The Big Fighter ™ is a bit floaty in the groove. I learned to fly it without DLC in the olden days and still can make it work but DLC certainly makes things easier.
Hard to find a YT (so far) that’s filmed from a good angle (and not blurry) but it appears that DLC was a thing (though at least one former 'Cat driver thought it was [sic] ‘rubbish’).
Best I can get so far. You can barely see it here; it appears the ‘spoilers’ are retracting right at touchdown. At 5:55 it’s more visible:
Then there’s this one, esp. the second sequence. Looks eerily familiar (to me )
You can see the DLC retracting better here I think.
Are you using Full Flaps?
Some of the Tomcat guys I flew with mentioned it way back when. My impression was that it was just a thing they used as needed, but I don’t recall any judgments about it.
All i said was “one pass and haul ass” what he did with that information is out of my hands.
On a similar viggen note. I went through the falklands earlier not above 100 feet agl.
That plane is bloody mental
You people are bad for my wallet. I am developing a deadly collection of aircraft that I can only start when someone valets the thing onto the runway and only employ by dropping bombs like a SPAD.
I defy ANYONE to not smile being upside down pulling 6G at 90ft round a canyon bend.
Especially when the volvo does its best BANG BANG BANG as it clears its throat halfway through.
You deserve it @Deacon211 you really do. I thought the harrier was the daddy at low level till i did it supersonic, pulled up and over and landed on a road.
(I lied, i “arrived at the road on fire” but my heart was in it)
Still cool
First batch of British warships appeared for the Falklands, including a new carrier. HMS Invincible looks great
I couldnt get harriers to take off from it, let me know if you have more luck
Wow, that hurt - hits close to home
Yep full flaps. Very light with 2x2 payload and 3~4k on gas so I’m very light. I should mention this is the A model. B seems easier to manage…is it heavier? Something just feels so wonky with the A because it seems to have no drag whatsoever. With throttles at idle she just doesn’t want to slow down. I thought TF-30s were supposed to be underpowered
Are speedbrakes supposed to be out for the Tomcat on the ball? And if so, is that what you do?
They were for the T-2C, A-4, and T-45A, primarily to operate the engine in the more responsive part of the power curve but also for wave off capability.
Just for the drag (and to arm it if I need it) I fly with DLC at about a quarter up on downwind and don’t touch it after that. I find that I am more precise in the groove using power alone.
Airbrakes out DLC on. I don’t know what my RPM is but my physical throttle range is consistently below 50%. Compared to the B where it’s consistently above 50% in the same situation.
I find with the b model that airbrakes out makes it really hard to stay on AoA without bleeding off too much speed and making larger power changes to compensate.
Im not saying its wrong, just find it easier to keep dlc up (like @smokinhole) a little bit and use that for the height correction
I am generally above 60 percent with airbrakes out and DLC but a lot lower under 50 with brakes in
At some point they reduced the radar range. The Viper has a rather small radar dish with comparatively little power, but you should still see fighter sized targets pop up at around 40nm. What radar mode are you in?
I was losing lock left and right last night in my Viper.
I’m not sure if it was jamming, notching, both, or something else, but it’s certainly tough to engage fighters at max 120 range with it.
Didn’t ed acknowledge the viper radar aint right as it is? They’re hashing it over with their SME’s.