Caldera

Thank you! Got it. Caldera

Thank you, Is that the only way? What happens if I run the updater and I already have the latest version installed? Caldera

Hello, Where do I find the current version that is installed on my computer system? Thanks in advance, Caldera

Hello, I figured something out today that has been plaguing me. As I said earlier the Boom of Doom Operator (BOBO) will pretty much out the blue say "Return Pre-Contact". Today he said it just as I had indeed made contact (multiple attempts). In the past, after he said that he would just ignore me. If I start the film right there, this had been happening to me and I was clueless as too why. Eventually, I learned that restarting the mission was the only way to get BOBO to stop being so annoying. So today when it happened I contacted the tanker on the radio again. Funny thing, the only tanker radio option is Abort Refueling. Because of this, I had been ignoring doing that very thing and proceeded to try try again. (fail fail again) I just thought that I had a serious case of Failure to Refuel (FTR) and I needed more practice. Today I selected that option. As I recall, there was no response from the tanker. Starting the process over, I got the tanker on the radio again and I re-selected Intent to Refuel. When at that point the tanker directed me to move into the pre-contact (or some such) position. Hello there, it is still me still right behind you the whole time! It was as if the tanker had just seen me for the first time that day (week month ever). Probably common knowledge? Oops... Another thing that I noticed today that had also been there the whole time. After I make contact and then I flub it (FTR) the refueling status indicator changes from Ready to Disconnect. There are no verbal messages from the tanker. At any rate, that is a good clue that I need to reset the refueling door before I try again. Caldera

Thanks Emmy, I have no idea why it annoys me to repeat this process every single time. Adding in disconnects, flubbed flights, controller issues or whatever, It begins to seem like this is the point of it all. A real world pilot may fly one or two sorties a day (three in Desert Storm with hot reloads) and leave the power on between. I can fly as many as I want So then I forget ( as does jaylw ). It would be nice just to edit the file once and be done with it. I can always change the setting to AUTO any time. Caldera

Thanks Glide, I have done that. Caldera

Hey all, As of today the Boom of Doom operator officially hates me again (feelings mutual). Maybe had I thought (vocalized) too many bad thoughts in the past. No matter how long I have the nose of my beloved A-10 basically inserted into the refueling nozzle or vice versa, he / she refuses to cooperate. I mean, the nozzle is shoved directly into the refueling slide under the cowling. So I back off and reset the refueling slide door again and again. I retry and I retry and I have no luck. So we fly along that way for miles and then, just for insult, the Boom of Doom Operator tells me that I need to rejoin. "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Dude... I am joined, rejoined and everything else in between. You need to wake up! And just so you know, I am not buying any beers at the club tonight." Frustrated... RAMMING SPEED! Caldera

Transfer Complete --- Disconnect Caldera

Hey all, I looked, but I could not find the answer anywhere. But, I am almost sure that this has been covered. For that, my apologies. By default the flight plan( FPMODE) is set to automatic (AUTO). By this, I mean the the steerpoint will advance to the next waypoint automatically if you fly over it. You can change this to manual (MAN) in the CDU. In manual, only the pilot can change the steerpoint. On the CDU: FPM --> 01 AUTO (Rotary) --> 01 MAN (Rotary) I was wondering if anyone knew where to change this in a lua file so that the default setting would be set to manual (MAN). Or possibly a setting that is changeable some where else. Thanks in advance, Caldera

draconus, I guess for my personal benefit. It helps me determine alignment and distance to the refueling nozzle when I am watching the video. Plus, it just looks just really really cool don't you think? It seems to me that there are a few more conditions that I have recently noticed. The ones that I am sure of are: Boom too long or too short (red yellow green zones) Boom too far left or right from center Boom too far up or down from median Boom operator dozes off and hits the emergency disconnect button The color marks on the boom are obvious the others just happen. I am just curious, do you happen to know what these other values might be? As for my comment "Boom operator dozes off". In my last flight it appeared that the three of the top four comments above were OK. The boom was green, and I just got disconnected. This happened to me at least two times. My gas tank had ~ 8000 lbms of fuel in it (A-10C). I have no clue why. When it disconnects it never notifies me over the radio. I just suddenly see the nozzle floating in space. I am aware that if I was flying perfectly during refueling process these issues will not be apparent. The Modes of the Boom AI that I have noticed: When I am at the right distance the boom will rise up, signifying to me that the Boom of Doom Operator is awake and ready to connect? The nozzle has some sort of spherical zone it controls to after a bit of a time delay, it starts to twitch and more or less aims for the refueling port? If I miss by too much or take too long the Boom of Doom Operator will stab my cockpit one to three times, signifying to me that I should back off and try again? When I am actually refueling the Boom of Doom Operator plays Tiddly Winks? The Boom of Doom Operator will release the nozzle mysteriously and adhere to strict radio silence? Thanks again, Caldera

glide, I have my tanker now set for 15000 300 GS and I fly at about 240 IAS in formation with it. Caldera

Fire Bird, When I was using my x56 that is how I controlled zoom. Make sure you are in the correct column is the only thing I can think of. Caldera

