Spool

Turnover Day PHOTOEX at the end of our last deployment...

CVW-8 has returned from our 2021 combat deployment to the Persian Gulf in support of FIFTH Fleet and CENTCOM objectives. Having completed our home port change to our new shore base of operations at Andersen AFB on the island of Guam in the Marianas, are are actively recruiting pilots and RIOs for our upcoming VFA-106 (F/A-18C) and VF-101 (F-14B) Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) classes. If you are looking for an online DCS community that strives to create a culture and environment that closely resembles life and operations within an actual Naval Aviation squadron, please swing by our website for more information. Our Fleet Readiness Training Plan (FRTP) will take a pilot from their Initial Carrier Qualification at the FRS to their Fleet squadron assignment, and then through four additional training phases. Our FRTP has been closely modeled after a real-world Carrier Naval Air Wing training cycle (SFARP/FARP, TSTA, Air Wing Nellis, and COMPUTEX) and will present pilots with training and challenges that increase in difficulty throughout all phases. At the completion of the FRTP, CVW-8 will deploy onboard CVN-71 to the SIXTH Fleet area of operations in response to instability in the Syrian region and persistent Russian interference. CVW-8 is a U.S.-based community that operates with a base time zone of U.S. Eastern Standard Time, though we have members scattered across the globe. CVW-8 is a Navy mil-sim group which means we place a premium on tactical execution in the cockpit along with a high emphasis on camaraderie and fun in the ready room. There is a dedication to the debrief, and we use TACVIEW to see where we made mistakes so we can go forward into the next flight and apply those lessons learned. Our operations and structure are informed by current and former Naval Aviators, along with members of many other armed services. While not every member has military experience, we are all looking for the same type of simulation and enjoy trying to execute as closely to the book as we can while always remembering we do this for fun!! If it sounds like CVW-8 may offer the type of online culture, community, and experience you are looking for within DCS, please visit our website for more information (check out the FAQ link) and to submit an application. We look forward to hearing from you - FLY NAVY! https://cvw-8.enjin.com/

For anyone else reading this thread...I can confirm what Hedgehog was saying, at least in my 2.7 setup (I have not done any prior modification to the default lua.) In my Main Directory (not saved games folder) Mods/aircraft/FA-18C/Input/FA-18C/joystick/default.lua file, lines 461-463 look like this: You will note that the LIGTHS typo exists on lines 462 and 463, and that the discrete CARRIER and FIELD control commands are already present in the .lua. Once I fixed the typo on these two lines, I was able to get normal function of the switch by binding the CARRIER and FIELD positions in the controls menu page, and it actuates properly in the pit now. I cannot explain why FoxTwo is not seeing these commands in his .lua...I fully believe what he is saying. I think both parties were trying to help. But in this case, my fix was found through Hedgehog's research and fix. Thanks much!

Oh, they guided alright. All three of them. Better than against any SAM lol. Poor SWOs, never knew what hit 'em.

Hey Feetwet! CVW-8 has closed Hornet recruiting for CAT 1 students...but we are considering applications for guys who have some of the basics already down. We are U.S.based with operations anchored to EST time. We are a U.S. Navy mil-sim Carrier Air Wing with F/A-18C and F-14 operational squadrons. I am the skipper of VFA-87 and in charge of Hornet operations within the Wing. Our culture places a high emphasis on camaraderie and team work...please give our site a look and see if we might be the kind of group you are looking for - looking forward to hearing from you. https://cvw-8.enjin.com/hornetcountry Spool

Facebook Group for VFA-87 https://www.facebook.com/groups/278111486831663/?ref=bookmarks

