Torment

After MUCH practice (52 is what it shows in the logbook lol), I can stay on the boom the whole time through the straights...but when the tanker starts his turn about 75% of the time I'll disconnect once. That percentage is slooowly starting to decrease and not nearly as fast as the straight-a-ways. So that one is going to take me a while to get down pat. But the absolute toughest thing for me is holding formation with the tanker while in a turn. This I downright suck at. I won't slam into the wingman while he's getting gas or anything like that but I wobble all over the place and can't keep a good distance off the tanker's wing...or match his speed. :joystick:

Sorry can't tell in your previous post, but are you using a Saitek X-65f? If you are I used to use it before the TM WH and did have some issues in calibrating the neutral position. I believe there is a beta software interface out now to reset stick center. So check your software to make sure that whatever stick your using is centering properly and your deadzones are set to your liking. This may solve your roll right issue you're having. As for the autopilot, here's some more info on it that you may find useful from the flight manual page 139 if you haven't seen it yet.: Autopilot Select Switch. Located along the right side of the panel is a three position switch that allows you to select the active autopilot mode. These autopilot modes form the Low Altitude Autopilot (LAAP) system. The three selections are: PATH (top position). This mode will attempt to keep the aircraft on its current flight path, represented by the total velocity vector symbol on the HUD. This mode will not engage with a bank angle greater than 10-degrees. ALT/HDG (middle position). This mode will attempt to maintain the barometric altitude and heading of the aircraft when the mode was activated. This mode will not engage with a bank angle greater than 10-degrees. ALT (down position). When this mode is engaged, the autopilot will attempt to maintain current bank angle and barometric altitude.

Radios are a beast in their own so segment out your learning method that best suits you. If you prefer the easy communications mode you just press "\" to bring up the comms menu (make sure the radios are on) and the function keys to select the options. I personally wouldn't recommend that for very long since I believe full control over the radios adds to the realism/immersion if you're into that kind of thing. Full control will take slightly longer to master since you have to manually enter frequencies and select the correct radio in order to communicate. It's great if you have a HOTAS with an extra hat available to map your mic switch to fwd, aft, and down.

Hmm, you might want to try pressing CTRL+PAUSE/BREAK in game to see how the sim is recognizing your controls. Unless the trim is way off it shouldn't "roll hard" at all. Sorry I couldn't help you with this. IRL I'm an operator not a technician, so I suck at fixing things.

Probably been asked already, but ATIS would be cool too.

Just tried the refueling mission located here: http://files.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/59524/ ...and didn't have an issue running it. 1. Download .miz file 2. Copy it either to DCS A-10C\Missions or to USER_NAME\Saved Games\DCS Warthog\Missions 3. Launch DCS: A-10 and play. You can rename it as long as it still has a .miz file extension.

If you hear "Warning, autopilot" that's Betty telling you that the autopilot was on but now has been disengaged. If the autopilot is on and you try to bank the plane, it will be sluggish to respond at first since the aircraft is trying to maintain the pitch/bank/altitude/attitude that it was set at. The autopilot will disengage and Betty will let you know with that message. If you want ALT/HDG hold (which is what is needed in the training missions IRC) just trim to maintain roughly straight and level flight, doesn't have to be perfect, set your speed and let it stabilize, and hit the button. You'll hear the chime and should see the plane settle a bit.

For the autopilot to work a few conditions must be met. First, if you're starting the airplane up cold you'll need the four SAS switches to be engaged, the CDU must be aligned, your navigation mode must be set to EGI, and your EAC switch must be on. Second, before you engage the autopilot, make sure you're in relatively straight and level flight. It won't engage if you're bank/pitch is +/- 5 or 10 degrees. You should hear a chime and see which mode is engaged at the bottom left of the HUD. Edit: China Hat Aft short should slew the pod to boresight; it should also reset your SPI to the steerpoint as stated above.

Perhaps one of the scripts would allow you to mute the player's voice. So the commands are still issued and file is still played but it's inaudible. With that you'd still get a confirmation prompt on screen showing that the command was successful. Editing lua files=out of my league.

This has happens all the time IRL. Sitting in a stack with everyone set to auto and if the top aircraft catches a glint off of a reflective surface you get an impressive cascading fireworks show. Pretty to look at, but nerve wracking until accustomed to it. (Note: Aircraft was equipped with AAR-47/ALE-47 system, more info below) The Self Protection System (SPS) consists of the AAR-47 Missile Approach Warning System (MAWS) and the ALE-47 Countermeasures Dispensing System (CMDS). The MAWS is a passive electro-optic missile warning system designed to warn the crew about a missile threat. The SPS detects radiation associated with a rocket motor and passes the information to the CMDS. The CMDS is computer controlled to dispense expendable decoys designed to employ electronic and infrared countermeasures to gain maximum survivability of the aircraft and crew. The AAR-47 Missile Warning System (MWS) warns of a missile approach by detecting radiation associated with the missile's rocket motor. The system can be set to automatically initiate flare ejection or some other payload (e.g., chaff). Manual payload ejection is also possible by any crew member using a readily available dispense switch (dispense switches are part of the ALE-47 system). The AAR-47 consists of four (4) sensor assemblies mounted in each aircraft quadrant (two FWD, two AFT), computer processor, Control Indicator (CI), and threat indicator. The AAR-47 is a passive Electro-Optic MWS designed to provide warning of surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles. Detection algorithms discriminate against non-approaching radiation sources. The Warning System provides attacking missile declaration and section direction finding and is interfaced directly to the ALE-47 Counter Measures (CM) system.

