Jug

Thanks for the link, Wrench. Seems so strange for a long-time cold warrior to see the F-15 showing its stuff in Moscow. There is still part of me that says that is so wrong! Good thing times have past me by..........

Hey guys, can we turn this into best screen shot out of this sim of the most effective use of camo? Bet we can get some humm-dingers of shots over the fantastic terrain our modders have turned out and the nifty camo patterns here as well.

Jedi, Configure the aircraft for landing at 2000 feet and slow to approach speed or whatever your best guess is. When the aircraft stalls, note the speed and add 20 knots. You're in business for an approximation of final approach speed for any aircraft. Usually final approach speed is a function of the aircraft's weight and configuration. Bye the way if you change the configuration (e.g. leave the flaps up) you'll end up in the same smoking hole. Alternative is to let the autopilot fly the approach and all you have to do is watch and note the final approach sped. Configuration matters, weight matters. Don't bring home a load of bombs. It is an insult to dirt movers everywhere. Don't forget the flaps, speed brake or landing gear. If you land gear up, it takes a lot of power to taxi.

I'm with you, Silverbolt. Dramatic with great music.

pfunk, really looking forward to this. It is going to turn out fine!

My guess would be that the F-16 and F-15 primary mission is supporting the ground troops and the aircraft have to do that first. The era of dogfighting went away with the end of the Korean war. There is still plenty of capacity in both birds once they unload their dirt re-arranging hardware to take all comers. As much as we would like to think that shooting down bad guy fighters is a priority, it is not the AF mission. The first days of any war is removing the air threat so we can bomb in an unrestricted manner. However, moving dirt around is a large part of removing the air threat. Facts are your a bomber pilot no matter how you paint it. The Brazilians figured it out that keeping the air-to-air duty in perspective was important when they went into production of their own indiginous fighter, the AMX, with Italy. They saw the transition from high airframe capacity to high missile capacity as natural evolution. If the jet is cheap enough (i.e. simple enough - low capacity in comparison to Eagle, Gripen, Typhoon, etc.), but can use state of the art missiles the end result is the same. Doesn't matter what rail the AIM-9L comes off of, it is equally deadly. Also, it doesn't matter how good my aircraft is when I am facing a swarm of the other guys launching swarms of those deadly missiles. Sooner than later, I'm toast. I seem to recall that all the maneuverability the Hornet has built in didn't save the one that got hosed by a relatively unmaneuverable MiG-25 in one of the latest desert conflicts. To return to track, upgrades to add more dirt moving capacity to a craft born to dogfight is the natural evolution called matching machine to mission. Why don't we start there................well, fighter pilots are an emotional bunch and in the bowels of the Pentagon, there are not many AF aviators that have even seen a bad guy or even a bad guy bullet (actually, not just limited to the Pentagon, but AF wide), so the few that have carry a lot of weight. It's like the one guy in the room who has actually been in a fight has credibility and the rest of the wanna-bes have a difficult time carrying the argument.

Well Done!

I'm getting the same thing that Lexx does. Don't think it is a screen resolution issue, it appears to be a download issue.

As I recall, everybody was a new guy at one time or another ...........................................................

Thanks for the description and link. Thanks to Lexx_Luther!

Ka-freaking-boom................................................Miller time!

The master charioteer. God rest his soul.

Oh this makes me want to cry.......!

The MiG-15 and MiG-17 suffered from the same problem that the F-101 had. A high T-tail at extreme angle of attack is blanked off from the airflow by the aircraft's wing. The result from this is a pitch-up out of control 'departure'. So I would suppose the pitchups witnessed in combat were the results of that. The problem was so common in the F-101 that a 'kicker' was added to the control column that physically notified the pilot that the critical angle of attack was near. The airspeed limitation is based on a traditional two part elevator. That means the movable elevator is the back half of the fixed elevator that will not move. Airspeed limitations are based on the structural limits of the fixed front half of the elevator. The F-86 had a movable slab which enabled the aircraft to transit the transonic region without critical stress to the empanage. A movable slab means the elevator is a single part and the whold thing moves to control or trim pitch. Incidentally, this is what Chuck Yeager discovered when his aircraft cruised through Mach 1 for the first time in history. His aircraft was the first fitted with a movable slab instead of the two section elevator described above. Most aircraft with traditional two piece elevators experience either control freeze or structural failure if the Mach limit of the aircraft is exceeded. Subsequent to Yeagers proof, F-86's were fitted with the slab and many attribute this engineering difference as one of the main reasons the F-86 dominated the MiG-15 in Korea. The efficiencies of the high T-tail can be exploited by civilian aircraft, because they are not likely to be involved in a high AoA dogfight, but subsequent to the F-101 there have been no US fighter aircraft, nor Russian for that matter, designed with the high T-tail. Another antidote is the Rhino (F-4) itself was designed with a straight slab on its tail, but when the aircraft was rotated for takeoff the wing blanked off the tail at that angle of attack and the pilot would lose pitch control at a critical moment. First takeoff try was a F-4 chugging down the runway nose lifting off and then settling back to the runway again and again all the way down the runway until it took the departure end barrier. That is why you see the sharply angled down slab that is on all F-4s.

