BeachAV8R

Ah - thanks for that information. I figured that weapons load-out was at the pilot's discretion, I did not realize that the gun pods were chosen for a reason by default. :) I'm looking forward to completing the mission set. It is like reading and participating in a good book. My compliments on the design and implementation. I could only imagine what you could do now with the ever more increasing capabilities of the mission editor. Regards, BeachAV8r

Now on the proper path I continue up the valley in search of anything out of the ordinary. A couple small villages dot the Georgian side of the border and I use the Shkval to search across from them. As I pass the last waypoint the terrain has risen to meet the clouds once again and I realize I can go no further up the valley. I reverse my course and head back to further recon the village areas thinking I must have missed something. Suddenly the radio comes alive and the sound of a firefight is heard in the background. The team has stumbled upon the infiltrators and apparently they have taken care of business. As I continue down the valley toward the ground team, I suddenly hear “tick” sounds as my fuselage is hit by gunfire. I’m under attack from across the river! Tracers whiz by the cockpit and I pedal turn hard to the west to escape the fire. Since I am now in a shooting war, I dispense flares in case there is an escalation of force. I pop over the western ridge of the valley, duck below and out of the line of fire, and assess the situation. The incoming gunfire has taken some chunks out of my tail and rendered my autopilot/dampeners inoperable. Flying the Shark without the dampener assistance is a bit more challenging for sure. I glance at the fuel, hydraulic, and power gauges to verify nothing is wrong with the engines and they appear normal. With a bit of rage in my heart for almost getting shot down, I consider my orders. Order #2 is “no solo actions allowed”, but Order #3 is “use all entrusted means to maintain law and order at state border of Russian Federation”. Considering that the enemy is firing rounds into our country, I elect to exercise some law and order discretion and set up for return fire. Although hovering in one location without the dampener assistance is a bit more challenging I maintain position and slowly search the hillside with my Shkval optics. After a minute I finally see the location of the enemy anti-aircraft emplacement. I choose a Vikhr missile, line up for consent to release, and press the fire button. Direct hit! – A fair exchange of weaponry I think..! With the anti-aircraft emplacement out of commission, I continue south along the flight route, on edge for further action now that shots have been exchanged. Approaching the base area I get a mission completed message. The radio buzzes with a squadron mate congratulating me on my “baptism by fire”. The second half of the mission is scrubbed due to action on the border and I proceed to land. I select the gear extension but the wheels do not come down. I’m not very familiar with the system, but attempt the emergency extension toggle, which also does not drop the landing gear. While I try to fly and troubleshoot the problem I almost run into the returning Mi-28. That was sort of close! With no luck extending the landing gear, I elect to gently set down on the belly. The rocket pods will actually provide an even more stable platform to land on. The touchdown is light and the aircraft stays upright. I quickly kill power to the engines and engage the rotor brake. The mission is complete. The after action report shows I was struck twice by bursts of 23mm fire within 15 seconds. I was fortunate not to have been shot down. Another excellent designed mission with great action, tense flying, and a great continuation of the story. BeachAV8R

Despite the tragic events of yesterday still on our minds, we must press ahead with the missions in our area of operations. The weather has deteriorated significantly overnight and now a low overcast with rain and strong winds dominate the region. Last night, one of the border outposts detected an intrusion into the Russian side of the border. A squad is out in pursuit of the contacts and we are to provide assistance in their search. There is also a secondary mission with sketchy details. It sounds as though the Navy has lost sonar capability offshore and is requiring some assistance with locating a container ship that had sent an S.O.S. A low fog bank hangs over the coastal area including the airport. As I get my helo prepared for the mission a twin turboprop takes off, I’m assuming to do some searching on the naval mission. The radio buzzes with details of my mission. First I’m to fly the flight planned route to the border area then proceed north on patrol until reaching the Voron Group outpost area where I’m to assist with locating the infiltrators. The Mi-8 that we will later rendezvous with for the naval search portion also departs for the start of his mission. I finish readying for the mission and depart into the murky skies. I’ve lightened the screens slightly for viewing purposes. The fog layer hugging the coast is quite thick and care must be taken flying at low altitude. I set the ROUTE mode of the autopilot to follow the waypoints of the PVI-800. Approaching the border area I take care to slow to a speed which will not cause me to overshoot the flight path and penetrate Georgian airspace. As I make the turn to parallel the border I glance to the east toward the border but the fog is very thick and I can only make out the barest outline of the border crossing points. Heading north I keep a close eye on the ABRIS map. The route shaves perilously close to the border and constant attention is required. Fortunately I’m paying close attention since a tall antennae comes looming out of the murk – a definite collision hazard on this route! As the coastal plain starts to rise toward the mountains the fog drops off, replaced by rain and a mid-level overcast that shrouds the peaks ahead. As I try to stay close to the route I find myself pinched between the border and the higher terrain on the west side of the valley. Climbing results in a momentary entry into the cloud – a dangerous thing in such mountainous terrain. I ease the collective and drift carefully back down into clearer air. This will be delicate flying. As we are approaching the area where the infiltrators were spotted I select the master arm on and enable the Shkval to search along the river. The radio crackles and I’m told I need to approach the ground troops within 100 meters to establish communications with them in the field. It is difficult to find them and I must maneuver in the very tight valley while I search. Finally I spot the small team moving through the side of the valley. With my instructions to search I head further up the valley, which grows ever more narrow. With all of the searching tasks and flying the helo, I make a small navigation error in the conservative direction (west) and don’t realize that I’ve branched off from the border stream on accident. I have to do a quick 180 degree turn to rejoin the route at the fork in the river.

