EricJ

What do you need help with out of curiosity? You don't seem like you need it...

Cool!

Getting back into the groove slowly...

Lemme finish this one, could be something wrong with the whole Data.ini... maybe? Me: 6 x Matra R.550 with gun Opposition: F/A-18E with 2 x AIM-9x and 8 x AIM-120 Compared to the Fulcrum one above, the more you play with the beta the more "feel" for it you get. Sooo... I initially was on burner but after throttling down after a turn I popped the airbrakes and left the throttle at 44% (HUD shot shows it) and by that time I managed to get on the perch above the Super Bug and shoot him down with a Matra right in the engines. It should be noted that previously I was able to keep my nose on the Super steadily, as getting used to the Rafale after flying a heavier jet it requires some retraining to get a feel for how it handles. Takeaways. It may be where the countermeasures are actually ejecting from that makes a big difference (and the fact the Super Hornet driver leveled out with me on a high six shot, perfect if you ask me) that affects of course missile tracking but... Where the Super Hornet pilot ended up shows maybe a visual arc restriction (which would be real) and I took advantage of it. I think we should wait until an FM guru looks over it to fix the issues, if it stalls at 800km/h there is an issue...

Me: Rafale C BETA with 4 x Matra R.550, gun Opposition: Fulcrum-C with 4 x R-73 and 2 x R-27 I will probably go against the Super Hornet sometime but I'll start out with the Fulcrum. One thing I learned to keep from blacking out (may be game settings, waaaay too easy to black out) was to pop the airbrakes and maneuver, this helps keep your speed manageable and also works to get your nose on a target much easier. I managed to get into position for firing and it was a little close and the Matra didn't track. Second one a perfect six shot and it misses. The Fulcrum levels out and I pop him with a third. Overall the Rafale needs some work as a beta FM-wise or its just SF2:NA that's the issue or its just me that's the problem but once those problems are solved Takeaways. I think honestly the modeling for French missiles is horrendous. The MICA IR missiles are pretty bad and easily are decoyed by flares. A previous (and unsuccessful) attempt with only four out of four shots missing, easy rear shots too, or maybe they... who knows, but I know that the Matra R.550s are good solid performers in the IRM arena and maybe some reworking of the stats needs to be done in order to get them on par with newer types. But as far as performance using the airbrakes (used burner sparingly this time) and the amount of energy produced by the BETA of course, is tremendous and using airbrakes makes flight more manageable and you can use that to bring your nose onto the target easier.

It may help... Me: F/A-18F EPE with 4 x AIM-9X, 6 x AIM-120, tank Opposition: Rafale C with 2 MICA IR, 4 MICA EM Started off the same neutral and this time I did a half loop. I probably could have taken a shot but had to see if the extra boost would help. It did after an 11 minute battle of energy. Even with the extra thrust the Rafale C and EPE are evenly matched in my book (I think JAT did the FM) and he managed to try and stick me with a MICA and it missed. I would go into more but getting out of the energy circle is sometimes hard and most tricks in the book never worked. It was a long hard drawn out fight and I finally dropped my tank to lessen the weight. I fired early again and it went stoopid, and then at about the 11 minute or so mark it leveled out and I fired and it connected. Fact is that maybe the FM needs adjustment or the Rafale is just a nasty dogfighter,

Well Me: F/A-18E with 4 x AIM-9X and 6 x AIM-120, tank, gun Opposition: Rafale C with 2 x MICA IR and 4 x MICA AR, gun Started off neutral and then engaged in what was turning into what I thought was a losing battle. It first got me into a turning fight and it wasn't easily defeated by going vertical. The Beta Rafale C as flown by the AI took advantage of the power and ran around in circles. I managed to get nose on with him, firing one 9X too late as he sped past me, almost gunning me. Then he managed to get on my six and try and gun me down and missed with that. He leveled off and I did what I knew wasn't the right thing, I turned into him to try and get a quick shot, but he gave me two MICA IRs instead, both shredding my left stabilizer and then maybe an engine hit, but still functional, just no radar weapons now and still felt the same as far as maneuverability and handling. Pretty soon he leveled off and I fed him another 9X, that one defeated by flares. By this time he was flying steady so I fired another 9X, again defeated by flares. Fired the last one and it connected and shot him down. Takeaways. The Rafale is a wily plane and worse than the Hornet when it comes to maneuverability and energy, i.e. it'll outturn the slower jets easily, maybe Caesar can figure out a way in the Tomcat but to the inexperienced I'd work your way up to the point where you can use your aircraft effectively. The AI uses it better than I did and it showed some rust on me in my shots but you gotta try anyway. I was able to limp back to the nearby airfield and live another day. Next: F/A-18F EPE vs. Rafale C

Hehe not so much CA's responsibility to a degree about distance Lods, which probably causes the lag but there's nothing I can do myself about that honestly. Maybe SZ will get around to it...

