I’ve found the Tomcat much easier to land on the boat than the Hornet. That DLC thingy is really nice. I’m not sure if the Tomcat is too easy or the Hornet is too hard, but I was surprised about how it turned out.
Maybe it’s just me but it seems like the Hornet got harder to land a few updates ago.
Just flew a mission with the Tomcat in the PG where you have to escort strike flights of Tornados, Falcons and a B-1. I noticed that you will get a missile launch warning on your RWR even if the SAM battery is engaging someone else. Later when I depleted my missiles and some MIG-29s showed I also got a missile launch warning from 29 emitter despite it being far away and the MIG in question was engaging somebody else. Seems like a bug to me.
Also I had a funny occurence of lucky Iranian F-4. I was preparing for a Phoenix launch on a Phantom about 50nm away, radar in TWS-A mode already assigned my last missile for the bogey. But before I launched, the SA-2 battery in front, launched a missile probably on me (can’t be sure, see the first paragraph). The AWG-9 picked up the SAM flying towards me and since the SAM had great closure rate it was automatically targeted by the TWS-A as the highest threat. I noticed that after I pickled the missile, my Phoenix soared to meet the SAM instead of that lucky Phantom. I changed the view to show the missile in flight, unfortunately it seemed it lost track of the SAM.
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That is accurate since the RWR just “hears” the SAM FC radar in missile launch/track mode. It doesn’t differentiate who the radar is locked on to. To do this justice we would need to discuss the various types of SAM missile guidance and modes of FC radar lock on (e.g. conical scan) , side lobes, etc. Suffice t say, if threader is locked on you or somebody in your area when it launches, you should get the lock warning.
Depends on how far was “far away” and direction, etc. Same as the SAM issue. I wouldn’t say it is a bug since overall the simulation is fairly accurate.
This one, I am not so sanguine about. There should be a way to “filter” contacts by speed so that an SA-2 with a high mach number can be discounted…not sure how much human interface is required.
That said, in the RW, taking a 50 Nm shot at an F-4 would have a fairly low Pk. The Phoenix is a great missile but, depending on the launch geometry, its energy state at the end of a 50 Nm shot isn’t all that great.
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I had a hugely satisfying “Through The Inferno” (online) flight yesterday. After two BVR AI Kills, I found myself on the deck with a MiG-21. I only knew he was there because Jester was scolding me to be a pilot. My VR spotting skills are rough, really rough. The MiG got a few hits in but the Tomcat was still flying fine. We got into a turning fight which I easily won (again, AI). I didn’t realize in the moment that the “combined” side of the hydraulic system was wiped out and my wings were stuck at around 55 sweep. I got him with a heater and hobbled off to tank up and assess. Enroute to “Shell” I tried all I could think of swing the wings forward including, desperately and stupidly, using the hand pump. The wings are normally electric so I am not sure how the hydro system relates but anyway I did all I could think of—which wasn’t much. We gased up enough to get back to the boat and I caught the 2-wire doing at least 190 knots. I fly weeks to have one good flight like that one. PFM.
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Most of my memorable virtual (and real) flights involve some kind of damage or failure… 
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Ok, so, wow.
Started a new job in mid feb and while that’s going very well (I now run my own dept and report direct to a very supportive team of managing partners) and things are very busy in a good way, but still busy. On top of that I have a 4 month old daughter, and apparently tiny humans demand a great deal of attention, and are not very understanding of sesimeic events happening in the world of flight sims.
So, I have a new Joystick base (Virpil Warbrd), AND the Tomcat was out for a week before I got to it.
I feel given company here understands the sacrifices I’ve made here…
Anyway, right, the Turkey: it’s ok I guess. I mean, it’s no Yak.
But yeah, it’s a lot of fun, and the WarBrd came just in time. It’s not as ‘bad’ as a lot of the feedback I was seeing had me believing. It needs a decent amount of trimming, but I was more surprised at how she makes lift; the VVI will go all over the place, but the nose won’t. The increased deflection and precsion of the Warbrd goes to work here as well, making it easy to accommodate pitch changes.
Also incredibly maneuverable when unloaded; not used to such a high roll rate. Took me by surprise. A real hot rod and joy to fly!
Also not used a plane that basically flys level to hold altitude. By comparison, the Hornet always feels like it’s clawing to keep altitude, and 99% of the time needs nose up during cruise. The tomcase feels like it needs to be shoved nose down to keep from climbing.
Weapons: the -54 is a beast, and firing any of the missles has a satisfying ‘THUNK-POW!” sound that really emphasizes that you’ve just ensured someone is about to have a very bad day.
Bombing things is fun, and she makes a surprisingly good ground attack plane.
I’ve found it doesn’t want want to dogfight at high altitude; down low where the GEs can breathe she can hoon around all day.
Jester doesn’t talk as much as I thought he would. Mixed thoughts on that.
As fun and ground breaking as she is, I still find my heart wandering back to the Hornet. I’m absolutely glad I got the tomcat module, but the hornet just has more toys to play with.
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Sometimes you just want Jester to shut up. 
It is a fantastic module though. I’m having a blast flying it. Like you, I received my WarBRD base just in time for release. It is a great improvement over the WH base.
Congratulations on the recent addition to your family too!
Does turning the intercom off turn Jester off…?
You have an option in the Jester menu under utility tab iirc
I had my suspicion about that in regard to SA-2, but after getting launch warning from MIG-29 which was >50nm away and was taking a shot on a friendly that was on different vector from that MIG (so I doubt his radar cone would hit me while he was taking his shot). I’m not so sure, since he would have to use STT mode to launch that semi active R-27 which means all his radar energy would be focused on his target.
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Dumb post. Please delete. Thanks.
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Yeah…that’s not kwite rite.
Something I probably should have posted more often than not…I’m giving it a “Like” 
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Id say its a bit more bug than feature that Jester freaks out when the RWR contact thats causing the alert is freindly.
“Dude, the only RWR contacts are F18s locking up some mig 15s 60nm away, chill the F out…”
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Well jester is only a robot after all. I don’t really hold it against him that he lacks the situational awareness to tell truly alarming RWR spikes from bogus ones.
Captain obvious here. I just dropped by to say that I only this weekend realized that one can turn Jester’s actions off as well as shut him up. This little bit of knowledge let me finally learn the basics of aft pit setup, Lantirn bombing and radar modes without further embarrassment in multiplayer. Obvious out.
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Tried the Tomcat some more…
The flaps. Are they only up or down? Nothing in between?
Can someone explain how DLC works? How and when do you use it?
Yes, flaps are either down or up. However, you should map the DLC controls to something easy at hand. You need up, down and engage. Engage it when dirtied up and it will pop out half of the spoilers. Up will pop 'em in, making you go up, down will pop 'em out some more making you go down. Makes landing a breeze.
If you are in a dogfight, with the wings out, DLC up will make the flaps and slats come out.
In the real thing, DLC was a spring loaded anologue rotary. You had a button to engage/disengage. You rolled it up/down with your thumb and letting it go, it would spring back to neutral.
Flaps: I think so. Though ‘down’ may be actively controlled by the flaps/spoiler system;
DLC: (I use it) On approach to the carrier, in the groove to control descent rate. I have it mapped to an additional axis on my VKB Modern Combat Grip Pro and, once enabled, pushing forward adds downward motion (increases descent rate) without changing the orientation of the Tomcat (no need to trim, reduce power, etc) and pulling back reduces downward motion (increasing lift).
The flaps can be selected to any position per the manual. DLC provides mostly slats and a bit of flap. Personally I don’t use it as I have found traps to be more controllable without it.