DCS

[nirvi]

Amiens prison, coming to the channel map:

 

[Blooddawn1942]

41 minutes ago, nirvi said:

Amiens prison, coming to the channel map:

 

This is where Your end once Jerry shot You out of the sky. ?

[Lusekofte]

10 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

The Tomcat is fantastic, but Jester interaction and his efficacy puts me off a bit as far as content creation. 

This is why I only fly it for quick missions like landing or catapult takeoff.

I flew it in the start and got Jester to bail out quite a bit.

[Diggun]

16 hours ago, DBFlyguy said:

still awesome news!

Honestly this could be the thing that makes me pull the trigger on DCS. Far too many memories of hours and hours sunk into DID's classic EF2000 as a kid.

 

I hope Heatblur will be commissioning a soundtrack like they did with the Tomcat that is very similar to this: 

 

 

[Bremspropeller]

10 hours ago, AndyJWest said:

ince I couldn't remember where the anti-ice switch was, I ignored it. Which worked.

 

 

RH console - aft or fwd of the internal lighting rheostats.

[Bremspropeller]

 

Training flight with Blue Blasters' CAG bird.

 

 

Two bags, two JSOWS, two AMRAAMS, two Fakewinders and a TPOD.

 

 

Taking the fun out of being a range-pirate.

 

 

The Hornet isn't the fastest bird through the Mach, but she'd eventually settle at 1.5 in the configuration, which I think isn't all that bad. Zooming back to Rota and going through the apex slightly above FL500, supersonic.

[AndyJWest]

2 hours ago, Bremspropeller said:

 

RH console - aft or fwd of the internal lighting rheostats.

 

Yeah, I looked it up later. Not difficult to find really, what with it being properly labelled and all that. Which is another of my objections to modern aircraft cockpits. Good old-fashioned cockpit designers (or rather cockpit-thrower-togetherers) made things much more interesting by either not labelling things at all, or contradicting themselves - see e.g. Spitfires, which refer to 'undercarriage' in one place, and 'chassis' in another, leading the poor guy making his first flight in the contraption (possibly the first time he's flown anything with retractable wheels) wondering whether they refer to the same thing. Modern ergonomics, and the insistence that buttons etc should tell you what they do, take away one of my best excuses for making a complete mess of things...

 

BTW is inlet ice actually modelled in the Hornet, or is it just a warning with no consequence? I didn't notice any obvious effect, but thinking about it I had autothrottle engaged anyway, so I quite likely wouldn't until it got serious.

[Bremspropeller]

9 minutes ago, AndyJWest said:

BTW is inlet ice actually modelled in the Hornet, or is it just a warning with no consequence? I didn't notice any obvious effect, but thinking about it I had autothrottle engaged anyway, so I quite likely wouldn't until it got serious.

 

Don't know. I think the inlet icing protection wants to keep your IGVs clear of ice, so you won't take a chunk down the compressor, killing your engine.

Not sure if that's modelled, though. Probably not. Maybe not yet.

 

I have swapped ends in a Viper due to pitot icing and only managed to recover via the MPO switch.

I was prepared for it, though (wondering if the FLCS is going to take me for a ride with the airspeed-reding way off). And yes, the FLCS didn't let my expectations down...

@AndyJWest check out this thread. Duckton of info - you'll just need to sift through the whit-noise..

 

https://forums.eagle.ru/topic/183511-reported-inlet-ice-warning-message/

[Archie]

7 hours ago, nirvi said:

Amiens prison, coming to the channel map:

 

I so need that Mossie.

[Bremspropeller]

Testing my "pitching deck" mission with this 1996 VFA-195 'Dambusters' skin.

 

Descending after the Mach run. Got her to about 1.57 or so.

 

After practising some Case I procedures (Marshal Stack), I went out with Pancake to do some l@zer stuff. He's flying single bubble, I'm in the "double ugly" (asymmetric tanks) configuration.

 

Cruising out from the boat. The targets are about 150 miles away, so we're going high and fast. The only way to get some range out of the Hornet.

 

After Pancake's kind buddy-lazing (one L-Mav and one GBU shack), I'm heading for the KC-130 to top off. Unknowingly, I was stuck in some weird autopilot mode that was fighting my trim, so I had to fight the asymmetry with strick-deflection at roughly 215KCAS tanking speed. Not comfortable, but manageable if the trim works.

 

Pancake sipping go-juice.

 

Back to the bad guys. I've got two JDAMs and a GBU-12. Pancake will cover me with his remaining HARM.

