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Robin_Hood

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Everything posted by Robin_Hood

  1. The quick and dirty way: you know the runway heading (at least approximately from it's number), so with the TACAN you can line-up in the correct axis. Then, you can come closer and descend, until you can see the airport (ie. you've gotten Under the cloud ceiling, or close enough to see through the fog). When you have the runway in sight (or the the lights*), you can just complete your landing visually. * When you contact ATC to land they should turn on lights. Of course the correct way is to use a published TACAN approach to line up and comply with the minimum descent altitude
  2. I've noticed that the range of the SA-6 / Kub was fixed, which is great news! So I've been wondering about the range of the SA-3 / S-125, that doesn't seem to match what information I can find online (while other systems usually match pretty well). Also, there are some interisting numbers in the files. While most other SAM systems have maximum distances that match pretty good across files, the S-125, as far as I can see, has three different range values: 18 km in missile.lua GT_t.LN_t.S125.distanceMax = 18000;11 km and 25 km ? in missile_data.lua D_max = 11000.0, Range_max = 25000.0,I remember from earlier testing that the threat ring (at 18 km) matched the missile firing in-game. From what I've been able to gather, we have the 5V27 (also SA-3b), that is often given for 25 km (ex: weaponsystems and armyrecognition for example). Now maybe I'm missing something and the 18 km range in DCS is correct for the exact version we have (which is not very clearly indicated), but I thought this might be worth looking at.
  3. However, a TACAN Offset function would be useful for direct navigation information to NAV points, but it doesn't seem that there is one in the F/A-18C. For the record, I've seen TACAN approaches with 500 ft minimum, and even 350 ft I believe (now that is pretty for a non-precision approach).
  4. Could this be relevant to the TACAN / Datalink problems, maybe ? And here's a picture that I made to summarize the affected channels.
  5. COMM 1 is powered with the battery, but the UFC is not, so you can only transmit on the default channel and guard (via the GUARD XMIT switch). But I believe the actual normal procedure is to not request start-up at all. IRL you should have a start-up time or something and start then, without the need to request ot from ground control. Of course, if you still want to do it, External power is tha way to go. PS: you can put all ground power switches in B, since B actually means A+B (systems listed under A and B will be powered)
  6. MGRS coordinates will definitely come, probably when they get around to reworking the INS.
  7. The main problem I see with using SP mode is that when you have lots of emitters on the RWR, you will have a hard time cycling through all those to select your intended target. That's where TOO allows you to better point at and possibly discriminate between emmiters. SP mode is better in reaction to a launch (as the culprit would be selected automatically and your HARM fall back in SP mode - if you haven't deselected HARM Override) ; that is my understanding at least. Also, a thorough briefing should give you a good idea about the whereabouts of a number of SAM systems, so that's one way to estimate range.
  8. I just checked mine. Currently it is 650 MB. The playable module only of course, not the part that is common for all players, that one is 1.83 GB (but it is part of the base DCS World).
  9. Personally I like that functions are selectable even if not modeled (as with turning on IFF and squawking, etc...), but certainly it should be made clear in the manual what is selectable but not actually implemented.
  10. AFAIK HUD designation is/was used a lot in real life, even in 2003 and even with a targeting pod, so it can't be that bad. Here's an excerpt from Hammer from above: Marine air combat over Iraq, with a USMC F/A-18D as FAC(A): Yes, it is used there only to derive coordinates, but on an other occasion during the same flight, HUD designation is used to drop a Mk 83
  11. Not sure what you mean there. Turning what power on? You do use battery power to start-up the APU and then the first engine shortly after that, right ? I any case, the battery will auto-shutdown after 5 minutes if there is no other power on the aircraft.
  12. I would add, as a possible source: - Will releasing at anything other than 1g (eg, a 2g pullout) reduce accuracy? Should it?
  13. I second that. Viper Pilot is the best book on SEAD/DEAD execution in a post-Vietnam environment that I found (not that I found a lot of others on the subject). It touches rather lightly on Desert Storm, but the bulk of the book describes 2003 Iraqi Freedom missions, mostly SEAD, and it isn't shy of narratives of actual action, with radio comms.
