virgo47

Tried to repair my struts after a botched landing... and after three minutes the plane went up like a UFO, everything looked brand new... and bang! Struts broken again. And that's how I found this thread.

The latest version available from GitHub causes problems with F-15C binding since 2.9.0: There seems to be a recent fix for dev_install.lua, but I'm not going to hot-patch a mod. I've seen some video (forgot the link) with some promising progress, it seems like they want to make the mod even more immersive, but I'd like to hear more. Also, the mod had an annoying popup in-game with at least some of the shopping options not really working. I'm not sure about the state of the mod. What I liked about it most, actually, was not the clickability itself (although cool), but the tooltips on particular controls. That is the documentation/exploratory function of the mod. A lot of research went into this mod, really cool.

I was also wondering how UV works. There seems to be nothing about it in the manual (or not easy to search). I never understood why the top position "turns it off!", but later I figured out the meaning of START - and also noticed, that the rheostat moves back a notch. I'm curious whether the real thing is spring-loaded or temporarily latched somehow. This makes it difficult to use with an axis because the max position on the axis is not the max position before starter (unless I experiment with some saturation which I might). Using inc/dec button action is perhaps better. But that one makes it also difficult to stop before the starter positon. Perhaps the start should be different binding and leave only the rest of the travel for inc/dec or axis mapping. Tough stuff. Finally, the CB, it seems to do the bad stuff only in START position, but that would make sense. When it pops out of it to the normal max position I have much harder time to pop the CB.

@f-18hornet Thanks for the report, today I also noticed, that also normal bindings to select the channels A-D do not only press it, but also unselect it on the other press. Is that a feature? These can toggle infinitely (unlike the power off that gets stuck in the unpushed state and is not possible to push it with the binding anymore).

Oh yes, please. Of course, it's not critical, but I've noticed that WW2 manuals for P-47 instruct not to leave the parking brake set "under no circumstances" (EDIT: this is cold weather procedure to avoid freezing.). Chocks would make a lot of sense. Also in current P-47 videos, you see the chocks used and removed just before the taxi.

I also encountered the missing binding and no toggle option. BTW: In P-51D there is also a reset function, is there nothing like it in P-47D? Do I have to cycle it using cage/uncage?

Hello P-47 pilots! I checked the manual and Chuck's guide, but except for mentions, there is nothing specific about this interconnect. I was just curious, when is it used, how, etc. This also led me to this Il-2 thread and comment: https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/71432-p-47d-interconnect-throttle-and-prop-controls-onoff-lsht-i/ This would suggest that DCS's both-way lock between these two is... different at least if not wrong(?). Is it a variant? To me the pitch-control and throttle together don't make sense (but I'm pretty new to all the propeller stuff and still amazed by how different the planes can be). One way protection to avoid RPM under throttle makes sense though. So the two questions - is it really a both ways lock? And: How and when is it used?

Yeah, I was also wondering about it. Neither the keybinds, nor the Undercarriage axis allow N position (the axis merely flips the lever in extreme positions). So it's probably not modelled.

I've bought this recently and so far I love this module. It also has a great tutorial - although some details are disputable, it is great it is so detailed. So far no obvious bugs in controls (which is very rare for DCS module)... it shows that it is not an old module. I like this release, I believe this is how a good module should be released. I'll see later, but my hopes are high. Also the whole plane, the management, bazillion of levers in the throttle quadrant... it's fun!

+1... should be trivial to fix

Thanks for the info! My trial is over, but this can be tested with TF-51D as well - and you're right, in flight it works with just a tiny delay, no problem. I guess the Test switch works only after the radar is warmed up as well - which makes on the ground testing useless. Not sure why it's designed this way, I'd assume things are testable on the ground, but good to know anyway. I just wanted to "test" the light (I know it works in DCS) just like any other light in the plane and that's how I got to it. You're also right that the bell is VERY quiet during the actual flight. Good to know not to rely on it.

