MigBuster

Should suit fans of cold war era aviation.....and cold war era detainment North Korea’s dicatator, Kim Jong Un, wants international aviation enthusiasts to head to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) this September. The first annual Wonsan International Friendship Air Festival promises to be an exciting and spectacular event. https://fightersweep.com/5844/lets-go-to-north-korea-first-airshow/

On 27 June 1976, four pro-Palestinian terrorists hijacked Air France Flight 139, an Airbus A310, during a flight from Ben-Gurion International Airport, Tel Aviv, Israel, to Paris. After first landing in Benghazi, Libya, the airliner was flown to Entebbe, Uganda. After the arrival of an additional four extremists, the group demanded the release of fifty-three convicted terrorists held in Israel and Germany by Thursday, 1 July. Threatened with the execution of the hostages and having little choice, the Israeli government announced that it would enter into negotiations with the terrorists. The hijackers released the non-Jewish passengers on 1 July, while retaining 104 Israelis and non-Israeli Jews. The terrorists issued a new ultimatum with a deadline of 2:00 p.m. local time on Sunday, 4 July. Meanwhile, by the third day of the crisis, planning for a rescue mission had begun in earnest. Named Operation Thunderbolt, the plan called for Israeli Air Force, or IAF, aircrews to fly four C-130Hs more than 2,500 miles from Israel to Uganda in complete secrecy................ http://lockheedmartin.com/us/news/features/2016/C1OperationThunderbolt.html

They did a lot of 1v1 DACT set ups during Constant Peg as well..........the F-16XL got its A handed to it by a MiG-2F-13 when they took it there.....although the XL they took was even more underpowered than F-14A.........though not the case for the F-16A: Quote from a pilot in Red Eagles "The only aircraft that was more-or-less unbeatable against the MiG-21 was the F-16A" Aircraft size is a factor when the MK 1 eyeball is the primary sensor.......it doesn't make something invisible or invincible but definitely made things harder. Quote Red Eagles "The biggest problem everyone had was seeing it, finding it and tracking it Peck said". I remember being behind it in gun tracking situations and thinking there's nothing to this thing. all I can see is the wing. Trying to acquire the MiG-21 visually was a learning experience in itself" In AIMVAL / ACEVAL where F-14As had to visually ID the F-5s (with TCS) they could do it about about 5 miles head on IIRC and fire an AIM-7 first...unfortunately long before end game an AIM-9 was coming back into their face from the F-5 and both died Could the Soviets have built a single engine aircraft with the same range, performance and loadout of the Su-27? (The trade off was a larger visual and radar cross section). There was a lot to it ......the Arab MiG series gives a lot of experienced accounts and I actually think the DCS MiG-21bis module gives a good appreciation of why it was so difficult to fly overall let alone dogfight. The 21F-13 had a lot more issues than the bis being the first but it was typically more maneuverable according to just about every nation that flew them. For the the majority of Vietnam getting in close was a formality for the VPAF due to non existent radar coverage and you could argue rightly their small size with far less smokey engine. The primary interceptor mission of MiG-21s was nearly always to hit the strikers or get them to jettison their payload......then typically run for it (which is when several got tagged) without staying to dogfight. And apart from the MiG-21-F13 of which they had few, the MiG-21MF didn't show up till what 72 (?).....the majority of the VPAF 21s were saddled with the R-3S as their only weapon which they would expend into US formations with the level of success you expect from an AIM-9B copy. They never had R-3R ( AIM-9C comparable?) or anything that could compare to what the USN had with the AIM-9D let alone the AIM-9G.

