Skyviper

Gather 'round and let Viper tell you a true story. I do my best to show respect to people. From the garbage man to janitor, from a stranger to someone I know. Most people like to take a dump on those young kids that work those minnimum wage jobs and wear those vests sporting their company's logo...or stupid hats and uniforms. I also treated those people really nice because I know what kind of crap they have to deal with. Today I was hearing a bunch of shots getting fired. At first I wasn't sure if someone was going to war, defending their land, or what. I wasn't too sure where the shots were being fired but I knew someone was shooting at someone else or something. Called the non-emergency line to the local PD and reported that I heard seven shots I didn't know exactly where but knew it was close to my neighborhood. They sent some officers to do some poking around. Even the officers heard multiple shots being fired. Turns out there's a gun range near by and they were using some high caliber stuff that they normally didn't use which is why I could hear it. Funny thing the officer that was telling me this looked very familiar. Turns out he used to be one those kids wearing some silly vest and working at a video store. He's now wearing a different uniform and has a nice pistol in his holster. Moral of the story ... treat everyone nice because they could someday be the one pulling you out of a fire, or protecting your home from a burglar, or even saving your life in the ER.

Bleak and Lonely yes ... but think about the view...

I love these things

Just saw this on APOD This is very interesting to me and I thought you might like to see it.

... did you join the frequent flier miles club?

