To be honest I kind of feel that way about several modules in DCS.
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Uh⊠yeah⊠those are going to make posts quite⊠hard⊠to read.
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Yup, me too. Harrier, all of the MiGâs, Spitfire are all great to just hoon around with, preferably blasting stuff in the process.
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Dcs hawkâŠ
Just kidding.
For me the hip is great, I like the huey, but to me it feels horribly underpowered (dunno if accurate or not)
Most planes, even FBW aircraft all feel different which is nice. I obviously have no idea how accurate the modelling is, but the fact there is a noticeable difference is a good thing.
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Me neither. Iâll settle for believeable.
Because, letâs face it, 100% isnât possible.
And, we who fly for real know that even aircraft of the same type, can have different performance and behave differently.
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On the subject of F-14 bolter physics, anyone else drop about 20ft off the deck when doing a bolter, despite having full MIL selected?
The only thing that feels strange to me about the Tomcat is that I can basically smash it onto the carrier deck with an enormous sink rate (from way above the glide slope) catch the wire and not damage anything.
Maybe it was that easy in real life, but it sure feels off.
I donât know by how much I settle but I do sink below the deck. As the nose wheel rolls off the ramp there is a tendency for the nose to lower. A lot of back pressure is needed to raise it. But, if you trap and launch from the cat without resetting the trim, thereâs a big nose-up tendency. I donât see much difference aerodynamically between the two cases other than the extension of the tailhook in the first. But who knows. To me it feels as authentic as the F-5 but in neither case do I possess anything more substantive than a hunch.
âVictory205â over at the âotherâ forum did fly the F-14 and is involved with Heatblur as an SMA. He says in his Case 1 guide that there should be a faster pitch reaction to thrust changes with the airplane properly trimmed, which would make flight path control a little easier. So that alone implies that the FM is not perfect. But the fact that itâs such a minor complaint may also indicate that the F-14 is not at all far off.
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I managed to break the left main gear on my second trap.
You need to try harder, @Aginor.
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Ok. 
But the main thing is actually catching the wire in that case, IMO. A steep landing should increase the number of hook skip bolters, shouldnât it? It certainly seems to be the case for the Hornet and I have a hard time believing that the F-14âs dampening systems are so much better.
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It certainly has more weight.
But I agree. The Hornet is more picky when it comes to trapping.
And I have checked that the right main can break too. All in the name of science, of course⊠
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They certainly do have their own personalities. You might have to fly them awhile before you notice the subtle differences, but no two airframes are exactly the same.
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I think that during cat launches, the extension of the nose wheel from its kneeled position will impart the necessary pitch up moment. During a bolter, the nose has to be pulled up by hand to get to flying AoA again when leaving the deck.
The Mil thrust will eventually push the nose up too and within seconds you have to counter again by ample forward trim and reducing throttle.
Doesnât the Tomcatâs nose gear âpop upâ at shuttle release to give the nose that upward velocity?
If you can capture your exit sink rate and weight you can figure it out. HoweverâŠ
The F-14, A-6 and EA-6 were referred to as âGrumman Tanksâ. Having watched many traps on the PLAT, it is amazing how hard an F-14 hits the deck.
Sea Story Alert! âŠalthough this happened at Nellis AFB during a Red FlagâŠ
One of our F-14s is coming back to Nellis 03R. It has experienced some control problemsâspurious uncommanded roll inputs. They touch down and it happens again. The jet makes a big move to the left. The pilot (not the best or brightest of sticks in the squadron) manages to keep the gear on the deck but now they are speeding over the infield between the two runways.
I donât have the Vegas DCS mapâŠin real life the terrain between the two runways at Nellis s scrub desertâŠa bumpy ride in a dune buggy at 50 kphâŠthese guys are doing it in a jet at 100+ knotsâŠ
âŠand then there was the drainage ditchâŠthey saw it comingâŠcouldnât miss itâŠstill going real fastâŠthey slam over it and keep goingâŠafter a little more âBaja actionâ, they cross RWY 03L (a pair of F-16s about to go from 03L, âTower, Viper 1: Whatâs that Tomcat doing?â) and come to a stop in the desert terrain off the left side of the runway.
We towed the jet back to the line, checked the engines for FOD (there was none) fixed the control problem (bad Roll SAS), dusted it off and it was ready to fly the next day.
Grumman Tanks. 
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Weâre making you and @Bogusheadbox roomies at the same hospital ward.
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Better not, theyâll keep the entire ward awake with their bickering over the need for swing wings afterburners and internal carriage of weapons.
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Absolutely agree! Between learning the flagship modules like Hornet etc., Iâve been taking the time in the C-101, L-39, F-86F, Mig-15Bis, F-5E3 and doing navigation practice, take-off and landing practice, bombing experimentation and just flying and enjoying the scenery both inside and outside the cockpit. So much personality in those individual modules and their âfeelingâ of flight etc.
Last night, I actually took out the Yak-52 in the Caucuses just to fly and look at the map in different places. It was so much fun and to see the beauty of the Caucuses map so close down low and I was amazed at the detail. It has been a long time since Iâve flown in the Caucuses map. The Yak-52 is perfect for that kind of online adventure.
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