• A note to you downloading this. This post is the result of fine tuning a plane for almost 2 years, and it represents my end goal of this game. When I started Simple Planes, my goal was to build a formidable fighter using years of experience in PvP combat across the entire flight genre from space and arcade to sims. It is agile, but not unmanageable. It is precise, but not to the point it flies on rails. It is detailed, but it won't damper a CPU processor, even mobile. It is built to fit any pilot, as an easy plane to fly, and capable when mastered. I thank the feedback from the community with each upgrade this thing underwent.

Patch and Update
Updates: Improved tail stability at Mach 2. Added trim function for leveled flight. Reduced the crafts tendency to pitch downwards at high speeds. Nerfed roll rate so aircraft is easier to fly. Increased turn rate to 180 degrees @ 2-2.5 seconds to reduce the likelihood of camera snapping to an orbital view in a dogfight. Improved cosmetics, and glass over cockpit. AG4 will now trigger release of pylons, good for external fuel tanks, or dropping external payload before a dogfight.

I'm always improving my designs. If you have an idea for a suggestion, just let me know.

Controls
AG1/Throttle- Main Flight Engine (recommended T/O for newer pilots)
AG2/Throttle- Secondary VTOL Engine/ Auto-Gyro
AG2- VTOL Mode
AG3- Open Weapon Bays/Arm Weapons
AG4- Release External Pylons
AG5- Lights
AG6- Eject
AG7- Open Canopy Cover

Instructions:

Take Off Regular- Activate AG1, throttle up, pull up, and retract landing gear

Landing Regular- Deploy landing gear (Optional: switch from AG1 to AG2 for gyro assisted landing).

VTOL Operations:

Important AG2 at 80% is hover, above is ascend, below is descend of a defensive payload

Take Off VTOL- Activate AG2, set trim all the way down, throttle up, when you think your at a good altitude set trim to neutral (tap "4" on the number pad to immediately switch over), switch from AG2 to AG1 for main flight engines.

Landing VTOL- Switch from AG1 to AG2 and begin to slow down, at 200-150 mph slide the trim bar down, this will activate the VTOL engine, deploy the brake flap, and the slow the craft down to a crawl. Your craft should automatically configure to slow flying mode. At 100-50 mph bring throttle to 70-75 percent thrust and pull back to continue to slow your craft. Using Gyro assistance use pitch (forward and back), roll (left and right) and yaw (spin left and right) to maneuver the craft. Lower thrust between 65-70 percent trust, you should slowly descend.

Description
Type: Strike Fighter, Air to Air Escort, VTOL
Crew: 2, Pilot and Co-Pilot/Radar Intercept Officer (RIO)
Weapons: Defensive Payload (5) Guardians, (2) 20mm multi-cannons, 50mm Mortar pods. Mission Payload, 6 pylons up to 400lbs per wing, STOL recommended
Manufacturer: Midland Flight Systems
Overview:
Midland Flight Systems took over production of the ESF-417, with it's "Hotel" variant featuring updates to an already successful fighter. For many Alliance pilots, and pilots who've used it the Phoenix is one of the oldest, and most reliable fighters available. With it's ability to snap a full 180 turn in just under two seconds, take off from almost anywhere, and perform "Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses" (SEAD) for friendlies, the ESF-417 is still in service even though attempts have been made to replace it with more modern fighters like the ESF-231.

Recent upgrades focused on strengthening the tail of the air frame to handle even faster speeds and carry larger cargo on it's pylons. In addition, the railguns were replaced with standard multi-cannons due to the high maintenance cost, as well as the learning curve to use the weapon.

Design Concept
* Variable Delta: The initial concept was a delta wing design that could utilize the "W" tail found on planes like the YF-23. At high speeds the drag created from the wings is enough to keep the aircraft stable meaning the tail can fold downward. This also means that in a high speed turn, the tail is folded flat giving it more surface area, and with the assist of the vectored thrust can perform a turn that can have the aircraft 180 degrees of it's heading in under two seconds. At lower speeds the tail folds upwards, creating drag, and more stability, and allows for more precise flying.
* Propulsion: The engines is based around a technology currently in development called Ion Afterburners. The idea is adding Ionic energy into a jetstream to create added trust, it's way more complicated, but that's the simple explanation. In the future, this means instead of harmful chemical fuels, an aircraft can be propelled by electricity and xenon gas, making flight a little safer. The technology in real life is currently in its infant stages, but has produced results.
* VTOL: The aircraft by lore was designed for an island nation, so massive large runways are not a thing. This mean that a lot of effort was placed into making it and capable VTOL. A lot of the ideas on how it should handle came from Elite Dangerous, a space sim. The use of VTOL to land where ever was a part of the freedom I wanted pilots it have flying this thing.
* Everything: I wanted to stuff as much as I can into a jet the size of an F18 Hornet. Which means a lot of planning when into orientation of weapons, engines, and a lot of hinge rotators. I didn't want to limit the mobile community, so extra effort was made in cutting parts without sacrificing functional, and helpful details, like lights and switches that can tell a pilot what group and sliders are active, and turning off some XML functions that would make the physics engine work harder.

Builders Notes
With the most recent game updates like glass, and my understanding of how the physics engine runs as design, this update is for the pilots who liked flying this plane in it's early development stages, and continue to use it. For new pilots flying this thing there is a learning curve. It is not an easy plane to fly, but once you master it, it's easily the most versatile thing in the sky. I got some other projects in the works, but I was doing some tweaking to this thing so I figured I'd share it with the community.