Sim Skunk Works TF-104 Starfighter | Sidewinder Route | Full Flight Review | MSFS
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In this video we check out the Sim Skunk Works TF-104 Starfighter in Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS).
Departing from China Lake Naval Air Station, we take a blast around the Sidewinder route (taking the Jedi Transition, into Star Wars Canyon), putting the aircraft through its paces as we go.
Please note this video and all its contents / materials, is for entertainment / simulation purposes only.
PC Specs
MSI B550M
AMD Ryzen 7 5800x 4.7GHz
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080
32GB DDR4 3600MHz
Hardware
Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog
Saitek Pro Flight rudder pedals
HP Reverb WMR headset
TrackIR5
Earthquake Shell Shoxx transducer
Enjoy the flight! - เกม
![เกิดใหม่ทั้งทีก็เป็นสไลม์ไปซะแล้ว ซีซั่น 3 - ตอนที่ 57 [ซับไทย]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/pNhft3YZFRE/mqdefault.jpg)
This is one of my favorite aircraft to fly in MSFS. I wish everyone had it so that when I fly around in multi-player people see what a bad-ass plane I am flying instead they see a Cessna screaming through the skies.
Mine as well avenueb, it’s great fun and looks awesome!
Haha, I’d Imagine when people see a C172 going into a vertical climb, it’s quite majestic in its own way! XD
All the best : )
@@IntotheBlueSimulations hahaha
They should just make a small plane texture update, add all the planes in a quarter resolution, make an option in the menu for full resolution.
@@danielbrowniel Not the worst idea, although I think that now that we have pretty much one of each type of aircraft in the sim by default now that it would be a little easier to just let addon creators define a default class for their addon. i.e. if you defined your plane as a military jet, the default model would use the F/A-18 instead of the C172 for people that don't have that particular addon
Lol 😂
When 19 (1964) and a fresh 3 level aircraft mechanic, Edwards AFB CA on a C130A always had a eye on the F104's down the flight line. Never could get close to them. They were beautiful then and still are. Went on to be a 5 level mechanic on the TB58 Hustler chase for the XB70. Those were the days. Later became a 7 level mechanic ( master aircraft mech) on the C-130E 641799. Fuel burn on the J79 is 47,000 lbs per hour in full burner, do not keep there for long.
Haha, I would imagine those were indeed the days OW! They really don’t build ‘em like they used to. . . Even if the F-104’s were a little bit further down the flight line, it must have been great to be living and working around all of these awesome machines.
Thanks for sharing and all the best : )
Fantastic review of this incredible aircraft. This aircraft, along with the SR-71 are my favourite aircraft, I purchased the Sim Skunk Works TF-104G yesterday and have already had a number of enjoyment filled flights, one of those flights was at KTIX where I had the pleasure of seeing the real F-104 demoed by Rick Svetkoff of Starfighters USA about 10 years ago. I agree with all of your feedback comments and especially with future sound developments. I am very much looking forward to the future modeling of the smoke trail effects as we had in the various P3D models. I am also happy to report that this aircraft can be flown nicely in VR, considering training in the real F-104 starts at $29,900 USD, this model will have to do for me, until I win the big lottery. Thx for the review.
Thanks very much once again FAA!
Glad you’re enjoying the F-104 then. Indeed it’s already a nice aircraft and great fun, but still with room for improvement. I would love to see one for real, that must have been brilliant! The SSW version definitely needs a big trail of dirty black smoke behind it yeah haha. I’ve yet to try it in VR, but I’m sure it’s great.
I had no idea it was even possible to train in such an aircraft! $29,900 is actually less than I would have imagined haha, but yeah, I don’t think I’ll find quite that much money down the back of the sofa XD
Thanks once again for watching. Happy flying! : )
Ps, you must be looking forward to the MILVIZ SR-71 then! : D
I'd been waiting for your take on this one before jumping on board - thank you for such a quick review, cheers!
Your definition of quick is seemingly different than my definition of it.
@@ryanp6999 It's only been officially released for a couple days, dude. How much faster do you want an hour long in-depth review?
Haha, well thanks very much then Otohikoamv! I hope the review was useful, in deciding whether or not the F-104 is for you.
My pleasure as always, all the best! : )
Haha, I think Otohikoamv was referring to the speed with which I had the video released Ryan, as opposed to the video length. Granted, brevity isn’t necessarily a strength of my videos; but I like to try and cover as much as I can and then people can decide to watch as much or as little as they like.
Cheers
I think Ryan was referring to the length of the video, as opposed to how long it took to release (I could be wrong though). To be fair, my videos can be a bit lengthy of course haha, but I think the general consensus is that’s a good thing; obviously people can chose to watch as much or as little as they like ; )
Cheers John : )
Cool clip
I used to work on the f104 in the 80s ,the leading edge of the wings were very sharp ,i remember having to do a compressor inspection after a bird strike ,i was thinner then ,crawling up inside the intake to the front of the engine
Regards
Dave from Scotland
Thanks very much Dave, glad you enjoyed it.
Ah very cool! The F-104 is definitely one of my favorites, I'd imagine perhaps not one of the easiest aircraft to work on though, given its design etc? Haha, I've heard of one guy having a nap inside the intake of a F-86, but the F-104 intake does indeed look like it would be a tight squeeze!
Cheers, all the best! : )
Another great review - I always trust your reviews over others. Absolutely loved that low level piece! Keep up the great content!
Thanks very much once again Rob! Very kind of you to say and very much appreciated. Glad you enjoyed the video - hard not to have fun in an F-104 ; )
Will do, all the best! : )
Wow! The start-up sound as heard from outside the plane is just awesome. Thanks for sharing
Yeah, it’s a pretty great sound isn’t it Mark! My pleasure, all the best! : )
Excellent review as usual from you. Your effort to detail is by far the best I’ve seen on Utube. Always look forward to your videos
Thanks very much James! Very kind of you to say and of course it’s always great to hear when someone is enjoying the content. Very much appreciated!
All the best : )
Very nice and detailed review. For me you make some of the most informative reviews for MSFS 2020 add-ons.
Thank you very much Lennart! Much appreciated and very kind of you to say. I’m glad you enjoyed the video and indeed that you’re finding the content useful in general : )
Cheers!
Great review as always, looks like a great module.. the cockpit weathering really gives this a great lived in feeling. SSK is among the devs I wish would bring some of there products to DCS world. then again MSFS is also absolutely steamrolling ahead in development and maturity.
Thanks very much Thomas! Yeah, overall it’s a nice effort from SSW. Not completely “polished” yet, but a very strong offering in many areas. As usual, they’ve managed to create an aircraft that feels very “lived in” as you say. I’ve always enjoyed the “feel” of their products. I would love to see their stuff in DCS, although they’d probably have to up their game a little (finish up systems etc). I momentarily thought they were bringing their G-91 into DCS, but I see that’s actually India Foxtrotting Techo haha.
Either way, I’m happy to enjoy the F-104 in MSFS; I never was much good at shooting things down anyway XD
Cheers! : )
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Greatings from The Flight Level. Flown GA aircraft since day 1 of my sim days. Now looking for my first high quality military jet. Nice over view! This should be fun! Cheers!
Greetings! : )
Well that’s quite a momentous day then haha! I was generally a “civilian” simmer in P3D, MSFS etc until about a year all, but I very much enjoy my jets as well now. How are you finding the F-104 so far? : )
Glad you found the video useful. Cheers!
Recently I went to a Military and Air force museum. They have a recently installed exhibit of a Sabre, CF-188, and a CF-104 Starfighter. They had a platform to get up and close with the cockpit of the Starfighter, I spent over an hour staring at it. A stunning aircraft to behold.
Sounds brilliant DG! It’s always great when the museum lets you get up close and personal with the exhibits : )
Glad you enjoyed it. All the best!
