Looks like the developers of the very nice YF-23 Advanced Tactical Fighter (and that other 5th Gen stealth jet that should’ve lost the ATF competition) are asking for community input on their roadmap.

They’ve made it rather easy to vote:

StrawPoll

Tell us what you'd like to see from Top Mach Studios | 20...

What is your opinion? Vote now: Saab JAS-39 Gripen E/F, Mig-29M/K Fulcrum-D or Mig-35 (Mig-29 Fulcrum-F), Lockheed Martin F-16C or V (IFE and Blackbird are currently developing the F

There’s a list of addons already in dev, too.

FWIW, I voted for the Gripen because austere highway ops in the woods are fun, and the Chinese J-15 because hulking ski jump carrier-capable fighters based on the mighty Su-27 are something everyone should try. 😎

Also those two because TMS are already doing a bunch of Russian and American jets, so we need to flesh out the global selection.

Surprisingly, they’re considering Yet Another F-16 variant even tho there’s already one released and two more on the way. 🤷‍♂️

Anyhow, I’m hoping they’ve taken note of the incredibly well simulated AzurPoly Rafale and are raising their standards accordingly. 😁👍

Edited 14 hours ago14 hr by UrgentSiesta

I bought the F-22 for MSFS2020 and it was - fine. I thought it was similar to the F-35 from IFE, and that one had three models and was generally more interesting to me. So, I never flew the F-22 after the first weeks of having it.

I contemplated getting it for MSFS2024 when I came back to simming after a hiatus, and saw that there wasn't a 2024 version at that time, but that they were developing one that they were going to list on the Marketplace. Fair enough, more and more devs seem to be doing that and I have chosen to buy things on the Marketplace more as a result. I understand the anti-piracy benefits to the devs.

However, where I thought they lot the plot was in telling people that anyone who bought the original outside of the Marketplace was SOL and had to pay the same price as someone buying it new. That killed any interest from me, and I have been ever so happy to be flying the Rafale. It's so far ahead of the F-22 anyway that it was by no means a loss to give that one up.

24 minutes ago, mmcmah said:

I bought the F-22 for MSFS2020 and it was - fine. I thought it was similar to the F-35 from IFE, and that one had three models and was generally more interesting to me. So, I never flew the F-22 after the first weeks of having it.

I contemplated getting it for MSFS2024 when I came back to simming after a hiatus, and saw that there wasn't a 2024 version at that time, but that they were developing one that they were going to list on the Marketplace. Fair enough, more and more devs seem to be doing that and I have chosen to buy things on the Marketplace more as a result. I understand the anti-piracy benefits to the devs.

However, where I thought they lot the plot was in telling people that anyone who bought the original outside of the Marketplace was SOL and had to pay the same price as someone buying it new. That killed any interest from me, and I have been ever so happy to be flying the Rafale. It's so far ahead of the F-22 anyway that it was by no means a loss to give that one up.

Agree entirely.

The cockpit texturing in the original F-22, and their interpretation of the avionics was sub-par, IMHO.

The YF-23 has a fictional F-23A variant that has a distinctly F-15E-ish cockpit that’s quite well modeled.

It’s a pleasure to fly.🤙

And yep, I am FOR SURE waiting for the Black Friday sale to get the new version. I’m getting that “upgrade discount” one way or another. 😂

Ive got to have it in my collection, but I’m patient - and cheap

Rafale is such a sweet jet! I don’t even care about the weapons, it’s just great to fly it like peace time 🤙

Edited 13 hours ago13 hr by UrgentSiesta

@UrgentSiesta So, would you recommend the Azurpoly Rafale to rotorhead sim jockey like me? Do you think I would enjoy it? Would you consider it high fidelity? It does have my interest.

TL, DR: If I had to give up ALL my fast jets in MSFS, X-Plane and P3D and I could only keep ONE, it would be the AzurPoly Rafale.

It is exquisitely modeled inside and out, and everything seems to work. It’ll even import flight plans and all that jazz.

To me, it is easily as good as Taog’s Dauphin. But being a 4.5 Gen jet, it has all the advanced systems and glass cockpit stuff that our old school Dauphin lacks.

One of my favorite features is that they’ve fully recreated the Dassault On Speed/AoA HUD display for landing, along with the synthetic vision runway. Makes IMC landings very fun, and I end up using it for any ILS equipped runway because getting All The Things correctly aligned takes some effort.

