BuzzLine

Bringing back Max on an exchange tour with the ALAT flying Gazelles would be nice !

That would indeed be absolutely awesome !

There are already a few missions available in the user files section, using the SA map. This is an example : https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/fr/files/3332713/

The list of landing places in the ATC communications submenu is sorted by distance, closest at the top. So once you're close to the ship, that should be the first one listed. The frequency may or may not have been changed by the mission designer. But in doubt, you can try on 127.5 AM, which is the default.

Call them on the radio and say you are "inbound".

I get weird looks when people ask me what got me to start learning russian and I answer "to read the cockpit labels in my virtual plane". Back on topic : I flew in circles for 20' in an F18 and didn't get anything AP-related on the UFC. With wpt, without, auto sequence wpt, nothing. Try a full repair ?

role-playing it all the way, I love it !!

(I'll assume everything is setup correctly, fuel pump is on, magnetos on, etc.) Just a hunch : make sure you continue pushing (pulling ?) the starter button long enough. I used to have the same trouble, thinking the engine was not starting, but it was because I was releasing the button too soon. Maybe you're doing the same thing ?

Thanks ! I followed your advice, it's indeed a very good book.

I picked up a great tip some time ago : zoom out. The issue is that in 2D (and even a bit in VR), we lack the peripheral vision to gauge small movements. Zooming out (*really* out) looks awful and distorted but it will help anticipate those small movements. In VR, like in real life, look far ahead.

Nope, no saves by default. Some campaign makers build their missions in two parts or allow an air start right before the action but it's tricky to manage and quite time-consuming for them so it's rarely done. Speaking of campaigns, there's a free one that any Hornet driver should try, it's as good as most paid campaigns and even better than many :

Campaigns like Raven One (both of them) or Fear the Bones are magnificent pieces of artwork with excellent production value and a lot of immersion. If that is your thing then my opinion is that it is worth buying SC (maybe on sale if budget is tight) to have access to those. But then again, it depends on your taste and the type of experience your are looking for in DCS.

Actual F16 manuals are easy to find on the Internet but I'm not sure they can be shared here. The supplement with the appendices has all the charts you may want to use to adjust based on gross weight, altitude, temperature, pitch angle, center of gravity, etc. I found someone rule-of-thumbed it to "70kts + 3*gross_weight_in_kpound" so a 30k lbs tow gets you 3x30+70=160 t/o speed. Rotation speed is 15kts lower if on afterburner, 10kts lower if dry. That gets you 145/150kts for the rotation which seems about right for a light plane in normal conditions (altitude/temperature-wise).

experience

I'm working my way through the campaign and had this same issue at M2. I switched the condition (>12m AGL and >11kts) to a simple "unit outside zone" and it flowed perfectly well.