F-8 Thunder, Su-27 look-alike air superiority fighter (Stock and BDA version!)

[NotAnAimbot]

So I've tweaked the airframe of my old F-2 fighter even more, and came up with this one.

It's kind of a "re-do" of my F-4 Cobra, which was supposed to be the Su-27 equivalent to my F-2 Predator, which was built for close range engagements similar to the MiG-29. I've added more lifting surface and rebuilt the wings entirely, in addition to clipping a second pair of Panthers to keep reasonable performance for the added weight. Like the real Su-27, this thing is pretty massive, weighing in at 30 tons at full combat and fuel load, like the real deal. However, it's not meant to be an exact replica, and is smaller at 17m length and 11m width, although it does give off a Su-27 feel.

Its main role is air superiority, and, unlike the F-2 and F-4, is a dedicated fighter without any dedicated multirole function. Estimated internal range is a little bit above 2000 km at 8700 m altitude and 250 m/s  cruise speed, which can be upgraded with drop tanks, although you would have to remove the ECM pods or some armament to save weight. Maximum speed, which is of about Mach 2.5 at full throttle and half tank, is rarely used since it uses the fuel very quickly and reduces range by half. I'm currently trying to develop an interceptor version of this which would use ramjets allowing it to operate at these speeds efficiently, but my F-6 fills that role quite well for now.

Spoiler

 

 

 

With ECM pods, countermeasures and sufficient armament, the F-8 can fare pretty well in a BDA AI match against other "aesthetic" fighters, but it's not really a dedicated competition fighter so don't expect too much out of it. Armament is of 8 AIM-120 and four AIM-9 in addition to two M61 Vulcan cannons. Countermeasures are three chaff and three flare pods mounted in the vertical stabilizer.

Be careful when flying it, since the controls are very sensible and can easily flip the plane if you smash the S key too much at high speeds. The following image gives a good idea of what the F-8 is capable of. Notice the jet trails. While it's not as crazy as the F-2F+, the turn rate is pretty good for a plane this big. To make high speed flying easier, you can disable pitch control on the canards.

Action groups:

1. Fire weapons (Modded version only)
2. Switch weapons (Modded version only)
3. Toggle afterburner

Download links:

Stock version: https://www.dropbox.com/s/axdmgij7qtwledk/MDL F-8 Thunder STOCK.craft?dl=0

BDA version: https://www.dropbox.com/s/91jy32mahwg6zsr/MDL F-8 Thunder.craft?dl=0

KerbalX page: https://kerbalx.com/NotAnAimbot/MDL-F-8-Thunder

 

Edited August 4, 2017 by NotAnAimbot

[goduranus]

Why not put it on KerbalX? It's so easy to use.

[NotAnAimbot]

1 hour ago, goduranus said:

Why not put it on KerbalX? It's so easy to use.

I'll try that. I like Dropbox more though because I can just drop in a file without any description.

https://kerbalx.com/NotAnAimbot/MDL-F-8-Thunder

Edited August 4, 2017 by NotAnAimbot