COMBAT FLIGHT
SIMULATION
In 1997 I inherited a 486DX PC running
DOS 5.2 and got the idea of
loading "EF2000", an early study flight sim by DID. Its been downhill
from there.
"Comanche 3" and "Janes LongBow" followed, and then I started to get
serious about things with cable internet - thus spending my afternoons
playing
"Enemy Engaged: Comanche vs Hokum" online with the Euros. There was
somthing about HELOS for me.
I discovered "Janes F/A-18" when it
published in 1999. The idea of
attempting one of the greatest challenges in aviation - trapping on a
carrier grabbed me and I was hooked on Naval aviation for
good. Shortly thereafter joining an online virtual
Marine squadron
for the first time. Flying "F/A-18" online as part of that team in a
combat flight environment was an honor, a responsibility, and always a
terrific rush.
I have the most profound respect for the
men and women
of the United States armed forces - but when I was in the virtual
cockpit, I was really "In there".
I dabbled in Falcon
4.0 SP3
with
some members of a sister squadron, but "F/A-18" was my true love. After
a few years though, Janes started to show its age - as all programs do
on the PC and the squadron moved on to IL2-Pacific Fighters: flying
variants of the Corsair, Wildcat, Hellcat, SBD, and other aircraft legends of
WW2.
After leaving that squadron, I continued
flying IL2-Pacific Fighters with some other former
members, and we started "Carrier Air Wing 21".
The Pacific theatre of WW2 has always especially fascinated
me as
I found myself up late night after night reading books out of
curiousity about those brave and talented men and their machines. This
developed into almost a research project - and I then ended up
authoring a few groups of historical missions for Pacific Fighters.
After awhile I returned online to the latest
incarnation of Falcon 4.0 via "Falcon 4.0 Allied Force". "Allied Force"
is a modernized 'Re-release' of basically the service pack 4.2
flavor of Falcon by Lead Pursuit that was optimized for stability,
online play, and better compatibility with modern PC hardware. They did
a great job IMO in achieving their goals. Although it did not offer
some of the eye candy of "FreeFalcon", and players could not at first
fly any plane available in the theater, "Falcon 4.0 Allied Force" did
exactly what it set out to do with terrific support in no less than a series of 9 -
one click patches. There is NO 'Falcon dance' with "Allied Force", which is also
a huge plus in my book. It was generally recommended to fly
"FreeFalcon" single player and "Allied Force" for multi-player.
Falcon is no naval air combat simulation, as the
player flys only F-16 variants, but the modern hardware compatibility
and stability are there, and it is generally accepted that the dynamic
campaign engine is king among flight simulations.
I have since recently purchased "IL-2 1946" for $9.99 so I could trap
online again. After buying IL-2 twice already and than being "Forced"
to buy the Pe-2 addon in order to to remain compatible for online
combat flying I had to say no for awhile, but $9.99 is reasonable now
and I missed it. So I am getting back in that saddle. I am looking
forward to the next release from Lead-Pursuit though - rumored as a
F/A-18 simulation.
My priorities up there are to:
- Stay alive
- Stay in the air
"Midway" Sound Byte (Mild language)
- Protect your teamates
- Complete the mission objective
S3 Viking Trap Movie (Large)
- Eliminate threats to the mission objective
- Kill bad guys
Though I always spent more than my fair share
of time
outside the cockpit - looking down at the earth hanging from from my
harness and wondering if I didn't buy another "Parachute Sim" .....I knew if I
could log chute time that I would be an Ace.
Some Screenshots
Pacific
Fighters
Falcon 4.0 - Allied Force
Janes
F/A-18
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