=Mac=

Editing that could be intimidating to a newcomer. Deleting a single file will be easier and fix his screen size problem.

@Boompaw4 Take your time. Your frustration level will drop to zero once you get the feel for things here. And, once you get to flying, if you are a noob flying, you are going to see just how complicated flying (in real life) is. This is a military grade STUDY simulator. With that in mind, take your time. Most real pilots take years to get really good at their machine. But, once you ARE good at flying, you will not be able to stop doing it. DCS is the easy and cheapest way to get close to it. "For once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return." Leonardo Da Vinci

Was wondering if anyone was going to post that. You beat me to it, Lange_666

I have noticed that, before, AAR was to get steady, move in slowly, make small movements, and don't expect instant response. However, I think the use of turbulence has added difficulty to AAR. I can fly right up to the basket but as soon as I get close to that slipstream, I have to fight. You can't just hold still and ease on in. The turbulence makes you fight for position. It seems to me that the turbulence eases up a lot once you plug in. I haven't refueled off the KC-135 in a very long time so I can't say. But the Herc is very difficult compared to what it was. Nevertheless, I CAN plug in regularly. It's just a lot harder, now.

I know this is going to be a very complex and complicated question so I won't mind if the answers are rather lengthy. How do you open the door?

I can't tell you how much I love DCS and the people that bring it to me. So, I don't care WHAT they do so long as they keep doing it.

From my military experiences (early '70s) the most protected stuff was underwater acoustics (sonar-buoys and subs) and electronics (radio comms and radar). I'm sure a civilian version of a military combat simulator will not have any of that correctly (accurately) simulated. We're going to get an estimation (which may or may not be how it really is.)

GOod post. Thanks. Hope they explain or fix.

If you like a plane, go for it. Just fall into it, as you said. Me, I love all of them. I have all of them. I only fly Western aircraft because I'm too stu.... uneducated... to learn Russian. I've spent the last year studying the Hornet. FYI, you DON'T have to take off and land on a carrier. The Hornet is one of the easiest aircraft to land at a shore base even in strong crosswinds. I've flown the F-16 only a couple times and, from what I recall, it's easy to land at a shore base, too. If you have the dollars, get Trackir. I don't think I would like to fly K&M for very long now. VR has its great points, too. My buddy was about to commit suicide trying to tank on the KC-130 last year. He got VR and his tanking and parade formations are dead on, now. If you ever consider spending any serious time in a helo, get some good pedals. I have the cheap Saitek one and have needed to repair it 5 or 6 times. But... I NEED them for the Huey and the P-51 or the P-47. I have 5 monitors but fly with only one for DCS and one for Discord, SRS, any Windows stuff I want, etc. Aerobatics Online is a great online server to have fun in. You can't shoot or bomb anything, but it's a great place to get the feel for aircraft. Keep your eyes open, though; there are lots of guys (of all ages) acting like kids in a candy store. Get away from the airports and play in the mountains alone or with a friend. And, be prepared with something to keep your jaw from dropping! DCS is totally awesome visually now. And, shortly, it's going to get even better!

What a wonderful topic to read about a silly little game like this. And, before you yell at me, I'M JOKING! I love DCS and this thread actually IS wonderful. Like Steve Gee said, "Thank you, good sirs!" The video shows rolling out AT the 3/4 mile. Crap, I need to fly LOTS more circuits!

You're getting Clara because you're way too high. 600 feet at the 90 (your needles should show you where you need to be) and about 350 to 400 when you are lined up. Above that and you're not going to see the Ball. Clara!

Think of a marginal (rainy, foggy, snowy, ugly) Case I. I use the ICLS even in clear, smooth weather because it reliably shows you where you are want to be. If you know it brings you in low when you're close in, you know to make that adjustment. It's not that it's precise; but, it's accurate. It's precision might be a bit high or low but it's accuracy will be consistently that way. Consistency is what you need. (And I might have the precision/accuracy definitions backwards. Precision is the "plus or minus" and accuracy is "repeatability"?) On beginning the turn: remember you have 15 seconds in the groove. That's a long time! Do you NEED to turn when just past the stern? You call the Ball at the 3/4 mile. That means you need to be level, on speed, and at the right altitude BEFORE you call the Ball. Nevertheless, if you're like me, memorize the words "Clara" and "Waveoff!" Finally, remember your bank angle is going to make you descend. Power up. Then, BEFORE you level out, pull back the power. And, be very aware of the burble and what THAT is going to do just as you are about 100 feet from the fantail. As a side note, I remember (especially at night) the ADJ's running power tests on engines on the test stand just below the fantail. My bunk was 1 deck below the flight deck on the port quarter, right below the One Wire and I remember well the irritating spool ups and spool downs in rapid succession. The Hornet spools waaaay too slow from what I remember on the J-79's (F-4's) doing it. Even when on the shore, you could hear the F-4's on approach spooling almost instantly as the pilot worked the throttle to keep his angles. But, that was well before even the Tomcats. I think the picture below is of a "B" bird because the Turkey feathers are really short. "J" bird's were longer.

