MigBuster

The CH stuff works fine with SF2 in Win 10 and 11 Been so many years since I moved from 7 I don't remember - I may have just remapped the CH stuff in Game from fresh - doesn't take long. I may have had to run as admin to get the controls to stick.

When Thunder Rolled and Winds of Change - September 2021 It is with great excitement today we announce some updates and increasing momentum of the When Thunder Rolled Project. Perhaps the most significant news is a Leadership change. All founding members have approved the nomination and acceptance of a new Project Leader that has demonstrated the proficiency, commitment and quality demanded in this critical role. Leveraging his solid understanding of the Thirdwire sims, and recent leadership roles with other initiative including Operation Desert Storm, will set us up for greater success. With this change, we are expecting a surge in activity and progress which has us energized and excited. On a tactical level, our top focus/priority now continues to be on finalizing terrain work - creating incredibly accurate depictions of the Vietnam topography, cities/towns, airbases, enhanced terrain tiles (e.g., honoring requests for more rice paddies), etc. This terrain of course will serve as the foundation for everything else. We continue to excel in enhancing immersion and realism – leveraging outsourced professionals to help with creating dense jungle environments, realistic sky environments and more. These efforts are a cycle of ongoing experiments balancing how much we can push this old game engine and still maintain acceptable frame rates. We have also been making progress in many other areas such as creating realistically detailed target areas. For example, when you strike an enemy military storage area in WTR, we promise it won’t be a generic “Warehouse1” – see proof below! Next up on the target area list is creating a cluttered rail yard supporting Ed’s June 20, 1966 attack on the Railyard NorthEast of Kep Airfield. New models will include a marshalling yard with new train cars, rail yard support buildings, service equipment and more. Also noteworthy perhaps: while not formally adopted on the development roadmap but under consideration – we have received requests over the past few years regarding Yankee Air Pirate (YAP) compatibility. A majority of former YAP team members have already been involved with the WTR Project so this continues to be assessed and a greater possibility. Please enjoy the screenshots below; note these are lower res/compressed versions and representative of unedited actual gameplay. As always, we welcome and encourage community support. If you are interested in contributing, please send me a Private Message (PM). Finally, very special thanks to Erik for all his support and hosting our exclusive forum. Please feel free to share your thoughts and comments in this forum, thank you. An F-105 drops its payload over North Vietnam amidst heavy cloudy skies. Our brand new scratch F-100F; its dazzling bare metal skin catching the morning sun on an enemy air defense suppression (Wild Weasel) mission. Vivid Morning Skies over a small Vietnam Village lose their tranquility as enemy AAA chase after the contrails of an F-105 strike package (top right). Another brand new scratch model, this time showcasing the Mig-17 featuring an insane level of detail and perfect for you rivet counters. Rough inner coastal waters demonstrated by new water effects roll in to disrupt a peaceful beach. An NVA solider driving the SA-2 missile transporter takes a quick break along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Yet another new scratch model, the AH-1 Skyraider! Employing a low bomb pass this skillful pilot scores a direct hit on an enemy truck convoy just clearing a ridge along the Ho Chi Minh trail. The sheer beauty of Vietnam, rolling hills, lush jungles and colorful fields serve as a momentary distraction from the war. May 3, 1966. Ed Rasimus’ first recorded combat mission successfully strikes a Dong Hoi military storage area in Route Pack 1. Bonus Screenie: re-creation of YAP “JumpMyers” downed pilot rescue mission integrated with the WTR Project leveraging brand new Jolly Green helo model, rescue pilot, special effects, etc from:

F-35 is the only choice really - they need something for the next 40 years and yes I know drones but the Lightning 1 was also seen by some as the last manned fighter back in the 1950s The F-35 has won every comp so far because it is on a different planet and wins on: Cost partly due to large economies of scale Capability to cost ratio Worldwide logistics setup Growth potential Interoperability with NATO countries and Allies Capability (5 Gen sensor fusion etc) Regarding Old fashioned metrics - no point comparing with things like the Super Hornet because the F-35A is clearly better at the slow speed high alpha stuff and the F-35A is still 9G at full fuel and M1.6 with an actual combat loadout. The Gripen Es main competitor on the export market is really the F-16V...................and quite frankly neither of these are cheap to procure compared to the F-35 despite them being the low end. Here are some bits from the Switzerland evaluation: Fighter aircraft: F-35A offers highest overall benefit at lowest cost by far All the candidates met the requirements set for the evaluation. For both the fighter aircraft and the longer-range GBAD system, the candidate promising the highest benefit was also the one priced the lowest. In the case of the fighter aircraft, this candidate is the F-35A. With 336 points, it showed the highest overall benefit and was the clear winner with a lead of 95 points or more over the other candidates. This aircraft scored best in three of the four main criteria evaluated: • In terms of effectiveness, the F-35A achieved the best result because it has a marked technological advantage over the other candidates: it includes entirely new, extremely powerful and comprehensively networked systems for protecting and monitoring airspace. The F-35A is able to ensure information superiority; this means pilots benefit from a higher situational awareness in all task areas when compared with the other candidates. This is especially true for day-to-day air policing. What is more, the F-35A is the only aircraft that has been designed from the ground up to be especially difficult for other weapons systems to detect. The resulting high survivability is a great advantage for the Swiss Air Force. In addition, because the F-35A is comparatively easy to operate and is able to provide information superiority, it requires less training and has a better ratio of flight to simulator hours. Because of this, the F-35A requires about 20% fewer flight hours than other candidates, and about 50% fewer take-offs and landings than the Air Force’s current jet aircraft, which the F-35A will be replacing. Finally, it can be assumed that as the newest of the weapons systems evaluated, the F-35A will be able to sustain its technological lead well into the future. Given the planned service life of 30 years, this is a major advantage over the other candidates. • In terms of product support, the F-35A achieved the highest rating because of its efficient operation and maintenance, modern training design, and the high security of supply throughout its service life. This is attributable in part to the F-35A being manufactured in the highest numbers and it being the aircraft most commonly used by air forces in Europe. • The F-35A was also the best performer in terms of cooperation, offering extensive opportunities for operational collaboration and broad access to data and technical resources. • In direct offset, the F-35A did not achieve the best result at the time the bid was made. The offset obligation of 60% of the order must be fulfilled in full no later than four years after receipt of the final delivery. As far as fleet size is concerned, for all four candidates a fleet of 36 aircraft would be large enough to cover Switzerland’s airspace protection needs over the longer term in a prolonged situation of heightened tensions. The Air Force must be able to ensure that Swiss airspace cannot be used by foreign parties in a military conflict. F-35A to cost around CHF 2 billion less than competitors In addition to the benefits, the F-35A also achieved by far the best result in terms of costs. Both procurement and operation costs are the lowest for this aircraft. At the time the bids were made in February 2021, the procurement costs amounted to CHF 5.068 billion – well under the financial cap of CHF 6 billion set by voters. Even when accounting for inflation up to the time of payment, procurement costs will remain below the credit limit. The F-35A also has the lowest operating costs of all of the candidates evaluated. The total costs of the F-35A (i.e. procurement plus operating costs) amounts to approximately CHF 15.5 billion over 30 years. This is around CHF 2 billion less than the second-lowest bidder. https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start/documentation/media-releases.msg-id-84275.html

Dear Fighter Pilots, Partners and Friends, The latest DCS Open Beta is now available, and we are excited to announce DCS: AH-64D as the ultimate addition to your hangar. This iconic aircraft served in decades of operations and lives on forever as a legend. Watch the launch trailer now. DCS: AH-64D is one of the most complex projects we have undertaken, and it has pushed our team to new heights. The Early Access features are now complete and we thank you, our faithful community, for your patience and support. We look forward to your feedback and comments with great eagerness. Thank you. Thank you for your passion and support. Yours sincerely, Eagle Dynamics Team AH-64D Out Now Early Access The legendary AH-64D has flown into Early Access and we are already overwhelmed with the response from the community. Thank you to those of you who have made this dream come true and to all the pre-release sales we received. The trust you have bestowed on us is extraordinary and we recognise and admire all of you who supported us during these 6 months. We hope that you won’t be disappointed. Thank you! The AH-64D is a revolutionary development in the history of war. The flying tank is designed to withstand massive impacts and inflict serious damage. It can operate during the day or night and even in all weather conditions. Please check out the launch trailer. AH-64D Early Access Development Report At Early Access release, the AH-64D includes a rich feature set that will allow almost endless gameplay. This includes near-complete external and cockpit art and animations, including new pilot models. Most of the avionics systems are fully operational such as; the Tactical Situation Display (TSD), the Integrated Helmet and Display Sight System (IHADSS) and numerous Multi-Purpose Display (MPD) pages. Early Access sensors and weapons include the Targeting Acquisition and Designation Sight (TADS), Pilot Night Vision Sensor (PNVS), night vision goggles, laser-guided AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, Hydra 2.75” unguided rockets and the M230 Chain Gun. Flying the AH-64D is made easy with its advanced flight control system. Online multi-crew is available at Early Access and single pilot or gunner operation is truly special thanks to our advanced ‘George’ AI. In the coming months following Early Access release, the Fire Control Radar (FCR), radar-guided Hellfire missiles, datalink between flight members, and more will be made available. AH-64D Pricing Early Access Early Access Program DCS: AH-64D Now available Download › DCS: AH-64D Pricing Policy The AH-64D is available in Early Access and will soon be in Free to Play for you to enjoy for 14 days to test fly before you buy. Also, do not forget to take advantage of the Early Access 20% discount on DCS: AH-64D. We are truly looking towards your initial comments. Thank you again for your patience, passion and support, Yours sincerely, Eagle Dynamics Team

First thing I did was move the bottom Start menu to the left where it is supposed to be.

