Definitely the music…
Oh man…so much fun! Seems very close to the model that was slipped in a few months ago. No more slippery ships! Yay!
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One and the same, the bounces are from the pilots headbanging too hard.
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So barest of impressions.
STOBAR Is the most unnatural and deviant of all carrier techniques for non V/STOL aircraft
It handles like a dream at low speed, which is good because the russian landing symbology is utter crap.
PFM/Ship interface still seems… iffy, hope they’re working on that
Catching a wire is supes satisfying.
I got blown up by a JBD.
EDIT: Continued
WHO DESIGNED THE CANOPY BOW SO THAT IT BOTH OBSTRUCTS THE REFUELING PROBE AND THE CLOSING SPEED LIGHTS ON TANKER? YOBANI UROD GAZYOT DEBIL BLYAT IDI NAHUI! TO GULAG WITH YOUR FAMILY!
I’m not sure if the probe autopilot is hurting or helping, but more expirimentation is definitely needed to find proper rejoin speed. 313 Knots IAS was not it.
Good News: There is an IFLOLS!
Bad News: It’s visible from roughly twelve feet.
The AoA indexer is reversed. This is extremely annoying. VAMF, why you do this?
Overall: Plane is good, the supporting technology has some improvements to make, but is a move in the right direction.
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Su_Carrier_Ops.miz (8.9 KB)
This is a simple mission I made with about the lowest visibility in which I have been able to land on the carrier. Three clients can depart Batumi from parking hot and three from the nearby boat (also hot). The boat places you at launch as always. There is also an Mi8 on the boat to pull Beech out of the drink. I haven’t made a mission for multiplayer in years so can’t guarantee that this will work. Works in single player; just chose your slot. There is also an IL-tanker near waypoint 1 for the boat launched planes and waypoint 2 for the planes out of Batumi.
The weather makes makes it needlessly difficult for a player’s first few traps. It is easy enough to raise the visibility to something, err, safer. Also, the fuel is a 40% for the boat planes and 50% for the land base planes. Both depart the boat no problem with WEP and fearlessly aft stick.
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The Su-33 got some new equipment as well 
MER bomb racks. 6 bombs on a rack. 8 racks on a plane. Together with the two singleton bombs near the wingtips, this brings the tally of bombs to 50. Obliterating the old record holder for large bomb quantities on a playable plane, the Su-25. Wich only held 32 100kg bombs.
About 5300kg worth of bombs right there.
One pass…
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I’m enjoying this. It’s like a free DCS module, as I think I bought Flaming Lips back when in Victorian times (or at least Edwardian). Random questions:
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Does anyone else’s Autothrust sort of stick on, as in it doesn’t seem to toggle off properly? I use the ‘reset autopilot’ binding, but after about 5 seconds or so it seems to really want to put autopilot/autothrust mode back on? Maybe the computer is saying ‘Your pitch authority is no good, here give it to me’ or something?
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No-one is safe from my EO IRST locking. A lot of friendly bothams died today due to pilot error. I guess a radar lock is the only way to IFF?
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I can kill exactly one Su-33 per press of the ASC button. Great stats.
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It sure is fantastic! I already flew it a lot beforehand, but it does feel like a whole new module.
Wich of the two autopilot disconnects are you using? One completely disables the autopilot. The other sort of works like the paddle in the F-16 in that you can hold it down, and then maneuvre into a new attitude or towards a new altitude, and then let go. The autopilot will then hold the new commands. It does sound like you’re using the later. The one you want to use is bound to LALT-9 by default. The other to LShift-A.
That is correct, besides a visual ID However, if you have a friendly Mainstay (or a rogue sentry or hawkeye…) in the air, you can call him and ask to DECLARE. And he will magically know what contact your passive sensor has locked up and tell the bogey’s allegiance.
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Thanks @sryan, I did not know that. I am woefully bad at building SA through the external assets…
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SU-33 doing pinch SU-24 work from Wargame… I LIKE IT. Nearblind, the dumb bombing passes we will have to do with best carpet bomber…
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I had the autopilot reset (LALT-9) bound but it wasn’t working ok, not sure why. I downloaded @smokinhole’s small mission and it seems ok in that.
I do need a couple of tips on these things though:
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The air refueling is exhaustingly hard. I have put some ~20 curves on my pitch/roll and it helps, but once the refueling probe is out then it doesn’t seem to allow to enable the autothrottle? Or it is enabling it in another mode? There is a new ‘autolevel’ mode as well (I think) but not sure how to enable that with the refueling mode that it goes into with the probe out.
