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True statement. To boot, once you designate a contact as friendly TWS Auto may not care, but at that point the AWG-9 is already looking at that wedge of sky instead of the wedge of sky you designated (in TWS Man). It's why I prefer to start in TWS Man and then sort the picture before going to TWS Auto.

I wouldn't mind using the POV hat to navigate menus. However, the functions would ideally be remappable and not tied to a specific keybind (like POV slew). These options would provide maximum flexibility. The only problem with the current UI is that there is no way to assign one button to two functions within a module. The fix for this could be assigning "Menu Up/Dn/Lt/Rt" keystrokes/buttons to the UI Layer, and then assign POV hat as default. Then the code could only override the standard POV commands when the comm menu is up. While I don't recommend this for a default setup (because it requires a HOTAS with at least 3 hats), I have my profile set so that while the comm button is held, Hats 2-4 are mapped to F1-F12 (starting at hat 2 and working clockwise). Something similar (i.e. holding down the comm button remaps the POV hat to navigate the menu, and releasing the comm button optionally releases the comm menu) would be a nice feature as well.

There really isn't that much to TWS as far as being able to shoot multiple missiles. The AWG-9 does most of the work, and once you launch a Phoenix it goes into TWS Auto even if you were in manual before. That said, here are some techniques I like to use: You have two scan patterns: 40x2bar and 20x4bar. All things being equal I prefer 20x4bar because it is harder (more abstract) to visualize the scan elevation of the target versus azimuth. If you see the datalink contact and don't have a corresponding radar contact, odds are it's not in your vertical scan range. Along with #1, once you have SA zoom your TID to the tactical situation, which is to say as much as you can while keeping your contacts on the TID. Those numbers on the left of the scope (above and below the antenna elevation) are the min/max altitudes for the radar scan at the top of the screen. You want to make sure your contacts are centered in this range. Zooming out too far gives you an unrealistic vertical scan volume as it pertains to your targets. Match your IFF distance on your DDD to match your TID distance. Then when you press IFF without having a target bugged you can get an IFF view on the DDD that should closely match what you see on the TID. If there is a mix of friendly and bogie/bandit aircraft on the TID, I like to use TWS manual so I can slew the radar where I want. TWS Auto tries to get as many targets in its cone as possible, which includes friendlies. If all that's out in front of you is a gorilla, then TWS Auto is fine. The AWG-9 does the work of prioritizing and tracking post-launch. Just make sure you designate friendly contacts as friendlies using the CAP so they're taken off the target list (i.e. you don't shoot one accidentally). EDIT: Sniped by Tyrant. Great minds think alike!

One thing I just discovered: you don't need to modify the RWR init.lua file; you can just use F14_ECMD instead of F14_RWR for the same effect. But this also begs the question: is there any way to export the HSI repeater at the RIO station (which is normally called the ECMD)? EDIT: aannnd...it went away with the latest patch. :(

:worthy: :worthy: :worthy:

Is Jester doing something else like inputting coordinates? I found "he" gets task saturated and sometimes you have to task him when he's not already interfacing with a system.

I noticed in the FAQs that we are supposed to disable the NS430 when using VAICOM Pro. What exactly is the conflict with the NS430 (i.e. if the NS430 module is enabled, what happens or doesn't happen)? Is there progress on fixing this, or is this a DCS-side issue?

Understood. I figured this was a DCS issue, but thanks for putting it on the wishlist.

I can't complain either. Not touching my paycheck on my second deployment helped pay for my BMW when I got back. :thumbup: Still, I did have a lot more fun on the boat. Having a mission rather than grasping for one makes hardships a lot more palatable. When I was in VP the AIP bird was being held out as a carrot for us, but it wasn't very effective as a carrot when we realized that 1) the AIP birds would be mixed in with SUDS birds (and we would need to be proficient in both aircraft), and 2) the AIP systems were still not properly integrated, so it was just more avionics bolted onto the old, tired system. I actually figured I would be designing avionics for a living once I got out because I had the engineering degree and had seen up-close what not to do.

Though I could be wrong in this case, I think VF-41 was using 20k LANTIRN pods in 1999. 40k LANTIRN pods were incorporated into the fleet by 2001, so this glitch may have been taken care of with the new pods.

