Page 16 - June 2020

What do flight games often get Also keep in mind that its physically impossible to place that

wrong about aerial combat? many missiles internally, which means they'll be causing
aerodynamic drag while hanging on the wings.
Coming from DCS, which is about as close as a Pathetic missiles: With the partial exception of AC3: Electro
civilian can get to real combined arms air
sphere, AC missiles mindlessly chase their targets. IRL,
combat, just about everything.
missiles set up an intercept trajectory that follows the most
Weapon loadouts: efficient path. Some will even climb high into thin air before
This F-15 is, somehow, plunging down onto their targets. Flying in a circle IRL will
carrying 104 missiles, it get you killed.
likely started with even
more, a pulse laser Even the medium range missiles practically require you to

with 104 shots be within visual range and can be completely defeated by
either turning in a circle or popping a single flare (try doing
just four flares (only effective against IR missiles,)
that in real life and tell me what a radar guided missile
zero chaff, a gun that makes its own ammo from thought about the flare.)
thin air, and zero external tanks (yet somehow, it
flew all the way to Gunther Sound, got into a Blind AWACS:
massive air battle, and, presumably, flew back This is the Arsenal Bird
home.) IRL, you'd be lucky to have eight missiles on from AC7. According to
an F-15C the Ace Combat Wiki:
Fuel management: Or lack thereof. When was Aceopedia, the aircraft has
the last time an Ace Combat game had a fuel a wingspan of 3,600ft and
gauge? AC2? And even then, I'm fairly certain normally cruises in excess
it was nothing more than a relabled timer. of 5,000ft ASL.
Contrast this to real life where higher throttle How exactly does a dedicate airborne radar platform miss
settings produce a corresponding decrease in something that is several times the size of a Nimitz class
loiter time. Never mind if you light the aircraft carrier that is over a mile off the ground?
afterburner. You also have no external tanks Longcaster, did you decide to take a nap five minutes after
and don't have to worry about fuel imbalances takeoff or what? We should have seen this thing coming
among internal tanks. from over 1,000NM away.
Weight and drag: Let's assume you could Poor military intelligence: Osea, you literally built the
somehow manage to strap 180 missiles to an F- Arsenal Bird. Why did its APS come as such a surprise?
22 (more like 220, given special weapons.) If
Self repairing planes: To be honest, I only actually saw this
we assume your standard AC missile is an AIM-
in the fiasco that was Assault Horizon. But still, limping a
9X and the 4XAAM (or whatever its called) is an plane home at 99% damage, landing, and having the
AIM-120D, we get 33,840Lbs and 13,280Lbs
mechanics fully repair it in less time than it takes to rearm it
respectively, totaling 47,120Lbs, before fuel. is a bit farfetched.
An F-22 has a maximum takeoff weight of
83,500Lbs, of which 43,340Lbs is the dry weight Perfect information: I know where every enemy in the map
of the plane itself. You're already severely is. Friend, foe, doesn’t matter. The lone friendly infantry
overweight without a drop of fuel in the tanks. squad has a convenient blue hexagon around them. Ditto
for the tank shooting at them (except for it being green or
Also keep in mind that heavier planes have
reed.) No chance of fratricide.
more inertia and thus poorer turning
performance and poorer acceleration and climb Conveniently stupid enemies:
Belkan 1: Guys, let's build the SOLG's ground station under a
rate.
mountain.
Belkan 2: Good idea.
Belkan 1: Lets also build this massive tunnel that is easily wide

enough for a plane to fly through that leads straight to it.