MigBuster

35 !! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24018472 Sir Patrick Stewart has married jazz singer Sunny Ozell, in a ceremony conducted by fellow thespian Sir Ian McKellen. The Star Trek actor, 73, announced his nuptials on Twitter, simply writing, "Yes, married" under a picture of himself and Ozell, 35, in a ball pool. ...........................................

Claims it could do the cobra - hmmmmm Born as an in-flight simulator, the F-16 VISTA (Variable Stability In-Flight Simulator Test Aircraft) had the task to simulate the performance of the newest fighter jets. It was built around a standard production F-16D airframe and introduced many features which a classic F-16 didn’t have. In fact the airframe included a larger capacity hydraulic pump, a programmable center stick controlled by the digital computer installed in the front cockpit and a custom designed variable stability system which allowed the VISTA’s very different flight envelope. The distinctive characteristic of the VISTA was that controls to manage the flight envelope were put in the back cockpit and, only after successful access they could be transferred to the front seater: this particular system set-up enabled return control to the backseater in case the front pilot faced a dangerous situation. After VISTA made its maiden flight in April 1992 the program founds for the next two years were withdrawn. Luckily the VISTA was resurrected by the General Electric which had the need for a program to demonstrate how the vectoring thrust could improve the F-16’s maneuverability. The Multi-Axis Thrust Vectoring (MATV) required major modifications of the VISTA to be uninstalled, and the addition of a spin chute along with the characteristic vectoring engine nozzle. Even if a Eurofighter Typhoon pilot explained to The Aviationist that thrust vectoring (TV) is not essential in an air-to-air scenario, it could give the pilot the advantage to point the nose against an enemy fighter controlling its aircraft beyond the stall, in a so-called “post stall” regime. At that time, this concept was more or less theory and the task of the F-16 VISTA during the MATV program was to demonstrate the effectiveness of the thrust-vectoring during some post stall maneuvers as well as the advantage it could give to the fighter during Within Visual Range (WVR) engagements. The results were that during the MATV program, the F-16 VISTA was able to perform the “cobra” maneuver and to prove itself extremely capable in 1 vs 1 and also in 1 vs 2 WVR engagements against two normal Vipers. When the MATV program ended, the original VISTA features were reinstalled on this one-of-a-kind aircraft that was then delivered to the Test Pilots School at Edwards Air Force Base where it is still flying today. Some features of this F-16 were eventually embedded in the F-35. At Edwards, it was finally able to serve as an in-flight simulator, demonstrating to be perfect in training pilots about particular handlings. Thanks to its centre and the side stick installed in the front cockpit the F-16 VISTA can be re-configured after the take off to fly like a delta wings aircraft, like a canards one or like a large cargo airplane. http://theaviationist.com/2013/09/10/vista-f-16/

Interesting........... Last week we reported the news that, on Sept. 2, the RAF Typhoons based in Cyprus, to provide the air defense of the island following the Syrian crisis, were scrambled from the British base at Akrotiri whereas two Turkish Air Force took off from Incirlik airbase and headed towards the island. In the following days, more details about the Cyprus incident emerged. Journalist Andrew Potter talked to the British MoD spokeperson who said: “The MOD can confirm that Typhoon Air Defence Aircraft were launched from RAF Akrotiri yesterday to investigate unidentified aircraft over the Eastern Mediterranean; the aircraft were flying legally in international airspace; no intercept was required.” On Sept. 8, The Sunday People / Sunday Mirror revealed that Syrian Su-24 Fencers were actually involved. “RAF Typhoon fighters won a mid-air showdown with two Syrian warplanes heading towards Britain’s main base in Cyprus, the Sunday People can ­reveal. The dramatic confrontation came after President Bashar al-Assad’s air chiefs sent two Russian-made Sukhoi Su-24s to probe our air defences. The Syrian bombers refused to respond to repeated attempts by the control tower at the UK’s Akrotiri air base to contact them.” RAF Typhoons from the XI Sqn in QRA (Quick Reaction Alert) duty on the island, were scrambled before the Su-24s, that were flying in international airspace and were spotted by a flying E-3D AWACS could enter the 14-mile air exclusion zone. Otherwise, they would have been intercepted and identificated, and eventually escorted out of the restricted airspace. Buzzing the enemy airspace to test its reaction time or actively disturbing the enemy training activities is not rare. For instance, the Turkish RF-4E Phantom shot down by Syria in 2012 was probably violating the Syrian airspace to probe Damascus’s air defense readiness. http://theaviationist.com/2013/09/08/fencer-probe/

