Hey guys! If you're still on the fence about the DCS F-4E Phantom II from Heatblur I hope this videos helps you make that all important decision on how to best spend those hard earned dollars on our favorite flight sim!

@Mirknir

Ай бұрын

I wished you talked more about Jester as this is my major drawback and immersion-breaking of the F14 that I love. In the heat of the combat, having to micro manage Jester thru the wheel menus because he just wants to lock the bandit at 100km instead of the one at 20 is sometimes frustrating. Also doing everything thru menu is also immersion breaking and I see even more menus here like the bombing preferences. I know they supposedly upgraded Jester but I don't see a lot of review about it. Thanks

@WildWeasel-ygbsm

Ай бұрын

@@Mirknir Voice Attack is perfect for Jester

@jarroberts27

Ай бұрын

@@Mirknir i do believe the pilot can slew around the radar and lock whoever you want to

I think more devs should do cockpit options like in the warthog, it has the clean factory and torn up cockpit versions

@UkDave3856

Ай бұрын

I like that too. Personally I prefer the factory fresh cockpit

@jw8042

Ай бұрын

Especially when you are just starting up, it’s nice to see the labels in the cockpit

@BillyWunebuger

Ай бұрын

I think they are. In a Heatblur video, there’s a short moment where they show a wear and tear slider in the mission editor for the condition of the aircraft.

@aaronwhite1786

Ай бұрын

@@BillyWunebuger I'll be curious to see if that affects the cockpit. I know they've mentioned a lot about how the F-4 has a lot of things to model like wear and tear on the components of the plane, I was thinking it would be more like failures and sticking gauges and things like that. It would be cool if it affected the cockpit textures though, since the F-14 could be a bit rough to figure out at times when you were trying to read it.

@BarkerVancity

Ай бұрын

theres mods to get on the website for some

"should you buy it?" We already all have 😅

@YlmazDALKIRANscallion

Ай бұрын

ahahahahhahahaha

@kaischeunemann997

Ай бұрын

haha i dont because i cant pull 60 dollars out my ass

Being german, the Phantom is my absolute highlight in the history of DCS. The MiG29 has been flying the flag as good as it could but, by all means, ain’t no heatblur module. This will be like meeting your childhood crush and I PHysically can’t wait any longer.

@Spudknocker

Ай бұрын

Haha I feel you there man it’s probably my most anticipated aircraft and she is worth the wait!

@aaronwhite1786

Ай бұрын

As an American who's always had a weird love for Germany, I remember being so happy that I could fly the German MiG-29's in the original Lock-On. Now getting to fly the F-4 in some of the awesome German paint schemes? Perfection.

@HeyitsNate_

Ай бұрын

Same here! I cannot wait for the tornado!

I know 99.5% of people don’t care but my wife loves flying DCS with me and she’s really happy to be getting a female pilot model.

@Spudknocker

Ай бұрын

Absolutely man! That’s awesome! There are a few women that regularly fly in my missions that are looking forward to that as well! Like I said in the video all the auxiliary things Heatblur is doing around the F-4 itself are really pushing DCS forward and making it a better game

@scottgabler1902

Ай бұрын

Pretty cool dude! My wife couldn't tell you what an F-4 is. Lol

@qwertyuiop32935

Ай бұрын

That’s cool! Hope she has fun!

DCS seriously needs a Vietnam map! Especially with these new bird and the Huey's!

@wiggles7172

Ай бұрын

A lot of other Vietnam modules being built too; A-1, A-6, F-8, etc, etc

@viscounttudon68

Ай бұрын

F-4, MiG-21, A-6, F8, MiG-19. F-104 further out. A Vietnam map has so much potential

@bitmanagent67

Ай бұрын

Need Vietnam map, MD 500 little birds

@putzak

Ай бұрын

The Kiowa is coming as well

@skeelo22

15 күн бұрын

Can't forget the A-7, and f-100

2nd comment but as an Iranian I feel like I need to say we are all thankful our shah bought us these beautiful machines Without them we might have lost the war I know no one cares but oh well

@robertzurawiecki7837

Ай бұрын

Hey, no one can blame you for not wanting to lose to Saddam!