It does indeed look like it was drawn by a 7-year-old (I remember thinking it was awesome at that age). A mach 2 missile with wings so sharp they cut you. Safety and handling - mere afterthoughts. Thank goodness we can fly it in msfs without the fear of becoming a 7-ton supersonic lawn dart.
Great review as usual. A definite purchase for me. I suspect fsrealistic will help bring the sounds alive. If we don't get wwise sounds I'll look at modding something to add a bit of sonic oomph.
Haha, me too Roland. I had a book with A2 drawings of “modern” fighter aircraft (even back then, the book was a bit dated haha), I always thought the F-104 was one of the better looking ones.
The “7-tonne supersonic lawn dart” gave me a good chuckle! XD
I haven’t managed to stick it in the ground yet, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time haha.
Yeah, FSRealistic certainly helps address some of the aircrafts current shortcomings. - I do hope that SSW address the sounds in the long run though. Otherwise I’ll have to reach out to my favourite viewer and see what he’s come up with. . . ; )
Cheers, happy flying! : D
@@IntotheBlueSimulations Pretty sure I had that same A2 book! Should still be in my parents' loft along with every issue of Warplane magazine. Enough reminiscing, I'm feeling old!
Haha, sounds likes you had the same “misspent youth” as me then Roland! XD
Just one more little bit of reminiscing; I didn’t have Warplane Magazine, but I did collect “World Aircraft Files”. Goodness knows how many ££’s my poor mother spent on issues of that. The collection become so vast, that one day as I was moving them and a load fell off the top of my cupboard, the force of all the issues hitting the floor was so significant, that it caused the lid to jump off the top of the toilet cistern in the next room haha! Av-geeking to the extreme : P
Haha, good times. . . Anyway, I’ll stop making us feel old now (even though I fear we’re probably edging that way)
Cheers!
I Really love this plane. Great memories.
What I mis is the immense smoke trail the J-79 leaves behind when not in afterburner..
Yeah, the F-104 is awesome isn’t it Hanzie! Such a beast. The lack of smoke is a little bit of a shame, but apparently Sim Skunk Works will add it, once the sim is able to support it.
Cheers! : )
Thanks for the in-depth review, especially touching on the need to run an external program for some features like the ground cart, etc. I agree completely that some kind of in-game alternative should be provided. The model is beautiful, the metallic sheen, tarnishing, and weathering in the external views is very lovely and realistic looking.
My pleasure as always John! Yes, the external application is clunky at best and a bit “last-gen”. MSFS doesn’t make it easy for devs I suppose, given that it doesn’t support 2D windows (as older sims did), but tablets seem to be the modern standard now and work quite nicely (although the more discreet they are, the better). I think SSW would do well to move with the times on this one.
The SSW F-104 is rather beautiful isn’t it! As you say, the sheen and weather etc look very photorealistic; I still haven’t gotten bored of looking at the external model haha.
Cheers! : )
beautiful machine, beautiful flyingQ I love how you treat the aircraft if they were real! Really really good! Thanks for this review! Amazing
Thanks very much A360! Really glad you enjoyed the video and indeed the content style. My pleasure on the review! : )
All the best!
We need her in DCS. Great video!
Thanks very much Don, glad you enjoyed it! : )
Yeah, I’ve always wanted an F-104 in DCS. There is actually now a half-decent freeware mod (if you weren’t aware). The eternal model is nice, it flies ok etc; internal model is a bit janky though and it does require the Flaming Cliffs F-15 in order to work. Still, not too bad overall, but would be great to see a full-fidelity module!
Cheers, all the best!
@@IntotheBlueSimulations yeah iam already useing the freeware mod. But when i can wish, i love to see a starfighter from heatblure.
Haha, likewise! A Starfighter would be one of my top 3 modules I’d like to see in the sim and nobody does it better than Heatblur ; )
I could perfectly live with IndiaFoxtEcho making an F-104S to be fair... been wanting it for ages and I think they have what it takes to make a good module. Their MB-339 free mod was already a blast at a similarly great level as the A-4E-C and the now released full module seems to be even better (haven't had time to fly it yet, but bought immediately).
But wanting to fly a 104 so much I guess I'll just grab the single seater off the sale while it still lasts (17€ currently), still wondering why it's designated FRF though, haven't ever heard or read that before :D
Nice in depth review. I can't afford to buy any extra aircraft but it's nice to see they are available if I ever do get some spare $$.
One thing that I'm a little disappointed in is that you didn't do a high altitude speed run, or even break the sound barrier for that matter. Since this aircraft was built to be a high speed interceptor I would have thought you would have at least gone Mach 1. Other than that I enjoyed the video and the breakdown. Thanks mate!
Thanks very much Adam, glad you enjoyed the video overall.
Yeah, I really should have tested out her high speed capabilities shouldn’t I. A little bit of an omission on my part. There was some logic behind not doing it - I still wasn’t sure where the sim lies in terms of high-speed aerodynamics; but I should have just tested it all the same, just to see how the aircraft behaves. To not go Mach 1+ in an F-104 is a bit of a travesty haha!
My pleasure, all the best! : )
Awesome! Congratulions! I’ll bug this aircraft for me MSFS 2020.
Thanks very much Mundo! Glad you enjoyed it. Hope you enjoy the F-104 then!
Happy flying : )
Impressive landing sir! :)
Thanks very much K4Ri80! : )
I think I could have smoothed it out just a little more there - kept the power on a bit longer; but I’ve certainly done waaaay worse in the P3D version of the F-104 XD
All the best!
holly Cow this Radar is amazing !
Yeah. it's pretty impressive. It's a shame it only fully works in specific locations (and that the database has yet to be expanded), but it's always nice to see a new feature implemented in the sim and hats off to SSW for giving it a go!
Cheers! : )
Thirty seconds into the video I feel the urge to set the record straight: as far as I'm aware, the F-104 was not generally known as the "widow maker". This moniker and others, like "airborne coffin", were specific to the German version of the aircraft, the F-104G (which is what Sim Skunkworks is simulating, so your statement was not wrong, just a bit too generic).
The narrative outside of Germany is that the post-war Luftwaffe pilots were just not ready for an aircraft like this, resulting in the loss of about 300 Starfighters (that's one in three) and more than a hundred fatalities.
The narrative within Germany is slightly more complicated: the F-104 was not exactly what the Luftwaffe needed, but Lockheed allegedly convinced Franz Josef Strauß, then secretary of defense and, much later, namesake of the Munich airport EDDM, with promises and bribes (ALLEGEDLY) to order a modified version of the F-104 providing the capabilities the Luftwaffe demanded. The modifications resulting in the F-104G were, according to the German narrative, so substantial that the aircraft became impossible to fly, even by Luftwaffe pilots ("the best of the best of the best").
Hello again Marc,
Yep very good point. I certainly didn’t mean to be “generic” with my statement and I was somewhat aware that most of the fatalities attributed to the aircraft were with the German Air Force (I guess it was originally “Der Witwenmacher” after all), though I didn’t realise the name wasn’t used more generally. I must admit, I was only recently made aware of just how significant the disparity was between the Germans and the USAF for example (something like 108:8 pilots lost!). 1 in 3 aircraft lost is crazy!
I don’t believe for a second that the Luftwaffe pilots weren’t capable of flying the machine. I’d heard some of what you mentioned and it was also my understanding that a lot of the fatalities could ultimately be attributed to it being ill-suited for the roles in which it was often used (ground attack etc). Again, I’ve no doubt the German pilots were every bit as capable as their counterparts from the US and elsewhere - so there was obviously something more going on. Either way, a sad loss of life of course.
An interesting discussion point though for sure! Thanks for brining it up.
All the best : )
widowmaker is a good name... its a hard aircraft to opperate and has many of the same problems as the mig 21.
