homepage Forums Air Combat & Civil Aviation DCS World Eno's Firehouse and Crew's Hollo Pointe Server Lounge

The F-15E book can be found here: F15E Gulf Ops; like the A10's the F-15E at that time had limited systems compared to today's F-15E's; still an awesome jet and did a lot of important work in 91!

I have the book Danger Close Tactical Air Controllers in Afghanistan and Iraq (Danger Close[/url); while it's a good re...]FireStrike 7/9); I can't recommend this book enough for anyone wanting to know about how a JTAC operates and the understanding needed of both airpower and the ground conflict at the same time.

Here is a blurb from that book:

Meet Sergeant 'Bommer' Grahame, one of the deadliest soldiers on the battlefield. He's an elite army JTAC (Joint Terminal Attack Controller- pronounced 'jay-tack') - a specially trained warrior responsible for directing Allied air power with high-tech precision. Commanding Apache gunships, A10 tank-busters, F15s and Harrier jets, he brings down devastating fire strikes against the attacking Taliban, often danger close to his own side.

Due to his specialist role, Sergeant Grahame usually operates in the thick of the action, where it's at its most fearsome and deadly. Conjuring the seemingly impossible from apparently hopeless situations, soldiers in battle rely on the skill and bravery of their JTAC to enable them to win through in the heat of the danger zone.

Fire Strike 7/9 tells the story of Bommer Grahame and his five-man Fire Support Team on their tour of Afghanistan. Patrolling deep into enemy territory, they were hunted and targeted by the Taliban, shot at, blown-up, mortared and hit by rockets on numerous occasions. Under these conditions Sergeant Grahame notched up 203 confirmed enemy kills, making him the difference between life and death both for his own troops and the Taliban.

And for the rotor heads or fans of the Apache out there it's very hard to pass up on Apache by Ed Macy ( Apache)

I've got Fire Strike 7/9 and its excellent but such a hard and draining job.

Paid!?

Naw, it's all a labor of love

Eh guys...

One of the things that makes the sim so amazing for many of us is the fact that you can't help but get into it- as many of you will attest, when you're in it... you're in it. Some take it a bit further than others but all of us enjoy the realism to a different degree. I do enjoy being mission orientated, but being able to help out when someone is trying to dial in.

Seeing the teamspeak channel thing brought up and some other mutterings I've heard back and forth elsewhere, I do need to approach the language issue again as well as the chatter.

Make no mistake, this is a social community and not some hard core squadron... I've never wanted that strict, ultra realism atmosphere and everyone is entitled to come in and enjoy it the way they see fit. But we need to figure out a way to allow EVERYONE to enjoy their part of what the "team orientated" structure of the game is (to them). Some guys want to go in and chit chat- others want to focus on the mission and, as I said above, help out where required. I think there is room in each mission for both styles of play. We also have room available in the existing TS3 room format.

What I envision in the short term is that anyone looking to go in and take a more social approach to the missions head into the DCS World room in TS3. Guys who want to turn it up a notch and concentrate a bit more can go into either Blue or Red side rooms. Some days people go in and want to chatter, other days they want to get their heads into it... sometimes the mission is an open format training session like the playground where everyone's just hanging out- other times not. Doing this allows functionality for both atmospheres simultaneously. Of COURSE sometimes each side is going to sway a little... geesh, this isn't combat school- but I think the above is functional and practical and simple- the perfect trifecta. When crew and I hammer down the SimHQ TS3 rooms, guys wanting to dial in can move into those rooms while those who want a more casual experience can stay in the DCSW rooms. I will also be working on implementing "training" type spots in missions where able so that even if people just want to come in and fly and be a part of the bigger picture they can, without needing to feel they need to jump into it head first. I'm not 100% where this is going to fit in yet, but it's something I'm working on.



And I need to reinforce that the language NEEDS to be respectful of the fact that some people don't have headphones or simply aren't comfortable with the vulgarity. We're ALL going to drop the occasional laser guided GBU-69 F-Bomb... generally it slips out by accident- but we need to keep a harness on it. On my side of things, if I start getting complaints of individuals repeatedly disregarding requests to keep the language down I will apply temporary bans in the Firehouse server(if necessary). It goes without saying that if we're getting the language over chat from people who elect not to join us on TS3...

