EricJ

Me: F/A-18F Block II with 4 x AIM-9X, 6 x AIM-120C-7, gun Opposition: Mig-29K with 4 x R-73s (or 74s) and 4 x R-77, gun Takeaways: Yeah it's a long one... 7 minutes and 22 seconds, I'll chop it down on the next one I do and I must say ShadowPlay is far more reliable than FRAPs, which is good... I had gotten to thinking with the Su-33 in the motions of being retired (sniff...) I might as well move on and use the Mig-29K. I will say that the aircraft hasn't been updated so it still has the UFO like maneuverability so the video is what it is. Overall if I missed an update then I apologize... But this is takeaways, not a pity party... So in retrospect at the time the kill shot was purely reflexive, I had the shot, and took it and managed to come out on top. The K will give a Super driver a workout in the close fight, but remember that the setting is on Excellent so for real Russian pilots I can imagine maybe at Regular (unless things have actually changed or they're still not very proficient) I'd have it easier but I'm getting the feeling I'm being unfair to russo2004uk in assuming it's still the standard? If not I'll redo it with an updated FM if one is available. (And for some reason the whole paragraph wanted to center along with the video, weird formatting error but not intended for the text anyway...) If not then here's it anyway: Dealing with the Mig-29K at close range was as you saw, quite maneuverable even if it had near-UFO like flying abilities. In the end when it took the first shot as you saw it sailed right past me. Which is why even with modern AAMs still is a very chancy shot, and I believe I tried on my own first shot, but that was a poor one given that the 9X simply couldn't make the intercept and the second shot had a much better chance at killing the Mig. Again it's about timing and taking a chance on your shots. Given modern AAMs and their lethality the video still shows they aren't perfect and if you're pushing a bad angle or shot (as I apparently was) then modern tech won't always be there to help. Again take the shot, relax a bit and see what happens, and then move to the next course of action if needed. That way if you kill the enemy you can think about the rest of reality but in that microcosm of the fight, stay focused and react and push for a better position so you can nail the enemy and go home. I tried to get him (and hoping fervently) that he would lose energy but as you saw he was still truckin while I was going for a good shot.

Well usually I start "plinking" when there is a discernible difference on the radar display of who is who, I go weapons tight in that situation instead... I've shot down a couple F-5s or some planes with just one missile so... weird things do happen...

And a first trap after so long... wasn't perfect but I made it on the deck: Trap and Land.7z

Ahh yeah... my view is that Tomcat yes, is superior to the Super Bug in most ways but it didn't survive the Navy cutting it out and so on... but yeah agreed they can bluster all they want but they're not rolling off the decks anymore, etc. But cool... may start getting more friendly with some more OPFOR stuff but remains to be seen...

Did much better in the Eagle... Track file included if you have the F-15C module Joyride.7z

It's not so much that... I had some mental issues I had to overcome and slowly (ED forums much slower than here) re-entering communities I had left due to the simple fact that I had to settle down and so on (my mind at least). Still not a hundred percent (never will be) but much better off than i was earlier this year. So no problem man as it keeps me busy and re-learning stuff again is a good thing

I've had situations mainly where 'winders lock onto the wrong heat source and spike a friendly or I'm trying to down an enemy and well... yeah, so I end the mission and be careful next time... If you can see the enemies on the map and look at the radar display you can filter out the enemies from the good guys by looking at your radar and map display and gauging patterns. It's best when you're in a position to do so rather than "in the thick of it", etc.

Well I'm going to have say goodbye to it in DCS eventually...

No... AFAIK like everybody else there is no plans that I know of a Tomcat, as I believe a year or so ago IRIS was going to do one but they dropped DCS if my mind serves me right, I thought you were talking about the Super Hornet, which to my knowledge does have the capability to do as such. As far as I know (which is nothing other than what they put out, had some personal issues to take care of before I got back fully into things) the DCS Hornet is still alive from what I catch on the public forums so hopefully they'll get around to doing two-seaters, but given the engine (maybe EDGE? Who knows when you're not in the know anymore and just don't ask but my status... I'm not bothering and if I did know I wouldn't be able to tell anyway so no point in digging) again it may be a forlorn hope as I prefer the F to the E Super anyway.

Nah....

Go to yourName\Users\Saved Games\Thirdwire\Strike Fighters Install. If my mind serves me right, you have to create a "Terrains" folder in that folder and then place the terrain folder in the "Terrains" folder you just created. Go in-game and then verify.

It's nothing to do with .7z, but Firefox, when you download a file and it's basically a temp file if you will while you download. The only way to continue the download is to open your download interface and try and restart the download. That way you can resume the download and not have to start from scratch, provided you didn't remove the download from the interface...

Yeah and hopefully it'll appear before the Second Coming...

Asia Minor skin looks righteous....

Unfortunately that capability doesn't exist (it may for the DCS version, one hopes...) but yeah remember that the SF2 engine isn't designed for it but I still manage to carry enough tanks (one just because... sometimes) but overall the scale of the maps (60% of the real world terrain if my mind serves me right) don't necessitate a large number of drop tanks. I remember for Operation Darius that I was carrying one tank and tried to figure out combat loads as said... the smaller scale of the map really didn't necessitate anything more for long range strikes.

