3rd mission in the grand campaign. ID blockade runners. I load up w/ 2 AMRAAMs, 2 AIM-9X and 6 HARM. Same for my Wingie.

On ingress I call for fighters and weasels. No weasels but fighters are vectored. I start lobbing HARMS at the defenses on the shore line and order my wingie to do the same. I see lots of streaks in the sky as my escorts and the Red Russina interceptors start tearing into each other I am so focused on my EW page that I do not realize I am almost on top of the blockade runner.

I loop back north thinking I must have gotten credit when I get indications of an SA-11 launch. I wiggle around and drop flares and defeat it. As I try to build my energy/speed back up, I get the "Mission Success, you can quit now" message.

No thanks.

I keep going and give my wingie RTB. He tries to make it home but gets brought down. I hear him in the chute and the SAR is on it's way. I dial up the carrier's TACAN and beat feet north. There is still a big A2A fight going on so, once I see the wakes of the battle group on the horizon, I turn south again in hopes of getting to pick off some red russian air. I switch to AA MM, get off 1 max range AMRAAM shot and am almost immediatly raked by cannon fire... an SU-27 was running me down and I had no idea until he chewed me up! We get into a 1 circle fight and just as I am about light him up w/ an AIM-9X, he explodes... escorts got him.

I turn south again in hopes of trying to get a few more AMRAAMs off when my master caution goes off. Left Oil Pressure is low. Great. I decide to head home. Just as I turn north, boom... left engine fire. I shut her down and pump extinguisher in. No further failures.

I call mother and declare. They think I want to divert. Nope, I'm driving in. Not wanting to be a hero, I set ACL and hope a nice robotic landing but, as I close in past the 5 mile mark I realize I am not gonna get a good ACL lock so, this is gonna be hands on. I am still not completely comfortable landing w/ 2 good engines but, I go right in and grease it!

I am so happy I literally start screaming expletives

Ah, sounds like a good mission!

ACL? What's that? I've always landed manually in F/A-18...

Automatic carrier landing system, something with a modern computer you can no longer do, UTR.

I agree Radar, this is still a GREAT sim in well written missions. But I have to wonder at your desire to launch AMRAAMs into a furball containing friendlys. After it goes "active", an AMRAAM is just as likely to target a nearby friendly. I always load a SPARROW or two for those situations.

Fly high my friend and watch your six
Shadow

I got a declare from the awacs when I locked it up. For the record, it was an IL-76. Not sure what that was doing there but, a kill is a kill

Radar, Believe me when I say I am not trying to find fault, only share some information. I have the greatest respect for my fellow virtual pilots who have put effort and time into learning this difficult sim. An AWACs declare is a positive way to determine if the target is hostile. I use it everytime I launch an A2A if there is time. Maybe I mis-understood your post, which I enjoyed reading very much! I love that kind of action and it sounds like you were getting plenty of it. If you launch an AMRAAM toward a declared hostile with a friendly near the hostile, several things could happen. The hostile might get destroyed before your missile gets there. The hostile might break radar lock with jamming, counter measures, or manuvering. A friendly might get between the missile and the hostile for long enough to cause the missile to lose the hostiles lock, as in persuit if the hostile has turned away. You might have to take evasive action yourself and lose your radar lock. In all of these possibilities, the AMRAAM will start looking for a new target with its onboard radar. And it doesn't care if that target is hostile, neutral, or friendly.
And thanks again for an exciting mission recap.

Nice after mission report UTR.

Considering how many times I have been whacked by AIM-54s, I would not feel too guilty.

Had it been an online fight with real people I would have been more careful but, since there were no feelings to hurt or time to waste, I was a little more careless than I might normally be.

Does anyone know how to take in game screen shots? Does the game itself support this or do I need to use FRAPS or some other app?

Alt+S