UnknownPilot

The Etch-a-Sketch. :) Not another Microsoft is "evil"...... oy. ;)

When I added some missions from WOV to my SF2:V install, I found I had to get the right terrain, then edit the files to use a plane that I actually had in my install (which it did not prior to my editing). That got it to show up in my load missions list. Also, stupid question, but are you going to "load mission" in the Single Mission menu?

What limited the top speed of the 104 was the materials science available in the day. It was as fast as the Phantom with less than half the thrust, similar to the Mustang being faster with less power than many of it's contemporaries. Multi-role is bunk. Let's think Vietnam. If I'm planning an air assault, and I have Corsairs, Intruders AND Skyhawks, why the heck would I want to put bombs on the Phantom? Rhetorical question - I wouldn't. High speed bomb trucks can be good for deep strike missions if you can't send bombers for some reason (and with stealth these days, there is no reason - you can't shoot what you can't see or find). Just about any air superiority fighter can have some iron strapped to it if it absolutely needs to be (F-15, F-14, F-16 [even if it was designed with multi-role in mind, it's still more fighter than it is attack], etc). So throw out that whole argument (of strapping bombs and mis-using an aircraft). I won't for one second tell you that the Fang would have in some way been required to be inferior to the 104 through some law of nature. It may well have been a fantastic machine. My point, which has been either missed or ignored, is that the 104 was a pure design that was ahead of it's time which could certainly have been taken further than it was, it was short-changed. Honestly, I'd much rather have see the Fang enter service if it would have meant no USAF F-4s. We're on the same team here, ok? Missiles.... don't need them. Well not that many of them. The reason there were 8 on the F-4 was that half of them we're likely to be duds, and 2 more were likely to be mis-used. So you needed 8. With advances you need less and less (how many planes come back with 8 kills per mission every mission - or even once?). If you swapped in better RADAR, better missiles, more thrust, better matierals, and if turning was all that much of a priority, then even extend the leading edge making more of a delta shape and getting more wing area, and even add in some creative thinking in the drop tank area, then what you have is a Soviet beater. Hands down. P-47s were killing Zeros. Missiles or no, speed, altitude, thrust and team work are what wins the skies. If you can out-climb, out run, and out accelerate the other guy, you dictate the fight, and with a wing man can pick them off until the odds are in your favor and then you route them all. There are many ways to skin a cat, so to speak, and I appreciate agility. The F-16 is probably my favorite jet of all time (with the Raptor high in the running too). But discounting the Starfighter like this is just way off the mark. Other points..... no other fighters used the wing design? Yeah? And......? That just means there were other goals in mind. Has nothing to do with the price of tea in China. Ditto the T-Tail. Using the same argument concept spun backwards - other fighters were available, but the LuftWaffe, and Japan and Italy LOVED their Starfighters and used them for a long time. And it's performance is STILL more than competitive. Cram in a modernized update of the F-16's radar in there and stuff some AMRAMMS on the mid-wing and some AIM-9X's on the outside, crank up that thrust, use some lighter materials, and make it more heat resistant, and you have one mean mammajamma.

Damn.... That's way cool. Were those front wing-lets flattening out (moving in a flapping type direction, not just twisting) or was it my imagination?

Really? Hm. I never heard that. The F-22 looks like a stealth F-15 to me.

I know it is a Sukhoi, but, when I look at it, it strikes me as a MiG-29 that was F-22-ized.

Well, yes, to a point. It's not about troops vs not, it's about what you DO with them. MacArthur would have had that place straightened out. Even that no-good socialist bastard FDR wouldn't put up with the crying and bed-wetting coming out of congress these days from the libs (or the repubes that pander to them). Whether it be to wipe them out to a person, or to un-poison the well via a new school system we control and helping them have the good life, making a new "pet", an oasis in the sea of s**t that is the entire middle east, or simply paving over it and turning it into a new vacation and shopping spot for us and the rest of the normal world. Trying to win them over with troops or setting up an internal gov't of their own and pussy footing it the way we are doing just isn't going to work. Of course, even having an oasis there, or wiping out one of the trouble countries won't stop the others from acting up. We aren't the "Great Satan" for being who we are, but rather who we support (there's a clue for some). And unless or until that changes, their attitude won't. And if they then conquer that foe, we'll be on the list later on along with the rest of the non-muslim world. The muslims have been at war with the entire world for the last 2000 years. That will NEVER stop, nor change, until the entire world is muslim, or they are eliminated. That is simply all there is to it. No amount of money, hand-wringing, or apologizing will ever make a lick of difference.