**UPDATE** The War Party is still seeking experienced F/A-18C Hornet pilots that are looking for a group of like-minded teammates who enjoy simulating tactically accurate representations of U.S. Naval aviation operations. Our Fleet Replacement Squadron VFA-106 is currently closed to additional CAT 1 (brand new) Hornet pilots, but we have a CAT Many refresh program that provides a fast-track to the Fleet for those pilots who are proficient in basic tactical execution to include aerial refueling, Case 1 pattern, and basic weapons employment (AIM-120, AIM-9X, TGP operations, HARM, and JDAM employment). Please see the message below for a full description of our squadron. Strike Fighter Squadron EIGHT SEVEN (VFA-87) is a virtual Naval Aviation squadron that operates the F/A-18C Hornet in the Digital Combat Simulator World. VFA-87 is attached to Commander, Carrier Air Wing EIGHT and is completing workups in preparation for deployment onboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71). The deployment is intended to re-create the 2005 Tomcat Sundown deployment to the Persian Gulf, with some creative license taken regarding the activities of potential threat nations in the FIFTH Fleet area of operations. Our squadron is a small, close knit group of flight simulator enthusiasts who are looking for a particular type of unit. Our roster includes people from all walks of life, some of whom are either active duty or former military members. This includes Naval Aviators, Naval Flight Officers and Navy Aircrewmen, as well as members of the other branches of the military such as the Army, some of whom are pursuing their own private pilot qualification. Currently, the commanding officer of the squadron is an active duty Naval Flight Officer who recently deployed as the Mini Boss aboard a U.S. CVN. Additionally, we have members who have never served a day in the military, but simply appreciate the type of flying and camaraderie that is found within the unique environment of a Navy squadron. Naval aviation is unique in that it blends high levels of professional execution in the cockpit with high levels of ridiculousness in in the ready room. Long periods away from family and friends at home create bonds of friendship that persist long after members transfer from their Navy squadrons. This is the type of culture we are working to build within VFA-87. Within the squadron, we try to have two fly nights a week. Currently, one of those nights will typically be spent flying in an integrated mission involving the other active Carrier Air Wing EIGHT squadron, VF-31, and on occasion, other groups outside the air wing with whom we partner, such as Athena International. These flights usually occur on either Sat or Sun evenings beginning at 2100 EST. The other flight night will typically occur on either Mon or Tues evening and involves more part-task training to focus on weapons delivery or dedicating flight time to the FRS, VFA-106, in order to bring up pilots that are currently in the training track. Members are of course encouraged to fly whenever their schedule allows, and CVW-8 runs three dedicated servers to provide online opportunities to fly with your squadron and airwing. While we understand that this simulation is a hobby and everyone has real-life responsibilities, it is expected that squadron members will make a dedicated effort to attend at least one flight night a week as often as they can. When unable to fly, participation in the Discord is highly encouraged as it helps build esprit decor. Without this level of participation, it can be difficult to integrate into a group and become proficient to the level required for our upcoming deployment. Circumstances will of course be considered on a case-by-case basis, but if you are looking to join our squadron, it is expected that is because you want to fly online with others! If you are looking for a U.S.-based, Super Carrier and Hornet-focused group to join, please consider dropping by the Team Factory (CVW-8) Discord to find out more information about the Golden Warriors of VFA-87. Drop into the quarterdeck, mention you are looking to learn more about flying the Hornet in 87, and we will be standing by to answer any questions you may have! If you are ready to move forward with joining, please visit the website (link below signature) and submit an application so we can get to know you better!

Copy thanks...I may try it again, but I saw the same issue with the screen res getting all dicked up. I did find that the DCS Hornet Device app by ihopi (it's in the app store) worked great for me. His setup was much smoother for me and detected the iPad immediately. Working AMPCD and UFC right on the iPad...awesome.

Any chance someone using this app can help me with setup? Can’t seem to get the iPad to detect the server.

I figured out how to get the Hornet grip excluded...add this line to Gizzy's profile, where all the other exclusion lines are at the top: Configure(JoystickF18, MODE_EXCLUDED); And boom, runs just like it does with my Warthog stick on there. GTG, but sounds like you already got that other one working for you, so that's awesome!