The convoy pulls in to the airbase. Captain Morozov has finished his mission by returning to base, albeit not in the fashion he would have preferred. As I shut land and shutdown after a long day with three missions, one of the Il-76s taxis to the ramp behind me. I'm sure now that something big is happening - now to wait and find out what. The 35 minute mission goes as planned, with no interference or signs of trouble from the forces across the border. But they are keeping a close eye on developments... With the border area tension rising - it is only a matter of time before something gives.. We will see what the morning brings... BeachAV8R

It is evening now at Sochi-Adler airfield. It has been a long day that started with tragedy. In the briefing for this mission I learned that one of the pilots that had been killed in the crash was the same that took me on the orientation flight and gave me so many valuable tips. The investigative team has finished their work and now I am tasked with the duty of guarding over the bodies as they are returned with the recovery convoy. This will be my third visit to the crash scene, so even though the route is defined on the ABRIS, I already know the precise location. The glow from the instruments is soothing in the Ka-50 cockpit as I wind up the engines and prepare for the short flight. Once again, I change the default loadout to something with a bit more teeth. The route will take me out to the coast, then over toward the border area. As I head off over the beach the atmospheric effects are stunning... As I depart the airfield area I hear a radio call and am surprised to see an Il-76 turning final on the approach. Soon I arrive at the crash location. The recovery convoy sends up a green flare that arcs across the sky. They radio that they are ready to commence the movement and they start down the road. So close to the border, I take some advice I was offered and turn my navigation, tip, and beacon lights off. I fly along slowly, S-turning gently over the convoy and keeping an eye on the convoy. It is a sad way to see a comrade return from a mission... As we close in on Sochi-Adler I see another Il-76 lining up for an approach... The setting sun lingers below the horizon, providing just enough light to see by without resorting to night vision goggles. The convoy dutifully reports passing now familiar checkpoints. Captain Morozov was integral to me learning about the local area. As we near the end of the airport runway I spy another Il-76 on final approach. This seems very odd to me that so much cargo is inbound. Perhaps something is brewing behind the scenes? No doubt the enemy can see the buildup as well since the flight path is easily observable from the border outposts. Cont...

Yes - that must be something that was lost in the switchover to DCS World. Was the bullseye setting around a couple years ago when this campaign was initially made? I would think that the home base (Sochi Adler) or perhaps the border checkpoint area would make a more logical bullseye. I'll see if I can move it in the mission planner prior to takeoff (or does it have to be done in the mission EDITOR?). I don't mind making changes in the mission planner screen since it doesn't reveal any of the mission..but if you go into the editor then I'm worried I'll spoil the mission by seeing what is coming.. ;) BeachAV8R

Once the inspectors reach the site, we are released and the Mi-8 head directly back to base. I fly a short distance back along the route and pick up the recovery convoy to escort them the rest of the way to the site. Once positioned in front of the convoy, I do my best to recon the route, looking for anything suspicious. As the crest the final hill before the descent toward the river valley, I know they are in the most danger since now they are within line-of-sight of any enemy troops near the border. I keep positioned toward the border checkpoints looking for movement across the river. I utilize the auto-hover and auto turn-to-target functions to help me stay in position while looking through the Shkval optics. The convoy makes the turn and soon they are approaching the accident site. I breathe a sigh of relief when they arrive. The entire time I was expecting a missile or IED to blow up one of the vehicles. Even as I turn for home I wonder if the enemy has ranged the site for an artillery strike or some other plan. I take a glance at my fuel load (as I often do) to keep tabs on how much loiter time I could have if recalled. The short flight back to base is uneventful and I land in the parking area. The Mi-8 is just taxiing in and the mission(s) are a success. Approximately 41 minutes in mission duration. Once again the mission performed flawlessly in DCS World. There was one small object placement error at the beginning of the mission. The recovery convoy were stacked on top of each other but dispersed when they were triggered to start rolling for the mission. Again, it bears mentioning that the rather fragmented text messages you see in the screen are only summaries of much more thorough and descriptive radio messages being sent to and from the base, my helo, and other participating units in the mission. They are very well done. BeachAV8R