 

He's in a VMFA-314 'Black Knights' jet. I'm in a VFA-146 'Blue Diamonds' jet.

 

Heading back to the boat, we change lead. He's bringing back his HARM. 127 miles to go...

 

Admiral is making friends with the crew of a minesweeper.

 

Looks like those two heard there's a special offer for sundowners at the beach bar.

 

Again, Admiral exchanging 2x 50kgs of foreign relations with that minesweeper.

 

Admiral getting close and personal with a gun-boat.

 

Czech out this farmer at sunset.

 

Admiral seems to have a weird boat-fetish. About time he's getting serious with his Hornet flying...

 

Me heading out for a second session. This time with another VMFA-314 jet. And with a more classic Marines loadout (two tanks under the wings and the TGP on the centerline).

 

Time to stop playing around with that miesweeper. Or so I thought. A GBU-12 shack took an astonishing 5% of it's health...

 

Heading back to the boat after having expended my GBUs. Haven't had too much success with JDAMs today - for different reasons.

 

Heading for the CASE III Marshall-Stack at 6000ft.

 

I actually hit my push-time within limits (+6s) and made a successful night-trap.

 

T'was a pretty good day of Hornet-flying.

I love this jet!

Edited July 23, 2021 by Bremspropeller

[Gambit21]

6 hours ago, Bremspropeller said:

 

He's flying single bubble, I'm in the "double ugly" (asymmetric tanks) configuration.

 

 

Aye...more commonly known as "Goofy Bubble" among the Marines.

 

 

 

[Gambit21]

So Thomas you have inspired me again.

 

The idea with my campaigns is to create the Viper and Hornet versions basically simultaneously, with the Viper installment taking priority at first, and the Marine/Hornet one taking shape when I need a short break from the Viper. So the Hornet campaign will just creep along for a while. (Actually given the massive work involved, even the Viper one creeps along too.) Anyway the Hornet will move to the forefront later. As such I've been putting off even booting up the Hornet! For shame! Really though I'm just trying to stay on task, and already getting sidetracked with the Huey.

 

So you've inspired me to take a peek... I just took a few minutes to set up a training "goofy bubble" loadout just for grins. These guys will be based out of Akrotiri supporting the overall effort, and providing CAS for special operators on the ground as needed.   I should probably watch a cold-start tut and get this girl in the air soon. Spud has me covered there I think.

 

At some point I need to design the VFMA 222 "Danger Dogs" livery. 

 

 

 

 

 

And why don't I have the BDU's for the Viper? Need those.

 

 

FARP Scouts!

 

 

 

Wait...what...we have this!

I had no idea...this is a Marine Huey campaign waiting to happen....dammit.

 

 

 

 

I'm distracted again I'm distracted again!!!

Off to not work on the campaign and play with the Huey and Tarawa.

[Gambit21]

This is taking off...things just got embarrassing after this when I went to land.

[Lusekofte]

2 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

This is taking off...things just got embarrassing after this when I went to land.

It is harder to fly without proper gear. But I did quite well with a ace yoke and throttle. 

However. Collective and a good joystick is essential in the long run. For me at least.

But I do not fly anything if the feel is not right. That is why I have both yoke and stick

[Bremspropeller]

Is the EGIW/ EGTL LSO note still there, or is it there again?

Managed a couple of OK passes yesterday with no hassle. Today, EGTL/ 3PTS / EGIW etc. all over the place.

 

The DCS-Hornet kinda blows in the groove when it's light, though. Even at flaps Half.

[Gambit21]

14 hours ago, LuseKofte said:

It is harder to fly without proper gear. But I did quite well with a ace yoke and throttle. 

However. Collective and a good joystick is essential in the long run. For me at least.

But I do not fly anything if the feel is not right. That is why I have both yoke and stick

 

I have a great joystick and throttle.

I have zero gear/resolution issues...I have all the fine input I need. It’s all on me/muscle memory and technique.

[DD_fruitbat]

In the words of Julius Caesar, I came, I saw, I JSOW'd.....

 

 

[Lusekofte]

12 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

 

I have a great joystick and throttle.

I have zero gear/resolution issues...I have all the fine input I need. It’s all on me/muscle memory and technique.

Ok. Then you spend too much time in ME . Hornet and Tomcat. In DCS learning systems will not stick forr long if you do not fly it a long time.

But luckily once you get the hung on choppers it stick. And you can do all choppers after one. With a few learning mistakes. 