Most cockpits I have flown in have the landing lights switch right above or near the landing gear lever. This is so you can find the switches by feel. This could be one of the switches you have indicated.

This has to be one of the most difficult mods to build. You have done a magnificent job thus far, but if you are open to suggestions, I would make the fade from the dark thundestorms to the open air above the storms a quick, but more gradual fade to clear in the vertical. In the horizontal, in my experience, the change from in the dark clouds to in the clear is very rapid, although I have to admit having encountered the way you have modelled it as well. Depends on whether you are in the Amazon or in Europe. Most of the time the time of day is a factor with mid-afternoon when the weather really becomes 'merde'. Simulating lightning is simple. A quick whiteout and a crack of thunder. If done properly, it will scare the poo out of you. Leave those instrument lights turned up high so you can return to situational awareness quickly. Keep up the good work.

Wow! Wonder if you could put together what you did to achieve such a spectacular result into a Nuke weapon download? Maybe just a list of add on mods and the steps you used to make it work?

A real man has a Harley as part of his living room furniture.

Craig, Like most everywhere, there are those who fail to have a sense of perspective signed on and mixing derogatory commentary along with the reviews that are more positive. Something that the public forum invites. Look at the overwhelming support you've been given by this community and our grateful thanks for your efforts and time. The negative commentary is usually driven by tinges of jealousy. Most of the good folks here have loved your work and the tweaks here and there are just part of moving your project from the design stage to the operational stage. I, for one, stand in awe of your work and all the other modders who contribute here. Don't let the nit-pickkers get you down, because in their secret little rooms they, too, are loving your work. Some people just cannot bring themselves to just say "Thanks". I thank the good Lord that I don't stand in the shadows with them. Keep up the good work.

Download and mod works fine in WOI. What a beauty!

Downloaded and setup in WOE, but seem to be missing the Avionics.ini said in the README (yes, I did indeed read it) if installed would prevent CTD. The folder set to contain this file was empty. I'll try WOI next and report back.

Tremendous job. Congratulations and thank you. Full weekend planned!!!!!

I guess I spend as much time as anyone browsing the forums on this site, moaning and groaning, bitching and complaining, posturing and preaching, etc. What I feel like is necessary is a big boatload of thanks to our forum moderators who spend inordinate hours and attention to detail to make this site fun to visit and this forum the model for the community it is. A great big good on all of you and thanks for a job well done.

The BUFF's ECM package is pretty powerful. Taking a shot at a BUFF with anything is not an easy thing to do and getting the results you want is even more difficult. For example, a BUFF putt-putting over the motherland at about 200 feet and at about 500 knots tossing nukes out every 100 miles is not an easy target for an air to air kill. Sneak up for a gun shot from the rear and the gatling gun stinger will remind you that her bullits go just as far as yours do. Angle off gun shot is incredibly difficult to do and live through the experience. Look down, shoot down with missiles is a question of percentages. Most missile warheads are small and the BUFF is a big tough aircraft. What fighter electronics have been put to the test of repeated EMPs put off by nuclear detonations and survived as anything other than expensive and interesting paperweights? The BUFF electronics countermeasures officer has an array of equipment that is powerful and crosses the spectrum. I have had my EWO start a fire in a F-101 Voodoo during practice intercepts by focusing a small part of his suite on the 101s radar frequency (we normally kept our equipment in standby, but my EWO at the time was out of control). I had an irate EWO (baseball nut and quite wierd) blackout the entire northeast United States broadcast of a Boston Red Socks game because he had to fly and was missing the game. Taking on a BUFF with full systems up is no easy task and, if modled properly, would be no fun at all.

Sage advice. I, for one, am extremely proud of your son, his best friend, my son, and all sons and daughters who suit up and lend their lives to the task of our security. Whatever help we can extend from our experiences is always worth the effort to pass it on. Besides, ever met a Vet who didn't have a good war story or two.