Simulated Aerial Combat Roundtable

[hazmatt]

I can still feel my teeth rattle from standing close to the runway at the PAR site watching the F-111s takeoff.

I remember them taking off at Cannon AFB as a kid. Only other bird that I recall that you could literally "feel" like that were the Tomcats taking off on the carrier.

[AKIron]

I was at Cannon '78-'79. Lived on base, Tidal Wave Loop. Maybe we were neighbors.

[Shuffler]

It does look awesome though. Until you get down low in your own well known neighborhood.

Yup although some well known areas have been modeled extremely well. Those being certain airports and well known sites.

[hazmatt]

I was at Cannon '78-'79. Lived on base, Tidal Wave Loop. Maybe we were neighbors.

I was 9 or 10 at the time and lived in Clovis. Brother in law was stationed at Cannon. He was what we would call a photographers mate in the Navy. Dunno what that is in the Air Force.

[hazmatt]

DCS FC3 looks like it is on sale for $24.99. Is this a good price? It looks like you get  F-15C, A-10A, Su-27, Su-33, MiG-29A, MiG-29S, Su-25T, Su-25, and J-11 for that price? That's less then $3 per aircraft.

I'm really interested cause the $80 per plane was a deal breaker for me but this seems like it might be worth checking out. Am I wrong?

It says they are compatible with DCS world. Is this the place where you see the dogfights like growling sidewinder or is this on a specific server.

[CptTrips]

DCS FC3 looks like it is on sale for $24.99. Is this a good price? It looks like you get  F-15C, A-10A, Su-27, Su-33, MiG-29A, MiG-29S, Su-25T, Su-25, and J-11 for that price? That's less then $3 per aircraft.

I'm really interested cause the $80 per plane was a deal breaker for me but this seems like it might be worth checking out. Am I wrong?

It says they are compatible with DCS world. Is this the place where you see the dogfights like growling sidewinder or is this on a specific server.

The consensus is they are a good starter pack.  I don't have them, but I haven't heard too much bad about them.  They are allowed on most of the servers I think.

I have heard they are good on-ramp to the DCS system.  They have even been upgraded a bit since original launch.  The main difference is the non=clickable cockpit.  But for anything not involved in the cold start I usually map to a stick button or Voice Attack anyway.

You can't really go wrong for the price.  They fill a lot of high fidelity gaps and so are allowed on most servers for balance.

$0.02.

[AKIron]

FC3 is worth having but none of the planes are fully modeled, i.e. switches in the cockpit don't do anything. There are some free mods well worth getting too. The A-4E is as good as many of the not free mods.

I made some OvGME videos a while back for activating and deactivating various free mods. I'll link them if/when you want.

[AKIron]

The F-104 is a great free mod also. Downloading it can be a bit tricky unless you speak German or hit the translate button.

If you download that one be sure to select one the shiny skins so you can press F2 and admire your beauty.

[CptTrips]

FC3 is worth having but none of the planes are fully modeled, i.e. switches in the cockpit don't do anything. There are some free mods well worth getting too. The A-4E is as good as many of the not free mods.

I made some OvGME videos a while back for activating and deactivating various free mods. I'll link them if/when you want.

Get the UH-60L mod for free and at least try doing some helo flying.  Free base game and free mod, it is at least worth trying to experience helicopter physics vs fixed wing.







If that clicked with you at all, I'd suggest the Huey as the first paid helo.  Best to learn in.

[AKIron]

Get the UH-60L mod for free and at least try doing some helo flying.  Free base game and free mod, it is at least worth trying to experience helicopter physics vs fixed wing.

IF that clicked with you at all, I'd suggest the Huey as the first paid helo.  Best to learn in.

The free UH-60 can be air refueled. What makes it very challenging is that it's retreating blade stall speed is pretty close to as slow as the refuelers can fly. I managed it successfully once. Behind a C-130 I think it was.

If DCS isn't having their frequent half price sale wait a few weeks, they will.

[hazmatt]

Thanks for all the info and the quick responses. I posted the exact same question on the IL2 forums and it appears that nobody is awake over there.

I thought $25 was half off. I can get half off of $25? That would feel like stealing it lolz..

I didn't know there were free planes.

So I gather that I can get, F-104, A-4, and the Huey for free. Are there others as well? How would I find a list of free planes?

[CptTrips]

Thanks for all the info and the quick responses. I posted the exact same question on the IL2 forums and it appears that nobody is awake over there.

I thought $25 was half off. I can get half off of $25? That would feel like stealing it lolz..

I didn't know there were free planes.

So I gather that I can get, F-104, A-4, and the Huey for free. Are there others as well? How would I find a list of free planes?

Huey (UH-1H) is paid. ($50 on Steam if it is not a sale).  Don't know about standalone.

UH-60L Blackhawk is a free mod. (Separate, you don't need the Huey for this.  Just the free base DCSWorld.)  If you go this route, Iron or I can help you install it.  Easy. Even manually.

[AKIron]

One thing to be aware of, the default control mappings will often map two device axes to the same function. You really don't want that. You want once device per axis. The control mappings are very flexible and work quite well but can be confusing.

This is more of an advanced topic but demonstrates some of the flexibility built in. I just made this because I just ordered replacement rudder pedals for my 25 year old ch pro pedals. The new pedals do not have toe brakes.

https://youtu.be/GL6QBM7PH18

[CptTrips]

One thing to be aware of, the default control mappings will often map two device axes to the same function. You really don't want that. You want once device per axis. The control mappings are very flexible and work quite well but can be confusing.

Iron or I can get with you on a private server to get setup and configured and try out the helo.  Iron knows the jets more than me.

[AKIron]

The free addon mods I have available. There are a lot more. Some are standalone in that no purchased product is required while others may require you own a particular mod that the free one uses a part of. Some are fully modeled like the A-4 and UH-60. The F-104 does not have a clickable cockpit.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tputRQlc4nS1VsXto52brQ9k5oUGzrGz/view?usp=sharing