VTOL VR

I mean that’s generally excellent advice for anything really. :slight_smile:

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…that’s how I got through college…just say’n…:astonished:

You ain’t kiddin’!

I would’ve been better off taking $14,000 and setting it on fire. :grimacing:

If only the movie had the book’s Powered Armors…

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HARM mode…

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Mission accomplished…on the way home…

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This…was painful. Spent an hour playing the final mission in The Island. Notoriously difficult, but I managed through picking my targets carefully and letting some of my wingmen do some of the dirty work, to complete the mission on the first try. Well, at least, that would have been what happened if I had been smart enough to land. I actually boltered on my carrier landing, and I was climbing off the carrier, I saw the picket ships starting to fire missiles at an enemy aircraft. I was curious, so I headed toward the contact…and about ten seconds later, a friendly ship-fired surface to air missile shot me down!! ARGH!

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One Maverick left on the rail…

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I always thought Mac was the better mode for game play. :wink:


Wheels

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Recently added is the conformal fuel tank option for the F/A-26B, which adds an extra 6,400L of fuel.

Dropping JDAMs on tanks…

View through the TGP of an enemy missile ship firing one off at me…

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Finally finished the final mission of The Island campaign (the default AV-42C campaign). I really, really, (really) enjoyed it. The final mission is notoriously hard, although it was purported to have been made a bit easier in a recent version with additional support (which I didn’t need) in the form of a heavy bomber strike.

For those that haven’t flown VTOL VR, you are given a budget for most missions. Picking super-effective, guided munitions will eat up that budget, so you have to be careful about the scope of your mission and weight the survivability of stand-off weapons against the cheapness of close in dumb bombs and rockets.

Since I knew this was going to be a fleet vs. fleet battle, I went with two very expensive anti-ship missiles that use GPS coordinates to find, then seek out and destroy targets.

Coming off the carrier with my heavy load. Two anti-ship missiles, and eight Mavericks…

We (wingmen included) take out the defenses of a nearby airfield, making it available for refueling and rearming. The budget exists for the entirety of the mission however, so if you spend heavily on the first sortie, you won’t have much money to use if you go back to rearm or refuel…!

Working across the map we meet several objectives, trying to conserve weapons and using the most effective weapon for the job, but in some cases getting in some close scrapes. I take some damage (10%) from an airfield AAA gun that rakes me, but all my systems are still functional.

The finale is a “boss battle” against the enemy carrier group - a dozen or more ships of various sizes, including the big carrier. My wingmen soften them up a bit, but it is still a slug fest. As well, one of our carrier groups comes into range and the airspace turns into a melee of ship-to-ship missiles, fighters, attack aircraft, and drones.

One of the ship-to-ship missiles has a flight profile like a Vikhr…!

Accelerating to attack speed…!

Trying to find and target the individual anti-aircraft turrets on one of the missile/drone carriers. Taking out the turrets and radar can help you get in closer. Obviously, stand-off missiles are best used for this task, but they also get shot down by counter fire to include missiles and CIWS…

Rifle…!

Over my fleet after rearming…I’m down to only $300 left of budget money after this sortie…

I watch in frustration as my Mavericks get plucked from the sky by the carrier missile defenses. One or two squeak through, but with most of my wingmen shot down, there isn’t enough firepower to overwhelm the defenses…

Targeting the ship’s radar…

Out of weapons except for cannon, I head back to my carrier. With only $290 left, and 300 liters of fuel, I am in trouble. I can only afford two dumb bombs, and I pick up another 200 liters of fuel. The plan is to takeoff, and use that little bit of fuel to transit to the other side of the map, rendezvous with the tanker, and take on a load of fuel since you don’t have to pay for it when you get it from the tanker. (Budget conscious attack pilots are always leaving the carrier on fumes…!)

I get my fuel load, and check my mission objectives page. I need to kill one more fleet defense system, and that will clear the follow on heavy bombers to finish the job. I climb to 15,000’ and head toward the carrier. It has been damaged, but it still has missiles. I approach from the quadrant I think is least effective, and pickle from high altitude with a dumb bomb. Fortunately, the carrier has either stopped or become immobilized, so I don’t have to lead it. Boom! I hit one of the aft missile launchers…which triggers the bombers to come in. Before they arrive, I circle around, drop another bomb which hits the center of the carrier, and that must have been just enough to sink it! Woot!

I get the objective complete message and head back to the land base the long way around the island to make sure I don’t get shot down by any of the remaining AA or SAM units that are still in some of the cities.

I land, taxi to my shelter, and the campaign is over!

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When you aerial refuel is it ever an issue for your O+ controllers to go out of sight and lose control? I find myself looking up and keeping my hands down low, so it makes it hard for tiny throttle movements, as the headset loses focus on the left controller.

Am I doing it wrong, as in should I be using some of those autopilot buttons? :slight_smile:

Yes…as a matter of fact, anytime I have to look over my shoulder to the right I sometimes lose tracking on the left/throttle hand. Sometimes I’ll just unclick it and take my hand off it to make sure it doesn’t do anything at all.

A2A refueling will also cause you to lose your tracking for the reasons you mention. I just fly at a shallow angle (the boom is more straight out behind the tanker) so that I don’t have to look up as much. It also helps to actually roll your chair back about a foot while extending your arms slightly (or just leaning back in your chair) to keep your hands in view while tanking. Awkward a bit, but it works. Also, I try to keep my head sort of still and cast my eyes upward to look…foveated rendering would be nice!

The autopilot will hold your altitude if you find a good setting for the boom.

The Rift with two external sensors definitely has better tracking than the O+ at these extreme neck angles. Otherwise it is fine…but it is definitely a consideration and a quirk to develop a workaround for.

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Oh…and you can also raise the “collective” using the controls in the cockpit and extend the handle further forward. This will force you to hold your hand higher and further out to maintain the grip…and can help a bit…

Or you can buy this chair…problem solved…(5 points for all those old enough to remember where this came from)

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Was that Maxell cassette tapes? I was thinking TDK first.

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:sunglasses:

Congrats and job well done on finishing the Campaign. I’ve come close but after putting so many hours in the attempt, it kind turned me off to the game temporarily.

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