Currently nothing more than another typical propaganda war story as it stands. Note - this thread like the others will have a very limited lifetime unless people start to question and check what they are reading (from both sides).

Flight sim survey 2021 shows Female participation has gone up to 1%.

Might be just a service date things maybe or if you have just downloaded it there were a few reasons why things didn't show or 23 on here:

The plan is to replace F-22 with NGAD and prototypes have already flown according to the USAF....they intend to keep F-22A around till that comes in (2030s maybe) Politicians cancelled F-22 and now they realize the mistake and numbers are needed F-35 will have to pick up any slack. Likewise the small F-15EX buy which only exists thanks to politics (the USAF clearly didn't want it) had to be justified to replace worn out F-15Cs although luckily for some of them they are already moving to F-35. The F-15EX unit cost looks horrendous for what you get and there are major changes compared to the other F-15CDEs they use.

Frequently Asked Questions: The DCS: F-4 Phantom by Heatblur Simulations Q: When will the DCS: F-4 Phantom by Heatblur Simulations release? A: DCS: F-4E has been in development for some time and will be released later in 2022. Stay tuned for our full unveiling closer to launch day! Q: What variants will the Heatblur F-4 Phantom include? A: The first release will be DCS: F-4E, the iconic land based variant of the Phantom. We will be launching two variants of the -E; a “classic era” F-4E (blocks 36-45 with updates retrofitted in 1974 and before, including new slats, DSCG and AGM-65) as well as an upgraded (DMAS) version of the aircraft in one package. Q: Will there be a Navy F-4? A: Yes! Our Phantom journey only begins with the -E. However, owing to the complexity of the work and investment of time and effort, it will not be included in the DCS: F-4E product. We’re instead choosing to focus on providing the most content rich F-4E we possibly can, and then set our sights on further telling the legendary story of the F-4. Q: Will the Heatblur F-4 Phantom released as Early Access? A: The F-4E will be released as Early Access first. Much like the F-14 Tomcat, we plan on releasing it as feature complete as we can, including Singleplayer and Multicrew capability, a WSO-AI, an elaborate Flight Model, functioning cockpits and instruments, the main set of air to ground and air to air weapons such as sidewinders, sparrrows, mavericks, laser guided bombs, dumb bombs, a gun and of course a fully functional radar, avionics suite and F-4 specific systems that will help you dominate the battlefields of its time. As usual it will come chock-full of content, including training missions, Singleplayer missions, Multiplayer scenarios and of course, more than one campaign. Q: Will it come with Multicrew capability and a WSO AI? A: From day one you will be able to enjoy the F-4 with full multicrew functionality and with the JESTER-AI, tailored to the needs and capabilities of the F-4 Phantom. Q: Why won’t all variants be part of one module? A: The investment of time and effort to do the Navy and Marine Corps versions of the F-4 justice makes it unrealistic for us to include everything in one package. We want to make sure to tell the story of each Phantom variant chosen in the most content rich and appropriate way possible, while making sure that we stay a thriving and viable team. We’ll share more details on our plans with regards to variant additions to the F-4 later, but we remain steadfastly committed to ensuring that we are fair to our beloved community and supporters. Q: Why does the announcement come so early? A: We initially wanted to keep things a secret until we were just about ready to release, but the volume of interest and questions about the F-4 made that quite impossible! Hopefully you enjoyed the announcement trailer, even if short- stay tuned for our full unveiling closer to release day. We’re excited about you all being a part of the Phantom journey Q: When will you share more? A: As the development of the module continues, we will try to be as transparent as possible and include you as much as we can, sharing the different stages of the development as well as exploring this phabulous aircraft together with you all. Q: What about the Eurofighter, the A-6E, F-14 and Viggen? Are you biting off too much? A: The Heatblur team has never grown nor been more capable than it is today. The trust you put in us is absolutely sacred, and the announcement of the F-4 has no bearing on the steadfast commitment to continued progress on existing and other future modules. The F-4 has been under active development since early 2021, and our roadmap, including the Eurofighter and other future modules was created in this context. With an ever expanding portfolio, it is important for us to ensure that we will not let up on maintaining our high standards for all of our modules, released or yet to be released. Per astra ad aspera, upwards and onwards, with our partners at Eagle Dynamics we plan to continue on pushing boundaries as long as we stand and could not be more excited about both present and future. https://forums.eagle.ru/topic/291784-frequently-asked-questions-the-dcs-f-4-phantom-by-heatblur-simulations/

Considering this was late 1970s / early 80s the chines on the nose suggest it is a model or picture of a YF-17. There was only a single full size mockup built by Northrop to demo the F-18L...( F-18L in flight photos about are YF-17 or FA-18As) None of the Northrop models, or artist drawings I have seen show those chines and neither did the full size mockup.