Mini DCS Su-33 Flanker Review By Eric J When I first got Flanker 2.0 back in 2000 or so, I started what was now my staple aircraft, the Su-33. Over the course of the years I have come to love and enjoy this aircraft, and since its still in the “inventory” of DCS Flaming Cliffs 3, I still like to take the old bird out for just purely flying and sometimes combat missions. Though over the course of the years it is generally the same aircraft all around, but with the new tweaks to the flight model it’s changing but under the hood it’s still the aircraft I started to respect and love since Flanker 2.0. Flight Model The aircraft’s flight model in 1.2.10 of Flaming Cliffs 3 was considered more stable than the current 1.2.11 and quite frankly since Flanker 2.0, where you could feel the weight of the aircraft and subsequent thrust of the aircraft. Given the years of flying this jet however, a lot of people dismiss it (mainly the gunzo crowd as they preferred the Su-27 due to simple fact that the Su-27 was lighter (because the Su-33 had to be strengthened for carrier landings) despite the fact that the aircraft had two less pylons. Plus the Su-27 was to most people great for most everything else, with the multi-role Su-33 looked down upon. Which in the years I’ve flown it I’ve done most everything everybody has done in the aircraft, so it’s not as “Less capable” as the Su-27, which couldn’t use PGMs. In Flanker 2.0 you had the additional Precision Guided Munition capability (though they were pre-set at the time, but was flexible enough to handle most missions) as at the time of its making the Russian Naval Air Force was trying to fund such a capability. Enter DCS where weapons are more stringent and realistic, as when LOMAC rolled around. The capability was never funded and LOMAC followed suit by removing that capability. However you could still modify the MEInit.xml and add that capability, using Kh-29Ls instead of the TE model, which was always fun to use. Besides that and from various observations the Su-33 was to me considered the “Black Sheep” of the aircraft set, treated but not really cared for by the community, not as “flashy” due to the Su-27 and the F-15. As while everybody wanted to fly air combat and duel, I was more interested in Ironhand, or SAM Suppression as well as simple ground attack back when I was known as Flanker562, and given the pure power and capability I fell in love with it through the years. Even in DCS the Su-33 is to some a hard aircraft to fly, but it requires some patience and skill to manage the aircraft as even with the tandem triplane layout, tends to stall a bit more than the Su-27 does, the (back then) Nagging Nadia yelling at me for angle of attack and so on. And it should be noted that when you fly the Su-33 you’ll hear that a lot. Again it’s heavier and should always be treated with some respect due to that. Once you finally get a hold of the aircraft and begin to push it more, the more it’s rewarding to you as a flyer. Again it requires time and patience and simple flying is the key to get the nuances of the aircraft down and manage it. There’s a lot I can say about the aircraft, and the heavy reinforcement makes it more durable than most. And if you fly this aircraft don’t feel guilty. No it’s not as maneuverable as its brother Su-27, but again, once you know how to exploit the aircraft’s maneuverability and power, you can do most anything with this aircraft. I’ve done some DACTs with the newer engine and eventually came out on top of the Sabre, so if you manage it and force the aircraft (Bitchin Betty will again let you know if you push the aircraft too hard, a lot), you can take on any modern fighter and have a good chance on coming out on top given skill level. However the current flight model of the 1.2.11 version makes it more “bouncy” than usual, as with 1.2.10 once you tweaked the curves (for me anyway) the aircraft was stable, and frankly thought it was too stable in the curve setting. Now I’ve had to add some dead zone to prevent it from doing as such, which is fine as while it’s not the best I can still fly the jet normally and have no problems figuring out what works for me, given that I’ve flown it often on in various guises for almost 12 years. It truly is a beast and back then when it had the firepower, was better in my opinion than the Su-25T as far as bringing a good warload to the fight. While the claws are dulled with the more realistic and stringent loadout manager you’re limited to bombs, rockets, and gun. Still once you get a hold of the Su-33 it never will leave my side. The only exception will be the upcoming DCS: Hornet and the DCS: Super Hornet. The Su-33 is the only aircraft the player can fly that is able to do carrier operations currently. But given the aircraft’s lack of popularity its future remains to be seen as the real Russian Naval Air Force will retire the aircraft next year, and probably within a couple years Eagle Dynamics may move to a Mig-29K module, if they do. Which will be nice, but the ability to use PGMs will be nice, but I’d rather have the capability on this bird than on a more short-legged jet. While some claim that the Su-33 has less capability it sure doesn’t have the staying power and endurance of a Su-33. Despite this and until Eagle Dynamics in a few years removes the aircraft, I’ll keep flying it because it’s simply just a great aircraft to fly and will always be near and dear to my heart. 3D Model/Textures The current 3D model of the Su-33, after the years since LOMAC came out in 2004, is looking very sharp and the accompanying screenshots show the beauty of this aircraft. So mostly I approve of the look and the texture work is always superb. However due to the lack of official support (I simply haven’t made any of my own layered PSDs due to other projects I’m working on) of official PSDs to add your own custom skin is noticeably absent which is a bummer as given the detail it’ll take me a while to make them. But that’s for me to worry about as I will say that they have added the better quality to the textures as back when I was doing skins both for Eagle Dynamics and for hobby work, it went from one texture map to more, which is good as the quality is showing and doesn’t hit your framerates as hard as one might think. So out of 5 stars I give it a 4, simply because of lack of any texture support. Functionality As with any Flaming Cliffs aircraft, the cockpit does not have 6DOF functionality and quite frankly for the Su-27 and Su-33 it’s simply not needed in my view. Still the displays inherit from the Su-27 and the small MFD shows everything that the Su-27 shows, so for a review I will simply refer to my Su-27 review, as it’s all the same to me. The only major difference of course is the small box on the left of the HUD showing the glide path indicator for carrier traps. And after two years of not flying it the system still works as it should, given that I did a first try trap after so long in the aircraft. It shows how much experience pays off with this aircraft and the easy of familiarity I do have with it. Major issues so far So far with 1.2.11 the only major issue to me is the bouncy flight problem, but again as mentioned before my stick needs to be adjusted some more to compensate for that. Overall as I think the aircraft is treated as a “Black Sheep” it still works and really one of the most bug free aircraft Flaming Cliffs 3 has to offer. However, the only major visual bug is the fact that the instrument panel is used from the Su-27 (matter of fact its laid out similar) so be aware that your two wingtip stations will not be displayed when selecting them. Other than that the aircraft works as it should. Final Thoughts The Su-33, if you haven’t noticed, is and always will be my preferred jet. And as said before when the Hornet or Super Hornet finally gets finished, will become my other jet as I like Navy jets, and the Su-33 is no exception. And after 12 years of flying the aircraft I have to say that it has treated me well over the course, as once you fly the Su-33 long enough, most of the aircraft seem less tame than it.

That makes two of us.

Great work you're doing EricJ.

It's all fun and games until its time to land on that damn carrier ... But something says you mastered that Have fun!

I see all those gauges and wonder ...

