F/A-18E/F Super Hornet

[M.Andersson(SWE) 4]

Will they be !!?WORKING?!!...Like in really working???

Drooooooling like Homer Simpson

[wolfbite 8]

Jeez guy's this looks stunning.

[franze 196]

Nodunit is jumping the gun a bit; I can't say when or if his cockpit will be implemented. In the future probably, most likely on a "Mark 2" version of the aircraft, but not at this stage. As I've already stated, the aircraft is a upgraded version of the one released for OFP a year ago. So if you ever tried that version, the one in ArmA will have all the same features and then some.

[EricJ 760]

And just another thing:

Again, this is Franze's stuff, not mine. He's letting me tweak it so it's workable within ArmA, and as stated many times, it's from OFP, so I do alot of work, mostly on my own initiative, but Franze is the final decision of what gets used and what doesn't, pointblank

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the many thanks and all, but it's not my original model, and therefore direct any specific questions regarding scripting, etc. etc. to Franze. While I like to say it will be in this, I can't without his approval.

[xnodunitx 0]

Nodunit is jumping the gun a bit; I can't say when or if his cockpit will be implemented. In the future probably, most likely on a "Mark 2" version of the aircraft, but not at this stage. As I've already stated, the aircraft is a upgraded version of the one released for OFP a year ago. So if you ever tried that version, the one in ArmA will have all the same features and then some.

Yeah I do have a bad tendancy to do that.

I just like to have it prepared in advance.

But we'll discuss this further in private so we don't wind up spamming the board.

[Blue_Flight 0]

So how complete is the addon now to a first release?

With all the modelling work it´s hard to guess its status right now

[EricJ 760]

When Franze blesses off on it. When? When he does basically. We're working to get something workable, but no promises on when we'll let it go.

[EricJ 760]

Hailstorm, you got me interested in doing something for the rocket pods, what I call a "LAU-200/A" rocket pod rail.  If it were real, it'd have to be matched up to the sides of course but since this is a 3D model I can get ambigious:

NOTE: This is not anything planned or desired, it's just a touch of imagination, and nothing that's been discussed between me or Franze, I just got a little creative, that's it.

Mesh on the gear door. Could be better (it is 1-pixel) but I'll see about making it look slightly better.

[hailstorm 4]

heh, thanks! i was just thinking it'd be cool to be able to access some sort of 'ground-spammer' weapon for CAS missions. hopefully you get the go-ahead for it!

actually, just out of curiosity, a few websites list that the super is capable of using an 'LAU-58' launcher. can't find any details on it, except This Picture. oddly, in that one it list's it as a 'LAU-68' even though it dosen't actually LOOK like the real '68. odd.

[EricJ 760]

Well that's more like a "pre-cant" picture, or before they were having issues with weapons release (main reason why the wing pylons are like that) so then it was feasible to have a dumb rocket launcher. I wouldn't just out of safety consideraions mount rockets due to the cant they have in the forward axis.

[franze 196]

Rockets are a no-go until someone finds me some real physical evidence that the Super can carry them.

And no, that drawing is an artist's representation and isn't accurate. For example, when was the last time you saw an AGM-62 deployed on the aircraft?

[wolfbite 8]

Anychance of more wireframes of the hornet guys? i dunno why theyre jus awesome

[xnodunitx 0]

Sure, I'll have to supply them by URL's though because of their size, I made a few wireframes particularly large.

http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/558/lrgfulwq6.jpg A top diagnol view

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/1732/toplrgfsc4.jpg Top

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/9007/backdiagffk0.jpg Rear diagnol

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/6471/frontoa9.jpg Front

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/7497/sidefpr5.jpg Side

and for the heck of it.

[itan 0]

OMG its the most beautiful thing ive ever seen! At this time i can say... Great work!

[wolfbite 8]

Cheers thanks for that jus somethin great about that jet. Jus one question. On the dynamic loadouts do you model the weapons and pylons and main aircraft all seperate fro each other?

[Prydain 1]

OMG its the most beautiful thing ive ever seen! At this time i can say... Great work!

Get out more.

Hey guys, been following this thing for a wile but was scared of mentioning the rather ugly texture. Now I noticed it was just the one from the OFP version . Keep up the good work, can' ney wait to see some American aircraft finaly.

[xnodunitx 0]

Cheers thanks for that jus somethin great about that jet. Jus one question. On the dynamic loadouts do you model the weapons and pylons and main aircraft all seperate fro each other?

