MatzWarhog

I'll answer your "Another question" first... YES! Turtle... I went through the same process at first, but it only lasted about two weeks. I quickly found out that DCS World, and the DCS A-10C Sim were unmatched in the consumer Combat Flight Sim realm, and I started seriously looking to find a great sim to get into... all the way... and make an honest effort to become an accomplished, knowledgeable and hopefully someday, competitive pilot. The TM Warthog and TIR5 were total game changers for me. I have spent MANY hours (over 30 hours in the cockpit, on start ups, take offs and landings (in self made "learning missions" not counting tutorial hours) going over every aspect of each step of the learning process, ie, not rushing to start shooting or bombing anything before I have all the essentials completely down first. I've already spent many hours learning this sim, and have many, many more yet to go... but being thorough is starting to pay off. When you start performing actions without thinking to yourself "Ummm... now how do I do that again?" the entire learning curve changes. I've just began my latest adventure into weaponry and combat employment... and it's gonna take a lot of time as well!! That's also where the better quality hardware comes into play. Take for example a tutorial. When the narration says "Press the TMS up short command", and just below your right thumb is the actual TMS control... well it's pretty much straight forward. Same goes for the BOAT switch, China Hat, trim, slew control... everything becomes easier, more realistic, and much more incredibly immersive, when you have hardware as close as you can get to the "Real Deal". Is the TM Warthog the only way to fly? NO! Many do very well without it, and could crush me with whatever they use. But... if you ever got to sit down at a fast PC, and fly with a TM Warthog, TM Cougars, TIR5 and Saitek Pro Pedals... your DCS A-10C experience would never feel the same again. As for the wife... sorry buddy... can't help ya there, and won't even consider giving advice in that arena!! :helpsmilie: I have a wife too... they are all very unique to say the least! But... do check for bargain prices online, and also check for people selling "gently used" hardware. The reason I point that out, is that there are many folks out there with deep enough pockets to go "all out" on everything they find interest in, and when the interest fades... they sell their goods and invest in "another" endeavor. I know this to be fact, as I'm a photographer, and have bought $1500 lenses for $800-900 that are "like new", and have little to no real practical use on them. Lots of other great advice above... just pick what works best for you, your wife and your pocketbook, and ENJOY this amazing Sim!!! Cheers! Matz

The sound of that 30mm!!!! Absolutely awesome!!! There's another one I recently found that really shows off the impact of the 30mm's vs when they were fired... Amazing power!!!! Matz

:thumbup:Thank you!!!! Matz

It does not use of the same principle, as one involves gravity and the other does not. The two terms are not the same nor are they synonymous or interchangeable. When someone dresses me down for my comment about how my OP had basically been hijacked, I replied by simply pointing out why I saw it that way. In response to my explanation that the thread had taken on a strong odor of negativity, I received a harsh rebuttal by someone whose signature reads as follows: "Welcome to DCS You suck, and you are going to be constantly reminded of this fact for about 6-9 months (if you learn). If you RTFM and use your brain and be actively aware of how bad you suck, you can easily shave 3-6 months off of your complete newbie status. You could even play easy mode and make some kids think that you’re really good, but only if they are bad." ...the least I should be able to expect from such seasoned veterans and others giving me pointers, is that they use the correct terminology (or at least have the courtesy to say, "Sorry, I was wrong about that" rather than "you've just never learned how to say thank you") and to not contradict the manual, so as NOT to confuse me or the other "Newbies" that are reading the thread, even further. I am a happy go lucky guy, and very easy to get along with. I also like to see humor and levity in the threads and responses as well. However, I'm also an educated, middle-aged adult, that learned to use netiquette, well before forums were born, and USENET was how people communicated via "Dial-up". You'll notice that I didn't receive a definition to bury the issue, because there isn't one that exists, that states what has been claimed the term means. Why do I even care? Because while I may be a newbie and stupid in regards to flying the DCS A-10C, I don't like to be pushed to the ground and kicked, simply because I'm the new kid on the block. Trust me, with DCS rapidly rising in popularity and quality, unmatched by any other Sim on the market today, there are a LARGE number of lurkers (29 at present) reading these posts for answers to the same questions. If they continue to see harsh, 'pecking order' style, negatively handed out responses to simple issues, they won't become members, won't join servers, and will likely take their $$'s elsewhere in the future, as this is a Sim with a level of difficulty, that 99% of new owners will need a hand learning to use correctly. If being new dictates that my posts, comments and replies, don't deserve the same amount of common respect and courtesy as anyone else here, Then I too would return to lurking, and not ask questions that MANY "Newbies who all suck" are looking for answers to. Eagle Dynamics is a "diamond in the rough" when it comes to software developers/producers. They are constantly adding aircraft and updating existing issues in a more than timely manor... many other's simply put out a Sim or Game, sell it, and abandon it as soon as they reach their desired profit margin. DCS has chosen to take the better path, and in return, they will reap huge benefits by going so, Kudos to DCS! Thank you to all those delivering positive advice, pointers to other resources, being welcoming, and generally polite. Your input is greatly appreciated, helpful and incredibly useful. I hope you continue to help the rest of us along on our mission to become good pilots. I consider my part in this thread now finished, continue it as you like. I will likely have many more new questions the further I progress, and will post new threads accordingly. Thanks for the help guys!!! Matz ; }-~

