Zeno~SPARTA~

Thanks

In preparation of the arrival of the AH64D Apache, I have been working on chopper scenarios. They are relatively simple using radio calls to initiate one of 5 missions, such as convoy escort, CAS for a town under attack, protection for a pilot rescue mission. We have had fun with these scenarios, they can be challenging to fly but they are enjoyable. The Huey especially has the potential for a variety of delivery and rescue missions. @Adder I have found a couple of coast guard skins for the Huey and the Oliver Hazard Perry Frigate. https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3308183/ Perry https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3308174/ Huey I will use these for some USCG scenarios.

Thats cool! I have built a little practice mission where we can take off from Hawkinge and attack the port in Calais. At the same time two flights of Ju88s as well as some Bf109s will attack Dover. Dover has anti air and two flights of Spitfires protecting it. I will slowly add missions that can be spawned by radio to make it more flexible. @Custard in the 633 squadron homage I added the theme music, it kicked in after a few minutes at the beginning of the flight. For me, at least, it served to raise my heckles ready for the mission. But after a few attempts it only served to irritate. When you feel up to it I will take you on the mission and add the music back. With that said I often hear these great musical themes in my minds ear when I am messing around with the mission editor.

Now I will have to work on this module, whilst listening to Vera Lynn

As part of the last game patch "Take off Assist" has been removed from the Mosquito. It was on by default until the patch. The reason for removing it was that it allegedly did not work. That is false. As a a result take offs require a lot of fine rudder work and more technique. I am still refining my take off but I am using a lot less throttle, I centre the rudder trim use a bit of differential braking to straight on the run up. Then, once I have more authority over the control surfaces, I keep the plane on the ground, by pushing the stick forward a bit, resulting in a higher take off speed, this makes the transition to flight a bit smoother. Still, I need to practice a lot more.

New Project, A new carrier has been added to DCS by Heatblur, the USS Forrestal CV59. It is available to everyone. I have tried to recreate a deck scene from a phot of the ship, I don't have all the planes, most importantly the A6E Intruder. The mod I have has not been updated and is causing issues, which is a shame, but I have found an EA 6B Prowler and have the older A4E Skyhawk so I built the scene from what I have. Then for my amusement I will build missions in the Vietnam era using the Marianas or the Caucus' maps. By the way the F14 flyby is at Mach 1+.

1. With Adders help I have been able to get the Mosquito mission close to a complete state. 2. The F104 is awesome but I need to learn to fly it better, too many deadly flat spins. 3. I am still fleshing out the UKCSG once I am happy with it I will build missions for it. 4. No progress 5. No progress 6. I am using the Persian gulf map, specifically SW Iran to build a scenario. Basically Allies are in control of a town, further to the west we have a encampment, with 4 M1A2 Abrams, LAVs, an infantry element and AH64Ds. We have checkpoints to the east and west of the town (no desert camo for the Stryker or infantry) I imagine insurgents will assault, this will mobilise our tanks and the LAVs, at which point we will have to warm up the Apaches to help protect the town. This is my first time using infantry, they are very clunky. In game they move in slow motion and are all at storm trooper level of accuracy when they do eventually notice an enemy, no matter how high a skill level I give them.

Here are my current DCS projects 1 Creating a series of training and actual mission for the Mosquito, these include the 633 Squadron Homage, a bombing range (thanks to Ian Christie "Sidekick69"), Cold start and navigation training, gestapo headquarters raid and a convoy attack. 2 Creating a variety of interceptor and training missions for the new F104 Starfighter mod due tomorrow. 3 Creating a UK Carrier strike group (UKCSG) mission, I am testing a variety of mods, Including the F35, the AW101 Merlin (AI), the carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and the Type 45 Destroyer HMS Duncan. I cannot find a mod for a type 23 frigate, so I will try to find a US/Canadian counterpart. Here is HMS Duncan with a couple of Merlin's 4 I am waiting on the latest A4E Skyhawk to build a Falklands scenario using the Marianas as a surrogate, I have the Dassault Super Etendard and Excocet mod plus the Harrier so I should be able to come up with something interesting. 5 Creating a coalition attack on a base in the straits of Hormuz involving RAF Tornados as the bomber component and USN/USAF F18s, F16s and F15s for SEAD and Cap 6 The AH64 Apache will be released in December so I will try to come up with some scenarios for it by then.

