David Hingtgen

I dislike a lot of the 3rd colors in AC4. I do like the F-14, F-15, Su-37, and X-02 one though. Anyways, it's coming: http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/sim/acecombat5/news_6110309.html Also--lol, "air to ground AND air to surface" attacks.

Just looked it up: RB01 is the designation for the 2-seat non-naval Rafale PROTOTYPE. AC has always mixed up "specific aircraft designation" with "model type" for the Rafale family. It's like if they said "F-14 AB204". Well, that's a specific plane in a squadron, not a type. Same for "RB01". Quick Rafale list: Rafale C: Standard Rafale. Rafale B: 2-seat Rafale. Rafale M: Naval Rafale Rafale N: 2-seat Naval Rafale Yes, B and C are 'backwards' for their names. And I don't know why AC says "80% parts commonality" for the B and M, I figure it'd be like 95%---they look about as similar as a US Naval and a Canadian land-based Hornet.

I'll pick up on the F-20 vs Gripen after I re-read my main Gripen info. (Too late tonight, gotta go to bed, already up later than I planned) Gripen's great and as modern as it gets, but the F-20 is just so darn lightweight and agile, and has its 30 sec start-up. Might want to add in the X-29 too, another plane with a single F404. I've got to read up more on the Rafale too, since AC5 has the RM01 and RB01. I honestly hadn't heard of a "RB01" until I saw it on the AC site!

Going to have to look it up. I know one does, and one doesn't. ::looks:: Ok it seems (according to WAPJ), early ADV's didn't have auto-sweep, but later ones did, and early ones are were retrofitted. Checking more, they specifically mean F2 vs F3. Upgraded F2's are F2a's, but are now out of service (since they never got the engine upgrade--it's possible they simply couldn't). So all F3's were built with auto-sweep, with F2's being retrofitted.

I don't think the ADV has auto-sweep, only the IDS does. As you can imagine, manually selecting from 4 positions is far inferior to the F-14's constantly changing infinite positions. ADV with ALARM: often said to be "Finally, a role the ADV can be good at!" BTW--anyone know if the ADV is in AC5? I've always wanted it much more than the IDS. Would be nice to have, maybe inbetween the F-16 and F-18 purchases, instead of a Mirage 2000 or something.

Tornado ADV's not a good dogfighter because: 1. Wingsweep doesn't have "infinite" positions like the F-14. It has 4 positions--fully swept, fully unswept, and 2 more inbetween. 2. It's a heavy bomber with a new nose. 3. Low engine power, especially at high altitude. Again, the airframe and engines were designed for low-level flight. 4. Tremendous drag. Same problem as the F-111 had---the back end produces WAY more drag than calculated/expected. Really no fix for that. Back-end drag is hard to predict, especially when the back end just "stops". Both the F-14 and Flanker have a lot of rear fuselage between/behind the nozzles to prevent this--adds a bit of weight, but prevents the possibility of finding 30% more drag than you expected... All in all, the Tornado ADV (though I love the design) is little more than a fighter bomber with an air-to-air radar and medium-range missiles.

AFAIK, Su-33 has same engines as standard Su-27. Improved engines rumored for the later-built ones, but no confirmation. And as said--more weight/drag. However, it does have canards which are an automatic bonus. Plus, it has a wholly redesigned roll-control system. Most Flankers have a wing identical to an F-16 for control---one big LE flap, and one big trailing edge flaperon. Su-33's have inboard flaps, center flaperons (though more flap-like than most flaperons), and outboard flaperons. Can mix and match as necessary for roll/lift generation. Remember, Su-33 is air-to-air only, it's optimized for dogfights, and has 2 more underwing pylons than the others to have 8 AA-10's and 4 AA-11's as the standard load.

That's nothing, you should see how Hasegawa does aircraft. 1/72 F-16's and F-18's cost 2 or even 3 times as much as they did in the late 90's. Why? New decals! At least the Macross ones don't double their price every time they change decals.

