Control view
Hold [Triangle] to zoom. Use the Right Analog-stick
to pan around.
Aces
The following is a list of where each Ace can be found
and shot down. Shooting them down will unlock an alternate color
scheme for that plane. Ace's can only be shot down under the normal
or higher difficulty setting. Each Ace is worth 240 points and
will have the name of the pilot flying it:
Mission 1: F-5, North of Allied air base.
Mission 2: A-10, North of enemy air base.
Mission 3: F-16, South of second radar station.
Mission 4: Mirage 2000, Northwest of the westernmost radar jamming
plane.
Mission 5: Mig-29, Sout of the far western pumping station on
map.
Mission 6: F-14, North of northern-most group of enemies on map.
Mission 7: TND, North of solar tower.
Mission 8: F-18, After refueling during the mission, it will appear
east of the sub-station.
Mission 9: F-15C, North of the center beach combat area.
Mission 10: RF-01 Multi Role, Far upper northwest corner of map,
northwest of sub-station.
Mission 11: SU-35, Will appear with 90 seconds remainingin the
mission.
Mission 12: F-2, North of Stonehenge.
Mission 13: F-15E, After balloons are destroyed, fighters will
appear; head northeast.
Mission 14: F-22, Northeast of map .
Mission 15: EF-2000, Center of map when mission starts.
Mission 16: F-117 Attacker, Northwest of western-most combat area.
Mission 17: F-15 Active, Far northwestern corner of map.
Mission 18: S-37, North of Megalith.
Broken Arrows: See northern lights
Look up in the night sky and you can see the northern
lights.
Safe Return: Easy completion
There are about eleven balloons ahead of you, up and
down and to the side slightly. Then, turn right and go until you
cross a mountain, four to six balloons later. Then, turn right
again. Blast balloons until time runs out. It is possible to get
an "S" rank under the ace difficulty setting using this
method, with just balloons, not counting the planes.
When you start the mission, your radar will have blinking dots
all around. The dots are actually the blimps and not the noise.
This will help find the blimps' location and hopefully increase
your score.
Shattered Skies: Yellows leave early
Hitting a Yellow early will not kill them, but may
make him and other Yellows leave the area early, after he gripes
about being hit.
Shattered Skies: Radio transmission
Do not bother going after the Yellow Squadron fighters.
They are nearly impossible to hit. If you do manage to get enough
hits on one to qualify as a kill, it will not go down. Instead,
a red radio transmission will appear as follows. Note: You do
not get any points from it.
<Yellow>: Who was that who shot me?
<Yellow>: It was a Ribbon fighter!
Shattered Skies: Early giveaway
During the mission you will hear one of the fighters
say the following line:
<Sanitize the area before the bombers arrive.>
They are referring to the B-2 bombers that appear after the mission
update.
Whisky Corridor: Second SR-71
There is a second SR-71 Blackbird on this mission.
At any time during the mission, fly to the southwest corner of
the map at about 15,000 feet, just north of the RTB line.
Missile dodging
Under some difficulty settings, you can only be hit
with a missile two or three times. This is different for the higher
difficulty settings. In Ace mode, you will be shot down by one
missile. Immediately when someone locks onto you and fires a missile,
look at your radar. The moment when the missile is about to hit
you, barrel roll. This is a difficult feat to perform but is quite
impressive. This move only happens very rarely. If one of the
planes lock on and manages to fire a missile and it is on your
tail, you can blow a plane right out of the sky with the enemy's
missle. Rush towards an enemy that is coming at you. In the split
second it is about there, try your best to dodge it. if done correctly,
the enemy missile will hit the enemy. Another way of missile dodging
happens when you have a missile on your tail. Dive down, come
to about six to seven thousand feet, then rise up. The missile
should deflect and hit the ground. This is also successful when
you have ground targets. You can save your own missiles. Note:
The X-02 stealth plane us recommended.
Easier ground battle
The best way to destroy multiple ground targets is
to fly the F-15 Active using the FREB (fuel - air explosive bomb).
This will destroy about six to ten targets if they are close together.
