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Hello everyone, I recently had the pleasure of getting two people into DCS, who really wanted to take a deep dive into flight Simulation. Both of them already had a little flight sim experience and wanted to build a fundamental understanding on how to fly and operate fighters. Since the questions "what should be my first module" and "where should I start" are common questions and we had good fun and great success in learning and building fundamentals, I figured I might share this on the forums as well. This is not a universal guide that I would recommend to anyone who just wants to have some fun airquaking in their favourite module. If you "only want some fun" (which is completely fine and understandable) then you can basically stop reading and skip all of this. Go ahead, buy your favourite module, download chucks guide for that specific module and employ youtube and go have fun This guideline is for those, who are interested in gaining a great foundation to build on and it is by no means necessary to do it that way, to have fun in DCS. Think of it like getting a new computer. Some people want to know every last specc and fully understand how everything plays together and build it themselves, while others just order a machine and just Plug & Play. This is the "Builders" way of doing it But be aware: This is not the "cheap" way to get into DCS. Modules, Maps and Campaigns need to be bought if you want to go down that route, but it's also very likely to keep you occupied for multiple months and leave you with strong fundamentals, so if you're serious about simming, it's well worth the money. And for those who just want a brief overview, without the yadayadayada: L-39 Albatros L-39 Training L-39 Quick Missions (easily playable after the Training Missions) L-39 Kursant Campaign Mirage 2000C (NTTR Required) Mirage 2000C NTTR Training (it's more recent than the Caucasus Training and therefore gives a lot less headache) Mirage 2000C's Caucasus Campaign Mirage 2000C Red Flag Campaign So... Let's start with the most basic question, that most people don't ask early enough: How can I take away the most from the Training missions? This one is especially true when you're starting to learn procedures and need to remember a ton of switches, buttons, speeds, heights and angles at the same time, because without the right approach, it's very easy to get overwhelmed. What I do and always recommend is the following: When you start up the first Training Mission for your Jet (which usually includes the start-up procedure), Pause the game and look around the cockpit. What do you see? How many Panels? Where are they located? Now take a blank piece of Paper and draw a rough sketch of the panel layout. Don't worry about any switches, just draw up the rough layout of the panels themselves and write abbreviations that you can work with into it. I mostly use things like "HUD, C - Center, CB - Center Bottom, LF - Left Front, RF - RIght Front..." etc. to build my Cockpit Map. Once you're done with that, unpause the mission and follow through with it. Every time a new procedure is introduced (Start Up, Taxi, Start etc.) you take that procedures name as a headline and write the steps down as a checklist. "RF - BATTERY: ON" "RF - ENGINE: ON" etc. That way, you're making sure that you're doing everything correctly for every tutorial and campaign that comes after it, because you're working through the checklists as intended, while at the same time retaining more information due to the physical action of writing it down, all while building a mental map of the cockpit. After you have played the Training Mission while writing it down - immediately put your Checklist to the Test. Start an available instant Mission or create your own, where you're repeating the exact same thing without an instructor. Then: Move on to the next training. When done with all trainings for your Jet, feel free to get your feet wet in a few missions or jump straight into the Campaign. This isn't possible for every module but it is for those included in here. Building the Basics: L-39 Albatros (C and ZA) The L-39 Albatros is a rather slow Jet Trainer with just enough power, ordonnance choice and Hardpoints to get your feet wet. The Flightmodel is very accurate and has it's quirks that will challenge you to fly the airplane with suttle input and gentle control handling. However you can't really break anything, so as long as you have enough height it's very forgiving. It's not a complex airplane by any means, but you will get used to navigating a full fidelity cockpit and following procedures without task overload. Also due to the lack of complexity and the lack of systems, you can fix anything you might have been forgetting (loading your cannon, switching the hardpoints to use) etc. on the go and without a lot of hassle. But besides all it's simplicity it's still good enough to be useful on popular Multiplayer Servers like Enigmas Cold War Server. Plan your sorties, fly smart and you're going to rack up some credits by ground pounding and hunting down helos and hogs. You might even get lucky and manage to get sneaky kills on Sabres, A4's and F-5E's. Don't expect to airquake tho and also don't expect to run into a lot of C-101 drivers to Dogfight with. However: Should you find yourself in or near a Furball, you can expect to comfortably be allowed to pick your target. You will most likely be disregarded as a threat with all those angry saussages around. L-39 Training The L-39 Training is pretty self explanatory. It's up to date, everything works like a charm and regardless of any updates the ballistics didn't seem to have changed, so all the settings and parameters you're learning for Bombs, Rockets and Gunpods still apply and are worth memorizing. If you don't want to memorize it - write it down together with your checklists. One thing to be very aware of when going through your training missions is, that you're flying two different aircraft here. You will fly both the C and the ZA Variant on different occasions and they do have different cockpit layouts. The ZA Variant being the Light Attack Aircraft, it has a lot more options to control your weapons and therefore has a different placement for that. The C Variant has the Weapon Controls in the Bottom Center, while the ZA Variant has it located in the Left Front and at the Left side below the canopy edge. L-39 Quick Missions The L-39 Instant Action Missions include Coldstarts, Starts, Landing, A/A against enemy Jets and Helos, as well as Mudmoving in every possible way (Guns, Rockets, Bombs). It's a mix of L-39C and ZA Missions, so you will also be able to train on both and learn the differences. If you successfully finished all the Trainings, you should have no issues whatsoever to complete those instant action missions. A useful sidenote here: The range of IA Missions is getting bigger if you add more maps to the pool. Caucasus, Syria, Persian Gulf and NTTR provide a rather wide range of different instant action scenarios, all of which are worth playing before hopping into Multiplayer. L-39 Kursant Campaign For a beginner who really wants to learn how to fly (or even for the seasoned airquaker who never really learned basic airmenship) there can't be enough good things to say about the Kursant Campaign. The margin for error is rather tight and you will learn the basics of flight until you actually have it down, otherwise you're not going to pass the missions. It includes absolutely everything from basics such as level turns and navigation, all the way to ground attack approaches, all of which have to be executed precisely to pass the Missions. If you don't come out of this campaign knowing how to really