DCS

[ROCKET_KNUT]

It´s alright. She wont get jealous. She wants me to be a happy nutter. ?

[AndyJWest]

I'm learning how to use Lantirn/GBUs single player in the Tomcat. Not quite helmet-fire level, but tricky having to swap cockpits, and not use the wrong control in the wrong place, even under the conditions I'd set myself. Stationary ships make easy targets, and I'd got no cloud or hostiles to worry about. Setting up a waypoint right by the targets simplified everything too.

 

I'd hit it twice already with GBU-16s (1000lb each), but the big bulk carrier takes a lot to sink. In for the third pass, designating from the RIO pit.

 

Swap to the front seat, correct the heading a tad, and get ready to drop.

 

Bomb on the way, to finally sink it.

 

One bomb left, so I pick another, smaller target.

Kaboom! 4 bombs, 4 hits. 2 ships sunk. Time to head off home...

 

Definitely easier in the Hornet. Or with a live RIO, I expect.

[Gambit21]

Very nice.

I’d almost be tempted to use the front seat lantirn mod - I generally stay away from mods in general though.

 

There’s nothing like hauling the Tomcat through a corner with the rumbling, rattling and shaking. 

 

It almost ruins other modules.

[Bremspropeller]

 

[Gambit21]

Funny - didn’t know his call-sign was “Hoser”

 

Hoser was my password for everything for many years until maybe 10 years back, but because of Strange Brew not Kevin Miller.

 

Jello is a good human.

[Bremspropeller]

He is!

 

Funny thing is Mooch mentioned Rick Beato, whom I also like to watch. He made me discover a couple of great songs.

Never thought about this song too much, but then it kind of struck me and i began to love this song...

 

Spoiler

 

 

That and the "Final VF-31 Tomcat Cruise" video...

 

 

Edited September 15, 2021 by Bremspropeller

[AndyJWest]

2 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

Very nice.

I’d almost be tempted to use the front seat lantirn mod - I generally stay away from mods in general though.

 

There’s nothing like hauling the Tomcat through a corner with the rumbling, rattling and shaking. 

 

It almost ruins other modules.

 

Yeah, I thought about using the mod, but decided against. Firstly because I'd prefer not to have to rely on it being kept up to date, and secondly because I'd then have problems mapping everything to limited input devices. Doing it unmodded, I can reuse the HOTAS to control Lantirn while I'm in the back seat. The 'Iceman' AI can line up on the near-target waypoint, and after I've dropped, turn the plane around for the next pass. The AI seems to get confused if you ask it to do more than one thing at once, but I expect real-life Tomcat RIOs said the same thing about their own pilots. ?

 

 

[Bremspropeller]

Jester will be able to handle the LANTIRN pod soon.

[Gambit21]

4 minutes ago, Bremspropeller said:

Jester will be able to handle the LANTIRN pod soon.

 

Good.

My primary job description is pulling vapes. 

[Bremspropeller]

Just now, Gambit21 said:

My primary job description is pulling vapes. 

 

Holy sh*t, it's Vapor!

[DBFlyguy]

Evidently ED is planning on releasing the Mosquito tomorrow:

 

https://forums.eagle.ru/topic/227507-dcs-world-patch-notes-discussion-thread/?do=findComment&comment=4774546

[Gambit21]

Channel map nor Normandy map?

For I shan’t purchase both.

 

Syria map I suspect has done for maps what the F-14 did for cockpits unfortunately. 

[Bremspropeller]

7 minutes ago, Gambit21 said:

Channel map nor Normandy map?

 

Channel is lovely.

[Bremspropeller]

 

[AndyJWest]

I was thinking of posting that myself - well worth watching.

 

The relevant bit of the F-14 NATOPS manual:

Quote

11.5.9 Vertical Stalls.  If the aircraft is allowed to decelerate to zero airspeed in a vertical or near vertical attitude, it will slide backward momentarily, then pitch over (usually backward) to a near-vertical dive. Aircraft motions during the initial fall will be predominantly inertial with random pitching and yawing as the aircraft accelerates. After the initial nosedown pitch, the aircraft may pass through the vertical to near-level flight attitude, yaw in one direction, and then return to vertical dive attitude. This may occur more than once. This tendency is more pronounced at aft wing sweeps, but can usually be controlled with longitudinal control inputs. Some recoveries may be accompanied by large random yawing and/or rolling motions that will generally dampen without pilot action as the aircraft accelerates. The controls should be released when airspeed decreases below 100 KIAS in the vertical stall to prevent inadvertent inputs that may lengthen recovery time. Control inputs should not be applied until the aircraft is nose down and accelerating. Rudder and lateral stick are also effective in damping oscillations once the aircraft is nose low and accelerating. The aircraft is very responsive to longitudinal stick inputs at all AOAs at speeds above 100 KIAS.

