MiG-29 Fulcrum - Manual FOREWORD by JOHN FARLEY - Test Pilot Ever since the MiG-29 was first displayed in public at the Farnborough'88 airshow I've wanted to test fly the plane to see for myself how it handled. At Farnborough'90 I met Mikhail Waldenburg, chief designer for the Mikoyan Bureau, and Valery Menitsky, chief test pilot, to discuss the plane's aerodynamic achievements. Valery then offered me the chance of a lifetime - a flight in their two-seater to see how their plane flew. I wasn't disappointed, after years testing aircraft such as the Harrier for British Aerospace, the MiG-29 proved one of the most exhilarating flights I've ever had. Now with Domark's MiG-29 Fulcrum flight simulation, you can experience the nearest thing to actually flying the plane; this is no over-simplified game - I was surprised at how accurate the model is. Practise flying using the combined 'angle of attack' and 'g' meter. But remember, too much 'g' and you'll lose your colour vision or, worse, black out - real features copied from the MiG-29 for the simulation. The Soviet plane has several important features which make it different from British and American fighters. For example, on the Russian display of altitude, the little plane symbol banks in the instrumental panel as you turn (whereas with western avionics, the plane symbol is fixed and only the background banks). I was pleased to see that the model reacted very realistically during testing. When flying, note how the high thrust and low drag of this remarkable machine allows it to accelarate at low level during a 9g turn - just like the real thing. Try your hand at air-to-air and air-to-ground combat. But recognise that while you train and take risks, real MiG-29 pilots have only one life! Good luck and good flying. John Farley P.S.: Do try the tailside - a feature unique to the MiG-29 air display routine. Start from level flight at 500kph, pull to the vertical and hold it. Close the throttles and wait until you slide back. To recover, pull the stick back until the nose starts to come down, at which point you should apply full power, relax the stick and accelerate away. INTRODUCTION THE SOVIET AIRFORCE: AN OVERVIEW When Hitler's forces rolled into the Soviet Union in 1941, the Soviet defenses were literally overwhelmed by the suddeness of the attack. Thousands of Soviet warplanes were destroyed - caught unprotected by the swiftness of the Blitzkrieg. But the Soviets worked day and night to replace the lost aircraft, even during air-raids! Much of the manufacturing was moved eastwards away from the frontline, out of bomber reach. Perhaps it is this economy of design, born out of necessity as supplies of raw materials became even more difficult, that still pervades the Soviet aircraft design philosophy. Traditionally, Soviet fighter designs are produced by the Design Bureaux (OKB's) to fulfill a requirement published by the central bureau. The most famous of these in the West is the Mikoyan and Guryevich Design Bureau known more commonly as MiG. Sukhoi and Yakovlev (SU and TU) are also prominent if a little less known counterparts. The word MiG has become synonymous with the Soviet airforce or WS as it is known, due to the exploits, in export form, of its planes in the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. Regardless of the design studio, all Soviet aircraft share a common ideology - simplicity of design, ease of maintainance, toughness and where possible the ability to operate from rough unpaved airstrips of the shortest possible length. The MiG-29 for example, can take off from a strip of only 240 metres! (787 ft), the American F16 by comparison typically needs twice this. WS cadets who pass the rigorous weeding-out process typically begin their jet-propelled flying career on an L29 jet trainer. These are flight instructor controlled flights (FIC), but gradually pupils will do more and more of the flying until, after a year's intensive training, they graduate from the Gugarin Higher Aviation Academy. Pilots are then sent to operational conversion units where they learn to fly supersonic planes such as the MiG-21, a MACH 2 fighter whose role the MiG-29 was designed to replace. The MiG-21 is encountered in this simulation in its export form - the Chinese built Shenyang F-7M. Soviet training has traditionally concentrated on the basics of flying - formation flying, low level navigation and rigid regime of tactical combat flying. Historically this has led to criticism of soviet Air Combat