In part 2 we continue to look at the Northrop F-20A Tigershark and how its story intertwines with other aircraft programs of the 1980s. Another F-20 is flown The second Pre-production F-20 (82-0063 / GI1001) was flown in August 1983. This configuration included a bigger radome, enlarged canopy, and an up-rated 17,000 lb thrust F404 engine. (Note: The first pre-production jet mentioned in part 1 (82-0062) also received the 17,000 lb thrust engine in 1983.) Also note: “Pre-production” means that Northrop was not going through a Prototype or Full Scale Development (FSD) phase so these aircraft were actually intended to be sold with the F-20 upgrades and changes. F-20 #2 (Northrop Grumman) Let’s get some people on board to really help sell it (F-20 Tigershark Vs F-15) You remember the Light Weight Fighter Mafia right – well they had mostly since left the Pentagon and had reformed as the err “Reformers” (or “Critics” to the USAF), which included John Boyd, Ex USAF Col Everest Riccioni, Pierre Sprey, Chuck Spinney and James Fallows. James Fallows was Washington editor for The Atlantic Monthly.( Described as an anti-military liberal journalist) Fallows had cottoned onto the Reformers in 1979 when researching ideas on how to cut military budgets and had interviewed John Boyd who was still smarting over what was done to the F-16. Fallows was able to gain publicity for the Reformers and their ideas, for example through the best-selling book National Defense in 1981. The Reformers had jumped on the AIMVAL/ACEVAL (Air Intercept Missile Evaluation / Air Combat Evaluation) results in the late 1970s where Red force F-5s had faced off against a blue force of F-15 and F-14s, and the book National Defense was the perfect platform to spin the results. The book took choice cuts from the results carefully omitting information that didn’t fit their agenda and the press went for it, with the Chicago Tribune printing that the F-15 had been “fought to all but a draw” by the F-5 and CBS calling the F-15 a “turkey”. In National Defense reformer Everest Riccioni claimed F-15s couldn’t fly many sorties and so the Air Force actually had a “Phantom fleet”. He then claimed the Air Force could buy 1000 advanced F-5s (The F-20) for the cost of 250 F-15s and generate 10 times more sorties in wartime (2500 v 250). Did I mention that Northrop had hired Everest Riccioni and Pierre Sprey at the time and Riccioni was working on the F-20 program. In reality what had happened in AIMVAL/ACEVAL was that tactics used were not entirely realistic and a lot of it was skewed in favour of the F-5. Despite this the F-15 still had a 2.5 Kill ratio in favour and the AIM-7 (another Reformers target) was responsible of the majority of the simulated kills. From the USAF point of view neither Pierre Sprey or Everest Riccioni had any credibility compared to John Boyd (who had taken a back seat at this stage) and the scraping nails account of this episode suggests this did more harm than good to the F-20 program regarding US support. F-15C - Can you say “it’s a Turkey” in a Pierre Sprey accent? (Airliners.net) What else could have upset the USAF Although a typical sales tactic, Northrop had no real data to back up any claims they were making for the F-20 such as cost, reliability and sortie rate. For example, as RAND point out………. Northrop claims of reliability on the F-20 were pretty much irrelevant. Only 1500 flights in a “test” environment with hand-picked engineers cannot be compared to years of “operational” experience the F-16 had around the world maintained by guys with varied experience in different environments. True cost and sortie rate could never be known as none ever went operational. Some of Northrop’s claims also seemed to stay the same despite airframe and avionics changes that would increase cost. F-20 goes to Top Gun Back in the mid-1970s the USAF were allocated F-5s that never made it to South Vietnam that were wanted because they were very similar in performance and some other aspects to the MiG-21 and so were perfect to use as aggressors at Red Flag. Naturally in 1984 when the US Navy wanted a MiG-29 simulator / aggressor for Top Gun, Northrop seeing a way in offered the F-20A at a low price with its promise of lower operating costs. Senator Pete Wilson had managed to get money through congress in the hope the F-20 was selected. General Dynamics also offered the F-16N (F-16C Block 30 with gun replaced by ballast) for a very low £11m each which was the same unit price as the F-20. The USN went with the F-16 which they believed to be a better simulator for 4th Gen threats…and it probably was being a bit larger with superior performance, also high-tech avionics were not required, in fact they stuck in the basic APG-66 radar from the A model. The USN literally got steal of the century on unit cost here…………. or they would have done if someone at the Navy hadn’t specified titanium wing attachment brackets without testing them (another story). F-16N (Lockheed Martin) Another F-20A flies The third pre-production F-20 (82-0064 / GI1002) first flew on May 12 1984 and was similar to 82-0063 / GI1001 in configuration it seems. F-20 Pre-production figures from Flight Manual F-20 #3 (Northrop Grumman) Tragedy befalls Northrop and the program On the 10th October 1984 the first pre-production F-20 (82-0062) crashed at Suwon Air Base in Korea killing pilot Darrell Cornell. Cornell had apparently succumbed to G-LOC after a 9G pull up as part of practicing an established demonstration routine with the aircraft appearing unresponsive after the maneuver. The Northrop F-18L and McAir All this time Northrop had been having a handbag face slapping argument with McDonnell Douglas (McAir). In October 1979, Northrop filled a $700 million antitrust suit against McAir. Northrop had developed the YF-17 for the Light Weight Fighter (LWF) competition in 1974 and this was later developed into the FA-18 carrier-based fighter under some kind of teaming agreement. Under this agreement McAir as prime contractor would build 60% of the carrier capable FA-18 and Northrop would build 40%. For the land-based F-18L Northrop were prime contractor building 60% and McAir building 40%. The Northrop F-18L was