@@IntotheBlueSimulations I can't find a reliable source for this, but according to one documentary produced for German public TV, the F-104G was about 30% heavier after all the modifications were added. Even if we assume they were comparing empty weights, that (and the accompanying change in CG) would probably have eaten into already narrow safety margins.
In the beginning, the Luftwaffe was definitely not ready for the aircraft, surprisingly (for Germany) as a result of poor logistics: there weren't enough hangars so the aircraft were parked on the apron in rain and snow, maintenance crews were poorly trained and over-worked.
But there were also design flaws that had to be fixed or mitigated which took time. The original ejection seat, for example, would save your life if you were 175cm and 75kg, but not if you were larger or smaller than that (the song "Starfighter F-104G" by German chiptune band "Welle: Erdball" has the line "The ejection seat will just break my neck"). If you survived the ejection, you better hoped not to land in water, because the parachute would drown you.
Okay, here's two more bits of information, just to demonstrate how ill-fated the operational history of the Luftwaffe Starfighters was:
One day before the official act of putting the aircraft into service, a wing of four Starfighters, three Luftwaffe pilots led by a USAF pilot, trained for an aerobatic display. Observers on the ground watched the group vanish in the clouds, apparently starting a Cuban Eight, but when the aircraft exited the clouds, they were headed straight for the ground and all four planes impacted within seconds. The ceremony on the next day went ahead as planned, minus the air show, plus sad music.
After Franz Josef Strauß resigned his post as secretary of defense because of an unrelated scandal, his successor, Kai Uwe von Hassel, had the thankless job of defending the Starfighter purchase in spite of ongoing crashes and fatalities. Instead of attempting to find ways to fix the situation, his position was "Every air force has to live with training accidents! Nothing to see here. Move along!"
Von Hassel's son was a Starfighter pilot. He died in 1970 when his Starfighter fell out of the sky. Von Hassel's wife committed suicide within the year.
btw, great review, as always. I just wish there were more GA planes for you to review. Looking forward to your review of the Aerosoft Twotter, which should arrive soon. I hope you can get a review copy early, so I can get your opinion and still purchase it on day one. :D
It’s certainly very fitting (and rather evocative!). I guess the MiG21 was designed for much the same sort of role, so it makes sense that they’d share quite a few of the same shortcomings.
Cheers!
great review!
Thanks very much Bassemann, glad you enjoyed it! : )
Cheers!
21:05 I like the mechs and animates of the landing gear folding away into the plane.
Yeah, overall SSW did a very nice job with the F-104. Nice attention to detail and a few nice little additions as well. Like most addons; I don’t have the time to fly the aircraft nearly as much as I would like, but I always enjoy it when I do : )
Cheers and all the best!
Excellent review👍👍👍
Bought it 👍
Thank you 👍
Take care👍
Point 👍
Haha, thanks! Hope the Widowmaker has been treating you well! ; )
Cheers!
Very nice review. I have a couple of friends who flew it with the RCAF and they describe it as relatively easy to fly and very stable. A lot a surplus F-104 were sent to Taiwan and they crashed quite a few there according to a Chinese friend of mine who flew them quite a bit. A very HOT aircraft to be sure!
Thanks very much once again : )
Well lucky them! Very interesting to hear that it was a stable and relatively easy aircraft to fly, not what I would have imagined at all haha. I would say that SSW probably needs to work on the aircrafts stability a bit more then (like most MSFS aircraft, it’s rather easily upset at the moment - twitching around all over the place ha). A very cool aircraft either way (always been one of my favourites) and a pretty nice rendition from Sim Skunk Works (though hopefully they will continue to work on it).
In tomorrow’s video, we’ll be going flying in a big yellow “Harvard”! (ok it’s a Texan, but it was the best I could manage haha ; )
Have a great weekend, all the best!
@@IntotheBlueSimulations I did buy one of the T-6, Gunslinger which I find more like a Harvard style cockpit.....but it flies nothing like a Harvard, stalls at about 42 kts which is ridiculous. Anyway from what I've tested so far, and that includes the light Blue L-39, they are arcade type aircraft. But I suppose they have to be made accessible to more players who want to use them at the Reno races. Having said that, I can't wait for Airplane Heaven's P-51 which looks fantastic....let's see how she flies!
Cheers! and don't get me wrong about the T-6, it's still pretty fun and so easy and stable to fly but don't expect to get a real Harvard flying experience.....I'll let you in on the Harvard Yellow string in the cockpit.....The Harvard has an inertial starter which you windup using battery power...but, in absence of electrical power it has a hand crank on the left side of the engine cowling that ground crew could turn and energize the starter manually. When a certain speed was reached, the pilot would pull the string to engage the clutch and start the engine. I have done that lot's of time and there is no cooler way to start a Harvard 😂😂.
Haha, I very much thought that would be your assessment of the situation. Even to a philistine like myself, someone that’s never flown a Harvard, it’s fairly obvious that the Asobo version is wide of the mark. I get the accessibility argument, but in an ideal world, it would be nice to have a decent flight model and then cater to the accessibility-factor using the sims assistance options - otherwise we’re all stuck with a simplistic flight model. As you say though, still enjoyable in its own way. Fine for cruising around and the T-6 affords good views.
It seems as though A2A have overcome most of their hurdles for getting into MSFS; the Comanche will be their first offering but hoping for their T-6 and their Spit at some point as well (looking forward to hearing your thoughts on them ha!).
The Aeroplane Heaven P-51 does look very nice indeed actually. I just hope they give it a little more care and attention than some of their previous efforts. I’ll definitely be giving it a go though, so we’ll see. . .
Haha, the mystery is solved! If ever come across a Harvard, I won’t go pulling on any loose ends of string then! : P
Cheers! Have a great weekend : )
This thing is a real life air dart. I keep ending up in lawns across America 😢 great review and plane (even in 2024)
Thanks very much, Jeffrey. I’m glad you enjoyed the video and that you’re enjoying the F-104 haha! Cheers, all the best : )
Very nice review as always. :-) And I love this plane in general. One of my alltime favourites. But there a few things I am not so happy with it. As far I could recognized it the plane has only the old C2-ejection-seats in it. These are gone since the mid 60's and replaced by a seat by Martin Baker which has a different look (no red head-rest). I am of course happy with the silver paint of the German Air Force. But it is a F-104F which has a different avionic and a better thrust-weight-ratio. The F-104F is super easy to recognise at the part behind the canopy, it has no big white antenna behind it. But also not to forget the missing modeled light on the back. After all it still a really good addon and I hope the will fix the most important things. :-)
Cheers.
Thanks very much Arsizi, glad you enjoyed it!
I believe I read somewhere (I don’t think I imagined it haha) that Sim Skunk Works do plan to update the ejection seats. . . The rest I’m not so sure about I’m afraid. I’m fairly sure we’ll see the F-104G in the sim at some point as well though. Clearly you know a lot more than I do about the aircraft, but as you say, overall it’s still a very nice effort from SSW (and like you, I love the F-104!).
Cheers! All the best : )
Old name for the F-104 was "pregnant hatpin on a razor blade" those wing leading edges needed special guards on the ground and while servicing, to prevent injury, one of my US relatives was a Tech who worked on these years ago
Haha, that's quite a descriptive nickname XD
I must admit, I didn't realise the wings were *that* thin - fascinating stuff!
Thanks for sharing, all the best : )
Excellent video. And a lovely looking aircraft. Although it looks very aerodynamically unstable haha. I presume this is where it gets it's nom de guerre of 'widowmaker' from!
Thanks Michael! Yeah, I love the F-104.
Haha, 2nd-hand, someone was telling me that it’s actually quite a smooth, stable aircraft to fly. I think some of the instability seen in the video is some of MSFS’s classic oscillating behaviour. The SSW F-104 also feels a bit twitchy in pitch. For sure the F-104 doesn’t like high AOA though, SSW have modelled this quite well - that’s where the aircraft will really bite you!
