Multiplayer...oh my!

[pedrotrindade 335]

3 hours ago, Ron Attwood said:

This is starting to sound pathetic. Deep joy! I managed to fire off 2 missiles and drop 4 bombs. Yay! Sadly, I have NO idea what kind of munitions they were. It's a whole new 180 page manual for the descriptions of these things! Sheesh!

You should try Chuck's Guides for DCS. Excellent stuff to start learn a new module, with plenty of images and very well organized. IMHO the best material to start your familiarization with any jet in DCS.

https://www.mudspike.com/chucks-guides/

Edited August 14, 2019 by pedrotrindade

[Ron Attwood 3,464]

Thank you Pedro. You actually wouldn't believe how many tutorials I have collected. Chuck's guides among them. In fact Chuck's is the one I have on my desktop as we speak. Now if you can point me to a translation of various weapons and their familiar names, i.e. Sidewinder instead of AIM/%^BX-48X Mk.3, I would be eternally grateful. 

Tutorials on start-ups are my first Google when buying a new plane. Up to now that's all I've been interested in. Now death and destruction are coming into their own...

[Ron Attwood 3,464]

Little update to my knowledge base. I never realised you can click on the individual pylons to see what can be loaded on them. Duh! I thought you only had the loadout dropdown to choose from. Another veil has been lifted.

[Nyxx 6,993]

Ron, your rep look like it was crying out for another like. 1,100 looks so much better than 1,099. 🙂 

[Ron Attwood 3,464]

It seems like only yesterday I was a lowly 1000er. Now look at me! 😎

I couldn't have done it without you David.

[Nyxx 6,993]

An update from my last 6 weeks into DCS.

I own all 3 I wanted AV-8B, F-14B and the F-18C.

Harier.

I love this aircraft, you can never put to much time into learning this on carrier landings and learning all the AG weapons. I am into a campaign and its so enjoyable. Also, DL some single missions that look great. A2A refuelling is not a problem now and I never get fed up perfecting it. If I had to score it out of 100 I would give it for the enjoyment of flying it 90, A2G 95, it's not made for A2A so 30. This is my #1 goto for enjoyment of A2G and landing as there are so many ways to land and takeoff.

F-18C

Love the FBW and also hate it. It's so easy to throw around and you can never go wrong really. IRL if I was going to war in an aircraft I would take this every time. But there are many things I don't like, the FBW is ..well FBW. In a car when you get to a roundabout you turn your wheel until you want to come out of the turn and you slowly let go of the wheel and it and the car centre'ers themselves. Now think of your car as FBW you turn in and let go of the wheel and the car keep going round, great in some cases others not. You have then got to turn you wheel the other direction just to get it to go straight again!. Back in the aircraft landing and A2A refuelling feel horrible to a manual flight model. Yes, you get used to it but also the throttle is slow to respond. Don't like it even though I can do it fairly easily now.

It's the most competent aircraft and can do anything very well I can see why people love it and I would say it easy to learn because of the FBW, you can do whatever you like to the stick it takes over and you're always safe!

How can I sum it up? easy to carrier land, A2A refuelling is totally different from the AV and F-14 and the throttle is horrible in its responses. It does everything well, but it lacks soul and I don't like it for that.

Enjoyment to fly I would give it 60 out of 100, it lacks soul and anyone could fly it, it feels totally soulless. Everything else to do with A2A or A2G it does faultlessly, well I would prefer the harrier any day for A2G but there no denying the F-18C is the top dog if we are talking real life. It's the "best" aircraft.

F-14B

Now, this blows me away. to fly this aircraft is breathtaking if you don't want to A2G or A2A and just want to enjoy flying, carrier landing and A2A refuelling etc, this is imo head and shoulders better than the two above, no that's not right, it's in a totally different league.

I have no idea how heatblur have done it but this aircraft talks to you all the time, it's impossible to put into words, you know how the plane is feeling to what you're asking it to do. Overdo it and you have plenty of warning before you can snap the wings off. Fly it like an F-18C and you will snap the wings off all the time.

In A2A refuelling it's by far the easiest to control as it's so responsive and it just becomes an extension of yourself you can feel the aircraft that well. It does have one big downside when refuelling the visibility is terrible.

A2A seems a pain to learn and A2G also and the HUD is terrible as it's modelled perfectly but it's like a Commodore 64 computer HUD wise unlike the super HUD's in the AV and F-18. It's done so well it even updates itself at a snails rate just like the real one, horrible.