It’s fast, even capable of Super Cruise, can carry 3 HUGE drop tanks for ferry flights, handles awesome and will basically do any maneuver you want.

My ONLY “criticism“ of it is that, like all 4th/5th Gen Fly By Wire jets, it’s actually quite smooth and easy to fly.

That’s why I still like the Aero Dynamics T-38C - it will bite you if you don’t fly it right

Hope that helps! 🤙

@sniper31

Edited 9 hours ago9 hr by UrgentSiesta

18 minutes ago, UrgentSiesta said:

TL, DR: If I had to give up ALL my fast jets in MSFS, X-Plane and P3D and I could only keep ONE, it would be the AzurPoly Rafale.

It is exquisitely modeled inside and out, and everything seems to work. It’ll even import flight plans and all that jazz.

To me, it is easily as good as Taog’s Dauphin. But being a 4.5 Gen jet, it has all the advanced systems and glass cockpit stuff that our old school Dauphin lacks.

One of my favorite features is that they’ve fully recreated the Dassault On Speed/AoA HUD display for landing, along with the synthetic vision runway. Makes IMC landings very fun, and I end up using it for any ILS equipped runway because getting All The Things correctly aligned takes some effort.

It’s fast, even capable of Super Cruise, can carry 3 HUGE drop tanks for ferry flights, handles awesome and will basically do any maneuver you want.

My ONLY “criticism“ of it is that, like all 4th/5th Gen Fly By Wire jets, it’s actually quite smooth and easy to fly.

That’s why I still like the Aero Dynamics T-38C - it will bite you if you don’t fly it right

Hope that helps! 🤙

COMPLETELY AGREED.

I also helped with the beta testing of the H160 back in MSFS2020, so I do love a good helicopter, but lately I've been switching between the Rafale and non-Rafale-aircraft.

42 minutes ago, UrgentSiesta said:

TL, DR: If I had to give up ALL my fast jets in MSFS, X-Plane and P3D and I could only keep ONE, it would be the AzurPoly Rafale.

It is exquisitely modeled inside and out, and everything seems to work. It’ll even import flight plans and all that jazz.

To me, it is easily as good as Taog’s Dauphin. But being a 4.5 Gen jet, it has all the advanced systems and glass cockpit stuff that our old school Dauphin lacks.

One of my favorite features is that they’ve fully recreated the Dassault On Speed/AoA HUD display for landing, along with the synthetic vision runway. Makes IMC landings very fun, and I end up using it for any ILS equipped runway because getting All The Things correctly aligned takes some effort.

It’s fast, even capable of Super Cruise, can carry 3 HUGE drop tanks for ferry flights, handles awesome and will basically do any maneuver you want.

My ONLY “criticism“ of it is that, like all 4th/5th Gen Fly By Wire jets, it’s actually quite smooth and easy to fly.

That’s why I still like the Aero Dynamics T-38C - it will bite you if you don’t fly it right

Hope that helps! 🤙

Awesome report, thanks! I will never stop flying helos, but if there are other exceptional aircraft out in the sim than that does pique my interest and why I wanted to ask. I am a fan of both modern and old school systems and avionics, so long as they are modeled well. Take the H145 and the MI-2 for example. I love flying both those aircraft, but they could not be more different. The fact they are modeled well (even though the H145 has not been fully updated to an MSFS24 version) is what matters to me.

So, now that I have that information from the both of you @UrgentSiesta and @mmcmah I will most likely be getting the Rafale here soon.

Thank you both!

1 hour ago, sniper31 said:

Awesome report, thanks! I will never stop flying helos, but if there are other exceptional aircraft out in the sim than that does pique my interest and why I wanted to ask. I am a fan of both modern and old school systems and avionics, so long as they are modeled well. Take the H145 and the MI-2 for example. I love flying both those aircraft, but they could not be more different. The fact they are modeled well (even though the H145 has not been fully updated to an MSFS24 version) is what matters to me.

So, now that I have that information from the both of you @UrgentSiesta and @mmcmah I will most likely be getting the Rafale here soon.

Thank you both!

Only reason I haven’t bought that Mi-2 yet is because I have the Mi-8 & Mi-24 in DCS and I barely have time to take them up any more…

But I’m sure I’m gonna break down at some point and get it, if for no other reason than to support the dev. It’ll go on sale sooner or later and that’ll be the thing that finally hooks me.