DCS: F-5E Tiger II by Belsimtek Early Access Available! The DCS: F-5E Tiger II by Belsimtek Early Access is now available for download. You can purchase it from our DCS E-Shop If you pre-purchased, please use the DCS World Module Manager to download and install your purchase. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l25f36QDeaU&feature=youtu.be The F-5E was developed by Northrop Corporation in early 1970s. The light tactical fighter is an upgraded version based on previous F-5A developments. The F-5s' combat role encompasses air superiority, ground support, and ground attack. Given its mission flexibility, ease of operation, and low cost, the Tiger II has, and continues to server, air forces across the globe. The F-5E is armed with two 20-mm M39-A3 cannons with 280 rounds per each cannon. The cannons are located in the nose section, forward of the cockpit. Special deflectors are used to avoid compressor stall conditions caused by hot gas ingestion as a bi-product of operating the M-39-A3. Each cannon is capable of firing at a rate of 1500 to 1700 rounds per minute. Each wingtip incorporates a launcher rail capable of firing AIM-9 infrared-guided missiles. Five hard points (one centerline pylon and four underwing pylons) allow the aircraft to carry different types of air-to-ground weapons (bombs, cluster munitions, and rockets) 6,400 pounds (about 3000 kg) in total. In addition, illumination ammunition and cargo containers can be attached. To increase flight duration and range, external fuel tanks can be attached to three hard points (a centerline pylon and two inboard pylons). Maneuverability and speed can be maximized in combat by jettisoning all external stores. Key Features of the DCS: F-5E Tiger II: Professional Flight Model that accurately mimics the performance and flight characteristics of this legendary fighter Highly detailed, six-degrees-of-freedom (6 DOF) cockpit Interact with cockpit controls with your mouse Fully modelled weapon system Accurate F-5E model with multiple country markings Detailed modelling of the F-5E instruments, engine, radios, fuel, electrical, and hydraulic systems Single missions and full set of training missions will be created while in Early Access Full and Quick Start manuals in Russian and English languages Extended Campaign for the F-5E by Maple Flags Missions Developer (not included in the module package) More screenshots of DCS F-5E Tiger II Have a great Tiger weekend! The Eagle Dynamics Team

Tuesday, 19 July 2016 v806 v806 is now live, main features added are: Radio Comms A 'Radio Panel Toggle' input shows the radio UI. Keys 0-9 select radio pages and commands. Functionality will be expanded over time with more commands and associated logic, Wingmen formation flightPart of radio comms, you can control wingmen formations. Use flight training mission 'Formation' to check it out. Digital nozzle angles step through the following angles for more control in vertical flight:0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 75, 80, 82, 85, 90, 95, 98.5 Custom nozzle stop added to controls. This is useful if for example you want to select 40° nozzle angle as you approach the end of the deck. To configure, set required nozzle angle then hold custom nozzle stop for 1 sec+. This records the stop position. A subsequent short press will select the recorded position. Fixed an issue with AV8B rudder alignment v807 should have mission planner updates, mission updates together with initial VR support. I hoped to have mission planner updates in v806 so they are now item #1 of v807. Mission updates will address presentation and content of current missions. VR support is step #1 of the following Initialisation and render to Oculus\Vive Custom VR UI Custom VR Scenes Control room & displays 'Walk' to/around plane Also cockpit model updates are due around the end of the month, I'm particularly looking forward to those :) http://devblog.sim155.com/2016/07/v806.html

Not me........the sim155 team is lead by Ed Scio. Early days yet with clickable cockpits planned it could end up like a slightly more involved SF2.........worth a try if you can though. http://combatairpatrol2.com/

In this case the accounts were 1v1 BFM and yes the F-15 pilots were trying but making mistakes......which happen in combat as well I suppose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QiArJ1cL4E

RIP to these guys https://youtu.be/bgzjMMPDQD0 Possibly related: https://www.rt.com/news/350440-russian-helicopter-pilot-khabibulin/

The Vigo metal bit...........had to laugh!

Who said DCS lacked direction http://breakingdefense.com/2016/07/have-jet-will-travel-training-f-35s-vs-1950s-fighters/ ATAC has about 30 pilots: all ex-military, half of them former squadron or wing commanders, and exactly one of them (just hired) a woman. They fly a fleet of 26 aircraft: six supersonic Israeli Kfirs; 16 subsonic British Hawker Hunters; and four Czech L-39 Albatros trainers. The Czech planes are used only for ground-attack training, not dogfights. The Israeli Kfirs were built in the 1980s to a 1970s design, and they form ATAC’s high-end, high-speed attack force. The Hawker Hunters are the workhorses — and they’re old: ATAC’s aircraft were built in the early 1970s, at the very end of the production run, but the design first flew in 1951.

The MiG-15bis is one of my favourites.............probably the simplicity of it and the challenge to actually hit anything with its guns!.and the radio is pretty cool........am waiting for the campaign which should be about soon. Once you have the terrains then you need the environment for each period (which SF2 has) including the vehicles and weapons. The date system TK employs is simple but pretty amazing.............. just calling in the objects for those years, allowing skins and other things like base moves to change on certain dates.

