cougar_1979

Thanks mate! I got a bit lucky when that last 77 detonated just behind my tail And my gunnery skills need improvement...... but the AIM-7s and AIM-54s did well. I decided to go back to my previous DACT experiment and finish the Hornet iteration. Only 2 birds left to fly against, the Su-27 and the M2000. These hops are against the Flanker. I made 3, but the first turned out to be a draw (we both ran out of ammo and fuel....well i got out of fuel ) I uploaded the 2nd the 3rd one...... this is the second one..... (recordings start just before the merge 10-15 miles away, to save on time) As always i build as much energy a possible and then cut the throttles at 10. I wait a bit after his first launch and then start doing evasive. After spuffing his attacks i roll over and an inverted dive to pick up some energy and cut into his circle. However, by this time i've already lost him. I then go vertical to try and get a good overview of the situation (hopefully he is not low and behind me, looking up) and there he is.... 11 low..... and going up. I try to anticipate where he will turn up and be there first, but i start blacking out so i must relax the stick a bit.... we go into a nose on nose vertical circle but try as i may, i can't seam to settle behind him. I try something different..... i unload.....build some energy and then try to get my nose on him for a gun kill...... My aim is not so good for this high deflection shot though, so i miss and he recovers...... After 2 more full revolutions we end up nose to nose again. But we also build quite a bit of separation so i try my luck with a forward looking winder shot. He does as well be our closure rate is so high, we both miss. I immediately go vertical and try to exploit an opening, but his turn rate is so high i just can't get an angle. It becomes clear to me that i can't out sustain him in this plane, not at any airspeed useful for a missile shot, so i try to deliberately convert this fight into either a flat scissor or nose to nose one circle...... I am too fast on my first try and he ends up nose to me first...... but not enough to get a good shot away. His 77 misses again.... I reverse, cut low to the right, get my nose on him...... fire my gun..... and miss again! Being low on speed and not having enough time to recover, i decide to dive in throttles low, and stay inside him no matter what..... We cross, him high, me low..... i reverse again...... and again we cross...... 3rd reversal........ 3rd cross....... and now he seams to have slowed down significantly...... i go up for a vertical circle and he follows and kisses the sand! Should not have tried that stunt in that big heavy bird i guess. But flying him into the ground is not as satisfying so we come to hop3: Same arrangement, same merge....... only this time i don't even try to enter a sustained turning fight with him. I'll just take every snap shot i can take. That means, building up my energy and then spending it wisely...... the first try doesn't work. Two half circles later i try again..... and miss again...... For a short time it looks like i can maybe settle on his six but then he starts recovering and moving further and further again....... so i let him go and unload for a 3rd go. And the third time is a charm....... good nose up, pulling lead....... and he splashes right in front of me......... Takeaways......... don't use the Hornet as a sustained turn fighter...... again......... even against a Flanker, it works better as a nose pointer. Well..... just one more plane to down..... and i think by now i already now how this is going to pan out. Another sustainer after all...... M2000.....

That randomized Flanker hunting mission from above (that kept giving me Foxhounds, Fishbeds and Fulcrums, finally bore fruit! 4 of them! My flight is this HOP is just one section me and the wingman. We make contact at 25 nautical miles, angels 12 and are almost immediately alerted to missile launches without being actively locked yet. AMRAAMSKI's! After designating a target to my #2, i turn on ECM, launch my 2 Buffaloes on two separate contacts and start doing evasive maneuvers (which mostly consist of launching chaff, diving into the clutter and switching between 2 and 10. 17 miles for the contacts my wingmen buys the farm! I'm all alone now against multiple contacts. At around 14 miles away and angels 5 i get my first confirmed splash....... and the second one! The sealed 54's worked! I try to get my nose on the remaining contacts and get my RIO to lock up one of them. 11 miles from the contacts, 1000+ knots closure and then a FOX 1. As i toll back into them it's splash 3! Now there is only one of them left and i can risk the merge. A merge against 2 of whatever these birds are (Fulcrums or Flankers), is suicidal at best when alone. 5 miles into them and i have a visual, it's Flankers after all. I hug the ground to make it as difficult for the remaining bandit to lock my up and prepare for the merge my turning into him and launching every counter measure i have left. I let off another FOX 1. It misses, but so do his! I roll over while supersonic and try and aggressive left break to get an early nose on. I get my nose first on him and launch my last FOX 1 at just one mile away and a closure of over 1000 knots.......It just barely misses but the explosion is so close it might have actually cause some damage. In order to keep the initiative i continue the hard break and settle on his 6. FOX 2 at 0.8 miles, but it's defeated by a generous amount of flairs. FOX 2 again, but this time i am probably too close. I switch to guns and try a guns kill. However, i have managed my energy so well, i didn't notice i am still over 500 knots! Needless to say, i overshoot but i immediately go into a high Yo-Yo and roll back on his 6. 3 bursts later (the first 2 are for tracer orientation - after all i'm still rusty and the new gun sight feels a bit different) and his down...... splash 4! Now if only i can find a way for my wingman to survive this ordeal.....