Then just post me the definition of "Aerobraking" and the source you get it from, and I'll concede and shut up.

BTW, my landings are becoming much better now from following sound advice here and continuing to "RTFM".

Yes... I do, but I'm not sure others do. "Aerobraking" is a commonly misused term for Aerodynamic Braking, which results when "Speed Brakes" or "Air Brakes" are deployed. Aerobraking is the use of atmospheric drag in space as opposed to opposite force coming from thrust boosters. If anyone needs further information/clarification on the topic, I'll ask my brother-in-law for more, as he's been a design engineer for Lockheed for over 25 years. Matz

Thank you!! Great simple advice which requires much practice to do sub-consciously! Thanks!! :thumbup: Matz

My reference to negativity began with the posting of a 1000x563 image of a animated human figure, that hardly benefits my landing in any way, shape or form, as it appears it's intent was to mock another "suggestion". It was then followed up by Cookie telling me that Mower's advice here was not only "Not Good" advice, but rather "Bad Advice". Also, I took Mower's reference to "looks cool for the chicks" as a bit of levity, not why one should do what he suggested, but rather because that's what the Flight Manual suggests. Seems some here still want to "hash out" or "Resurrect" an old argument (which appears to have been beaten to DEATH at least twice) here regarding "Speed Brakes" (which are not referred to as, or used as interchangeable terminology with "Aerobrakes") on the A-10C. I posted a topic regarding an aspect of flight that is quite difficult at first, and also one that seems to draw a large amount of interest here from other new pilots as well, and posted my suggestion of how "I'm" practicing Start-Up, Take-Off, Navigation and Landing, all in a simple, self created mission, that also encourages other "Newbies" like myself, to explore the mission editor. Now the thread has digressed to numerous comparisons to F-16's (which I'm not flying at the moment) and old arguments, and criticisms of this Sim's flight model. It would be refreshing to see the thread return to the original topic. :badmood: Now if someone has additional "positive" input on landing for newbies, then lets proceed. I'm finding that the "Speed Brakes" have benefited my landing greatly. Matz

Wow... Turned just a bit negative here real quick. I personality don't find that helpful while learning. The aerobraking provided my best landing so far, and I didn't have to physically change pitch to get the nose down, it settled on its own well before the runway exit. I welcome all advice, and will try each method for the best results... and aerobraking worked well for me. Even the flight manual says to allow speed degradation to let the nose drop... worked well for me. After a few hundred successful landings, my opinion may change, maybe not. SafetyTurtle, just keep working on hitting the sweet spot on approach... it'll get easier. Matz BTW, I'm 48, and took the "impress the chicks" remark as humor... 'nuff said about that.

Now that's great advice!!! Thanks!!