Nope, it's all just for looks and show right now and no auto rearm/refuel. Everybody should remember that the Strike Fighter series made by three, yes 3 people, not a team of 50 for Lockon or so where they had the ability (and budget) to do such cool things. Unfortunately it may be never implemented... or it might...

Me: Rafale C Beta 1.2 version, gun, 2 x MICA IR and 4 x MICA EM Opposition: MiG-21bis with gun, 4 x Atoll As a beta the Rafale C isn't very bad, just a few more tweaks here and there and it'll be much better looking as some cockpit symbology needs some cleaning up. Other than that the major problem you will have is the ability in SF2NA at least is blacking out a lot. The suggestion is to take it easy on the stick but pull firmly, not hard on it to get around. The engines give it a lot of thrust and that's a problem as you'll expend more energy trying to maneuver the plane around. And out of sheer luck I managed to avoid pancaking on the ground. But don't take this as a defect, more than likely it's more "realistic" due to the engine power. When I managed to get into a good firing position my first MICA IR went real stoopid (or flares distracted it) and after a little maneuvering the second one connected, downing the MiG. As a beta it's a good plane and that's what you should take away from this report. It's not bad, still needs to be tweaked but otherwise the main emphasis is not to turn and burn too much or you'll A) Overshoot B) And when you pull hard you'll black out. The old adage "Lose sight, lose the fight" applies to this aircraft as such but is a nifty little jet and still worth the download. And after some HUD tweaking it'll be better. So I can't really say it's bad but after some more tweaks and fixes it'll be a good plane.

Coming home after a Libya strike mission. Gonna start some DACT with the Rafale soon...

Go to the CVN75.ini and go here and change it like this: [shadow] CastShadow=FALSE ShadowCastDist=1000 MaxVisibleDistance=1000 The shadowing is causing the lag not anything else...

All it does is allow you to padlock the enemy target, I think you're expecting a padlock? If so then press F4 and then you'll padlock him (default keyboard configuration)

Sounds cool ArturR, but I don't even use ground mapping that much at all, not even to target ships, since it (I believe) uses the weapons seeker as opposed to the radar so it's not even missed. Unless NA has that feature and I just don't realize it (would be nice).

I agree macelena, as I use 9Ps occasionally and nine times out of ten I hit with them all the time and quite honestly have a place in my weapons choice to use them when I feel like it. I also like the older ones (L,M) and they haven't been that bad either. Surprisingly the most maneuverable are the "slower" ones as a higher powered aircraft tends to overshoot more and therefore allows the opposing aircraft to have a slight advantage (not much) compared to a faster jet. Now don't get me wrong it's all on the aircraft design that determines a lot as well as skill. From what I've seen the Python (later versions) are very capable but not sure about maneuverability but that's another area I guess to go into sometime. @daddyairplanes: I'll probably skip the Tomcat version due to just pure inexperience... I've flown the Su-33 quite a bit and that'll probably be my choice as I have that aircraft down pretty well. Me: F-22A with 2 x AIM-9X and 6 x AIM-120 Opposition: F/A-18C with 2 x Sidewinder and 2 x Sparrow (I think, didn't really check this time) Since Julhelm released his new cockpit it was time to see if everything was okay, and yes it's a well done cockpit that is just nice. But this is another lesson I was thinking about and that is patience for the shot. The Hornet (Legacy and Super) are both christened with great maneuverability and even against the F-22A its still a match that requires you to think and outmatch the Legacy. Since i stuck with the Legacy bird this is a good demonstration of a wily opponent that you need to wait until the "perfect" shot happens. Started off neutral and the aircraft put me in various energy circles that I tried to get out of and around five minutes or so managed to work him into (or he put himself into it) a good firing position. My first 9X went stoopid, but after looking at it, the case was operator error and the missile went into the ground. Waiting for a few more seconds until he leveled out (which is always the prime shot) I fired my remaining 9X, killing him. The takeaway here is not so much weapon capability but maneuvering. The more the target aircraft "moves around" when in padlock the worse your shot will be. Perpendicular and depending on aspect makes a difference between a good shot and a wasted shot. The more you can "stabilize" the enemy aircraft in either your HUD or in padlock view means you have a better shot which still applies to off boresight missiles. This is regardless if they can turn on a dime or not, they still have to obey the laws of motion and physics, and energy. Also, if you can "Stabilize" things and all you have left are radar guided missiles you set yourself up for success as while you wasted maybe a few missiles, you have another option, and if my 9X missed I could have gone to my AMRAAMs just in case.

