Fishbreath

I expect it's one of two things: either the simulated CK37 needs some sort of reprogramming it doesn't get in the regular rearm cycle (so the issue is a simulated version of a real-world issue, and the rearming cycle needs to include some ground crew programming), or there's a bug in the actual module code. I suspect we'll be able to tell the difference based on TAKT OUT. When you land after firing weapons and switch to a non-working configuration, does TAKT OUT show that the hardpoints are loaded?

Right, but up is up on the radar scope and up is down on the Maverick sight. If I invert it so that the Maverick sight is correct, the radar scope is wrong.

I don't know if this is my setup, or the way the plane works, but I'm running into an interesting issue. I've mapped the radar stick to the ministick on my CH throttle, and that works as expected on the radar: up slews up/increasing range, down slews down/decreasing range. When I'm using the Maverick sight, though, up slews down and down slews up. Is it supposed to work that way?

The manual says that a short approach can be selected by 'flip-flop': going from LANDN NAV to LANDN P/O and back before LB is selected as a destination. Whenever I have an airfield waypoint selected, though, switching to LANDN NAV automatically selects LB, and the flip-flop keeps LB selected. Am I missing a step? Do I have to switch to another waypoint, then do the flip-flop, then switch back to the airfield?

Further, in LANDNING P/O, SLAV SI locks the landing descent angle reference to the center of the HUD.

The manual is in error. Set mode ANF and the sighting unit should turn on.

Mode selector->ANF or NAV Data panel selector->AKT POS OUT Select BX8 by BX button on the waypoint panel, then 8 on the CK37 keypad, then make your fix. The destination indicator will display Bx<#> for markpoints.

It depends on contrast, probably. The seeker is 1970s technology, so it isn't going to work as well as later versions. Once you've locked the Maverick, I believe the only way to unlock it is to return to boresight with T0. Good question. Probably just eyeball it. As far as I know, no.

There are also some outstanding RB-15 bugs. Namely: 1. Launching in quick mode, the missile must travel some distance before the seeker activates. Launching them from inside 20km doesn't work. 2. If you set the weapon selector to ATTACK before you set the mode to ANF, the missile launches in quick release mode.

Great news. Glad I could help.

Nope. You'll have to guesstimate for manually-entered things. I've seen a bug where cycling the kneeboard backward yields a transparent texture and doesn't go any further, but haven't seen the kneeboard straight-up stuck.

I spent last night running through the first few tutorials to get my startup and general handling checklists down, then ran through all the weapons procedures except the RB-15 to get them onto my reference sheets. I don't know the aircraft well enough to use them in combat yet, but I did at least get good launches/drops on everything. (Except maybe toss—I have a hard time holding 4G exactly, so the release usually comes in the middle of a control input, which sprays the bombs everywhere.) Took a few extra passes with low-drag bombs; haven't been able to get low-drag PLAN mode to keep the symbology on the HUD yet, but dive bombing is lots of fun, and so is CCIP with high-drag. Also, I didn't realize how long-ranged the long-range rockets mode is until I tried it. Had a hard time getting the BK90's release envelope right the first few times, but set on the method eventually. Haven't done any serious navigation, time-on-target work, or focused training on the radar. Shot a few landings. The 15.5-degree autothrottle can't keep up with my wild inputs, but the standard autothrottle is very nice for landing. The one successful 15.5-degree landing I made, with the thrust reverser, ended with a 650-meter run from threshold to stopping point. (I could have done it in even less, but I was so surprised the aircraft survived the impact that I wasn't very quick on the throttle.) Tried the RBS-15 this morning, but ran into a bug or two, and couldn't get it to track regardless. Good progress so far. I have a passing familiarity with almost everything. Now it just takes practice to turn it into combat readiness.

Aha, that's one of my issues. Good to know I'm not entirely nuts. :P I haven't been able to get it to lock onto anything in quick mode, though—I'm using one of the Russian cargo ship types as a target, with four of them in a box formation. My RB-15s will happily fly right through the formation, or 100m outside of it, when launched toward it from 20km, so I think I'm still missing something.

