Mike_CK

Zabuzard, How can I tell if it’s a “good lock” with Auto Acquisition vs a bad lock on a “side lobe”??

Really? Hmmm…I’ve never used flood mode. But even with a good lock maintained the whole time, my missiles sail past the guy if I’m shooting head on (before merge). Not sure if flood would help but I’ll give it a shot Jester locking is a no-go. He can’t lock a damn thing; even when I can see it 6 miles in front. Not sure it’s him though, that radar gets awfully cluttered with clouds and such

What makes it more annoying is that he always seems to tell me I’m “out of my GD mind” when I’m actually ON the runway taking off. Apparently he doesn’t realize we aren’t going to taxi down the active and drive to the target

Thought I’d offer a bit of unsolicited advice of something I’ve seen many having trouble with: Using the Aim-7s effectively. You guys may know these but I figured maybe one or two people out there might find it useful. First, learn to use the Sparrow with an Aim-7M variant. You have to learn what the different range lines mean, what parameters you have to be in -and especially- how to use the Cage/Auto Acquisition. Hard to know if you are doings things correctly if even when you do everything right, the missile fails 70% of the time like the E and F seem to The Aim-7M model is a VERY capable version. If you do everything correctly, you will most likely hit your target; not every time, but enough that you can get a feel for whether you are doing it right. Once you know you are doing it right, move to the E or F. Secondly, when using Cage Radar with Auto Acquisition to lock an enemy, the radar “looks” at different areas of the sky depending on whether you have Heat, Radar or Guns selected. Select Heat while you are trying to auto acquire as with Heat selected, the radar looks right at the pipper (as opposed to the left or right of it). Once locked, switch to Radar. It will hold the lock. Which brings me to the last. Third, the E variant (and I believe the F), you have to wait 4 seconds after lock to launch. That’s easy to remember when you’ve got Jester counting “1 potato, 2 potato.” However, when using auto acquisition to lock, Jester will NOT count; but you still need to wait 4 seconds. There have been dozens of times that i got a AA lock, switched to Radar and then excitedly launched before the bad guy can fly past me. I couldn’t figure out why I was out of parameters and had to switch off “CW” in order to get it to fire. I Finally realized that I was forgetting to wait 4 seconds. Of course, by the time I get the lock, if I wait 4 seconds, he’s past me. Brings me to the last point. I find that E and F variant pretty much blow at the “head-on” shots. However, if you shoot at targets when you are 1-4 miles away between THEIR 8 o’clock and 4 o’clock, even the E model is decent. So use them after you merge Considering the Mach 4 closing speed of the missle, my guess is that the E and F variant either can’t make the high G turns necessary to match a target turning or the processors aren’t fast enough to compute the course change needed to intercept a head on target quickly enough to make the turn. Totally guessing. But use the E and F for rear hemisphere shots and they really aren’t bad. hope it helps. Others feel free to add OR CORRECT me please

I was an infantryman in the U.S. Army for 4 years, A U.S. Border Patrol Agent for another 4 and have spent the last 20 years as a local law enforcement officer in Florida with 10 of that on Patrol and Street Crime Unit. Although the last 10 years have been spent as the agency attorney, I still work with the Patrol guys. So…let’s say I am extremely comfortable around profanity. In fact, I have lived in worlds populated by fraternity brothers, infantryman and cops for so long that I see the proper use of profanity as an art form. I excel at finding the appropriate word and using the perfect inflection with impeccable timing (though never with the Public.) All of that said, I’ve RARELY heard someone say “G* Damn”. “Dammit”’ or “Damn” sure…but not the deluxe addition. I mean, I curse around my kids like a damned animal when I’m pissed and I don’t use it. There is just something about it that many people - even those comfortable with profanity- find highly offensive So, while I find the OP’s reaction to be a little much, I certainly get what he’s saying. If you think that he is one of very few people who are offended by it, you are wrong. I’m not religious at all…haven’t been to church since I got married (the first time!)….but I even kind of twinge a bit when I hear it. So, maybe just replace it with “Are you out of your damned mind?” Also: RichRach (Op)…are you the guy who made all of those Yom Kippur missions for the A-4? If so, VERY well done. I think it’s time for some with the Phantom