Trying out Julhelm's cockpit and well...

It takes some getting used to but I've managed to use it successfully on my Fox Super Bug (test platform).

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This wasn't an intended mission but I had wanted to go over this one regarding heat seekers and friendly fire, or how to avoid such a thing... The main thing to understand is symbology, depending on the aircraft. The more modern the HUD the more easier it gets since the IFF checkbox doesn't work and the missile cannot differentiate between friendly and enemy, it sees a heat source and goes for it. F/A-18, F-16, F-15, and other aircraft all have a "pipper" showing the position of the sensor of the missile. In this scenario I was attacking the Kiev ship and it had sortied two Forgers. After my missile strike disabled the ship and shot down one with an AMRAAM the remaining Forger was going after my two EA-6Bs (TAMPA flight). Before this I had locked the Forger with my radar, therefore I knew which aircraft was which. After that it was just accelerating to engage the Forger and prevent him from engaging my escort jammers. He merged with the contacts and therefore since I had only 9Xs left (weapon type doesn't matter, as long as it's an IR homer), so I had to make my shot count. The seeker within its detection cone “bounces” around as it scans the area. Using the radar to cue the target makes sure (as well as using the overhead map if you use it) sure you’re locked onto the proper aircraft and it removes all doubt that you’re on the right target. The seeker will bounce on friendly and also enemy jets, so you have to cycle between the two to get the right shot. Once the circle (this case of course F/A-18) stays on the enemy target that you locked up with radar (second picture) I took the shot and winged him. Since he now flew past my escort jammers through his and my maneuvering he’s ready for a better kill.

Some Tomcat fun... have to admit it does look nice, for a Tomcat...

Duh! Thanks!

Are carriers unsinkable or I'm just not dropping enough ordnance?

And other than the WIP Krizis Yak-38, it's not flyable yet so I'm not worried about it honestly.

Low level testing

Me: TW F-14A (77) with 4 x AIM-9M, no tanks, gun Opposition: TW Yak-38 Forger with 4 x Atoll I did a similar fight previous to this one as I was just curious on how the TW F-14 compared to the MF bird, and I have to say that the TW bird doesn't have as much weight. Maybe because I have an A version compared to the heavier versions (maybe, feels lighter). Anyway the fight started off neutral with the bogey engaging me in a turning fight which needless to say, the Forger isn't the most maneuverable jet in the Russian inventory during 1984 timeframe. THe first engagement was fairly quick, lasting less than a minute while this one I intentionally drug out. In the first engagement I turned inside pretty tight, locked on with a winder (9M) and shot it down. Going with a lighter load it was just the same but the thing is watching your speed again. With higher performance aircraft its always hard to want to turn and burn, in which with the Turkey I don't drop flaps like Ceasar does but I tend to just let drag and weight do that along with engine management. Then again when you're used to automatic settings it's really hard to think about flap use when all of the time you have a computer doing it. In any case it's not a fault, just a habit. On the second bout the Forger turned and wheeled around and I saved myself from taking a shot, once because he was flying across my HUD so it would have been pointless to fire. Once the Forger at low level leveled off he decided to climb to come around on me. At that time I had a clear shot and took it, with the 9M tracking and killing the Forger. Takeways... Since I'm not a Turkey driver I can't say that the TW turkey is better, it definitely feels lighter but then again using the afterburner in my case keeps my energy going, not necessarily high since my wings were outstretched (meaning low energy state). However, force of will usually will help you in most situations against this opponent. If you're truly scared of the Forger then shoot him down with a Pheonix or Sparrow at long range.