JB3DG

Yes there is a stored heading alignment which is quicker in the alignment phase, although the warmup phase is unaffected.

No it does not. Or rather, part of it does, but that's the part that's dictated by the earth's rotation rate. Simply put, if you were to face north, and spin up a caged level gyro and then uncage it, then wait for an hour, it will be tilted 15 degrees to the left, which is still horizontal relative to where you were an hour ago. This is the principle gyrocompass alignment uses to calculate your true heading, which is critical for navigation performance. Most gyroscopes, whether RLG or mechanical rate gyros, don't have a signal to noise ratio strong enough to immediately calculate your direction relative to true north from the earth's rotation immediately. So by waiting for a few minutes, a definite trend of drift can be established, the longer you wait, the more accurate your average of the signal samples becomes. With modern RLG systems, the 5-8 minutes is sufficient to level the virtual platform and establish true north. With mechanical gyros, you need an extremely well lubricated system to ensure accuracy for the stabilized platform, which is provided by hot oil. So the Litton LN-3 in the F-4E has an additional warmup period before alignment can begin which waits for the oil in the INS to reach a required temperature before you switch to the alignment phase which adds a few extra minutes and means you can end up waiting a while on a cold day. This is the ASN-46 Navigation computer, not the LN-3 INS. The two work together (the INS gets and drives the present position from the nav computer) but the INS is still a separate control panel further forward on the righthand console in the rear cockpit. Note the light on the top far right which says AIR DATA MODE, indicating that without INS input it can still navigate using TAS and AHRS data (you have to manually enter mag var and wind data on those 3 dials on the left).

The F-4E has the Litton LN-3 INS, coupled with the ASN-46 navigation computer, which could also navigate purely using air data (much bigger CEP though). The F-4J/S did not have an INS, just the ASN-46 nav computer with only air data as the navigation source.

Having worked on USAF and USN VR simulators, there are various levels of security. Most things like a -1 and really old -34-1-1s (non nuclear weapons delivery TO) are either considered totally unclassified and so long as they aren't the latest and greatest, will be ignored if they show up on the internet. Next up is controlled unclassified (CUI, used to be FUOU ie For Official Use Only) which may get some questions asked if appearing somewhere outside of a contracted agreement with a company, but you don't need much in the line of official security clearance, at least on the individual level (the contracted business does have to be vetted and approved though). Then there are the more secret manuals, like the -34-1-1-1 which involve very sensitive information on electronic warfare and countermeasures, missile performance envelopes, some level of data links and communication security protocols, RWR limitations etc. Those are the ones under lock and key. But also mostly unnecessary for delivering a good quality experience for an entertainment based simulator and even for most training purposes.

The front seat HOTAS controls make it an equivalent workload to that of the hornet or F-16 when operating things like the FLIR, A-G Radar, and A-G weapons in general. Same for A-A modes.

I highly doubt anyone has ever made a successful AIM-9 shot from 7-8nm away, especially with earlier AIM-9 versions. That range is ASRAAM territory.

It would be cool to pair the 10 AMRAAMs of the Hornet with the APG-70 of the Eagle....

I don't think you can compare those old simulators which heavily limited functionality to the real deal. From those of us with -1s and -34s and other reference material, there is a reason we keep saying that everything the rear seater can do, the front guy can as well, with the exception of turning on the TGP and the countermeasures panels which are in the rear and only have to be touched once at startup. We would show the proof but ED has rightly restricted sharing such things, so you will have to take our word for it.

Like the time I shot the wing off an A-10 with the main barrel of a T-80?

Correct. I got mixed up with the A-10.

Something to note though in comparison to the F-15C is the E model only has around 500 rounds of gun ammo whereas the C has like 1200.

The FC3 F-15C does the missile drop and fire from the fuselage stations as well.

The F-15C has a full color MPCD, but other than that I think the only E variant with full color displays all over is the EX/Q and other newish versions that have that huge F-35esq display.

It does have JTIDS controls but I don't know how extensive it is. The TSD may only display stuff like other flight members and own sensors, rather than the extensive datalink data that you would find in the Link-16 equipped F-15Cs (the data and display is very similar to the F-18 data link format).

Only the TDC would be an axis. Everything else would be a momentary button.

TDC is inboard, Coolie hat is outboard, castle is center. AACQ is the lower down thumb switch. Laser fire button is a pinky button at the bottom of the controller, and the IFF/EWWS and CMD dispense switches are at the top outboard side of the controllers.

