markturner1960

Hi, so in the SAP software, you can set a choice of light patterns or none. however the choice is not persistent, is there a way to make it stay off, so I dont have to do this every time I start up?

Yeah, ggod points......I guess in time, it will all seem normal and I wont think anymore about it....its just the shock of the new! Thanks!

I use XR Necksafer, its fantastic in VR. I have noticed that in the Phantom only, when I look fully behind , as I get to full rear deflection, the viewpoint , IE my " head" will shift sideways so I cant see over my shoulder, see picture: I wondered why this might be and if anyone else has the same issue ?

Thanks both, video was very helpful ...

OK, thanks, its a little clearer.......I must say, it does seem unecessarily convoluted and unintuitive, doesnt it? Whats wrong with having a fuel guage that has a scale that measures 0 - 20,800, is marked at internal (12,800), centreline and external wings, and having a simple light that illuminates for each external tank once empty? Then you would easily know at a glance what fuel you had and what was empty.......Probably designed by the same guy that decided where all the guages went in the cockpit...... When refueling then, there is no real certain way to see exactly what fuel you have and when you are fully topped off, is there? Thats crazy......

Thanks, thats helpful. I have some further questions regarding the fuel system: ( I have read the manual section, but there is lots that is not clear or explained) 1) When refueling, do the external tanks if carried fill first? Or is it the internal tanks first? 2) What circumstances will result in no fuel being dumped when you turn on the wing tank dump switch? ( I had this happen) And does it function like the dump switch on other jets? If not, how? 3) If carried, which external tanks empty first ? How is this controlled if required? Do they all auto transfer at the same time? At what fuel levels does the auto transfer kick in? 4) The fuel totalizer only shows internal fuel, correct? If a full internal load is 12,800 lbs, and this is shown in the digital tape readout on the instrument, why is the curved dial indicator on the top of the instrument only showing 7.5 out of 10? 5) The warning lights illuminate while autotransfer is taking place and then go off until the next cycle starts. Warning lights on for 2 minutes or more indicate the respective tank is empty...correct?

Sorry Zabuzard, I am also having trouble fully understanding....can you clarifythe above for me? So the external tanks will automatically transfer their fuel several times until empty. Got that. Do the lights come on when transferring ? ( above, you say the lamp "on" shows nothing transferring...this does not sound right, would mean they are on all the time except when transferring..?In the manual it says the opposite: Automatic fuel transfer, once activated, can only be deactivated again by cycling the Air Refuel Switch. This is important, as most switches on the fuel system panel are ignored while activated. An indication for the automatic transfer being active are all three external tank fuel lights being lit regardless of their actual status.) How much do they transfer each cycle and at what level in the internal system is this initiated? Regarding the manual passage I quoted above, thats confusing as well...it says auto transfer can only be de activated by cycling the air refuel switch - does that mean simply that when the door is open no auto transfer happens, then when shut, it will carry on doing it cycle of partial transfers until the tank is empty? IE a temporary interuption of the cycle rather than a permanent one? And what is the threshold the totalizer will drop below to show tanks are empty? Apologies, its all rather confusing as you say....I have been reading the manual section and to be frank, its scrambling my brain...What would be very useful would be a summary of a hypothetical flight, with the jet loaded with 3 external tanks all full. The summary would explain what happens ( which warning lights come on and when, which switches are activated etc) at what point in the flight as the fuel is used, right down to say 2000lbs , then the jet refuels completely again. That would be really helpful.....I am trying to write it myself, but there are too many bits I dont understand or am unclear about to do this......

Working out the finer points of refueling, I started with empty wing tanks and 25% fuel internal. I got transfer complete and the eyebrow "Full" lights green at 12,670 Lbs indicated, but the dial was only blue to 7.5 on the guage. Also, did not get disconnected prematurely, so that is a no factor. Is this correct ? Just trying to get to know what is a full load in this loadout. Also, is there an indication when they are empty? Thanks

So I have noticed that Jester often calls out other traffic etc , yet when you ask him to lock one, the wheel says "no targets" ... How can Jester see them if they are not on the radar?