Cheers : )
Its called the widowmaker because the Germans kept flying it into the ground. They used it as a Ground Attack aircraft when its a fighter optimized for Mach 2 flight.
Indeed MBF. Although from what I’ve read elsewhere, the F-104 was perhaps somewhat “mis-sold” to the Germans, possibly as a result of some dodgy financial dealings going on behind the scenes.
It definitely wasn’t the right aircraft for the job (clearly), but I suppose the German pilots themselves had no choice but to fly the aircraft and get on with the task at hand.
All the best! : )
A Flying Tube the Starfighter thanks for the Video
Haha, indeed! Who needs wings, when you can just add more thrust. . .
Cheers, my pleasure on the video! All the best : )
Nice to see the missile with a man in it making an appearance in the sim.
Haha, indeed! Wings are overrated XD
@@IntotheBlueSimulations Yep LOL.
Well done! I'll sign you off.
Haha, thank you sir! * salutes *
All the best : )
What a shock never knew the "Widow maker" was in the works for MSFS and what a way to find out Looking forward to its release.
it is released already for example on orbx
@@newlordmarc After watching the review I am going to wait as its lackluster in air sounds are a bit mmuh if you say compare it to the T1 Hawk from Just Flight. In no rush for another jet just yet hawk is just so good.
@@RobertDodge good choice. Btw the T1 just received an Update today on version 1.4
Indeed! I’ve been keeping an eye on things and very much been looking forward to it (always though the F-104 was an awesome machine). Overall it’s a nice effort, with some shortcomings as mentioned. As you say below, the JF Hawk is going to take some beating haha!
Cheers Artful : )
Great review as always! Thanks very much. As you say, the sound and feedback look a little disappointing in some areas, but I'm honestly more disappointed that the radar is location limited. I was really looking forward to trying that out around my favourite flying areas.
It must be extremely difficult to make work to be fair, but it's still a little bit of a shame.
yes, it would be great if there are two radar models: maybe the "external data" one for some regions and a more simple one for all other regions.
Though I am not a programmer and have no clue how easy or not it would be to program a decent AG radar.
Likewise, I have no idea how difficult it would be to program haha (not too difficult presumably, as all the terrain data must already be there in the sim, in some form or another), but that would be a nice solution. I would hope at the very least, that SSW ultimately look to cover all of the major geographical locations where the F-104 operated (the States would be a must for example).
Cheers!
Thanks very much once again Will, my pleasure!
Yeah, the sounds weren’t half as bad as I thought they’d be (when I saw “legacy sounds” I thought “uh oh” haha); engine sounds are good, but there’s certainly lots of room for improvement.
The radar is a shame. Still impressive that SSW managed to pull it off in the sim, but I hadn’t realised it was going to be location specific. They certainly need to expand their list of locations at the very least. As I said in my other reply, I think the list needs to include any geographical locations, where the F-104 carried out significant operations, at the very minimum.
The list of supported countries (UK, Germany, Italy etc) has been the same with SSW products for many years now though, so I’m not holding my breath on that changing just yet haha.
Cheers! : )
Another very informative video simply the best lt would be nice to see some wingtip vortices at high speed. A msfs limitation i suspect.
Thanks very much once again Jeffrey, very kind!
Some wing tip vortices would certainly be a nice addition, I suspect it’s a sim limitation though as you say. My understanding, is that now we have DX12 implemented, we should start to see a lot more added in terms of effects etc. Fingers crossed.
Cheers! : )
great review! love this aircraft and SSW has done a very good job on it. Overall I think it's just a bit overpriced due to some of the shortcuts taken on the graphics and some of the other shortcomings you mentioned. Hard to tell from a video, but the pitch sensitivity seems extreme. Nicely done on the ground handling/takeoff roll - something that many MSFS addons struggle to get right.
I will definitely buy this addon, but will wait for some type of sale, OR word that some improvements have been released.
Thanks once again Siesta!
Yeah, the F-104 is one of my favourites and SSW have done a very nice job with it overall. I certainly have to hand it to them on their consistency, the product was more or less exactly what I was expecting; you kind of know what you’re going to get with one of their addons (both the good and the bad). I thought the price was ok (€5 less probably would have been about right), but I think the JF Hawk has now spoilt everyone haha!
Yes, definitely a bit twitchy in pitch, definitely has that MSFS behaviour of bouncing around quite a bit in all 3 axis. Agreed, they’ve done a pretty good job with how it handles during the takeoff. Often times (not always to be fair) the first takeoff and landing I carry out, are what you guys see in the video and it’s always nice (and a relief haha) when the aircraft behaves as you expect it to. The F-104 was very good in that respect. I flew it as per the manual and everything seemed to happen accordingly.
I’m sure I’ll fly the aircraft again on the channel at some point; hopefully SSW will give it a big update, as they did with the G-91. So yeah, an update or a sale is probably worth waiting for, if you aren’t desperate.
Cheers once again! Have a great weekend : )
Thank you
You’re most welcome Kevin, my pleasure : )
All the best!
very beautiful channel
Thank you very much Kikiessam, very kind of you to say! : )
Your reviews are just so spot on every time! I'm still not sure whether watching them has saved me money from not buying bad reviews... Or cost me money as I tend to buy what you positively review....
Thanks very much Dave, glad you think so! Haha, I’ve probably cost you money overall then, but at least it’s (hopefully) money well spent in that case ; )
Much appreciated! I hope you have a very Merry Christmas : )
Wow, I would buy this game just for this jet
Haha, yeah; it’s a pretty nice rendition of an awesome aircraft Josh! : D
All the best!
Seems to be fairly decent. My biggest negs from watching the video would be the pitch wobbling (but I think this is an MSFS thing partially), the audio transitions (especially when cutting off the engine) and the lack of audiovisual feedback at high AoA. Also, as I can live with the not so high res textures outside as someone who flies in VR, they should at least be better inside, but it's not just the textures. Probably the most not so awesome thing is having to look at those textured on rivets on the canopy rail. Those should be in full 3D in 2022, at least where you'll always look at those. But again, that's nothing that'd put me off, the thing is on sale for 17€ currently, but I'll be getting the FRF-104G instead :)
Hi RD,
Just a quick reply, if you are thinking of purchasing either SSW F-104; the addons were somewhat broken by a previous sim update, and SSW unfortunately don’t seem to have done much to correct that. The primary bug that springs to mind, the afterburner cuts out above 10,000ft (at least in my case and that of a few others). It’s a shame, as whilst the issues you mention are certainly valid, the SSW F-104’s would otherwise be nice products for the price, especially in a sale.
I hope that helps you make a more informed purchasing decision. All the best! : )
@@IntotheBlueSimulations Thanks, did it already. Have read about this already on the forums, by phobos8287:
"The biggest issue currently is SU9 broke the AB functionality above 10,000 feet. The developer has patched this issue by implementing a previous version of their AB modeling while waiting for Asobo to fix the bug from SU9. Even with the workaround AB the plane more or less flies by the numbers, though the takeoff roll is quite shorter now. Otherwise it’s great."
Oh BTW, having a proper fuel flow is something I certainly would like to have modelled. Don't know if it has been addressed already in the past, only skimmed that thread and haven't read it completely. Anyway, I guess it's worth the 17 bucks already which is why I pulled the trigger.
On a side note, I also got the DC Designs Concorde (wanted to have one ever since, just hadn't bought it yet before I did it just ago), the Lionheart Bü-131 Jungmann and the FlyingIron P-38 (now where's the U-2 and the Blackbird to complete that "coolest Kelly Johnson airframes" collection?) as well :)
Awesome review. Do you use IR tracking?
Hi Smokey, thanks very much, glad you enjoyed it!
I am indeed using TrackIR during the video.