Hey Wolf! So, I can see where that PULSE coding was screwing up the first profile...the switch activation seemed too fast, I think that definitely was the problem with my throttles and eng start buttons in the Tiger II. That said, Gizzy's profile was working 4.0 for me, so I'm not sure what the difference between your and my setups are. BUT...I'm about to start mapping the Hornet so I can start learning that bird, so we'll see if my throttles will work correctly using the Gizzy profile. Hopefully they will still work for me. I did end up having write in an exclusion line for my TFRP pedals because suddenly they were not mapped in the game anymore, as I think they were being sucked into the virtual controller, and I didn't want that. But, I had no issues mapping the Tiger throttles correctly using that profile, I'll report back if I end up having issues with the Hornet, once I get a chance to try her out! Glad to hear that you're up and running though! I should look into getting that throttle quadrant plate for my Warthog too, as it will be a long time before I get into the A-10C...want to get good with the Hornet, and I bought the adversary campaigns for the Tiger and Hornet as well, so I'm set for a while :)

Okay, one more time with the file. gizzys-profile.zip

In my happiness, forgot to attach the file. Here you go!

Alright Wolf, I GOT IT! Gizzy's profile is the shit. It does everything you want it to do on the throttle. IDLEON IDLEOFF works, the engine start buttons stay pressed as long as you want...everything f-ing works. It's amazing. Check out the files in the zip. I don't use the .bat, I just dropped his .tmc file into my scripts folder and ran it. Once in-game, you have to map things a little weird to get the three position and throttle idle positions to work. Gizzy uses R-Shift as his modifier in the script. So, for instance, when you map the Speed Brake switch in the F-5 like I'm doing, when you press forward, you'll see JOY_07 pop up. Click okay. Then, to map the middle position, (OFF in the F-5), you click that one to map, and slide the switch to the middle position. You'll see the modifier R-Shift populate, but no JOY button. To get the middle position mapped, you have to slide the switch forward again. Then you will see the R-Shift modifier, with the JOY_07 button populate. Click okay. Then cycle it. Voila. The throttle idles work the same way. When you slide the throttle over the hump and into the OFF position, you'll see JOY_29 populate (on the left throttle, it's 30 on the right side). Click out of that map, then go into the map for Throttle IDLE, click that one open, and slide the throttle over the hump and into the IDLE position. You'll see the R-Shift populate in the modifier field. Slide the throttle back into the OFF position, and you'll see JOY_29 pop in. Click okay. Now, you have working OFF and IDLE positions. It's f-ing awesome. I also learned about how when you save your controls .diff.lua file, it's actually specific to the device colum you have highlighted. So, if you are making backups, you'll want to make one for your Virtual Throttle (remember, leave the actual physical throttle column completely unmapped), and save another file for your stick mapping. I ran into problems last night when I loaded a stick map onto the virtual map and everything got all screwy. I thought DCS was making up its own mappings, but I was actually loading .diff.lua files where they didn't belong. This thing works perfect for me...let me know if you run into any problems...the two .pdfs he includes are helpful. I followed the Help file step by step, even though I'm not flying the Hawg right now. Enjoy and cheers to Gizzy!

Hey Wolf, So, I was messing with it last night and saw some of the same stuff. The engine start switches were being actuated, but the throttles are an issue, because with the DX script, it only assigns a DX switch to the position behind the detent, when you drop them in for engines off. When you take them out, there is no DX command, so you can't map them in the IDLE position. I actually WAS able to engine light off using the engine start button and moving the throttle all the way up and back...but that's not what I want. Also, a gotcha with the engine start switches...because they are spring loaded back to the middle position, when you are mapping them in the Controls page, you have to click the green "okay" button while you are holding the switch in the up position. If you let it spring back to the middle and then press okay, it maps the middle position, which is obviously not what you want. The applies to the speed brake and china hat switches as well...any spring loaded switch. Because the throttle detents aren't working the way I want, I started playing with the GUI, building an F-5 script from scratch, and doing that, it was super easy to get the throttles to actuate in the pit in both the OFF position, and the IDLE position, just like they should, because the GUI has an input for both the IDLEON and IDLEOFF positions of the throttle levers. BUT, that way uses key presses instead of DX mapping, and I don't want to do that. So...I'm going to experiment with a different DX profile (Gizzy - also found on this site) and see if that one works any better. I'll report back.

