Jeff,Not to get into the 'war' subject, however the Micromanagement during Vietnam was terribly slooooow in getting back with the field commanders and the rules of engagement were totally different,(and very stupid), then. At least now, our field commanders can communicate quickly and effectivly with their superiors and are left to the decisions which only they, in the field can rightly make those decisions. With all that handcuffing the troops back then, it was pretty easy to read the handwriting on the wall. Today, however, even though I believe there have been many mistakes made after the fall of Baghdad, (mistakes are things humans do from time to time), if we stay the course, Iraq CAN end up with an opportunity to be a 'free' society and have a democratic process. In the long run, that HAS to be better than living under the reign of terror that Sadam held power over. Freedom is NEVER free, and is always paid for in the coin of blood. As unfortunate as that may be, there are still some of us in this world thinking that freedom and true democracy is worth the price paid. I believe, we are doing the right thing in Iraq -- giving them a chance to be the rulers of their own fate, and THEY have the responsibility and effort, and I believe they want it, to be that way. Paying the price for that is never cheap. Millions of men who have lived in this world have paid that ultimate price in the name of freedom -- because they desired to be the masters of their own destiny, as it should be. Lastly, any time you let politics enter into a deed or doing good for your fellow man, it seems to get ugly. There are many democrats and republicans in these United States who have sunk to a new, all time low in this era to get 'their' point across. Let me remind you politics is a most ugly business and those who practice that art are the ones who usually get us into positions of war. Sorry, just waving the flag just a tad, and I make no intent to offend anyone -- and I thank you for your positive comments on my service.Carry on, Sir!Best,Clay http://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...ers/Dopke01.jpgClayton T. Dopke (Clay)Major, USAF (retired)"Drac"

Clay, Jeff and friends,Just wanted to let you guys know I can vouch for this one as I assisted David in getting her finished up. I provided technical advice, and was on the beta team. This one is a winner, and as far as I'm concerned the best BUFF yet. I hope all the BUFF fans out there will pick it up and give it a go around the pattern, I don't think anyone will be disapointed.-Jason Peters E-3 AWACS Flight Engineer USAF (Former B-52H Crew Chief) [email protected]http://www.feelthere.com/banner/erjpilot.jpgPS- Not sure about the current flight model... But the model I tested prior to heading out to my current forward deployed location did take off tail first and climb nose down as is proper. But only with the fuel correctly loaded, and the Acft properly trimed, and the flaps all the way down as on the real deal. Remember folks, only 2 flap settings on the real deal, up and down.

Indeed, as far as micromanagement, I guess I'm talking more about how the Air Force is run today, mostly us guys in AWACS, since that's all I've been in so far.Jeff

Just to say WOW, a real B52 buff here.. never knew that!Take care oldtimer!Johan[A HREF=http://jdserver.no-ip.com]Personal Server[/A]A LITTLE LESS CONVERSATION, AND A LITTLE MORE ACTION PLEASE!HELP:http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=238882

>Drac,>I know the B-52's have the same type of engine as our E-3 (PW>TF33's) I was wondering how many engines you could lose after>takeoff and still make it back to the runway safely?On G's, two engines MISSING was considered EWO capable for TAKEOFF. (as an aside, I used to work G's, then went to AWACS.... went from 8 engines and 4 generators to 4 engines and 8 generators. ...I don't miss paralleling MEPS though. *grin*)

Clay,Well said and so true, this is from a grumpy old Marine.

>Did they try to reproduce the INS at all? Probably not for 20bucks, you can't have everything.>>Clayton T. Dopke (Clay)>Major, USAF (retired)>"Drac"No INS system included but there is a good thread on adding it to their C-5 that could probably easily (qualifiers) be adapted...http://alphasim3.com/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=1006Frank SafranekMirage Aircraft for Flight Simulatorhttp://www.mirage4fs.com

Interesting reading here about the Buff. I am wondering if I should partake. It is one of the two birds I was in in the Air Force, the other being the RF4-C. Well, there was the T-29 of Decal Airlines, in which we Navs learned not to stab ourselves with dividers or other pointy objects. Oh, and we learned to eat lunch with one hand. Mostly, what I remember of the B-52 is long flights, lots of work, and urinals that "leaked at all altitudes and airspeeds". Being in the pattern for three hours while several extra copilots filled their squares and made the Nav team think of dumpsters bouncing down a long flight of stairs. Multiple bomb runs at the RBS site, fighting the "Tone War" to the end. Oh, and good lunches from the fine folks in the flight line kitchen. A Hound Dog (we were from Barksdale) on fire one time, and being framed by the MADRAC, which erroneously reported that I (the Nav) screwed up a switch sequence(A crusty old NCO from maintenance saved my fanny by figuring out the problem and telling the MFWIC's.) Oh, yeah: There is always the aborted first student sortie at Castle AFB on 4 April 1974 (you tend to remember those dates), which ended when my (downward firing) ejection seat fired on the taxiway as I was adjusting my leg strap, which the previous seat occupant had considerately looped through the trigger ring. Luckily, the hatch didn't leave the airplane and the sequence stopped after the seat rotated over the hole, and I got to meet a lot of O-6's that day. Darned impressive. I got to go home an hour early, too, after the endless post-incident process. Our student crew had an equally ominous checkride at the end of the course: Our #4 exploded right at unstick speed, and we spent a Gawdaweful long day holding over the mountains until we got down to landing weight. The F model didn't dump fuel, it seems. Anyway, this B52 addon looks like it might be fun even if it might be far from perfect. Better, still, if the seats are all safetied.