All the best! : )
Ah the Flying Pencil! Really tempted by this, waiting for it to come out on Just Flight though to see if it'll be a bit cheaper there (plus I got a few quid in bonus points!). Shame about the legacy sound system but the engine sounds are pretty good anyway! I also dislike the external app SSW use but on the forum one of the devs said they'll look into an in-game tablet like solution which would be nice. Also shame the gunsight isn't operational, now we have proper collimation with SU7 a proper reflex sight would be really good to have. Thanks a lot for the review, great stuff as always! Guess you'll be checking out BlackBox Simulation's Bulldog soon? I grabbed it almost as soon as it was released and I'm quite enjoying it. Cheers!
Well it's now up on Just Flight and it's only a few pennies cheaper than buying on Sim Market or Orbx but I got 3 quid off with my bonus points which I can't complain about.
Huh, interesting. I’d have thought it would be a bit cheaper on Just Flight (usually is). Either way, I’d chose them over Simmarket any day! Firstly for the points haha, but also for the customer service.
It’s annoying, most new products seems to come out on Simmarket first, so I end up purchasing there, if I’m looking to review - but I’d much rather buy from JF ideally. Ah well, tough life eh! : P
Happy flying! : )
Haha, I guess temptation won over in the end then! ; )
Overall I’ve been very much enjoying it, I hope you are too. There are certainly a few areas that could be improved, many of which you mention above, but it’s great to hear that SSW is receptive to the idea of fixing them. Sounds were actually a very pleasant surprise; when I saw “legacy sounds” I thought “uh oh” haha, but the engine sounds are actually pretty darn good, elsewhere could use some work though.
The need for 2 separate external apps is rather clunky and not ideal. It’s nice that SSW are trying to push the boundaries with the aircraft, but there has to be a more efficient way of getting things to work. . .
Hmm, not sure about the Bulldog actually. When I saw it was released it was going on my “instant buy” list, as it’s very much up my alley, but I was away at the time and rather missed the boat for a review. By the time I had got home and looked at some screenshots, I was feeling a touch more lukewarm about it (I think the Islander could still use quite a bit of work personally, without moving on to the next thing). If you say it’s good fun, I might reconsider, but realistically (as work is now getting busier again) I’m treading water a bit at the moment to keep up with everything and the Bulldog may well fall by the wayside unfortunately.
As always, a big thank you for watching! Have a great weekend : )
@@IntotheBlueSimulations I'm having a blast with the starfighter. I was trying out stalls as that pitching up behaviour is just wild when I let the stall fully develop and I ended up in a pretty brutal spin that I couldn't get out of, kinds rare to see that in msfs . Also the radar is quite interesting, not tried out ground mode yet but I left it in air to air mode whilst I was messing around and picked up a couple of ai planes on it which was kinda cool.
I did have a weird thing where I was using slew mode to recover from a crash and ended up with the plane embedded in the ground. seen a couple other people posting about that happening as well when landing which is a bit odd but I put it down to thr plane living up to its lawn dart nickname!
Imo the bulldog is modelled and textured a lot better than the islander (that ugly wonky line on the prop spinner on the islander really annoys me lol) and most things seem to be simulated reasonably well and flies nicely but I must admit that the main reason I enjoy it is because it's the only plane I actually have real life flying experience with from my air cadet days.
So I might be a tad biased there.
In other MSFS news it turns out that the option to disable the end of flight popup doesn't actually disable it, it just makes the sim automatically click on continue flight really quickly, if you have a window up like a checklist or atc you'll see it briefly flicker when the end flight window would pop up and because its just continuing the flight you still end up with the annoying zero minute flight being being entered into that logbook. Bit of a lazy workaround really but I guess I should be happy with it being only a milder annoyance than it was before. Just a shame I can't manually edit the logbook like in older sims to remove those ghost entries. Oh well it's only a minor thing I suppose.
Glad you’re enjoying it! I had a nice run around NZ in it the other day, go stuck in the clouds, but just about managed to make it to destination. Still haven’t had a chance to play around with the radar much etc. It’s a shame it’s limited regionally, but good on SSW for trying something new anyway!
I can certainly see why the Bulldog would appeal then haha. I might pick it up at some point, but right now I don’t think it offers much, that I don’t already have in other aircraft. I’ve always liked the Bulldog as an aircraft mind you. . .
That’s a joke re the logbook pop-up! On the one hand it is a minor thing; on the other, I think it says a lot about Asobo’s working practices. Such a clunky and ugly fix - surely it’s not that hard to coded the functionality properly? They did the same with the startup screen I seem to recall also. . . Luckily I don’t pay too much attention to the logbook - I dread to think what kind of abominations I would find in there haha! XD
Cheers Megadyptes! Have a great weekend : )
How do you enable tip tanks? I bought the plane from the MSFS store but I have no idea where to find the hardware to configure this stuff.
Hi Matt,
You will need to head over to the aircrafts folder (I’m afraid I’m not 100% sure where that would be, if you purchased through the MSFS store) and then find the “Data” folder. In there, you’ll find a program called “Lady Configurator.exe”. You can add or remove tip tanks with that. If you want to fuel them up, you will need to make sure to have the Refuel switch turned on via the virtual cockpit.
I hope that helps a little. All the best! : )
Flying around in MS2020 feels very... Floaty, I think is the word. Almost like it's on rails, except it's not. Noticed that with just about every airplane. I feel as though the flight model isn't what it could be
It’s interesting Pendragon, I seem to be one of the few that really rather likes the flight modelling in MSFS (with a few big caveats). It feels the least “on-rails” sim (to me) out of the major contenders haha. I agree that a lot of the aircraft can feel a bit light mind you and it can definitely get a bit “floaty”, particularly in ground effect.
I think for recreating the “feel” of flight in the cruise, MSFS actually does a pretty good job. Getting bumped around off the hills etc, makes the whole thing feel much more convincing (to me) than the likes of P3D, X-Plane etc.
As always though, the sim has its strengths and weaknesses. It’s pretty great in the cruise, reasonable throughout the normal flight envelope (with the exception of the rudder) and all falls apart a bit at the extremes of the flight envelope. For GA aircraft I think it’s a pretty decent sim. For the big jets, I think it still has a long way to go!
That’s just my take on it though. . . I still like the other sims for their own reasons as well. Either way, for sure there is still a lot of room for improvement and I really hope we will see Asobo put in that work (though sadly it doesn’t seem to have been a priority so far).
All the best! : )
Hey man. I have a question regarding footage. How do you record the startup from the cockpit view AND the exterior view of that aircraft at the SAME time?
Ahhh, well that’s the magic of editing Matt ; )
Generally I have to record the startup internally first, shut the aircraft down and then record it again externally haha.
Cheers : )
Great panel and scenery. Does the gunsight work? Got any video of it?
He said it does not.
Unfortunately it doesn’t work no. I know that the recent sim update broke HUDs on some aircraft, but it seems the switch is not functional, so it doesn’t look like the gunsight has been implemented by Sim Skunk Works at any rate (a shame, since it was in their P3D version of the aircraft).
SSW have stated that they’ve decided not to implement weapons on the TF-104, so the lack of gunsight makes some sense. I do hope they maybe change their minds in a later update though.
Cheers! : )
@@IntotheBlueSimulations Thank you for your reply.
You’re most welcome! : )
17:14 Wow didn't realize MSFS had that glare off the mirrors.
Yeah. The mirrors themselves are fairly basic obviously, but the glare is really nice - I very much like the fact that it somewhat blinds your vision as well. The lighting in the sim can be really top-notch as times.
Cheers Joe, all the best! : )
hmmm could be interesting to see if Asobo could implement an update in the future that could enable combat in msfs 2020 the base wolrd is there I believe.
