SJPhantom

Saw the great shot of the F4 coming in with it's hook down. I fly mainly the Airforces F4.....There's a carrier in WOV? Where is there a carrier?

I was a Crew Chief on E Model F4's and F15's.....and I Bought LOMAC because I love Fighter Sims. Low and Behold, LOMAC lets you set up a mission, and you don't even have to fly it. So I did a little experiment, One Vs One, Single Aircraft Strikes, Multiple Air Strikes. Heck, I even did Air strikes with aircraft notorious for being terrible in Air to Mud, and Vice Versa, Aircraft that sucked wind in Air to Air engagements. Some observations. The Mig and SU drivers seem to be a whole bunch better....they don't stray off like the poor A10 drivers and get zapped by a SAM after the mission is over, and the F15 drivers get waxed right out of the gate by what seems like superior Russian Air to Air Missiles. I know the game takes place in Georgia, where the Russian adversary would have an aircraft advantage, so Aircraft numbers would be superior...which in the game is well predicted....I did a mission where I let the game pretty much do everything and the good old US of A was handily outnumbered. Here is my rub. The F15 is arguably Thee best Air to Air fighter, and the American Fighter Pilot is one of the best trained. If anyone here is up on their current events, Russian Military Might is scrambling hard to catch up. So whats with this game? Match an "Excellent" Mig Pilot in a top Russian fighter, against an "Excellent" American in an F15.....8 out of ten times, the Russian smokes him. And don't even get me started on the F14 (or the F18 for that matter)....This game really puts a beating on Navy Pilots. I also Matched a Mig-17 VS an F4.....again, the 17 smoked the Phantom on Average, 8 of 10 times. (Vietnam will tell you otherwise...Pilots will tell you that SPEED lives, and a Phantom couldn't out turn a 17 but she could sure outrun one.) ( I know I know, I'll get an argument) And SAMS....Jinking? Jamming? You'll be lucky to get your whole crew through on a Strike. Being around Fighters, and Fighter Pilots, I have to argue the lethality or the skills of Russian equipment, and not just because I'm an American. I'm going to keep "experimenting"...but I'm beginning to wonder and ask, how realistic IS this game.

Combat recon or more to the point, Road Recce, was getting down to the trees and seeing what you could stir up, and once it got stirred up, dropping what you had on the target. No camera's needed.

First off, There is no Tanker support. I can attest to this because I've done it before. If you've done any reading on the 105's in Vietnam, they tanked pre-strike because takeoff with Max weight sucked an enormous amount of fuel, even with the extra 2000 lbs of thrust they got from water injection. TOT wasn't much help either. If you loitered at all say for a downed pilot or missed your target or for whatever reason your TOT was lengthened, rest assured, you had better have a Tanker somehwere. Excellent references for 105 missions in North Vietnam are "Thud Ridge" by Jack Broughton, and Rasimus's books..especially "When Thunder Rolled". Oh and Migs and 105's....sure, the Thud was able to get one once in a while, but Rasimus in particular would tell you to stay away from them, they will eat a 105 alive.

....And I'll work on it for ya!

Someone metioned a book here about fighter tactics. THEE book on tactics is Shaws "Fighter Combat". If you're serious about learning the craft, this book is a must have. It is very in-depth and not for the feint at heart, but studying it will give you the knowledge you'll need to become a better stick.

Don't you just love the smell of Kordite in the morning? I hope the boys gave you a fond pat on the back when you landed after that kill. P.S. I know the feeling all to well of looking wide eyed at the fuel gage and thinking how un-fun it's going to be ejecting from that loveable beast.

I'm still green and the powers that be haven't given me the honor of being the person to go to for leadership. Once I have those ten missions under my belt they'll see to it that I'm responsible for getting guys back. Until then, I'll dodge flak, and stay on my leads wing, and survive.

So I went and did it. Mig 21 was getting the best of me and I jettisoned my tanks. I know...never get into a turning fight with a Mig, but I did, and he buggered out. I didn't get him, but on the way home, I happened to notice (Situational Awareness) that I was extremely low on fuel. As I flew on, I checked the manual, and asked Red Crown for help.....no siree, things are looking not so good. I took my trusty F4 and beat feet to the water whereupon I very nicely pulled my face curtain on my Martin Baker and ejected into the South China Sea. Was there some sort of way that I could have gotten a KC-135 on station to give me some more go-go juice and make it RTB? When I got aboard the Jolly Green I kept thinking that I should have taken that class the Wing Commander was giving on Fuel Management. Yeah, I'm still a green rookie pilot, even at 45. So if any of you know the coordinates to the flying Citgo's, lemme know, that way I can skip that class the Wing weinies are giving on how to save fuel.

Yeah...too bad, guess I'll have to take the class huh?

LOMAC can be extremely difficult....The soviet aircraft are way better than anything the Americans have in this game. Your other flights in the sim will be lucky if they aren't out numbered. WOE is much more enjoyable to me. At least I have a fighting chance.

Wingmen? Your Wingmen are around when things get testy? Actually, today My entire flight got into the mix and the LT's each got a Kill, and the Captain (14 missions under his belt) got two. Experience? Missions? Hell, as long as I make it out....if they're still around, good for them.