Thx. I set it to 40 and it created a “jerky” motion of speeding up and slowing down; just as a 40fps set it back to 75 and it was relatively smoother; just bouncing around between 36 and 72 my next step is to increase some sliders to use some resources so it CANT get to 72

I run my Quest 3 at 72hz as I did my quest 2 so I get 36fps. Because the quest 3 has better processors, im finding that sometimes im at 72fps instead of 36. However, once i get lower to the ground or around other stuff it usually drops to 36fps; great. problem is that it will sometimes jump around between 72 and 36 instead of just dropping and locking at 36. I will see 55, 63, 48, 39, 52, etc…I would have thought that if it can maintain 72fps, it will. But if it cant maintain 72, it will drop to 36; but doesn’t seem to be the case. So, how do I FORCE it to run at 36fps and NOT try to get to 72? I DON’T want to keep it from dropping BELOW 36 with ASW. This isn’t a case where im getting less FPS than I want. It’s the opposite. I’m often getting more but spastically. what can I do to make it stay at 36 with either the quest software or OTT

For a great book, I would recommend “Scream of Eagles” by Robert Wilcox. It is the story of the creation of TopGun. The pilots who created it, the ones who first attended, how they developed the course and syllabus and - most interestingly- the combat experiences of those pilots before TopGun and the fights they had after. All F-4 stuff. gives a lot of insight and discussion to HOW to use the F-4 in a fight against Migs and what NOT to do. How to max perform the F-4 and tactics were also part of it.

Unless someone who is having the issue posts a track file as requested, the answer will continue to be “please post a track file”. I haven’t been able to get on to play around with it this week or I would

Thank you. But as I mentioned, contention allows gen 4 aircraft; not to mention its forays out of the 80’s and into the 90’s with JDAM and Fox 3’s. Not what I’m looking for.

Thank you!

I’m not a big MP guy but since there are no campaigns for the F-4 and liberation hasn’t been updated, I’m trying to mess around with the F-4 online. I am aware of Enigma but it’s often full. Are there any good Vietnam or 1960’s/70’s PVE or PVP servers anyone can recommend? i love contention, 4ya and others but they allow the F/A-18, F-16, etc which kind of ruins it for me

Got it. Thank you!

Ok…I’m a bit confused about something. If I am carrying external wing tanks (not centerline), do I need to set the external tank feed to “outboard” to get the fuel out of them first (or at all)? Or does it automatically feed fuel from there when the transfer is off? I thought it was automatic b.c none of the startup videos i watched mentioned anything about it…but the manual makes it sound like they will feed automatically if there is no gas left anywhere but if you want that gas gone first (so you can drop), then you need to set feed to “out board”

Safe to say this isn’t working as designed. Did any of you guys having this issue send in a track file? Seems like something that would be an easy fix. I have not had the issue with them not firing but I did notice the “one side at a time”. I know it’s a silly recommendation…like “is it turned on”. But once you fired 3, did you make sure the weapon station on the other side with your 4th, 5th and 6th mavericks was activated? I turn on both at the same time but if you are only doing one, you have to remember to activate the other. (At work so no time to read through the thread: apologies if you’ve gone over this )

I’m sure it will see some optimization. I hadn’t had any trouble with any modules until the Hind. I had to download a lower res cockpit mod. Couldn’t tell the difference visually in VR but it certainly helped frame rates. The F-4 hadn’t given me issues until I played Reflective’s Marianas mission; FPS got a bit shakey here and there. Then today on Flashpoint Levant Syria (MP server), my fps was all over the place. Would go from 36 (per eye) to 18, back to 27, 19, 37, etc…in seconds for no apparent reason. I’m thinking it’s the issue with ground units and the F-4/ radar b/c in both those cases, there are a lot of ground units in range of my radar at the same time

Did you try setting the resolution manually in the Misc menu? I set it to 1200x800 and it works. I had no luck/effect just enabling “use DCS resolution”

You know…im beginning to really enjoy the PG map. Not just b/c it’s good performance-wise in VR, but because of how it looks. Some of the more Mountainous regions are really well done. I had always flown around the edges of the gulf and into Bahrain but a lot of the territory in Iran is well done. It doesn’t have the terrain variety of Syria but with a low set sun, the PG terrain looks amazing and I quite enjoy low level flight on it. Especially since trees look….well….not fantastic at low level in VR. Not surprisingly, brown desert dirt is easier to make look good at lower res. Nevada looks great up high but I find the PG dirt to look better low.