@shonen84

Ай бұрын

You are most welcome, بفرمایید, thanks for sharing your thoughts!

I love Heatblur’s products. I own the Tomcat and the Phantom. One thing I would IMPLORE them to do, though, is make factory fresh pits for the Tomcat and Phantom. It would make learning the aircraft SO much easier. Don’t get me wrong, I like the battle worn look, but just not when I’m trying to learn

I know this topic is fairly shop-worn by this point but since you asked, having spent thousands of hours flying in the F-14 and lots of time visiting the cockpits of USAF National Guard F-4Es flying at Red Flag, I almost never saw cockpits as thrashed as those in DCS in either jet. The USAF F-4s in particular were spotless from head to toe and put my much, much younger Tomcat to shame. In my opinion, I'd say Heatblur has done an excellent job replicating cockpits of museum/War Weary airframes but not the jets typically flown while on active service. I'd say the ED F-18 and A-10 cockpits are much more reflective of the typical Navy and USAF cockpits respectively in terms of condition.

@Spudknocker

Ай бұрын

I agree with you 100%!

@KillerKev1961

Ай бұрын

Marine Corps birds were almost always hand me downs. I mean worn, busted, repaired, bent repaired, NDI'd for cracks and reworked, upgraded, redesignated from J variants to S and N variants etc. and the maintainers did an incredible job in maintaining the numbers that were RFI. In the case of the F-4s we flew, in the end the maint hours vs flight hours were horrendous. I mean it was crazy.

I' ve been waiting for this baby basically since I was a kid back in the 80s. We' ve been Phantom-spotting all the time while they took low flying military training above our houses. I am counting the hours, damn I am so excited!

Thanks for the review dude!

@Spudknocker

Ай бұрын

No prob hope you like it!

Great Review, thanks!

Was hoping you'd get the F-4 early and bless us with some great content, and you surely delivered... *as always!*

My suspicion with the cockpit is Heatblur uses photoscans for modeling and textures. This means it looks like a museum piece because that's what was available to them for reference.

@MongooseTacticool

Ай бұрын

Same with the F14.

@NyteStalker89

Ай бұрын

Except they used flying aircraft for references as well.. Diesel Thunder helped them out with access to a privately owned, airshow flying F-4E here in the States.

@aaronwhite1786

Ай бұрын

I believe they had some pictures of them doing the photoscans of a German F-4.

@NyteStalker89

Ай бұрын

@@aaronwhite1786 They did those before they went for the Flying F-4E in the states. I think. Who knows, the flying one here in the US was probably used to capture the gauges in motion?

@Bluenoser71170

Ай бұрын

No, scans are neither here nor there with regard to final appearance.

sigh, still waiting for tornado

A Very fine wine indeed, Beautiful video Thank you. Cant wait for the 21st !!

Great video! What asset package did you use to depict the environment shown? Really appreciated your comment regarding Thirdwire F-4.

Super video!! What asset package did you use for the environment shown in vide? Plus Ireally appreciated your comment about Thirdwire

you've piqued my curiosity concerning this module. can you hang shrikes on it and go wild weaseling?

@Spudknocker

Ай бұрын

You can!

Absolutely Amazing. I can't wait to get this aircraft.

Nice review Spud! Lovely module, already pre-ordered. I agree with you 100% on the cockpit textures though. It looks too worn, like a museum piece. Wouldn't need a factory fresh one but one with a little less wear than we have right now would be nice and probably more realistic as well.

Ordered it, looking forward to it. This cockpit is way better than that of F-14. Heatblur should really overhaul that cockpit to make it properly tangible. Too worn out. Glad that F-4 seems normal. Any cockpit should be slightly scrathy and a bit worn, not broken.

I think having an option between clean and worn cockpit would be a cool setting option. Not just for the f4 but for every aircraft

10:02 as a Japanese person, I feel called out lol . Although it's 100% true, all the cockpit images of the f-4ej's look spotless

Man I would love a factory new cockpit. The planes in DCS look like they have been sitting in a scrap yard with the canopy open for 30 years.

@TimberDCS

Ай бұрын

Oh dude. If you see a cockpit of any fleet jet you will realize that DCS isn’t that far off.

