SPLENDID!
Congratz @Chuck_Owl
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First impressions:
Feels like a mix of F-5, F-16, and MiG-21/J-7. The initial engine startup isn’t hard, but getting all the mission prep takes up a decent chunk of time. Expect to spend more time on the ground setting things up despite the relatively quick startup process.
Handling is excellent, it’s definitely a lightweight aircraft. It’s not quite as agile as a MiG-29 or F/A-18 and the G limits are lower, so I’d be careful about getting into WVR dogfights. It can do them, but lacking a HMD and appropriate missiles makes it a losing proposition. The PL-5 in particular feels more like a missile made to cross the gap between gun range and SD-10/MRM range. I didn’t have much luck with it up closer where an R-73 or AIM-9X would have performed better. By contrast, the SD-10 feels better in every way compared to the AIM-120, only being held back by the relatively weak radar on the JF-17. It’s definitely a dangerous opponent within 40nmi which is about when the radar starts to shine. The gun works very well but is quite a pain to setup, as you have to select it, wait a few seconds, then load it and wait another few seconds. Once it’s up though, it’s quite effective for deflection shots.
Air-ground I haven’t delved into too much outside of the LD-10, which is a anti-radiation version of the SD-10. It takes about 2-3 minutes to spin up, but when it does you can either pick active mode and tell it to attack your sensor point of interest, passive mode which basically locks on the nearest radiation source, or self protect which pushes it toward the radar locking you. The targeting pod is quirky and interesting but I’ve only done the basics with it thus far.
The radar supposedly takes advantage of ED’s new API, so we have a basic terrain mode and a SAR mode which doesn’t seem to be fully implemented yet. These will be handy for finding things like ships and locating targets. I need to find out if we can set a point on the radar returns as a SPI, since it seems like functionality is there for it.
The module itself feels well-done and Deka has definitely put a lot of effort into it; having said that, the aircraft itself, for those of us in the west, will feel alien due to being both relatively new and developed by far east/central Asian engineers. It won’t feel like a typical red force jet that we’re used to and definitely fits into a category of its own. I can easily see shoehorning this jet into a 80s/90s scenario as a pseudo F-20, just the same as it being used as a JF-17 in the modern era.
Gripes about the aircraft in particular: no aerial refueling which sucks because the legs are short (I understand later variants have AAR capability); internal fuel is about ~5000lbs and its using an inefficient RD-33; the version represented has two radios, but has to give up one for a data link; the radio is a pain to work with; the HOTAS controls feel like two angry squirrels in a sack; and cockpit visibility feels constrained both fore and aft.
For the module itself, it’s mostly functional but I’ve had more than a few cases of DCS just outright crashing to desktop with no errors when things like missiles are about to hit or I’ve just hopped into instant action and it dies as soon as the scenario loads. I also get some slowdowns with the TGP and air-ground radar on occasion. I expect some of these issues with a new release and Deka has indicated many fixes are in the works, so I’ve no doubt we’ll see bug fixes steadily roll out. The other thing that caught me off guard is the method for clicking switches is left click pushes a switch up while right click pushes it down; I’ve acclimatized to the reverse, but that’s simply a matter of preference.
Whether or not you should buy it… Too subjective. More often than not, I’ve enjoyed quirky aircraft like the Viggen, so for me it was a good buy; plus, I always like to support folks like Deka who clearly put a lot of effort into their work – especially since I remember barely scratching the surface of doing similar things! For anyone else, I’d say it just depends on how well you like the F-16, F-5, and MiG-21, because that’s the best way I can sum up the JF-17 – a cross of all three.
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WIll the LD-10 in active mode track the SPI specifically or a radar emitter in the vicinity of the SPI?
When I tried it, I didn’t even get that, they just veered off to the port and sailed right over the radar off of my nose. I only had luck using passive and SP modes.
Checked and yes, active mode will look for the strongest radiation source in the vicinity of the SPI. It’s got to be fairly precise though. I was able to set a point on the radar for an SPI and 2 out of 3 times I got the LD-10 to hit the radar there.
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Great write-up Franze! I am so onboard with this and am ready to buy. My main issue is that I’m in major crunch mode for work and am totally exhausted. I don’t have the energy to go get my wallet let alone learn a new jet, however freaking awesome it looks.
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Spent some time on it last night. Great module but typical me, I cant figure out the basics. I did the instant action guided rockets mission. I got the pod to look at the target but I CANT LOCK anything. I tried several buttons before sleep took precedence over targets. I watched Red Kites great video on the Thunders TGP but no joy. Any ideas?
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For me, it was T5 press: Lock Target to get an area track.
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I tried landing an F-15C in the same condition at Khasab once, touch down - ok. Brake failure and subsequent tumbling fireball, not so much.
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If you rip the wings off, the game considers you “dead” so I couldn’t request a repair, make radio calls, or anything like that. But as I got closer to the ground, my speed slowly increased until I hit the ground at 276 knots and skidded across the runway. No gear for the obvious reason that I doubted my ability to touch down properly!
Thanks! And I think I’ll take my chances w the ejection seat lol
gotta love the chinese APKWS 
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I think something similar is already happening on Blue Flag Caucasus server where they replaced 60s/70s with 70s/80s themed planeset ( no ARHMs so I guess I have the years right ).
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Working on it for two days, it is giving me the fun of F-5 and technology. Fox-3 is great, it needs HMD I think. Radar is fabulous, Liked it so much. Tried maximum altitude at this video;
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Welcome to Mudspike!
Nice video.
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There, fixed that for you…
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