Anyway, I don't want to be an uptight jerkwad about any of this but I find about once a month these things need to be addressed to remind both new and old regulars.

The "HOG LANTERN" - the guy lying in a travel pod with a plexiglas front, calling out targets using NVGs and binocs - that really cracks me up^^

Awesome to hear about the night and weather versions of Highway... can't wait to try 'em out...!

I've often heard people talking about sighting missile threats and putting them on the beam, etc... but my experience has been they're just too small to see (plus we get a lot of smokeless missile threats in the Firehouse/Hollo Pointe. Maybe the problem is just my crummy 1440x900, 14" monitor.
Still, before I upgrade my monitor I might have to get that Saitek switch panel in the review on the front page today... I'm supposed to be working and all I can think of is which functions I would assign it to! Master Arm, Laser, PAC... Fuel pumps? Reset SAS? OOH! JETTISON STORES!

This may be my only chance to convince the wife... do birthday privileges extend to making unannounced flight sim purchases???

Edit: Also, about the language issue, if I hear anyone let slip some blue radio calls I'll be sure to get very stereotypical British about it^^ "Now now gentlemen, I don't think we'll be needing any of that now, will we?"

Edit the second: Having looked around, it seems the Saitek multi panel pieces simply cannot be used in DCS... even the developer of the third-party SPAD drivers says simple keyboard emulation that could be used in DCS isn't on the cards right now. What a kick in the teeth...

Really enjoyed the mission tonight on Hollo Pointe server, rain and overcast in the mountains made the Black Shark both fun and terrifying.

Some shots from Highway today.









Some formation after taking off from Novo; note the SA-10 Radar on the RWR. A few minutes latter all three of us got taken out by one missile (maybe two!)

Wasn't sure if we could contribute... seems we get a lot out for putting nothing in.

Well Ive put a lot of blood into it, plenty of virtual me spread across the maps

Well, you can contribute - to SimHQ:

If you'd like to contribute to SimHQ
PO Box 1478
Richmond, Texas 77469

WC

LOL MACE... nice. Sitting at the AP now getting strange looks. Thanks for that.

We have 100 pages and over 30000 views on this thread alone... about 100k views on the other threads about the server... EVERYONE works their @ss off to make this fun for everyone- Sometimes I need to crack the whip and tell guys to shut their yap, mind their manners and go in and fly their hearts out.

And I do want to point out that a lot of guys DO work VERY hard on the server to make sure that the new folks coming in who are scared or intimidated of the multiplayer environment get a fair chance to come in and enjoy everything the way it's meant to be enjoyed. What makes the experience worthwhile to me... and what helps me feel great about paying extra for the connection and leaving the computer running 24/7 is not only the regular guys coming in and enjoying the missions whenever they feel like it- but what really charges my cannon is the fact that the new guys come in and REALLY take it on- and fall in love with the sim because of the FANTASTIC patience and accommodation forwarded by the veterans.

Gentlemen- once again... I thank you.

You guys ROCK.

And thanks from me to you both too. (Literally) Couldn't do it without your respective time and effort.

TC.. shut up and go kill some SAMs.

...

BWAHAHAH. that is funny.

Is my hatred for lethal things that shoot me THAT wide spread blindone? I didn't even think we've flown together more than once or twice!

Also upgrades of my PC are imminent. Plus it will be good to play on a monitor vs a giant tv that's too high up (due to it being on a 3' high table) to be comfy to game on. Plus it's kind of a bit of a chore to drag the HOTAS and TrackIR and mic out to the living room. Hope to play more soon once that happens so either I can keep the skies clear of SAMs or they keep it clear of me. One of em's bound to happen at least.

Naw... The tension of Eno's comment hit a soft spot and made me daydream about leaving work and flying.

Aw, dang. For a sec I thought I was legendary. Wrong again.

Well I'll say this TC- if I'm in the SAM environment I want to be on your wing.

Aw shucks Eno, that's pretty much Maverick and Iceman on the flight deck after the last ACM scene of Top Gun right there.