@KillerKev1961

Ай бұрын

@@Abledoggie42 100%

@KillerKev1961

Ай бұрын

@@TimberDCS ABSOLUTELY!

And that is the correct music for this plane

Need the Vietnam map, and would love to see a full fidelity Mig-25 and/or 31. As much as I love to turn n burn, going super high, super fast, and working a long-range intercept radar would be tons of fun. The F-14 and F-15E are like baby-awacs almost.

can't wait for the movie you are going to make with this beast

I dont even know where the fence is ... Love it

I Think some wear on the plan looks nice but also havning prestine crean looks fantastic as well... maybe we should have an option on the graphocs menu or something

I've never bought an aircraft module beyond FC3. Looks tough to learn. But the Phantom is my favourite jet, and Hearblur seems to have done such an amazing job that I have preordered this. Looks amazing and the plane that I am energized to learn.

So long ago, I forgot I preordered 😂 . I've been pretty fed up with DCS pre-ordering lately and have not pre-ordered any new maps. I will, however, give Heatblur plenty of credit for the Phantom. Looking forward to flying her but DCS needs Vietnam and Pacific maps badly. Thx for the video as always.

OL SPUDDY AT IT AGAIN

Maaan. I was flying this thing in Wings Over Vietnam for so many years. I'm curious to see how the experience compares and if my acquired skills will count.

I much prefer the worn look cockpits to the factory fresh one. Certainly in vr I think it adds more immersion

Having looked at many an air museum aircraft cockpit, they are generally well looked after and will not suffer much wear and tear, even for decades on show. Fine for reference

I, like most of us here, bought the module the second the pre-sale was initiated. And it seems like it was a year ago. Btw, when I was active in the USMC, it was the A-6E, EA-6A, A-4E, F-4B/N, F-4J, F-4N, F-4S RF-4B era. All of the birds were rode hard, and well maintained but showed every bit of wear and tear and looked worn from normal use and often several trips to North Island and other locs for re-work, often due to being bent (overstressed). Even after wash rack trips, they were permanently stained with hyd oil, fuel, grease and paint wear/chips/flaking. The ONLY time I ever saw factory fresh and clean virgin looking airframes was at El Toro when the F-4s of MAG-11 were replaced with the brand new F/A-18s! That was the only time! EVER lol. So I like mine as I saw them. Nice and dirty girls. Bad boys love dirty girls.

My personal choice for a cockpit would be a ~ 5 years old , but still well maintained . So not factory shine anymore, one can feel it has already been part of a pilot's life and a caring ground crew, slightly dull but not peppered with paint flakes either.

I was blown away when I put on the vr goggles in the F4 for the first time, it was by far the most realistic looking cockpit in DCS. However, the cockpit was so dark I can’t see anything, especially when part of the cockpit is in shadows. Even with the flashlight it’s hard to see. I’m going to adjust the brightness settings but I think it’s going to make other airplane cockpits too bright, and I’ll have to keep adjusting every time I switch planes.

It has been almost exactly ten years since I hopped into my first jet: the MIGHTY E-145 lawn dart. The first thing I noticed was just how much the paper tigers (cockpit posters) over sell the looks. The parking brake handle is just a bare metal stick with some remnants of paint on it. Everything else is worn out from being twisted, poked, or used a handle. You effectively have to use echolocation to use the buttons on the MCDU because they're all worn down to nothing. Only the newest jets look anything like the posters. I appreciate the worn in look, but considering many of us are not following the principle of RTFM, having legible writing in game is quite important. :D

oh baby I can't wait!

First video that I’m watching on the subject, FYI.

Nah brother, I'm not on the fence. I'm watching this to validate my purchasing decision. I don't even know the first thing about the cold war or who flew what planes. This thing just looks amazing and I love spending time learning to fly these complex machines.

