BeachAV8R

Gets pretty exciting around that orange smoke.. :thumbup:

Yeah - I should have messed around with that..but I was concentrating on flying. I should use the copilot position to mess with radios I guess..that way the AI "autopilot" will takeover... BeachAV8R

We climb up to the circling escort flight and they start heading on the egress route. My handsome copilot... I take up position a few hundred meters behind the Cobras and keep them in sight. As we crest a ridgeline a hidden AA emplacement opens up on the Cobras. I'm a few seconds behind them so I have a chance to hop in the right door gunner position and I try to return fire, but don't hit anything. More importantly, we aren't hit by the AA fire. Soon we are out of harm's way and heading back down the valley toward our FARP. I look like Magnum... Always a good thing when the whole flight returns home.. I make a wobbly approach to the FARP and keep my head on a swivel so that I don't run into one of the other helos that might be heading for my pad. Mission accomplished - I owe the Cobra pilots some beers! This mission was a textbook example of how a good mission design can make up for in gameplay immersion what the helo lacks in gee-whizzardry. This mission is almost all about the flying. Flying low, fast, but under control and timing the landing to minimize loitering around a hot LZ. My pulse was pounding and my shoulders ached by the end of the mission - and I didn't even kill anything. Testament that a good mission design with a challenging premise can be just as rewarding as a mission where you wipe out a few tank platoons. I'd imagine we are going to get some pretty creative and fun missions by the mission gurus in the DCS community. With all of the ever increasing power of the mission editor, I think great things are on the horizon for this and other modules. BeachAV8R

So I finally had the chance to sit down for some quality time with the DCS UH-1H today. I was pretty enthused about the Huey, but I also wondered exactly how it would compare with the more sexy beasts that DCS has graced us with (A-10C and Ka-50) (P-51..eh..yeah..for some..).. After tooling around for a bit getting familiar with the controls (definitely requires a lighter touch and much more finesse than the Ka-50!) I opened up one of the single missions. The mission, "Stray Eagle", has you tasked to fly a combat SAR to pick up a downed pilot. To put it succinctly - this mission, and the UH-1H were incredible. The mission layout is fantastic, and the feel of the mission took me back to the days when I used to fly the UH-60 in Longbow 2 on the sneaky insertion and extraction missions. SPOILERS BELOW - READER BEWARE! The mission has you leaving a FARP with your wingman in another UH-1H. Escorting you is a pair of Cobra attack helicopters. Frequencies and details are provided in the extensive briefing, of which I only posted a portion. You can either cold or hot start. After getting the engine up and running I pull into a hover. I'm getting a little better at handling the Huey - she definitely doesn't appreciate big control movements. At the same time - the Cobra escorts start heading out. They are easy to rendezvous on and I find it surprisingly easy to fly formation in the UH-1H. Trim it up for speed and make small altitude adjustments with almost imperceptible movements of the collective. As we approach the extraction point the pilot comes on the radio and gives a summary of the situation. Soon I spy the little blob of smoke rising on the far side of the town, up in the hills... On the outskirts of town the escort flight starts finding targets and things start exploding. Without the escort we would have been dead meat. The downed pilot instructs us that the road leads to his position. I can see his smoke and the best route is to just go down in the weeds and fly down the road through the center of town. As we flash past some buildings a few small arms open up on us. I hear a few hits on my fuselage but don't notice any damage until a few minutes later as my ADI starts rolling over slowly. We flash through the town and take a bead on the orange smoke. The Cobras are prepping the LZ with rocket attacks and I can see return fire from troops up in the treeline. I pull the nose up and enter the flare, bleeding off airspeed rapidly while trying to manage the sink rate and tail waggle. I actually made a fairly decent approach on this one... As we touch down some of the troops start exchanging fire as the pilot breaks from the treeline and makes for our aircraft. I can't tell who deployed the covering troops - it may have been the UH-1H wingman (?). Overhead the Cobras continue tearing up the treeline as they provide covering fire. Sitting there idling you feel like a sitting duck and I can't imagine how those Vietnam era pilots did it. (RESPECT!) The friendly troop runs out of the trees and makes a beeline for us as stuff explodes around us from the covering aircraft. I assume the door gunner position and pray and spray toward some tracers that are coming out of the trees. After a minute that feels like a half hour the pilot makes it to the helo and we get the signal to get out of Dodge. Cont...

