Manual

altitudes to wave-hopping dogfights withsupersonic fighters. All in all, you’ll findyourself tangling with more than thirtydifferent aircraft and helicopters.You assume the role of flight leader oneach mission and as the flight leader, youare placed in command of a section oftwo F-14s. A two-ship is a collectiveeffort. You and your wing-man must worktogether as a team in order to get the jobdone. As the flight leader, you exercise agreat deal of tactical control over yourwing-man, keep him with you to coveryour “six” or send him off to perform onhis own. Use him but don’t lose him. Toomany players think of their wing-man ascannon fodder. That’s a habit you’ll wantto get out of because in FLEETDEFENDER your wing-man, as well asother members of your squadron,improve their skills with each mission theyfly. The more experienced your wing-manbecomes the better he’ll perform so it’s inyour best interest to look after him.With only twenty Tomcats on-board yourcarrier at the start of each campaign, youcan’t afford to lose a single oneunnecessarily. If your squadron ishandled roughly by the enemy early on,later missions may prove difficult if notimpossible to complete. Remember thatin each of the campaigns defense of thecarrier is paramount. Lose the carrierlosethe campaign.FLEET DEFENDER features anassortment of friendly aircraft ready tohelp you out in a dogfight or deliver ashattering counter-blow. When you’re notout intercepting bandits, you may berequired to escort strike packages.Luckily, your two-ship is not alone outthere. Assisting you are additional twoshipCAPs and the full weight of amodern aircraft carrier battlegroup.Unless you are forced to eject due tobattle damage, you will be returning toyour carrier. Even undamaged, landingback aboard your carrier will probably bethe most stressful part of a mission, evenmore stressful than dogfighting or bravingtriple-A.For a naval aviator a good landing meanscatching the “three-wire” for a full stop.This type of landing is known as a trap.Miss all three wires and you had better beprepared to go to full throttle for a “goaround.” This is known as a bolter. If abolter doesn’t get your heart racingmaybe you shouldn’t be flying jets for theNavy.If you find yourself having difficultymaking carrier landings, don’t getdiscouraged. One of the F-14s involved inthe downing of two Libyan Su-22s in 1981took three trys to get back on deck. Youshould expect to have your share ofbolters before carrier landings get easierto you. But while they may eventually geteasier, they will never get routine. Justremember that everyone has their offdays,that’s why extensive instructions onmaking carrier landings are included inthis manual.Even if you don’t get the hang of it rightaway, don’t give up. Points are deductedfrom your score if you end the missionwithout successfully landing back aboardthe carrier, so stick with it. You will neverget full credit for completing a missionuntil you can return safely to the carrier.To help you along, a complete statesidetraining theatre has been included. TheComin’ in for a perfect three-wire trap. Thisaviator has returned home in one piece.