Rhona W

Ace Combat: The Global War

Scott advanced the throttle on the A-7 as the F-16 with Miku in control thundered into the sky ahead of him.
Turning full onto the runway, he ran the engine up to speed, before toeing off the brakes. The engine roared, reverberating through the airframe as the pug-nosed jet began to roll. Gathering speed, the outside turned to a blur of brown and green, before he pulled the stick smoothly back toward his stomach, and the nose came unglued from the ground. He kept the takeoff climb smooth, as the A-7 didn't have the most powerful of engines for its' size and weight.
Taking a gentle turn into the right heading, he kept the altitude coming until he reached an optimum cruise altitude for the course to Oured at best speed. He knew that the others would leave him behind in short order, and it was more than likely that he'd arrive late to the battle; another flag pointing out clearly that the Corsair wasn't designed or adept at air-to-air combat. But all the same, he'd throw his lot in and engage as best he could.

The journey passed in near silence, with the rest of the squadron leaving him well behind in their much faster aircraft. When he finally did arrive, he could pick out the scene from miles out. The skies were crossed with tracers and contrails, and light glinted off of fighters and missiles as they drew lines and arcs through the skies above the sprawling Osean capital.
He absorbed the info from the AWACS with a 'roger', his mind awash with possibilities. Yuktobanian and Estovakian forces, here? Why? What was going on that had set them against Osea?
It was a staggering prospect: Oured was a hell of a slog from either of those countries, especially so without being intercepted or shot down. What was going on here that allowed these light aircraft to get so far?
Whatever the reasons, the intelligence agencies would sort that out. His job was clear: Shoot down the bandits, and keep Oured from being any more devastated than it had been already. Pulling a smooth wing-over, Scott dropped like a stone and rolled out, clean and clear onto the tail of a Stovie F-4 that was bearing down on a Mirage. The lock sounded as a growling tone in his ears as the crosshairs dropped over the hefty silhouette of the phantom. Making sure the weapons selector was set to 'MSL' with a glance, he thumbed the trigger at the top of the stick, and an SDM rocketed free of the leftmost pod on the wing, arcing away in a trail of white smoke.
Unwilling to make himself a target by staying in one position too long, the naval aviator rolled the Corsair onto its' left wing and into a loop around, inverting the bank to belly-check part way through. As normal, the G's threw him back in the seat, and the cockpit was a dazzle of changing light and shade as he came about, but his eyes were focused outside on the next target-
There! A MiG-21, its' shape a silver cylinder glittering in the sun as it threaded its' way through the conflagration and toward him. Standing hard on his rudder, Romeo bought the plane around. Too close and too quick for a missile shot; he selected GUNS from his fire selector and lead the pipper ahead of the Fishbed, before squeezing the trigger. The chainsaw-buzz of the Vulcan under his feet to the right throbbed through his seat, and the line of tracers lashed out in a slight arc, and intersected the MiG. Debris showered off of the hostile fighter, followed by smoke and puffs of flame, and then it was out of range and sight, and he continued his bank around, bringing the A-7 back into the melee.

Ace Combat: The Global War

My mistake - it wasn't an F-15, but an A-6.
http://www.gallagher.com/ejection_seat/
still pretty terrifying though.

The confusion comes from a story I read around the same time (this was a couple of years ago I first came across it) about a guy who ejected from an F-15 at supersonic speed and survived, and then went back into piloting them.
http://www.ejectionsite.com/insaddle/insaddle.htm

Ace Combat: The Global War

Lost Cause said
I thought seats were designed to smash the canopy if the aircraft isn't fitted with an MDC in the canopy?

I think there was some kind of serious fault, which is why it happened at all. I'll see if I can find the story, hold on.

Ace Combat: The Global War

The Mage said
Also, does anyone know if a fighter pilot can survive a crash?

It depends very much on the nature of the crash. There are lots of kinds of crashes, and they happen in all manner of terrains and locations, under all sorts of circumstances.
If the crash is at low speed, and under control into soft terrain (more of a crash-landing), and the aircrafts' fuel and ordnance is mostly depleted, then the pilot has a better chance of surviving - though not certain, by any means. The forces involved would likely still result in some quite serious injuries, such as whiplash and spinal injuries especially. Though even that isn't certain.
People survive amazing things. There's a flight attendant who survived a several thousand foot fall with only a broken arm, for example.
Mostly, it's the circumstances that will affect the survival chances. And 'surviving', and 'surviving to walk away with minimal or no injuries, and a continued flight career' are two different things.

Even ejecting from an aircraft can result in quite serious injuries itself - you're basically strapping your arse to a rocket being fired off, and accelerating to several hundred miles an hour in second. I believe that anyone who ejects more than three times in their career is disqualified from flight duties, due to the strain it puts on the skeleton. Also, I once heard a rumour (emphasis mine, for the inevitable gleefully pointing out how wrong/stupid I am ¬.¬) that ejecting actually ends up making you shorter, due to the compression it puts on your spine...
There's a true story on the 'net somewhere about a Strike Eagle pilot who ejected, and his seat got stuck with his head outside of the cockpit. He managed to fly back to base and even land, but had serious whiplash due to the air blasting him in the neck the whole time.

Ace Combat: The Global War

Lost Cause said
Nope; only Mission 20 and Mission 26 force carrier jets.

Well, it's been ages since I played it, so that's my excuse. And also why I'm going to play it now!

After War, Before Peace (Military, Alternate History/Post-war RP)

Ah, that's too bad but I understand - sometimes things get in the way. If things change, then you're more than welcome to come back.

Ace Combat: The Global War

I'm wondering about that too, but I'm wondering if it's because Heartbreak One is the first mission you can do after that where you don't have to use a naval aircraft, maybe?

That said, I also need to replay Ace Combat 5 too.

Ace Combat: The Global War

Rafale said
Haven't decided yet. At least in Ace Combat's structure of unlocks (from which I am taking heavy inspiration), the Tornado always comes after the A-10 (correct me if I'm wrong), which itself comes after the A-6. Again, though, haven't decided yet. I may change things around.

From what I can remember, the Tornado usually unlocks around the same time as the F-14, or shortly after. The Tomcat is usually in the tier of planes unlocked after the A-10, which is usually just after the F-16.
It kind of depends on which game you're basing the aircraft 'tree' on, because it can vary quite extensively.

After War, Before Peace (Military, Alternate History/Post-war RP)

I'm not playing a mercenary, and I'm unambiguously aiming for playing a hero...

It'll be a while until we get started, I'm waiting for Rultaos to post his character, and for myself to feel less ill >.<

Ace Combat: The Global War

I think so, but I can see how you would