Lol I feel you... but yeah I'm getting the hang of the A model (200ft is pretty damn low... for TGP or even the basic "camera' with the Maverick head) but yeah I like the simplicity of the A when I'm getting my feet wet with the sim. Still I'll probably eventually (maybe) graduate to the C but for now just keeping it simple is good for me.

As I found out during an ECM test in the Super Hornet, the F-14D_06 if I remember correctly had that kind of power to burn through my ECM at like... 90 miles? So it had the capability in-game at least if it was reasonably reflecting the power of the jammer.

Me: F-16CM Block 52 with 4 x AIM-9M, gun Opposition: Mig-29C Russian with 4 x R-73s and 2 x R-27s, gun. Video (finally got it working and finding out Shadow Play works much better than FRAPS for video recordings) (though towards the end it got a frame rate hit (didn't happen while recording so.... got me): Takeaways: I remember vaguely Fubar512 making some realism updates so I that applied to the flares, which as you saw in the video worked quite well against the 9M. Key points is that when you come over the top if trying to break an energy circle if he's still moving too fast, don't fire (every engagement has it's own rules of course) and wait until he "stabilizes" and take the shot. Unfortunately I almost had a mid-air (pucker factor... extreme ) at the start but it also shows that using padlock is a pain in the butt but in the end I managed to get on top of him again... wait for the shot when dealing with a more maneuverable adversary, he'll slip up and you'll have the opportunity. It also should be a key note with patience as well as being aggressive. Usually when I fire a shot I sort of "relax" and pray that it'll connect. Well obviously the first three didn't but then again given I had a similar (and worse, I ran out of missiles and reaaaal rusty on guns) situation for the previous DACT. I honestly should have kept that recording but I like to show the good more than the bad, the previous encounter all four 'winders missed (going to try 9X as opposed to 9M) and and didn't feel ready to get to guns (I was also in a bad position though once I should have gunned him down.... again rust is showing). But... back on topic I instantly started to maneuver again when the 'Winders failed to connect which is something you need to keep aware of as if it fails you need to always resort to getting in position again and nailing the guy... @saisran: Agreed and the same.

No problem glad to do them every once in a while to keep the reflexes going. As honestly if Arma 3 had bigger terrains I'd spend more time there but as I mentioned in one of my documents, flying around in circles gets old. But I'm getting back into DCS for long distance and duration flying, which is good for the soul (in my case anyway) and so on, so it is what it is. As for the Tomcat? I just never liked fying as it never obviously grew on me like the Super Bug has as of late. For me it's the right combo as the Tomcat is a bit heavy but overall as a mud mover it's good enough but the limited warload... no thanks. Every plane has it's good points and most of the time I look for more strike than dogfighting, though despite the shorter legs the Super Hornet works for me as it maintains a high alpha and a good amount of pylons to mount bombs and stuff

Yeah it gets a little funky when you're getting into that stuff, as while it's an eye-opener and the pucker factor goes higher it does get boring if none are around

Me: Mig-29C_Rus with 4 x R-74EM, 2 x R-27Rs, gun Opposition: F-5N with two (I would assume) 9Ls or 9Ms (time period was 2001 so...) Started above and I honestly tried to record the session for once, rather than always talk it through, which is always more illustrative of what happened, not that I say a load of crap anyway. Anyway... He managed to take off and selected R-74s and had an instant lock, but I let him... well I ended up getting in front of him a minute later and battle commenced. The F-5 had a lot of energy and put me in a few energy circles (which at first went vertical to break it) and after about the second one I got tired of the flopping around (pulling too hard on the stick again...) and it helped always to relax on the stick, but when you're full burner it's a nasty habit to pull hard even though really the plane really literally can't do it (speed, inertia, etc.). One vertical the F-5 went vertical (coming up) as I went down and saw some red tracers but none connected so we ended up in another energy circle and at one point managed to get an R-74 off, went for an off-boresight shot as I had a lock and what the hell... but it was defeated by flares and at that point the F-5 (in my world view) started to lose its aggressive posture and go slightly defensive, enabling me to get another lock (hip shot this one) and it connected, downing the F-5 Takeaways: It was fun and that's what I like about DACT, at least the ones where you work for the kill rather than it porpoise and you shoot it out of it's misery because it's wasting yours and his time in flying. Anyway, the old AI programming kicks in once you get a missile off. Sometimes it missing (and you have at least one missile left) helps, but in retrospect it is a wasted missile... so think it through at least with more modern versions of AAMs too. The older ones at least make you work for a kill (rear-aspect only) but it should be reinforced that if it starts going to go defensive... jump on that opportunity as the experience sets in analyzing behavior as now it's slowing down and thinking a bit more rather than just being aggressive. The last shot was a good reminder at instinct of when to fire. Sometimes you're taking a chance but it flew true into the F-5s tail cleanly. Again screenies are of to verify loadouts, as I obviously thought I would actually record an engagement...

Yeah that was a bad landing...

Check your time period or check the time period ending start of the SAMs is usually the culprit, or the nation assignment as well.

RTBing

Ahh sorry about that, I fixed the description, was the TW F-104A