Manoeuvres (ACM), as being too rigid and inflexible during actual combat - 'Show a soviet pilot initiative, and the next thing you know he's landing in Japan' as the joke goes - a reference to the famous defection of MiG-25 pilot, Lt Belyenko to Japan in 1976. This inflexibility has had more to do with the aircrafts' relative inferiority at dogfighting than any lack of ability on the part of the pilots. Recent advances in Soviet Aerodynamics in the shape of the MiG-29 and the SU-27 however, will probably lead to a new style of flying being taught at soviet air academies, although whether this will result in American - style 'Top Gun' schools remains to be seen. The Soviet Airforce is known as the WS (Voyenno - Vosdushnye Sily) and is itself divided into two main divisions, the FA (Frontovaya Aviatsiya, or frontal aviation) which is the tactical wing and the DA (Dalnya Aviatsiya, long-range aviation) which is the strategic air arm. THE SIMULATION In this simulation you will operate the MiG-29 initially as a pilot undergoing conversion training, before achieving combat status. In combat you will fly the MiG in a variety of locations within the Soviet sphere of influence. Each scenario has its own challenge and therefor tests the pilot in different areas of skill - air to air, air to ground, unguided missile attack and of course cannon. Don't forget to use your MiG's amazing manoeuvrability to dodge missiles, deploy chaff to confuse radar guided missiles and flares for IR guided air to air missiles. Remember to study the performance characteristics of the aircraft you encounter - A 'Mirage' is a much more formidable opponent than a 'Shenyang'! NOTE If you have 1MB of memory then you can select 32 colour display. On 512K machines select 16 colour display, on NTSC or 512K machines select 200 lines. That's a lot of options so here they are fully listed: 512K machines: PAL 200 line 16 Colour (fastest) NTSC 200 line 16 Colour (fastest) 1MB machines: PAL 200 line 16 Colour (fastest) 256 line 16 Colour (bigger screen) 256 line 32 colour (best display) NTSC 200 line 16 Colour (fastest) 200 line 32 Colour (better display) QUICK START MISSION SELECTION: Selecting an option You are placed in a briefing room with your options shown on a whiteboard. You may select an option with the number keys (1 to 7) or using the cursor keys (up/down). To confirm a choice press Enter or Space. Scenario Summary 1. Basic Training. Some ground targets and a safe enemy aircraft to practise dogfights. 2. Artic scenario. A submarine to photograph and some 'Harriers' as opposition. 3. Chinese scenario. Dogfighting with 'Shenyang' fighters over Great Wall. 4. Oil field Scenario. An island with storage silos, some oil rigs and ships with SAMs and anti-aircraft guns. 5. Anti-terrorist ground attack scenario. Bridges, trucks, SAMs, train, buildings. 6. Final scenario. Multi-role combat in the desert. Destruction of nuclear power plant. Pilots Log You may enter yourself in the pilot's log. Dying In the training scenario dying puts you back on the runway. In all the remaining scenarios dying is terminal! You are placed back in the briefing room. Debriefing You may enter the briefing room during a mission (provided that you have landed) for a debrief of the current state of play by pressing CTRL-D. To continue the mission press SPACE to re-enter the game from the briefing room. CONTROLS Head Up Display H - Hud on/off Flight Controls E - Engine on/off = - Throttle up - - Throttle down SHIFT + - Full power SHIFT - - Idle power L - Landing gear W - Wheel brake B - Air brakes CTRL-E - Emergency Eject Control Stick CTRL-L - Selects analogue joystick ALT-J - Selects switched joystick CTRL-K - Selects keyboard CTRL-L - Selects mouse CTRL-Z - Calibrate analogue joystick (move stick to extremes, press fire button to exit). Keyboard Controls LEFT ARROW - Roll left RIGHT ARROW - Roll right DOWN ARROW - Pitch up UP ARROW - Pitch down PAD 0 - Centre Z - Joystick centre 1, 2, 3, - Joystick control power PAD + - Pitch trim up PAD - - Pitch trim down PAD * - Zero pitch trim <, > - Rudder Weapons System Cannon always available S-240 unguided rockets AA-8 'Aphid' heat seeking air to air missile HUD marker turns red for good lock. AS-7 'Kerry' air to surface heat seeking missile. The target for guided weapons must be selected before launch. DELETE - Fire Cannon BACKSPACE - Select Weapon RETURN - Select Target SPACE - Fire Weapon F - Drop Flares C - Drop Chaff Aircraft System A - Autostab on/off / ...
steishen