what might have been if the YF-17 had won in 74. Without all the extra weight needed for carrier ops and a totally different 9G structure it was over 2500 lbs lighter with a top end of M2.0 and was initially specified with a hard wing losing 3000 lbs of fuel reducing its range. Northrop basically had accused McAir of trying to monopolize the business and basically interfering with the F-18Ls chances of success in the export market by launching active sales efforts for the FA-18 to potential customers when they showed interest in the F-18L. Another suit also claimed McAir was unfairly using Northrop technology from the F-18L to sell its own FA-18. McAir then counter-sued against Northrop, claiming that the Northrop F-20 avionics had been taken from the McAir FA-18……. The suit was finally settled by April 1985……. which meant McDonnell Douglas would pay Northrop $50 million and become the prime/sole contractor for all FA-18s including export sales, and thus the F-18L was never heard from again………….. The F-18L - another unloved Light Weight Fighter devoid of orders (Northrop Grumman) F-16C v F-20A merge head on In April 1985 to try and finally get some sales from the US Government, Northrop offered 396 F-20s to replace current F-16C production at a fixed price of $15 million, undercutting the F-16C fixed price of $18 million. General Dynamics hit back with a 720-plane proposal for stripped down F-16s at $13.5 million each with cheaper avionics. These were apparently jokingly referred to as the “F-16C-minus”. This clearly came to nothing. F-20 #3 again (Northrop Grumman) Another Tragedy On the 14th May 1985 at Goose Bay, Canada the second pre-production F-20 (82-0063 / GI1001) crashed in a similar manner to the first killing Dave Barnes. Barnes was incapacitated during or after a 9G pull up as part of the demonstration being practised for the Paris air show. With no flight recorder on board the enquiry attributed this again to G-LOC and possibly a result of reduced G tolerance after flying four high G demonstration flights that day. The Air Defense Fighter (ADF) competition In 1986 the US Air Force (as ordered by Congress) held a competition for 270 mainland Interceptors for the defense of the Continental US. Both the F-20 and F-16 were contenders, and good point defense fighters despite the reservations of some. Sadly, again the F-20 was not favoured for a few reasons: · The F-20 was not in production so the costs couldn’t be guaranteed The cost to operate and maintain it would be higher than Northrop had claimed. In the end neither the General Dynamics or the Northrop proposal were selected by the Air Force, instead it was decided to take 270 F-16A Block 15s in service from the Air National Guard (ANG) and modify them to an ADF and OCU (Operational Capability Upgrade) standard, with: A higher thrust F100-PW-220 engine Capability to use bigger 600 US Gal drop tanks An Advanced IFF interrogator An upgraded APG-66 (V) 1 radar with increased range, small target capability and the capability to fire AIM-120 and AIM-7. F-16 A Air Defense Fighters (USAF) Making the F-20 better (The fourth Pre-production jet) Interestingly by the 1986 ADF competition there had been changes to the F-20 to increase range and deal with carriage of AIM-7s with proposals to: Increase internal fuel to 5050 lbs by replacing the fuselage bladder with integral fuel tanks. Increase external drop tank size. Increase thrust of the F404 to 18000 lbs to offset the extra weight and drag. New Electromagnetic Maneuvering flaps. Fly By Wire control system with backup Hydromechanical controls (similar to FA-18) Northrop & GE were also working on an upgraded APG-67 radar with enhanced range. This was proposed by putting a bigger antenna on it and moving it back in the nose. Luckily, they also intended to replace the obsolete M39s with a single modern gun to make some room for the radar move. This is said to have been planned for the fourth Pre-Production aircraft (82-0065/ GI1003) but was only 25% compete when cancelled. This remained a paper airplane but nonetheless a valiant effort to reduce some of the performance deficiencies. Of course, the glaring problem here is that by making these changes the cost and complexity increases, reducing its advertised selling points and ending up with a jet that offers nothing significant over the F-16 and FA-18…………and unfortunately the US was still not interested in buying it. The end Northrop closed the F-20 program at the end of 1986 at the cost of around $1.2 billion……… it just was not meant to be with everything against it. However, despite the loss Northrop were still doing okay out of the FA-18, ATF (YF-23) and B-2 programs at that time. No conciliation to them but perhaps an example of how competition can sometimes benefit US services by keeping cost down. Summary of the F-5G/F-20A Pre-Production Aircraft F-20A on Display at the California Science Center https://californiasciencecenter.org/exhibits/air-space/air-aircraft/f-20-tigershark Sources F-20A Utility Flight Manual (NTM 1F-20A-1) for GI1001 & GI1002, Jan 1984 (Northrop) Northrop F-5G/F20A Tigershark (Baugher J ) 2000 online at http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_fighters/f5_51.html A Case study of the F-20 Tigershark (Martin, Schmidt) 1987, RAND Corporation The Reformers (Correll JT), Feb 2008 Air Force Magazine. P40-44 The Revolt of the Majors How the Air Force changed after Vietnam (Michell III, ML) Auburn University Sierra Hotel: Flying Air Force fighters in the decade after Vietnam. (Anderegg CR) 2001 Air Force History and Museums Program Boyd (Coram R) 2002, Back Bay Books F-20A Tigershark (Wade, M) 2007 online at http://www.thecid.com/f20a/index.html F-16.net online at http://www.f-16.net/ Code One Magazine (General Dynamics) Northrop F-18L (Baugher J), 2000 online at http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_fighters/f18_9.html Huge Lawsuit settled, ( AP News archive) 1985, online at http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1985/Huge-Lawsuit-Settled/id-cca766d9766ec7f4d1aa29c5ca5db7cb The Land Based F-18L, Flight International December 1978 p2034-2035 Title Photos for Part 1 and Part 2 from Northrop Grumman

