atsmith6

Murphy's Law strikes again. Soon after posting the question, I find the answer. All I needed to do was: 1. have the rotaries in MISSION & STEER; 2. type the number or name in the CDU scratch pad 3. If number press LSK L3 4. If name press LSK R3

Hi all I'm busy learning the A-10C in depth (I know, why has it taken me so long!). At the moment there's a small piece of information I just cant seem to find regarding making a waypoint active. The only way I can see right now is to select the mode (MARK/STEER/WAYPT), then using the SEL rocker (or DMS with HUD as SOI) scroll through the available points. Is there a direct way to make a waypoint the active one? What I'd like to be able to do is type the waypoint name or number into the CDU and then somehow make that active. It's easy enough getting to the waypoint in the waypoint page but getting the waypoint I'm looking at to be the active waypoint without scrolling through the list has me a little stumped. Sorry if it's a silly question but I think I'm just overlooking something obvious. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Lol, I bet this is a case of "it works on my machine!" By that I'm implying that it was probably tested extensively on a LAN and now that it's out in the wild, a sudden switch of position due to network lag and the predictive curves handling this time gap causes an instantaneous motion which, from the point of view of the sim which doesn't know WHY, meant skid marks. We just stood there with our wings ripped off. I mean seriously! v (=v_0 + a dt) -> inf, oh how we laughed...

Assuming no winds: In order for the Mi-8 to stay in a stable hover your helicopter needs to be banked slightly to the right. This is completely normal for the DCS Mi-8. I have no idea about the real thing. Once you're moving forward faster that 100km or so ensure that you trim it to have the turn and slip indicators simultaneously centred. Once there it's normal for the Mi-8 to crab slightly to the left when flying. This crabbing behaviour is normal for all typical helicopters with tail rotors. If you don't like the crabbing consider flying the Black Shark. I personally suggest enabling the "rudder trim" option in the settings as this mimics to some extent the force centring I believe is applied to the anti-torque pedals as well as the cyclic in the real thing. It also makes trimming the helo into stable flight MUCH easier and long flights far more comfortable. Hope that helps a little

Hi All For context the following was observed in the L-39C. I've not tried other aircraft. I've just started playing with the AI aerobatics so if I'm missing something please feel free to correct me. At the moment, I create a short aerobatic routine that consists of 1. Fly straight 5 seconds 2. Turn Left 90 degrees with 30 degrees bank 3. Fly straight 5 seconds 4. Turn Left 90 degrees with 30 degrees bank 5. Fly straight 5 seconds 6. Turn Left 90 degrees with 30 degrees bank 7. Fly straight 5 seconds 8. Turn Left 90 degrees with 30 degrees bank The idea is to create a long string of these turning left and right in order to create a mission where basic close formation can be practiced, and then add additional maneuvers in later missions gradually progressing to in-formation heavy aerobatics. The problem is this: When the AI lead plane rolls from straight and level into it's 30 degree bank it does it very very quickly, like it still thinks it's in combat. This has the obvious effect of making staying in position next to impossible. For context I'm quite comfortable in close formation with a human lead pilot. When AC are in close formation the lead pilot should perform slow smooth rolls and pitches in order to give his wing-men time to react and a margin of safety. So here's my item for the wish list: Would it be possible to set the roll rate used by the AI in the turn when performing aerobatics? An additional very nice to have would be to be able to set the roll rate used by a flight at all times except when in combat. By slowing down the roll rate during normal non-combat maneuvers will allow pilots to fly all over the show tucked in nice and close to an AI lead pilot and open up the possibility of hundreds of hours of close formation practice when none of your buddies are online. Thanks for taking the time to read this

Here's a tip that helped me get perfect SU-25T landings: For a good landing use your angle of attack. If, when you're established on final approach you are trimmed at 10-12 degrees AoA then you are at about the right speed for landing. Note that speed and hold it right to touchdown. About 5 seconds before the flare increase your RPM by 2%, then as you flare gently and slowly pull the throttles back to about half way, retarding AFTER touchdown. Hold your nose up after touchdown to airbrake until you're under 200km/h. Using this technique I can get stable landings even when landing near maximum weight in a 10m/s crosswind.

Thank you for the information grunf. Very much appreciated!

Not sure if this is the right place for this but I found a few Mig-21Bis bugs in DCS 1.5 Beta - one that prevents me from flying. Airbrake Pressure: When I climb into the pit, and am started and ready to taxi (for this I used a hot start), if I press the brake (note I use a controller axis, not a button) then the air pressure starts to decrease and continues to decrease even after I release the brake pressure on the axis. It's as if the sim hasn't registered the "release brake" message. I haven't tried this using the keyboard to brake. The button mappings for flaps have disappeared. I now have to use F to lower then and Shift-F to raise them, rather than as previously I had three controller buttons specifically set to each setting (Up, T/O, and Landing). The button mappings for airbrakes have disappeared. I can only find the simplified Airbrakes ON/OFF setting making it a toggle action like the FC3 aircraft. These are the one's I've noticed thus far. I hope this helps Kind Regards Anthony

I've not seen this in 1.2. I have only Flaming Cliffs installed in 1.5 Beta. After a dogfight in the F-15, I was shot down while very low and slow. Looking down from the parachute I realised the F-15, now pilot-less, was taking a long time to splash down. So I switched to the outside view and saw that it was actually going down along about a 45 degree path really slowly while perfectly horizontal very much like a helicopter. It looked like any physics model that may have been associated with the aircraft simply disconnected after ejection. While watching to I had plenty of time to double check that this strange behaviour was indeed as it appeared, and not some visual illusion. Hope that's useful.