control your aircraft, I don't know what will help you achieve that. It's also a great introduction into flight mechanics for airplanes without FBW, due to the L-39's quirk of departing flight in high G turns. Very good starting point to eventually transition to the F-14 - the flight characteristics feel somewhat similar. The Kursant Campaign should not be seen as an advanced tutorial tho. You will have to read through the briefings, make ample use of the kneeboard and be able to retain information well while executing at a rather high level. That should be no issue for a seasoned player but is likely to be challenging for a new Pilot. You will have guidance in the form of your instructor, that doesn't mean that anyone is holding your hand tho. Done with the Albatros, now what?! First of all: Congratulations! You have made it through some of the seemingly most "uncool" part of your DCS-Career, but trust me, it was worth it! Honestly, I think you could take any airworthy airframe to the skies after learning the ins and outs of the L-39 and fly it in a safe and precise way with a little practice. Remember: You're coming from a slow airframe with no FBW, that requires decent energymanagement, is prone to departing in High G scenarios and that wouldn't let you employ your weapons at more than 2G. If you mastered this - everything else is going to be a lot easier. So basically - Transition to whatever airframe you want if you have absolutely no interest in becoming a more proficient Pilot or if you have zero interest in flying the Mirage 2000C, because you don't like france, deltawings, or because you just want the latest fighter to airquake with. You will most likely be doing fine. However, I still recommend the M2000C as your next step up. Why? Heres why... The Mirage 2000C - your interactive, comprehensive guide to modern Fighterjets The M2000C may not be everyones piece of cake when it comes to it's looks (although I think it is a pretty sexy aircraft), but it is sure as hell one fine performing beast with GREAT(!!!) Tutorials and Campaigns. Just like the L-39 before, you will be at a disadvantage on the bigger MP Servers (Buddyspike Blue Flag, Growling Sidewinder) against Aircraft like the F/A-18, F16 or JF-17, but you will still be a formidable enemy with GREAT performance if you manage to get in close enough. However, don't expect to be able to go head to head in a hotdog-throwing contest with any fighter that has Fox 3 Capability. Why? Well.. first of all you only get two radar guided sausages to play with and second of all, they're only semi active Fox 1 Missiles. They're good but you will not be able to break through a curtain of 4 - 10 Fox 3 being thrown at you in an open engagement. Fly smart, use your speed and your maneuverability to your advantage and you'll be doing just fine. M2000C Training (NTTR) The NTTR Training Missions are the most recent trainings for the M2000C and even those aren't completely perfect, due to updates and changes that have been made after those came out. Have Chucks Guide and YouTube Videos ready, just in case you get stuck somewhere. One of the most notable flaws for me has been the outdated tutorial on setting up the INS. Also weapon employment seems to need a little update, that is managable tho and can be worked around with the information provided over the course of the training. You're likely to be able to figure that one out on your own with enough context. Now, while the trainings may be outdated, you get a lot of information that you wouldn't get in other trainings. You're going to learn how to really use VOR Navigations and how to potentially set you up for bad weather approaches and ILS Landings by using VOR Offsets. You also get a pretty good introduction into the INS System, why theres INS Drift and how to correct that mid-flight. I was very happy with it when I first played through it and so has been everyone I recommended it to. Really can't go wrong here. This time however, I wouldn't recommend replaying everything in the Instant Action Missions, although you can if you feel like it. What I would recommend is: Just play through the trainings once and take notes, as you did before with the L-39. This time, the REAL Training will start in the campaign. The Training will make sure you can figure out what you should bind to your HOTAS and will be a basic familiarization with the airplane. You're going to know how to start it up, take it to the air, engage air and ground targets, navigate back to base and land it. More than enough for the Caucasus Campaign. M2000C Caucasus Campaign This Campaign puts you in the shoes of an exchange pilot who unexpectedly got sent into a conflict zone and now needs to be familiarized with the M2000C to a combat ready state. You will have a lot of hand-holding in the first couple of missions, while also learning some trivia through the nice radio voiceovers. It's an enjoyable campaign for anyone, but it's especially great at training you on the M2000C. Every mission starts and ends in a cold & dark state, so you will memorize procedures quickly and be able to start her up with your eyes closed in no time. Slowly but surely you're being let off the leash and do more and more things on your own. In this campaign, you will utilize every capability of this Jet. Low & Fast, A/A, A/G, Bad weather landings, Air to Air refueling, Navigation, Radio operations, you name it. After playing through this campaign, you will have a great understanding of modern jets, different bombs and missile types, how to utilize your radar and your navigation systems to the fullest. What you don't get to practice a lot in this campaign is performing under stress. It's not very hectic for the most part and you have enough time to figure everything out. On Multiplayer Servers and in most player made scenario missions, you don't get to have that luxury. So while you technically "Graduated" and now know everything you could possibly want to know before stepping into the most modern jets in DCS, I would still recommend... M2000C Red Flag Campaign Baltic Dragon did a great job again. You will take over missions as a wingman and flight lead, as well as flying in huge formations and employ pretty much every weapon the M2000C is capable of employing. Some missions are smooth, some missions are hectic and you have tons of great voiceovers. Really not much of an explanation needed - if you know what Red Flag is, you know what to expect from this Campaign. By the time you finished both campaigns and the Tutorials, you're going to have up to 50h in the Mirage under your belt, depending on how often you needed to revisit certain missions and how much practice and you will most likely know that aircraft by heart at that point. Take it to the skies on any server you want to and you're going to be a formidable force and a valuable wingman. From here on, there is still A LOT to learn, but you're going to know what questions to ask and you're going to have a very good base understanding of all the things you need to do when flying a modern fighterjet. So... that concludes this Post. I hope that some people might find this useful as a guideline to get a comprehensive introduction into the world of Flight simming and DCS specifically and that at least one of you readers has as much success in learning with this as me and my friends had. I know there's tons of people here who would disagree and would say that "you don't need that training, it's only a sim" and while that certainly isn't wrong - keep in mind that there's always people who like to fully understand what they are doing and why. If you're not that type of person, this "pathway" might be completely unvaluable to you and that's fine as well. Cheers!