A post long overdue....... Two of these hops are uploaded for months now, i just never got the chance to post them here. In the first two hops i was fishing for Flankers over Central Europe in the 90's...... this is what i got: HOP#1 4 F-14A's, two sections armed for CAP, 2x 54's, 3x 7's, 2x9's and 2 bags. Got our first contact at 50 miles. Com chatter indicates missile exchanges, but at this time i have no clue what the parties involved are. As an overall leader i assign targets to my squadron and engage at around 30 miles with the Phoenix. I have no idea what the contacts are and i don't want to risk a merge with 29's or 27's. With section 1 low and section 2 high we get the bandits on our 2. We get 3 confirmed splashes on our first run before closing in for Sparrows. At around 15 miles the hostiles paint us with their radars. When breaking through the 10th mile i give one of my Sparrows to the leading contact. 470 kts airspeed, angels 9, bandit high above the horizon. At the time i thought of this as perfect Sparrow parameters. Splash 1! As we break through the 5th we finally have visual, MiG 21's! My wingmen continue engaging at close range as i scan the radar and the sky for targets. MiG31's! Dead ahead. These guys take priority. They must have masked their approach with the 21's...... but haven't we been fired upon....? I try to engage the leading Hound with a frontal aspect Mike, but the closure must be too high. Or maybe it was the sun at 2. I go into a high Yo-Yo and emerge at his high 6. Fox 2 again. This one homes true and it's splash 2 for me. .... slight digression as i admire the scenery....... looking for more targets..... F-14....blue........ and then, there it is, the second hound, 10 o'clock! I send one of my cats at him. And he's down for the count! That makes 2 Hounds and 3 Fishbeds confirmed. Being out of missiles (by mistake loading 1 instead of 3 Sparrows) and not wanting to eat any SAM launches i decide to get my boys back and head for home. HOP#2 Same mission (hunting for 27's) GCI calls for contacts at 25 miles. We get locked on immediately. Right from the start this indicates more then 21's...... I assign targets as we start the missile exchange..... at this range it must be 29's or 27's. My Sparrow is launched at 430 knots, slightly above horizon, angels 10. A bit slow even by my old standards....... I try to bring teh contacts on my 10 as i preemptively kick countermeasures...... you gotta love these new launchers, much better count, much better defense. One of my wingies got a splash! I get my second Sparrow out, this one at over 550 knots! Needles to say, this one strikes right where it should! Splash one! As we close for the merge i give my final commands and engage the enemy formation....... it's Fulcrums!!!! This going to be one hell of a fight! I let them pass and try to turn above them so i can assess which one poses the greatest threat or is the easiest target. I lock on the leading MiG and let my final Sparrow fly. 360 knots, 6 o'clock high. less then 2 miles separation. The altitude must have helped and it's splash 2!. 3 Migs down..... I immediately padlock the trailer that seams to be going for one of my teammates. I'm not alone though, it seams like i have someone on my 6 as well. My hope is that as long the targeted Mig maneuvers hard so will i, thus denying the trailer a good shot. As he levels off, i give him one of my snakes and kick a bunch of flares as someone launches a missile at someone! Splash 3! With 4 migs down, it's mission accomplished, but we are not alone yet, I go nose low to gain some energy for defense and scan for bandits. It takes a while to find another Fulcrum, but get my Mk I at one at 3 o'clock...... finally...... But it seams like i have one on my 6 again..... I launch my second winder at what seams to be even better parameters...... .and this one fails. I manage to connect with my cannon though, if only for an instant. We are in a rolling scissors for a few seconds and i get him on my 12 low. I try to et my number 2 to help my out as i'm out of missiles, but he has his hands full. In the meant time i kick flares as i have no idea i'f i'm being shot at or not! I try to extend away to ..... Jesus Christ! Tracers! I go for a hard left to through any bandit off my trail. I get the section 2 leader to engage my current one, so i can focus on finding the sneaky one. ..... and someone bites it! No matter what i do, it seams like i can't get him of my tail! I finally jettison the bags, to get some extra pitching authority and reduce drag! I try hard breaks, extensions, going over the top (of the egg).... nothing helps, i just got get visual on him.... And then finally, after loading my jet at over 450 knots (more like 470) and doing a hard right break, there he is at 4. But one of my boys gets him! 5 MiGs down. The skies seam clear and we head for home..... the mission report says 8 Fulcrums were in the air at one point. In the end, 5 of them won't be returning home. But #3 bought it as well :( HOP3 is from last night, as i tested the latest upgrade. This is the first one of the six BVRs i had against the Big Bird. One on one, 30 nauticals. 4 Sparrows, 4 Winders setup on both, mid 80's. He manages to launch first, but i doubt he had good parameters. I kick chaff as i try to get my nose on him. I finally got him at 15 miles, dead ahead. First Sparrow away at 480-490 knots, Second at 520 knots. I extend to the left and keep kicking chaff. And then one of his Sparrows nearly hit me at 3:30! Finally launching my 3rd one at 590 knots, just as his lost shot missed. And then he exploded. From my previous 4 engagements i knew i always miss the eagle in these situations and i was ready to go for the merge. I thought i was just lucky. But then i flew for the sixth time. I launched my sparrows at above 500 knots each (520 and 560) and lo and behold. I got him again. So yeah..... one learns new stuff every day. If only i knew this several months ago when fighting those Hounds and Fulcrums......

