Evil.Bonsai

I set up SMERCH HUNT like this. Took the TGP pod off, then would just use CDU/HUD/TDC, slave Mav, then go heads down staring at Mav on MFCD looking for a target. Hint: make sure setting/rising sun is behind you and not in front.

What if those other flights aren't showing up on the TAD? The only part of the manual I've printed is the TAD section, and I'm still not that comfortable with it. Still trying to figure out network and group IDs and such. Sure, the manual explains what they are, more or less, but not much on HOW to use them. I've seen other flights in some missions, but not others. I have no idea why that is. For me, it IS much easier to just enter the bullseye offset calls as a mission point, point tgp then search for targets. I've sort of got the idea of how hook works (to/from bulls, ownship, etc), just have no idea where to go from there. I've also used it to designate spi (TMS LEFT I think. Not sure at the moment if it's long or short) when JTAC sends data. Although by that time I've already entered the MGRS coords in cdu.

You can also look up Dragon's jtac vids on youtube. Very educational.

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=72549&highlight=tanks+101 Tanks 101, everything you need to know about employing the GAU-8/A against tanks (and any other ground target)

Couple things: Plane could be flying differently than training mission if you're not setting it up with the same weapon loadout. If you're carrying a heavier (or lighter) loadout, the plane will fly differently. I'd say setup a bunch of trucks or apcs to practice gun runs, then later progress to tanks. Try setting PAC on and off. Leave the vehicles that are DESIGNED to shoot you out of the sky 'til later, when you start practicing Mavericks and higher altitude bombing. Yes, the faster turns are pushing the plane past the stall point (the fast beep beep beep). When you hear the long BEEEEP horn, start to ease off a little on the stick. Practice flying at the limit. Again, it's not really an issue unless you STAY past the limit, especially close to the ground. You won't have enough altitude to gather enough energy to ramain flying, then crash. Just be aware of what those two sounds are and how to react to them. Gun strafing has all sorts of tactics. Against unarmed trucks? Go as slow as you want w/o stalling and light them uip. Against APCs or Tanks? Better check those youtube tutorials. APCs are softer than tanks, but they LIKE shooting at you. Tanks can be much harder and will shoot at you with their pintle-mount machine guns. One thing I noticed in your .trk file, after you strafed, you just pulled up/away in a straight line. You really don't want to do that. Try turning back and forth and diving/climbing. You don't want to be an easy target after strafing. As for difference between Sim and Game mode, I couldn't tell you. I've never used any of the 'game' settings (invulnerable, infinite ammo, easy comms, etc)

After viewing the .trk file: The TVV is falling low because you're turning at stall limit. The BEEEEP sound is a warning while the fast BEEP BEEP BEEP is telling you you're past the limit. It's ok to be there, so long as you don't stay there. I won't comment on the scenerio in general (Really? Strafing a ZSU? That's just CRAZY! :) ) but as to the TVV falling low, I didn't see much of an issue as you were nose down and gaining speed AND the Stall Warning Horn (fast beep beep beep, not the AAA bididiididididi) turned off. So long as you're having fun, fly how you want, but I'd urge using Sim Mode and no labels. But that's just me :)

Just curious as I've never been that high, but how long is the fall time from that altitude? You might need to utilize a much longer lase time. Maybe by the time your laser turns on (at 12s), the bomb has already missed any window of seeing it reflect off the target. Maybe set it to 20% of actual fall time? I have no idea as I don't think I've ever been over 20k. Were HOG drivers, not SPACE SHUTTLE pilots! :)

Well, City 17 is supposed to be somewhere near Russia and a large body of water...

OT: hehe, just noticed we're both in ATX.

er....Doh! I think I knew that but forgot. I guess I could've converted to a movie file if I had thought about it. It's very short: just loaded the mission and contacted jtac immediately. Maybe a couple mins at most. In any case, again, thanks for this.

Worked! "golf henry three five seven ZERO nine seven" and again "golf henry three five six ZERO nine four" AWESOME! and to make sure, went back and changed to old nato.lua and received GH35797 for co-ordinates. THANK YOU FOR FIXING THIS! Notes: did not check any coords with a leading zero for first set, or zeros anywhere else. I just happened to have a short jtac mission that I knew had a leading zero on the 2nd set regarding nvg use in trk file: modifed DMS down is NVG, modified TMS down is cdu. I get them confused sometimes. :/ fixed jtac.trk

Thank you for this. Was wondering what it did, as it didn't seem to do anything that I could tell. Especially since not once have I pushed and HELD it down until a light came on. If needed, I would just hold stick in position for stable flight, then when I got to a level point, just trimmed then (coolie hat)

Regarding the bullseye calls, they're pretty useful if you've completed YOUR mission and you just want some practice. In one of the campaign missions, I heard a flight calling out "attacking utility" so I used the cdu offset, found where they were at and got a couple of truck kills with a couple remaining mk82s. Just turn it down/tune it out until your done with your mission, then go get some!