I think I'm going deplete my inventory of cluster munitions:D Thanks!

Don't get me wrong, I love this sim. I have no problem whatsoever playing it as is. So this really isn't a wishlist per se but kind of a "what if?" "Is this even possible?" "Am I high?" list. Anyway, when I'm playing I always strive for a touch of realism if I can without going overboard. So that means, no piddle paks/Nomex flight gloves when I'm in the "seat". But after tanking and driving 45ish minutes to the target area I start thinking my what if's? 1. Airspace Control: I'm not talking about ATC but more of a CRC concept. Basically your transition from home plate to your target area would have some restrictions. AWACS would deconflict aircraft laterally and by altitude. Using a CGRS system (killboxes/keypads) displayed on the TAD would be allow a common reference between aircraft that we could all use. This is how I see using it in my head: Starting on the ground you have grid/target area imputed as a point in your CDU. Using that you can see which keypads you'll need to operate in. So you'll call AWACS: Darkstar, Hawg 11 at homeplate with airspace request. Hawg 11, Darkstar go with request. Request 45TB keypads 1, 2, 3, 4 block 14-16. Darkstar copies call when airborne. After take-off and climbing to altitude: Darkstar, Hawg 11 airborne; request transition to working airspace. Hawg 11, Darkstar climb to angels 14. Approved direct. Whew! So once you get there you'll maintain the airspace that you've been approved. If you want to add/remove keypads or change altitudes or move entirely to another working area you'll call AWACS again for approval. 2. ROZ: Ok, so you're in your working airspace but how can you effectively employ guns/rockets if you aren't allowed to go under 14k feet? Build a ROZ. Eyeball 11, Hawg 11 request entry to ROZ Cupcake block 14-16. Hawg 11, Eyeball 11 approved ROZ Cupcake 14-16. Darkstar, Hawg 11 pushing tactical will be operating in ROZ Cupcake. Now you don't have to deal with AWACS anymore and any altitude restrictions you have will be imposed by the JTAC. Once you're done blowing up stuff and the JTAC releases you, the ROZ will go cold and you'll be back with AWACS. 3. TAD Integration Software: I think this falls into more of the Data Card category which I assume has already been brought up. But I'm thinking a FalconView kind of interface that allows you to mission plan your sorties. Draw lines, circles, boxes et cetera. 4. AO Update: Before you start going crazy and getting your 9 lines, the JTAC would send up an AO Update to give you a ground disposition, threats, and location of friendlies. 5. ECAS: Your JTAC bought it, but there's still good guys down there and they have a radio...it's not over yet! 6. ASOC: Now I think this would be cool. You call them up and ask them where they want you. They'll give you a working area and the JTAC to contact. You'll also connect to the gateway to get more SADL stuff. If it gets taken out, then the whole CAS scenario turns to chaos until AWACS or whoever can pick up some of the slack. I really have no idea the feasibility of these things or even if the average user would want them. Just some things that I've thought about. Apologies if these have been discussed at nauseam before.

Implement an E-8 into the sim. Easy fix...of course your targets would have to be moving...:disgust:

Will the petting zoo be modeled? I haven't been there in a while but it looks like it should be somewhere in that picture.

Only about 1 hour 40 in this sim. My flight seat can get rather uncomfortable after the hour mark. IRL I did a 15.3 in 2006 which required three trips to the tanker:doh:

That's an interesting concept, kind of like adding a bit of an RPG element to it. Of course for the first couple of "years" you'd have to be a wingman with the AI telling you "Look you are a wingman you are only allowed to say: Two, Lead you're on fire, bingo, and I'll take the fat one."

