HemingwayFE

Has anyone else had an issue with the F16 stick being recognized by the Ultra base? I just got my setup in today and the F16 stick left LED intermittently illuminates. Doesn't recognize in the RS HID program or in windows. edit: problem was sorted by RS support. Had to re-adjust the base connector

Experiencing graphical issues starting with mission 2. Terrain is all flat white with no detail being rendered and same for the ocean. It's very unusual. Mission 1 is fine. This is with both hot start and cold start campaigns. The visual anomaly is not present anywhere else in DCS either.

There's no discernable way to tell what may have happened. Speculating at this point is a moot point.

Here's hoping to a good rescue story out of this one.

Tankers would use UHF only in real world ops.

It's part of my preflight to check the outflow valves. I do this by checking the switch action on the pressure controller, the outflow valve in the forward lower lobe, the same one on the exterior walk-around, and the aft valve on the exterior. The valves are left open on the ground and close upon rotate.

I never said it was easy to recognize. The training is there to provide a toolset. It's not a 100% guarantee. And yes, all USAF flyers undergo altitude chamber training. 12 hour night duties would be great. I routinely pull 12+ on flying days. I know the rigors of back to back flying. That's why we do an Operational Risk Management sheet. The Aircraft Commander has, at a glance, a good snapshot of the crew's ability. Am I still sharp on the 3rd 14 hour sortie of the week? Yup. Am I still fallible to mistakes? Yup. No denying that. If I'm following the checklists and so are the other guys there shouldn't (note how I didn't say never) be an issue catching something early. And for the record, I never said anything near 'can't be that difficult'. I'm not that big of a dumb dumb. I'm an E-3 Sentry flight engineer. Bleed air is air tapped off from either a ground cart, auxiliary power unit, or the aircraft's engine. You need bleed air on to use things like the A/C system which, in turn, pressurizes the aircraft. Bleed air from an APU or ground cart is used to start the aircraft's engine--2 things needed, one being electrical power and the other being air. Air engages the starter turbine which then cranks the engine turbine (most likely an N2 turbine shaft then followed by an N1 turbine--that's how it is on the TF-33 anyhow).

I was speaking to the point that training provides the means and tools to deal with most any situation. Ad yea, you should be able figure out what the hell is going on. Doesn't mean it always happens, but if you're with the aircraft then I don't see why you shouldn't. EDIT: I should also add that it would hopefully never get that far anyway. Taking a glance at the pressurization panel needs all of a second or so. The Helios crew punched their tickets well before wheels up.

There's no damn desirable way to die in an airplane.

And so are USAF aircrews. Been there, done that. I understand mishaps happen and will happen. The training is in place to prevent those mishaps. Bottom line is a crew going hypoxic is not the only reason why a plane ends up turfed. There are many other factors coming into play well before that point. Human error being chief among them.

I would not buy this for a dollar. You're just mincing words or not understanding the physiological training aircrew goes through to understand/prevent this. Cabin climbing to 10,000 feet triggers a Loss of Pressure horn. I ignore it and silence the horn. We climb to an altitude of 32,000 feet. I feel sleepy, and tingling in my fingers. That is going to tell me something is amiss. How do I know this? Because I've been trained to. I've detected that the cabin is not pressuring properly and/or climbing slowly causing an insidious onset of hypoxia. I don't know how else to explain this.

Yes, it's oxygen-related. It's why mountain climbers carry O2 bottles with them and why emergency O2 is delivered under pressure. When I did my altitude chamber training the oxygen was delivered at such a great pressure exhaling became an exercise almost. Even on the AWACS it comes out on the emergency setting at a good pressure. Gotta compensate for the thin air in some manner. Divers experience tremendously high pressure at differing depths. The pressure aircrew feel is not anywhere near that. In a normally operating aircraft pressurized within a normal range it's the same pressure as living in a place like Denver. In a rapid decompression scenario, holding in your breath could result in you blowing a lung. I fortunately was told prior to that we were going from 10,000 feet altitude to something like 25,000 feet almost instantly. It's like being an explosion in your chest. Literally, the air is blown out of your body. Very odd feeling.

And that's what happens when there is no adherence to the checklists. People die.

Absolutely not true! Altitude chambers exist in modern military forces to demonstrate the insidious onset of hypoxia. Every person shows known signs and symptons when their body is starved of oxygen. At certain pressure altitudes the onset of hypoxia may be a matter of hours, minutes, or mere seconds(Time of Useful Consciousness). The most dangerous of this is an aircrew unaware of the high cabin altitude (insidious). This is when proper training and experience will SHOW you how exactly you react. We have a 4 year requirement in the USAF to attend chamber training just for this reason. To your average airline passenger, they may or may not realize they are feeling 'off'. To the crew, they sure as heck would have an idea if they were engaged into what was happening. Flightdeck personnel will be doing proper check outs of O2 systems and cabin pressurization. These systems are, for the most part, fire and forget. The training comes in to be actively doing panel scans, observing the cabin altitude during critical phases of flight, and ensuring the A/C system, and bleed air source is all operational.

E-3 Sentry. We break with the best of them.