xray20

I was watching a Ralfi video and he's using the small grey axis control on the right of the throttle as a view zoom control. I can't find the axis to assign to reproduce this control. Can someone advise please? Thanks

I was looking at the cutaway P&D exhibit at the RAF Museum, Hendon yesterday, trying to work out how the probe latches into the receptacle. It looks like there are a number of pivoted latches which operate by fuel pressure when the probe tip hits the fuel flow valve. How is this released? Does the refuelling aircraft just throttle back and pull out (springing the latches by force) or is there some more subtle mechanism based on fuel flow?

I was rummaging through the hard disk and found this video of the A-10C cockpit in its final configuration. To get (nearly) the whole cockpit in shot I used an 8mm fisheye lens with an 180 degree FOV. Its not a great video, I had intended to get the lighting right and re-shoot it, but never got around to it. The MFCD's are embedded in the front panel and the AOA, landing gear greens and gear actuator are running on an Arduino with DCS-BIOS. Shortly after I made this vid, I sold the whole lot to buy an Oculus VR setup. Now the challenge is to make the VR setup properly flyable. I'll post some shots of the new VR cockpit soon.

That's Good. Thanks. Pity it doesn't go out east as far as Tblisi, but very useful nonetheless.

I wanted a printable Caucasus map with the reporting points for offline en-route planning and have not been able to find anything suitable. I know the general ONC exists as a download from Texas U archives but there's a lot of un-needed area and it doesn't have the RPs. So I made this, from mission editor screenshots. Thanks to 476th for the RP coordinates. Go to their site for the mission download with these RPs programmed in. Is there a better resource for maps that I have missed? Note that the actual map is much bigger than the attachment, if this is useful, PM me for a full sized file or let me know where I can place a downloadable version. Mods: I don't know if I'm infringing any copyright doing this. If I am, let me know and I will cease and desist.

@Flying Penguin - yes and brand new Playstations for £72. This must be vapourware or off the back of a lorry. Buyer Beware!

Edit: I think now I posted this in haste; Flying Penguin has looked into this in more detail (see below). Consider this post a warning against hasty purchases from dodgy Ebay accounts. I just came across this: Brand new Thrustmaster HOTAS for £69.82 from UK seller. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/THRUSTMASTER-HOTAS-WARTHOG-FLIGHTSTICK-JOYSTICK-FOR-PC-2960720-2-YEAR-WARRANTY/222825802167?hash=item33e173e9b7:g:ol4AAOSwusdaeHCx Seems he has a number of them for sale. Too good to be true? Note: I have no association with this seller, just bringing it to your attention.

Thanks, I took the picture at RAF Lakenheath. The F-15 obviously spends a lot of time at the ACMI range in the North Sea. I'll bet the data is encrypted. It would be good to do live Tacview of the aircraft on the range.

Does anyone know what the device inboard of the AIM9 in this picture of an F-15E is? I have seen them a lot, but never in the F-15 stores descriptions. Thanks

deleted post as problem fixed (operator error...)

In Air-Air mode on the HUD, when the gun is empty or gunpod not fitted, Air-To-Air Weapon Select Switch down brings up ///// in the middle of the HUD and a lot of HUD data (vertical velocity etc.) goes missing. I can't find a way to clear this and reset the HUD to normal. Can anyone help please?

Just for the record, I'm getting closer to solving this issue. I tested by changing the initialise comms command from \ to something else. This restored comms functionality. I found that \ had been changed to keystroke OEM102 by Voiceattack, VAICOM or Autohotkey (probably the latter). This means that \ appears as \ in normal apps, including Notepad++ but is interpreted differently by DCS. and appears as OEM102 in the controls menu. Now I just have to find out how to change OEM102 back to \ PS now I have searched the forum for OEM102, I find this is a known issue with VA and UK keyboards described in ED Forums » English » DCS World Topics » Input and Output » VAICOM 2.0 for VoiceAttack

I have been doing some more work on this error and I'm still stuck. Basically no \ command (to initialise comms) is passed to the sim. A keyboard \ press doesn't work, but I have checked that it works OK as a keypress elsewhere. The error occurs with DCS 1.5 beta which (I was working on) and 2.1 alpha (which I did not touch). I have done a repair/reinstall on both, which has not remedied the situation. I assume therefore that something external to DCS (ie in Voiceattack or VAICOM) is blocking the \ keypress. I have no mods installed. Any ideas anyone? Thanks

I have been setting up VAICOM with VA over the weekend and I think its nearly right now. I have the autohotkey script running and I think I am passing commands to DCS (a-10C) correctly. my problem is with the comms menu initialisation. I have the standard \ key mapped to comms menu, but its not being recognised either as a keypress or as a VA command. When I make a voice command 'startup' I see the command being processed in the VA command window and also the views in the sim change as the F1, F3 etc are sent. Why is the \ command not recognised? NumLock is on and I have checked the \ key maps to the correct character using notepad. Thanks

I'm building a mission (v2.1.1-Nevada) where I fly in formation with a group of AI aircraft. The AI aircraft seem to follow the terrain, whether I set their height at MSL or AGL, which makes it impossible to maintain formation. I have seen reference to 'level flight' and 'maintain attitude' modes, presumably in the ME, but I can't find them. Can anyone help?

Hi Trip, i asked about the pedals at the Gazelle Fly-In, the RAF pilot told me they are for short people.