Hi Jivan,
I doubt Asobo themselves will do such a thing specifically with MSFS, as they seem very anti-combat, anti-weapons etc in the sim. Maybe we’ll get 3rd party support at some point (like TACPack in P3D etc), or perhaps we’ll get a specific combat version of the sim (like Microsoft’s Combat Flight Simulator series), but I think there’s still a lot of development required within MSFS, before Asobo go moving onto other projects. It would certainly be nice to see one day though; as you say, I believe the base for it is there already in some respects.
Cheers! : )
Thanks for the vid. When I go above 10000ft with the burner on, the engine stalls to idle, when I dip below 10000ft the engine recovers. In mil power the engine runs normally above 10000ft. Any suggestions what I’m doing wrong?
Hi Rico,
Thanks, my pleasure!
Sorry for the very slow reply - I wanted to test the aircraft before getting back to you.
I did experience the exact same behavior; it's odd as the TF-104 definitely didn't used to have this issue. I suspect a previous sim update broke something. I believe SWS did update the aircraft again recently; I haven't had a chance to try the update yet, but maybe that has fixed up the issue?
Sorry I can't be of more help on that one.
All the best! : )
Edit: Just tried the recently released F-104 and had the same issue there (where previously I didn't). When did you start encountering the issue? I wonder if it's not a bug that has been caused by SU9. . .
While we’re looking at old jets, wouldn’t mind a F4 phantom.
Yes please! My favourite fast jet of all time! : )
Keep a look at DCS, it should come soon (tm) :)
In the marketplace Sim Skunk Works has a FRF-104G and a TF-104G. They have different pricing, does anyone know what the difference between the two are?
Hi OGGN,
The two aircraft are pretty much identical in terms of functionality (other than any differences between the real-world variants). Sim Skunk Works weren't able to offer a discount on the F-104, for those who had previously purchased the TF-104, so they opted to sell the F-104 at a lower price instead (which is perhaps a touch galling, for those who purchased the TF-104 ahead of time haha). In essence though, you'll be getting the same product either way (so it makes more sense to go with the F-104).
Just as a heads up, last time I flew the TF-104 / F-104, the addon did have some issues (namely the afterburner not working above 10,000ft) and I'm not sure whether Sim Skunk Works have fixed said issues yet. . .
I hope that clarifies things. All the best! : )
@@IntotheBlueSimulations Thank you sir.
You’re most welcome! : )
anyone have any tips? when i turn all the way, nothing happens, but only halfway it starts to turn. cant do barrel rolls or anything, other aircraft it isnt a problem. is it a trim setting i need to fix? aircraft simply isnt that menouverable for me.
Hi Bennett,
That is a very strange one! Usually when people are having odd handling issues, the first thing I suggest they check, is that their sims flight model is set to “Modern” and not “Legacy”. Using the legacy setting, can cause all sorts of strange behaviours with newer addons.
I hope that helps! Let me know how you go. All the best! : )
The only thing that bothers me is an interview I watched with an ex F104 pilot who said they would usually be turning on finals and touching down at 150. This model will drop a wing below 170. ???????
Hello Philip,
I’m not sure if the following is what you’re referring to, or whether there is simply an issue with the aircraft’s flight model: During the approach, the F-104 actually takes bleed air from the engine and passes it over the wing to provide more lift. As such, the engine rpm needs to be kept above 84% (if memory serves me correctly) during the approach, in order to provide enough bleed air / maintain lift. From what I have found with the SSW F-104, usually a wing drop during the approach, is caused by coming too far back on the throttle.
I hope that is of some use? Cheers and all the best : )
Excellent review! But looking forward to some more British aircraft from developers.
Thanks Morrissey, glad you enjoyed it!
Yeah, I was actually thinking the same when going through the 104’s cockpit (all that black panelling / instrumentation was giving me retro-British cockpit vibes). I think we’re well overdue some decent British aircraft now (ok, I suppose we do have the Hawk and the Spit haha). Bring on the Vulcan, Hunter, Chipmunk, HS 748 etc though! : D
Cheers! : )
@@IntotheBlueSimulations Indeed! Love to see the Lancaster too!
For sure! I believe Aeroplane Heaven might be working on one. . . If they aren’t, I’m sure we’ll see one at some point anyway : )
TheFuck 104 StarYeeter, what à great plane !
Haha, that’s not one I’ve heard before! But yeah, awesome machine XD
Do you prefer the TF-104 or the Hawk for zipping through valleys and enjoying high speed low level flight?
Hi Filbert,
For low level flying and valley runs etc - the Hawk without a doubt. It’s really in its element doing that sort of thing, whereas the F-104 is really a bit too fast and lacking the same level of manoeuvrability. Overall the JF Hawk is a much more accomplished product as well. The SSW TF-104 is a very nice product, but the Hawk has it beat in just about every area.
Hope that helps a bit! All the best : )
@@IntotheBlueSimulations I pulled the trigger earlier on the TF-104 and have been loving it. Blasting along shorelines and mountaintops at 550+ kts is incredible in VR. But I see what you mean about maneuverability through valleys. May have to pick up the Hawk too...
Ah great, well I’m glad you’re enjoying it! It’s a great aircraft no doubt. Yeah, the Hawk isn’t too bad either. . . haha ; )
Happy flying! : )
If you purchase this in the marketplace, do you get documentation?
You certainly should do Rotorhead. I purchased outside of the sim, but the aircraft comes with documentation as standard. You’ll find it in the aircraft folder (which will be located in the usual place for Marketplace installations).
Have you purchased already? Did you have any luck finding the documentation yet? : )
I know its kind of generic, but I think you should do a top 10 of your favorite add-ons for MSF2020 based on realism.
Hi Timothy,
Thanks for the suggestion! I know what you mean about it being somewhat “generic” haha, but I was actually planning on doing such a video at some point. I was thinking I’ll do one around the start of the new year and then update my opinions on an annual basis (I don’t want to end up making “top 10’s” etc too often).
Cheers again! All the best : )
Beautiful bird, apart for the software house. If you have some problem with their product they will never do something to help you to solve that problem. Happen to me after I bought F 104 steam edition, never use because at the end wasn’t steam compatible contrary to the specification of the product, I wrote them many times but they didn’t do anything to help me, apart to acknowledge that it wasn’t steam compatible.
Sorry to hear that you didn’t have a good experience with Sim Skunk Works Paolo. To be fair, I had an issue myself in the past and they had replied to me and solved it within a couple of hours (and this was as a customer, nothing to do with the channel), but it’s disappointing to hear that not everybody has had the same experience.
A beautiful rendition of the F-104 as you say, but of course we all want good customer service with our products as well.
All the best! : )
It always reminds me of an X wing from Star Wars lol
Haha, the aircraft does rather have that vibe to it, Jay. I guess there’s a reason they called it the Starfighter! ; )
Great Review, really enjoyed it. If I may ask! Is it true that the Sim Skunk Works TF-104 has no autopilot function?
Thanks very much LockOn! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Yes, so far as I am aware, the TF-104 has no autopilot functionality. The aircraft is going to be updated with a tablet at some point, so I’m not sure whether SSW will look to add some autopilot functionality then (as other devs have chosen to); but for the time being, it’s all stick and rudder flying : )
I hope that helps. All the best!
I know this is late but I just picked up the 104 for the Xbox series S. I cannot figure out how to get the tip tanks to show. I have varied the weights in the fuel but I cannot get them to be visual. Help me obi wan
Hello Robert,
Apologies for the slow reply. The F-104 has changed a bit since I recorded this video. Tip tanks etc, are now installed via the onboard tablet, which is accessed via a clickspot (if memory serves me correctly, the clickspot is located down on the left side of the lower console).
I hope that helps? “May the force be with you” haha! All the best : )
@@IntotheBlueSimulations thank you!!!!!!!
A few weeks ago I would've bought this in a heartbeat, but I'm afraid Just Flight's Hawk has spoiled me a little bit. I (perhaps unfairly) expect everything to meet the same standards now. If this was moderately cheaper than the Hawk I'd be tempted, but the value feels way off considering that it's roughly the same price.