>I have experienced 2 engines out on TO from Andersen (one per>side)with heavy weapons load and very little fuel. That>configuration was during Linebacker II when we were leaving>base for North Vietnam with a very overloaded aircraft weapons>wise and just enough fuel to TO and hit the tanker. >We were put on the heavy weapons, light fuel configuration>after at least 1 Buff ended up in the drink at the end of>Andersen's very long runway failing to gain altitude. You bring back long forgotten memories for me this morning. I am the young kid living in Tin City and working in the bomb dump (46150) building those heavy loads.Welcome back and thank you Sir.Bobby

Hello Bobby,Isn't truth stranger than fiction. Those of us who have spent any time at Andersen during a time of combat, have our own stories to tell, which are particular to those times -- and boy, weren't they different from today.I had a AVSIM poster e mail me the other day wondering why in the world 'those who wear the stars on their collars' would want to send an aircraft up in that situation, overloaded and very low on fuel'. MY answer to him was, "you just had to be there to understand."I will return your words with this: I have always said that were it not for the Chiefs, ground crews, weapons handlers and the like, we, (the pilots and crew of those marvelous aircraft), were just so much window dressing and pretty much useless -- YOU are the guys who made us look good, did the brunt of work, really earned the Unit Citations and made us proud to fly such well prepared aircraft. You were also the guys who anxiously awaited our return from missions, voicing your prayers to whatever God you worshiped, only asking for our safe return and to fly another day.So, 'Thank YOU Sir, and Carry on!'BestClayhttp://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...ers/Dopke01.jpgClayton T. Dopke (Clay)Major, USAF (retired)"Drac"

Steve,Welcome to the group! Those of us who flew those grand old ladies always have some most interesting stories to tell of our time with them. You seem to be no different -- Although we were bored at times, (long flights to your IP and longer flights back), the 'Lady' herself was NEVER boring.She was, and is still a class act.BestClayhttp://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...ers/Dopke01.jpgClayton T. Dopke (Clay)Major, USAF (retired)"Drac"

Hello All, Well, I finally had a friend buy the alphasim B52, and last night I had a change to fly this aircraft offering. Keeping in mind that I have over 9 thousand hours in the Buff in real life, and also keeping in mind that I very well know flight sim's limitations, I think that I have a good idea of what one should fly like in both.Having recently flown the Yanko KBT unit and found small problems with it but NOTHING that couldn't be solved properly, I was really intense on getting to fly this new alpha sim offering, just knowing that if the KBT was as good as it was for freeware, the payware model would be just that much even better. DEAD WRONG.I won't get into the horrid details, but I will just state in plain, simple language. If this offering flies like a real B52, or even as good as the KBT did, (again knowing that the KBT needed a wee bit ot help but was VERY workable), then, if that is true, I'm Chuck Yeager!Sorry, but I don't even look like Chuck! Other than we're both ex combat pilots of some reknown and we're old LOL. -- and I am wayyyyy out of Chuck's league, LOLA real good bit of advice to a developer who plans to bring out any new model of anything for FS. Find the best freeware item that covers your idea you can find, and make it that much better if you intend to charge for it -- cause if you don't, word will get around very quickly and it could be your ONLY line of payware after a miserable introduction. So, now you know my opinions . . . so much for the Alphasim B52. Guess I'll have to tweek the KBT a bit more or wait for CS to do theirs . . . and we all know that could be forever and I could be dead by that time. Best to all, Clayhttp://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...ers/Dopke01.jpgClayton T. Dopke (Clay)Major, USAF (retired)"Drac"

bumphttp://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...ers/Dopke01.jpgClayton T. Dopke (Clay)Major, USAF (retired)"Drac"

Don't know that I'm sorry to hear that. The KBT was a bit more of a handful than I wanted.My only real flight in a Buff was NAS Agana to Andersen one day.Being a squid with the EC-121 unit based at Agana, we watched the Linebacker I & II birds over the north flying our missions out of Danang.The weirdest day was right at the end of LBII when I was back on Guam - some of us had a house in Dededo and I looked up to see a buff in the pattern trailing smoke.Looked just like a rerun from 12 O'Clock High. Only about 1500 ft away.Glad you made it home safe - and remembering those who didn't.

Well Drac Im really impressed you have 9000 hrs and consider yourself famous but how about be more specific as to why the Alphasim B-52 is so horrible.