For the OP, I too had difficulty in understanding how useful the CDU is in the sim. I spent several months picking through the manual and watching videos on YouTube (the latter I found more helpful) before I began to grasp it. Here's the common functions I use it for. 1. While it's in alignment, I'll rename all of the waypoints that are messed up from loading the game (awesome that this is going to be fixed in the upcoming patch). 2. When I'm navigating to my steerpoint, I'll often check the SYS > ATTRIBUTES page to see the "Dial HSI course to ..." once I'm done I'll switch it back to the steerpoint page via the UFC. I always keep the two dials to FLT PLAN and OTHER and will switch between modes with the UFC. So when I'm just flying along, the UFC repeater is up on my MFCD since it's easier to read than the data block on the HUD. 3. Punching up the coords from a JTAC is definitely handy and I think the way to go if you shooting for realism. However, it can get tiring so if I'm in a created mission I'll just do it for one or two of the targets then have the rest be pushed over the data link. 4. The ability to drop multiple JDAMs on markpoints is useful, but I almost never use it. I don't often carry the JDAMs and when I do it's never more than two. GBU-12/Mk-82's are more my thing since they have the versatility of TERs. Things I don't use it for... 1. Many users on here rave about the OFFSET function, however I have had little luck (and experience) with it. The accuracy with the bearing and range seems so random, but I could see its usefulness in getting you in the right area for a SAM site. As for bandit calls, I'm not sure I get that...for the time it would take for you to go heads down to go to the offset page, create a new point, then input the bearing/range for the bandit call that dude is gonna be nowhere near that if he's screaming along at 600 kts. I'm also confused why the AWACS just doesn't push you tracks instead of bull calls. Seriously, you've got 3+ operators on there tracking all the aircraft and they can't push them across a SADL gateway? Am I missing something here? 2. Creating flight plans...um yeah. I'll manage my existing ones that I created in the ME sure, but I don't make new ones on the fly. So I too, have some gripes about the usefulness of the CDU. BUT some of the features are invaluable to me and I found it enjoyable reading/youtubing then loading up the game to try out that new feature. If that new feature is useful to me, awesome. If not, then I'll put a mental checkmark of one less thing on the CDU checklist and move on to another one. It's all part of the thing that keep me coming back for more. The replay on this sim for me is high because I'm curious on what I haven't learned yet.

Dang! Tough crowd!

A little food for though too is a JTAC is going to have tons of toys in his goodie bag. His laser designator may also have a rangefinder capability (CLDR). With a compass he can now give an accurate bearing and range from his position to target. The JTAC would provide his position during the AO update. He could also have other datalink systems like Blue Force Tracker or Harris SA to show his position but I'm unsure of the A-10's ability to interface with those systems. Arguably the best "weapon" a JTAC could carry with him would be a ROVER laptop. It's unencrypted but if the aircraft has direct LOS, the JTAC will recieve the pod's feed. Now it's a simple matter of the JTAC saying, "Left, left, left...left....STOP. That is your target" There's also the "talk-on big-to-small" method: JTAC: North of my position is a treeline 150m wide oriented east-west. Pilot: Contact. JTAC: At the west end of the treeline is a group of houses. Pilot: Contact; just south of those houses I am capture a defensive fighting position with six pax and I'm observing small arms fire. JTAC: Good capture, that is your target. So these are just a couple of examples of how a JTAC would get the pilots eyes on.

It's part of the Passive Detection System of the E-3A. Interesting of note that they chose the NATO Geilenkirchen AB birds out of Germany. ED should change the controllers voice to have a thick Greek accent now! :megalol:

Audio of flares correctly modeled? I searched around a little on YouTube but wasn't able to find any clips of how flares sound when they are released from inside the cockpit. In the sim, flares are barely audible when launched and result in very quiet thumping sound. I've never been in an A-10 but it seems to me that there isn't that much airplane between the pilot's nugget and the buckets. In my experience flares are by no means deafening but the sound they make is unmistakable and impossible to ignore. It sounds kind of like slamming a book down on a table or stomping your foot on a wooden deck. Some pilots have described it as a baseball bat hitting the windshield. Coupled with the wailing of the MWS, no cup of coffee will wake you up faster than that. So are the flares really that quiet inside? Could the sim be modded to increase their sounds?

Me personally, I'm stoked about these "possible" changes. Here's to ED to implementing these changes in 1.1.1.0 and more!:beer:

From what I've observed, there's only two things that will get pushed to your TAD via the data link. First the JTAC tasking messages, and second the SPI of other attacking aircraft including your wingman. The latter are identifiable as looking like your SPI but with one less tier on the "wedding cake". So one way of finding targets would be to order your wingman to engage enemy ground targets, look at your TAD to see what he's targeting, then order rejoin before he engages. I believe you'll also see a blue line extending from him to his SPI. So with the TAD as SOI you could hook his SPI and command yours to that location with TMS up long. It would be awesome if the wingman could "recon" similar to BS where he transmits data link targets to the ABRIS.

From the GUI manual on page 136: "An Orbit Task will be stopped by the AI automatically upon reaching Bingo fuel state, when the AI only has enough fuel to return to base (RTB)." So if your missions starts at 12:00:00/0 and you set the duration to 12:00:00/1 (one day later) the aircraft should RTB at bingo. On a side note, that page also shows how to set up a race-track pattern. When I was trying to learn AR and building missions, I couldn't figure out why the tanker would hit the waypoint and instead of orbiting, would fly to Russia. A race-track needs two waypoints to orbit between. IIRC they can't be that far apart either...a WAG but I think it was in the neighborhood of 15NM.

AI won't continue to orbit unless they have a stop condition. Select the waypoint you want them to orbit at and select Advanced (Waypoint Actions). Select ADD, Perform Task, Orbit (with type and altitude). Then check STOP CONDITION...from there you can have their orbit be completed via Time, Flag, Condition, or Duration. BTW NOT a noob question!:) EDIT: My first explanation was confusing me!