 

I tried this in DCS, which seemed to reproduce it fairly well. And to give just a hint of how disorienting it must be, even without the G-forces etc. Not surprising that it can go wrong very quickly.

[Bremspropeller]

Quote

Regardless of the method of entry, once the flat spin has
developed, the flat aircraft attitude (10° nose down), steadily
increasing yaw rate, and buildup of longitudinal g forces not
accompanied by roll and/or pitch will be apparent to the
flightcrew. AOA will be pegged at 30 units, yaw rate will be
fast (as high as 180 deg/sec), and altitude loss will be
approximately 700 feet per turn. Longitudinal acceleration
(eyeball−out g ) at the pilot’s station will be 5.5 to 6.5g and
at the RIO’s station, 3.5 to 4.5g. Time between aircraft
departure and flightcrew recognition of a fully developed flat
spin depends on the nature of the entry (accelerated
departure, low−speed stalled engine, etc.). The time between
recognition of a flat spin and buildup of incapacitating
longitudinal g forces is dependent on aircraft loading, thrust
asymmetry, flight control position during spin entry, locked
or unlocked harness, tightness of the lap restraints, and
flightcrew physical condition and stature. Test data indicate
that following recognition of a flat spin, the pilot may be able
to maintain antispin controls for 15 to 20 seconds
(approximately 7 to 10 turns) but may severely jeopardize
their ability to eject because of the incapacitation that occurs
as the g forces build. Consistent F−14 flat spin recovery
procedures have not been demonstrated; therefore, once the
aircraft is confirmed to be in a flat spin, the flightcrew should
jettison the canopy and eject. This decision should not be
delayed once the flat spin is recognized.

 

 

Scary stuff.

[SYN_Vander]

3 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

Channel map nor Normandy map?

For I shan’t purchase both.

 

Syria map I suspect has done for maps what the F-14 did for cockpits unfortunately. 

 

Channel map. Great detail and they will be adding some more unique building such as Amiens prison.

[scram77]

10 hours ago, SYN_Vander said:

 

Channel map. Great detail and they will be adding some more unique building such as Amiens prison.

Channel map is great - and the best of the 2 WW2 maps however it's just so damn flat!!

[Picchio]

14 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

Channel map nor Normandy map?

For I shan’t purchase both.

 

Syria map I suspect has done for maps what the F-14 did for cockpits unfortunately. 

 

Channel map, as others said - so much detail, so minute (although you can't beat Syria's useless playgrounds... ).

A warning: if you're running high resolutions in VR and wish to keep high graphics settings, prepare for desperation.

 

Tomcat's cockpit: I love it more.

[Bremspropeller]

If you look closely, there might be one or two burnt-out Huey wrecks under some bridges on the Channel-Map, which I totally had nothing to do with...

[AndyJWest]

Testing the Tomcat's handling in an asymmetric configuration, via a simulated wing sweep failure. Left wing at 55°, right wing 20°.

 

With one wing swept back this far, you can't use flaps. Seems to handle fine enough though, as I slow to approach configuration with plenty of altitude. Gear down, at the recommended 14-unit AoA.

 

Seems more benign than NATOPS suggests, with very little obvious yaw, so I set up for a long straight in approach to Groom Lake. I decide to use the old, longer, former runway, as it looks like the only issue I may have will be stopping. The runway is at almost 4,500 ft, so my ground speed is going to be high, and I don't want to hit the brakes too hard, too soon - the tire speed limit is 190 kt, and though I should be below that, it seems better to play safe. 

 

Lined up, looking good.

It floated rather as I crossed the threshold (ground effect?) so I landed long, but even so, I stopped in plenty of time, and I'd have managed ok on the proper runway.

I'm going to try this out again, and see what happens when I pull the Tomcat to higher AoA. Looking back, I'm not entirely sure that DCS was modelling the asymmetric effects at all, beyond a slight sideslip.

 

[Bremspropeller]

Did the spoilers on the 20° sweep wing work, or will both sides be de-activated?

[AndyJWest]

I don't think they were working: the tailerons provide plenty of roll control for a straight-in approach. I think from what NATOPS says, they should either work on both wings, or not at all. DCS may not have modelled this entirely accurately anyway - it is rather an edge case, and exactly what should be working probably depends on what caused the failure, and which wing fails.