The purpose for training rounds is that LIVE ordnance is expensive. And real targets have a limited lifespan. Not really much of an issue in a simulated environment. If you want to practice dropping bombs, drop bombs. Run out of targets? Add more. Or make them harder to kill targets. I like practicing with MK82s. If you can hit your target with a MK82 and the 5-mil consistently, well, now your just blowing stuff up and not really training :)

Did a quick search and I'm guessing the gist is, PREPARE MISSION, as described in the GUI manual, actually does not function? I've created a short landing mission and was trying to set the ILS and AM radio to airfield freqs but everytime I go back in, the AM radio is set to 000.00, with a loud tone playing, and the ILS is back to default and off. :(

I've had an issue where the tgp was just looking all over without me doing anything. The mission was basically over (3rd or fourth in campaign) but I decided to look around for a few more targets. One of the other allied flights was calling out trucks so I decided to go get me one or two. Had tgp locked to an offset point but then things went wonky. TGP just started slewing all over and I couldn't make it stop at all. I turned it off, then back on and it still did the same thing. I decided to call it quits after that...

air land sea bulletin may 2010 might be helpful? I have the doc saved but have not read through it yet. http://www.alsa.mil/library/alsb/ALSB%202010-2.pdf

Definitely pear-shaped. Third try got me airborne, then some type of mouse driver/usb issue where cursor kept moving to bottom of screen. Reboot didn't help. Had to unplug all usb items then plug them all back in. Fourth try and I lost wp 5, ended up inverted coming out of clouds almost into mountain, made it through valley. Acquired bunker with tad, spi'd it, was going for tgp to fine tune aimpoint but too slow, overflew then shot down by 3 Iglas. :joystick::huh::joystick::pilotfly::huh:

Loaded up 'serpent head' and had to wait for stupid plane to get off taxi way, then had to wait for 3 Hinds to land. Started takeoff roll, just rotated and boooosh, there goes left engine, plane starts canting left and right engine goes (? not sure at this point as I was still 'flying'). Can't keep nose up and hit ground hard. Then exploded as I hit a retaining wall. Ok. That was interesting. Let's try this again. re-load, startup, taxi. A little too fast on taxi. took eyes away from hud, plane veered off taxi, look up and WAY over-correct, slam left wing into ground. Bye bye wing. Sigh. Guess I'll just go read a book on this rainy Sunday.

Found?! He posted it here, about 7 posts down. Good video.

No kidding. Today it was "Armor 12 o'clock for 20" as soon as we turned toward WP1.

Wow (again.) That looks really nice. Though to be fair to LB2, I really enjoyed the Blackhawk aspect as well. Not so much the Kiowa, but definitely the Longbow and Blackhawk. Sneaking NOE to drop a crew off way behind lines then sneaking back out. Was messing around with the Arma2 demo and immediately jumped into a Little Bird. Now THAT is a fun heli!

Hah! Never thought to try that. That was pretty cool. Some nice screen shots.

I'll add my "+1" for trackir and hotas. I bought a Thrustmaster Couger when they first came out to use with Falcon 4.0, so I wasn't hurting for a HOTAS setup. If you're single, seriously consider the TM Warthog HOTAS; I would if I didn't already have a setup. If you're married...er, 2nd job? I dunno, maybe set aside double the cost of a TM Warthog and offer half to the SO for something they'd like to have so you can get a NICE HOTAS. I did just purchase a Trackir and it is seriously worth the money. Sigh...now if only I could have a MODERN AH-64D sim. So miss Longbow 2.

Great vid. I still have trouble with designating a spi before trying to slave a maverick to it. One thing you mentioned about why the offset from your targets: when using the tgp to make mark points, activate the laser then make the mark point. That should put the mark on the target and not on the terrain behind the target. The higher the angle the less it matters but when looking further out at lower altitudes you can get larger errors. Not much of an issue with the maverick as you stated but will be if using jdams.