Just tested in 1.2.4 and this appears to work (gave it a quick test - your mileage may vary..) (Backup your original files is what that means..!) Great little mod... BeachAV8R

Module Manager BeachAV8R

You can manually make it look for the update by going into your Eagle Dynamics startup menu and selecting "Update DCS World".. Start > All Programs > Eagle Dynamics > DCS World > Update DCS World Maybe that will help.. Hehe..posted same time as Oz..

Would make for an interesting gameplay variable that if you ever actually performed a blue on blue (or red on red) that your logbook gets frozen for the court martial.. I love playing when there are true consequences for errors. Playing "one life to live" sessions is pretty darn fun and makes you a bit more (realistically) cautious. And as I mentioned to Eno once - if I ever say "Beach is out of weapons..gonna try a couple gun runs" - talk me out of it. It always ends poorly for me.. :thumbup: BeachAV8R

Gulf. F-15E deep strikes ala JF-15, tanking, plinking. A-10 missions. F/A-18 carrier ops, refueling, cats and traps, strike missions. AH-64 missions. It has it all. BeachAV8R

<g> From the same lineage: Apache Air Assault and Longbow Assault: :thumbup:

Ah..loved that game.. Wrote this article a few years back: Read It: Do It - Dustoff Video from it.. BeachAV8R

Having interacted with Jim many times over the years discussing ED products to be featured in our magazine, I am saddened to read this. He was a great person with a real dedication and love for his work. He will be deeply missed by this community. Farewell Jim.. Chris

I always felt playing the dynamic campaign "game" was actually handled better by EECH than Falcon 4 oddly enough. In EECH I felt more like a big fish in a small pond (able to more have an influence on the overall war). I realize that isn't as realistic, but it was a lot more fun to play. Too bad EECH didn't have better ground unit movement. BeachAV8R

:D - PM'ing my address.. ;)

:book: BeachAV8R

Here is one by Wild Bill (check the links in his post): HERE! BeachAV8R

Gunner has it right. And the default skin for the whole Vergeev campaign appears to be missing (or renamed?) in BS2 - so all I do is simply go into the Mission Planner (not editor!) while briefing (you should be doing this anyway..to double check the flight plan and loadout) and change the skin there. Regards.. BeachAV8R

Soon I’m approaching the border area near the sea. The sky has lightened dramatically as the sun starts to rise. Again – a reminder to hit ALL of the waypoints (including the final one!) in order to complete the mission. Keep checking the mission status points to assure you have completed the mission. As I head for landing, of course the nosewheel gives me a problem since it is damaged. The nosewheel holds up fine and I have enough fuel despite having to fly up and down the valley twice. I can see the small arms damage from the machine gunner across the river. He is so very lucky that I wasn’t allowed to bring my guns to fight. Nearly an hour and 45 minutes of flying on this mission. Extremely fatiguing flying with near constant attention. A more detailed look at the mission design that shows why it is important to hit the waypoints, yet fly very close to the river after waypoint #7 (where the course takes a sharp easterly turn). Another extremely satisfying and entertaining mission. The story continues to be built upon. BeachAV8R

