pr1malr8ge

I have shot against targets at 45+k ft in a tail chase both at low and high alitudes and have never came close to hitting them. BTW my FP is 40+k so I know exactly what the aim120 will do and I can tell you in a tail chase it is not going to fly 40nm and hit. Because a 20nm launch like you say will end up in a Total flight distance of 40nm if not further. BTW it wont do it in a tail chase at 20nm even if that person was climbing VY of m.95

Welcome to the DCS Community. It's highly adviceable to get some sort of head tracking ability. Track IR is what the mass majority of us use. as Sweep said don't hesitate on going Multiplayer. Best advice I can give you with that is don't go in thinking you're going to get kills and get on TEAM SPEAK. Your first priority is to survive! The killing part will come as you gain insight on how things are going. If you choose to try and get kills right away it will only lead to you dying a lot with minimal kills. also watch these videos

Again you just stated 20nm to 15nm from behind. This is IMPOSSIBLE in DCS! You only need ~6nm seperation to prevent any rear aspect shot from reaching you. Another thing as I said unless you're being chased by another f15 or you have three bags full fuel and full load out, no other aircraft in dcs CAN GAIN on the f15 even when it is climbing. As I said only another f15 in this relm of climbing extension can keep the gap from expanding. At any rate there is more to this type of exit anyways since there are many variables to deal with. I'm talking 1vs1 co altitude and the aggressor at least having to have been defensive at some point or at least at maneuvering speed rather then full bore and sub 5-6nm. As I stated with the op being 1nm from the bandit unless he merges and then goes through the window with out ever turning he's screwed.

Yes sir you're right. any time I extend in that matter I'm not going to turn back in. I'm pretty sure I mentioned that the likely hood of getting that surprise is inherent.

We are talking about DCS, a tail chase will NEVER have a 20nm reach. as far as extending yes you usually do do it low at first for the first few miles. Even against a Su27. In the OPs statement he does say ~1nm. In this case even against any oponent he has some MAJOR issues and an about face extension is probably not exactly an option [atleast in MP]. How ever for sake of what should be done in an about face extend [3-5mile seperation] against a su27 for the first bit of speed pickup you should be low and eyes glued to your 6 watching for that ET shot. [if it does happen chop throttle flare, jink 10-15* flare again then back full AB] as you start opening the gap and either you know he has no more Heaters you need to run and gain altitude. With the f15 its magical how it can accell while climbing. Nothing like running from a su27 with 60% or less fuel and light on load out. from the deck once you hit M1.1-2 you can pitch up .5-1.0*[5-10 on hud] and keep on accelerating and with altitude reducing your fuel flow. With DCS's missiles being crap if you're 6+nm and opening nothing but an ET can smack you if you're not watching for it. Just for perspective, I've ran from many su27s like this and ended up at m2+ 60k ft while they unloaded their rails and never touched me. It's the ET's that I watch for. and they are easy to spot and only need a slight minor correction and only a brief idle power chop with flare and never loose any speed or gap. Will say though it may not work against another f15 though as they can power up with you obviously but if I'm going up against an f15 I'm not planning on letting the gap get less then 8nm if I'm going to about face extend. on a flip side, if someone runs from me, I do the exact same thing. I will climb it will allow a slight gap to open at first [since I know shooting in a tail option is crap in dcs on the deck it doesn't matter] once I get to 25,000ft I will be gaining on my opponent and will have used a considerable less amount of fuel and unless they have sam cover or running to another flight they will end up dead once the gap closed back to sub 4 miles. And with all of that in any case if I have to about face extend like this it's an RTB as that has effectively killed your combat fuel reserve.