Speaking from experiences 20 years ago, there was definitely a bitterness in the community. I won't go full Freud with reasons why, but I would parallel it to blackshoes I've met. You have guys who embrace the experience as a whole and don't let it get them down, and some who embrace the misery, feed on it, and look for someone else to dump on (i.e. the "I had to do this and so do you" mentality). In other words, some great people and some whom I wouldn't follow from a burning building. Two of the finest officers I ever met were my Battle Group Admiral (a SWO) and one of my VP skippers (two COs removed from the political backstabber I alluded to earlier).

My only regret was dropping my letter instead of a lateral transfer, but I also had no desire to go back to VP.

AFAIK (and I could be wrong), the F-14A with the TF-30 has 5 discrete afterburner zones. The GE-110 on the F-14B doesn't have discrete zones, although there are three different nozzle positions based on where the throttle resides forward of the afterburner detent. You should look at the curve itself in the DCS Options menu to make sure that the position on your virtual slider extends to the end of the same extremes of your physical slider (both are represented on the scale). That should tell you right there if your curve is reducing your total travel.

I was out of Whidbey Island, so didn't frequent either place. Did two WestPACs, then went to a battle group staff in a strike role. Actually had more fun on the boat than in VP. Maybe we chewed some common ground at the Bird Farm in Fallon.

NFO yes, but not a RIO. I was 94, so when I went through flight training they were migrating the A-6 B/Ns to the Prowlers and Tomcats. I wasn't at the top of my class, so my odds-on options would have been VP, VS, or VAW. I went with VP.

And don't forget that even when the wings were swept that was also helping with fuel consumption. Higher speeds means more lift, which also means more induced drag. Swept wings reduced the lift generated, thereby reducing the drag at higher speeds, which reduced the amount of thrust required to maintain speed.

Flying RIO is definitely a lot of fun, providing I have a pilot who can take my abuse! :D

A lot of it was the domino effect from the A-12, both its cost overruns and its eventual cancellation. When the A-12 was cancelled, the Navy didn't have a replacement lined up for the A-6. The F/A-18 was intended to replace the A-7 (light attack), and as a superb piece of engineering it did this quite well and then some. However, it was never intended to perform the all-weather deep strike/medium attack mission of the A-6 (though the Marine Corps employed the F/A-18D for all-weather attack). When the A-12 was cancelled, either DoD or Big Navy (not sure which - I was a midshipman at the time) took it out on NAVAIR. This was also post-Tailhook, so NAVAIR was a political punching bag. The Tomcat was an expensive plane with its maintenance requirements going up due to sustained operations over (at the time) 20 years. When it came time to upgrade the Tomcat, NAVAIR was given a Sophie's Choice of taking either the AMRAAM upgrade or the LANTIRN integration, but not both. Given the A/G focus post Desert Storm, NAVAIR opted for LANTIRN. Once the Navy started getting rid of the Phoenix missile, the Tomcat was a great airframe with Fox 1 capability. In replacing both the A-6 and the F-14 with the Hornet platform, the Navy saved money by sacrificing significant capability in all weather power projection. Not just the A-6 that could carry a significant amount of hate and discontent in all weather conditions, but the F-14 that excelled in the fighter sweep role that could really clear the corridors for a deep strike. EDIT: Since McAir was developing the A-12, by replacing the A-6 and F-14 with the F/A-18E/F, McAir (now Boeing) was ironically rewarded for its failures. Conversely, killing the A-6 and F-14 effectively cut Grumman off at the knees, and it soon fell victim to a hostile takeover by Northrop.

Version 2.5.63 is available for DCS 2.5.6.53756

QFT on both paragraphs. I had a skipper who would have sold his own mother down the river for a star. Robin Olds was a national treasure, and Operation Bolo was as much a psychological victory as a tactical one.

Please, no four letter words. There are children who frequent these forums! :smartass:

Fantastic idea. You can do that right now with KBB, but having something built in would be ideal for someone starting out. Then have a selectable checklist option in the DCS Options menu (e.g. illustrated, standard, none) so when people get proficient they can switch to the standard checklist.

Well played! And to see what I mean by that, check out the first few minutes of the original: [YOUTUBE]watch?v=QCmEFrWDAUY[/YOUTUBE] admin edit for link, embedding dont work with this one:

It's in the DCS Options menu under "Special" for the F-14.

I should clarify, I keep textures to high (I like reading the cockpit), but I put terrain textures to low. Here's a screenshot of my settings: The resolution is due to auxiliary monitors I use for MFD exports.