So stick with it. It won't be futile 

[Bremspropeller]

Is there a way to figure out coordinates of an object (down to, say a CEP of a JDAM) and it's height in the mission-editor?

 

Trying to get some Hips to blow up on some oilrigs.

[AndyJWest]

P. 86 of the current DCS User Manual:

 

 

Quote

Located along the bottom of the screen is the Mission and Map Bar. This is an informative bar that tells you the name of the loaded mission, cursor position and altitude within the World Map, map mode, and the current time according to your Windows settings (not mission time).
 

Note that the coordinates and altitude are controlled according to the position of your mouse on the World Map. These numbers will change dynamically as your move your mouse and correspond to the real-life coordinates and altitude of the topography. This can be a useful tool when trying to determine the coordinates of an objective for a mission briefing. Cursor displayed altitude may be set to either feet or meters, depending on your Options/Gameplay/Units setting. The coordinate display can be toggled between Lat/Long, Lat/Long Decimal and MGRS, depending on your Options/Misc/Coordinate Display setting.
 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bremspropeller]

I tried that, but it read "-17".

[AndyJWest]

Is it the height of the object itself, or the ground-level altitude you are after? That's probably the sea bed. 

 

Thinking about it though, when I tried blowing up oilrigs a couple of days ago (500 lb iron bombs from a Hornet) they didn't have any effect anyway, though maybe I'd done something dumb in the mission editor.

[Gambit21]

7 hours ago, Bremspropeller said:

Is there a way to figure out coordinates of an object (down to, say a CEP of a JDAM) and it's height in the mission-editor?

 

Trying to get some Hips to blow up on some oilrigs.

 

Unless I’m misunderstanding you, it’s just a matter of dragging the cursor over the object, either in the editor or the F10 map. What’s a “CEP”?

 

Edit: Nevermind, I just read your post to Andy above - not the answer you’re looking for apparently.

 

Edited July 26, 2021 by Gambit21

[Bremspropeller]

I'm trying to have two choppas - each sitting on an oilrig - to act as a target for a pre-planned JDAM-strike.

The height is the funny part, so people get a maximum of training out of it.

 

I'm also trying to make choppas just hover, but I haven't been successful there either.

 

4 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

What’s a “CEP”?

 

Corcular Error Propable. Should be in the single-digit meters range with a JDAM.

[busdriver]

10 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

What’s a “CEP”?

 

Circular Error Probable which in practical terms means the distance 50% of your rounds/munitions will hit. So if the CEP for a JDAM is (just throwing a number out there) 10 meters, I think @Bremspropeller is asking if you can measure coordinates in the ME within 10 meters. Here's some gouge (not mine) to help. For those that don't want to use the URL, here it is.

 

 

At the equator for longitude and for latitude anywhere, the following approximations are valid:

• 1° = 111 km  (or 60 nautical miles)
• 0.1° = 11.1 km
• 0.01° = 1.11 km (2 decimals, km accuracy)
• 0.001° =111 m
• 0.0001° = 11.1 m
• 0.00001° = 1.11 m
• 0.000001° = 0.11 m (7 decimals, cm accuracy)

• 1' = 1.85 km  (or 1 nautical mile)
• 0.1' = 185 m
• 0.01' = 18.5 m
• 0.001' = 1.85 m

• 30" = 900 m
• 15" = 450 m
• 3" = 90 m
• 1" = 30 m
• 1/3" = 10 m
• 0.1" = 3 m
• 1/9" = 3 m
• 1/27" = 1 m

If you report a position to the nearest 0.01°  (two decimal places for latitude and longitude), you will only be accurate to around 1 km.  While this is adequate for rough locations on a global scale, for detailed work it will be inadequate.

 

If I read Brem's question correctly, using my 10 meter CEP, you would need to measure coordinates within .33 seconds of lat/long.

 

 

[Gambit21]

10 hours ago, Bremspropeller said:

 

I'm also trying to make choppas just hover, but I haven't been successful there either.

 

I’ll play with it.

Might be a ‘triggered command’ or just not possible with the current logic.

[Gambit21]

@Bremspropeller

 

Hey Thomas, so here's a "Huey Hovering" demo, which by the way sounds like a guys' name...Senator Huey Hovering from Texas?

 

Anyway it's a simple matter of Perform Task/Orbit/0-kts.

This can be done either in the 'triggered actions' menu, or the 'advanced waypoint actions' menu. In this case I used the advanced waypoint actions option.

