Thanks Jimi for your hard work on this bird, what excatly is the difference in this bird compared to Sludges's Hornet ?
Thanks Jymp! This version of the F/A-18 is a different beast from the SLUDGE variant, despite the fact that it uses a few similar gauges for effects, carrier, and refueling operations.
I consider Sludge a great friend and there have been many nights where we have worked side-by-side with each other on our own variants. We both share a "if you want it, take it" policy with our designs, therefore, you will notice some of his handy work in the FSXBA variant, just as you will notice some of my handy work in the SLUDGE variant.
All in all, our variants tend to verge in terms of the way our jets achieve their desired flight handling and characteristics. As SLUDGE often states, we works with the "less is more" philosophy in terms of flight control/handling. Because of this, SLUDGE tends to focus mainly on the aircraft.cfg and the .air file to achieve what he wants with the jet and it's handling, while the FSXBA variant uses a variety of custom xml gauges in addition to our own FSXBA aircraft.cfg and .air files. It's the xml gauges in our jet that acts as the Flight Control System (FCS), helping the pilot to fly the jet and ease pilot workload. One great example of such is the pitch auto trim gauge. While in Up & Away (UA) flight, it constantly monitors the state of the jet and dials in nose up or nose down trim to keep the jet at 1 G flight once the flight controls are released. In Powered Approach (PA) mode, it again uses elevator trim, but to maintain a certain Angle of Attack (AOA), instead of G. And it does this 18 times per second! This is only one of many gauges that work in similar ways to control rudder input, flap operation, throttle handling, and pirouette maneuvering.
A more detailed list of the changes that we have included on our jet is attached and can be downloaded below.