ST0RM

One thing I found was that the campaigns will act really weird if you delete stock units from the SquadronList.ini and replace them or renumber them. I had to add new units at the end to preserve what the game engine knew and how that corresponded with the stock decals and their numbers. Jeff

In the early 90's, most of the C-130s at Duke and Hurlburt were green. The gunships were the only grey special mission aircraft there at the time(they were Euro camo'd until late 80's). The MC-130 Combat Talons were also Euro green camo'd until the first MOD 90 aircraft came to the 8th SOS in 1992. To even confuse you more, the 8th and 16th SOS each had a slick c-130 used for pilot proficiency flights (touch n go) that were also green until they got painted grey to match the others. I was stationed at both Hurlburt and Eglin for 10 years, so I saw them go through a few different paint schemes. -Jeff

None of the gunships have carried tailcodes since Vietnam, and it was "FT" and "AH" back then. Duke was home to the AC-130As as part of the AFRes. They were all over Ghost Grey (FS36320) but faded very quickly to a lighter shade. Hurlburt Field was home to the AC-130Hs from the 16th SOS and in the early 90's, the 4th SOS stood up with the AC-130U. Both wear a split camo pattern of Gunship Grey up top (FS36118) over a lower wavy pattern of Light Grey (FS36375). The F-35s over at Eglin are part of the 33rd Fighter Wing, but split amongst AF, Navy and USMC squadrons under the joint wing. The F-35As carry the "EG" tailcode, while the Marines' B-models carry VM vertically on the rudder. No C-models from the Navy have arrived to stand up VFA-101 as of yet. The F-16s are not part of the 33rd, but assigned to the 46th Test Wing across the base. They wear "ET" and a white band with red diamonds on the tail for the 40th Flt Test Squadron and "OT" for the 85th Test/Eval Squadron with white/black checkers. Dave may have done some of the test Vipers already, but am not 100% sure. Ask him. Good luck!

Here is another funny one:

Since the C-17 schoolhouse is here, we've discussed this many times over the past week. Nothing official of course, just other crew guys passing info. But more ridicule and sarcasm than anything. This was hour 18 for the crew after returning form an overseas base. Fatigue, and most likely complacency, are to blame. And yes, there was a 4-star onboard at the time. Easy to armchair QB it from here, but wait until the final report comes out. I'm sure it wont be pretty. But, nice job on the landing and stopping!

Ok, chiming in on this. You guys keep drawing me in. Brain is 100% correct. Our passion for this series and the quest for the perfect sim has clouded our vision. But we're just 1/3 of the problem. The other 1/3 comes from the newbs who either do not want to help themselves or simply do not understand how to and go running to TK about every little glitch that is usually a fault of their own. The last 1/3 is from TK himself in that he has compartmentalized the series so much, that we just dont have the chance to assist in fixing things anymore. No matter how awesome they've been, mods have been one of the root causes of the huge division between us. He cant keep up with the mods and we cant keep editing the mods to keep up with the patches. I guess you have to find a patch level that works for you and go with it. The hopes for that perfect sim will only worsen the perceived feud. -Jeff

Any tips on getting the AA to work? For some reason I cant get it to take. Ditto on your whole comment. -Jeff

Not really, still just lurking. But this was an interesting topic.

And that inbalance is what could break a sim after a short time. People want realism, but IMO, not 100% real. Aside from the 45 year old guy who lives in his Mom's basement and doesnt work, most of us have a life that prevents us from learning a 500+ page -1 on procedures. With DCS/LOMAC, 25% will learn the systems on the hardest settings and fly it exclusively. The rest simply want to be able to jump in on the ramp, Ctrl-E to start everything up, taxi and go. Sims need to find that delicate balance to keep everyone interested and not overload the player. But the basics have to be there in the beginning. That is where TW lost me. They dumbed down the mid-high levels down so much to meet the occasional/new players wants and never found the balance. Plus, many of the basics were never implemented/added since SF1. Some new FSX payware models are just like that. I got the IRIS F-15E and it comes with a huge manual. There are a lot of real features, but it takes some serious hours to read through everything. Plus, the F-15E is a complex aircraft. It takes 2 people to fly and run the systems. In FSX it's difficult to do both, so you lose out in some areas in order to keep that balance. Do I fly on autopilot and work the WSO stuff, or hand fly and not crash trying to configure and drop weps? DCS has the right idea, but I think they might be jumping too far, too fast. A full MP environment is awesome. But DCS World needs to be tight, right out of the gate. And adding so many complex aircraft may also drive players away. Mods are nice, but I've seen how they can sour a person (me included). The basics are first. All elements have got to work properly. Eye candy is second. How often do you fly around outside of the aircraft? Just my $.02 -Jeff P.S. I'm still lurking from time to time.

Guys it's been fun, but over the past 1 1/2 or so, I've become less and less enthusiastic about the SF2 series. Patches that arent tested correctly which break more things than fix and releasing the unfinished SF2NA was the final straw. I've followed the progress and tried to hope for the best, but I continue to be unimpressed. TK does not give a rats a$$ about how this community has kept his sim alive and carried through the delays. The latest round of DLCs are proof of this and FC's words on them, pretty much sealed the deal. Over the past year, I've spent less and less time in the sim. Maybe an hour total in NA. It's just the same old thing repackaged in a shiny wrapper. I don't see it going further. So, I wish you guys well and hope that soemthing else comes along that was as fun as the early days of SF. I'm not going to delete my account, but won't be active here. Cheers! Jeff

Just heard that a MAFFS C-130 went down on Sunday. Here is what I could find so far: http://www.gazette.com/news/colorado-141079-year-old.html Hopes for the crew.

"We accept responsibility for these past violations and we deeply regret they occurred" Ok, so now the CEO and whomever was involved are sent to prison for espionage! Make an example of them.

From what storm? They havent had any precip in a few weeks prior to the fire. I spoke with a friend in C Springs yesterday and it's believed to have been started by people. Since most hikers dont smoke, possibly on purpose? Another friend of mine from work here, was there the exact day it started and took some of the first photos of it from his hotel. Again, not a cloud in the sky. Hopefully the winds die down and cooperate, allowing the fire teams to get this put out.

I've got to learn HDR. Great work on the colors. Interesting look for photos. -Jeff

+1

Funny how unforgiving the summer UK skies can be. Especially around airshow season. Great work with what you had Ant. And yes, that Typhoon shot is outstanding, but I think the contrast on the Red Arrow formation is the best!. Jeff

Nice grabs. Two Messerschmitt aircraft at the same time is awesome. I got to see Red 7 fly back in 2004 during my last summer in Germany. The sound was unreal. Glad you got the chance to check them out. How did the Shwalbe sound? Jeff

Happy Birthday Przemek!

QRF-4C Phantom II skin by me.

Found them myself through trial and error. Glad the 90 of you who looked this over couldnt bother to assist.

I'm slowly adding my effects to SFNA and as the first thing, would like to add new flares. They look realistic with the added glow and smoke stream. However, I no longer have just those saved. Does anyone know the exact files for that? I'll extract them myself. Thanks! Jeff

You dont expect people to actually read those, do you?

Make it a downloaded spreadsheet. If it goes into the KB, it's lost. The newbs don't read through it and will only ask again.

The UN.

I'll call you this weekend. I havent done anything with SF in about 3 months, so I'd have to install the Vipers, weps, etc...