I’ve been focussing on the harrier and the mirage recently, a nice combo, and both are quite easy to learn.
The harrier is still the best though. Always will be 
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I’ve learned a lot of the Hornet, despite getting it after the Harrier, so that makes me hopeful I can get into it without as much conversion training.
That said, while the Harrier’s systems aren’t as deep as the Hornet’s, it’s just plain harder to takeoff and land in. I can get around in the Hornet despite blatantly violating every proper technique, with an overly steep glideslope off axis and STILL catching a 2 or 3 wire. Harrier I try and do it all by the book and more often than not I’m in some PIO death spiral. 
Well, to be fair I tend to fly the Hornet that way because when I try to do it properly I wind up boltering as the hook fails to catch…
I am almost the opposite. I always feel that my flying is a touch ugly in the Hornet. I am ok around the boat. Just not…er…pretty? But the Harrier can be flown from zero to 500 back to zero smoothly. AR is pure joy as is playing around the Tarawa. It’s just about the perfect plane for Blue Flag as it is fast enough to have some hope of outrunning a missile fired within the kill zone. I do wish that the systems were modeled with a little more depth. Someday soon I think.
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I am with you Smokin, I’ve got all the advantages of a helicopter, the targeting of an A-10C, and the weapons of a hornet(minus some air to air stuff, but boo to that anyway, that’s for quitters). And frankly, it keeps feeling original, flying it. planning a flight with it. executing it. I love it all and I don’t know exactly why…
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There has to be something special about it - when I’m not flying it, I keep coming back to this thread in hopes that someone else is frothing about it - and often I don’t need to be disappointed 
My yesterday’s effort was figuring out bombing JTAC laser targets on through the inferno server - they happened to have JTACs in place so I could figure it out without a rush. Simple stuff but new to me, so that’s another functionality in my toolbox.
After the session I was thinking - when there’s a JTAC (or a buddy) laser on the target, I don’t need to worry about the TPOD gimbal / LOS limits so I could probably do a loft / toss bombing run from quite a bit further away and continue inverted back the way I came, stay at standoff-range. Is this a common tactic?
Who knows, google gives me this:
(4) Stand off delivery of LGBs.
Delivery of LGBs near friendly forces is a risky venture and requires extremely close coordination between the aircraft, the FAC, and the FIST/FO. Because of the inherent risk to friendly ground troops, only the ground commander can authorize LGB stand off deliveries. See Appendix D for examples of LGB delivery profiles. WARNING: One way to deliver LGBs from low altitude is a loft attack. In this maneuver, the aircraft pulls up sharply at a predetermined point some miles from the target and the LGB is lofted upward and toward the target. However, if the LGB guidance system detects reflected laser energy from the target designator too soon after release, it tends to pull the LGW down below its required trajectory and the bomb will impact well short of the target. For this type of attack, it is critical to begin designating the target only during the last part of the bomb’s flight. The pilot must call “LASER ON” based upon his computation of the bomb’s time of flight to ensure safe and accurate terminal guidance. The pilot must know exactly where the target is, and make a very accurate delivery/release of the weapon. Again, only the ground commander can authorize a loft delivery from behind friendly lines. The pilot is solely responsible for delivering a ballistically accurate bomb.
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Don’t know about common, but it’s one of the key uses for a remote HELLFIRE engagement.
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You would toss bomb a hellfire?!
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Yeah, you gotta watch out for retreating blade stall in the Apache though. Predator doesn’t have that problem.
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do… you not?
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Uh… no, I’d fire them popping up from some cover like trees or a building. At least, thats what gunship 2k and EECH taught me.
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It also helps to have a enterprising crew chief (preferably enlisted) hanging on the wing with a hammer and/or foot to push the missile off the rail.
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I’m sure we can strap em on with some camouflage speed tape, don’t worry about it.
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- two hellfire missiles fly off into outer space.
Yeah that worked flawlessly!
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Cool. I’m looking forward to trying it out!
I’m also thinking of setting up a mission to try out if the laser is impacted by rain / cloud.
Nope, laser and IR are not impacted by environmental conditions in DCS.
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Nor, for that matter, is AI’s ability to visually find and track you. Something I recently learned on Through The Inferno’s weather server. BTW, other than that, I really like the use of weather, especially dynamic weather. I wish it was something found more often online.
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Thanks for the info guys - that’s a shame. TTI server weather was what made me think about testing it out in the first place.
I’m the same - I’d like to see more weather on MP. Doing the X-Plane journeys with real world weather updates has made DCS MP clear skies feel like there’s a big element missing.
I always enjoyed the weather in Enemy Engaged - the rain and poor visibility set a gloomy tone. Very enjoyable…
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Hey, you’re not supposed to know about our micro-ICBM program! 
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