vstolmech513

Just perusing TrackIR threads and came across this today. For me, I found that using the mini-stick press for re-centering TrackIR and the camera view in DCS works best, although you have to make sure that you assign the command in TrackIR and in each module, i.e. F-18, F-14, etc. For freezing TrackIR, I use the mic switch press and then for Push To Talk I use mic switch up for Team Speak, SRS and Voice Activated Commands (DWVAC). I use mic switch FWD for Comm1, mic switch AFT for Comm2, and mic switch Down for Comm3.

It also switches the FOV for Mavericks from Wide/Narrow, as well as being able to cycle through targets (FWD Short) and Hand Off to the HARMs (AFT Short) in TOO (Target of Opportunity). If you don't have or aren't using Chuck's guide, might want to give it a look and find out that and much more https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=212282

Not sure what you mean by no lights for the Stennis? They work fine for me, just make sure you are calling inbound in the ATC menu option on 127.500. The first three or four landings I did were on NVGs and a PITA! Then one of the guys I fly with told me to request Inbound on the ATC menu and sure enough they turned the lights on for me. If you abort inbound the lights get turned off, did that to the same guy that told me to turn them on as he was trying to land...

Camo Helmets The reason they wear the camo helmet covers in combat is because the standard white helmet tape is extremely reflective. The last thing you want is highly reflective white helmet tape that can reflect white light for miles to give away your position. Honestly, the last thing a Marine pilot would ever need to remind them that they are Marines first and pilots second is a camouflage helmet cover. PSA, I was there when that video was made and was the Quality Assurance Chief. The reason that second pilot had white helmet tape is because he was pretty new to the squadron and hadn't deployed yet. Great guy though!

Here is probably one of my all time favorites though. Served with the pilot when he was an enlisted guy and he went to VMI and became a Harrier pilot. Crazy to work on it and learn everything about it and all the secrets behind keeping it in the air and THEN wanting to fly it!

Cool video from VMA-311 from 2003 timeframe

Similar but a lot cooler than just me throwing the throttle back and forth... RAZBAM @DECOY, check out the 2:05 mark, would be cool to replicate that!

Ha! Us Americans aren't too keen about tea parties... :music_whistling:

Turn the volume knob all the way up, it is the top, smaller, knob on the ACNIP panel on the right-hand side of the cockpit, just aft of the radio.

Sorry OB1, I tried the replay three times but it only ever shows you taxi out of the HAS and then the plane just sits there on the deck not moving, so I could not get far enough to see what happened to your radar.

Posting a track would help see what is going on, that way we can take over when it happens to see what we get. Might be a bug with the water system or the EFC system, and also to see what your JPT is when you get the hex. I did not have any damage when I was testing the Man Fuel system but I'll see if I can take some rounds and replicate if I have time.

Without seeing a track it's hard to say why but I have personally only seen a D flashing on the left side of the HUD when I left the laser on after lasing a target and either stowing the TPOD or navigating away from the TPOD on which ever MPCD I was looking at. After the bomb/missile impacts the target make sure you press the OSB to turn the laser off.

How is this the gun backup sight? Did you read that somewhere or from your own knowledge? I've always been told that it was just to ensure that the HUD combiner glasses were aligned and straight, otherwise the HUD indications would not be visible and/or be way off the line of sight. This is coming from current active duty maintainers.

Just used MPRS today on a multi-player server and it worked fine. Connected first try and all subsequent aborts and rejoins worked as well.

Ok, so after further testing in Man Fuel, the majority of the system is modeled correctly. If you are in Man Fuel water will flow in T/O around 105% (should be 102.5ish so close enough, but it will flow) and around 765°C in LDG. I had no issues maintaining limitations manually and performing a VL was doable especially if you dump fuel and keep your weight reasonable. Bold face procedures (Emergency Procedures) call for jettisoning all stores if you have to select Man Fuel anyway so keeping the weight down should be easy enough and having water to keep the JPT down helps get you back on ship if you absolutely have to do a VL. The maximum RPM is 111%, which is modeled correctly, so you will more than likely only ever see the R power hex in the HUD especially if you have your H2O in LDG.

