Not really sure adding more layers in the FMB menus is terribly necessary. More trouble than it's worth, really. Once you use the FMB a few times you become very familiar where most everything is anyway.

As for the gear suggestion: Manually operated gear was a relatively labor-intensive procedure, and repeatedly pushing a key is a good way of simulating this. The suggestion of simply holding down a key for a few seconds in this regard is pointless, and defeats the purpose. Now, on the other hand, your suggestion would be an excellent idea for some of the Russian aircraft, where the pilot actually had to hold a controller in place to fully actuate the gear and flaps; that is something I would love to see implemented!

It would sure help the learning curve, though!

If not sub-menus, then possibly a search option or an auto completion feature, so that you can type "Jadgpanther" or just "Jadgp" and you're taken to the first relevant option.

Spektre's idea about allowing more than 4 objects to be placed is good, especially if it allows you to do things like place an entire tank company, artillery battalion or heavy bomber wing in historical formation with one click.

It would also be cool if you could add your own custom formations to the FMB, to simulate specialized formations. That would save the trouble of having to reenter the information or mess with cutting and pasting information from other missions.

It also gets the time required about right.

In some cases, manually operated gears could be dangerous. For example, in the F4F, if the landing gear wasn't locked (or even if it was but the forces were extreme) under G-forces the gear could extend violently, and the spinning crank handle could injure the pilot's leg! Experienced F4F pilots learned to position their leg to keep the crank from spinning before they entered a high-G maneuver which was likely to make the gear extend.

+1 on this idea!

I like the idea of a search function but I'm not sure I would welcome the added menus. This might be power user versus casual FMB user but adding that many menus would slow me down.

I do like the idea of a formation building function. So you could specify 12 or 16 bombers or something like that and then you told them to hold a box formation. That'd be nice!

I'm not sure how much reworking would be required to do that...

Well its annoying but I like that it was added because it shows me that the dev's paid attention to detail and were interested in trying to replicate a hand crank.

Mixed battery F6F-5
 

Suggestion: Mixed Battery gun configuration

Detail: It has been a historic fact that the F6F-5 Had a mixed battery of four 12.7mm machine guns and two 20mm cannons on the inner wings. While only some were manufactured with all six as 12.7mm. I have attached a snap shot from the Naval Historic Center that details this along with some VERY helpful flight data information which would aid in a more improved flight model. Classname could be F6F-5mb


PM me if you want the whole article. I have to e-mail due to forum upload limitations.


http://s7.postimg.org/8kl131dpn/Capture.jpg
http://s8.postimg.org/tc6qu1yph/Capture.jpg

This would make a very cool mod, but I believe that any official improvements or changes to Northrop-Grumman planes are off limits due to the consent decree.

We're any standard F6F-5s equipped with this mixed armament? I've seen dozens and dozen's of pictures of Hellcats and never seen this on a regularly equipped F6F-5. The F6F-5/N with radar pod was equipped in such a way.

Also not sure if we can make modifications to any thou shall not be named aircraft manufactured by this company...

Presumably, the U.S. Navy first did tests with the mixed 20mm cannon/0.50 caliber MG armament, and then added the radar pod to make the nightfighter variant, so "day fighter" versions of the F6F-5 with mixed armament existed.

Even if this variant never made it past the testing ground, it's still a cool idea, and would make Hellcat a more effective bomber interceptor.

But, like I said, it's a cool MOD idea. DT can't touch it due to the consent decree. Talk to the excellent people at SAS or Free Modding.

Can we have an update?
We have nothing since January. :(

MDS FoW Recon Options
 

A Request for,
FoW option for recon spotted units (ground, ships, aircraft, etc.) to stay on the map for x amount of time after the recon plane moves out of the range it can spot the unit. And even better, a time stamp option adjacent to the spotted units icon on the map, and also, along with options for the units type, heading and speed stamp as of the last sighting adjacent to the spotted units icon.