WildWeasel303

Youtube removed the ability to stamp in comments/attributes to videos after upload so there's no way to add digital pop ins with corrected info. You either rerecord it, stamp in a fix on the original video with some editing and reupload, or add a comment and pin it to the comments section and hope people notice. Given Spud's history on factual information, my guess is he's being obsessively critical about making sure info is as accurate as possible so he doesn't get set on fire in the community again.

Casmo's latest vid on the Gazelle improvements mentions that PC is still working diligently on the Kiowa.

Well done PC! Actually looking forward to dusting this module off.

I'm personally in the camp of the more the HB staff are focused on cranking this bird up for release and less on forum chit chat, the better. Based on the Tomcat's rollout, I have a feeling HB has something pretty special lined up for it's pre-order and launch for them to be this quiet.

Based on what I know to be true from my experience and my coworker's Phantom knowledge as a former maintainer now crewing 16's with me, you're 100% on the money. As an example, the door on the 16 is meant to be dual purpose. Not only does it seal the airstream off from the components for the A/R receptacle when closed, it also retracts inside and acts as a shield to protect those same components from damage (door actuator, hydraulic lines, electrical connectors, etc). It's rare to see the door/panel itself not banged up and scraped by the boom connector. I imagine there's plenty of other maintainers in here that can back this up on their airframes that use boom refuel as well as I'm sure their doors are pretty beat up from normal use. We generally only replace the panel if it's degraded past a point of remaining material or damage beyond structural tolerances (don't have the exact numbers but it's published in one of the -3 T.O.'s if anyone feels froggy enough to start digging). The receptacle itself and the related components underneath the door is where we tend to pay the closest attention for damage on the 16 (as I'm sure you would if this F4 was still hitting tankers today). The rollers need to be in serviceable condition (no obvious signs of wear or binding that would prohibit movement on the bearings), the outer o-ring/seal on the receptacle face should be free of cuts/damage/abrasion that would cause fuel leaking from the nozzle, etc. The A-10's get it worse than most because their A/R bay is in the nose. It's not uncommon to see antenna's taken out on top of the 16 from boom contact and nasty scratches in the paint/metal. The A-10's on the other hand get dented/beat on and it isn't pretty.

Personally a fan of how GS edits getting killed in his videos. Seems more realistic to me. Still scary, but then again, I think it's a great motivator to get better and avoid being killed in the first place. (starts where it needs to for reference purposes) I don't know if any of you play Escape from Tarkov, but getting killed in there isn't exactly a fun relaxing time either.

Depends on the situation. The system is designed such that if you have a mechanical linkage disconnect that the "fly by wire" system will continue to operate and provide feedback in the stick to the pilot. The pilot would most likely never even feel the difference because of how the system is integrated. One of the biggest differences with the F-15's flight controls and something like the F-16 is that it isn't true fly by wire. It's a 'boosted' mechanical hydro system with 2 primary hydraulic systems and a utility system that can provide backup power for both (hence the need for a 3 system hydraulic mule for maintenance crews). The 15 still has physical links to the flight control surfaces running the span of the aircraft from the stick and the pedals. The 16 is all digital input signals sent through wiring. doedkoett is right on the money in terms of using a FFB stick in this case. It MIGHT get you the feedback you're looking for from the aircraft and feel 'similar' in some sense to the real deal, but keep in mind the real jet is still augmenting what the pilot is feeling through the stick on a regular basis to reduce workload and fatigue. My personal recommendation is to find a stick that isn't necessarily FFB but has some kind of physical feedback or dampening. I run the Winwing orion 2 with the 16EX stick which has a rumble motor similar to what you'd find in something like an xbox controller. As gimmicky as it sounded to me at first and after flying with it for a few weeks now with the Viper in DCS, I can't bring myself to turn it off. The feedback it gives in rate fighting and hard maneuvers is game changing compared to my old TM Warthog.

^ Me trying to figure out how many ED Miles to burn on this thing and the F4...

Heatblur is primarily based in Poland.

Can confirm through some digging this definitely happened: May need google to translate Could be unrelated, but the timing seems a little suspect for HB to be keeping this quiet...

In the spirit of generating some more enthusiasm for this upcoming module, I think we need some material of real world SLUFs to get hyped on. I have a very personal love for this aircraft as it was one of the first fighter bomber's I'd ever seen up close as a kid. My current unit flew these from 1974-1992 when they converted to Block 30 F-16C's and I still know a few of the older guys around the base that crewed them before they went out of service. Currently, we have several of our former A-7's still parked around the state on display. It left a pretty major impact on our unit's history based on the significant achievements attained while operating them. My one wish to the devs is that our squadron colors get to live on in this module for DCS on release. That all being said, I'll kick things off. Lets see what everyone else can gather up to share here. More modern day land/takeoff footage: https://youtu.be/g74aUwELbNw Some old footage of our squadron during an airshow I managed to dig up: https://youtu.be/i1ot9cs0JVo

I'm gonna take a stab here and say that one of their biggest challenges is getting more SME's with Phantom flight experience to dial the FM in. I can't imagine there's too many former Phantom pilots with direct experience on this variant that they have access to. There was another post that mentioned the cockpit modeling/textures not being featured in the video; this is probably on purpose to fine tune the layout/functions of the pit. When you see a post like the above from one of the devs that's vague and includes "subjects" in the remarks, I'd say they're probably in the realm of roughly 75%-80% complete at this stage. When we finally see the pit in action, it's probably going to be closer to where the Mudhen from Razbam currently is in terms of completion state (maybe even further, who knows). Realistically, until we get a no BS update from HB themselves, it's all speculation at this point. My guesses could be way the F off base, but based on whats presented and previous module time frames to compare to, I can't imagine I'm too far off in saying we'll likely see more concrete info around May.

The way HB promoted the 14 prior to release made it feel just that much more special when we finally got our hands on it. Might be wishful thinking but it would be nice to see that kind of treatment direct from them again.

Seeing some new Kiowa footage in the new ED video is encouraging, even if it's still a ways out.