Yep, OK and thanks! Caldera

Hey all, First: Thanks, that guy is pretty good at explanation and demonstration. He does a nice job. I noticed that he also does some BFM instruction (as he would say for DCS game only). So much easier to learn by listening and viewing. As opposed to reading Fighter Combat (Robert L Shaw) multiple times like I did way back when. I made another video. Please, I would greatly appreciate comments and critique. Tell me what you think. AAR Success and Failure My Comments: The first attempt I intentionally left the slipway door closed as a warm up run I was generally a little low during approach based on the angle of the boom After connecting (contact) a my altitude dropped as I lost my reference point to the tanker Altitude control - The boom was in the green and I was disconnected once Speed control - This lead to the rest of my disconnects The AI flubbed at least once I tried setting the tanker to 350 (I think GS), but it still flew at 183 IAS and I am not sure why. I did not try your mission yet. My head is in information saturation for the time being and I did not want to work through learning your mission. THIS! Made all the difference in the world. I did noticed that the AI still flubbed at least once after I did reset the slipway door. A quick question, when the tanker automatically stop filling? Thanks again! Caldera

LOL Thanks! I am starting to understand the AI a bit more. The point of view you get is a bit confusing. All the twitching, stabbing, and raising and lowering is disorientating for me. It is like waiving a hotdog in a dogs face and saying "STAY!". Good Luck... I am not really chasing the boom as much as I having stability problems being that close to the tanker where the movement differentials are magnified. Plus, when I am close to connection or I do connect, then the boom seems to get in the way and the reference points on the tanker that I have been using vanish. BTW... After to a few foiled attempts my first urge? Ramming Speed !!! Caldera

Thanks all for your input! I have watched allot of refueling videos. Most do it perfectly, but they don't really tell you how to do it. Typcally, small movements and keep the controls moving at all times is the most common advice. For me, that was not that helpful. What really helped me the most was a close formation flying video that I watched made by DCS Debrief. He talked about specific techniques. Stuff like, for small heading changes use "roll on roll off and wait, roll on roll off to stop movement at the correct heading", for small speed changes "push / pull the throttle then return to datum and wait". That was a good video for me to watch and had nothing to do with refueling. Of course, I am still working on those skills. Ahaa! Ahaa! This tidbit of information is what I have been looking for. Catching this earlier would have been helpful and allot less frustrating: For successive contacts, you must cycle the aerial refuel system by pressing the refuel/reset button (Nosewheel Steering button) or closing and opening the slipway door. The problem is, the boom operator kind of forgets what they are doing after a bit even if a contact is not made. That is why I thought were was some sort of a cool down required. In general, the manual is a bit confusing. I have been doing quite a bit of close formation flying with the tanker not intending to refuel. The two biggest problems I have, I have had from day one. One problem is speed control. I can fly in formation pretty good until I get behind the speed maintaining curve, where overshoots start to occur. Then the attitude wobbles start. Etc... The other problem is the boom operator AI. A lesser problem has been trying to figure out the location behind the tanker that I needed to be in for the nozzle to connect. Mostly because the boom operator does not seem consistent. When the boom raises up before connection is a bit disorientating. I can practice my flying skills, but i needed to understand the AI. The fight with the boom operator AI, it has gotten extremely frustrating. Plus, like I said, I don't really have a good idea where the boom is supposed to be. I watch most of my refueling video tracks. The boom connects then disconnects, which is my fault. Then I start getting stabbed by the refueling nozzle all around the cockpit and canopy for my further efforts. I get stuck on the support wire. I get stuck inside the tanker. Believe me, I have flown for many nm with the refueling nozzle stuffed in the refueling door opening or some other part of the nose. All the while, no connections are made with me trying to outsmart the goofyness. And, just being baffled the whole time by what is happening. Thanks again, I will try all of your suggestions. Caldera

draconus, Try it. The F2 view is pretty restrictive even with TrackIR. Caldera

draconus, I have misspoke, only the mouse seems to be effected. Caldera

Hey all, I hope I am placing this in the correct forum section. For some reason the topics I post seemed to be posted in the wrong location and they get moved. I am struggling with Air to Air Refueling. The boom operator AI just is amazing. It seems like you get one shot at refueling then you have to wait on a cool down of some sort, because the nincompoop boom operator AI seems to go "schizo". I know there is some video clipping issues and that does not help to see the refueling nozzle actually inside the cockpit. To say the least, that is a bit disorientating! I know that my skills need improving but, in general, I find it baffling as to what is actually happening. Anyways, please take a look a this... AAR Video that I made ...and please let me know where I need to be educated. Caldera

No one? Caldera

draconus, Thanks again! Yes, sort of. This mouse seems to not work at all if there is radio text (F key options) on screen in the F2 view. When I move the mouse it hides in the top left corner of the screen. Normally, moving the mouse pans the view. I don't think that I can select any view other than the one that is currently active at the time when the radio text comes on screen. The keyboard seems to be disabled as far as changing the view with an F key. Caldera