I bought the Phantom module as a post exam treat and I love it. I agree with all your points, Spud. This is a really fun bird to fly. But there's one thing that I'd like to add and I'm not sure if it's just me, but the Phantom feels a lot more "real" than the other modules, even the Tomcat. All the other birds, like the Sabre, Tomcat and Hornet are great, but there's something about this Phantom module that just makes it seem more than a simulation. I think Heatblur simulating the actual systems like hydraulics and electrics instead of scripting those things like normal really makes her feel more real. When I was having a quick fly around just to get a feel, I noticed after a while my navball (I can't remember the proper name, navball is the KSP term, it's the main attitude indicator that's also the compass) and my HSI had stopped behaving and were showing erroneous info. Not sure why but I flicked the source switch for where the instruments are getting data (standby/primary), I can't remember which it was set to, but that sorted it. I just love this plane and this module. Historically, I agree this is a very significant module. So many air forces have used Phantoms: Israel, Turkey, Greece, Japan, South Korea, Iran, Egypt, Australia and the UK (although the RAF and FAA used the F-4K and M which were based on the USN F-4J). My uncle was an RAF mechanic and used to work on the Phantoms back in the dark ages, so that's my connection to the Phantom. Over Easter I went to the RAF Museum at RAF Cosford and they've got the cockpit of an F-4K FG.1, a former Fleet Air Arm then RAF Phantom, and you can have a sit in it. Having sat in a real Phantom makes it feel a little different.

I already bought it, but you have sold me on it ! I was worried about buyers remorse (JK) but not now !

I'm friends with a retired f4 mechanic who was part of a American f4 program to make a f4 refuel both ways anytime.

i am 100% buying it

@Spudknocker

Ай бұрын

It is definitely worth it!

I mean the F4E when it came out wasn't so dirty and used in the cockpit like the one we have. It should be an option to chose yourself what you want, a dirty or a prestine cockpit.

I think the option for a factory new cockpit and weathered to hell cockpit would be 💯

Can’t wait until they get Navy version of this aircraft. It’s going to be awesome landing on the carrier

I wish heatblur had given us a setting when spawning the aircraft... so we could choose the wear level of the paint. I should be able to choose from an impeccable pristine cockpit or a beat up old one.

HB have said they looked at both sparkly clean F4's and super dirty ones, the first iterations of the cockpit was considered too dirty by the SME's so it seems like they have hit the sweet spot. They have also said thay are going to be adding variations to cockpit wear and tear just like the f14.

There’s videos of Heatblur going to F4s and taking photos of the cockpit and the plane

Also why not have texturs for all the states of a craft from factory fresh to junk yard pulled out for WW3? Like the A-10C just have that as an option in the misc menu.

At some point I hope they add in the wild weasel variant as this was the WW bird for a very long time indeed.

Phantom getting Stand-Off Capabilities before the Mudhen is crazy

Phantastic

I got a couple flights in last night finally. All in all about what I expected, which is a very good thing. A couple observations… - On my first landing, which was a bit rough at Creech but certainly nowhere near as hard as a carrier landing, Jester makes a comment about needing the undercarriage replaced and then I find out I have no brakes. Now, I’m an old US Navy carrier guy. I’m used to planes that get slammed on a pitching deck all day long. That little tap and I lose my brakes??? C’mon, man! - I didn’t look too hard cuz I was wanting to get in the air and I knew I had yet to spend an hour or more setting up the controls, but all I saw were skins for either USAF jets or allied nation jets. Nothing from the United States Navy. I mean, the thing was designed and built as a FLEET defense aircraft for the US Navy. They have six skins for the USAF Thunderbirds, but not one navy skin. What is up with that? As an ex-US Navy flight deck veteran that actually served on a carrier that still had a squadron of Phantoms on board, I take great offense to this. - I may be doing something wrong procedure wise and no, I haven’t RtFM yet, but I found as I was screaming around the southern Nevada skies last night, that no matter how I set the radar up from the WSO seat, once I went back to the pilot seat, after a second or two the radar would go back to a B scope and 50 mile range. Am I missing something there? Is it supposed to do that and if so, how can I change it? Surely the pilot can do a PPI and isn’t locked into a B scope. I mean, it does show PPI for a second before it changes. - I’m also wondering why there doesn’t seem to be a Jester command to change ranges on the radar. I can tell him to change the elevation and scan size, but not the range? Edit: I looked again this morning and no, there are no US Navy skins at all. C’mon guys, this thing was built for the Navy! Edit: Okay, I get it. The Navy used the B and J versions, not the E. Well, I hope they come out with a US Navy variation someday.