Didn't have FRAPS running, and didn't think to snap a screenshot. Pity too... from inside the cockpit, the deeper I sank, everything turned red! From the exterior view... my jet was just slowly sinking, tilted to the left!! :D Don... I got so tired of the tutorial, and free-flight taking so long, just to get to the point of crashing, it spawned the idea! Now I can take off, make two waypoints, be on approach and crash in 15 minutes or less!!! :megalol: Much better time management this way!! hehehehehe! Hope it benefits you too!! Matz

Definitely figured that one out quickly!! LOL!!

It's not too forgiving the way I've been flying so far! lol, I've been in the water (300+ feet deep), upside down in the grass in flames, or I peek around after my "not so soft landing attempt" and see both my wings broken off, no landing gear left.. you name it!!! But it's the guys like you that I watch on YouTube that keep me pressing forward! If I posted a video of myself at present... they would age restrict it due to the self-narrative!!! :wallbash: But then again... it might be quite entertaining!! (Think 'drunk Homer Simpson R-rated narrative) :D Matz

Working well for me so far... I see the training aspects of the ME being unlimited for myself!! Hope this is helpful for others!! ME is really cool!! Yep, same ATC voice as the tutorial, LOL "Hawg 1-1"!! :ranting: I've been waiting for him to ask "Hawg 1-1... what is your major malfunction son?!?!?" :megalol: I can easily see this as being the best way to "self-train" enough to get up to speed before I fly with an experienced pilot, and feeling like a fool. At least doing it this way I/We all can get up to a certain level, far enough up, that we won't be doing mental back-flips, trying to stay up with the instructions of a good mentor!!! :joystick: Cheers Guys!! Matz

Cookie... I forgot my SCBA gear and periscope when I loaded out!! :lol:

Thanks for the many pointers guys!! My goal is to have my landings "wired tight" as Mower put it! Best way I can see to do that, is practice, practice, practice. What a great bunch here!! Thanks again... we're making forward progress now!! Matz

Update! I came to the conclusion that there were too many "unkown/unsure" of's in the tutorial, and just trying to divert to "Runway 'XYZ'" in Free Flight. So, in order to eliminate some of the brain clutter, I decided there was no better time than the present to investigate the ME! (Mission Editor... rather than the Medical Examiner, that I've been visiting after my many failed landings!) I set up a simple (no wind or other other weather varibles... I can add those later) Flight Plan. A "Take Off From" Senaki at High Noon, to a random point, pretty much straight ahead WNW, out over the water. Allowed plenty of distance to get to 7500ft and set up the radio and ILS in that first leg. I then created two waypoints over the water to get me headed in the proximity of a line up with Batumi, and then marked a landing waypoint at Batumi. I set that last waypoint over the water to 5000ft, about 40 miles out, so I would be in the "ballpark" when contacting Batumi for a "Request Landing", and followed the ATC from there. :music_walkman: By far, the best touchdown I've made yet! :clap: Landed on the donut, right on the skid marks on the runway, throttled all the way back, stayed dead center, engaged nose wheel steering at 50 knots, and braked and taxied right into the parking area!! :D Now I'll be able to practice "Start Up", "Take-off", "Basic Navigation" and finally "LANDING" (visual, ILS, TACAN etc). And as I get more proficient, I'll add in some weather, change the time of day, add a crosswind, do circular approaches etc!! Senaki and Batumi might grow quite tired of "Hawg 1-1", but too bad, "Deal With It!!" :rotflmao: Then, I can set up a different, yet similar Mission, taking off and landing at different bases!! That will also help acquaint me with the region!! :thumbup: This will afford me the ability to carve the first four major steps of flying my A-10C into my memory! (And that's no easy task on my end! Hehehehe). So, for those of you in my same shoes, I recommend giving this a try at the locations of your choice! ME is quite user friendly, and (as I've now discovered) can be a great way to create a custom learning tool!!! Cya in the Skies!! Matz