DCS Su-27 Flanker Mini Beta Review By Eric J The DCS Series began with the Su-27 Flanker back in 1995, and has always been the best high-fidelity flight –sims on the market today. Now in 2014 Eagle Dynamics has actually improved the flight handling and characteristics of the one of the most popular Russian combat aircraft today. Flight Model Overall the new Professional Flight Model changes the whole dynamics of flying the aircraft. Roll is sharp (at the default settings) and once you takeoff you have to trim the aircraft heavily in pitch to make It flyable. It should be noted that this causes Sticky Keys to be activated if you use a keyboard modifier for trimming your aircraft. Once you get the aircraft trimmed to your liking however the aircraft handles very well but sometimes there is noticeable downward pitch that needs to be noted. To get a feel for its handling I usually any aircraft out into the Caucasus Mountains to get a better read on how it handles as opposed to air combat or any related activity. With the sharp valleys and turns that helps me understand how the aircraft handles, and the Su-27 again once trimmed handles it very well. A lot of buffeting is modeled (which is a nice touch) and the aircraft bounces around more with the new PFM than the stock flight model that most pilots of the series has been known for. The aircraft is heavier and you can feel that in the stick when landing, which is a great sensation as now you have to counteract its mass more than you are used to doing prior to the current build. It should be noted that you now need to retract the landing gear before reaching 450 km/h or the gear will not retract properly when taking off. Another issue is the Stabilization system control. This is mapped to the S key by default and should only be used with zero trim. Remember to pull the stick once you press that key/button mapping as it enables you to perform the Cobra maneuver or you will crash, as the aircraft will pitch down violently and enter an unrecoverable spin. However since I’m more of a combat pilot than an aerobatic one, I simply remove the mapping and don’t use it. Needless to say there’s plenty of discussion on the usefulness of the Cobra on various forums so I don’t need to discuss it here. 3D Model/Textures The reshaped Su-27 looks like it should, with the aircraft drastically updated to look (in my opinion) like the real thing. Upon returning to DCS I took a flight in the aircraft before the update (1.2.10) and when I was taxiing in F2 view I noticed the shaping and it was beautiful. The aircraft comes of course with well-done camouflage patterns as stock and layered PSDs are available on the DCS Site if you need to create your own custom Livery for the aircraft. Naturally the cockpit and other essential areas are always the hallmark of Eagle Dynamics and therefore I don’t need to go too much into detail about that as they’re also well done and deserve a mention. Functionality The new interior has some changes as well, such as the MFD. Using real data it’s modeled accurately and hasn’t changed much to me, who’s seen the same MFD for years, doesn’t get lost. The same functions are present, so the transition takes one flight. Needless to say the radar display is the same, and overall other than graphics changes, functions as normal. Given that the Su-27 and most Flaming Cliffs Aircraft do not feature the 6DOF system that some other aircraft (notably the A-10C) there’s not much more I can go on this subject. Major issues so far The current build does have some major issues of course. Again I think the S system isn’t mature enough and needs to be adjusted but that’s my personal viewpoint on the whole thing as it shouldn’t pull you down like that. Another issue is the fuel use is excessive, which to my knowledge isn’t and shouldn’t be equivalent to a Mig-29 Fulcrum. Using the weapon load of the images here with a full 100% fuel load the aircraft on a lo-lo-lo profile can fly from Tblisi to Beslan and prior to reaching there I got the “Fuel 1500” warning. And it has been recorded that a real world Su-27 has flown from Moscow to Paris on one trip (with no aerial refueling) but given the flight profile it was probably a very high altitude. Nonetheless it is a major bug and should eventually be fixed, sometime. Regardless the aircraft is fully functional and flyable and those are the only major bugs that I have noticed while flying the aircraft. Final Thoughts The Su-27 is one of the best aircraft to fly. Even though currently I focus on the A-10A and the Su-33, the new PFM is a welcome addition to the DCS family.

AWESOME!

Well that answered that question too. I do hear that cry quite often. But the one from the red tail hawk was very unique compared to the other calls I remember hearing. Not only that I do remember now seeing a hawk flying and landing in a tall pine tree. It was too far away for me to see in full detial but I do remember seeing something that looked like a hawk with a white belly. So the photos and sound you had really helped with IDing it. There are couple that one might see every once in a great while in my area. But I think this one was just passing by because I don't hear him all the time. The blue jays on the other hand; I hear those all the time (or at least until it got purty freaking cold)