What happened to your HD mate?

Thanks mate....... i really should have known better by now. I know the AI handles different planes in different ways, but there is no way it will handle the F-4 against the MiG-17 adequately on its own. I guess, when i gave the attack order, they just broke as hard as hard as they could and were sitting ducks afterwards..... So.... i feel responsible.... I'll try to remember this the next time i fly similar scenarios.....

I finally got to do some flying of my own and boy am i rusty........ but more then rusty, i am stupid. This is one of my favorite cold war scenarios, SE Asia, 1974, 4 Navy Phantoms VS 6 MiG-17s. Limited war ROEs, thus no firing before the contacts are positively identified as bandits......... Here is the first engagement: We make contact at 10 nauticals, and i lock in the first contact to have a better SA on him at 7. Ordering my wingman to cover my six and rolling into the contacts. At around 2 nauticals away we make a positive visual ID, they are 17's and like a mindless block i order my entire wing to attack. What follows is a disaster of biblical proportions. I kick off my bags and pull into the vertical to get above them and get some separation for my missiles. No guns on these babies. As i roll over the top of the egg, i start hearing "i'm hit, i'm hit"..... I dive in on one of the Migs and try to roll into a good Winder position. As i finally get a good tone, i hear another I'm hit call......and my 9 goes wide because of the bad angle and separation i had while launching it...... The Mig screams by me and try to bring my nose around in a wide turn. As i slowly reacquire a target my last wingman goes to the maker.....or the Viet Cong..... depends on what you believe in...... Meanwhile the Mig and me cross our paths once more. I dive after him and finally have him above me near the sun. I wait for a bit to get a good tone.... i fire..... and hit him just as a tracer knocks me out of place...... with all those bandits flying around, it's not a big surprise i guess........ and it's what you get for being stupid....... Time to apply what we have learned......... The Migs are smaller and more nimble. Even more terrifying, they have guns. We can't afford to engage them heads on, not while restricted with our BVR missiles. So my plan is to take both sections in a fast merge right past the Migs and then extend into the Sun. As soon as enough separation has been made in both horizontal and the vertical, we gonna swoop in on them, missiles blazing. Time to earn our money. To shorten the video, this one starts when were are already around 2 nauticals away. We make the ID, let them pass and i roll left, taking both sections with me. We slowly extend into the Sun, and when i think we have enough room to turn into them, i order full attack. I drop the bag, roll over and dive in on them. I get my first Fox 1 on a contact dead ahead. The missile goes stupid so a decide to go after the padlocked Mig. And it is hell i see bellow me. Four Migs are chasing one of my Phantoms. I try to intervene, but it's too late, he bites it. As i maintain my pursuit i can see tracer hunting me down from 10 high. This looks like it's going to be short rerun of the previous hop. I can see the bandit in my rear view mirror, but fortunately he isn't able or willing to stay on me. I lower my nose to pick up some knots and get myself more defensible when i find a Mig on my 12 high. I pull into him, get a good tone and let him have one of my snakes. And it's splash one! The first catch today..... I immediately go after the second one, but this time the missile is not able to track. Bad angle on this one. I should have been more patient. The second one follows the same pattern. I finally get a grip of myself and roll out of plane two times until i get a good angle. Fox 2! And splash 2! I am out of 9's though...... Not sure if i should hit the deck and bug out, or try to reengage with Sparrows. Just as i'm about to sh** my pants and blow i hear a Fox2, followed by a splash call. If those buggers are still into the fight, i am not leaving them alone. More Fox calls from the second section as i try to see if my radar contact is a friendly. Both my Phantoms are to the far right of me, so the fire is a go. Fox 1! No lead..... Fox 1 again, and this one tracks true. Splash 4! With 4 bandits down for the price of my wingman and no more missiles left, i decide to call it a day and bring the rest of my flight home.