  14. Could it be that you have a target designated, in which case the system stays in AUTO until you undesignate ? Try pressing the Undesignate switch and see if it does something (and check you are not in WPDSG).
  15. Shouldn't it be FWD for sparrow, with no function for LEFT? That's what the Early Access manual says. In any case yes, there is one direction left on the CMS, and of course the whole TMS is there (I still have nothing mapped to it at the moment).
  16. AFAIK, most bombs release in Desert Storm (by the USMC F/A-18s I should add) were in AUTO mode, with HUD designation, and at various altitudes (they released rather high at first, then got lower as the campaign went on). And they seemed to like it pretty good.
  17. This one I think (yes I kept a bookmark on that post!) AGM-154A and C are planned, indeed
  18. I don't know about earlier, but selecting FF now certainely has the BSU-86 not deploy, ie. the bombs are really deployed as low-drag. However, as OP said, the impact point is still computed as for a high-drag release. This is probably work in progress. As a side note, I'd like to mention quickly that not all Mk-82 Snakeyes are capable of having drag mode selected in flight (older Mk.15 kits couldn't - although all can be selected for low-drag release on the ground from my undersanding), and all bomb racks do not allow this to work either, so even with a BSU-86 it's not a given that you can have the pilot option. This being said, as the selection actually works in the F/A-18C, this means we have both BSU-86 fins and ZRF racks to use pilot option. This might not be true for other aircraft, though (the AV-8B comes to mind, although my guess is they will also include it later - at the moment the fins always deploy from the Harrier).
  19. According to some USMC documents, 200 ft is "almost" the minimum safe altitude for straight and level delivery. They do allow for a 100 ft profile, for a 5 or 6 G level breakaway to a 90° heading change, and only at 550 KTAS.
  20. Maybe it was merged. I found this topic that seems conclusive enough: https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=224557
  21. When your aircraft has only one radio: 1. Radio discipline is of the utmost importance, even more so than usual 2. Comms will get saturated (in combat). Always. Learn to deal with it 3. A lot of stuff is done via visual signals (hand signals or other) 4. You can also separate aircraft a little more, between several Strike frequencies, etc... to alleviate the problem This is not something that is done nowadays, but in the Vietnam era, a lot of aircraft, particularly fighters, had only a single radio and had to make do with that. Needless to say, it almost became unusable in the heat of battle over Hanoi, for example. You can find recordings from this era to get an idea of what that sounded like. My advice, is to try to use or come up with as many visual signals as possible, practice using comms as little and as effeciently as possible, and then push through all the required frequencies trying to keep your "flight comms" to an absolute minimum. It is doable. You should remember that even nowadays, pilots can be required to fly in radio silence for the better part of a mission. In the opening strikes of Desert Storm, they flew all the way from the ramp to the target in silence.
  22. Interesting, I'm pretty sure that I did manage to get the emergency gear drop to work after having shut down manually the right engine (the left HYD powers only the flight controls).
  23. The impact point or release point (CCIP or AUTO) takes into account the wind at the current altitude (via the velocity vector). However, if wind direction and/or force change with altitude below the release point, then you will get an inaccuracy. AFAIK, this was the situation on Hornets in 1991, at least.
  24. Apparently, the Cue frequency allows you to contact SINCGARS users (see section 23.5, esp. 23.5.3.3). I higly doubt that SINCGARS will be modeled any time soon. However, as cue frequency seems to be 243 MHz, I'm not sure if there is anything special that would make it not receive a plain transmission on guard, though, so it might be a bug indeed. However no.2, as SINCGARS apparently uses 30 to 88 MHz, it is possible that 243 MHz isn't even a valid cue frequency. Unfortunately the manual does not feature an image of the UFC in C mode. EDIT: According to the F/A-18E NATOPS, it seems it might not be. Section 23.2.2.4 gives the valid frequencies for G and C :
  25. Is it confirmed that the F/A-18C should show magnetic bearings for A/A waypoint (or maybe, tied to the MAG/TRUE selection on the A/C page)? Should this become a bug report?
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