I had cause to eject yesterday, for the first time and after I left the jet, the chair remained hanging in the air staionary while the jet tumbled to earth, for maybe 15 seconds before the parachute deployed and separated the chair? I presume its not supposed to be like that?

The gold standard, simply amazing…….cant see me flying anything else but this and the Tomcat for a long time…..

Confirming what you guys are saying, the manual says fly it fast around the turn then only worry about getting on speed on final. I think this is the way! More practice now! Great discussion, thanks!

Thanks all, good discussion and some great input thank you.... @CaliCheese thanks, I can do 1 -6 in your list pretty well, its similar to the F14 up until that point. It all goes to sh1t on the final turn though....I have been unable to turn and keep the solid tone without dropping like a stone. As Monkie says, its possible to gash it and increase speed and haul it round the turn but you are then nowhere near being on speed. I know its possible ( Flying round the turn without sinking to quickly and keeping on speed) as I have seen people doing it on videos, but HOW they are doing it is less clear! It's all good though, I love how it is difficult and idiosyncratic it is to fly, it just adds to the challenge and the satisfaction when you get it right. It reminds me of flying the pattern around teh heboat in the F14A....but more difficult

OK, cheers. Been trying some more......flying the tone round the final turn seems to get me within 100 feet of the sea by halfway round, at which point I have to take evasive action...sink rate seems waaaaay too fast chasing the tone....I can get it on speed in the downwind just about OK, but not through the turn currently...I can just about get it back on speed between rollout from the final turn and the threshold. But its all very in-elegant.... O obviously need to learn how to "fly the tone" in those situations. Hopefully someone can lok at my track later and comment. Thanks !

Yeah, trying to fly the tone, but if you look at the track, you will see the results and this is what I am struggling with..... i know what I have to do, I need some help on how to do it rather. Thanks! BTW, where is the weight / speed chart? Its not in any checklists I have and I cant find the kneeboard folder for the module itself, only my saved games folder....HB must have hidden it!

No probs, will do so now...standby! circuits.trk You can see what I am up against hopefully....get it trimmed and on speed, it wants to sink, almost impossible to do the finals turn and keep it on speed without massive sink rate.....I know its me, not the jet, but keen to understand what to do and where!

No biggie, I just wondered, I dont generally fly using the AI as wingmen etc as they are so sh1t.......

I dfont mind at all if thats the way it is supposed to be, I am just looking for some tips to help me get to be able to understand, anticipate & fly around the behaviour and do better circuits!

thanks!

Is this related solely to the F4 and the F15SE? Or across the board ?

So I am working on learning the intricacies of flying the jet before the weapons and currently doing circuits. I am finding it very different to any other jet so far to get on speed and on the correct aoa round the circuit……..basically, main issue is that when I want to descend, I lose the aoa, it speeds up and it’s a constant battle. Trimming the nose up causes the altitude to go high when I want it low! I can do it, but it’s ugly, unlike the Hornet and even the F14 for example, once trimmed these are fairly easily flown on the throttle, but the Phantom less so. I am early in the process and I guess more practice will help. I have watched Reflected video and he makes it look so easy, just wonder if I am maybe missing something or some useful tips…….thanks

OK, thanks will double check all my settings in ME

Hi, can anyone tell me what governs if a tanker appears in the radio menu list ? I have a mission where there are 2 tankers....one did not seem to appear in the list at all, the other, was there, I was able to get jester to navigate to it, lock it, could see it visually and it was definitely in the list earlier on, as thats when I noticed I could only see one tanker, this one...yet when I went to contact it, there were no tankers showing. Thanks!

I guess you can just use full burner and use the length of the deck to take off, as I sometimes do when wanting to bang in a load of quick practices in the F14. I presume you get graded landings in the same way as other jets when using something like Banklers trainer......I just thought it might serve to practice boat ops meantime while we wait for the other version. I am not going to lose sleep over the unreality of it. Thanks

So I just came across a video on YouTube of someone doing a carrier landing...it went surprisingly well. I was wondering ( Purist objections aside, which of course are valid) is there anything to really stop people using the current release model on the boat? I am talking DCS mechanics as well as module limitations. Thanks....