TFX

TFX is a computer game, but it is also a flight simulator. While it can be played on a simple level as an action game, it also has a complex flight modeling system which attempts to reproduce many aspects of flight and of the airplanes you will be piloting. If you have played flight simulators before, you will be familiar with much of what this manual describes. While some flight games have little realism, but impressive graphics and plenty of action, some contain much military and aerodynamic detail to reproduce many of the challenges that face a real pilot in a combat situation. In TFX, we have tried to do both. You will know already how advanced the graphics system is, but the flight model has many details never before seen on a home computer simulator.

Some simulations are based on current or past aircraft, and the writers are able to research aspects of cockpit detail, military procedure and flight behavior by reading books and obtaining information from the manufacturers. However, with the three airplanes you will fly in TFX, this was not possible. Of the three, only the F-117A is in service at the time of writing, and even it still has many closely guarded secrets. The Eurofighter 2000 and the F-22 Superstar will enter service with the air forces of western Europe and the USA respectively in the late 1990s, although prototypes and technology demonstrator airplanes have been tested for them.

For this reason, aerodynamic data could not be plucked from books or from technical reports. Test data from the Experimental Aircraft Programme (EAP) and YF-22 prototype were available, but much of the data required was calculated from basic aerodynamic methods. Wing shape, body wetted area and other characteristics were used to make estimates of the airplanes' lift, drag and other aerodynamic performance parameters. Luckily, these calculations corroborated quite well with the published data. Some published data turned out to be inaccurate, when judgements had to be made between conflicting sources of information. On some factors, no information was available. Then, I had to make educated guesses based on similar airplanes and common sense requirements.

Essentially, TFX is a speculative simulation of the cutting edge of aerial warfare. It is, in the end, entertainment, but I hope, for the research and effort put into the model, it is entertainment of a positive and rewarding nature.

Roderick Victor Kennedy, Aeronautical Engineer & TFX Consultant, September 1993

From the manual