Actually, I think she's doing it JUST right....

lol, not surprising. So let me guess, you think the only reason they are pissed off and attacking us is because we are "there", right? So if we give them money and say we're sorry and ask them nicely, they'll just stop..... right?

And while we're at it, we might as well just turn our backs on Isreal too, right?

Yep. I'm blanking for the term, but many an old power would demand payment in order to not sack a city or whatever. Sort of like a protection racket. And if they REALLY want to attack, then they can just keep cranking up the demand, putting all the money you give them toward their cause, and when it finally gets to be too expensive and the bilked balk, then the scum-bags can act "justified" to boot (and not be seen as breaking a word, which the liberal sheep here would end up seeing as some sort of credit to them).

Wrong. Roddenberry started grooming him to take over, but TNG was Roddenberry's baby and he had final say right up until he died. And if you are observant, you can clearly see the point where he died, as things started to change, dramatically. 4 was great too. I also liked 5 as well, despite how much people love to harp on that one. Speaking of 4, I saw Jimmy Doohan at a convention and he did the "Captain.... there be whales here" for us all. lol Was cool.

Now THAT is Star Trek. With the one and ONLY Kirk and Spock. Period. No matter what that worthless scum rick berman has to say.

"What the heck just happened?" is what we have been asking ourselves. We were sent on another strike mission, but this one more southern and close. We didn't expect heavy flak and we weren't surprised. It was one of those days where just nothing went right. All of us in Dagger flight were the highest scoring A2G of the unit, so it should have been a cake-walk, just go in, take out the power plant, and bug out. Ens Ulrich and I went after the target while Lt Eaton and Ens Elliot went after ground targets of opportunity. Pretty standard protocol. I lined up on this big, juicy building of a power plant, had everything 'right' (or at least I thought), dropped 3 manually..... and missed. So I called in Ulrich to hit it for me while I looped around for a second run. Took him forever to get there, I dropped 2 more and missed with them too, but finally he came in and got it. So I dropped 2 CBUs on a AAA emplacement, and tossed my last iron at a building group. After that I told everybody to go A2A as there was company in the area. I called Red Crown for a bearing and we started looking. Found one, let a Sparrow go from close to it's min range, it missed, then everything degenerated into a swirling gaggle. I swear, at one point I even said over the radio "this isn't a damned air-show you guys!". It would have been hilarious if it was in a movie. The worst part is, it turned out to be just one bandit. Missiles were flying and nothing was hitting. The worst damn part of it is that there were 3 aces up there - myself, Lt Eaton, and Ens Elliot. Plus several more, and nobody could hit this guy! He must've been an ace himself. He had to be. I'd really hate to think that so many of us were made fools of by a rook. I couldn't extend and get a good distance Sparrow shot on him because there were too many friendlies around. Whenever I let a heater go, he'd turn hard and shake it. And I couldn't just run in and kill him because I had no cannon. So there we were, at least 6 friendlies, tripping over ourselves trying to kill a lone MiG, out in the middle of nowhere, with no flak to pester us, and we looked like the damned keystone cops. Talk about embarrassing. Eventually, as friendlies were clearing out, and as I was down all my SARHs and to 3 remaining 'winders, I got a good shot lined up, and must have just caught his blind spot, because his move was too late and it took it right up the pipe. After that, Red Crown called all clear, and nobody else could see anything, and the radio had gone quiet, so I sent everyone home. The good news is that I managed to remain injury free! haha Afterward I was awarded the Flying Cross and a promotion, though I'm not entirely sure why. And I have to admit it felt a little like a slap in the face, but I know the Navy doesn't give out sarcasm promotions, so I guess somebody upstairs is pleased. So far we are kicking ass and taking names though. We have a collective ground target score of somewhere around 30, and 3 aces, working on 5. Only 2 downed, one MIA one POW. It's hard to think of anyone being POW as a releif, but at least they aren't KIA and it's only 2, and not more. Looks like we have a couple of weeks off before we are back to it....

