A small update from Heatblur is out and with it are new screenshots of the Forrestal-class carrier that the team have been working to bring to DCS World. Let’s have a look and discuss a bit what we’ve learned.
New screnshots and details
The U.S. Navy’s first supercarrier, the Forrestal-class comprised of four carriers built in the 1950’s. Forrestal, Saratoga, Ranger and Independence served the Navy from the middle 1950’s until the middle 1990’s. Heatblur is bringing this carrier out to DCS World pilots as part of the F-14 project but it’s clear that it will have immediate uses for Heatblur’s own A-6 project.
What features will this carrier have? That’s a question that was asked and then answered by Heatblur on their Facebook page where the update was made.
Initial version will be Stennis parity; then we’ll work with our partners to discuss Supercarrier functionality.
Heatblur
So, basic functionality to begin with and supercarrier levels possible later. Sounds good to me! IMHO Supercarrier is such an immersive experience that I wouldn’t doubt it that Heatblur will aim for that level at some point either as a separate module or built in as part of the F-14 or A-6 release. What I’m very interested in as well will be how this may work with other aircraft in development such as Leatherneck/Magnitude 3’s F8 Crusader or FlyingIron Simulations A-7 Corsair II. That remains to be seen!
Stormbirds 
I want it so bad
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F-14 time…. 😎
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I’m glad they chose to honor the USS Forrestal, 134 men died, 161 injured on July 29, 1967, fighting the fire on the aft flight deck and the spaces directly below it. One of the first things you get taught in boot is there is nowhere to run when the fire starts. So like that Chief, you see running aft on the flight deck with the PKP bottle just before the huge explosion exemplifies the courage those sailors had that day. Fair Winds and Following Seas to them. I would still like to see an Essex Carrier done for WWII and Korean Naval Aviation scenarios.
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Then you will be happy to hear Magnitude is working in an Essex class for their Corsair module!
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Indeed! Thanks for the comments from both of you. There is indeed an Essex-class carrier on the way from Leatherneck/Magnitude 3 detailed in a recent article on the DCS: F4U-1D Corsair project.
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Nice. Glad you’re here to keep us up to speed.
I want that carrier.
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It’s a GOOD looking carrier! Hopefully we’ll see it before end of the year.
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I foresee the default Stennis model disappearing from servers and campaigns pretty much immediately 😉
As to SuperCarrier features, I’m sure the deal will be a separate paid DLC of some sort. Eagle Dynamics will want to get paid for the work they’ve done so far, and HeatBlur will want to get paid for the dev costs of re-working SC features to fit Forrestal.
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You may be right! We’ll see what happens once the initial release is out and what Heatblur choose to do from there.
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