Okay Wolf here you go... Credit for this one goes to both Sedenion and ReflexArc as they each created one of these useful scripts... Save both the attachments to your desktop and rename them by deleting the .txt at the end of each file. Place BOTH files in your Thrustmaster /TARGET/scripts folder Open TARGET Script Editor and Open WarthogThrottleALLSwitchPos.tmc Run the script... Assuming no errors on loading, you will now see a Thrustmaster virtual device in your control settings in DCS, in addition to the physical throttle. To avoid any cross control inputs, ensure you clear out the physical throttle bindings so that column is blank, and map all your commands for the throttle to the Thrustmaster Virtual controller column. Let me know if you run into any problems! I'll probably go back to using this one, since I'm not sure I can figure out how to incorporate the Hornet grip in to the one I'm using now...though I really like it, as it has some additional features in it. We'll see...I should probably just learn how to add the Hornet grip to the existing script! targetdx128.tmh.txt WarthogThrottleALLSwitchPos.tmc.txt

Wolf, in that case, you'll want to use a different script...one that I started with, actually, and may go back to if I can't figure out how to write a new portion for the Hornet grip. There was an error in one of the files though...let me post the correct ones here...standby.

Speed or Sedenion...now I just need to figure out how to alter this script to support the Hornet grip. If I just switch the grips, will the script still work, or do I need to re-write the stick portion to make the new grip work? Also, Sedenion...I will be replacing my throttle slew eventually...any changes need to be made when that happens? I though I saw mention about there being an issue after that mod...

Wolf, just tested out the script with the shift state disabled. Worked 4.0. What an awesome addition to the Warthog. Use the second file in post #50 of this thread, the one that's named TM Warthog Universal. Open up that zipped file and place the main.tmc file in your Thrustmaster Scripts folder Place the entire folder that is name "include" in your scripts folder as well. Do not take the three files out of that folder...leave them in there and place the whole folder in your Scripts folder. Go into Script Editor and open up the main.tmc file. Just below all the intro headers, you'll see this line: define SHIFT_ENABLED 1 // Enable (1) or Disable (0) Shift Submode Change the number 1 to a 0. This will disable the shift submode. And that's it! Check out Sedenion's excellent images to see where each new DX button is located on the throttle and stick. The Hat 3 on the stick (Viper DMS switch) is setup as a POV in this script, but you can map functions to it as it is, so no need to disable that part of the script. Let me know if you run into problems...I spent about five hours figuring this out as I have no experience with TARGET, but it's super easy now.

Wolf, that's about my timeline as well! I just need to try it out tonight and make sure it's working the way I want, but I'm almost there, and it's actually really easy to install and use. I had one hiccup with the controller parameters in the registry that I had to alter, but after I fixed that, it's been loading up no problem. I'll post back here once I confirm it's good to go. It's really a game changer in my opinion, makes the throttle base SO much more useful.

Whelp, after looking at it some more, it seems that Sedenion made it idiot proof, even for me! Discovered how to enable/disable the shift mode, and I think that I can use the POV on the DMS as is, just map the functions to POV positions. The final question (because I'm not at the sim right now) is whether or not I still need the hack file targetdx128 to make this new version work.

Also, I assume when I replace the POV code line for DMS with these DX buttons, I need to use the next DX buttons available, right? I think the ones you list are already used in the script, so just find the last assigned DX button and pick up the numbering from there?

So, when you map a long press (which would be very useful for many applications) you list both the short press DX and the long press DX, followed by what, the time interval? Is that what the 500 is?

Tintifaxl, you nailed it...I was trying to map commands in DCS to the physical throttle, not the newly created virtual one. It took opening the TARGET manual to trip my memory about having seen that gotcha before. Working beautifully now!! I would like to figure out how to remove the Shift function that the author wrote in for the EAC switch. The script I’m using at the moment is the first posted hack, but I’d like to use the updated one from post #50, as it is cleaner and has the LED functionality scripting as well. But, I want to make the stick H3 back to just DX inputs (instead of POV as he has it now) and turn the EAC switch back into just a two-way DX toggle) I imagine I need to delete the include for the .pov file, but I’m very new to this, so I’ll ask for help. I’ll post the code line here, maybe you guys can help me figure it out...really appreciate the responses.