Injured again! Are you kidding me?! I'm going to miss out on this whole damned tour rotting in this hospital. The guys are giving me crap about just wanting to spend time with the nurses here.... the nurses certainly are cute though. hehe So it was another escort on my first hop back with the unit. We were up in the goo, but it was a short trip, just to the shore. The bandits didn't want to play at first, but their running away made them perfect BVR targets. Red Crown called 'em, the RIO spotted and locked 'em and we knew nobody was ahead of us, plus the alt, direction, distance, and closure was right too. Unfortunately, ALL of my Sparrows went dud on me, and only 1 heater managed to connect (with 2 more very close calls though). If I had had a gun I could have gotten more. Plus it's hard to explain the awful feeling of seeing a MiG all over one of your own, while you sit there in trail, hoping for him to hold still long enough for the growler to wake up, lock, and then, hopefully, hit, when if only you had a cannon you could charge in there and nail that bandit. Thankfully someone else got a good shot and took him out, I think it was my wingman too, and the Phantom in trouble made it out alive. Then I went Winchester and there as another bandit just ripe for the taking. I kept calling people in to take him out. Took 3 'winders to do it before he finally went down, I stayed and monitored the whole situation to help guide people in, though fuel was getting low. After that, I circled everyone up and headed for home. I barely snagged a 4 wire because I was in lead and didn't feel like having to circle. But when I got out I saw people looking at me, and I wondered what was going on. Turns out I had blood on my jumpsuit. I still don't know when or how it happened, or even what happened. Only that they say I'll be back to active duty by September. I won an Air Medal though, for some reason. Looks good bookending my Purple Heart with the Silver Star though.

The SAC War idea had me think of something when I saw a headline today - http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/koreas-exchange-fire-over-disputed-sea-border/19333344 Now, as we know, Dear Leader is a crackpot, and his successors and inner circle are not likely to be any better. Sounds like the sabre rattling has been going on for a while, and with "Dear Leaders" posturing, it seems they could be leading up to more intense militarty actions. As a story, that could take many directions. Could be something where the allies stay out but lend/sell equipment to South Korea, or Japan could get directly involved being that close (which could even draw in China). And it could be written with or without the US and UK. I'll think more about it later, but I'm not a mission builder, and the new stuff just isn't my thing (in a TW engine), but still, I think it's a nifty concept. :) If anyone wants to run with it, it would be cool to see.

Is there a tutorial anywhere of getting full use out of a visual RWR like the sort on the F-4J, where it just has lines, no icons? I've searched but this thread is the closest to the topic that I've found. Basically I can tell which general direction the pinging RADAR is pinging from, but I've yet to be able to actually use it as a guide to locat these things. For all I know pointing in that direction and firing an ARM, I could be right over top of it, or miles and miles out, meaning the missile will be wasted.

I've long held that Voss was the best, NOT MvR. It can be argued lots of ways of course, but Voss was more into knife fighting and had those skills. Just about anyone can slash and run. Yet, having said that, it takes a disciplined mind to keep to it, and to also regocnize the validity and power of BnZ. One could also argue that MvR was better because he lasted longer, letting him get his extra kills. But then there is luck too. Perhaps it was just luck that pulled Voss's card sooner. On his fatal flight, MvR was indeed not very disciplined, nor overly skillful either (for one of such reputation and kill list). I can't help but think that would have gone very differnetly if it were Voss at the controls. In the end, I think it's just 2 sides. Voss seemed more hot-headed and more of a glory hound, where MvR was a hunter/sniper who just got injured and also grew tired of the war. If you could combine the 2 (or better yet, combine Voss and Boelcke without the bad luck either suffered), I think you'd have a one man army that could have single handedly extended Bloody April until the allies ran out of planes. Your post says 1:54 am, when was "this evening"? I'd love to see that episode on my TV. It wasn't on last night (Tuesday), and I'm not sure what the schedule is tonight..... Edit, just checked - it's not on History or Hist Int. tonight. In fact, nothing good is.