Extending all depends on what you're fighting and if your enemy is chasing you, and if you have support. If you have a significant advantage in speed and climb rate you could extend and gain altitude enough where you might get away with just a 20nm extension. This would be in the relm of say a mig21. If you have the ability to terrain mask you could most defiantly cut that extension by a considerable amount. Then if you have support I.e. ability to fly to sam cover or have a flight you can fly to that can engage your bogy will then free you up to re-engage. Keep in mind though if you're flying against an openent that is in an active tail chase and you're not gaining significant ground on him/her/it then generally speaking 50-60nm may not be in the cards. At this point you need to seek sam support/ flight support/ terrain, because as soon as you start to turn offensive you're going to have a missile heading your way. By the way if you're in this situation and you run 50-60nm you should RTB as you most likely would have burned a good chunk if not all of your fuel.

Umm no, the real thing has constant NWS when ever the strut is compressed. The only way to "turn" it off is by pulling a circuit breaker. Both the A10 and the F15 do not have caster "free spinning" nose wheels. While the A10 can turn off the hydraulic NWS it how ever is NOT free spinning.

yes, NWS will not turn off until the nose wheel is off the ground.

This question has intrigued me, and I am very inclined to agree with mr Seagle here. Mostly due to the fact of cockpit noise [flow of air over the canopy and whine of the engine it self] and the earplugs/helmet will make heaing the flame ignite pretty hard to hear.. I want to ask my cousin about this but truly I don't want to bug him if I can avoid it. Maybe next time I see him I will ask him about this. [ex former f15 driver]

Btw, I never use Interleave mode. It might be a good mode for a beginner that does not understand what PRF does and when to use each mode. but a basic rule is you use High PRF when searching further then 20nm Med for sub 20nm there is other reasons to switch between Med/High prf. Keep in mind though if you're in TWS mode your PRF will not be displayed on the VSD and it will be what ever it was when you switched from LRS to TWS. It can be changed while in TWS but as I said you need to remember what you were on when you switched.

THE 518 next to the range indicator is your closer speed in knots to the target. it doesn't increase or decrease with distance but rather with your relative speed to it.. If the target you have locked continues to turn away and enters a pure tail chase and neither his speed nor yours changes that number would change to 401 [your Ground speed 670 minus his ground speed 269]. How ever lets say this was another f15 and you're not in after burner and he is. that number has the potential to go to the negetive numbers meaning he is opening the gap and extending away from you. the circled part is the Rmax indicator.

Looking at your picture, you're in RWS ILVmode looking at 3-14,000ft and only out to 20nm So, if your target is below or above 3-14k and geater then 20nm out you will not be able to see them. So heres what you need to do. You need to set your prf to High expand your range to 80nm and pull your TDC to the middle of the vsd[40nm] this will give you the best option on picking up targets 40-60nm away.

you need to make radio call to abort then recall for fuel.

I cannot speak for the su27[don't fly it] But with the f15 it is sensitive to any movement in the stick even if you're not touching the stick if it is still inputing movements [this happens a lot with any new usb stick that has hall effect sensors] The best thing to do would maybe try a deadzone in both Pitch and roll axis in DCS settings. I use a setting of 3 with my TM warthog.

I spoke with my cousin an Ex f15 pilot and now he flies for fedEx flying the 767. While I originally typed that I call BS on this I read it again and seen you said "little different" While yes it is a little bit different as you have a bit more ability to "push" it down and you're flaring 50' agl and can work with a bit more sink rate when compared to a G/A plane but in the basic terms it is exactly the same principal. The only real difference in G/A vs Mil/Airlines is the ability to get down from cruise alt to aproch alt quicker due to cabin pressurization and for lack of shock cooling. here is his reply via txt to me. Again I'm talking about arresting sink rate and declination in speed. We are not talking about climbing or any massive speed changes and are already "captured" on the glide path. If anything is "drasticly" needed you best balk and G/A

You might want to try and slow your self down even more.. Try doing the turn at 200-220kts or slower. I suggest doing this in VFR no wind conditions until you get the hang of it. then start adding a wind component. Keep in mind also that with a wind compent you're going to need to add wind correction I.E. Crabbing to keep on course. With that you could have the nose pointed 1 to 20+* off of the runway heading. JFI the f15 is not a 0/0 capable IFR platform. Minimums are probably 500 maybe 300ft. Same thing with the A10. with that being said, if you're below 300ft AGL and cannot see ground, you should be diverting anyways. As I said you should work on doing this in ABSOLUTE ideal conditions first to get the feel of it, then add cross wind, and finaly start adding IMC