Haha, I totally get what you mean AP, the Hawk has spoilt us all! If you’re looking for aircraft of a similar standard, you won’t be requiring a large virtual “hangar” mind you : P
I’m enjoying the F-104, though there are still certainty areas that could be improved. I agree that quality is not on a par with the Hawk and so the price probably shouldn’t be; but playing devils advocate, I do think the Hawk is very good value for money!
Maybe see what the future holds for the F-104 in terms of development, or wait for a sale ; )
Cheers! : )
I'd like to see some night lighting effects but you seem to often over look that part in your reviews... Is there any reason why?
Rich
Hello Rich,
No good reason I’m afraid: I very rarely tend to fly at night in the sim myself, so I often simply forget to cover night lighting. That being said, I do cover it when I remember to do so and try to make a concerted effort when looking at commercial jets, larger GA aircraft etc (aircraft that are much more likely to be flying at night).
Not ideal I know, but I hope that clarifies things a little. Cheers : )
good airplane but the problem is the gear balance to the airplane when I turn tight the plane goes sideways and falls and that should fix that problem
Hi Carlos,
Yes, you do have to take the turns quite slowly. I’m not sure whether it’s an issue with the aircraft, or modelled correctly. The F-104 does have a rather narrow undercarriage, so it’s conceivable that at high speed, the aircraft might tip in the turn. . .
Either way, guess we’ve just got to taxi slow for now ; )
Cheers! : )
I am having the crziest time goiing from Community Folder to the simm planes to use in flight. Can you help by way of step outling? Thank you. Dr. Johnny M. Ashburnm, Dahlonega, USA
Hi Dr Ashburn,
Are you referring specifically to getting the SSW TF-104 set up (loadout, operating ground equipment, running the radar application etc), or the Community folder / installation process for addons in general? I’ll be happy to help where I can.
All the best : )
T-tail gang rise.
Haha, can’t wait for Just Flight’s BAE 146 to get in on the action! ; )
Didn't they get one of the TF-104 pilots from Starfighters in USA to test fly this, and they reported it was accurate? I figure if it gets the tick from a real F-104 pilot then it's probably pretty good!
Oh is that so Sean? Well for sure they would know more than me haha! I kind of got the impression that the devs themselves may have flown the jet at some point (just going off some of their FB posts). Well, obviously I can only make best guesses on aircraft I’ve never flown and far be it for me to argue with a real-world 104 pilot haha. I always take those sorts of claims with a pinch of salt though; pretty much every addon claims to have been “tested by real pilots” etc these days and often that testing doesn’t seem to amount to much (I’m not saying that necessarily applies in this particular case). It’s certainly possible that, within the bounds of MSFS, this is a decent representation of the TF-104! SSW certainly got some of the jets “quirks” right at any rate.
Cheers, all the best! : )
Does this plane not exist anymore or something? I don't see it on the marketplace!
Hi Schwarze,
I'm not sure it's available yet from the Marketplace. I purchased it from Simmarket myself; I believe it can also be purchased through Orbx and other vendors as well though. I expect it will eventually make it into the Marketplace, but these things always seem to take quite some time. . .
All the best! : )
For that price i expect the textures to be really high res, even at a closer look. It doesn't make any sense to buy airframes with this upscaled p3d textures. THX!
Fair enough Ra, a very fair criticism I think. The texturing didn’t bother me too much *personally*, but I think it’s very reasonable to expect more, given the pricing. That’s the point of these reviews though - help people figure out what’s worth their hard-earned money etc : )
Cheers!
@@IntotheBlueSimulations Maybe the negative points of a review are the most important. They can be stop signs for folks like myself, easy jumping on a hypetrain for a new product and a reason for developers to improve their products. I really don't like the old stuff from past simulators made pretty for MSFS, there are so many possibilities for new implementations to finally reach some degree of immersion, that hasn't been there in the past, so let's use that tech. Pretty sure many devs are looking at TH-cam reviews... Again, thanks for balancing your reviews so well.
I generally agree Ra,
I think most people, when they are watching a review, are looking for reasons not to buy the product haha (that’s how my brain works anyway). I try and give balanced and objective feedback where I can and then hopefully people can decide for themselves.
As you say, I’m sure most devs watch reviews of their products. Some take the feedback better than others; but hopefully reviews help keep them just a little bit more honest and encourage them to go the extra mile.
Cheers! : )
I got it but half the time it doesn't respond to my throttle control. It sucks.
Hi Austin,
I’m sorry to hear you’ve been having issues with the aircraft. Are you running the most up to date version of the addon? I was having similar issues after Sim Update 7, but the most recent update to the F-104 (V3 I think it is) fixed the issues right up for me.
All the best!
Does msfs support two humans in one a/c?
Hi LtRiot,
Not at the moment, at least not natively (there is a mod, which works with certain aircraft). Multi-crew functionality is planned for the future, but I’m not sure how far off that is. One would hope, once it’s natively supported in the sim, that aircraft such as these will support multi-crew.
Cheers! : )
how do you get the tanks on teh wings to show up
Hi avenueb,
You’ll need to go into your community folder and find the F-104. You’ll then need to go into the Data folder (I seem to recall) and find the LadySetup.exe app (or something similarly named). Run that and it will allow you to configure the aircraft in various ways.
Hope that helps. Cheers : )
@@IntotheBlueSimulations thanks bud appreciate and got it
Prefect! Glad you got it sorted. My pleasure! : )
Version 3.1.2 & newer, just press Ctrl + Shift + j
🙋🏼♂👌💪
Haha, cheers Flaco! All the best! : )
@@IntotheBlueSimulations 👍🏼🙋🏼♂
Is the f104 in the workshop on the Xbox x?
Is now
@@Wilber913 thx
is it possible to remove external tanks, for now?
Yes the plane has no external tanks by default. If you want tip and/or pylon tanks you can add them by a different program
@@Vincent-bt1qy but that just wouldn’t look right!!
@@CCitis?
@@Vincent-bt1qy thx
@@Vincent-bt1qy A 104 with no wing tanks looks odd.
I wish it had a hud, no one seems to notice? thats all I think its missing
Hi Benny,
I don't believe the real-world F-104 had a HUD ordinarily (perhaps on later versions one was retrofitted). The aircraft did have a gunsight and that has been modelled by SSW (if I recall correctly).
I hope that clarifies things a little. All the best! : )
@@IntotheBlueSimulations how do we turn the sight on?
Hello again Benny,
I’m afraid I don’t have the F-104 installed at the moment (having just moved to a new PC), but if memory serves me correctly, there’s a rheostat / rotary selector for the gunsight, located down on the lower left side of the main instrument panel (along with the rest of the weapons controls). I seem to recall that the panel layout is detailed in the manual.
I hope that helps a little. All the best! : )
IMO, it would be more sexier if it were single-seat. Quality itself seems to be very nice.
I’m inclined to agree with you Jae, although I have to say, the TF-104s lines are growing on me! I’m sure we’ll get the F-104 from SSW at some point anyway though. . . Yeah, overall another nice effort from SSW - I’m looking forward to seeing what they bring to the sim next!
Cheers, all the best : )
As a pilot, I want to navigate? I havn't watched your video all the way through, so if youve covered the navigation flows, I apologise.
With no TACAN available in ASOBO, how can I navigate, at mach 2.0? My feeling is that ASOBO just want to appeal to the gamers and ignore the pilots? May be jaundaced here, but we dont yet have a viable advanced jetliner? Or do we? Its a GAME!