Thanks. And I would love to check out that book. And get a new PC for this game and others. And replace the insulation in my house. And buy some performance parts for my car that I've had my eye on. And..... All it takes is money. lol

I'd love to see that info cptroyce. Everything I've read is quite the opposite. That high drag plus low power pretty much precluded hanging on the prop, which on the other hand the DVII was known for (at least with the hot engine), while the Dr.1 had a crazy ability to "flat turn" as well as pull insanely tight loops and climb incredibly fast. Take off roll was very short because of it. And that pilot writing for Air and Space corroborated it, as did the 7 (or was it 9?) pilots that it took to down Werner Voss, who was all alone I might add - and in the process he took several out of commision and damaged just about all of them. Now, that said... the bottom 2 wings and under carriage wing-let produced more drag than they did lift. Since Fokker could produce an unbraced wing, he went with just 1 high in the D.VIII and had a very potent machine (which, IIRC, got the last kill of the war, didn't it?). But even though 3 (.25 hehe) wings were ultimately doomed in favor of power and speed, and even though they created immense drag, they did in fact lift - a LOT. That means it'll climb and loop well. The only thing I've read as negatives were top speed, a slower roll than could be desired, and landing difficulty.

Dirk Halcyon ....wounded. Lying here in a hospital. This sucks. Since I have nothing better to do, as the war grinds on without me, I guess I might as well write. Well, carrier qualification went easily enough. This Phantom is a beast, but it flies well enough. I just don't think it'll do well in a knife fight, I guess that's why it's configured as a missile wagon. After a brief ceremony and getting our wings, they released us for the night and we had a big going away party that was a blast, if somewhat bitter sweet. I had also learned that my request to be assigned to one of the vacancies of the Jolly Rogers was approved. Things were looking good so far. Arriving at Yankee Station, it was definitely not what I expected, except for the heat, that was there (almost a nice change from Mid Atlantic winters though). There was no hazing, and only just a short welcome. Everyone was in action mode and there was a lot going on. The first time out, it was decided that I would have another Ensign (who DID have a few missions under his belt) fly on my wing, while a couple of Lieutenants flew 3 and 4 to keep an eye on the whole show. The planes were painted a plain white, and config'd with the standard Navy loadout, 4 heaters, 4 Sparrows, and a center-line drop tank. We launched into rather moody weather on a short flight, and it wasn't long before the bandit calls were going out. We were out front, so I was able to tell that the blip on my RADAR was not a friendly, whatever it was, and info from Red Crown confirmed it (based on distance and closure rate). Once I got a reasonable way inside Sparrow range, I let fly. It hit! These things actually work! The rest of the flight was a blur after that, but our escort charge was unmolested, and I was credited with 3 kills, 2 Sparrows (for 4 fired) and 1 Sidewinder that was the result of a rather long chase, but all indications were that he was alone and we ended up plenty close to the carrier and the shore. There was a lot going on after that, and it took some time before I came back up in the rotation. It was about July or something like that. The heat is unreal here at that time of year. They sent us on a strike mission to take out a warehouse. Seemed rather odd to me. Isn't that what we have Skyhawks, Intruders and Corsairs for? Or the USAF Thuds for that matter... But whatever. They loaded me up with 6 250lb iron bombs in addition to the standard loadout. We went north of the target and skirted the river deltas and airfields and major towns. It seemed to work, we came in relatively un-noticed by flak. 3 and 4 peeled off and started hunting targets of opportunity, while 2 and I went in on the target. I manually rippled off 3 on my first pass, nailed the target and a handful of other buildings, I had 2 go after a AAA battery, and I dropped 2 more on another one. Up ahead was a fuel truck, but it was in a large base-type area, so as I got closer I got nervous, and sure enough, AAA opened up on us, I lobbed the bomb in, but over-shot. After that I called off the ground strike and we went Air to Air. I only ended up with 1 kill that day, but it did win me the silver star. When we got back, we got word that we were upgrading to a revised F-4B. The crew said it had a RADAR Warning Reciever in it, but it was audio only. I wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not. On the one hand, it's good, but on the other hand, if you can't do anything about it, it might almost be better NOT knowing the enemy is painting you. They also said that we'd finally be getting our 'colors' painted on too. And as good as things were looking, they went bad... The new Phantoms looked awesome. Big white skull and cross bones on black on the tail and a black on yellow angled stripe in the middle with the carrer name on the sides. Couldn't wait to bring the pain in something as high profile as this. Was another escort duty, and things started off well enough. The day was once again moody, but after my first flight, I wasn't too concerned about that. Not long after we were airborne, Red Crown alerted us that there was enemy air traffic out there, but it was beyond our reach and scanning range. We stayed up around the solid overcast so that we could be out of the gunner's easy range, yet not blind to enemy activity around our charge. They sent some good ones up that day. 3 and 4 went off hunting, and I grabbed a lock in the basic direction Red Crown pointed me in, and listened to all the radio chatter. I just knew that friendlies were out ahead of me and I couldn't risk a shot until I had visual ID. As I drove in on my lock, my RIO spotted a bandit and I broke off, called for Bore Sight and went after him. It was a hell of a fight. 2 Sparrows gone with no effect, and the growler finally got a lock and I was able to send it up his tail pipe from in close. That was number 5! We were aces! Another bandit was called out and I tried to track and maneuver on him, but this guy was determined. He was hiding in the clouds, and I couldnt' go up into the overcase or I'd lose him, there was too much overall traffic around (including #2) that I couldn't risk a blind shot, and this pig did not want to hold it's speed or pull very hard, so there were some pucker inducing moments around ground level. Meanwhile the RWR would periodically go off, and even with ECM the only thing I could do was dive for the deck. This made it the most difficult flying task I've had yet, to try to get this guy in front of me. I ended up losing sight of him, called Red Crown for a hint, locked on to the target she pointed out, let a Sparrow go, and saw the target blow up before my missile ever reached it, though it did successfully slam into the burning wreck, sending a shower of small shrapnel down on the fields below. Then I think I found that previous bandit again, and we went through the whole dance all over again. Eventually, on a low recovery from a split s, I saw green tracers come up and the fire light came on. I cut throttle and tried to coast as close to the shore as possible, but we had to bale rather quickly. It took us months to get out of that hell hole, but we did eventually make it and got picked up. We both got injured not long before rescue, and have been here in the hospital for weeks on end. It's already Februrary. But at least we are about to get cleared for return to duty. I'm looking forward to charging those bastards for our time, our injuries, and our awesome plane - I'll take payment in MiGs and valuable ground targets... ::: BTW, no screen shots because I can only get briefing and medal screenies via the paste from clip-board method, and on the one briefing mission screen I did think to take (#2), I was doing some skin editing and accidentally hit Crtl-C before I pasted that debrief into paint, and it was gone. Then #3 was late at night, so I just went to bed. lol