Not sure you're getting my drift on what I meant.. I've been taught and have always on final used pitch to control airspeed and throttle for "altitude" really I mean sink rate. While I have never flown anything bigger then an Piper Seminole [twin training] although I have "flown" an Eclipse 500 but it was in the second seat and I did not take off nor land. It still has always been that criteria for final approach. Now, I'm thinking more and more on what you're saying and I believe you're thinking I'm talking about say dropping from cruise to approach speeds etc. I'm not talking about that I'm talking about once you're setup for approach and are in landing config and speeds to maintain a 3* [or what ever is needed for that runway] glidepath and a desirable sink rate.

Well, to use Ils properly you need to first be heading in the right intercept for the glide scope. Ils is not a "homing" beacon to find an airport.. It literaly is just what it says it is Instrument landing system. Therefor, to use Ils you should know which runway it is actuly tuned for.. So if the ILS is say for runway 27 then you need to be heading roughly 270 and at least 10nm away from the touchdown point and in landing config. I.e. not doing 350kts! Now with the f15 it atleast will give you a countdown tick like a homing beacon but it will not put you on any intercept course. What I would do is select the ils runway you want and fly towards that airport [havent used ils in the f15 in a while but it might give you a straigt to marker on the top heading marker on the head by a single dash below the tickmarks. Head towards the airport till you're roughly 5nm then you need to turn paralel to the landing direction.. So say again the ils runway is 27[0] and you' south of the airport heading 360 [N] and once you're 5nm from the airport you need to turn right heading 090[e] till you're roughly 15-20nm and above 5,000ft you're going to turn Left heading back 360 and watching the CDI needle untill it starts to move and this point start turning left so you are heading 270 and the cdi needle is aligned or very close.. With this you can start making minor corrections keeping the glide path centered. It should also give you you're glide scope close to if not at that range. at 10nm you should be close to 2500-3000ft I personally DO not use the huds Glide-path/scope and rely on the mechanical artificial horizon arms. also, you should be under 250kts at the start and once you hit the outer marker you should be in full landing config and speeds 150-160kts or higher if you're heavy. Don't rush it, Pitch for speed and power for altitude.

Ohh and yes I want DL in the eagle for the sold purpose of sending an aim9 up Sweeps tail pipes!

I need to let you know that the eagle is faced with the same issue with trying to keep track of your wingman when being shot at.. I have had several times in a flight where a talented group of FOEs either Eagles and Flankers start pulling the fight closer to WVR. I've had several times where my flight has been disrupted due to going defensive and getting seperated and loosing all S/A to where my wing man is at and he ended up getting shot down.. DO YOU HAVE ANY CLUE WHAT IT'S LIKE GETTING BITCHED AT BY SD-SCORCH when he gets shot down? I'd KILL FOR DL to keep track of him. I'd rather go down in a pile of flames and have a negative kdr of 0:24 and SCORCH stay in the air!!! TWOS: BLIND! SCORCH:"BANDITS WEST TURN NOW" Twos: tracking bandit heading west SCORCH: "Bandit is west of me TURN" Two: Disengaging looking for your bandit NOTHING WEST NOTHING WEST. SCORCH: "GOD DA**** I'm hit. I TOLD YOU LOOK WEST" Two: I AM nothing out here. Twos circicling umm LEAD Bandit that shot you was the one I WAS GOING TO SHOOT you told me to turn west I was WEST OF YOU ALLREADY!!!!!! Ohh the memories! now im gonna go cry in a corner! Back to reality, DL is a great tool. but to blame short commings because you don't have it is ludacris as the eagle and all other NON networked flights have to deal with the same issue.

