CheshireCat

This to me seems like a key point. It's not just the numbers, but how well people fly their chosen aircraft and how well they're able to coordinate with the overall team. I don't think a truly balanced BlueFlag is even possible, due to these very prevalent (and shifting) "soft" factors. As such, I would keep balance in mind, but not as the one factor that will dominate every scenario decision. I didn't join BlueFlag because it was advertised as "come join the most balanced DCS server", but because it offered a chance to fly with more experience pilots to learn from and be a part of an organized team. When I flew for red, the blue team usually had the numbers advantage, and while that fact was acknowledged, it didn't occur to anyone to say "well, let's just quit". We sat on our runways and tried to come up with a plan for deep strikes, surprise attacks, and defending what we still had. Every BlueFlag sortie ended in my Ka-50 blown to bits out of nowhere, and every one of those was the most fun I've had with multiplayer DCS so far. So if anything, please keep in mind why people flock to BlueFlag in the first place, and keep up the tremendous work you've been doing so far! I'd love to take the Shark out with you. Been playing off and on since it was originally released, and currently looking for a way to get deeper into the game. I'm in Europe and I've seen you fly when I joined BlueFlag during the last few days, so there seems to be some possible overlap flight time wise. Not sure how you want to handle this, but feel free to put me on your list. If the next BlueFlag includes the Ka-50 again we'll both be goobering around in our Sharks either way :thumbup: (I've seen your ABRIS screenshot btw, thanks for that! I'm already starting to add that to my flying and want to start a discussion on best ABRIS practices over in the Ka-50 forum.)

I wasn't aware that there is a difference, but it does make sense now that you mention it. As far as I know the manual only states that you receive information from different satellites (GLONASS & NAVSTAR) [manual: p.7-84] and that you can select individual ones for exclusion from the positioning system [manual: p.7-86]. So I suppose you could set it up to only use GLONASS or NAVSTAR information if you wanted to. My original question, however, was merely to ask whether re-calibrating the system is ever actually necessary when flying ingame missions.

Very cool, thank you for the quick and thorough answers! It's great to get some context on some of these details, like the progression of technology and relevant use cases for the systems you usually wouldn't make use of. Thanks! I'm on page 7-81 right now.. I'm pretty sure I will be back :thumbup:

I decided to get back into the Shark after having played the sim off and on since it came out. I'm re-reading the manual, trying to get to grips with all of the systems and, as you may imagine, I have a couple of questions.. :helpsmilie: (1) - NDB/ADF: I don't want to go into the details of these systems (there are plenty tutorials for that), but I would like to know what the general idea of these is. Basically: When would you ever use them? Assuming the ABRIS is in working condition, these additional navigation systems do not make sense to me? What realistic/common ingame situations would necessitate their use..? (2) - HSI: In all the HSI variants (analog and digital) there is one marker that I can never figure out. What is the difference between "desired track angle" and "desired heading" [manual: p.6-17]? I know that the latter does point to the steerpoint, but what does the former point to? I used to think it would point in the direction that would bring the Shark back on course when it deviates, but when I play that doesn't seem to be the case at all. Often the "desired track angle" marker points away from any waypoints and/or flight plan lines. (3) - GPS calibration: I know you can check on the status of GPS satellite communication, but is that ever really necessary? Are there realistic/common situation where this is useful? The same goes for satelite calibration: when would this ever come in handy in the game? (4) - Coordinate formats: You can switch between two different coordinate formats in the ABRIS [manual: p.7.26], which I always do so that ABRIS coordinates match up with those displayed by the PVI-800 [e.g., manual p.6-60]. My question is: what is the difference between the two modes/formats? Why would the helicopter even operate with two different formats? Also, what format are other pilots using, e.g., if I communicate target coordinates to an A-10 pilot, which format would I use? (5) - ABRIS grids: You can display the same two grids on the ABRIS that are shown/used on the F10 map [manual: p.7-33]. What is the difference/use of these two systems? I'm asking specifically in regards to BlueFlag, as I am sure those are used there, I just don't know which and how to read them. For example, I heard people talk about the position of a FARP, but I could not figure out how what they said related to either of the coordinate systems. (6) - External fuel tanks: Am I correct in assuming the fuel provided by external tanks will be used up first? I.e., at some point those will be empty, jettisoned, and the Shark will then continue flying with fully loaded internal tanks? Is there an indicator that shows the state of the external tanks and/or lets you know when they are empty and can be jettisoned? Also, what is the range with and without external tanks, i.e., when do you start loading up on additional fuel? (Ideally, where can I find that information in the manual?) (7) - VOR: One of the available types of waypoints that can be programmed into the ABRIS is termed "VOR" [e.g., manual p.7-45]. What does this stand for, and when should it be used? I'm trying to compile enough knowledge to hopefully being able to write a guide about some of this stuff, so any help is greatly appreciated! :thumbup:

(1) Would you be willing to share your current one? (Since that seems to be the easiest.) It would be a great starting point to just tinker with something that has been properly set up. (For example, I'd have no idea about distances, or which enemy units to place, etc.) (2) Honestly, I'd be more interested in commented pictures. I've seen screenshots where someone would say, "Alright so we want to go here [MS Paint mark on ABRIS] and here are three possible routes through the city that we can see right in front of us [more MS Paint lines]." It was a great way to communicate what you would probably describe as "everyone can see that" to people not used to looking at the terrain like that. Video content is a lot more effort and (I feel) often doesn't necessarily convey any more information. (3) Very cool, I did not know that. I'll be sure to rummage around there! (4) You mean classes as in flying together with someone to teach them about their (air) craft? If you're still interested in doing something like that, I'd definitely be up for it. I feel like there's a lot of very basic things that I (and probably many others) simply don't know or aren't aware of. I wouldn't expect to magically turn into a better pilot, but I'd imagine you could point out what to work towards in order for pilots like me to improve over time. I'm on European time, and I've seen you in the BlueFlag air, so there seems to be some overlap for possible flight time -- if time and willingness permits, feel free to shoot me a line!

Very cool, thanks a lot for sharing Reaper! I started flying the Shark on and off since it came out but I never stuck with it because of a perceived lack of things to do. Seems like I was just being lazy and there's actually plenty of SP content out there. When you say you mess around with the worst weather conditions, are you flying the included missions? Fan made ones? Would you be willing to compile a list of maybe a couple of suggestions to get people started and learn looking in the right places for fun SP stuff to fly? Also -- and sorry for asking for your arm here after you just extended a hand -- would you maybe be willing to post a sample mission? Not a video, mind you, but maybe just fly as you usually do, and take a screenshot every once in a while (for example if you do an ABRIS update) and then post them here with some annotations. I would hugely appreciate something like that and I'm pretty sure I'd not the only one! To everyone else I'd like to say: I just dipped my toe into Blue Flag as it was coming to its close, and it was amazingly fun to just be part of that map-spanning team effort, listening in to you guys coordinating and setting up attack runs. I'll be sure to be back next round and hopefully contribute some as well!

I vote for the Ka-50. There's so much material on the A-10C already, and a guide for it would probably much more of an undertaking than the choppers with a smaller number of systems. I'd work my way up the volume ladder :) (And as mwd2 just said above me: wait with the Mi-8 till all the systems are actually working.)

This is amazing, thanks a lot for putting your time into this! It looks like a ton of work.. well done, and thanks again, it's very much appreciated!

Yes you can, but it is a bit cumbersome and requires you to tab out of the game. Basically you need to extract the info from the mission file. For example, the second training mission for Black Shark 2 can be found under: ..\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World\Mods\aircraft\Ka-50\Missions\EN\Training\Aircraft Operation - Interactive Training by BigfootMSR\2 (Adjust the bold-faced options with the aircraft & mission you're looking for.) There you can open the .miz file with an unzip program such as 7zip. Just right click and choose "open with" to do so. Within the archive, extract the "mission" file and open it with any text editor. There you can find the mission script and re-read any messages that you missed. It's not the best solution, but since the training missions often take quite some time it certainly beats repeating the whole thing.