With mouse, you can click on the OFF only to push it, then you have to turn it on with one of the A-D buttons. With the binding, the first time it pushes OFF, but the second time it "unpushes" it and further usage of "Radio Power" binding does nothing. You have go go through one of the A-D buttons again to turn it off. Also, the radio with unpushed OFF button seems to do something - the light in the corner is ON (when the switch is in R/REM):

The Rear Warning seems to work - at least on the ground. I turn on the battery, then its power switch and after ~3 minutes it starts ringing/light goes on. But how does the test switch work? How can I test the bell and light without waiting for the system to actually detect something? I tried to hold the switch for longer time, still nothing. It's not doing anything for me.

This phrasing puzzles me a bit as well, but I belive that "you" is not about YOU, it's more like "if auth HAS BEEN saved". I don't think there is something user can do about it.

Great, thanks... but my two modules bought yesterday are still disabled... when can I expect the recent purchases to work again?

All my modules were deactivated - and I played just yesterday OK. I thought the connection/login problem should NOT make the game "vanilla DCS" anymore, but here we are again. Please, make the game playable at least offline and don't deactivate all the modules when my last successful login was mere hours ago. Naturally, there was no update of the game on my end in between. EDIT: I attached my log: 2024-02-12 08:57:11.049 ERROR ASYNCNET (16204): Login failed becase server returned invalid reply. 2024-02-12 08:57:11.432 INFO APP (Main): Loading cached auth data... 2024-02-12 08:57:11.475 WARNING APP (Main): Login failed, offline auth is not available. dcs.log

Geez, things move fast... thanks for the heads-up.

BTW - as a cleaner alternative to the mod above... (EDIT: Open Mod Manager mentioned instead of OVGME) Recently, I was doing something similar with the missing commands in a joystick section for MiG-21 - and it was recommended to me using the Quaggle's input command injector, which I manage with OVGME. Both were new to me at that time, but it was VERY EASY and no problems with the consistency check - and even if they were OVGME makes it easy to undo. This is usable also for this case and makes the whole thing MUCH cleaner: Install Open Mod Manager https://wiki.hoggitworld.com/view/OVGME if you don't have it (I didn't) for better management of mods that go to your DCS installation directory. Good value proposition. Download https://github.com/Quaggles/dcs-input-command-injector mod, put it into the "mods" dir you created for OMM and enable it (this one goes into DCS installation directory). The rest happens in your Saved Games/<dcs> directory - which is a great thing. Create InputCommands\<plane>\Input\<?>\<device> directory there. The first part (InputCommands) is the root of the "patches" that Quaggles input injector uses, the rest is the structure that copies the Input file structure under <dcs-installation>\Mods\aircraft. For instance, for the Spitfire and joystick you want this structure: I've provided an example for P-51D, just unpack it into InputCommands. The provided file DOES NOT assign the actions to the keyboard/joystick/mouse yet, although it can be done as well (providing the proper combos, I guess). However, now you can assign it in the DCS. Works very well and it's not such a hassle as I'd expect. And the fact that it is all customizable INSIDE your Saved Games config files is a great thing, of course. I didn't provide other warbirds... as I'm yet to configure them myself, but it is now extremely easy. It's a shame the flashlight isn't there by default without this hassle, but I recommend this solution for any other module that doesn't bother to provide all the commands for binding - or provides them only for the keyboard and not for the joystick/mouse, and similar cases. Highly recommended. P-51D.ZIP

This should be available, starting warbirds in the dark is not easy until you have SOME light.