The way you're blabbering on, it seems you don't. By the way I read your responses is you're either A. not getting kills and going back pissed. or B. you're getting shot down and might be getting a wash of 1:1 or no kill and a death. Ohh and you still think not having DL doesn't affect the Eagle either? What are you going to do when the F18 is released with it's DL and TWS capability? It's also not so simple to just Manuver and fire. Eagles still have to support their missile to pitbull. It also doesn't have the magic eye and ET either. You seem to think DL is an always working system. You do know it is LOS based right? Learn how to use BRA system and work with awingman in TS and it will just fine. Seems you want everything handed to you. I never said it did work. I actualy pointed out that a "WIDE" formation that prevents the use of TWS of the eagle just puts you or your wingman in a 1/1 rather then a flight of 2. I'm pretty sure GG didn't call your stupid and you're taking his advice wrong and thinking you need to be BVR to your wingman which is NOT THE CASE. Your understanding of Tactics is what is the problem. The eagle vs eagle has to deal with the same issues you describe. and both parties have ML capabilities. prevented any evidence? Nope but I never said you were incorrect on going wide. [if thats what you mean it doesn't work] but what I am saying is that you're being RUDE to people and you're also having issues grasping what it means to be in a combat formation. DL isn't going to solve your issues. This here is why you got my backlash. Sinus did NOT attack you. He was trying to give advice. Just because you DON'T think it's useful does not mean it isn't. I don't need to. You're arguing the first thing someone should be aware of when getting into this sim. SURVIVE. I fly to survive and getting a kill is secondary to landing safely. If I take off and land with all missiles on the rail but I at least tied up an enemy chasing me and leaves my buddies to engage one less bandit who could have killed one of them then I did my job. Even with that as I said my KDR is at 5:1

Frostie you have valid points, but I'm not referring to a tactical wide formation. as you said this would not be outside TWS scan parameters. What I'm talking about is CIK's denotion of wide which is probably over a 10nm separation. As this goes, my tactic is sound and even if he does turn in to support his missile would have virtually such a LOW chance of PK and not to mention the smoke trail alone would be visible. Even if he did separate in altitude he just is not close enough to truly help his wing man fast enough.

See the issue you have is you want to just go out and KILL everything and expect to walk away unscathed. It just does not work this way and what Sinus has said is valid advice. In the 104th I currently have a 5kdr and it's not because I just go flying straight in and launching my missiles. It's because I fly to a standard that I don't care if I kill some one I just want to take off and return to base intact. You act as if the eagle drivers don't have to use f10? also what about pre modern era of aircraft do you think they just always had GPS and Datalink? Your sarcasm detector should be your own personal BS alarm every time you type it should be BLARING. You seem to want everything to be a comfort for you and just be able to take off press the fire button and everything in the air just start breaking up and falling to the ground. I see you're having some issues with sarcasm your self. To bad your detector again doesn't blare in your ear telling you to stop being you!

Umm no, the point of the thread was to buddy guide a missile. Secondary was to achieve a kill against a target which could be an eagle, m2k, su27, mig29, so on and so forth. While your arguments on flying a wide formation to keep TWS from being able to fire on both while this maybe but it still does not hide you from radar.. If I'm flying an eagle and I see a wide formation I'm just going to gimble one and keep the second way off. This effectively puts you out of the picture and lets me fight your wingman. |you _______|your wingman _______________|me as you can see I have just made it a 1vs1. Only option you have now is to turn in and support your wing man by again closing in to a point where I can now pick you both up on TWS and again I now have the ability to fire on both of you. Or I can just bug out. The only time your formation is going to be effective would be a head on engagement against an uneducated pilot.

I have no desire to join an AB team.. Don't have time. at any rate, I know you're asking for help but unfortunatly each person's flying and sticks are different. It's probably wiser to just fiddle with curves your self untill you get what works best for you. While I do formation fly I'm not in so close where having it perfect matters. By the way, the best training aid for Formation flying would probably be A2A refueling. Work with that to get you where you need to be then move on to AB formation