ZeroReady, Well... I can see how the TGP could get thrown off due to its simulated mechanical nature. But what baffles me is why would the SPI suddenly change locations? It only seems logical to me that by re-slaving to SPI it should re-orientate the TGP back to the SPI. Sometimes... The mark points can stack up on themselves and I can't figure out where from or when to after a bit. This is made really horrible with allot of concentrated targets. Too many mark points in a small area can be just as trouble some. All, Let me clarify, I don't really know how the TGP actually works and I don't know how a SPI is actually made. I am only trying to learn the DCS TGP and DCS SPI. I notice that the SPI seems to move by its own prerogative in DCS. But, I am probably just wet behind the ears. This is what the DCS manual (that I have) says about the TGP Track Modes: • AREA The TGP has been space stabilized on an overall scene but is not tracking a specified object. If AREA track cannot be maintained due to aircraft masking, it reverts to INR-A mode and will return to the AREA track location if track can be reestablished by unmasking. • POINT The TGP has established a track on a specific object/target and is stabilized on it. It will continue tracking even if the target is moving. When tracking in POINT mode, a box is drawn around the edge of the object being tracked. The object does not need to be bounded and the box will not expand to encompass the entire object—it remains a fixed size. If the object cannot be tracked due to aircraft masking, it will revert to INR-P mode, but will return to the POINT track if track can be reestablished by unmasking. • INR-A If the TGP is tracking in AREA mode and is masked, Inertial Area (INR-A) is displayed. The TGP will attempt to re-track the area lost when the mask constraint has been eliminated. • INR-P If the TGP is tracking in POINT mode and is masked, Inertial Point (INR-P) is displayed. The TGP will attempt to re-track the point lost when the mask constraint has been eliminated. • INR. When in Inertial (INR) mode, the TGP will remain fixed on a geographic reference point. My point, no where does it say how it does this. But it does say very clearly "and / but will return to the AREA / POINT track location if track can be reestablished by unmasking". Believe me, I unmask the TGP whenever I can. And frankly, if literally taken, the TGP should do the same thing coming out of gimbal faults or exactly head on flight attitudes. This is good advice and I believe that he means put it in INR mode. It seems from the description above that AREA and POINT use a picture reference point and INR uses a geographical reference point. Could one deduce something from that? Maybe could it be that the INR-A and the INR-P are using the last best guess of the INR position just before the TGP was masked? All this is seems pretty darn complicated for a game to simulate. I am wondering if that everything is based off of a three axis coordinate system crunching numbers in the simulated 3d space we fly in. Back on topic... So let me ask one last question, basically is an INR track point and a MARK point more or less the same thing? Where one is temporary (INR) for immediate use and one is held in memory (MARK) for later use? Thank you for all your help, Caldera

Hey all, I hope that I am in the right "Section". I trying to learn AAR so I am watching more tracks. Please forgive me, I am still new at DCS. I have a few questions: How do I turn the blinking vertical cursor on so I know where I am about to type in the filename box? To REPLAY a track file that is saved in another file directory (data drive) other than the DCS default directory, how do I change directories? When I am watching a track video, how do I pan the view using the mouse with radio text on screen? How do I clip / edit a track file to be shorter in time (less than 5mb) and to be more specific for the viewer? How would I turn on playback controls? (stop play etc...) Thanks in advance, Caldera

Hey all, I have attached one track file Grade for the pilot of the tanker A+ Grade for the boom operator F- I know my close formation flying technique still needs work. But this boom operator guy / gal needs some at least as much RE-training. Take a look at the track. The dang refueling probe is injected into the cockpit as least as far as the ejector seat. Wrong Hole! Wrong Hole! Looks like some kind of Nurse Ratchet Covid vaccination. Something has gone wrong. Then bang, it connects... I know there is some kind of timing / AI / thingy / protocol for the AI to work properly. I have tested yelling "Xxx Wipe" and it does not work! Please, can some one be kind enough to clue me in as to how to properly manipulate the boom operator AI? Caldera MSN0-2.trk

Ziptie, Thanks! I just started doing that for a test. You are right. I have better luck with that method. The TGP in point view mode likes to jump off to trees / buildings and such. Usually at the worst of times. Back to melchionda's topic. As he says, or some reason I think that the SPI does mysteriously move. I do not know why. Yesterday I was attacking a tank with guns. The tank was sitting on top of the SPI. (About the only way I can find gun targets). On my first pass I hit the tank, but did not kill it. The tank appeared to be disabled, because from what I could tell it did not relocate. I generally have to watch tanks on the TGP so that I can make sure that I attack from the rear. Anyways, as I was circling around I was watching the tank when I could using the TGP. It was not moving. For my second attack I was, of course, watching the tank on the TGP. Suddenly, the TGP moved off target. I tried to re-slave it to the SPI and and the TGP did not move. I continued my attack. As I looked through HUD with full zoom, the SPI marker was no longer under the tank nor was the tank anywhere in my view. This flub cause a muffed attack so I went around again. I manually slewed the TGP back to the tank. As a test, I then re-slaved the TGP back to the SPI. The TGP then moved off the tank to the SPI. The SPI was out in Nah-Nah land. Elevation problem? Confusing... Caldera