They are indeed fixed. All TDC movements are done with a similar to throttle TDC on each hand controller. And yes the triggers are dual stage. Here is a layout of the hand controller functions: TDC: TGT POD: LOS control HRM: Cursor control (press and release to expand map) RBM: Cursor control (half action trigger active turns it into elevation control) A-A Radar: Cursor control (half action trigger same as RBM) TSD: Range/Bearing line control A/G guided weapon: Seeker LOS control Coolie Hat: Forward: Scroll MPD pages (on the same side of cockpit as controller) Aft: Scroll MPCD pages (on the same side of cockpit as controller) Left: Take command of MPCD display (Move cautions with Master Caution pressed) Right: Take command of MPD display (Move cautions with Master Caution pressed) Trigger Half action: TGP: Track/Untrack HRM: Expand Enable/PPI range change enable A/A Radar: Elevation slew enable RBM/BCN: Elevation slew enable/PPI range change enable TSD: Track/Untrack A/G guided weapon: Track Command Trigger Full action: TGP: Designation/Cue/Update position HRM: Designation Cue/Update position A/A Radar: Target designation RBM/BCN: Designation/Map/Cue/Update position TSD: Cue command A/G Guided weapon: Same as half action Auto ACQ/Mode Reject Forward: TGP: Narrow/Wide FOV HRM/RBM: Smaller Window (reduces PPI range when half trigger active) A/A Radar: HD TWS/RAM TSD: Smalelr Cue footprint A/G guided weapon: Narrow/Wide FOV AACQ/MR Aft: TGP: Return to Cue HRM/RBM: Larger Window (increases PPI range when half trigger active) A/A Radar: Normal TWS TSD: Larger Cue footprint A/G guided weapon: Return to Cue AACQ/MR Down: TGP: Undesignate HRM/RBM: Mode Reject (PSL/Undesignate when cursor function is TGT rather than MAP/CUE/UPDATE) A/A Radar: Mode Reject back to search TSD: Return to PP map A/G guided weapon: Missile reject to next guided weapon in launch sequence Laser Fire Button: TGP: Laser Fire/Stop Fire HRM/RBM: Freeze/Unfreeze A/G Guided Weapon: Seeker Cage/Uncage and Seeker Dome Cover shatter. Also GBU-15/AGM-130 Power Change Over Castle Switch Forward: TGP: Cursor Blank HRM/RBM/BCN: Command Cursor to Map function TSD: Decrease Map Scale A/A Radar: MRM Search mode A/G Guided weapon: Commands seeker to boresight Castle Switch Aft: TGP/HRM/RBM/BCN: Command Cursor to TGT function TSD: Increase map scale A/A Radar: SRM Search mode Castle Switch Left: TGP/HRM/RBM/BCN: Command Cursor to CUE function TSD: Toggle between cueing radar and cueing TGP A/A Radar: Target Undesignate Castle Switch Right: TGP/HRM/RBM/BCN: Command Cursor to Update function A/A Radar: Missile Reject Castle Switch Press: TGP/HRM/RBM/BCN/TSD: Sequence Point Select A/A Radar: Quick Step Also: Right hand Controller Interrogate: Forward: IFF Interrogate Aft: EWWS and NCTR Activate Left hand Controller CMD Dispense: Forward: Manual Dispense 1 Aft: Manual Dispense 2 (Semi automatic)

Long Press or push center + short press takes command. Short press on its own cycles through displays.

The only similarity will be the A-A radar and maybe 2-3 MFD pages. Everything else is very different. The current FC3 radar and HUD interface are pretty close, although lacking the HOTAS features that the real jet has.

The Airforce is definitely way more HOTAS orientated. A key difference is the Navy HOTAS is primarily sensor control, whereas Airforce has display management as well as a host of other functions to keep the pilots' hands away from the displays. Yes and no. The same idea is actually present in the F-15E, just under different terms, and in a bit of a different way. SOI is performed via the "Take Command" function. You can only be in command of one display at a time (2 if you are the WSO) and whatever sensor is on that display is what your SOI will be. SPI is sort of present but in the sense that it depends on the cursor function you set for that sensor. For A-G radar and FLIR, your options are TGT (close to SPI, essentially is the target designation that all weapons guide to), CUE (also similar to SPI in that it cues other sensors to the in command sensor but doesn't change designated target), UPDT (GPS/INS/Mission Navigator update), and MARK (mark points). A-G radar also has the patch map function so you can do maps without changing the designated target. So in the end, SOI is at least present in the form of Take Command, and the functions of SPI are present but more divided, unlike the A-10/F-16 where it is more unified.

Question, anyone here have any ideas where to get the raster charts if they are doing a terrain mod? eg say eastern USA or Canada or SEA?

The navy warthog...

Manual was the preferred mode according to the book first mentioned. There was also an ego side associated with it, the mindset of computers being for kids and that real men used manual.

Confession, the only reason I made this topic was so I could use that phrase cuz I got it from this book.

I hope it has it.