Skall

I tried setting up a mission for the F-15C with a few practice targets 40ish miles north of Kobuleti by the coast. They are Yak-40s (oh noes). The yaks are flying race track orbits at different altitudes from as low as 5k to as high as 20k ft. I placed an allied AWACS some 20ish miles from the Yaks 20k ft agl and assigned it the task AWACS. I also put it to orbit a track up and down the coast. The AWACS has a delay of 30 seconds so that I don't get blasted with messages as soon as the map loads. When the game starts, 30 seconds in as expected, the AWACS reports its on station at 20k ft. 2 problems: 1. The AWACS (Overlord) keeps calling me Enfield even though I set my plane to Dodge. 2. I wait and wait and wait but it never calls out the Yaks. I thought it might have been because they are non-combat planes so I put in a MiG. My RWR picks up the MiG even while I'm on the ground but the AWACS never calls the targets. There are no mountains blocking my or the AWACS' LOS to the Russian planes. How can I get the AWACS to call out targets and address me by the callsign selected on the M.E.? Thanks

Thanks for the tips, I'm taking notes on some of these things. Spent more time experimenting and here's what I found out. 1. Despite the word VISUAL appearing on the bottom right of the HUD while having an AIM-120 selected and pressing the 2 key, it operates in LRS/BVR mode. I can bug targets from far away, shoot at 10+ mile distances (was able to get one at 17 with enough altitude) and functions like the LRS mode in the manual says. Getting close and personal does not get me a lock automatically and any shots even up close go ballistic if I have not bugged a target. Either the word VISUAL is a bug or just extremely misleading. There's nothing visual about operating in this mode. 2. Not depicted anywhere in the manual, AIM-9's in boresight and vertical scan mode can be fired with or without the radar on. If the radar is on, the radar will assist the lock. If the radar is off, the missile seeker is used to acquire the lock. The HUD shows an extra circle when firing from these modes while the radar is on. 3. Pressing the 6 key while having an AIM-120 selected will switch you to an AIM-9. Pressing the 2 key while having an AIM-9 selected will switch to an AIM-120. 4. Caged/Uncaged mode for AIM-9 (6 button) turns off the radar but the radar can be turned back on while in that mode. 5. With the radar off on caged/uncaged mode of AIM-9, pressing 2 will switch to AIM-120 with the radar on. However, pressing the change weapon [D] button to switch to an AIM-120 manually will keep the radar off. 6. 80% of the bottom left and bottom right corners of the HUD for all modes across all three missile types look nothing like what's on the manual. I have very little idea what the corners of my HUD are trying to tell me. I even see some XYZ SEC indicators that count down to something. At first I though it was the time for the missile to hit but most of my missiles where hitting well before the count down finished. Some as high as 13 seconds remaining.

Thanks GC, I appreciate the help. Good to know that there are a few things out of sync and not just me. Going to do more test runs to keep figuring this out. I looked at my keyboard mappings (which I haven't touched) and I have the following mapped to the 1-6 keys; 1. Navigation Modes 2. Beyond Visual Range Mode 3. Close Air Vertical Scan Mode 4. Close Air Combat Bore Mode 6. Longitudinal Missile Aiming Mode/FLOOD mode Which seems right. I did make a mistake due to misunderstanding on my previous post. It appears that going into BVR mode with a 120 will also put you into VISUAL mode and allows you to acquire a target via the radar or through the FOV if within close distance. I'm still not certain how I can get better range out of the missile. I set a target at 5000 ft and I climbed to 30000 40 NM away and the best I got was 17 NM range before receiving the "shoot" notification. Going to spend some quality time with the manual today.

Testing things out more, I realize the manual is definitely not in sync with the sim. I made a test mission with a load out of 2 AIM-120s, 9s, and 7s. I gave myself infinite ammo so I can mess around. The manual says the 6 key should take me into VISUAL mode for the 120's. With a 120 selected, when I press the 6 key, it switches me to the AIM-9 and I can hear the growl. The manual says the 2 key should put me into LRS mode. However, I seem to go into LRS mode just by turning on the radar. Pressing the 2 key puts me into VISUAL mode (not the 6 key). I also can't seem to exit VISUAL mode and go back to RWS unless I go to NAV mode (1 key). However, NAV mode turns off the radar and I have to press I again to go back to RWS.