Easy kills
The best way to kill is to get in the cockpit view
and go to work. When done correctly the kill will happen much
faster and you will save missiles. If done in the HUD view or
where you can see the entire plane, then chances are you will
waste several missiles trying to kill enemies. Also use your bullets
wisely to cut off paths of escape; this will assist you further.
When on a mission and are "dog-fighting" in air-to-air
combat, press [Circle](2 ). When you do this, you will fire
two missiles at the same time. This destroys your target immediately
with two shots, rather than hitting it only once and still having
the risk of it shooting you and your allies.
While dogfighting in air-to-air combat, switch to the cockpit
view. Lock on to your nearest enemy and fire a missile. Immediately
after you fire the missile, shoot your guns. However, instead
of hitting the enemy fighter, aim for the air in front and around
it. The enemy fighter will try to dodge the bullets, thus steering
into the missile's path.
Easy "Yellow" kills
Use the following trick to kill the Yellows during
the final missions. First, acquire the SU-37. Then, go into battle
with the QAAM (the SU-37's default weapon) equipped. When you
engage a Yellow, immediately lock-on and fire a QAAM at him. This
weapon will travel to the ends of the earth to hunt down its target.
Even if it takes five minutes, the missile is 99% likely to hit
the Yellow. With an average of five Yellows a mission (except
the last one), they will be easy. This trick also works with other
airborne targets.
Note: You may not always hear the Yellows say that they have been
shot down. Sometimes you will hear AWACS or a friendly say "A
Yellows hit and trailing smoke. Whose kill was that?"
Dogfighting
When in a dogfight, there are some things you can do
to help. First, do not go after the Yellows. Also, choose a plane
that does well in air to air attacks. Use the machine gun if the
target is close. Do not waste your missiles, as there may be a
surprise during the mission (as in the Shattered Skies level).
In this level, after the time is up and you have enough points,
six B2 bombers appear. Finally, Do not stay too low.
You must to learn how to control every aspect of your fighter.
One thing you must do is learn how to use your airbrakes. Mastering
the use of this will help you swing the tail end of your jet around
and get behind your enemy faster. Also, learn how to do is maneuver
at high speeds, close to the ground. This not only helps evade
missiles (which will crash harmlessly into the ground), but in
multi-player mode when your playing someone who is not proficient
at flying low. Even in close range, if you have a straight lock,
use it. If you definitely know that the enemy will not move in
time, taking them down with a missile is faster and more efficient
than using guns. Besides, you can reload at any point in the mission.
Finally, use your radar to its full advantage, watching for enemies
not only behind you, but on your left and right as well. If you
know they are coming, then the attacks they send can be easily
avoided and have no effect on your fighting. Mastering these things
are the main ways to become a top ace at dogfighting.
Evading SAMs
In order to successfully evade a SAM, fly directly
at it at full speed. If you feel the engagement is not good, then
break off. However, do not break off until you have tried at least
once. If it works, you will pass over it and any missile fired
will miss you. When you pass over the SAM, hit the brakes, turn
sharply, and head at it again, but this time fire. Pass the SAM
at about 100 feet.
Losing tough enemies
Use the following tricks when you have a group of enemies
on you, or just one that will not give up. Find a very mountainous
area and try to lose your enemy in there at full speed. Zigzag
in and out until the enemy cannot find you. They will not follow
you into this mountain area. If dealing with multiple enemies,
disengage, climb to 40,000 feet at full throttle, take a breather,
then re-engage and destroy the enemy. Use this technique against
the Yellow Squadron in the second part of the Siege Of Farbanti
mission.
Fly with missile
Play in free flight mode with a fast jet. Flip on the
afterburners and fly up at a 45 degree angle. Get up to about
47,000 ft. When you get up to 1120 mph, do a vertical nose dive
with the afterburners still on. Continue in the dive until you
get down to 15,000 feet and level off. If you got your speed up
to at least 1375 mph, switch the view to behind the plane and
fire a missile. If you are flying fast enough, you should see
the missile flying along side your plane.
Nose dive recovery
If you are in a nose dive and your speed is over 700
mph, do not drop below 2,000 feet. There is a small chance that
your plane will pull up again because gravity will pull it down
into the ground. If you are, lucky you will escape with 98% damage.