No betting required, some F-15 pilots were humbled in that project, but not sure how many F-15s they had painted on them.

The warship, which sank in 1545 while leading an attack on a French invasion fleet, was discovered in 1971. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-36802829

DCS World Weekend Update - 8 July 2016 Summer Bonus Action Continues Continuing until Monday, July 18, 0900 GMT, you can spend up to 60% of your bonus points on most module from our E-Shop. This is a great way to finally spend this bonus points with a huge discount on our great modules! Get them from: DCS World E-Shop Combined Arms Video Contest Winners Congratulations to the winners of the Combined Arms video contest! 1st Place: dtfin 2nd Place: Manitu03 3rd Place: muffler Great job to all the winners and many thanks to all those that participated! DCS: F-5E Tiger II Coming Soon! We and Belsimtek are in the final stages of getting the F-5E Tiger II ready for its Early Access release! We expect this to be in the next week or two, so take advantage of the pre-purchase 20% off price now, while it lasts. In the next two weeks, keep your eyes open for F-5E Tiger II previews. Have a great weekend, The Eagle Dynamics Team

and DC-10s

Abraham Lincoln noted that America will never be destroyed from the outside. Likewise the most serious threats to the US aircraft industry have always come from within, as demonstrated by the following inglorious parade of folly and nincompoopery. No nation has created as many aircraft types – or types that so comprehensively occupy the spectrum from superb to shit. https://hushkit.net/2016/06/01/the-10-worst-us-aircraft/

DARTS vs VIPERS Two Air Defense Interceptor Pilots vs Two Tactical Fighter Pilots By S. Michael Townsend, LTC, USAF (Ret.) “Viper 1, Pierre, Bucko, Genie, FMO, Rafsob” Circa 1984 I was a Captain stationed at Tyndall AFB as an F-106 Instructor. This day my wingman, a fellow Captain and Instructor, and I were scheduled for Dissimilar Air Combat Training (DACT) with two F-16s from Shaw AFB. I was to be the Instructor for the training on the Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation Range (ACMI) over the Gulf of Mexico, a highly accurate tracking system that would record all maneuvers in the airspace by the aircraft, score all shots taken and simulate any kills. None of us had ever fought against the other type fighter. Tactical Air Command pilots considered Air Defense pilots a lesser breed. I started the preflight briefing after introductions with the Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) and his wingman a Lieutenant (LT). The LTC immediately interrupted and informed me that he had no idea why they were scheduled for DACT with aircraft that were far inferior to the F-16 and that it would not be much of a challenge for them resulting in very little effective training. He stated that we should engage with full up all weapons capability for both fighter types even stating that though they only had heaters (heat seeking missiles) and guns he saw no disadvantage for them. I hid the fact that he had pissed us off and verified that he meant for us to use the full weapons capability of the F-106. He replied, of course you can! Obviously he had no idea what we carried between our legs, a clueless state of mind! I smiled as I looked at my wingman while stroking the inside of my thigh; this pecker checker was going to get hammered when the Genie popped up! I briefed the LTC to take his flight to the farthest most southern point of the airspace and be prepared to attack the coastline that we would defend. We would place ourselves on “Five” (five minute alert) and scramble when we saw him takeoff giving him the advantage of being ready when we arrived. I told him to be sure to look at the F-106 ramp on takeoff to verify that we there on “Five” and this would be important during the debrief. We briefed two engagements followed by join up for 1v1 basic fighter maneuvers (BFM), him versus me and the wingmen against each other. The fun began as they lifted off and saw us on the edge of the ramp, “communicating”, with a raised finger over two rising moons! We had a hard time getting our crew chiefs to stop laughing so we could launch. A gate (full afterburner) climb to 41,000 feet put us in the airspace in 6 minutes when I called “fight’s on”! I felt sorry for my wingman because he would not get a shot on this first engagement. One minute later I called “Fox 3, KILL, two F-16s north bound at 18,000 feet. Nock- it off, nock-it off, fights over, return to your safe area,” was immediately passed to the Viper pilots. The LTC was so confused that the ground control intercept (GCI) controller had to tell him he had been shot by a “NUC” (Genie nuclear tipped rocket) and that him and his wingman were DEAD so return to your point! I told GCI to inform him that we had one more Genie but that we wouldn’t use it on the next engagement. Score: Darts 2, Vipers 0 I put my wingman in four mile trail as we began the next engagement from 41,000 feet at 1.2 MACH racing down to their altitude of 18,000 feet, dumb a - - he didn’t even change his altitude to make it harder on us. Since they had face heaters (firing heat seekers in our face), we cooled our jets by retarding the engines to idle power to cool them off and denying the face shot while maintaining supersonic on our downhill slide. They took the bait, the leader rolled out behind me, the wingman behind mine. We had them right where we wanted them! Not even an F-16 can sustain a climb followed by a 9 G turn and roll out 2 miles behind a supersonic target and chase them down so the missile will make the kill. The leader found himself in front of my wingman who easily “Doe popped” him with two missiles while outrunning the F-16 wingman. Score: Darts 1, Vipers 0 After a fuel check we split for 1v1 BFM. Starting from line abreast each fighter turns 45 degrees away from the other to gain spacing. At the fight’s on call the fighters turn toward each other passing canopy to canopy with no advantage. The knife fight begins in earnest as they turn to gain six o’clock on the other for a guns kill. Hands are helpful in explaining what happens next. Obviously the Viper can out turn a Dart and the LTC was behind me closing for guns! My next maneuver required exact timing or it would turn out all bad. As he closed for the shot I presented him with the infamous “F-106 Barn Door”. This is a frightening experience for anyone who has never seen the Dart act in such an unbelievable aerodynamic manner. Never attempt this maneuver at home as it should only be done by a highly trained and experienced Dart driver! With him captured solidly at my six, in a hard four G turn, closing for the kill, fangs out and dripping, I held the G while applying full opposite rudder. The Dart responds beautifully with an opposite direction roll through the vertical to a full nose down dive where I apply full afterburner and dash for the deck. From the Viper’s cockpit it looked just like someone opened a barn door in his face, nowhere to go and no idea what to do. Suddenly the Dart disappears. His only option was to call nock-it off because he lost sight having never squeezed the trigger. Meanwhile our wingman had to nock-it off because the LT was low on fuel. Score: Darts 0, Vipers 0 I sent the Vipers home and my wingman and I played for a while. My debriefing was short and sweet. The Fighter pilots had to fly again to get some real training. It went something like this: Know your enemy. Never underestimate your enemy. Never enter a gun fight with a knife. Never engage an enemy when you don’t have a clue. Lose sight lose the fight. Pecker checkers should be well endowed. When the Genie pops up, you’re goanna die! Nothing was ever said about the moons, I believe we “communicated” effectively! Final Score: Darts 3, Vipers 0 America remained safe from attack!! S. Michael Townsend, LTC, USAF Ret. “Viper 1, Pierre, Bucko, Genie, FMO, Rafsob” http://www.f-106deltadart.com/databases/thereiwas/mfhandler.php?file=ADC%20DARTS%20vs%20TAC%20VIPERS.pdf&table=thereiwas&field=file2&pageType=list&key1=194