With the search for the missing ship called off, it is time to resume our primary mission – providing a strong presence along the border area. Our next mission is to fly an early morning sortie along the border checking on the location of our own border patrol units as well as searching for any infiltrators. This mission starts very early in the morning. With such dim light, I elect to order the ground support to switch my helmet mounted device to night vision goggles. This circular night vision mod by ThomasDW is much cooler than the stock night vision. Available HERE!.. Thanks ThomasDW! After getting the systems up and running I take off and start following the flight plan. It is extremely important (as I will learn later) to follow the pre-planned flight plan and hit the waypoints correctly. Don’t cut any corners. The weather remains poor with fairly high winds trying to push the flight track toward the border – a situation that requires constant correction and monitoring. As I start to parallel the border I flip my navigation lights and beacon off. NVGs definitely help with navigation along the border in the dim light. The wind requires a lot of crab angle to parallel the river and much of the flying is done while looking out the side windows. I actually had to back-up and refly the route because I couldn’t get the mission to succeed – the reason for this is that I had cut the corner on an early waypoint which caused a disruption of the flow (triggers) of the mission. Hint – fly the exact flight plan until waypoint #7, then follow the river at very low altitude and very close to the river for the rest of the flight up river all the way to the last waypoint. Failure to fly at low altitude close to the river will risk not finding the required patrols! On my second run up the river I finally started finding our own patrols. I’ll admit it – I probably would have never found the border patrols visually – they are tough to see. Fortunately the triggers will let you know when you overfly them. The conversations with the grunts on the ground are pointed and funny. Again – they are very well done and add a lot to the immersion. Be sure to fly all the way to the final waypoint prior to turning around. You may find that the helicopter is on the edge of controllability in the high winds and requires a lot of power (note the POWER LIMIT annunciators). Care also must also be taken when reversing course to fly back down the valley to not overspeed or fly so fast that you can’t make the sharp corners while following the river. The mission requires very precise flying and constant attention to navigation. As I make my way back down the valley I come into contact with a group of armed men with vehicles on the Georgian side of the border. I’m instructed to stay in the area. I take up a hovering position on my side of the border. While awaiting further instructions I hear that familiar “tick tick” sound and spot a few tracers flying past my canopy. The bastards! I verify that I’m on my side of the border – I am – and they are shooting at me! I start dumping flares and retreat further up my side of the valley to get some distance from the small arms fire. Earlier in the mission, near the top of the valley I had set down in the grass to take a breather from the difficult flying and apparently damaged my nosewheel. It hangs limply below. After taking up a station a bit out of range from the small arms, I uncage my cannon, lock up one of the vehicles and my finger hovers over the trigger. Unfortunately my commanders radio that I am to proceed with the mission and I am not given permission to return fire. I sigh and point the nose down the valley and check my fuel level. Cont..

Be very sure that you hit all of the waypoints to be sure the trigger conditions are all met. If you got to the part where they shoot at you..make sure you fly the remaining waypoints to trigger the mission complete messages. Hope that helps... BeachAV8R

That beautiful skin is done by Ga-Bika - here on the DCS Forum User file section: http://files.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/216944/ Regards.. BeachAV8R

Each leg of the grid pattern takes about 15 to 18 minutes to fly. With the autopilot functioning, it is much easier than the last mission and the ABRIS track shows the flying is far steadier. I do some rough fuel calculations and know we will be low on fuel by the end of the search, but not critically so provided no exceptional activities take place. I come across another ship and for a moment I'm excited because she looks down in the stern. I think perhaps I've found our missing ship foundering. But alas, it is just a bit of swell causing the ship to rock back and forth and it is not the target of our search. As I continue the search grid I see the unexpected sight of a convoy of ship ahead. I approach carefully, aware that this is an ominous sign. Indeed, it is a Georgian surface group and I wonder how they will respond to my close overflight. I hover near each ship in the convoy, taking time to identify each one. The ID process goes without problem and soon I'm finished with my grid. The mission director radios that the search has been called off, leaving me pondering the fate of the Kurshev. I set my ABRIS for the airport waypoint and head for home. Upon landing I have enough fuel left, but could not have stayed out much longer to search. A long flight for sure, 1 hour + 30 minutes. With the autopilot and dampeners working it was not nearly as taxing however. The shroud of mystery behind the disappearance of the Kurshev remains. This duty station certainly has its variety of missions and there seems to be ever present danger. It must be similar to how forces on the Korean DMZ must feel - always alert to potential conflict. BeachAV8R