Happy New Year to all!

Dear Fighter Pilots, Partners and Friends, We are pleased to inform you that Open Beta 2.7.9 is coming in hot and we expect to have it for you next week. This important update will include substantial work to DCS: AJS-37 Viggen and additions to DCS: F-14A/B Tomcat. As planned, we will include a large number of new features for DCS: F-16C Viper as well as an important batch of open WWII enhancements. DCS: Voice Chat is a comprehensive approach to radio communication in DCS World and should be available in the upcoming OB. This capability has been in the works for more than two years and will bring voice compatibility across the platform. We continue to test it thoroughly whilst encouraging our 3rd party developers to configure their modules accordingly. We are confident that this component will add a simple and powerful communication layer to DCS and we very much look forward to your feedback. The festive season is here and without further ado we bring you the Winter Sale 2021, which offers up to 50% discount on our most popular modules and campaigns. The Eshop sale will run until the 10th of January 2022 at 15:00 GMT. Watch the video. We kindly remind you that the Final stage of Shadow's Trophy Tournament will take place on Saturday the 18th December at 12:00 GMT. Thank you for your passion and support. Yours sincerely, Eagle Dynamics Team DCS World Winter Sale 2021 The DCS Winter Sale 2021 is here, and it will run until the 10th of January at 15:00 GMT. Please take this opportunity to upgrade your DCS World with new aircraft, maps and asset packs! Checkout the eShop and find up to 50% discounts across our most popular modules. DCS World Winter Sale 2021 Video. Mi-24P Hind Development Progress We are eager to share progress on the new pilot model for DCS: Mi-24P Hind. Please enjoy the In Development Screenshots of the textured gloves and Poljot Chronograph 3133 manual winding, shock protected watch. Voice Chat Development Progress In the next Open Beta release, we will deliver a major update to integrated radio communications. Voice Chat operates natively within DCS and no additional software or instals are required. Please bear in mind that enhancements will be ongoing and we appreciate your patience and bug reporting as we continue developing this complex communication stack. We will also be adding radio communication to the Combined Arms roles, ground units, ATC, and AWACS. Further development will contain encrypted communication noises, clicks, distortions and voice synthesising in real time and more. To ensure correct usage of this new and improved feature, we have prepared a document on How to Use DCS Voice Chat. Open Beta 2.7.9 Development Progress As the end of the year approaches, the upcoming Open Beta will mark an important update to DCS World. We are currently resolving some of the outstanding WWII issues and completing several new features for DCS: F-16C Viper. If you have not already, please check out the new videos in the Viper tutorial series by Matt Wagner: DCS: F-16C Viper | Air-to-Ground Helmet and DCS: F-16C Viper | ECM. Enjoy! Thank you again for your passion and support, Yours sincerely, Eagle Dynamics Team

Happy Holidays everyone!

Hope it works on Windows 11.

A really weak area - may depend on the level and what you do but Ace level cheats 100% and is laughably naff however because it cheats it can be more challenging. You don't want his behavior in offline campaigns.............so when that is there it really spoils an otherwise very well made thing.

