ST0RM

H, You've really pushed the bar a bit higher with this one. The ground carts are an excellent touch of realism.

{First part edited by me} I've installed and reinstalled twice now with each game and haven't had any problems with patching. It knew where to go and what to patch. If you want to stick with the the first Gen and XP, that is your right. I'm running the SF2/V/E fine in XP. But don't expect the modding world to stagnate for you.

I found this photo, but it is not carrying AIM-9s. It is carrying underwing pylons. F-104C If I recall correctly, the under-fuselage rails were not introduced until the F-104G.

That was way better done than the MotorTrend video! That Bugatti was just sick.

Having Vista is not a requirement for any of the SF2 sims. It simply changes the files structure, which seems to baffle some people. 5 or 10 minutes of reading and you'll have it down.

I've already done a few myself for my installs. F-105F F-105G F-86D-45 F-86K F-5A F-5C RA-5C Will be no problem to zip them up and upload. I'll need to get in contact with the owners for the ok. -S

Very impressive amount of detail Paulo. Thanks for putting this together!

He needs to spend some time in "federal, pound me in the ass, prison!"

Day 1 of the war for me was more than I expected. I was a Lt jg, newly assigned to VA-46 'Clansmen' flying the A-4E(67). For my cherry ride, the skipper decided to have me lead a 4-ship strike on an Industrial Complex on the Vietnamese coast, approx. 50 miles south of Haiphong Harbor. Being south, and on the coast, one would think that it was an easy target. Nope. It was well within the threat rings of the numerous SA-2 sites around the area to the north. Plus the thousands of AAA pieces that dot the whole country. This was not going to be a walk in the park. Being junior and very green, I took the liberty of discussing the loadouts with our Weapons Chief, KB. He recommended a mixed load between all four Scooters. I was to carry a pair of Mk.83 1000lbs bombs, along with 4 Mk.82 w/fuse extenders on outboard TERs. My wingman (the Skipper) would be bringing a pair of AGM-45A Shrikes, plus 4 Mk.82 slicks in case I missed. 3 & 4 would be allowed to roam and hit targets as necessary. Kind of like the German Luftwaffe term Frie Jagd or to free-hunt. They carried CBUs and rockets. Since the drive out to the target was within our unrefueled range, we each carried a centerline aux tank. We'd hit a tanker coming off target and recover aboard the ship. The catshot was normal, although my adrenaline was pumping pretty good. After all, I was carrying more destructive power than a B-17. Forming up at FL150 (15,000ft), we cruise silently across the water toward land. Just before our decent to the IP, we check in with the Red Crown destroyer. NSTR, or Nothing Substantial to Report, so we press in. 20 miles out from the coast, our RHAW gear starts chirping, alerting us to the southern most SA-2 site. Time to start the music, so we turn on the ECM systems. That bought us some time, as the chirping ceased. 12 miles from the target now, the RHAW gear begins to alert us again, but this time, from two Fan-Song radars. I immediately lock up the closest radar and order my wingman to take it out with the Shrike. He calls "Shotgun" and the -45 is off toward the radar. 7 seconds later, it's off the air. No suppressing anything. It's dead! Still closing toward the primary target, I order the second pair of A-4s to start their own hunt for ground targets nearby. They peel off and start hitting some of the gunsites around the southern edge of the harbor. Meanwhile, the Skipper and I are 5 miles from the complex, with one more SA-2 actively pinging us. I lock him up and he fires his last Shrike. At first I thought it would miss, but a long 9 seconds later, it too goes silent. Now it's my turn. I roll the jet inverted, picking out the building I'm to hit. It's a long building, running North/South. To increase my odds of hitting it, I decide to roll the Skyhawk back toward the south and will set up my run from the south, going north. A minute later, I'm where I want to be, 3 miles south of the building and in a 45 degree dive. Throttle back to 65%, pop the boards, center up the building in the sight...bomb away at 5000ft. Retract boards, throttle to the stops, climb and jink away to the East, looking over my shoulder for AAA or anything that can kill me, all the while keeping an eye on the target. To my dismay, the Mk.83 falls short about 300 yds and only seems to scare...well no one. Going against the lessons from the many smarter men who have come before me (Lt. Cater, Jugs and FC), I opt for a second pass. This time, I set up for an opposite direction drop. That way my egress will be toward the south and to safety. As I climb back up toward the north/west, the Skipper calls out that he's caught some flak and his jet is smoking pretty good. No sense in keeping him around, I release him. A quick call to Red Crown on the secondary frequency, informs them that a damaged Scooter is headed back toward the ship, and alerts the SAR dudes in case he has to ditch. Amazing how your brain can function and perform multiple taskings when it's needed, all while flying a jet in hostile airspace. At my designated point and altitude, I again roll the jet into a left turn, 45 degrees nose low. I check my switches to make sure I'll be dropping everything on this pass. I'm not that stupid to risk a third pass. Throttle to 65% again, pop boards, center up the building, but putting it a bit farther below the sight this time. Glance at the altimeter, 5000ft, pickle all 5 bombs, pull, retract boards, full throttle and start a roll toward the south/east. The jet is super light now without that extra weight. It's responding nicely. Watching over my shoulder for threats and the target, I see all 5 bombs hit in a nice stick. And I get a secondary oil tank along with the building. But, not to go out without a fight, I feel a couple of thumps in the right wing, bringing me back from my mini-celebration. I look over and I've got a few holes in the outer right wing. No leaking fluids and no fire. Close call. As I begin the flight back to the ship, 3 & 4 check back in and inform me they are "Winchester" and they form back up on me. Since we aren't fuel critical, we bypass the awaiting KA-6D tanker and catch up with the Skipper as he limps home. It wasn't hard to pick him out. His trail of smoke could be seen for miles. We all recover aboard safely (I caught the 2-wire) and watch as the last A-4 recovers. Debrief, then chow. It's Sunday, so it's Sliders and Fries. -Storm