...Is SO MUCH more easy than learning to LAND! I've killed more trees, banks of dirt, buildings, vehicles... you name it! It's quite ironic actually. At first, I just lined up, dropped the speed, flared a bit, set it down in about the right spot, and taxied. Now that I'm concentrating on the technical aspects of navigating, speed, AOA, etc... I've been burned up, torn in half, slid sideways to a stop... and probably the most interesting so far, is that I set my A-10C down way short of the runway over water, nose up enough, and slow enough not to break up, and then sank!!!! Did you know that the Sim has underwater noises too??? Well, neither did I!! :lol: My altitude was -325 before I hit ESC! (and NO, I wasn't over the Dead Sea!) :megalol: Sounded like I was playing Silent Hunter 5!! More tutorials, more videos, more reading, and lots more flying... I'll get back to Earth in one piece soon enough. I'm quite stubborn, and not one to give up!! But man... I'm gonna owe the taxpayers a fortune before I get this part down!!! :P Matz BTW, does anyone know of a good "Touch-n-Go" practice mission??

As a matter of fact I did, and it didn't recognize a button push. I may have to try it with DCS World running in the background. Matz

My TM Warthog was the same, POV HAT on the stick. As soon as my TIR5 was installed, it changed itself to Trim only, and TIR took over for POV. Sticking with the mouse or numpad for external views is the way to go, IMO. However, I would like the paddle to re-center my Track IR, and have yet to get that accomplished. TIR still wants to use F12, which interfers with "Exit" on the radio commands.

I say sure! Even in my short time here, I've seen many redundant questions that could be immediately resolved in "Sticky Posts" or "Newbie FAQs". Things such as "I bought my standalone on Steam..." etc. I think it would be a great place for introductions, and learning forum etiquette, which not everyone knows. I wound think it would need to be limited to just a starting point, or many "not so newbie" questions wound start showing up there, and lots that apply to many people, would be missed by them. Pointers to the wiki and other awesome resources could also fit in there nicely. The only reservation I would have, is that not as many very experienced pilots would frequent it to answer more complex topics, or direct them to post in the main forum, or it would require someone to move the question. But, as a general starting point, it might be perfect! One of the main things it would need to survive, wound be volume. The main forum has such a high volume of users, you're sure to get a correct answer or pointer there. JMO of course, but I think it would be worth a trial run. Matz

Masterful Work Shu!!! All you other new newbies (like me)... you wanna grab these!!! Definitely a Nav must have!! I'll be adding these to my tablet. I'm building a collection of all the outstanding PDF's in it, and keep it open for quick, easy reference sitting next to my rig!! Thanks again to Shu77 and all the others that added input to make these "just right"!!! :thumbup: Matz

Heya ST... all I can say is, Trim, Trim, and Trim again! As Nigel pointed out, a bit of rudder helps smooth things out as well, but there's a reason the top (and largest) HAT switch in the actual A-10C stick, is the "TRIM", as the A-10C relies on manual trimming. Check page 493. :book: As for "gaining" altitude while banked, you should find yourself losing altitude in a banked turn. In a tight or sharp turn, you should be having to pitch "up" when you bank the turn. I may be developing a bad habit, and hopefully some pilots here can catch me before I DO have a bad habit that I need to break... but if I have a bit of a TTG on a waypoint, I hit the Autopilot after I get trimmed to the waypoint at straight and level flight. Is this a good thing to do, or nay?? Matz

Welcome Aerthorn!! You'll quickly find that the people here are awesome resources for technical advice, general questions, and just being all around 'good people'!! You're not learning alone, as there seems to be plenty of us! It's an incredible Sim with a steep learning curve (if you haven't already noticed), but really addictive, as are the forums here!! By best "newbie to newbie" advice at this point, would be what I've discovered helps me the most. Learn a step, learn it again and again, practice it, and when it's locked into the brain, chalk that up as yet another small victory!! Then, the more tiny steps you make, the more gratifying those small accomplishments become!! Stack up enough of them, and you'll find yourself getting closer and closer to becoming a real A-10C Sim Pilot!!! Good Luck, and hopefully, many of us newbies will be hitting the skies together soon!!! :thumbup: Matz