You guys still looking? I am familiar with the FA-18, the UH-1 and the A-10C although I've not spent much time in the A-10C II yet. I am horrible in A2A but I can avoid the ground during A2G. I know what the carrier looks like and I've never sunk one while trying to land on it. What maps do I have? Yes. What aircraft do I have? I don't have the I-16 nor the Anton. Other than that, yes. Seriously, I can AAR in the Hornet, I've never had a ramp strike and usually can trap, and can just about ignore SA-2's if I see them, have gone gunzo vs SA-8's before, can launch Harms in TOO, and can fly NOE with the best of them. I'm ex U.S. Navy (71-74 East Coast) 32GB RAM, 2080ti, Trackir, three MFD's, TM Warthog, Saitek pedals, 150Mbps down and 15Mbps up, and since I'm retired, I have all the time in the world at any time on the clock. I'm in Toronto. I'm only interested in A2G or the Huey. Let me know.

There is a couple companies here in Toronto that are pretty good at building renovation. I can ask them if they can do the building repairs if I land their crew close the building and lift in their supplies and equipment. (Just kidding: I can't lift cargo yet to save my life. I'm sure they would refuse my attempt offer. :))

In Beirut, Lebanon, there is a hospital helipad at St. George Hospital University Medical center (atop the building) labeled with the appropriate "H" but when landing or taking off from there, the building's elevation is incorrect. This allows for landing through the building. Attached is the track I made of it. St. George Hospital helipad problem

Yeah, I noticed that the LTD arm switch didn't reset, also. Because I don't have it mapped, I have to look to re-arm so when it DOESN'T reset, I'm a happy camper.

Mine didn't. (See the track)

https://we.tl/t-mcOjAarOyf Please let me know (1) if you can get this and (2) if you can see the clear miss with the laser blinking on the target.

How to get the track file to you? It's 10 MB.

Laser was on and locked. TGP shows the lock and the bomb just flying past. The track file is almost 10 MB but your site only allows 5 MB files. So, I have attached a Tacview, if that will help. Let me know what you want me to do to help. Tacview-20201218-163148-DCS-GBU 24 miss.trk.zip.acmi

The basic download for DCS World is around 40 Gigabytes. Modern dial-up modems typically have a maximum theoretical transfer speed of 56 kbit/s although in most cases, 40–50 kbit/s is the norm. Factors such as phone line noise as well as the quality of the modem itself play a large part in determining connection speeds. At dialup speeds, 40GB would take (40GB/56Kb/s) around 5,714,285 seconds or 1,587 hours to download. That's about two months or so of non-stop downloading. Here in Toronto, if I can afford it... which I can't... I can get 1Gbps. In reality, I pay for 150 Mbps but consistently get 200 Mbps. Earlier this year, I had a new gaming rig built and I installed DCS fresh. One half hour for the download.

800 ft, 350 kts, hook down, two switches certainly NOT set to field landings, landing lights off, flying just to starboard of the carrier. Course line on the HSI set to BRC. Eyeball the deck to make sure it's still there waiting for you. At the bow (or further upwind if you're not flight lead), bank hard, pull the throttle, boards, pull enough G's to match your hundreds of knots (about 3 1/2 G's at the break then as you slow down, ease up on the G's to match), drop the gear, full flaps, and pull the boards back in, get on speed with that E bracket and VVI together. Your Course line still is a duplicate of the BRC and with 5 nmi on the HSI range, you'll know when you are 1.3 from that course line. Once you do get set up for the trap and are on your down wind at the right altitude (about 600 ft), hit the Course (change) line (down) 9 times to get your FB (Final Bearing). As you pass the carrier's round down, you should be ready to bank and slowly descend (about 400 ft at the 90). Add some power during the bank but watch your speed doesn't get too high. Since your Course line is now the FB, ease off the power before you level your wings and finish your turn only when you are lined up with that course line. You should be in the perfect spot for the Groove with the Ball visible and quickly check your fuel state. That's how I do it.

If you trim the Hornet to get the E bracket and VVI centered, you don't ever touch the pitch control (the stick). Go up with more throttle; go down with less throttle. The E bracket will stay with the VVI. With that said, if you put the E bracket (and the VVI) on the deck astern of the wires, you will ramp strike unless you get the expected wave-off and abort the attempted trap. Once you are 1.2 to 1.3 nmi behind and aligned with the FB, on speed with the E bracket and VVI in the general vicinity of the flight deck, you should see the Ball centered (or easy to get it that way). At 3/4 nmi by tacan, announce your bort number, your A/C type, that you either have the Ball or Clara, then your fuel state. Keep the Ball centered all the way down and don't drift left or right. Trap just about every time unless your hook is up. (If it is up, your orange Donut will be flashing.) The only time you use the stick while in the Groove is to correct your bank and fix "Right for lineup" or "Come left." (Please note that you will never hear "Come Right" or "Left for lineup.") If the Ball says you are too low, too high, or heading one of those ways, USE THE THROTTLE.

As for A2A, a Cessna 172 can easily shoot me down. I'm just not a fighter jock in the Hornet. But if something on the ground needs some death from above, you can run but you can't hide. I have three TM MFD's and I love them. Most of the things I need to do, I know by rote memory so I only look in the cockpit to see their output. Then I just reach to just under my monitor and punch the button(s) I need. Since I don't have a UFC, I have to use the mouse to get that. Autopilot, laser codes, changing radio freqs, etc. However, the only problem I have is the laser trigger when launching LGB's. That thing keeps turning off and I have to look down to find the switch and turn it back on. That, my friends, is a pain!

Did you check your mouse mapping for (just) the Hornet?