Pushing the Hornet to top speed & what's the fastest jet in the game?

[Migel]

So I got the Hornet, and I'm a bit disappointed with its speed at full thrust. I can't see any kind of afterburner indicator, but my throttles are all the way advanced, and I believe I do see thrust diamonds coming out of my engines. Plus, the togglable flight control interface from within DCS shows the throttle position above the upper detent.

Even with full afterburner, the hornet won't go much above 650 knots in straight flight at sea level. That's not even mach 1. Going into a dive gets me to around 750 knots, and with everything jettisoned, a nosedive with full afterburner gets me to about 800 knots. That's mach 1.2... I believe I read somewhere the top speed of the hornet is rated at mach 1.6, that might be wrong though. I feel like I'm not getting anywhere close, the highest I've tried in straight flight was at 30.000ft altitude.

So that's the first question, is this a normal speed for the hornet, and is it realistic for it to struggle breaking mach 1 at sea level from thrust alone?

And following that question, what's the fastest jet in the game, at what speeds?

[Troll Norris]

First of all. Check the special options menu for hornet. Make sure how the afterburner detent is set.

Next thing: It is very difficult for any aircraft to reach supersonic speed at sea level.
F/A-18C is not any extremnly fast aircraft. 1.8 should be the maximum at 40 000 ft. (no pylons, low fuel)

[Troll Norris]

F-14 can reach mach 2.34
Mig-29 mach 2.3
SU-27 2.35
F-15 - over 2.5

[Insônia]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU_zxrQAMxQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQmmH7KEFCo

[van Leeuwenhoek's mustache]

@Migel

Another user had similar questions regarding the hornet's top speed, check out this thread:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/223750/discussions/7/3075369490063295786/

In summary, hornet won't go beyond mach 1.3 if it has wing pylons and carries over 50% fuel.
In order to go beyond mach 1.3 in straight flight, you must remove all wing pylons, fly at 30+k and have less than 50% fuel.


Fastest jets in DCS are F-15C and Su-27 / J-11A, I think.
I seem to recall that Su-33 could also achieve very high speeds with emergency afterburner mode, but it's slower than the other flankers in most situations.

These jets can go over mach 2 at high altitude (30+k) and when light on fuel / missiles.
(Troll Norris' list seems correct, it's just missing the J-11A, which is a Su-27 variant)

[Skeletybob]

Not sure if this is related but the hornet is called a fighter/attacker aircraft which to me implies that it will be slower because it is used for air to ground

[ginger-welsh]

@ Migel

F-15C. M 2.561.


https://youtu.be/09bfEiZl6Lo

..

[van Leeuwenhoek's mustache]

Originally posted by Skeletybob:

hornet is called a fighter/attacker aircraft which to me implies that it will be slower because it is used for air to ground

Nah, A/G capability doesn't mean lower speed.
Think about the viggen, viper or even jf-17.

[startrekmike]

Originally posted by Skeletybob:

Not sure if this is related but the hornet is called a fighter/attacker aircraft which to me implies that it will be slower because it is used for air to ground

That is really not how it works at all. Some good examples to look at are the F-16, AJS-37, F-111, and even larger stuff like the B-1. The only time that dedicated ground attack aircraft are outright slower is when they are either flying very high (like a B-52) or are more focused on CAS specifically (like the A-10 or Harrier). For the most part, you want ground attack/strike aircraft to be very fast so that they don't get shot at by ground fire and don't present themselves as a easy target.

[Kiwoeoe]

mig-21 hehe

[van Leeuwenhoek's mustache]

Originally posted by razoleg (The Cunning Fox):

I love how they nerf the Russian planes and uber the Eagle so that US players wouldn’t cry in mp. Smh. Then there is SPAMRAAM. They should put the F-15 as an “arcade only” plane. Attach some lasguns and assault bolters to it as well, why not.

It's funny because I've had to put up with people complaining about the opposite in MP.
According to some, flankers are faster than they should be.

It's a pointless debate, since all these jets can go over mach 2 in DCS... it doesn't really matter by how much, they're still crazy fast, not even vipers or mirages can catch them.

As for spamraam, it's no big deal, as long as you know how to defeat amraams.

Flanker has some major advantages over eagle: datalink + IRST + medium range fox2 + helmet boresight

If you fly the J-11A, it even has fox3s, what's not to like?

[Borat Sagdiyev]

Originally posted by van Leeuwenhoek's mustache:

Originally posted by razoleg (The Cunning Fox):

I love how they nerf the Russian planes and uber the Eagle so that US players wouldn’t cry in mp. Smh. Then there is SPAMRAAM. They should put the F-15 as an “arcade only” plane. Attach some lasguns and assault bolters to it as well, why not.

It's funny because I've had to put up with people complaining about the opposite in MP.
According to some, flankers are faster than they should be.

It's a pointless debate, since all these jets can go over mach 2 in DCS... it doesn't really matter by how much, they're still crazy fast, not even vipers or mirages can catch them.

As for spamraam, it's no big deal, as long as you know how to defeat amraams.

Flanker has some major advantages over eagle: datalink + IRST + medium range fox2 + helmet boresight

If you fly the J-11A, it even has fox3s, what's not to like?

Flankers are not thst fast in fact the SU27 is down on thrust and not speed which we are testing. Also as for the group which say FC3 is arcade are completely wrong as they are not arcade or easy mode at all. And that said FC3 is still PFM flight models.

[Troll Norris]

This is simulator. Not competitive game. Aircrafts and weapons are not balanced because balanced does not mean realistic. So saying something is nerfed is irrelevant.

[Borat Sagdiyev]

Originally posted by Troll Norris:

This is simulator. Not competitive game. Aircrafts and weapons are not balanced because balanced does not mean realistic. So saying something is nerfed is irrelevant.

I didnt say nurfed at all dont care about balance the group referred represents ED to call it arcade? Su27 is down on thrust which is a bug not nurf or balance something we are testing. We could also say 120C does not see gr9und clutter on a non moving target and still hits? But lets stay on subject. If we feel an module under performs we find it for example mig29 radar R family weapons value from manuals and sauces not to mention the magic ins active off the rail bug guess who found them we did and we are not even testers for ED. But hey what do i know about dcs?

[Vanhala]

Fun fact: values from manuals are usually optimistic. Only value I've found to be somewhat accurate is the preferred launch distance of AIM-54: 35-40NM. That is bang on accurate to DCS. Why? Because it's not max range, but instead the highest PK range. That's something you rarely find from open sources, as far as my research is concerned.

[FerrisBueller]

US fighter aircraft don't normally see their maximum speed ANYTIME during their lifetime. A clean 18C (without pylons or empty pylons) will easily exceed mach 1 at sea level.