EFC Emergency Procedures That switch is there for the pilot to push through the limiters if they are descending too fast and need max performance to not crash. That switch only turns off the JPT limiters to allow the pilot to get as much performance as possible regardless of over temping the engine. The throttle has a spring stop at the max travel and you can 'push' the throttle farther to trip that switch. If the system has failed it is better to go into Manual Fuel so you can maintain the limits yourself but the max RPM in man fuel is 111%. You cannot air restart the engine in flight as the ignitors are not modeled for that and the boost pumps are not actuated when the air restart switch is pressed. To verify this, check this before you start the engines. Turn on batts, do a lights check, ensure you have both boost pump lights (meaning they are off) and then press the air restart switch. IRL both ignitors can be heard popping and both boost pump lights go out, meaning they are energized by DC power from the battery, which is how the engine gets fuel flow to restart in the air. In manual fuel the ignitors pop continuously, as in they never stop as long as you have it on, which is also not modeled (already reported to DECOY). This is an intricate system and you first need to determine which failure has occurred. If you have a Master Caution EFC and JPTL light, first ensure DECS enable switch is ON and switch DECU lanes and see if you get control back (called a single lane failure). Normally the jet does this automatically for a single lane failure, but it is not modeled AFAIK. If you do have a Master Warning EFC light (called a dual lane failure) then you need to select Manual Fuel. The JTPL system is actually controlled by the Electronic Fuel Control (EFC), which is controlled by the two Digital Engine Control Units (DECUs). If your EFC system or the JTPL system is damaged (two in the same) then you are supposed to put the jet into Manual Fuel, which is literally you using the throttle to tell the jet (the Fuel Metering Unit, FMU) how much fuel to put in the engine. It is up to the pilot to maintain all operational limits however, and is very easy to both over temp the engine or over speed the engine. :book: Manual Fuel does not have max limits that are automatically controlled, hence the name of manual fuel. The maximum RPM you can achieve is 111% and you need to keep the temp below 780°C when your nozzles are below 14°, which would put you in Short Lift Dry (normally) or 710° when your nozzles are above 14°, which would put you in Max Thrust (normally) (see chart below for performance limitations). Unless you absolutely have to do a VL, perform a Variable Nozzle Slow Landing (VNSL = RPM 80-95%). Attempt to keep RPM below 100% to max extent possible and if VL is a must (simulated boat ops) reduce weight to minimum practical amount and use smooth throttle deceleration. IRL water does actually flow when it is selected while in manual fuel, but I have not tested this out in this module, I might give it a go and report back here after I test it. You will not get the associated rise in RPM IRL, but it does give it to you in the sim, which is incorrect and I reported it to DECOY already.

F10 Coordinates Why don't you just press LAlt+Y to change the coordinates in the F10 map to whatever format you want? Really useful function.

Turning off the Data Link also improves frame rates with the SA page up. Seems like you can have the dispensers ON but not have SA page up and FPS is good, or you can have the SA page up and Dispensers OFF or DL off (negates the purpose of the SA page) and FPS are good. More contributors to the SA page the worse the FPS hit is in my experience as a SP mission with no contributors or only E-2 are not affected.

Glad you liked them.

Not sure what the problem is, I just hopped on and requested rejoin on 251.000 and it worked just fine. Maybe run a repair?

Yeah, when there isn't the ability to fix them or properly test them (i.e. high power) we have to truck them back down here to Yuma or back to Cherry Point. Putting them on a truck is a PITA too, but it's better then doing aborted takeoffs in order to high power the jet so it can fly.

