amollen

Many missions will include a TGT waypoint which is in the general vicinity of the target area. Usually you don't really need the TGT waypoint once you're close enough to get the JTAC coordinates. So you can also call up the WAYPOINT screen for that TGT waypoint and override the coordinates with whatever the JTAC gives you, multiple times if he has many targets. I don't know if this procedure is "officially sanctioned" but it works and it saves a few keystrokes. Another advantage is that if you have to cycle back and forth between the target waypoint and the IP, they are closer together in the sequence, again saving some keypresses.

Bummer. What got you, a MANPAD?

When a JTAC sends data, it will say "MESSAGE" instead of "NOTE". I do believe that what I was seeing is related to the Maveric being on too long, it always seemed to happen well into the mission.

So the conclusion is: adhere to the attack heading, even if it requires a round-about route to the target and extra time?

So I was in a slow turn, copying down the 9-line about 5 miles in front of the IP, concentrating on where the target would be, jotting down his UTM coordinates... BANG!!! Screen goes dark, comes back on after a second, I'm on fire, in a dive, engines spooling down... Right as I eject I see my wingman also in flames.... What's this, I say to myself, we both got hit by an undetected MANPAD at the same time?? No such luck. The post-mission briefing confirmed it. The @$#%@ had simply run into me!! LESSON LEARNED: I had been traveling in Finger 4 formation, where your wingman comes in closer than the default. It's NOT the formation to be in when you start maneuvering! Obviously... :huh::cry:

Thanks guys

I get the following situation quite often (numbers are examples): The target is east of the IP, so I have to fly west-to-east to get to the target, but the JTAC assigns an attack heading something like 240-320, so basically westbound. What am I supposed to do next? Fly past the target, turn around and attack east-to-west? Seems like a waste of time and even dangerous, but I suppose this is to deconflict forces? I read some posts that the attack heading doesn't make much of a difference in the sim, but I like to fly as realistic as possible

Every so often I see a flashing "NOTE" in the lower part of the HUD where the compass scale normally is. I know I can get rid of it with TMS LEFT SHORT but what is it trying to tell me?

I'm not sure what you mean by "these parameters seem to be gone". None of the parameters on page 528 can adjust the rate of fire.

Well.... GPS is not all hype. INS position drifts over time and GPS "corrects" the INS position. I don't know about military INS-es, but for instance the "old" 747-200 airliners that had INS without GPS could be 5-10 miles off-course after a trans Atlantic crossing. Once they get to the other side of the ocean they could correct the INS by measuring a position off a VOR-DME. A drift of a mile per hour is OK if you have 747s in wide airways but not if you're dropping a bomb on a bridge through an overcast cloud deck :music_whistling:

Same experience, I believe it is not available in all countries.

I have experienced the scenario that Grinch describes. I was inbound for an attack on a tank, but someone else blew up the tank before I could shoot my Maverick. I'm not sure who that someone was but there were other CAS aircraft in the mission as well as friendly tanks in the vicinity. As soon as the tank was hit I got the "Abort" call. Subsequently JTAC assigned me new targets at different coordinates. So my conclusion was that the Abort call came because all targets in the original group were destroyed and there was no use in continuing my attack run.

If you don't care about the virtual beancounters and still want to use GBU's from 5000 feet... .... yet another option is to set auto-lase on and at a reasonable value, say 8-10 seconds. If the fall time is less than the auto-lase time, the laser will turn on right away after you drop.

Izoul thanks for your post, nice explanation. Indeed I had noticed the tendency to roll right after take-off but I hadn't thought of trimming before take-off. Similarly, if you pressed the take-off trim button and do nothing else, I find the plane will tend to fly level instead of climbing 5-10 degrees. So a quick "nose-up" trim before take-off should help!