This is an interesting video explaining the issues surrounding the loss of so many Luftwaffe airframes and pilots. A few standouts, 1 the Luftwaffe was disbanded in 1945 and only reinstated in 1956, coinciding with the arrival of the F104 2 Initially the plane only had downward firing ejection seats, many pilots died trying to crash land because they were too low to eject 3 A 4 ship display team had an incident and all of them crashed with no survivors As it happens the mod is an update of the existing VSN Starfighter mod. In this video you will see one of its nastiest characteristics, an unrecoverable flat spin. It is because this is such a hard plane to fly that I want to fly it, plus it is one of the most beautiful airplanes ever made. Finally this is a review of a museum Starfighter by Military Aviation History, His reviews are very well researched using source data,

On October 15 a new mod will be available, the Lockheed F104 Starfighter. It will feature an external flight model and a custom interior. Here is an existing mod by VSN, it's not bad looking but uses an F15 as a base for its simple flight model and its cockpit. The F104 was an interceptor for high altitude nuclear bombers. I am working on a mission where F104s are scrambled to intercept said bombers, here is the aftermath. For now I have used the the PRC bombers that have been making a nuisance of themselves near Taiwan (ROC), but I will change them to TU 160s or TU 22s when the new mod is ready.

I have been working on a night raid on a "Gestapo" headquarters complex. Even though its at night the combination of snow on the ground and a full moon make this doable. Trains have been added to multiplayer so we can try to attack one that will depart from a station near the target. At this stage it is more of a practice raid since the departure runway is nearby, This is what the headquarters look like Here is the train Of course you will be doing this at night and the headquarters are defended by AAA. Alert fighters are on standby and will arrive within 5 minutes once called.

I have had a lot of fun over the last few days in the mission editor and playing with some of you. Here is Adder living up to his name "Pyro" in a Mosquito Here is my Mosquito Backlit by a full moon I have been playing with the WW2 Asset pack, this is the Gestapo headquarters mission, heavily defended by 88s and searchlights, if you look closely the pathfinder Mosquitos have already destroyed the centre building. Here's what triggered the searchlights And here is a bit of carpet bombing, I have since rearranged the 6 plane formation to reduce collateral damage,

Happy birthday bud, I hope you had a great day.

Impressive!

I enjoyed watching that, thanks.

The raid I have presented so far is a practice mission to enable us to familiarise ourselves with the equipment. The advantage is we don't have to fly far and we can practice flying low and dropping bombs from a low level. The actual mission will be harder, here is the briefing: Welcome, Our target today is a Heavy Water production facility located 70 miles up the Patara Enguri River. Alert fighters are on standby at Sakhumi Babushara. Resistance fighters have cut communications from defensive positions along the river. The Enguri Dam is 35 miles up river, Defensive Positions are located along the river for the remaining 35 miles. We will be under fire but they will be unable to alert the target or the alert fighters. However if we climb too high we will be spotted by other observers and they will call in the alert fighters. If Alerted the fighters can be at our position in under ten minutes. Primary Objective - destroy the Heavy Water Facility (N43 3 18 E42 26 28). Secondary Objective - destroy any other enemy assets in the vicinity, including Fuel trucks, Ammo dumps and barracks.

A welcome sight returning from a raid on the Gestapo Headquarters at night!!

Custard this seems right up your alley. If we progress in the game I will figure out how to set Non Directional Beacons so that we can use the Radio Direction Finder to navigate. At that point you would be in the path finder Mossie. Enjoy Usually I do not recommend Grim Reapers for anything but entertainment, However for this they were first and for once reasonably clear about how to use the equipment.

I have found a way to compensate for not having a time delay on the bombs, which is big problem for low level bombing/ There are three rows of switches for bomb control (behind the perspex screen), the two top rows control the 4 bombs individually, the bottom 2 switches control the fuse. Left switch for nose, right for tail or both switches for nose and tail fuse. Using only the tail fuse I was able to drop bombs at low level without damaging the plane. I cannot be sure how high off the ground I was but I was low, maybe less than 200 feet. Anyway this is the panel

This guy seems to know what he is talking about, worth watching.

I will show you when we are next in game, but for now, open the perspex cover for the bomb switches and leave it open. When the cover is closed you can see there is a silver coloured bar style switch in the top left hand corner, When the cover is open you can pull that switch down. That activates the bomb release. Adder and I were able to shred the AAA with our cannons on the way in, it only takes a couple of good hits to destroy them.

First bomb hits from my Mosquito, sadly I was shot down by the AAA shortly after release of 2 bombs. I also managed to kill 2 emplacements with cannon fire on the way in. The mission has five Mosquitos as well as some P51Ds and Spitfires for fighter cover.

Cent and I had a bash in the DCS Mosquito, even got in some multi crew action.

A few pics of gameplay with me and Adder. We started out in the YF12A, Adder got some very long range kills, but I managed to get to about 117,000 feet, not quite as much as Branson, but not bad. I also managed to land the beast. Then we had a play with the CH53, here is Adder living up to his name! We did some multi crew, yes the CH53 can have two pilots and each can take control. Here is Adder coming in for a smooth landing.

Another great Helicopter mod, the CH53 Super Sea Stallion. Discord https://discord.com/channels/803931291103526942/853527108605313035 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-nLngf8vq0DqgS4CFnnhduMml_hInDXf/view?usp=sharing