Hi David,
No, you didn't miss anything - I was just using the MK I eyeball for this flight ; )
The aircraft does have a TACAN receiver, but of course it's going have all the same issues as any other aircraft within MSFS. The good thing about the Sim Skunk Works aircraft though; as they are fitted with the (somewhat rudimentary) PHI system (as with the G-91), one can create custom flight plans and navigate via those at least. I suppose in theory, one could create a series of waypoints, representing the TACANs you wish to navigate from (I realise this isn't ideal and should be Asobo's job, not ours!). The F-104's PHI works much the same as the G-91's, however it looks as though you can program a few more waypoints, so that should offer a little more flexibility.
As to whether MSFS is a sim or a game. I think Asobo still haven't decided yet ha. . . I think MSFS can be used as a decent VFR sim, but the IFR stuff still has a long way to go!
Cheers!
@@IntotheBlueSimulations Roger! Seems to me, please tell me if i am wrong? Asobo have NOT modelled any TACAN beacons? I see a video on the Starfightter and it uses TACAN, no it doesnt?? No, Sorry, I cant get any TACAN to work? Is this me or is this a sim issue? How can we get TACAN to fully function? Not even VORTAC will work? Its like ASOBO have said.."hey they wont notice..let them zoom around like kids"? I am frustrated because without weapons this is supposed to be a trainer? Hey? Without Navigation>?
Please help here?
It’s definitely not you David, they aren’t modelled in the sim unfortunately (at least not properly). Occasionally you can pick up a bearing, but not a DME (or is it the other way around, I forget).
I think the lack of TACANs is a legacy hangover from FSX etc. I agree it should be addressed (especially given all of the military jets we now have in the sim), but I would imagine it’s pretty low down on Asobo’s “to-do” list (not saying that it should be) and given that many glaring omissions / errors have still yet to be fixed, I don’t hold out much hope of seeing TACANs in the sim any time soon unfortunately. . .
All the best!
Where can I buy this?
Hi Benjamin,
I purchased it from Simmarket, but I believe it’s also available from Orbx. I’m not sure whether there are any other purchasing options available.
Cheers : )
3:50 ?????? !!!!!! Skunk Works how dare you ^^ ???? you building super very nice looking Airplane and this ? i dont understand this Pleas rework this Texturs a work of 2 Days and i will buy it and meny more
Yeah, the external texturing isn't really what we'd expect from a modern addon unfortunately. It looks fine from distance to be fair, but a bit poor close in. A lot of devs seem to do the same in MSFS - I wonder whether it's for performance reasons, or if they are just re-hashing their textures from FSX / P3D. . .
All the best!
I just bought this... and it seems like a very nice executed aircraft. But i still would give 2/5 stars because I CAN'T FKN LEAVE THE GROUND... like there is no explanation of the Shortcuts (key) and (some) standard inputs DO NOT WORK... for example and worst: Throttle input... this model would be a 10/10 (5/5) but with not explanation included in the purchase (like an in-cockpit readme board like in the Corsair, or the PMDG DC6 would be necessary here of your product don't work by default without extensive knowledge)
Exactly! Thanks for offering up the help.
Another Asobo update which has unfortunately "broken" a lot of 3rd party aircraft. The fix is easy enough, but it then becomes a bit of a pain if you want to fly a twin.
Anyway, thanks again! : )
As Mefit explains, unfortunately the throttle issue is an Asobo problem and not a Sim Skunk Works one. It's easy enough to fix though (again as Mefit mentions). There is actually quite a bit of documentation included with the aircraft, but like most MSFS addons, it's buried away in the Community Folder (you will need to find the aircraft folder and then "Docs"). There are still some holes in the information provided, but there certainly should be enough to get you going : )
Hope that helps a bit. All the best!
@@IntotheBlueSimulations by "Easy to fix" you mean assigning "Throttle 1 Axis" ? ... I did. Still not working...
Oh, ok, that’s strange. . . The aircraft did just receive an update; has that helped you out at all?
All the best!
excuse me ~ how can I get this aircraft's mod
Hello,
I purchased through Simmarket (if memory serves me correctly), but the F-104 can also be found over on Orbx and I believe can also be purchased from the in-sim Marketplace.
I hope that helps! All the best : )
Sad that this isn't on the xbone version 😓
I think there are plans to bring it over to the Xbox Schwarze (I could be wrong though). The G-91 (the other SSW offering) is available on the Xbox is it not? It would indeed be a shame, if the 104 doesn’t make it onto the console.
All the best!
@@IntotheBlueSimulations I hope so, both of those are some of the just coolest looking jets ever! They're not on the in game marketplace at least, so I'm assuming that's the tell sign that they aren't on Xbox. If that's the case, I NEED those two brought over asap!
Haha indeed! I thought the G-91 was available from the Marketplace, but my memory may be failing me on that one. . .
Well fingers crossed then! ; )
@@IntotheBlueSimulations fingers crossing worked, flying this beautiful thing on Xbox now 🤌🏻
its free or how much this airplane
on orbx around 40 USD / 36 EUR / 30 GBP / 55 AUD
Hi Carlos,
As Marc mentions, the TF-104 is around the £30 mark. The price varies a little bit from website to website, so worth shopping around (if you’re thinking of purchasing).
All the best! : )
Cheers Marc! : )
really... a lawn dart w/out an aoa index? lol
Hi Lester,
The aircraft does have an “equivalent AOA” index, on the top-right of the main instrument panel : )
Cheers
@@IntotheBlueSimulations aha I see... sorry if i came off arrogantly.
Thanks. Great effort to simulate F 104.
But the sound is really underwhelming.
The deafening roar at AB. and sound like a cow near idle. No buy for me.
Yeah, the sounds could definitely use some work. I had hoped that we’d have seen an updated WWISE soundset by now (as we did with the G-91), but nothing seems to have been forthcoming thus far. It’ll be a real shame if no further work is done on the aircraft - it has a lot of potential.
Cheers Øystein, thanks for watching once again! : )
Xbox released ?
Hi Cheers,
I don’t think so unfortunately. A lot of devs are holding off on releasing their addons until some coding issues are sorted on the console. I believe this may have been SSW’s plan originally, but they seem to have gone very quiet of late, to the point where I’m not even sure if they are continuing development within MSFS. . .
All the best! : )
@@IntotheBlueSimulations thank you
You’re most welcome! : )
Is this for xbox
Not yet Bryce (I don’t believe), but the company that made it (Sim Skunk Works) released their previous aircraft on the Xbox I think (the Fiat G-91), so I expect they’ll be looking to do the same with the F-104 at some point.
Cheers! : )
its a pity this is not on xbox
Well, actually Simon, you may have had a somewhat lucky escape haha. The F-104 is / was a nice offering, but it’s got a couple of significant bugs at this point and (at least last time I used the addon) Sim Skunk Works don’t seem to have been very forthcoming with fixes (in fact they seem to have gone very quiet in general). Hopefully the aircraft will get fixed and indeed it would be great to see it brought across to the console also.
Cheers and all the best! : )
@@IntotheBlueSimulationshas this been rectified. Released on Xbox now so wondering if it will be worth the £30
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I would really enjoy the substance of the review if the presenter’s voice and cadence were not so monotonous. It nauseates me to listen to it for too long, which is a shame, because the content is there.
Hi Brian,
Ahh, well I’m glad you feel the content is otherwise of good value; that’s obviously the only thing I can really control. . . Oration is obviously not a god-given talent of mine haha, though I do try my best. Believe it or not, I think I’ve come on somewhat since my early videos ha. Who knows, give it another year or so and maybe you’ll find me more tolerable : P
You aren’t the first person who wasn’t a fan of my commentary style, but you are the first person who I’ve made nauseous, yikes! XD
Anyway, I appreciate you giving it a go / watching. Fair enough if it’s not your cup of tea - we all have different tastes!
Cheers, all the best : )
30 seconds of spot! WTF!!!
Sorry if I’m missing something obvious Silvia, but I’m afraid I don’t quite understand what you mean by “30 seconds of spot”?
Cheers!