crews/pilots at airshows. While they've tried to politely answer it in the best way they could, the "Are you F-ing kidding me?" look was also given.

The Russians are over in the US for the Open Skies and START Treaties. It was most likely a Tu-154. A-Net photo: http://www.airliners.net/photo/Yuri-A-Gagarin/Tupolev-Tu-154M-LK-1/1427635/L/