 

EDIT:

Having tried this out again, I've come to the conclusion that DCS probably isn't modelling the aerodynamic effects of asymmetry at all. I'd thought earlier that there were some effects on yaw, but checking again, this was most likely just the effects of crosswind on the velocity vector, or me being a bit heavy with the rudder.

 

As for spoiler roll control, I could see that it was working this time - they don't move much, and I may have missed it earlier.

 

 

 

Edited September 17, 2021 by AndyJWest

[Bremspropeller]

Aw yiss, it's patching!

 

22gigs for me.

[Gambit21]

Aye - here we go..350 kbs

[busdriver]

[Gambit21]

My ISP apparently imports hand-crafted bytes from artisans somewhere deep in the Ngorongoro Crater in Africa.

[Gambit21]

Looking at the patch notes - I love how they keep improving/adding features to the editor.

 

Tomcat as scriptable failures now apparently (which must be what Andy was utilizing)

[Bremspropeller]

Whilst Jim is waiting, he might as well use part of his bandwidth, to watch this:

 

 

[SYN_Vander]

Mosquito is a beauty! But the sensitivity on the elevator though! Just like the Spit, possibly even worse. I wonder what kind of controller hardware they use for testing? I have applied 25% curve and I'm using an expensive very precise Virpil stick.

Edited September 17, 2021 by SYN_Vander

[AndyJWest]

From the patch notes for the F-14:

Quote

Limit the max cow patty size on VDI to avoid clashing and overlapping at steep dive angles.

 

Can't find 'cow patties' in the manual, or in NATOPS. Am I right in assuming that said patties are the moving rectangles on the lower half of the display? If so, American cows are clearly different from the ones this side of the pond. Ours tend to be less tidy with their output... ?

[Bremspropeller]

Looks like Reflected has made a nice video on the Mossie:
 

 

1 minute ago, AndyJWest said:

Am I right in assuming that said patties are the moving rectangles on the lower half of the display?

 

That's a Bingo!

The A-6E will have the same screen and - sorry to say - the same cows.

Edited September 17, 2021 by Bremspropeller

[DD_fruitbat]

@Bremspropeller

 

Its on our beta server already, just downloading then going to take for a spin

[AndyJWest]

1 hour ago, Gambit21 said:

Looking at the patch notes - I love how they keep improving/adding features to the editor.

 

Tomcat as scriptable failures now apparently (which must be what Andy was utilizing)

 

I was using the standard mission-editor failures function - no script. The new engine failure options don't seem to show up there though.

 

I see they've adjusted the way delayed fuzing works. Hopefully this now means that if you drop a 2000lb bomb on a bunker with a stationary plane in it, the plane gets destroyed. It's a bit annoying to blow the top off a concrete bunker, and see the contents merely bent.

[sevenless]

Yep cool stuff is waiting...and now being available on Steam...It is mine, my precious...

 

 

 

Edited September 17, 2021 by sevenless

[Gambit21]

3 hours ago, AndyJWest said:

 

I was using the standard mission-editor failures function - no script. 

 

 

Yeah, that's what I mean by "scripting" as in a campaign, story, script etc...not LUA etc which for SP I've found to be almost completely unnecessary and largely inadvisable.

 

[Bremspropeller]

My alligator complained about cold feet, so he put his feet into the radiator...

 

 

Take-offs are...interesting. You need to stop swings early and aggressively with the tail down. Make sure you don't overcontrol. I have left the runways going sideways twice ?

 

Did a few touch-and-goes, and I trashed up the landing gear pretty well.

 

 

 

 

I found that going for a three-pointer works best for me.

[Gambit21]

I have audio files/voice calls ready to go for the Alligator.

"Too low mate...TOO LOW!"

"Are you trying to kill us?"

 

 

etc etc.

All courtesy of EAF19_Marsh (Ed)

 

This was for the now defunct BoX Mossie/Night Intruder project.

I'd like to carry it over to DCS, but I don't think it pencils out...in theory I'd love to do it though.

 

 

 

Having the altitude 'lower than' trigger condition would make them much easier to implement in DCS however.

 

But with DCS there are fewer things to shoot at.

No Ju52’s to park on the airfields etc. Still....

Edited September 18, 2021 by Gambit21

[Blooddawn1942]

Is it just me or is the Mossie incredible sensitiv ob the pitch axis? 

[Gambit21]

12 minutes ago, Blooddawn1942 said:

Is it just me or is the Mossie incredible sensitiv ob the pitch axis? 

 

Not just you, see above.