For almost all of AC4's planes, the first is Mobius 1 color, the 2nd color is another ISAF color, and the 3rd usually is "anything", but often the FEAF. Su-37 Yellow 13 is the only definite bad guy, and their insignia is a hollow red circle. EASA is different.

Nied---been wondering where you were! Haven't seen a post from you in a while. Make it to Oceana's show? J-12: I actually like how it looks. From the side, very nice, almost YF-23-esque. From above--better than JSF by far, better than the F-22 by a bit. Looking at it more--I don't know if it'll fly. Tail-less non-delta? That much reverse sweep on the wing trailing edge with that much structure ahead of the wings, and with such a broad, non-lift-producing fuselage (it's not even blended wing/body)---I doubt the center of gravity and center of lift will allow a tailless design, even with FBW. And it doesn't really have LEX's or a chine, it's just got really wide fat intakes on the side. Finally---close the main gear doors, no need to let them just hang open like that--massive drag. MKI vs Shornet: Su-30MKI. AA-11's are far better than AIM-9M's, and could easily be better than the AIM-9X. And it's got a 30mm cannon, and can point its nose like no other plane.

Ah. (I really don't follow PC games---my current computer actually has ZERO games installed, and my last only had 1). I used to be pretty big on PC games, but not any more.

::reads preview:: Hey, F-4B through J, yet only one type of Crusader? (F-8E) Do they have any idea how many types of Crusaders there were, and how different their performance was? I mean, I like F-8D's and F-8H's myself... That's like having only F-16A Block 10's or something...

The expected "Phoenix replacement" is to be either a boosted AMRAAM, or an AMRAAM with Meteor-style ramjets. Either way, Super Hornet gets it first, since they NEED a long-range missile with the Phoenix gone. And Tomcats still can maintain higher ingress and egress speeds with the same bombload as a Shornet, and don't need to tank on the way home either.

I meant that's the only game with an F-8. Ever, AFAIK.

Dual triple-ejector racks. That's 6 bombs per rack, per wing. I don't THINK A-6's can carry 2 of those per wing, though maybe--I know A-7's can. (I'm really not that up on A-6 stuff, I really need to re-read my stuff about them a bunch of times before AC5 comes out) Though, F-8's are restricted to 250lb bombs when carrying twelve of them, it can only carry 8 500lb bombs. A-6's can carry 12 500lb bombs. (But in AC games, number is more important than size)

I'm still waiting for the game (besides UN Squadron/Area 88) that lets you have an F-8 Crusader... 4 guns, better agility than the F-4, fast(er) as an F-18 (depends on exact variant), AIM-9, rockets, as many dumb bombs as an A-6, AGM-12. What more do you need for the first couple of missions? And it'd be the best for AC2's "shoot the cruise missile" mission. And you know, the F-8 (including VF-111 I think) was stationed in Japan for a while. The F-14 and F-18 are so popular in Japan (kits, games, etc) because that's what's currently there at Atsugi. It's not coincidence Hasegawa releases the Black Knights and Dam Busters more than every other squadron combined.

That's the Italeri YF-23 kit. Missile bay is totally wrong. And also lacks the "curve" between the engine nozzles and ruddervators. (The YF-23's tail does not make a nice 50 degree angle with the fuselage--it is curved/blended)

I do not have all S in Ace mode (only in Expert mode, for Ace mode I have 2 A's and all the other S), and I bought the white X-02, have it, and fly it. Actually, for me the last thing to open up was Yellow 13. I swear I had all 3 X-02's available and purchased before it let me have Yellow 13. Question: the white X-02 has unique markings. "EASA". Anyone recognize/know it? Most all other "3rd" colors are "FEAF", which I presume to be the Free Erusian Air Force or something. And I don't think I ever got what "the bad guys" go by. ESAF? Though that's a little TOO similar to ISAF. Or maybe they are the EASA.