I've bought P-47 and Spitfire, and they also have missions with similar issues with the included SnapViews, so this is probably some copy/paste problem also between modules: In Mods/aircraft: $ for i in */Missions/*/*.miz; do unzip -l "$i" | grep -iq SnapViews.lua && echo $i ; done FA-18C/Missions/QuickStart/IA-FA-18C-Syria-Gauntlet.miz Flaming Cliffs/Missions/Campaigns/CWW-Outro.miz P-47D-30/Missions/QuickStart/P-47D - Caucasus -Train Strafe.miz P-47D-30/Missions/QuickStart/P47D-IA-Caucasus-Low Level Hell.miz P-51D/Missions/QuickStart/P-5125 - Caucasus - Train Strafe.miz P-51D/Missions/QuickStart/P-5130 - Caucasus -Train Strafe.miz P-51D/Missions/QuickStart/P51D-IA-Caucasus-Low Level Hell.miz SpitfireLFMkIX/Missions/QuickStart/Spitfire - Caucasus - Train Strafe.miz SpitfireLFMkIX/Missions/QuickStart/Spitfire(CW) - Caucasus -Train Strafe.miz SpitfireLFMkIX/Missions/QuickStart/SPITFIRE-IA-Caucasus-Low Level Hell.miz I can repeat the report under those module sections, but I'll wait after this is acknowledged (or explained) first.

I've made another test, this time at higher altitude, although I'm not sure how important that is. First I went for active-pause test and accelerated time, no problems at all, switching went exactly as expected. Start at 157% of fuel, switch to left combat tank at 152%, then - as calculated and expected - fuel pressure dropped around 123%, so I switched to R combat tank, and then around 95% (first 5% went from the left wing tank) I switched to internal tanks. No problem. Second time I decided to fly actually fly it and also switch more often from tank to tank, but make notes what happens when. To my surprise, things went wrong quickly... again, around 152% I went for L combat tank, then around 143% I switched to R combat tank. I lost a plane for a moment, but I don't believe the maneuvers were that excessive, but... suddenly I lost 50 gals in 10 seconds: There is nothing in the Score window, I wasn't sure about some malfunction... I made and checked the track again, whether I'd see anything in those moments... nothing obvious in an external view. But 50 gals were lost. Strangely, from the gauges it seemed like some internal fuel was lost as well. So, naturally, I suspected the maneuvers. I restarted the mission and tried pretty crazy things... but I couldn't replicate it. Track file is attached. p51d-lost-fueltrk.trk

I've experimented with the drop tanks during the last few days and they are definitely a bit peculiar. I've written a script to see the fuel level in messages regularly (only overall, but better than nothing) to see whether the fuel somehow disappears or what. I always burn a bit of left-wing tank to get around 75 mark and it never gets to F, so I hope there is no problem on this front. The mission is my custom free flight and the stories vary: I've flown ~angels 20 on the left drop tank, I switched to the right tank drop tank and lost fuel pressure within seconds, although there was no chance I spent the whole fuel. Repeated on at least two flights, no idea what was wrong. (I have no info on the fuel level for these cases, it was before I added the script.) I've active-paused the plane after the mission start at angels 6, fuel 157% (100% is for full internal fuel), went over all the tanks, starting with a bit from the wing left, then the combats one after another... fuel pressure dropped when expected based on the fuel %, I switched through all of them and went all the way to 0. The plane "flew" for over 5 hours, no problem. (I used time accel of course.) I went over Caucasus again, ~angels 30, used the both left and right drop tank just a bit, then switched to the right drop tank for good when I was ~140% of fuel. The missing 17% went a bit from the left wing and both combat tanks. Neither of the combat tanks could have been empty by this time, it's mathematically impossible. The fuel reported going down all the way to 92%... it worked like there was some kind of interconnect between the drop tanks, because the moment the fuel pressure dropped, I switched to the left combat tank - and it was empty too! I have no explanation for this behavior, the only normal case seemed the experiment in active pause. I don't know how altitude is involved in all this, reportedly the altitude can make the engine management harder, but I guess you want to use drop tanks first even when you escort bombers in high altitude - and you probably want to fly high to fly further, but I'm not an expert on this.

+1

Thank you, guys, for the info. It's easy to get it all confused, but in the end, anything under 46"/2700 RPM should work "indefinitely" (numbers used in many posts here and in both tables, on p30 and p128) and cruising at 42"/2400 (manual p128) should be perfectly safe.

Ah... so the table is for the engine (the section is), with some stuff not specific for the plane? Is that right?