It is about four hours after our last (unsuccessful) search for the missing Kurshev. While other units continue to search, our mission is to expand the search area to a new location. The weather is still poor, so close attention will be needed to spot vessels at sea. The voice over the radio provides details of the search while the text contains just a brief summary. Low altitude and medium speed are the orders for the day. Despite the A-10C being the new darling of the DCS lineup - I have to admit the Black Shark is still the ground breaking product. Anyone that has flown the A-10C that hasn't gotten to know the Ka-50 is missing an awesome experience. As I go through the systems I'm overjoyed to see that the maintenance crew has been hard at work. I see the autopilot, dampener channels, and ABRIS are all working and functional for this sortie! Other flights come and go as the search for the missing ship continues. As I pull away from the coast toward the search grid I take a glance at my fuel gauge. The campaign designer recently hinted to me that the weapons loadouts are meant to be flown as they are presented. If I were doing a naval search and rescue type operation, I would probably opt for some external fuel tanks, but the mission editor has us going in a clean configuration on this mission. The ABRIS shows the search grid. Fortunately I'm able to slave the autopilot to the ROUTE mode of the autopilot which makes the flying a 100% easier than the last mission. I set the autopilot and adjust the pitch trim and collective to hold around 150 meters and 170-180 kph. The radio indicates that we aren't the only ones out searching. Apparently the Georgian forces have taken an interest in our search as well. As I work my way toward the search grid, a shape emerges from the gloom. I deviate from the search pattern slightly to have a closer look. It is a tense moment because you never know whether you are closing on friend, foe, or the missing ship. At any time I'm expecting a missile or gunfire to come flying at me. As I orbit the ship it is identified as a friendly vessel.. I enter the first leg of the search grid.. Soon another shape starts to emerge out of the fog and it is time to inspect another vessel. Cont...

Several times during the mission I was within a second or two from crashing into the surface of the sea. This was probably one of the most difficult missions I’ve ever flown despite the fact that no shots were fired. The combination of missing dampeners and brutal weather conditions along with the featureless ocean surface all made this mission really tough to fly. My shoulders were aching by the end. Relieved to finally have the coast as a point of reference… Thoroughly exhausted after such an “easy” flight. The 48 minute flight was quite stressful – I’ll be happy when the maintenance team gets the Shark fully repaired. BeachAV8R

After the excitement of taking fire and engaging the enemy during the morning mission, I’m curious to see what the midday mission holds in store. The poor weather is still in the area and now we are tasked to perform a search offshore for the cargo ship Kurshev. Only a few hours have passed since our last mission and unfortunately there has not been enough time to fully repair our Ka-50 from the battle damage in the previous mission. Maintenance has advised me that some of the dampeners are still out of service and the autopilot functions are not repaired yet either. Our task is to fly offshore and perform a grid search to try to locate the missing cargo ship. I takeoff and immediately see why this mission is going to be challenging since flying without the bank and pitch channels of the dampener makes for a skittish flying helicopter. I head for the first waypoint and notice that the winds and turbulence are extremely bad requiring a very large crab angle to give the proper ground track. The HSI and PVI-800 are not providing data due to damage so all navigation is being done by referencing the ABRIS moving map – not an ideal situation in such poor weather and unstable trim. As I head offshore, one of the other aircraft searching reports that he has had no luck. Somewhere on the vast Black Sea is our lost ship… I battle with the turbulence and crosswinds and start flying the pattern when I arrive in the search area. The surface of the sea blends with the sky and with the autopilot limitations the flying is extremely difficult. The risk of crashing into the sea due to lack of depth perception is a constant battle. As I pass waypoints I finally come across a ship. I’m unable to identify it and the mission controller tasks me to get close enough to it to read the name. Hovering carefully alongside we learn that the ship is under a Ukrainian flag and it is not the ship we are looking for. Getting close is a dicey affair and it takes a ton of concentration in the horrible flying conditions. After hovering nearby and getting the ship identified, mission control clears me on my way to continue searching for the Kurshev. My serpentine path as I battled the controls and was making sure to hit the waypoints. The wind drift made it extremely hard to stay on course. As I pass the final checkpoint in the search area, mission control radios for me to head for base. I’m disappointed that we didn’t find the missing vessel, but very happy to be heading to base. Cont..