I love this aircraft far more than the F-18 but it's hard to lean, I feel I have a long way to go before going to war in this. 

So IMO this is the best aircraft to fly and enjoy but the hardest to learn to fight in with all the Jester commands to learn and the terrible HUD and displays.

This aircraft is also the best looking out of the 3 the textures in the VC are the best I've ever seen. It's my favourite aircraft but the one ATM I want to take on a sortie the least. well I haven't yet.

Carrier landing is easy, so is the F-18, I don't know why but carrier landing I find very easy. Almost too easy. Never crashed, I must have done around 20-22 landing so far, just one bolster.

Conclude.

Love all 3 but the F-18 is the least enjoyable for me. I will use the AV-8B for all A2G and love it. The F-14B is by far the most enjoyable to fly, it's just indescribable how good and enjoyable it is. But its seems to be the hardest to learn to go to war in. The F-18C is by far the most competent and easy to fly. I have a long long road ahead learning the F-14B and F-18C but am comfortable with the Harrier now.

 

 

Edited August 30, 2019 by Nyxx

[Ron Attwood 3,464]

Excellent review. You've reinforced what I feel about the F-14 and F-18. Not for me! Harrier? You've whetted my appetite. 👍

[Nyxx 6,993]

35 minutes ago, Ron Attwood said:

Excellent review. You've reinforced what I feel about the F-14 and F-18. Not for me! Harrier? You've whetted my appetite. 👍

Thank you, Ron.

If the harrier appeals to you, then I truly cannot see a reason for you to be disappointed in it. If I did I would say.

It's stunningly beautiful inside and out. Displays have lots of options but the HUD is really nice. Learning to control this aircraft is so much fun. C&D start up's to Normal take off's then making it jump off the runway...jump jet. Then vertical take-offs and landings then learning to do it on a moving carrier deck. When I say hours of fun it really is. Then nailing your landing on a ship in the place you chose before you get there is very rewarding.

Also, the training lessons that come with it are fantastic. Lots of them and nice to take one step at a time. Better imo that the ones that come with F-18, the F-14 training lessons are poor compared with the harriers, by far the best imo.

If you move on to A2G again the lessons are nice one step at a time lessons and options to just do different bits again if you want to work on one aspect of something. 

I would love to hear how you get on with your journey with it if you get it, Ron.

O btw its sounds fantastic. Just like the real thing. Do bear in mind it does take some learning just one step at a time and redo the step as many times as needed till your happy, that was my approach. Very rewarding.

 

Ron how did you get on with weapons in the F-5E

Edited August 30, 2019 by Nyxx

[Ron Attwood 3,464]

2 hours ago, Nyxx said:

Ron how did you get on with weapons in the F-5E

Well I did manage to fire off some rockets and missiles. I went on a server that came pre-loaded with a bunch of mean looking stuff slung under the wings and fuselage. Most of it I unleashed except the big bugger in the middle. I flew around busily 'dropping' this bomb but it didn't want to go. Eventually I realised it was a fuel tank.

I'm not cut out to be a war monger. Flying is the thing and that's what appeals with the Harrier. I'll leave the armaments at home.

[Nyxx 6,993]

1 hour ago, Ron Attwood said:

Well I did manage to fire off some rockets and missiles. I went on a server that came pre-loaded with a bunch of mean looking stuff slung under the wings and fuselage. Most of it I unleashed except the big bugger in the middle. I flew around busily 'dropping' this bomb but it didn't want to go. Eventually I realised it was a fuel tank.

I'm not cut out to be a war monger. Flying is the thing and that's what appeals with the Harrier. I'll leave the armaments at home.

Just flying is great fun. To wet your appetite.

A little word of warning Ron as your just about to hook up you get a breakaway warning, don't listen to it.

Note the fueling line just below the box on the left (Ready), that's the sight picture to go for.

Two extras

 

Ron have you been watching the F-35 pilot training program on ITV?

They said the aircraft is 100 million and when the pilots came to the air to air refueling, classed as the most dangerous part of the training, they lost 5 pilots and 5 aircraft. OMG!

They also said the custom fit helmets that gives the pilots the HUD and they can also see through the aircraft, cost £250,000. Small change really when the F-35 is 100m^^

Edited August 30, 2019 by Nyxx

[Ron Attwood 3,464]

Yes, I've been watching Fighter Pilots. My hat's off to them. Nothing but admiration for all them!

I'm not sure about $100 million airplane that takes it into it's head not to boot up sometimes.

Whet, as in sharpening a knife on a whetstone. /pedant mode off.