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I have a lot of trouble with wires catching on landing. What’s the general tips for getting that butt down properly? I must have done about 6 bolters in a row at one point.
Autothrottle isn’t going to do a whole lot to help you there. The way I understand it to work is when the probe is extended, an auto-pilot mode kicks in so that when it detects there is no stick movement, it controls the aircraft into level flight. I have a constant right pull on my stick, so I never saw it truly engage, but it did seem to be trimming, so that was something.
My issue with refueling was the power curve: idle throttle sent you careening back, 5% throttle sent you careening into the tanker. I actually had to add in speed brakes to consistently stay in the basket.
The aircraft is, technically speaking, floaty as all hell and the power curve is weird towards the bottom. I’m still trying to decide if it’s impressive or terrifying I can get the thing to sustain a climb at 230 KM/H.
If the Russians follow convention (iffy proposition), then being at optimal approach AoA should put the aircraft in the best configuration for the tailhook to catch a wire when you hit the deck. AoA is dictated by speed, so you can check either by referencing the AoA indexer to the left of your hud, or the programmed proper speed in the top left of your hud in LDNG mode. Also in LDNG mode is the ILS indicators, which are two concentric circles. You want to center the smaller one in the larger one, and that should put you on glide slope.
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Roger that! Glad it helped. It might be worthwhile to pick this skill up while you’re flying the Su-33 as, like most Russian 4th gens, they’re designed to be controlled externally, and not to be fully autonomous. This means you simply have to enter the data you receive to find the target.
If you enter the range information you receive in the bottom center of the HUD. You can use your antenna elevation controls to enter the Δaltitude (the difference between you and the target) on the right. As can be seen in this case, the difference is 3000 metres, so I enter -3. The distance and the altitude are linked. So if the target was 80km away and 5000 metres lower, I entered 80 in the bottom of the HUD and -5 along the right side. By doing so you know you’re pointing your avionics in the right direction, providing you’re on the correct bearing.
In the Su-33 (and Su-27 as well), the AWACS will also draw the bandit on your moving ‘map’, via a datalink, making things easy If you get good at setting things up, and checking the result via the datalink, you’ll be ready for when the MiG-29 PFM hits, as that functions the same, minus the datalink.
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As far as tanker goes, you are forced to use the autopilot to a degree. It will return you to wings level when the stick is released. If you have the HUD in nav mode and pre-contact established with the Tanker, you will have his exact speed displayed on your HUD. Use this to find a thrust lever angle that will match his speed closely. With that information you will only need about a half inch of movement forward and aft of that angle to stay in position. Keep comparing speeds to see how you are doing. Once you catch the basket the key is to push it in a few yards and try to keep it in the green. Flashing red means you are reeling out and flashing orange means you are reeling in (relative to the tanker). Steady red and steady orange mean you outside or inside of ideal, respectively. So long as you see green alone or with another color, you are good enough. When the tanker turns you must fight the autopilot to match his bank angle. Once you are done hit control-r and accelerate. Within a few seconds to probe will retract.
For landing, “put the thing in the thing”. The big circle is your flight director. The small one is the ILS. If you are nuts on, you will see a small circle inside a larger circle with a cross connecting the two. Worry about keeping the cross inside the BIG circle and try to look through the ILS. Your speed should match the one computed on the HUD.
{Sorry…sniped above 
}
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Thanks for the tips all. I think my issue was underestimating the sheer length of the 33, in that I’d land short of wire 1 and then it bounces. If I put the nose down a tad later than ‘feels’ right then it seems to catch ok.
Really impressed with the free update, never expected to enjoy rediscovering the 33 so much - great job ED!
I am so stoked to finally try this out myself!
contact me by Teamspeak for online action, I’ll be flying @smokinhole’s mission in Single Player first.
@Sryan Thanks for the tests and the formula! I’ll be flying a little lower weights first to see what I’m comfortable with, but it’s nice to know the upper limit.
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Ive been so excited about this. Glad it is here YAY! So I guess, this is not your fathers Flanker! Hahaha
It looks ready for some F/A-18 combat.
Thank You ED!
Su_Carrier_Ops_Nite.miz (10.4 KB)
Same mission but at early dusk with better visibility and more clients.
(just updated again. Added a couple of escort boats for the carrier to give the Mi8 a place to practice. The Mi8 is now cold start on the Kruz.)
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Gah, I need to hurry up and get home so I can try this out too!