F-18 Survive ability

Been testing out the damage model on the hornet and notice that it is very easy to get KILLED. Even slow traveling missiles such as r-73's mostly kill you before you can even eject where as with other aircraft such as the 15, 2000, 29, 27 you are shot down but can eject. Is this because the Hornet is less armored than these jets or is it because they are still working out the damage model? I am certainly not arguing with the fact that if you are hit by a missile you are going down, what I am saying though is that you should have a better chance of surviving said impact given the condition.

Been testing out the damage model on the hornet and notice that it is very easy to get KILLED. Even slow traveling missiles such as r-73's mostly kill you before you can even eject where as with other aircraft such as the 15, 2000, 29, 27 you are shot down but can eject. Is this because the Hornet is less armored than these jets or is it because they are still working out the damage model? I am certainly not arguing with the fact that if you are hit by a missile you are going down, what I am saying though is that you should have a better chance of surviving said impact given the condition.

I agree with ya...

Glad to see someone else making this observation. It seems to me that for anything the size of the AIM-9 or larger has a very high fatality rate for my pilot. This includes being hit directly behind or on the underside of the aircraft. Of course I have no doubt that being hit by a missile is a huge danger for the pilot, but sometimes I contemplate if I should just eject a few seconds before that AMRAAM hits me. To me, surviving the flight even in defeat is a great satisfaction on its own.

I believe it has been mentioned somewhere that the damage model is wip.

I was hit with 2-3 R-60s before going down.

I share the impression that you get killed very easy. No way to eject. I really wonder if this is a reality.

Problem is, you gotta slow down to eject...anything over 300 KTS is usually fatal for ejection. But slowing down makes you an easier target for guns in a furball...maybe some sort of auto ejection if it has been monitored that the pilot is unconscious and conditions are safe to eject...

I share the impression that you get killed very easy. No way to eject. I really wonder if this is a reality.

Somewhere in this thread it was mentioned that the centre of the impact point used by a missile's proximity fuse in DCS, is the pilot's head. That would explain not being able to eject.

I'd hope that it is indeed WIP, since other modules don't seem to have that problem of the pilot getting killed on every hit.

Problem is, you gotta slow down to eject...anything over 300 KTS is usually fatal for ejection. But slowing down makes you an easier target for guns in a furball...maybe some sort of auto ejection if it has been monitored that the pilot is unconscious and conditions are safe to eject...

You sure about that ejection speed. I'm pretty sure it's been safe to eject over Mach since the 60's/70's

Because WIP, but even old modules far from reality. In real air aircraft can fall apart instantly by loosing stability and overgeez after damaging/loosing some aerodynamic surface, and pilot of course be blackouted.

You sure about that ejection speed. I'm pretty sure it's been safe to eject over Mach since the 60's/70's

quote from NATOPS:

„Safe escape is provided for most combinations of aircraft altitude, speed, attitude, and flight path within the envelope of 0 to 600 KIAS airspeed and 0 to 50,000 ft. altitude.“

You sure about that ejection speed. I'm pretty sure it's been safe to eject over Mach since the 60's/70's

No, I'm not but that number always seemed to stick in my head...but when I do a search I only get the extreme incidents...like "there have been six or seven pilots who have survived ejection at mach speeds...well, maybe so, but is it the "recommended" speed

quote from NATOPS:

„Safe escape is provided for most combinations of aircraft altitude, speed, attitude, and flight path within the envelope of 0 to 600 KIAS airspeed and 0 to 50,000 ft. altitude.“

Some important info missing from that:

1. Optimum speed for ejection is 250 knots and below.

2. Between 250 and 600 knots, appreciable forces are exerted on the body, making ejection more

hazardous.

3. Above 600 knots, excessive forces are exerted on the body making ejection extremely hazardous.

When possible, slow the aircraft before ejection to reduce the forces on the body.

There is a video on youtube of an f15 pilot who survived a supersonic ejection. The video claimed he was the only one at the time.

From his description of the event it sounded like something you'd want to avoid.

Well pilots only leave the plane either walking or ejecting.

I would presume that no matter how far or high or low you are

then its a matter of life and death to stay in the plane, and

at least ejecting give you a chance compared to staying in a plane that is going down.

I take the chance ;-)

But ofcourse yes if possible and there is enough time eject at a slow speed.

Example in Denmark a while ago an F16 had an emergency with wheel suspension that had fallen off and the rear wheel was hanging loose.

There was no way he would land or even raise the gear.

He fly to an location a few km from land and ejected while his wingman filmed him with the TGP.. A few minutes later he was picked up by the Helicopter rescue and was saved.

You can see the tire at 08.00

I really hope they fix that pilot dying thing. From what I've read it's not really normal and the fact I am always killed before being able to eject is quite unsatisfying. Especially since it's been two years since this thread.

There is a video on youtube of an f15 pilot who survived a supersonic ejection. The video claimed he was the only one at the time.

From his description of the event it sounded like something you'd want to avoid.

That pilot came to our squadron on one safety day and told us about the incident. He was hella lucky to survive it.

The faster the speed, the less pleasant, and less survivable the ejection. 250 is a good reference ejection speed. High speed ejection is physically possible but I wouldn’t exactly call it safe.

Issue is still present in the current version of DCS open beta. My pilot is almost always killed instantly with a missile hit, so I am unable to eject. However, I don't have this issue in the A-10. Must be the titanium canopy.

Never been able to eject from the Hornet after getting hit. It seems it's always instant death. ED might just as well remove the entire ejection seat from the Hornet :P

Ejected yesterday after extensive damage...was surprised.

R-60 was rear atmosphere missile, so missile went straight to engines.

R-60M became almost full angled one, leaving IIRC 10-15° from straight front incapable see heat, but missile still flew to hottest part = engine if saw it.

R-73 is designed for interception of the full fuselage, not to fly to engine but to middle of whole aircraft, if not even slightly forward.

The early AIM-9's IIRC up to L variant were flying straight in the engine combust chambers and blowed up there if you shot from rear. There are videos of them going straight in as proximity fuze was bad.

So why pilot likely die against R-73 is that it is designed to destroy aircraft, not just engine. So pilot is in the area where proximity fuse blows the bars.

And don't get me started about all the times the AI was able to get a headshot with guns on me...