Nice article on the SR-71 http://gizmodo.com/5511236/the-thrill-of-flying-the-sr+71-blackbird

You cant beat passion! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEv32IeTlaE&feature=youtu.be The kickstarter is over 50% now - suggest donating if you want to see this become reality http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/508681281/dcs-wwii-europe-1944

Just out and have got it already http://www.ospreypublishing.com/store/A-10-Thunderbolt-II-Units-of-Operation-Enduring-Freedom-2002-07_9781780963044

If you mean this one then defo - cant wait Tried to get to premiere this week but no luck so will see it next week when its out here

So you think it might be a balkans map? Wasn't 1944 a push through Italy? not up on WW2 history really

Welcome to the future of racing............................(or 2014) Smartphone chipmaker Qualcomm has signed a sponsorship deal with the forthcoming Formula E championship. The FIA international motorsports body plans to launch the electric-car competition next year as an alternative to Formula 1. Qualcomm will provide wireless-charging and augmented-reality technology to help the teams taking part and the public watching the races. It has also pledged an undisclosed sum of money as part of the five-year deal. Both organisations said the intention of the championship was to both provide entertainment and to spur on electric-vehicle technologies. One analyst said the events could help improve the public's perception of electric cars, but added there would need to be other developments if the tech was to go mainstream. The FIA itself acknowledged change would not come overnight. "We will make people more inclined to buy an electric car, but this will take time - five or 10 years," Formula E's chief executive Alejandro Agag told the BBC. Wire-free recharges Among the products Qualcomm plans to offer is its wireless vehicle-charging tech, Halo. The facility - which is being developed by the company's London-based lab - creates an electromagnetic field using a copper pad buried in the ground. This can be picked up by a coil built into a vehicle, which converts it into electricity to power-up a battery. British Formula E team Drayson Racing Technologies has already tested a customised version of Halo as a way of charging its vehicles when they are stationary. In time, Qualcomm said, several pads could be built into the city centre roads used by the races to provide "dynamic charging" - the ability for the cars to top up their power on the go, helping them complete the race in quicker time.However, the intention is to use the tech to recharge only the competition's safety vehicle during the first year of the championship before extending it to the competitors' cars in either year two or three. South Korea has already pioneered something similar, using a locally developed variant of mobile recharging tech called OLEV to power buses on a set route. However, such schemes are costly and the FIA said it recognised the competition would need to prove popular if it was to raise the sums necessary to pay for the installation of the many pads required. Live updates Qualcomm also intends to help design the telemetrics system used by the race - the automated process that monitors the vehicles taking part. "Tyre pressure, engine, fuel, brake fluid, speed, torque - all sorts of things will be monitored on a miniscule nanosecond by nanosecond basis," explained Anand Chandrasekher, Qualcomm's chief marketing officer. He added the information would also be able to be accessed by the public through the planned roll-out of its Vuforia software."Those streams of data will be sent real-time to a central area where the teams will be able to get access to that information and use it with their own proprietary software to say, 'OK, what guidance should we provide the driver as to what he or she should be doing in real time?'" The app promises to offer an "augmented reality" view of the race, allowing spectators to carry on watching the car of their choice even if buildings or other objects obstruct their view by holding up their smartphone or tablet to make the vehicle visible. Mr Chandrasekher said the public would be able to bring up the same real-time performance data as the racers' support teams, using the progam. 'Psychological impact' Formula E is scheduled to commence in September 2014 in London, with races to follow in nine other cities including Beijing and Los Angeles. Ten teams, each with two drivers, will compete against each other over the course of an hour. Mr Agag said he believed the events would appeal to a younger audience than that typically attracted to Formula 1, and he hoped many of the fans would end up becoming electric car owners. "We think Formula E can be a platform where companies can showcase and develop and improve technologies for electric road cars," he said. "This, we hope, will have a psychological impact and make people more inclined to buy an electric car.""We will demonstrate that batteries will offer more performance and go longer. At the beginning [the drivers] will swap cars, but this will stop as the batteries improve, and people will see the cars go faster. One independent automobile expert agreed the competition could prove influential. "There's a perception issue with electric vehicles - people worry about how far they will go and the cost of the batteries," said Prof David Bailey, from Coventry Business School. "This could show people how well they work. "But a lot of other things need to happen including changes in government policy if there's to be the necessary investment in wireless charging and other infrastructure beyond the racetracks." http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24013661