Have to take their words for it really because in terms of bypass ratio (given as 9:1 to 12:1 on specs ) it looks to have similar figures to other recent airliner engines.

Then something very strange caught my eye. Proudly displayed on the fuselage of ‘Bad Angel’ were the markings of the pilot’s kills: seven Nazis; one Italian; one Japanese AND ONE AMERICAN. Huh? “Bad Angel” shot down an American airplane? https://fightersweep.com/5671/bad-angel/

France are winning 5-1 with 15 mins to go so I would say Iceland are going home and congratulations to France.

The BBC said 'thousands' had marched..........this is actually a very tiny minority that no one is going to take any notice of.......and they are showing total disrespect to those that voted leave.

Three British and American F-35 combat aircraft have landed in the UK following a successful Trans-Atlantic crossing. The US Marine Corps had revealed plans last year regarding sending a pair of F-35B’s to two air shows in Britain this summer, it is understood that this is in addition to one British aircraft. https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/f-35-lands-uk-crossing-atlantic-ocean/

The F-35A empty weight was last seen around 29,000 lbs in the last DOTE report so that's about right, but the B and C are significantly heavier. For thrust (going from TKs conversion figures) I take it you used the P&W figures inc 43,000 lbs for Max AB which is SL static thrust uninstalled. (quoted from a P&W employee) Lockheed however give the Max thrust at 40,000 lbs (for the A & C) which is installed static SL thrust apparently and if that is the case seems the more typical measure. The bug in the bay doors was probably realistic when these were done