I know a thing or two about her I know she'll only make you cry She'll let you walk the street beside her But when she wants she'll pass you by Everybody says she's lookin' good And the lady knows it's understood Strutter She wears her satins like a lady She gets her way just like a child You take her home and she says: "maybe, baby" She takes you down, and drives you wild Everybody says she's lookin' good And the lady knows it's understood Strutter *Guitar Solo* I know a thing or two about her I know she'll only make you cry She'll let you walk the street beside her But when she wants, she'll pass you by Everybody says she's lookin' good And the lady knows it's understood Strutter Strutter Strutter http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNxNTHbFwHs&feature=related

Hmm... looks like a pacifist was just out sight-seeing in a colorful plane and you barbarously shot the poor non-combatant to pipeces. lol Was your plane really flying sideways as much as it appeared to be, or was that just some artifact of the filming? And shooting a German plane down with Mozart playing....that's just wrong.

Well, I suppose that depends on how far you want to go with your suspension of disbeleif. If you hit the burner and let go, you can 'drift' it, and in WC3 you can go into total inertial mode, allowing you to spin in any direction while maintaining your original course and speed, so they do account for physics (at least to a point), and then you have to consider that you are dealing with a future that has inter-stellar space travel and truly weaponized lasers and particle weapons, as well as shield technology and artificial gravity. None of which, strictly speaking, are absolutely 100% impossible (we just can't do it yet)l, so with all that combined, it's not too much of a stretch to see field technology making the space fighter fly where you point it like a aero-fighter. Either way though, I brought it up because of the fact that it had a campaign, the missions were scripted, and you were inside a "fighter" blasting baddies. And Tolwyn? Ugh! Hated that snide bastard. And in the end, he finally came unglued and nearly destroyed Confed. He couldn't die soon enough. In 1, Shotglass, Halcyon and Hunter (and Paladin) were my favorites, in 2 Paladin and Sparks, in 3, 4, and 5 (Prophecy) it was Maniac. Though the mechanic in 4 (Pliers) was pretty cool, and that brunette with glasses in 4 (can't remember her name) was pretty sweet too. It's funny to think that Pliers was the Jump To Conclusions mat guy from Office Space. As far as space sims go though, if you aren't willing to really suspend disbeleif for plausible, or potentially plausible things, then the only space simulation out there is Orbiter. And it doesn't have campaigns (or even "missions" per se), and no combat of any kind.