Is this a mission you created or someone else? Single player or multi player on a server? The briefing could be wrong compared to what is in the mission editor. If you have the ability to open the mission in the editor, click on the tanker and look to see what channel is selected for the tanker and also look in the advanced options for the waypoints and see if a different 'Set Frequency' task is set to a different freq. If it is a multi player server then the briefing is probably accurate and maybe you have a binding set wrong in your controls? Maybe delete the bind to the radios and reset them?

Engine R&R Yes, the 550 man hours sounds about right. On deployment, assuming that you have all of the needed parts from supply (yeah right...), AND nothing major is found inside of the engine bay (or you are told not to look TOO hard), a good crew can have it out and back in, tested and ready for Functional Check Flight (FCF) in 3-4 shifts, so two days working 12 hour shifts. The major hiccups are the fact that yes, the entire wing comes off in one piece and is really only held on by 6 bolts. Once you get that off you have to take the water tank out of the back and disconnect the engine and remove it from the engine bay, and there is barely 1-2 inches of room on either side of the engine as you are removing it. Now once the engine is removed from the engine bay, every shop has to go through the engine bay to look for discrepancies and do whatever preventative maintenance that you need to, including any hourly inspections that are close. Once the engine is out you then have to tear it down and QEC the new motor and get it ready to install. Everyone has to be extremely careful not to dent any RCS ducts in the engine bay either, as they have super small tolerances for dents. If they are creased in ANY way, you have to replace them as they could give false duct pressure readings. Once you are sure the engine bay is good then it's time to put the engine back in, again with barely 1-2 inches on either side and then getting the six bolts that hold the engine in :music_whistling:. Two bolts in the rear of the engine and two bolts on either side just aft of the cold nozzles holding what are called trunion mounts down is all that holds the engine in. Now comes the FUN part. Hooking everything up with the engine installed takes a gift that not many people have... you have to be able to use your left hand, upside down and behind your back to do many of the tasks, oh, and you can't look at what you are doing either. It's almost impossible to have both hands in the same place on this jet when doing engine work. Now, assuming that you haven't dropped any tools or parts down in the engine bay (if you can't find them you have to remove the engine back out to find it...), it's time to put the wing back on and finish connecting the engine completely. Once it is all hooked up you service it, take it outside to low power it and verify all systems are working before taking it to high power. Once all of that checks good it's ready for a FCF pilot to go try and break it. We used to be able to do it in a single day until they put the Quick Engine Change on the Organizational Level (O-Level). Since there are two different versions (Night Attack and Radar), and of course they don't have the same engine connects, the I-Level only builds a complete engine up to the QEC. So once you take an engine out, you have to take those repairable components off of that engine and put them on the new engine. That takes almost an entire shift of maintenance for 3 maintainers (36 man hours). Here are a couple of pictures that were taken of us (VMA-231 Powerline) on the 26th MEU back in '07 removing an engine while embarked aboard the USS Bataan (LHD-5).

Not sure but launching from the Tarawa (LHA) works fine for me. If you are in OB 2.5.6 there should not be any reason you can't launch from the boat. If you are just learning however, make sure you know how to do a STO (Short Take Off).

If those are the only two caution advisory lights that you cannot get to go away, that is the way they are designed. For the BINGO caution all you have to do is scroll the bingo setting to a lower number. Then it won't come back on until you get below that fuel state again. As for H2O Master Caution light, the only time that comes on when you are low on water is when you have the water switch in T/O or LDG. Simply turn water off and the H2O Master Caution will go away, but will stay illuminated as long as you have water selected. If it is the H2O caution advisory light (lower right side above where your right knee would be), then that means that you have water still selected and are going faster than 250 knots. Again, simply turn water off and the light will extinguish. As for the LAW, that is the height you set on the Up Front Controls (UFC). It is the ALT button below the AWL button. When you press that you will see the height show on the scratchpad and can change it to whatever you want. As long as you are above that height, you will not see the LAW Master Warning light. If you have questions or need further explanation don't hesitate to shoot me a PM.