I bought all 3 X-02's, I do think it cost 4 play-throughs for them alone... $2 million for the white one I think... (I actually sold some other planes to help pay for it, and have now bought them back---mostly Mirages and F-117's) I checked, I do not have S on Ace level for Emancipation nor Whiskey Corridor. Have S for all other missions and difficulty levels. I think you only need all S's on Expert for the white X-02, possibly combined with shooting down the ace pilots while getting those S's. As in, you can't kill all the aces, then get all S's--you must have killed the ace and gotten the S in the same flight. (Which makes it hard, since aces often are WAY out there, and you waste 5 mins chasing them down) Seriously, I just can't blow up any more stuff in the time limit. I have multiple Ace top scores that are within 50-100 pts of each other on those missions, but it's still not worth an S.

Instead of an X-02, a nice YF-23 would be nice. I wonder if the YF-23 becomes really popular, if Hase will make a kit... (or at least have Italeri re-issue theirs, it's becoming harder to find--and include parts to make the GE powered on) Played through AC4 again last night. You know, I STILL don't have every plane. They just cost too much. Even getting S on every mission only gives enough cash to buy like 1 or 2 of the high-end planes. The white S-37, and the black and white X-02's, are just insanely expensive. Bought the black F-22 and black/grey Su-35. I hope AC5's a bit cheaper, or lets you get the extra paint colors free, once you have unlocked them.

You know I'm trying to avoid spoilers, and I'd like for a FEW planes to be "nice surprises". Anyways---AFAIK, canards can only help a plane. Yes, you can screw up and design a canard-only plane with horrible stall characteristics (not that anybody has screwed up for a very long time), but adding canards to a design that already has a tail can only help it. I doubt you will ever see another delta without canards. And if the US ever gets a clue, all our future planes should have them. The F-16CCV could do some pretty insane moves. But of course they never did anything more than test them. Just like the F-15ACTIVE: massive performance improvement for low cost? No way they'll put it into production! I've been looking up Flanker missiles lately, trying to determing what I saw recently, I thought it just looked really cool--- "Within the last week" I saw a photo of a Flanker (from below) and it had LOOOOONG missiles under the intakes. Reminded me of AA-10s, but even longer than the longest boosted AA-10. Seemed to go all the way from the intake lip to the exhaust nozzle. Might be the AA-12. If I could find the photo again it'd probably be easy to figure out...

I would presume canards would help carrier landings, by adding lift. More lift=slower approaches. Remember, using the tail to keep the nose up adds downforce. Using canards to keep the nose up unloads the wing and tail. Shin--the XFA-27 is what I was thinking about---X-form tail. Some submarines have controls like that, so it does work. (Subs move in all 3 dimensions, in fluid, via propellers and rudders etc---there's often a lot that subs and planes share in how they move--center of gravity, lifting surfaces, effectiveness of controls in the wake/downwash, etc) Swing canards? Rare, and usually subtle. Only use I know for them is to compensate for large pitch/trim changes due to lowering flaps or deploying airbrakes, etc. The Beech Starship can swing its canards a bit. BTW, the Viggen isn't really considered to have *canards*. More like a double-delta, or even 2 independent delta wings, each with a full set of elevons, etc. A unique and neat plane. (I love most all SAAB planes, I really hope the Gripen is in AC5--best of the Eurocanards IMHO)

I love canards, but only in addition to a regular tail. Use them to enhance pitch/roll control, not replace the traditional ones (like most deltas do). The ultimate plane would have FSW, h.stabs, and canards. Hey, that's the Su-47 or F-15ACTIVE... (Well, I'd MOST like a YF-23 style tail, along with large movable ventral fins at a 45 degree angle---an all-flying cruciform configuration) And I'd love to hear more about FSW, canards, and stealth. Get as technical as necessary.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooo! http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=15422

That was kind of my point-----I couldn't care less about fakey bridge-lighting on the CG warships, so long as the AIRPLANES look good. I do hope they totally re-do the Shornet's speed-brake application, compared to the demo. Currently the most-wrong thing. (I think they confused the bleed air doors and the speed brakes)