Isnt there supposed to be some system implemented where Jester kind of “learns” what you want him to say and when vs shutting the F up?

Your point remains. You don’t have a lot of flying time if you end up in a fight. That’s why I forced myself to learn to tank. Not so much after the fight; but once I get to altitude, I hit the tanker and fill up. If I have to get in a fight, I can at least go in with full internal (or close). Plus, after a fight, you have better luck climbing to 30k and making your way to a tanker than Tryinb to hit an airfield I find either way, I don’t see really digging into what this aircraft is about with refueling. I got lazy with the F-16 b.c I never HAD to. But I should have because knowing how to refuel is as much a part of learning and experiencing the aircraft as operating the TGP or navigating the SA page

I think Kola MIGHT take it in a year or so but not until they finish the other areas and there are some campaigns to get people on it. I think right now, Syria is so popular because it’s not just desert terrain (arid yes..but not PG/Nevada), it looks great AND…there is a lot “there”. Not just the airbases, various cities, ruins, ports, etc…but a lot of history. The issue with Kola (such as it is) is maybe a lack of history (and not as much variation of terrain as Syria?); it’s a “what could have been” and maybe a “what could be”. But it looks good when your over the right areas. SA is a disappointment. It looks good from up high but not down low, the cool terrain is out west where there is nothing else and -except for the Falklands conflict - a lack of history.

I agree that fuel economy isn’t an issue if you are cruising at 30k both ways. But a lot of times…I’m not. I’m flying low on egress or worse, I end up in a fight. Any dogfight I’m in means burner. And burner means I need a tanker. im sure with practice I will get better handling the engines and some of my fuel burn is through inefficiency. i guess I’m used to the Hornet and F-14 when it comes to dual engines and I assumed the Phantom would burn through fuel at the same rate. Doesn’t seem so

For the first time in the 5 years I have been playing DCS, I ran out of gas in the middle of a mission without knowing I was even low. This thing is just like a 60’s American muscle car…it’s less about miles per gallon and more about gallons per mile. So…while I knew how to refuel in probe and drogue (sp?) aircraft (F/A-18, F-14 and Mirage 2k), I never learned how to refuel on the boom. Only one I fly that can is the F-16. While I tried a few times to learn, I was swaying and porpoising too much. Well, in comes the phantom. I have quickly realized that if I intend on flying missions with any semblance of realism, then it doesn’t matter if I have two wing tanks or one centerline….im going to have to be able to refuel this thing. in a dogfight, this puppy is locked in burner the whole time and you can watch the gauge drop. So, I gave it a shot. It took me a good 5 minutes but once I got a handle on it, I did it without much issue. It was ALOT easier than the F-16. I found it more stable and not so “twitchy”. I used RUDDER inputs to move left/righy as well as using trim for up/down; much more stable than the Viper. So, the moral of the story is that if you want to fly realistic missions in this jet- you will HAVE to learn boom-style aerial refueling. So, for those like me who gave up refueling the F-16 (or never tried), give it a shot. After all…you don’t REALLY have a choice!

I re-read the manual section and it stated that in cage/ auto acquisition the radar looks 45 degrees above to 9 degree below the horizon (not above or below nose) due to limitations. so it may be also that the aircraft I was trying to lock was more than 9 degrees below the horizon since I was coming down on him

Uhhh. No. It was on “radar”. But it was on Radar the times it worked too. Am I understanding correctly that when in “Radar”, the radar is looking somewhere other than where I think ig is and - therefore - I should switch to heat (which presumably makes the radar look where the pipper is), lock him and then go to Radar?