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[EricJ 760]

Hell I've been looking at it for quite a bit, and must say they look good, even liked it so much it's part of my sig

The weapons arming and selection is what could be called alot of scripting that Franze in all eternity figured out. The way the system works is that it's "called" from a file that has every weapon, and fueltank that it carries. So one airframe can have up to 70 configurations with one jet. It's great because you don't need twenty aircraft for each loadout. You need one aircraft and that's it. It's a great system and it's really hard to look at other aircraft addons and not expect the same. It does require some support from triggers and other stuff but overall it works and it's worth it.

[MaxRiga 0]

so, will u both add flares to your model or not?

[Renegade Commando 0]

Rockets are a no-go until someone finds me some real physical evidence that the Super can carry them.

And no, that drawing is an artist's representation and isn't accurate. For example, when was the last time you saw an AGM-62 deployed on the aircraft?

Found some info 'bout the loads the Super Hornet can carry here: http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/030324-fa-1801.htm stating that it can carry every weapon in the navy's inventory.

Rockets were also featured in Jane's F/A-18, including the 5 in. LAU-10 ( http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app4/5in-rockets.html ), however, this don't prove anything as the sim is quite old and may only reflect the navy's inventory when it wa released back in '99 (where the Hell did the time go?).

[EricJ 760]

MaxRiga, we dont know yet, we have alot of things to cover but more than likely they will man.

I'll check on some people who know Super Hornet pilots, and get back with y'all on the rockets.  Operationally we haven't seen any (least in pictures) on any aircraft, and I've got 1200+ pictures and I've seen:

JDAM

Maverick

GBU-12/16

Dumb Bombs

Harpoon

6 station MER with training bombs

That's it.  Does that reflect current operational capabilities?  No, but right now we're looking for hard evidence. Franze is a thorough researcher on the subject, and I'm good myself, so we're not going to add something unless it's correctly used/employed. Besides, it's a bit difficult to add weaponry due to all the scripting, so Franze isn't going to waste time unless it's necessary. I had to argue adding the SLAM-ER and Harpoon, so just chill.

[franze 196]

@Prydain

Well, maybe if I could texture better or gave a flying hoot about the textures, they'd be different; as it stands, textures are a low priority. Again, it's a port, not something done from scratch. Nobody is forcing you to like it the way it is, but some people do and that's good enough for me.

@wolfbite

The F-18 uses a combination of "hard" mounted weapons and external mounted ones. For example, the wingtip pylons are hard mounted and can only take AIM-9M or AIM-9X. The #2, 3, 4, 8, 9, and 10 points can take a variety of weaponry. These hardpoints have fake proxies from an external model on them.

@MaxRiga

Flares are equipped on the aircraft in a limited quantity. The aircraft expends 4 flare cartridges and 4 chaff cartridges for every missile launched at the aircraft. This leaves 16 bursts of countermeasures before they run dry and missile spoofing capability takes a nose dive.

@Renegade Commando

Neither of those sources are definitive on whether or not the Super can employ rockets. Keep in mind that Jane's F-18 was also designed and made before the toe out was implemented on the real aircraft. Note that again, they also list the AGM-62 in that list - the AGM-62 was retired from Navy service in the mid-90s.

[EricJ 760]

OMG its the most beautiful thing ive ever seen!  At this time i can say... Great work!  

Get out more.

Hey guys, been following this thing for a wile but was scared of mentioning the rather ugly texture. Now I noticed it was just the one from the OFP version . Keep up the good work, can' ney wait to see some American aircraft finaly.

It should be noted that I'm a little crunched for time and wish I could solely fixate on the textures, but as they are they will be that until that's the final thing. I intended to do just that but my old modelling skills popped in when it became apparent that it needed to be improved. My intent is to get the model mapped before real texturing happens. I can only do so much.

[Prydain 1]

Oi, your miss-reading what I write. Please re-read it.

For clarity, I thought the texture made the model look strange but with the one tone, gray texture it has no lines and such to distort it.

Again, can't wait .

[EricJ 760]

Oh no we've hammered out something reasonable for getting rid of the monotone grey of the original. USN aircraft camo is surprisingly the most difficult I've dealt with, as in various light it looks different. It's Light Compass Ghost Grey and Dark Compass Ghost Grey, but Franze's adjustment puts it near and makes it useable. My bad man I did misunderstand