Getting the Girlfriend to fly...THATS what I'm talking about. Flying fighters is indeed a minority profession, and to do it as a hobby in the virtual world is probably a rarity too. I think we are in a class by ourselves because it does take patience and practice. Navigation, Geography, History, Geometry.....You MIG cap in Georgia in LOMAC, or lead a flight of 105's to hit Hanoi...Most of the kids today would think..Theres a War in Georgia? Where's Hanoi? Something that most of todays youth fail to see or understand. Oh and to the younger sticks that do fly, you are truly in the minority.

I think its Because there's alot you have to LEARN when you fly, and most just want to get in and wreak havoc. I know quite a few people who have taken the stick and killed a few bandits and then it comes time to land and they go...way too hard. Thats fine by me.

So, I'm leading a CAP for a strike on some trucks or an ammo dump or something like that. The Strike is a flight of four A6's....The Navy ALWAYS needs my help, especially Zebra flight. I have Dagger flight, and I'm tooling into a Nav point, when Red Crown advises me of Bogeys at about my ten o'clock. I begin to see them, a flight of three MIG-17's, and they're hell bent on mixing it up with A6's. My altitude is about 120, whereas the MIG's are sitting around ten, so I can dive at them and make a pass before they use their turning advantage and possibly try to get to me. Zebra gets to target, and I'm playing circle the wagons with three MIG's. I manage to take one of the MIG's down when I hear that the A6's are off target, mission complete. I play around with one of the other MIG's before I realize I better bug out. I'm not sure WHERE the other MIG is, as I'm sure the rest of my flight is giving them fits. I say good bye to Zebra and head home, happy with a MIG kill. When I land, and get to debrief I realize....Not ONE of my Wingmen fired a shot! So whats the deal? Am I supposed to go into my Comm menu and lets these Jokers know that they can attack the MIGS? At this rate, it's a wonder I feel overwhelmed.

Ah... I knew when I came to this place I would learn many new things. I will try these knew things and see how many times I can crash into the Sea....

Now THAT would be cool. I get around India way, I WILL be looking you up. Thanks for the offer Stick.

Yeah the brood definitely seems to want to wander, almost to the point of leaving me holding the bag. Thanks Stick. After my next mission I'll have a beer and some butter chicken just for you too.

....And whats with the "eh", Are you Australian.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Comms isn't one of my specialties when a couple of MIGS are trying to dance. I'll let them know that they can try to get a kill too.

One of the sapects of both games that I like is watching your flight line up in formation. Nothing is more beautiful than a flight of four out on a CAP. Noticeably though is in WOV where you get close to action your flight breaks up and things get hairy. I have gotten into Missile range on a MIG-21 with an F4E and have had aircraft below me and come between me. That might not be a big deal, but if you have seen pictures and video of the Air War in Vietnam, thats really how it was. As coordinated as it seemed, there was still chaos in the air. I also like the ease at which you can play WOV. When you're a newbie one of the most difficult things to do is land your beast, coming in a plus 200KTS, trying to keep everything together. This sim will land for you, and helps in the learning curve. Both are great games.

I run all of my flying sims on a computer that is NOT hooked into the internet. I recently received WOE and tried to download it and it would not run because I need to have DirectX 9c, and I ran my DirectX version and it in fact says I have version b. Now I thought the game had version c in it, so I downloaded it, and damned if it didn't upgrade. WHERE is the Directx folder? Can I delete it and reload version c? I have all the versions and they are all Cabinet icons, do I drag and drop these somewhere? I looked everywhere and can't seem to find Directx and I'm wondering why it won't upgrade. Heck, I can't even install any WOV service packs because I don't have version c.....Blah! Any help?

Tristan: No error messages, just says 9c is installed. I'll do some research though. By the way, Nice Avatar.

Erik: I've run DXDIAG a million times and it still sings the same song. One guy from Best Buy told me my Video card is probably old, which it really wasn't. I upgraded anyway, in hopes that would clear up the problem. Somehow, my computer is probably fooling Directx into thinking it already has 9c. It is amazing what we will go through to get something to work on a computer. I have so many different things on my computer that re-loading the OS would be scary, so I'm thinking of saving a few bucks and going out and getting a new one. Of course, I'm also scared of Vista. My luck is I would pick a new machine up with Vista and NONE of my sims would work. So I'm hoping to pick up a new one pretty quick here and get XP on it and all will be good. I appreciate your help, and everyone else who responded to my call to try and get me off the Deck. I'll fly the SEA theatre in my trusty old F4 until I can upgrade.

Yeah Eric, C just won't download. No matter what I do. I even picked up a new video card that has an install disc with 9c on it and my DXDIAG still reads that I have 9b. Of course, I took WOE over to my brothers place and his computer didn't have 9c and it loaded right up. It actually LOADS (9c that is). I try it on mine and it says it's loaded up in about two seconds and it's ready. Could it be that my computer can't hack 9c? Its truly wierd and frustrating. A side note, I had a 5300 Nvidia card in my computer and was having problems with my view in WOV. Only half my aircraft was showing up on the screen. I bought this new card, a BFG Nvidia 6800, and now I have a whole aircraft to look at. I was shaken a little when I was trying to land though, the game just crashed, but it seems to be working fine now. I'm going to bounce this 9c thing around the computer guru's I know and see if I can find a fix because WOE looks too cool to have to wait for a new computer.