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NeXMxuNNlE8

What patch level are you at now? - should say bottom right of the main menu

Yes he wont even listen regarding the poorly worded web pages for his games that are supposed to actually sell them to people. He did used to listen - back when Flares were first added a load of people from this way moaned they were too effective and he changed it (even though the flares seemed spot on ) Okay so a few things have been removed (good to see them all in one place) - not to say there may be other ways to get around some of them also. What is the best that can be hoped for regarding any future - now the respect has moved elsewhere? Thirdwire leave SF2 as is and develop SF2 lite based on the Mobile games?

The following I noticed have no SF2 conversions in downloads - even though I have had them for years in SF2 Su-15 Flagon A MiG-25 F-106 Su-27 (Any restrictions on this LOD? ) J-11 (Any restrictions on this LOD? ) AV-8C Harrier Gloster Javelin Gnat / Ajeet (Any restrictions on this LOD? ) also - Gloster Meteor F.x So if anyone has an interest in these then a good time to do a project :)

Another thin I noticed was in SF2NA would be make sure the aircraft you use is the same nation as the Carrier.

The photo in this post depicts the first Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force F-14AM (“Modernized”) landing at Tehran Mehrabad International Airport in April 2012. Iran still operates some Tomcats that are being modernized to extend their operative life. Domestic upgrades include avionics, weapons (R-73E, AIM-54A+ “Fakkur”, AIM-54A, AIM-7E and AIM-9J are among the air to air missiles adapted to the aircraft’s fire control system) and color scheme: indeed the plane was give a three-tone Asian Minor II camouflage pattern resembling the one adopted by Russian 4th and 5th generation fighter planes and U.S. Aggressors.

In this High res video...........great shooting Right click and select watch on Vimeo for larger display

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=k6Lb3kFwJRQ

Yes - been done for the F-4 in a few mods over the years - most of the work needs to be done in avionics.ini

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23999742 What looks like being the world's first commercial space plane has just passed another technical milestone. Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo has just flown faster and higher than ever before on its journey to take ordinary, fare-paying customers 70 miles above the earth. The first passengers should be floating around in zero gravity in around a year's time.

Might be of interest http://www.tonyelms.com/Vulcan_360/XJ823_cockpit_360.html

That's normal there should be 2 Good luck with the Mi-8 - should be fun

Really we would only have had that by having the source code. Any more for the list then - I think things that can still be changed via ini are fair enough Good point

His answer is probably going to be different to everyone else's - I thought there was a ton of things 1. Multiplayer 2. Access to LODs 3. Access to Terrain files 4. Removal of negative fuel flow what else

Ah - looks like its only pitch and roll - not going to get the Top Gun experience after all - still I expect they will donate one to CA for free wont they :) That sim is probably LOMAC - an F-15