@Trip - Nice Job! (no problem keeping it on - this is the Gazelle pit thread :thumbup:) I know where you are coming from. I need some panel switches now and some buttons to do general sim tasks like closing the doors and activating the kneeboard. In the meantime I have made progress on the control. the cyclic has a handgrip and buttons from an old Talon F-15 stick I got for a fiver on EBay. The collective now has detents and a return spring at the maximum pitch setting. It's quite instructive. Flying around at Intermediate pitch gives a nice control response without overcompensation. Re: the flight model questions, I spoke to some guys from the Gazelle Squadron at the Fly in and they were very accommodating. I'll ask them.

@trip Confirmed - Fuel control has no spring, its pretty much as per the sim.

Rotor Brake I forgot to mention the rotor brake. Its held in a gate. The pilot pulls it to the right, out of the gate and it snaps forward on a strong spring. It caught me by surprise and it snapped up to the horizontal with a bang (causing a look of admonishment from the pilot). I can see how this would have caused some problems with the simulation. It's necessary to let it off under hand control, somewhat like releasing the handbrake on a car. The fuel control lever is similarly gated and needs to be pulled to the right before releasing.

Gazelle 50th anniversary Fly-In. I get a close look at the controls I attended the Gazelle 50th Commemorative Fly-In at Army Air Corps Middle Wallop on Saturday 8th April 2017. A fabulous day. I have posted a video of the departure of the military Gazelles on YouTube. 20 or more Gazelles on the field, many allowing a chance to sit inside and handle the controls (engine off unfortunately). The military pilots were very willing to answer my questions. Many of my questions about the 'feel' of the controls were answered, with some unexpected results: Collective The collective has an adjustable friction grip (the knurled tube near to the quadrant) so it can be adjusted from light, to almost locked. It can never be set too tight to move, however. It will stay in place if half locked, but tends to close to fine pitch if the friction grip is at minimum. It has detents or click stops at the pitch angles marked on the quadrant. The Army Air Corps have three positions: IPS - intermediate pitch setting. This corresponds to 8.8° on the DCS model and is never exceeded in normal flight. MPS - maximum pitch setting, corresponding to 9.9°. Used only for combat manoeuvres Full pitch - the end point of the collective. This only ever used for auto-rotation landings. The travel between MPS and Full is strongly spring loaded and the collective is forced back to MPS. The collective at this position is vertical and somewhat behind the pilot's center-line requiring a deliberately awkward arm position. It is not unusual to let go of the collective in level flight to adjust the instruments etc. Cyclic The cyclic also has a friction lock (the thumb ring like a fuel filler cap at the base of the stick). The cyclic is servo assisted and only thumb and two fingers are needed, with action from the wrist, which rests on the pilot's leg. Later models have a magnetic cyclic lock whch allows the pilot to let go of the cyclic in flight. It is still possible to move the cyclic and fly the aircraft with the magnetic brake on although the resistance is higher. Rudder The rudder is hydraulically assisted and again is quite light, a bit more than the accelerator pedal resistance in a car. The Polychop Gazelle model in appearance and dynamics and sound appears to be excellent. It was interesting to see the pilots find the neutral position, adjusting cyclic and rudder with the helo rocking on the suspension of the skids, before lifting off. I didn't get a flight yesterday, but I have put some feelers out and hope for a positive response. I will post a link to some more photos when I have had a chance to edit them.

@Trip, Thanks for sharing this info. I spent about an hour on the motionsim forum and there are some great projects going on (including yours). More study is required. I take on board your comment about wifely indulgence. Having just got rid of a half ton of A-10C cockpit with the promise that everything will be smaller, quieter etc. with VR, I have to approach this one carefully. :music_whistling: Gazelle Fly-in this weekend! I'm getting excited. Matt

I can't see the Mini-HUD (Rctrl-Enter) in VR. Is this a known issue or am I doing something wrong? Thanks

Thanks Hans. @trip Hi Trip, I have been looking at your motion sim and thinking it would be fun to build one. Two questions to start: How do you export the XYZ data from DCS? (export.lua?) How do you transform the XYZ data into positional data for the platform? I can't find any motion platform group on the DCS forum - is there one elsewhere? Cheers Matt

First try-out of the rudder pedals. I'm fairly pleased with how they have gone together. Much better than the Saitek Pros I was using before. It's so much easier flying now the controls are not springing back to the centre position. The rudder is geared to the (180 degree) sensor at 3:1. There are rotary dampers on each pedal. I miscalculated how strong and heavy legs are compared to arms so construction in parts is a little lightweight and the pedals are a bit springy. I will double the thickness of the pedal arm if its a problem. Interesting how I use the rudder now, both feet up on the pedals, controlling with the balls of the feet when manoeuvring and heels on the floor plate controlling with the toes in level flight. Next step; Thrustmaster HOTAS to weapons control.

@ Sokol1_br Thanks. I didn't know reduced angle sensors existed. I just checked the Farnell website and found they do at least six variants. No problem, I had the gears and it makes a good way of isolating the sensor from mechanical strain. I have just finished the rudder pedals. I put 3:1 gearing on them. Pictures soon. for reference see Farnell link http://uk.farnell.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?catalogId=15001&langId=44&storeId=10151&categoryName=All&selectedCategoryId=&gs=true&st=6127V1A