RafaPolit

Well, you can buy as gift, as long as you don't own the product yourself. If you already have it, the option to buy is grayed out and it claims that you already have a license for that product. What am I missing? Thanks for any feedback.

Yeah, good points Jayhawk... I mostly fall in a category "in between"... I am methodical, but, after a while, I prefer to stop being frustrated, and just turn away for a while and return. I actually figured out how much I suck at this, precisely, during the LANTRIN mission that requests for you to refuel. Still, if I have to travel 40 miles, bomb a couple of places, then travel another 40 to the tanker, only to fail miserably, then that is not great either! Still, I am still very far away from succeeding, but from this: (Notice the poor tanker pilots ejecting! ) To this: (I'm actually "stuck" in the tankers elevator") To finally, at least, having a basket in sight and on the correct side of the plane: (And, this basket actually came out for me, after it was retracted for my wingman - he had finished quite a while ago -), so, things look like there might be some chance to actually some day achieve this. Thanks for all the help and feedback! It's really nice to have someone to share this with and be able to receive suggestions / criticism. Thanks, Rafa.

Thanks for the input friends! So, yeah, I know practice will make me better. Having the wings at bomb position did help with reducing the changes in attitude and pitch for the time being. I have a Logitech X-56 and Logitech Rudder, probably that puts it in the "medium" category Draconus? No headtracking yet, I'm looking into purchasing a TrackIR. I do get 30fps most of the time at 1440p with my NVIDIA 2060 but I guess I'm on the "medium" side of performance as well. So, I score 3 points on your AAR difficulty scale On the lowish side of good enough. I did reduce the curves to "just a tad" like @Jayhawk1971suggested, I believe it helped. I'm not using rudder at all during the procedure, yet Jay mention's rudder to avoid drag. Do you guys use much rudder during this procedures? Yeah, the trim is probably the most important thing I'm neglecting! Thanks again, Rafa.

HOTAS and monitor... just purchased the HOTAS and getting used to it, plus deciding if using any "curve" setting for the main stick or not. Obviously it's a lot of skills to learn, but I'm struggling with controlling the view orientation with the HOTAS. Not sure I can / want to invest in a TrackIR at this point, so watching sideways and up to home into the tanker is not ideal. Also, when the tanker gets "behind" the blind spots on the cockpit, it's hard to assess how it's going to end up after it shows. Of course, all of these difficulties are because of my lack of skill and any skilled pilot would be able to do this with halve a stick and one eye, but I'm currently really struggling. Thanks for the tips!

Well... the thing that is, apparently, not working as it is supposed to are my flying abilities. I finally managed to get more or less stable behind the plane, almost tasting the fumes from the jets, and my "pre-contact" call was actually returned with a "contact ready" and the basket extended. But I cannot keep that position to even close to the smoothness I have seen online with people nailing that basket. My nose jumps all around, my speed as well. I think this is a case of pilot error. Regarding @Callsign JoNay 's comment... maybe it's not a matter of distance but more steadiness and matching speed? Yeah, I'll have to improve a lot before attempting this, I guess. Thanks for all the answers!!! Rafa.

Thanks for the answer. I don't think I'm getting the expected behavior. If I send my wingman first, I never get a basket... if I allow him to refuel and finish, the basket HE was using is actually retracted! How far away would I need to signal the pre-contact? Thanks.

Good afternoon friends! Very new to DCS here, first post! Really loving learning the different planes and the different locations. As part of my "learning" process, I have done all the (pilot) training missions and now I am doing the Instant Actions for the F-14, as well as reading most relevant parts of the manual (for my current level). I'm now trying to do the Air to Air Refueling Practice for the Caucasus map, yet I am confused: the instructions read that I should "practice dancing with the starboard basket while your wingman tanks on the port side". There is no basket on the right hand side. I try an "Intent to refuel" call, I get the altitude and speed, still no basket. I send a "Ready pre-contact" and receive a "Return pre-contact" back that sounds more like a question, and I am stuck in that loop and never see a basket. What am I missing? Sorry if this is obvious, I am really new so be lenient this time, I promise I pick up things quickly! As for a side laugh and proof that I don't have a basket... here's a small capture of me getting too close to the wing to see the missing basket. Thanks in advance, really happy to be part of this community of pilots. Rafa.