Watching this video as if I hadn’t preordered the module a year ago lol 😀

Probe and Drogue would be absolutely amazing

While having cockpit wear options available would be best, I think the choice to go for the full patina in the cockpit texture is a good one because the rendering engine in dcs makes clean flat paint look very artificial and plastic. While its might be a bit too much wear when you really look at it, when you are flying and doing stuff it tricks your peripheral vision into a sense of being in a real metal machine by breaking up the surface

Realistic or not, I love the look of the beat-up cockpits. That's part of what made me like the Viggen. But I'm the kind of person who likes feeling like I'm flying the old under-dog jet in a modern scenario. So, the Phantom is tempting. I just have so many aircraft I am learning and flying already... So I'm still on the fence.

Didn't heatblur say they're eventually going to make a naval version? It will have a probe refuel system

I buy every module DCS offers, whether it's right for me or not. It's why I suck so bad on all them! I just can't choose one to really focus on and master. When you have them all, it's really hard to choose, I love them all. The A10C II is one that you can spend months every single time you log on and still not have it all covered it's so massive. Study level aircraft like that, the Hornet, the Falcon...then there's the warbirds and helo's...Not enough time in the day for them all. Same with the maps. Each map has so many cool things and awesome scenarios that you just cannot decide. But I love that problem. I always have excitement when I learn something new

I heard at some point HB wants to model different variations upon the F-4. grain of salt, obviously, but I could even swear they specifically mentioned a Navy Phantom like the F-4J. I really hope that's true, because early look-down shoot-down radars and the Navy Phantom chassis seem so interesting and i'd love to try flying with them too. especially with the depth they went for with the F-4E

Its a must have module in DCS

i personally love the dirty used cockpit's, they make the craft fell like it has a story to tell. but i do think that modules should have options for pristine, used, and well-worn textures, like the A-10 for example. because like you said, Japanese pilots have clean cockpits. while Iranian and Vietnam era F-4's will feel more dirty, rugged and less maintained.

Question: So I understand right, that the F-4 is not the carrier capable variant!?

I think the beat up look allows for more "believable" textures. When you see Mod aircraft part of the main issues is how clean they are. Adding scuffs and scratches adds realism. If you know what I mean?

@Spudknocker

Ай бұрын

I would definitely agree with that statement!

Does it support UL handtracking?

I got it on Day one PP. Question ... Will there be a F4 Navy/Marines version in the future ?

@terraoftime

Ай бұрын

I belive they said that was planned but that it will be a completely new moduel because the varients are so different.

I was just thinking about whether I should buy this or not, when I remembered. I already HAVE bought this….fricking months ago! 😂

Hi, is it advantageous to fly F-4 with rudder pedals, similar to F-14?

@Spudknocker

Ай бұрын

Yes very much so!

There should be a Special option: Cockpit - contemporary/vintage. 🙂

I love it

I think the largest part of the Phantom following is the fact that the US and many of her Allies sadly do not fly the Phantom anymore, and the museum variants are hard if not impossible to get into or close to. This gives the modern person a perfect window to step back in time 50-60 years to an era where men were men, and did anything and everything they could to keep the idea of freedom alive.

The aircraft being beat up is accurate. Our A-10’s have a ton of cosmetic wear and tear and they fly fine.

I like a used, but not abused, cockpit.

i think the problem with removing the spyke equipment or adding a fuel probe would be bad. with how modern dcs planes work everything is integrated and simulated, i dont think you can just add a fuel probe without messing up the plane and removing the spyke equimpent would probably take a lot of work as well

I'm alright with light wear in the cockpits. Things like color loss from the sun, and rubbed paint on exposed corners and common handle surfaces, but you also have to remember that paint that gets too worn would get taken care of during regular inspections. And once it affects legibility, it's no longer light wear, because when the adrenaline is pumping and the pilot's life is at stake, you don't want something as minor as a scratched label to be what forces them to look twice to make sure it's on the right setting. That said, the "Should you Buy?" bit is wasted on me. I have a week between release and the start of my summer semester, and I'm going to be in the Phantom for as much of it as possible.

sat in many a Tornado GR1/4 cockpit in my time, never once did they look "factory fresh". I think HB does a great job with their cockpits.

