Alpha Simulations will soon be releasing
their newest theme package, Harrier Jump Jet. To anyone who's familiar with military
aviation that obviously refers to the Harrier V-STOL fighter-bomber. What, you may ask, is a
website dedicated to Mirage aircraft doing talking about the Harrier. Well, back in
1982 there was a war
down in the south Atlantic between the United Kingdom and Argentina over ownership of a group of
islands know as the Falkland/Malvinas. Remember that? Alpha Simulations has
chosen to integrate this conflict, along with most of the aircraft involved on both sides,
as a part of their Jump Jet package. To our benefit, that includes the Israel
Aircraft Industries Dagger (their export name for the Nesher -- a Mirage V knockoff) as
operated by the VI Brigada Aérea of the Fuerza Aérea Argentina.
I was invited by Phil Perrott of Alpha Simulations to preview their "Dagger" before the
package went to press. Most of my comments were of details that I had already
pointed out to them in pre-release viewings of their earlier
Mirage IIIB-RV and Kfir C2 (both had used this Dagger
as a starting point). I'm happy to report that the vast majority of my suggestions
were incorporated. The aircraft even received a new paint job. What was
once more or less a Dassault Mirage IIIEA (see the image from last November 30 on the
What's New? page) is now a pretty accurate looking Dagger.
The aircraft is equipped with a pair of wing tanks and empty centerline pylon.
Using Bill Potvin's MDLPATCHW
utility, Alpha Simulations has produced additional weapons *.bgl files to give you
virtually any weapons load in Combat Flight Simulator 2 (CFS2) you like. To the
left, this Dagger is firing a Matra Magic air-to-air missile. The aircraft is
also carrying a Matra 530 air-to-air missile on the centerline pylon. (Not exactly
accurate since this aircraft doesn't have the right radar system). The aircraft
in the image below is dropping a load of conventional bombs.
Alpha's Dagger uses the instrument panel found
in their Mirage IIIB-RV. This is not a true Mirage V / Nesher panel, but it is the best
choice from among their previously released panels (Mirage III and Kfir) for this
aircraft. FS2000 users have the added benefit of night-lighting and GPS.
The package also includes new sound files for the aircraft. CFS/CFS2 users get 20 Falklands War missions where you can
fly as the Argentine forces or as RN/RAF. The missions are based on real events
and are arranged chronologically.
I don't have CFS2 yet (but these images have convinced me that I need to get it --
and a copy of Harrier Jump Jet) so Phil Perrott provided the "action" shots seen on
this page. This image of a flight of Daggers outbound shows the new exhaust
effect of CFS2 very well. All necessary files for use with FS2000 and CFS/CFS2
(damage profile files and a special exhaust smoke effects file for the latter) are
included. Due to the design and textures used, none of the aircraft in the
package are intended to work with FS98.