Good flying! I wanted to do some if it myself last night, but my NF5 install decided it should stop working (it crashes during quick and instant action mission creation) so for the time being i'm stuck with premade missions. With my bandwidth it will take some time before i d-load and reinstall.

Ok folks.....a bit of a strange one here..... I've had installed for quite some time and it always worked perfectly for me. I've been on a flying hiatus since before new year however. I finally got some free time tonight and i decided to get some of my rust off. So i stated up, loaded some DACT missions i created just for training. All worked well. Then i decided to try the mission creator. Punched up quick action.....and the sim froze before entering the hangar screen. I Tried create mission and the same happens. It can't be the hangar screen because it works just fine with the premade missions. I tried my Falklands install and it still works without issues..... I tried changing eras, years, theaters, planes...... the sim always crushes when i try to start a custom mission. The thing is haven't even played since ever let alone install anything new to cause the crashes..... Does anyone have any idea what this might be? Cheers and happy flying.....

Some tough fights there! Did the radar refuse to give you a lock?

Looking forward to it, as usual :)

Good flying mate. That 30 streaking by really spooked me out of my seat! I wonder why the radar wouldn't lock though...... Did they make the 30's stealthy? EDIT: nice landing!

The fixation bandage is off, and though still shaky, i decided to try a bit of stick discipline tonight. I only had one flight (still some pains), in NF5, i used the stock Mirage IIIC there against a MiG-21M Fishbed-J (figured out they should be from around the same era). The MiG had 4 AAMs, i had 2. We were all heat seeker rear aspect armed with 1970 year missiles. After the merge i found i could keep up a good turning rate against the MiG as long as i stayed above 400 knots. However pulling those final angels to settle on his six seamed very hard. Contrary to my expectations the Mirage buffeted too much. After 3 or 4 unsuccessful attempt i decided to punch external view and right away i located the culprit. Two large supersonic external tanks. I proceeded to jettison them and suddenly the Mirage came alive. I immediately got on the MiG's six, he reversed in a hard left break which left him low and slow, i switched to missiles, got a good tone.... fired one..... and off it goes from the rail into the hot desert sand. The second one got a good tone as well but fared no better. I switched to guns and spent the good portion of next 2 minutes trying to get a good shot (those 21's are real small and nimble). Finally after a series of barrel rolls (rolling scissors) i got within 0.1-0.2nm from him, didn't wait for a lock, squeezed the trigger and sent him to the ground. I didn't experience any difficulty at all (after i ditched the tanks), except for the slight over eagerness of the Mirage in the roll, but that may be my stick settings. I think the main reason why we all had such different experiences with our fights is the flight model of the planes with flew. If you have the NF5 installed try replicating my fight, i am sure you'll fare much better. Unfortunately i didn't record the flight as this was supposed to be just a quick familiarization hop. :(

I wish i could give it a go myself. Still a bad arm......

Uh-oh, MiG-17s are the UFO's of the cold war SF2. Avoid turning with them at all cost. Even vertical or other out of plane maneuvers can be tricky to implement against them. I.E. i once had one follow me in a zoom climb in a NAVY F-4 up to 60000ft. The 21's should be roughly equivalent to the MIII. My hand is still messed up so i can't test my words, but you should be able to have a relative parity against it. I never flew the Hunters unfortunately..... If you keep ending up in head on passes, then yes, pushing for the vertical is the best way to go. But don't limit yourself to zoom and boom. Oblique turns, high Yo-Yo -s and other out of plane maneuvers are most helpful. Use the gravity assist in your zoom to tighten your turn radius and then dive in back to regain lost airspeed. Always aim your lift vector not on where the bandit/bogie is, but where it will be when you will complete the maneuver. It's tricky and developing the spacial awareness required for it takes some time, but with some practice you can become quite proficient in no time. Try looking for some of the DACT reports that involve F-4's or F-8's going up against MiGs 17s and 21s for a more visual illustration of what i'm trying to say. I hope this helps! P.S. I think Caesar was referring to a positive G loop, the so called inside loop.

Still can't fly, but that looks like a good assessment. Avoid sustained turning fights against 70's onward opposition and try too keep your energy up. You are also small, use that to your advantage in nose to nose.