I can't get it to guide in any mode, or follow my waypoints in ANF/VALB. Starting in the air in a quickie training mission. Here's my procedure: 1. Weapon selector to ATTACK, SERIE/IMPULSE to either one 2. VALB/STD to VALB (or STD, doesn't seem to make a difference) 3. Set QFE 4. Set Bx8 to target position with radar fix 5. Fix inconsistencies in the missile flight plan with radar fixes until the altitude warning light turns off (set self-destruct point behind the targets, set turning point between me and the targets) 6. Mode ANF 7. UNSAFE when TD line is inside the markers, shoot The missile never locks a target, and doesn't follow the turning point, either; it just launches straight ahead and ignores all the ships in front of it. I've also tried the quick launch: 1. Weapon selector to ATTACK, SERIE/IMPULSE as desired 2. VALB/STD either one 3. Set QFE 4. Mode NAV 5. Unsafe within 20km of target 6. Launch The missile launches and runs straight, but never locks a target. What am I doing wrong?

I have a deep strike mission I originally wrote for the Frogfoot which should adapt well to a Viggen, or possibly to a mix of aircraft with different opposition based on player choice, a la Asset Extraction. I have a lovely dynamic weather setup all ready for it. It isn't all that hard, although bafflingly, there's no way to adjust it in the editor. You either have to fiddle with pressure centers until they're placed randomly more or less where you want, or edit the mission file to place them by hand. (You can adjust the pressures, though.)

Watch the autopilot/SAS needles at the same time, or alternately, turn off the pitch/roll/yaw SAS channels. It may be that you have to push past the SAS before your inputs start mattering. Just a guess.

With dynamic weather on, yes. With normal weather, as far as I know the answer is no—the pressure is the same across the whole map.

Whoa, a name for a unit I've never seen before. Nifty.

The gauge is labeled 'Кг/см2' in Mike's picture (that is, kg/cm^2). Edit: and 100 kpa = 1 kg/cm^2, not 1 = 1, isn't it?

I don't recall whether the radar has the concept of a 'lock'. I don't think it does, from my reading of the manual. Here's what's going on, from my understanding (which may be wrong): 0. You select a target waypoint. 1. You see a target on your radar screen. You want to drop a bomb on it. 2. You pull the fix trigger to the first detent. The radar cursor appears. 3. You move the radar cursor to the desired position. 4. You pull the fix trigger to the second detent. If you have a target waypoint selected, this moves the target waypoint, and the target waypoint alone, to the position under the radar cursor. That point will become the reference point for all weapons launches. If your navigation system has accumulated error, that's still fine. Unguided weapons don't care, so long as you meet all the other conditions for an attack. INS-guided weapons will inherit that error, but that doesn't matter: although their perceived launch and target positions are not accurate, the bearing and range between their perceived positions and the actual positions is the same, so they will guide along that bearing to that range and still hit their targets.

Look in the manual under 'target fix'. A radar target fix moves a target-type waypoint to the radar's look position, without changing anything else on the navigation system. (Not changing anything else is a feature. If you make a radar fix on a target and the navigation system has accumulated some error, the target fix will have the same error. The AJS-37's weapons are all INS-guided, and they take the aircraft's calculated position as the start position, so even if there's error in the calculated position, the offset from plane to target is correct, and the weapons will guide as expected.)

The FPM is the winged-and-tailed circle. The lines (to which I believe you're referring, since they're off to the left at 0:53 and gone at 1:06) are navigational information. When they're offset to the left, the AC is to the right of the desired heading. (Or is it the desired track? I don't know offhand.) You'll note that at 1:16 or 1:17 he flies back onto the desired heading and centers the post track again. At 1:06, the navigational reference disappears because it automatically declutters if the HUD Slave switch is set to ON and the altitude is <100 meters.

The MiG-21 is the only aircraft I've repeatedly had to re-activate for no discernible reason. I think it's reasonable to hope that Leatherneck have gotten their act in order a little more since the MiG-21 release.

AoA is always measured from the chord of the wing to the surrounding air. The manual is correct. Consider a MiG-21 hauling back on the stick in a 70-degree bank while maintaining altitude. The nose is pointing 20 degrees off of the TVV, but is level with the horizon. The AoA in that case is clearly 20 degrees, not 0.

That's one explanation. Another is that the tail is largely aerodynamic on the Ka-50, for stability in forward flight, and you might have enough cyclic range to counteract the extremely weird balance without a tail. The bigger problem is that your hydraulics go back that way, and I'm pretty sure I've heard someone in the know (AlphaOneSix, maybe?) say that the Ka-50 is not flyable without hydraulic assist for control-force reasons (not modeled), so you'd end up crashed anyway.