I'm generally a DCS guy, but also a huge harrier fan and since DCS can't scratch that itch there is a pretty fun version to fly in Strike Fighters 2 that has some surprisingly challenging flight dynamics. After installing the Desert Storm mod found over at Combatace.com I decided to give the AV-8b II campaign a go.
I've chosen the Hard difficulty with all labels off, "full simulation" settings, limited supplies and hard difficulty AI. I also will be very limiting on the times I hit the map key and also hitting the "skip to action" button. Full flights all the way so I have to pay attention to my fuel as well as surrounding threats. You might also notice my unit is the VMA-331 Bumblebees. This unit allows you to play the campaign from the USS Nassau rather than from an airfield. That's pretty awesome that an assault ship comes with the mod.
Let's get this show goin!
Oh Saddam, what WON'T you do!
Alright, so my first mission is to take out some air defense unit/s around a scud site.
First thing we need to do is look at the planned route. It seems I don't need to go too far, however the harrier only carries around 7,500 pounds of fuel which really isn't that much. Unless I divert I'm going to need to take some tanks.
I decide to take off the Rockeyes and put some 300 gallon tanks on my wings as long as I have the mavericks. Nothing in the center line slot as it'd be too heavy to take off with.
Time to rock and roll.
Nice early morning flight!
(It took me quite a few tries to take off with this much weight. The AI wingman barely is able to and if you don't take off before him then he drops like a brick for some reason.) After a few tries I finally made it off. It turns out you have to point the nozzle all the way back and then as soon as you leave the deck you pop the nozzle at a 45 degree angle and climb. You can't do VTOLs with that much weight so it has to be a short take off Wingman down!
(AI isn't too smart) Continuing with mission.
Heading to Waypoint 2 and climbing to 25,000 ft.
Leveling out.
Feet dry.
One cool thing about Strike Fighter 2 campaigns is that there is a ton of stuff going on and, like in Falcon BMS, you don't feel like the center of the stage. There truly is a war going on. Here's a couple B-52s headed to a target.
Approaching target. I see what looks like a previous bombing attempt that missed a ton of stuff. In any case, I switch over to my mavericks and lock on to a target.
Bingo. There's my target.
I let a maverick off. Sadly it misses as I come screaming over the target so I bank a hard left and try to line him up again.
Rifle! Hope this one hits cause it's my last one. I'm not sure if my guns will penetrate a shilka's armor.
(I think they might in this game.) BOOM! Direct hit!
I get the "Mission Accomplished" message and head home.
I get a nice sun rise on my return flight. Feet wet!
Carrier group spotted! Now comes the hard part of the mission.
Gear down, airbrake deployed, nav lights on, flaps down, nozzle at a little past 90 degrees.
Thanks to my DCS huey training, I paid very close attention to my decent rate and never went past 10 m/s(?)
(maybe feet per second? Anything past the 1 and your decent was too fast.) Easing her down slow and steady.
A very nerve racking center line touchdown!
Mission accomplished! Although it was only one shilka to take out, the entire mission was a lot of fun to fly. Even though Strike Fighters doesn't have the greatest flight dynamics, it's still very impressive and still a very big challenge in some jets, most notably the harrier. Only cheat I used was speeding up the time as these flights can be a bit long.
Mods used:
Desert Storm (Part 1) Desert Storm (Part 2) Desert Storm (Part 3) Sarcasm: Slightly Artistic representation of clouds