Wingman Kills

Use the following trick to prevent your useless wingman from stealing your kills, especially in the arena mode. The key is his or her weapons selection. Instead of giving them medium to long range missiles like Sparrows and AMRAMs, outfit them with just short range missiles like Sidewinders. By doing this, the wing-man can help defend you if someone gets on your tail, but will not be able to steal a kill if your missile misses a target or just wounds it. In Arena mode, also outfit the wing-man with an anti-ship missile. There are Bosses that are ships that require several Harpoons to sink. If you run out of missiles, switch the wing-man to ground attack to take out the ship.

Alternate Functions

Some planes have alternate functions that can be accessed by pressing D-pad Left. For example, you are able to put the F-22 Raptor into stealth mode by pressing D-pad Left. The F-15 C Eagle has a super search radar mode that is also accessed this way. The F-117 Nighthawk has a night vision mode that is accessed this way. Note: In order for stealth mode to be functioning on the F-22 Raptor, you cannot have the afterburners on. Also, do not make heavy turns and you cannot have your navigation radar on. When stealth mode is engaged, the word "Stealth" appears below the graphic for total missiles remaining on your heads up display. If you are using the true cockpit view, the letters LPI will appear in the middle of the heads up display. If the word "Stealth" is in solid letters, you are in stealth mode. If "Stealth" is blinking, it indicates that stealth mode is engaged, but other planes can see you, because you you have your afterburners or nav radar on.

Landing On An Aircraft Carrier

Landing on an aircraft carrier in Expert mode is very close to the real thing. It is difficult because you must deal with the cross winds and the fact that the aircraft carrier is moving away from you. You do have an ALS (assisted landing system). The ALS pops up short after control tower tells you to first lower your hook, then your gear (two cross hairs that aid you in going left/right and pitch up/down). Take the approach slightly to the right of the aircraft carrier. Keep following it in and take the ALS recommendation of when to use your rudder to bear left. Upon final approach (when the tower says "call the ball" -- the red light on the carrier is called a meatball and if you can see it then you have approach), your engine speed should be set at around 40% to 45%. When your landing gear hits the deck, rev your engines to afterburner in case you have to turn around and land again.

T/F-18

Successfully complete the training mission in Area 3.

Hell Difficulty

Successfully complete the game under the Expert difficulty setting.

Aerial Combat Maneuvers

If you are playing under the Expert difficulty setting, the enemy fighters are difficult to take down. High speed maneuvers with the afterburners going can cause serious Gs which can rip the wings off your airplane. Reduce airspeed to about 80% while enabling your airbrake. By doing this, the stress on your fighter is less and turning is faster. Once you have completed about 90% of the turn to get a target on the enemy, take off the airbrake and hit the afterburners.

Taking Out Enemy Ships

In every mission involving the destruction of enemy ships, always take out the fighter escorts first. The ships look like "juicy" targets in the distance, but once enemy fighters get behind you, it is very difficult to shake off their missiles. In addition, on some missions you will run out of missiles designed to take out boats and must have to switch to guns. Take a high angle approach to the ship and wait until you are certain you can hit the ship with your guns (about 1000m). It takes about 200 to 250 bullets to destroy a ship.

Chaffing And Flares

It is better to wait until an enemy missile has gotten to the most inner circle of your radar. Then, press B button to drop chaffs and flares to ward off the incoming missile. Do not stop pressing B until the missile lock warning goes off. In addition, fly closer to the ground (below 500 feet) when you have a lot of enemy fighters in the air. The incoming enemy missiles are typically coming down (if you are flying low) and impact upon the ground. Be sure to press B button until the missile lock warning goes off.