Hey guys, I'm coming at you with a question regarding the radar in the M2000c So I recently bought the M2K and I'm more than happy with the tutorials and how well made they are! Everything is explained well and so far I had no issues following along. However, the Radar does seem a bit weird to me. I played the Radar-Tutorial a couple of times now because I thought I miss something but apparently I didn't. The issue is the following: I just seem to lose contacts from the radar. I know the target is straight ahead, I know the altitude (+ I'm co-alt with the target) - I can even visually see the target but the radar just won't pick it up. And if it does, the target fades so quickly that It's impossible for me to be fast enough to lock it. I feel like I can pick up every target once.. and after that it's gone, very weird. I'm used to constant radar tuning from other modules (primarily the F-16C over the past 5 Weeks) so I don't think it's a lack of understanding.. although for the moment I will just assume that the problem is in front of the computer Maybe you guys have a trick for me

Yeah it's pretty crazy.. then on the other Hand, maybe it's aerodynamically accurate? I don't know. I used differential thrust for Trim mostly and if you're quick enough on the throttle, you can even fly a pretty stable slow approach. Only issue is that the landing gear is damaged with the wings ripped off, so you have to absolutely butter that thing onto the runway. I since fooled around with a wingless F-5E and you can even do some proximity mountainflying, once you get used to it. That's beyond ridiculous imho. As for Dragon 1-1s Question: No, I was able to do it in MP and SP without any issues.. you lose control for a second and as soon as you slowed down the spin you have pretty good control of the Airplane (or what's left of it)

Just wanted to chime in here to give this thread a +1. I just flew the damn thing for 40 miles landed my F-5E with no wings after ripping them off in an Over-G maneuver. I don't think this is accurate

SU-25, sorry my bad alright, thank you for taking the time to answer my question! No realistic hope to flying the "Tigereye" then

Hi Enigma, I just recently started playing on your server (with a SU-27 that is) and went of kind of a buying frenzy in this sale, so I can constantly play on it My question is regarding the recon-functionality. Is it planned to be able to do recon in the F-5? It would be realistic since there has been the Recon F-5E Tigereye and it's direct counterpart on the server, the MiG-21 is able to do recon as well. I'd love to push the campaign by doing recon but sadly I have zero interest in the Viggen, so that would be a nice (and realistic) asset from my perspective. I'm sure there is a reason why it's only available for the Viggen on Blufor but one can hope, I guess

Hello guys, first of all: THANK YOU! This is an amazing mod and it's helping me a lot to get more of my friends to play DCS. It's especially cool, because there is a lot of declassified manuals and handbooks out there to use, so you can truly learn this as a study-level module. But initially I came here to throw something out there, for all the campaign and mission builders: If anyone could PLEASE make an Aggressors-Campaign (or any other BFM type of campaign) for the A-4E that would be an outstanding feature. This is probably one of the best training aircraft one could get and it's free. Now having a Top-Gun style campaign to go with it (Like the F-5 or F-18 Aggressors Campaigns or the Zone-5 Campaign for the F-14) would be an absolute blast