Thanks again for the help. The radar lock loss due to notching makes sense. I put the test targets on orbit and after some more testing I realized I was losing lock when their flight vector was perpendicular to mine. Interesting seeing the effect. A couple more questions if you don't mind... 1. I enter NAV mode by pressing the 2 key. I can cycle through my mission way points just fine (too bad there is no "back" button like the A-10) but there are two differences that don't correlate to the manual: the HUD waypoint indicator is not a cross but a straight line. It doesn't seem to pick up elevation data from the waypoint. Also, only the vertical ADI yellow bar moves. The horizontal bar always remains locked in the bottom position even when I know I'm flying at the proper altitude. Additionally, the bottom left of my HUD does not show G-load. Instead, it always shows two numbers separated by a space. First number seems to change with pitch but does not correspond to the pitch ladder. The second number seems stuck at 90. What are these numbers and why am I not seeing G-load instead? 2. My HUD symbology for launching 120's also looks wrong. On the bottom left, instead of seeing 120C X where X is the number of missiles, I see A2C LM and that doesn't change regardless of how many missiles I have. I also don't see G-load like the manual says I should.

Pretty much echoing what was said here. Learn how to start her up, take off and land. Forget navigation, CDU, TGP, TAD, weapons, countermeasures, etc. Once you can fly the pattern and land her at will, start learning one system at a time. Even then, don't expect to learn a system 100% though move on when you feel you can use the system's primary function without tripping over yourself. Some of the more obscure functions of some systems will require you to learn how others work and that won't become apparent until after you've learned 70-80% of the functionality across all systems. I suggest you start with navigation, TGP and the TAD. Since you'll be itching for combat, go through the guns and rockets tutorial which will throw a lot of jargon at you. Read the manual to fill in the details. Slightly contradictory to what I said above, I would also recommend blowing through all of the tutorials in sequence. Don't try to absorb everything since it is practically impossible. Instead just follow the instructions to get a feel for what she can do. You'll start to run into common subjects (CCIP/CCRP modes, SPI, SOI, etc). Then, when you go back to study each system in depth, you'll have an idea of how that system ties into the others.

Thanks a lot for the info, guys, especially Exorcet. Good details there. At work ATM but I'll be on later today with a few more questions and comments. Been doing some research on the missiles and tactics and a few blanks came up. I'm surprised at how detailed the F-15 systems are in DCS even with the simplified model. Tons of training must go into them so that you can keep your cool while using all of this stuff in the middle of combat.

Been spending some time learning the F-15 for the first time and I have a few questions I can't find answers for even in ye olde Google. I'd appreciate some help here. 1. At what speeds is it safe to drop gears, flaps and airbrakes? Since the manual says final should be done at 170 knots, I wait until 170 to drop gears and flaps but then have to make a lot of throttle adjustments to get back up to 170. It would be nice to know what the max speeds are so I can configure the plane and have the gears and flaps help me bleed off speed. 2. In the hog I'm used to using ~40% air brakes turning to final and then full air brakes on touch down. Are airbrakes ever used for landing on the F-15 and, if so, when should I employ them? 3. What is the F-15's most fuel efficient cruise speed/power/RPM? 4. The P button does not seem to launch the parachute to slow the plane down on the runway. Does the F-15 just not have one? (Don't feel like I need it since the simple flight model makes it possible to land on a dime but just curious) 5. It seems to be impossible to turn on the Doppler radar while on the ground. Was trying to study the thing but had to resort to active pause in the air to play with it. Is there a specific reason why the F-15 can't use the radar while on the ground? 6. Some details of the Doppler radar escape me. I get that the radar is a cone and points in the direction of the TDC and that the longer the range, the wider the cone. However there are times when the bugged plane is right in front of me, say 13NM ahead, and the square around the plane begins to blink and I lose radar lock. The horizontal scan zone is 600 so it sweeps the entire cross section, the vertical scan zone has a range of 0-9 (target in the mission editor is set to orbit at 7000 and to not respond to threats) so the target's altitude is not a problem yet I sometimes lose the lock and sometimes don't. I can't tell what the determining factor is. 7. Tied to 6, there are times when the bugged target's square is well to the left or right of the steering dot, making it impossible to maneuver to a high Pk heading while maintaining a lock. Is there something that can be done about this or that's just a fact of life? 8. Wikipedia shows some incredible ranges for the AIM-120 (50+ NM) yet I can never seem to get a green (red?) light for firing until I'm within ~10 NM of my bugged target. How is it possible to get a lock and fire an AIM-120 from 50+ NM away? Do I need a massive altitude and speed advantage? 9. When slewing the TDC on the VSD, I noticed the vertical scan zone numbers change even though the scale (10, 20, 40, etc) hasn't changed. If I move the TDC 3/4 of the way up on the 40 NM scale, does that mean my radar will only pick up targets from 30 NM away? Or is it just letting me know the height of the scan cone at that distance? 10. Is there ever any reason to use an AIM-7 over an AIM-120 assuming real-world costs are not a factor? Seems like for active radar missiles, the 120 is the clear choice and for IR its the 9. Thanks for the help.