Many patches ago, the sky was too dark and there was a lighter night mod to fix it. NVG ops would be cool though.

I deleted my heavily modded WoV from my laptop last night. I got my SF2V install how I want it (for now) and it was time to push on. And SF2 runs well on my 1.6Ghz w/onboard 32Mb video card laptop with medium settings. Can't wait to get home and try it on my real gaming rig. The next move is to uninstall WoE as I'm nearly done modding my SF2E install. Maybe tonight.

Need a tissue Dave? Nice catches.

That is incredible. He'll be 100 years old. What a life. And his birthday is also my son's. S!

Thank you KB. That worked perfectly. Sorry about the typo. Yes I meant the Mk.82 w/FE. Off to bomb some warehouses in my A-4E.

I'm trying to figure out how to get the Mk.82 w/fuse extenders loaded onto a TER. So far I've only been able to get them load as singles. Any help? Thanks! -Jeff

Too many to frame! Tornado GR.4 14 Sqn 12 Sqn 31 Sqn Red Arrows Hawk 184th Kansas ANG KC-135R F-16 B-1B F-4D Colorado ANG F-16C Typhoon Ala 11 Spanish Air Force MiG-29 Fulcrum

Here is one of the articles on it: --------------------------------------- Yomiuri Shimbun (Japan) June 19, 2009 U.S. Move To Keep F-22 May See End Of Export Ban By Satoshi Ogawa, Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Congress has begun discussing the possibility of lifting the embargo it imposed on sales of its F-22 military jet, a move that could pave the way for Japan to buy the state-of-the-art stealth fighter as its next mainstay combat plane, sources said Wednesday. The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have agreed to amend the supplementary budget for fiscal 2009 to incorporate an additional 45 million dollars in expenses related to the F-22 Raptor jet--including research and development costs. Although revising the budget does not necessarily mean lifting the embargo on F-22 sales, observers say it may result in Japan being able to purchase the supersonic combat plane. The F-22 is capable of flying faster than the speed of sound for long periods, is difficult to detect by radar and is an extremely capable air-to-air combat jet. Together with the F-35 stealth fighter, the F-22 is listed as a cutting-edge fifth-generation jet fighter. The F-22 topped a Defense Ministry list of the six candidate jets to be Japan's next-generation mainstay fighter. According to sources, the initial supplementary budget for fiscal 2009 submitted by the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama did not include expenses related to F-22. However, a joint committee of both House and Senate amended the supplementary budget on June 11 to add funds to cover research expenses for the development of the F-22, and cash to maintain the factory line for the jet fighter, which was proposed by Sen. Daniel Inoue, D-Hawaii, who is well-versed in Japanese affairs. The amendment bill was approved by the lower house's plenary session Tuesday, and the Senate is expected to approve the bill by the end of the week at the earliest. In April, the Obama administration decided to end procurement of F-22 stealth fighters. The administration recommended Japan purchase F-35 stealth fighters, which were developed by countries including the United States and Britain, instead of the F-22 due to reasons including the embargo imposed by Congress. However, some members of Congress and the air force have been demanding the U.S. administration maintain production of the F-22 to bolster national security and safeguard jobs. Security analysts also have begun voicing their support for the export of F-22s to Japan due to North Korea's nuclear weapons and long-range missile development programs. Dennis Wilder, former senior director for East Asian affairs on the U.S. National Security Council, said the time had come to discuss exporting the stealth fighter to Japan.

Unless it shows up here, I'll have to wait a few months to see it. My wife was taking my son to see it yesterday or over the weekend. I'm sure I'll get the rundown from him. Looking forward to the pure entertainment factor!

Who, as a kid in the 70's, didn't love Farrah? RIP

It's Michael Jackson day here in Stan/Eval. We're going through the various music listings playing MJ music all day.

Shows how much play time I'm actually getting. Most of it's all daytime for testing skins, and ini tweaks.

FC, 1972 Mustang, correct? Nice! Here's mine. 2003 Jeep Rubicon. It has just shy of 40K miles and it's completely paid for. This was after a late season snow storm in March. Can't wait to get home and pull the top and doors.

Don't the AI already fly with their lights on during night?

This is going to force me into doing a WWII install. Nice work!

I watched the whole episide last night on BFBS. All of the interviews with the astronauts and footage that I've never seen, plus the U-2 flight. All of it very well done. I miss shows like this in the US.