 

(as an aside - I normally opt to use 'triggered actions' and initiate the action with a trigger or flag, but in this case a waypoint seems appropriate.)

 

Note, you can see the helo react to the "hover" command which is right over the runway, however by the time it get's it's act together it ends up hovering just off of the runway.

 

So you'd have to play with both the position/speed of the waypoints, and placement of the 'hover' waypoint to get it to hover exactly the way you want. I imagine a slower approach to the hover point would do just fine. 

 

If you need help getting a hover, then getting it to continue on to anther action afterward, let me know.

 

 

 

 

 

HUEY HOVERING.zip

Edited July 26, 2021 by Gambit21

[AndyJWest]

Not tried it, but I believe it is now possible to get a helicopter to 'follow' a ground vehicle. You can certainly do it with ships - e.g. to make a recue chopper maintain station relative to a carrier. If you placed a stationary vehicle somewhere nearby, and set the right coordinates, the helicopter might then hover to maintain position? If so, you should be able to set the coordinates (relative to the vehicle) exactly.

 

Come to think of it, this should work with a ship too - position it nearby, stationary, and make the chopper 'follow' that.  Makes more sense for an oil rig.

Edited July 26, 2021 by AndyJWest

[Gambit21]

15 minutes ago, AndyJWest said:

Not tried it, but I believe it is now possible to get a helicopter to 'follow' a ground vehicle. You can certainly do it with ships - e.g. to make a recue chopper maintain station relative to a carrier. If you placed a stationary vehicle somewhere nearby, and set the right coordinates, the helicopter might then hover to maintain position? If so, you should be able to set the coordinates (relative to the vehicle) exactly.

 

Come to think of it, this should work with a ship too - position it nearby, stationary, and make the chopper 'follow' that. 

 

There is indeed a ‘follow’ task

There is also an “escort” task where the 3 offset parameters can be set. Follow distance, lateral, vertical. So you can make an AI cozy up in a nice echelon if you desire. 

 

However the “escort” task is only available if the aircraft itself is initially set as “escort” in it’s parameters.

 

 

 

Edited July 26, 2021 by Gambit21

[Bremspropeller]

Pancake on the wing. We're supporting Fenrir in his Tomcat.

 

We're both carrying Tpods to buddy-lase for Fen.

 

Pancake's bringing a couple of JSOWs.

 

A tank's demise through teamwork. Pancake buddy-l@zing for Fen's GBU-12.

 

Fen sipping gas from the recovery-tanker to have a cusion for several passes at the boat.

I'm riding along in the Hornet, chuckling at the fact that the tankers always seem to find a cloud to turn in during the final rendezvous.

[dburne]

Mission 3 in Rise of the Persian Lion Hornet campaign makes use of the newer ATFLIR pod, time for a little ground schooling in the morning before commencing with Mission 3. Hopefully it is not too different from the Lightening 2 Target Pod.

[AndyJWest]

Todays finger trouble:  drop a 2000 lb JDAM, and the trim goes out of whack. Drop two from the same side, and it really goes out of whack. And then the handling gets distinctly odd. Any appreciable pitching movement, and it rolls too. Flies more like a Dr.1 than a Hornet. 

 

The cure is simple, obviously - drop the remaining two, and hope nobody noticed. 

 

[Guest deleted@83466]

I’m not sure I understand what is “out of whack.” With 4000 asymmetric pounds hanging off your left wing, what was the expectation?

Edited July 26, 2021 by SeaSerpent
Typo

[AndyJWest]

6 minutes ago, SeaSerpent said:

I’m not sure I understand what is “out of whack.” With 4000 asymmetric pounds hanging off your left wing, what was the expection?

 

My expectation is that when I make a mess of things, DCS will simulate the consequences. Which it did...

[dburne]

1 hour ago, AndyJWest said:

Todays finger trouble:  drop a 2000 lb JDAM, and the trim goes out of whack. Drop two from the same side, and it really goes out of whack. And then the handling gets distinctly odd. Any appreciable pitching movement, and it rolls too. Flies more like a Dr.1 than a Hornet. 

 

The cure is simple, obviously - drop the remaining two, and hope nobody noticed. 

 

 

Or just feed in a helluva lot of roll trim lol..

Edited July 27, 2021 by dburne

[AndyJWest]

17 minutes ago, dburne said:

 

Or just feed in a helluva lot of roll trim lol..