Best wait till some kind of report is actually released - just worthless speculation otherwise.

Free to install on Mobile devices like IOS - you pay in game to unlock things. The Windows 10 version was not free - that was about $30 from the Thirdwire store.

Strike Fighters: Modern Combat Remember the Strike Fighters series, you know the good old days, when most people were using Windows XP and Thirdwire had the Cold War era combat sim market to themselves. The days when free updates would fall from the cloud(s) giving us new game features for no extra cost. When we could marvel at flying iconic aircraft over historical battlefields such as Vietnam, Europe, the middle east, and some made up desert place……..all in the latest Direct X 9 Graphics. We thought those days would last forever, but sadly after a while Thirdwire realised it could no longer afford anything greater than a Mcdonalds double Cheeseburger for its lunch. It then released an ambitious new addition set over the North Atlantic, however sadly the games didn’t fly off the virtual shelves and they realised they couldn’t even afford an out of date cheeseburger from the Iceland budget supermarket chain. Then just as all hope was lost, out of nowhere, lady luck smiled on the starving company and smart phones and tablets rained down from the heavens. Not only were these mini PCs locked down for any old idiot to use, they came with interesting new opportunities to make money. And here we are in good old 2017 with the release of Strike Fighters: Modern Combat. Anyone who has played any of the Strike Fighters mobile series (e.g. Strike Fighters: Attack) will instantly recognise the type of game this is, however there are some changes, and the development of this series has now advanced a bit further on compared to the original Strike Fighters or Strike Fighters: Israel on IOS or Android. Windows 10 This is the first of the series you can buy for a Windows device from the Thirdwire store, so if you are one of the ten people that have a Windows mobile device (including myself yaah!) this might be good news. I however am not going to buy that version and instead am going to review the version on IOS ( iPhone ). Features The controls are pretty much the same as before, tilt the phone to bank, pitch and roll, there is a rudder option in the menu if you must. Because of the large variety of weapons there is a handy mode select (MSL SEL) button to switch ordnance, you always have guns available though(if you have any). Once a weapon is selected it will auto lock onto a relevant target, for example a Radar if you have selected an Anti- Radiation missile, or an aircraft if you have selected an ASRAAM. The veteran F-4 still makes an appearance There is a handy 360 degree radar type screen you get in the top right corner. Advanced jets like the FA-18C will have a Data Link type picture showing all ground and air targets and if they are friend or foe. Less advanced jets like the Su-22M4 only show an older radar type picture with green blobs. (Note the blob with diamond is your primary target set) An auto lock on a ground target brings up a nifty Infra Red (IR) view as you might see from a targeting pod, and you can press Mode to get the 360 degree radar view back at any time. (Not that I can make anything out on a tiny iPhone screen anyway!) When out of view, red arrows will point to the enemy jets and blue arrows to friendlies (just like 1980s computer games!). Green thing acquired sir Missions & Mission Editor The game auto chooses a mission for you (Escort/ Intercept / Fighter sweep / etc) which you then attempt to complete by blowing up as many relevant targets as you can in the given time period. If you destroy all the mission targets your mission ends even earlier.(you can even abort by pressing pause then hitting the cross) On each mission you often have allied jets helping you by blasting those baddies out of the sky! If you want to pay you can unlock the mission editor feature getting options to customise the missions a bit more. Weapons Loadout You can now select weapons (again a paid unlock), and just like in life the more money you have the more you make (perhaps). For example with the F-16 I can remove the tanks and add 4 x GBU-12s to go with 8 x SDBs and 4 x AIMs which is a potential 1600 points yippee! The flying SAM site! Points mean prizes Literally the more points you get the more credit you get. On a typical mission you might get 500 to 1000 points with the right aircraft, choose an A-10C or F-5E for the A-A role though and you had better be good with the gun to rack up the points. More points please – plus purists avert your eyes! Flight models Hmmm……….nothing to see here, I think it might have borrowed the one from the 1980s arcade game Afterburner. The music Yes, you can still switch that off by putting the phone to silent. Payware Well yes, the game is free and you can play it for free, however the aircraft you may want are very expensive and so getting enough credits may take a while. Su-57 = lots of roubles You can of course remove the adds by always playing off line, which is a good way to save battery and not constantly microwave your hands, however there is an incentive to play online because you get 500 free points per day for logging in every day. So for example 10 consecutive days will yield 10 x 500 points! That’s not all folks, after one mission a birthday cake appeared on the left top corner to which I clicked on. Here I was given the option to watch a 30 second hotel advert for 10,000 extra free credits (which I took). If you click on the trolley with a dollar sign you will find options to buy 375,000 credits per payment and other features to pay for including the mission editor and loadout screen as mentioned. 375000 credits doesn’t go far in Strike Fighters land! Summary Strike Fighters: Modern Combat brings together good features from the earlier mobile games and adds to them. If you want to pay to unlock the features you will likely get more from it, however it seems to be a fairly fun arcade game, especially when you need to baby sit your daughter or are at lunchtime at work, or instead of work maybe. As for the future, perhaps utilisation of Virtual Reality could be one direction…who knows. Off to kick some A-A butt! Anyone not familiar with the original mobile games might be interested to read this previous review:

The NVA were training on SA-3 but it apparently never saw service in Linebacker II and the the deal may have been cancelled after the US involvement ended. (2018, B-52 Vs SA-2, Osprey) The SAM-X..........AKA killer SAM site is listed as an Urban legend in The Eleven Days of Christmas (2002 Michel III). The site identified as VN-549 didn't match any Vietnamese records. They also guessed that might have been an SA-3 ..................however it seems to have been the tactics the NVA used with the newly modified SA-2B they were using.

C.W. Lemoine, in association with DCS World Events and Folds of Honor, presents the "Fight for Honor 2021" digital combat simulator world dogfighting tournament. Pick any aircraft and dogfight 1 v 1 (guns only) against other players across the world in this charity event to support the fallen and their families. DCS pilots will fight for prizes from Tacview and Folds of Honor. Competitor briefing (discord): 3 Dec 2100Z (Friday) Opening Day Rounds: December 4th and 5th* Closing Tournament Rounds: December 11th and 12th* *Participants will be flying multiple times on each day, as long as they continue to win. Age requirements: None Registration: Open 9 Nov 2021 until 1 Dec 2021 at 21:00Z Registration fee: $10 USD https://fohevents.org/FightforHonor2021/?controller=home

20th July at MAKS 2001 https://theaviationist.com/2021/07/15/russia-checkmate/ https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...ssian-air-show

https://www.falcon-bms.com/ The latest iteration of the Tommo Inc Falcon 4.0 total conversion modification - Benchmark Sims 4.35 U3 - is available for you to enjoy as of RIGHT NOW! BMS 4.35 U3 requires a legit installation of a Falcon 4.0 (all older and newer versions are accepted alike, i.e. Microprose, Hasbro, GOG, Steam, Retroism). The check is performed both at setup time and every time you start BMS. If no valid installation is found, BMS will exit with a corresponding error message. U3 is an incremental update on top of 4.35 base + U1 + U2, so you need to have the BMS 4.35 Full Installer package and Update 1 and Update 2 available on your PC. You can both update your existing 4.35 base + U1 + U2 installation as well as perform a fresh 4.35 base + U1 + U2 + U3 installation from scratch, as you like. See the installation instructions below for details. This mod may not be used for any commercial purposes. Any such use may constitute a violation of the intellectual property of Tommo Inc and the non-commercial Terms and Conditions under which Benchmark Sims make this mod available to you. Installation instructions (they will be shown as well once you run the U3 installer): _DESTINATION FOLDER: Update 3 must be targeted at the original Falcon BMS 4.35 Setup folder, NOT at your Falcon BMS installation location! After the update installer has been finished, it will run the Falcon BMS Setup program to either apply the update to an existing BMS 4.35 base + U1 + U2 installation (choose ‘Manage product updates’), or perform a fresh 4.35 base + U1 + U2 + U3 installation from scratch. CONFIG FILE: U3 does not replace your existing config file. Step-by-step details: (1) The pre-requirement for installing the update is to have the original BMS 4.35 Setup folder available. That is the one with the blue colored Setup.exe. Take a note on the folder name where this exe is. This folder is NOT your actual game folder that you use to start BMS itself. It’s the folder wherever you downloaded and extracted the original BMS 4.35 base installer. (2) Note: You need the original BMS 4.35 Setup folder + U1 + U2, as U3 is incremental only (like all BMS updates). (3) Next, RUN (do not unzip) the U3 installer. It will ask you where the BMS setup folder is. Select the folder that you have identified in the 1st step. (4) Note: Running the U3 installer will NOT actually install U3! Instead, it will update your original BMS 4.35 Setup folder + U1 + U2 to include the new U3 data. (4) After the U3 installer has finished, it will run the blue colored Setup.exe that you have identified in the 1st step. Either perform a fresh new installation, or update your existing 4.35 base + U1 + U2 installation by choosing ‘Manage product updates’. U3 will now be shown in addition to the 4.35 base + U1 + U2 installation. (5) After the update, when starting BMS, the version string in the BMS UI will now read: Falcon BMS 4.35.3 (x64) Build 24585_ Here’s the 4.35 U2 -> 4.35 U3 changelog: https://www.falcon-bms.com/

I have the same versions. Cannot recreate it on any browser or on an iPhone (Safari) Browser extensions....are you running any across all browsers like one from a security program? Does it let you see any pages at all or is it always the same message?