There are plenty of natural visual references. I use the rivers / lakes as my primary route lines. I also do dead reckoning between specific landmarks. The one thing you CANT use in DCS is the buildings as they're just too generic but there are loads of landmarks that do work. Think bridges etc. Plan your flight on the mission map carefully taking notes on headings distances etc. Soon you will be able to fly the P-51 anywhere on VFR alone.

Effectively visually using terrain features & landmarks. In bad weather,if the clouds allow you to peak down at the terrain it's still possible but no longer safe. I believe the editor points to true north. To see the deviation take the runway heading in the editor and then climb into the pit and read the compass heading. In bad weather wind will also severly deteriorate the accuracy of dead reckoning done nievely.

I used to think exactly the same thing. But try it. With the RPM all the way up and manifold pressure rather low, you can do it even with even trim. I had no idea that RPM could have such a huge effect. I'm going to guess that it might be the added gyroscopic effect of the faster prop creating more resistance to the rotation along the lateral axis? Just a guess...

I've been trying to make a safe two point landing for ages now and every time I touch down at around 130 and the tiniest amount of vertical velocity the wheels touch, the tail goes down and I balloon. It's been very frustrating. Then tonight, while trying for what feels like the thousandth time I tried something different on a whim. I approached in landing configuration at 2400 RPM, 30 manifold, full flaps, gear down and 150 knots. Then, on final approach I pushed the RPM to 2800 and trimmed a bit nose heavy and using manifold to control my descent. Everything else stayed the same as before. Over the threshold I'm holding 130 knots and do a soft touchdown and guess what? No crazy super duper suicidal ballooning! I tried it again, and again a relatively easy touchdown into two point attitude and with some forward pressure and gentle rudder applied after touchdown I could continue this two point roll all the way down the runway. Gently reduce the throttle and maintain forward pressure until the tail comes down, then pull full back stick to start breaking, and the two point landing becomes almost as easy as the three point. I'm sure someone has covered this before and I just haven't seen it, but I'm so thrilled at figuring it out I just thought I'd share so anyone else banging their head against the wall doesn't have to struggle too. Happy flying!

Anyone got any tips on dog-fighting in the F-86F against an expert Mig-15 AI? The problem I'm trying to solve is the significant power difference between the jets. The Mig has a terrific capacity to climb and do a typical zoom and boom against me and the F-86 just can't follow. I've tried staying low and keeping my airspeed up and that works great in getting a stale-mate where we are effectively in one head-on pass after another, but if I nose down to get angles he just runs away and then climbs. Basically, I'm at a loss as to tactics that will work to defeat the AI at expert. Effectively I find an AI in the Mig-15 harder than a human in an F-86F. I know! Right?!? :cry: Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Ahh, that explains it. It was your F-15 hunting video in which I saw it :)

I just saw something on Youtube that surprised me. A Mig-21 picks up an enemy aircraft on the radar, and then he seemed to be able to lock it without it being anywhere near the radar cursor. I think the target was about 25km out and off to the left. However when I try I can only lock targets that are inside the cursor and even then it often takes two or three presses on the lock button. Am I doing something wrong? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

I've found that if, as the last two steps of you setup, you set the wingspan and then flip your ASP guns/missiles switch back and forth once then the sight works very well for both guns and missiles. I've have plenty of very satisfying dogfights against the F-4 using just guns, or guns plus R-60M. If the ranging isn't working properly then I've not noticed it (probably because I don't really know what I'm doing) and I've had no issues getting bullets up the enemy's pipes. I did have trouble until I figured to flip the top left switch on the site though.

Once again you have made my day :thumbup:. Thank you very much indeed!

-Mop- I had a similar problem when starting to fly the Mig. Check the following settings: [TABLE]Key binding | Default Value SPRD Drop Cover Open | Shift+J Drop Countermeasures (ASO & SPS-141) | map this to something [/TABLE] My first mistake was that my Drop Countermeasures (ASO & SPS-141) setting wasn't mapped. I don't know whether this was me or if it came this way. You need to open the cover before dispensing, then when you want to dispense you need to hold the dispense button until you hear the dispensers firing. It's not an instantaneous release on press. This was my second mistake, I didn't know that you need to hold the button in. Hope that's helpful

Esac_mirmidon thank you! There it is on the chart: 0.8Mach, 8.8deg/sec Very much appreciated indeed.

So there I was at 65616ft, or 20000m, as you prefer...

I did a test flight monitored with Tacview and found that the corner velocity in the DCS Mig-21 seems to be at around 800km/h IAS (approx 430 KIAS) where I can get a sustained turn rate of about 8.8 deg/sec. The flight was done at 5000m loaded with four IR and 2 SARH missiles and the turns were sustained level turns. Before I accept these figures, does anyone have any better or better quality information on the Mig's turn performance? Note that I'm referring to sustained velocity only, not instantaneous. Many thanks!

Andrei, Kobymaru, & Hadwell Thank you very much for the replies. I'm now in a better place to be able to judge when and how to use the various missiles. Much appreciated.

Hi All I'm trying to work out the ranges for the missiles used by the Mig-21 but can't find the relevant data in documentation or forums. I accept I'm probably being a noob and not looking in the right place! This is what I've managed to find so far (and I have no idea whether it's correct or not): [TABLE]Missile|Range(km) R3R|1-7 R3S|1-7 R55| R60|1-4 R60M|1-4 RS-2| [/TABLE] I have no idea whether the above numbers reflect the effective values as implemented in DCS or the real world for that matter. Any further information to allow me to make more effective use of the good ol' 21 would be greatly appreciated. For any replies please let me know whether your info is pertinent to the DCS implementation or from another source. Kind Regards

I had no idea about this. Till now I've been reducing the throttle to idle just prior to touchdown. Will try to counter this habit in future Mig-21 landings. Thanks for the detail