Thanks a lot for all your answers! You helped me to be noticeably more comfy when flying missions, which obviously is totally awesome :D (Also, I love the sniper approach. Though I more or less flew like this already, I never realized it, and now I really try to focus on it, and it's a buttload of fun :) )

Thanks for all the tips and clearing some stuff up for me! Hadn't time to jump into it the last few days, but will try out some new approaches right now. I think I mainly just got impatient last time and started to just rush into the missions. Have to get those Unreal Tournament reflexes out of my head :) As a follow-up question: With all this careful planning and nimbly sneaking around the battlefield, how long does a short mission usually take you? (And a long one?) Very often I think my approach - even when it's actually working - is far too slow and I should have been over that hill in front of me ten minutes ago.. I don't have any real frame of reference here, except my experience with other games which play much faster and thus probably shouldn't factor into designing tactics for this machine.

So this creepy guy always following me actually has some use.. will definitely try that one, thanks!

I appreciate the helpfulness, but you're probably talking about the DCS Warthog game, correct? Cuz.. like.. I'm not ;)

Alright, but that's kind of my problem: All the mission briefing says is to "support close fire support", and that -to me- means: I follow the tanks, and take out what harms them and they cannot handle on their own. But -again, to me- does certainly not mean: Fly ahead of your tanks and take out what they are supposed to. This is what I don't get: I'm supposed to be the support? They are the group of 5+x tanks, so they are the firepower to do the heavy lifting, not me? (As a more specific example: when facing another group of tanks, supported by enemy artillery, it should clearly be the tank squad's job to take out the enemy armor, while I use the Shark to bite the artillery in the back? But once I do that, my tanks just get chewed up ôO ) Also, as an additional question: shouldn't it be possible for the tanks to transmit their designated targets? As far as I understand, the Shark's datalink only works with it's own flight group, so it's not possible to get targeting data from units on the ground / headquarters / etc.?

Long time listener, first time caller! I've been playing Black Shark for a while now, but I am still unsure of what exactly the missions expect from me. My current view of the Black Shark is that of an extremely mobile tank, with close to no armor at all .. so when flying missions, I constantly ask myself the same question: what exactly am I supposed to do?! As far as I can tell, there are anti aircraft stations littered everywhere through the missions, and these lead me to my first question: Am I supposed to spot these..? I had a hard time identifying targets, so I decided to switch on the labels, in order to use this option for training. But even with these, I am totally unable to aim at hidden AA placements, when they are posted in some forest or in a town.. so my current view is this: AA stuff is not there to be shot at, bot *solely* to force me to fly very carefully and keep my head down. Like some sort of annoying background noise - I can't shut it off, I just have to live with it ..? And this leads directly to my main question: When I look at AI controlled helicopters, they like to strafe the battlefield and are in constant motion. So I always assumed that's the way to fly .. rush over the battlefield, scan for targets and quickly take them out. But after some hours of flying it seems to me thats a completely wrong approach? So I switched my strategy to the following: try to anticipate from where I will be able to pick off some enemies, and sneak up to that position. Go into cover, and very carefully take out as much as possible, and then look for the next position to crawl to. Now my problem: this really takes a lot of time! It's much more flexible than a tank on the ground, but the AI tanks just roll on forward, while I'm still trying to get into position, and consequently they all get shot to bits and pieces. So .. am I supposed to rush on in front of the tanks and clear the way for them..? That seems kind of ridiculous to me? They are the firepower, I'm just the support? Also: is it even possible to be a really fast killer with the Black Shark? After all, first you have to find a target, slew the camera to aim at it, set your marker and then still be far enough away that the other guy can't shoot back at you - and no AA emplacements just picking you off while you're doing your attack run .. So.. any advice for this rookie? (As a side node: since this is my first post, I'd like to thank the awesome community here for all the tips I already took from the site, and of course give a lot of thanks to the awesome development team, who took it upon themselves to grace us with the most awesome sim experience of this day and age - you guys just plain rock :) )