 

Yeah, I did that. You can just about get it level, but it doesn't fly very well even so. Lots of pitch-roll coupling, and most likely a fair bit of yaw too, though I was too busy trying to stay blue-side-up to notice.

 

The NATOPS manual for the real thing gives limitations for asymmetric loads, along with warnings about 'departure from controlled flight which may be unrecoverable' if exceeded. I think this load exceeds the limit, and if it doesn't what the heck would? Either way, best avoided - one more thing to check when I'm dropping these things. I'd probably messed up by pressing 'STEP' on the JDAM display page when I shouldn't.

 

Alternately, I could just drop the whole lot at once. Should make for a big kaboom. ?

 

[Bremspropeller]

Triple Nickel Break:

 

500kts @ 500ft @ 0.5 miles aft of the ramp:

 

 

[Bremspropeller]

Okay, so I did a trick. I spawned moving helos (start up) on the oilrigs (it works!), went into the game and noted their height. Then I inserted two waypoints exactly on top of the pad with the height-coordinates.

 

PSA: the higher platform is 185ft, the lower platform is 157ft.

 

The TGP snapped right onto that maternal-effer.

 

So I released a JDAM in PP, thinking "...well, it's a smart weapon, it'll figure out what to do..."

 

Naaah. Should have used TOO apparently - unless there's some black magic to make PP happen. Hint: I released at 5 miles and 18000ft - might have been a little steep, but that shouldn't bother the ole JDAM.

 

The second launch (in TOO) went well, but the weapon didn't guide the height. So I guess I should have used the TGP in AREA Oor POINT to be more specific for the poor little thing.

 

A dumb man's smart weapon: Point, shoot, no questions asked...

 

That GBU-12 managed to only take the rotor off that Hip. Yeah - "damage model".

 

The TV-MAV guided right into that hovering Mi-26. Thanks for the hint, Jim!

 

The E-MAV had a solid laser, but didn't hit. It damaged the helo, though, impacing the water.

The Mi-26 might have yanked full collective to get out of the way. Insert random Arnie noises...

 

The best part was hunting helicopters at low altitude with that imbecile radar. I finally managed to get a lock for an AMRAAM-shot, only to have the radar punk me two seconds after pulling the trigger. The AMRAAM went sub-hunting, and the lock came bach 5 seconds later.

 

Oh, what rotor-damage? Yes, there are four short blades and a long one.

 

 

 

There still is some more training for me to do...

Edited July 27, 2021 by Bremspropeller

[DD_fruitbat]

PP mode you actually enter the coordinates onto the jdam through the ufc (in precise coordinate format). Doesn't referencr way points or the tpod at all.

 

TOO mode you can designate through a waypoint or where the tpod is looking.

[Gambit21]

48 minutes ago, Bremspropeller said:

Okay, so I did a trick. I spawned moving helos (start up) on the oilrigs (it works!), went into the game and noted their height. Then I inserted two waypoints exactly on top of the pad with the height-coordinates.

 

PSA: the higher platform is 185ft, the lower platform is 157ft.

 

The TGP snapped right onto that maternal-effer.

 

So I released a JDAM in PP, thinking "...well, it's a smart weapon, it'll figure out what to do..."

 

Naaah. Should have used TOO apparently - unless there's some black magic to make PP happen. Hint: I released at 5 miles and 18000ft - might have been a little steep, but that shouldn't bother the ole JDAM.

 

The second launch (in TOO) went well, but the weapon didn't guide the height. So I guess I should have used the TGP in AREA Oor POINT to be more specific for the poor little thing.

 

A dumb man's smart weapon: Point, shoot, no questions asked...

 

That GBU-12 managed to only take the rotor off that Hip. Yeah - "damage model".

 

The TV-MAV guided right into that hovering Mi-26. Thanks for the hint, Jim!

 

The E-MAV had a solid laser, but didn't hit. It damaged the helo, though, impacing the water.

The Mi-26 might have yanked full collective to get out of the way. Insert random Arnie noises...

 

The best part was hunting helicopters at low altitude with that imbecile radar. I finally managed to get a lock for an AMRAAM-shot, only to have the radar punk me two seconds after pulling the trigger. The AMRAAM went sub-hunting, and the lock came bach 5 seconds later.

 

Oh, what rotor-damage? Yes, there are four short blades and a long one.

 

 

 

There still is some more training for me to do...

 

Well I’m glad you’ve discovered the actual, proper use of Russian choppers. ?

 

I’m wondering if the air-cushion/downwash physics works for the raised platforms?