Awesome work. I've been toying with the idea of making custom controls for a while now. It would be awesome if you could give us a bit of insight into some of the challenges you've faced putting this together. Did you use custom machined parts or where you able to buy the panels and project boxes online?

Same here. No TACAN or ILS sound. Though the bars and needles work properly on the instruments.

Welcome to DCS. I started playing DCS late last year (October-ish) but life got in they way and only started playing again recently so I'm starting to re-learn things little by little. I noticed that DCS has been releasing FC3 planes as one-offs at a discounted price. If you are only interested in FC3 for one plane then it might be worth finding out if that plane is going to get its own separate release.

Congratulations. It was only a little while ago that I reached that milestone myself. It feels fantastic just being able to take off and land. Time to move on to weapons training. Do make sure, however, to continue practicing your take offs and landings and include scenarios at night, with low visibility (fog) and/or crosswind components.

No problem. And thanks for supporting my thread.

Sure did, even started a thread a while back: http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=97022 Posted tracks of all the tutorials and where they fail.

Oh and Windows 8 + UEFI motherboard + SSD boot partition = Cold start to desktop in under 10 seconds. It's ridiculously fast. And that's with Steam, Origin, CH Control Manager and several other programs booting on start up. I loved Windows 7 but I do not miss it at all. Windows 8 does have its problems but I've found the upgrade well worth it. The new task manager is alone is almost worth the price of admission.

I'm also using Windows 8 64bit. Works like a charm. Using TM HOTAS Warthog, CH Pedals, TrackIR, TARGET software and CH Control Manager. Have had no problems whatsoever. Actually, out of my huge library of steam and non-steam titles going back to the early 90s, the only game I can't get to work with my setup is Cliffs of Dover. Every thing else works just as well or better than Windows 7. Be warned, though, if you have an NVIDIA card. The stock Windows 8 install has some very up to date drivers and I was surprised my video card was completely up to date after a fresh install. However, the built in drivers do not have the PhysX components so titles that depend on it (Arkham City) were giving me trouble. Once I reinstalled the same version of the display driver I had from NVIDIA's site, it included the PhysX libraries and all was back to normal.

I know what you mean. I've been learning A-10C and P-51D simultaneously and I enjoy very much practicing the basics, flying the pattern, trying to get my landings smoother, etc. It's amazing how rewarding these aspects of the game can be when other games trivialize or omit them in favor of pressing the weapon trigger longer.

Thanks :thumbup:

In the mission editor, air defenses show a circular area of influence with two rings. Some quick math shows that the inner ring has a radius equal to the max effective range listed in the encyclopedia. What is the outer ring? Is it max detection range? Or is it something else?

I think the TH HOTAS Warthog is well worth the price of admission. Ever since I purchased mine, I've never looked back. I use it for all my games, not just DCS. If it ever broke down on me and I couldn't get it repaired I would happily shell out the money for it again. The quality and handling is superb. I really wish TM will continue making new sticks and accessories at that level of quality.

I'm pretty new to the sim myself. Bugged training missions was a bit of a speed bump but if you look for eagledynamicstv on youtube, their channel has videos of playing through all of the training missions. It's how I got by. Just took lots of notes and set up basic missions on the editor to practice the material.

Many of the later training missions are not working properly due to a somewhat recent update changing how the heading trigger works. I've uploaded several tracks on a previous thread outlining these issues. They are being looked into according to ED.

Alright then, I'll just ignore the jerk in the tower. Never liked him anyways. He keeps calling me Tusk even though I selected Colt as my callsign in the ME.

One of my first threads (if not my first) in this forum was expressing my disappointment of how ineffective rockets appear to be. I have yet to encounter a scenario where rockets were the clear choice. I get much more out of a dive with a nice gun strafe or concentrated PAC burst. And if I'm gonna go CCRP and/or loft, good ol' Mk-82s get the job done better than any rocket. Since I'm pretty new at this, I'm going to keep assuming I'm not using them properly or under the right context. But no one has yet to clarify when rockets are the answer.

When you request permission to takeoff from ATC and they say "climb 300...",what is this 300? Don't think it is a heading since it is always 300 regardless of what airport/runway I use. Is it an altitude? 300ft is well below TPA. If it is FL300, why do they want me climbing so high? Can anyone shed any light on this?