Yep, from what I can gather from the pre-release videos they took the wear and tear a bit to far for my taste. Would be great if they could add the different options to choose from. Otherwise we have to wait for some of those clever mod'ers to help us out.

You can push M and the manual will pop up for you.

My opinion is they modelled the cockpit on a very old museum aircraft. It has that unmistakeable worn dusty look to it. It has character but I would have preferred it to be a little cleaner.

This is very beautiful. But I'm not rich enough to buy it sadly

I want to test it before buying it.

Intro music? What is the title and artist?

@Spudknocker

Ай бұрын

The first song in the video is Kurnass from the Heatblur and Meteor F-4E soundtrack!

I was worried we would not get an Iranian livery for the F-4, But it makes me wonder why the F-14 didn't get one

@Spudknocker

Ай бұрын

I believe it has one! And even better we get an imperial Iranian Air Force skin as well!

@artarezaei8720

Ай бұрын

@@Spudknocker Reject the Islamic republic Embrace the Shah

Me watching this knowing full well that I pre ordered it less then 30 minutes after watching the teaser

Would this F-4E be able to launch from a carrier deck?

@Nebby_Webby

Ай бұрын

No, the F4E is the USAF variant

@KillerKev1961

Ай бұрын

No bar for the shoe.

Pls Super Etendart next

Does anyone know if the F14 is getting the updated jester (UI)

@thecircusfreak5364

Ай бұрын

Yes, that’s the plan for some point in the future.

@EpicNinjaRides

Ай бұрын

I think they said they would like to but it would take significant work because Jester 1.0 is so deeply integrated into the code of the plane where as Jester 2.0 is more of its own thing that interacts with the module.

My opinions for online players: BVR is very very limited. Super weak radar without doppler. Even jester sees target in scope still have some locking issues. Also very easy to lose lock. Basically it is visual/ACM only. Iron Bombs/Rockets/Strafing: Most of time you will find yourself over target with DIVE TOSS bombing and get killed by sams or AAA. I hope DMAS CCIP will fix that. Also rockets/strafing not accurate bcoz no CCIP. Need DMAS. TV Guided Bombs: Very useful if you know how to use them. LGB: Not useful in online imo. No stabilized TGP. As he said, only useful for big fixed targets. Mavericks: No ground stab. Very hard to lock under pressure against anti air assets. Maverick D not locking most of time. Maverick B better but less zoom. Shrike A: 7nm range. Basically useless in online. Need Shrike B which has 25nm range. You need pick correct seekers for different SAMs while reloading on the ground. Its not like HARM. RWR: No plane types on RWR screen. No air to air launch warning. Launch warnings only for some old russian SAMs. If you are IRIAF Phantom in PG map and if enemy Hawk or Patriot shoots missile at you, you not gonna get launch warning. Turns like a Peterbill. Fast. Very fun to fly. If you want challenge in modern era servers, need a lot of experience to ambush those fancy 4th gens. I hope DMAS will be released soon. I want my CCIP pipper.

If you're thinking "I only like the modern stuff, etc etc..." then you're right and this module isn't for you. For those of us who have love the F-4 since we were kids, cheers.

It will be a few week binge play and after 99% will be back in the 14/16/18. They should have done a SuperH or a cobra

Seeing that skin makes me want to buy a Mig.

Heatblur cant keep getting away with this!

How’s the radar is it really difficult??

@Spudknocker

Ай бұрын

its honestly not bad as long as you understand how these old radars work under the hood! You can practice in the F-5!

@FlyingNuggetGaming

Ай бұрын

Thanks man. Also I seen something that you do 1 to 1 lessons?

@AhSoul

Ай бұрын

@@Spudknocker I find the F-5 radar so bad I just leave it off unless I'm using it for the radar gunsight :D

I have not been inundated. I long for more. Please give me your sweet sweet words.

But I know we c ain’t ready for the DCS: A-6E. It’s my favorite aircraft of all time.