For our fourth mission in the Vergeev Campaign we are faced with another dual mission. The Mi-28 accident that we witnessed in the previous mission turned out to be fatal and though the helo was only on fire when we saw it last, it apparently continued burning to a total hull loss. It is a few hours after the crash and our task is to escort an investigative team to the location. They will be flying in an Mi-8 and we are to provide an escort to the crash location. In addition, a rescue convoy is being dispatched from the airfield, although it may be more appropriate to call it a "recovery" team at this point. In addition to escorting the Mi-8, we are also tasked with ensuring the safe arrival of the recovery convoy. As previous briefings have mentioned, the resources are stretched thin, forcing us to do several jobs at once. I get the engines started up, initialize the systems, then take a look at the ABRIS map. I already know the location of the crash scene from the previous mission. This is the nice thing about this campaign - there is a lot of local area familiarity and you start to get involved in the campaign feeling a bit of "ownership" over the assigned area. I air taxi from our ramp to the north ramp where the Mi-8 parking area is. The recovery convoy (Logovo) is already there getting ready to move out. Once the convoy gets on its way, the Mi-8 (Stebel) starts up and I prepare to escort it to the crash scene. Meanwhile the convoy reaches the hardball road and starts driving the short route to the crash location. I form up behind the Mi-8 and try to watch it like a hawk while also glancing around the immediate area for any other threats. The build-up to conflict in this campaign is very well done with constant guesswork as to when the "balloon will go up". The crash scene is located at waypoint #4, just under the road bridge. Green smoke indicates the landing zone for the Mi-8 to disembark the investigative team. My mind is never far from the convoy behind us. They check in regularly as they proceed along their route. As we approach the border area, I'm on high alert for some sort of surprise. As we circle around, the Mi-8 enters a steep flare and descends for the insertion. As the investigative teams starts running from the LZ to the crash scene, I watch over them with my nose pointed toward the most obvious threat axis - the border crossing. For the first time, enemy units are called out, keeping me on my toes. The recovery convoy continues to wind through towns toward the border. They will branch off just shy of the border and head toward the coast where the wreck site sits. We wait for several minutes while the inspection team makes their way on foot to the downed helicopter. Cont..

Mine would be orange too..but prior to starting the mission, during the preflight, go to the mission planner and loadout screen for your helo and simply change the skin you want to use. You can do it from within the preflight mission, you don't have to exit and go into the mission editor..

Prior to the mission I did change the airfield to RED owned and sure enough, refueling and rearming now works. A short and successful 30 minute flight with no fire exchanged, but a nice tension filled sortie. Again, the use of text messages are only summaries for the very well done radio messages and communications. I'm very impressed with the campaign thus far and again can only hope the missions continue to work in DCS World. A Google map image of the real "Mandarin Path" border crossing area I found to be interesting. BeachAV8R

As the Vergeev Group campaign unfolds the missions are transitioning to light operational tasks. With two sorties out two the border under our belt already, it is now time to embark on a real mission. Our task it to escort a supply convoy to the border crossing point known as Mandarin Path. Our mission briefing reminds us of how lightly supplied our base is and that resources are stretched very thin. I take the liberty of changing the default loadout from guns to something a bit more substantial - Vikhrs and rockets. Why take a knife into a gun fight? As I'm running through the helo startup procedure the convoy starts moving out from the airport on the seaside road to the border checkpoint. Soon I'm airborne and quickly catch up to their route. I overfly them and start searching the road ahead for any abnormalities. Having flown some ambush type patrols on previous campaigns, I'm trying to aggressively scan visually and with the Shkval optics. Flying and doing recon is a bit of work since you have to divide your attention to all quadrants seemingly at once, all while making sure not to fly into the ground. As I move toward the border I keep my speed around 50 kph and keep moving the Shkval ahead to search for threats to the convoy. Suddenly a mayday comes over the radio and I'm alerted to another flight in trouble. I scan all around me and spot the plume of smoke indicating where the Mi-28 is heading down. I'm ordered to complete my primary mission and then render assistance at the crash site. It looks like the right engine of the Havoc has suffered an uncontained explosion, but the pilot is able to land and the crew escapes unharmed while troop carriers move in to secure the crash site. I keep my eye on the border area, thinking the downed helo is just a distraction and that my convoy will be hit by an ambush. I constantly swivel between looking over the border for any action and back toward the convoy. Right beneath me is the Russian side of the border checkpoint. I hover just on the west side of the border taking care not to drift over. As the convoy rolls into the border station, I am released to provide assistance at the Havoc crash site. Having spotted the smoke plume, I already know where to go, but the F10 map would help me if I hadn't seen it. I can see that friendly units have moved into position on the road and bridge over the riverbed. The task is to hover close by the crash to gather information for a minute before the mission is complete and I am cleared to return to base. I land back at base and perform a shutdown of the engines as the remaining Havoc stumbles back in. Now I think we are down to one Black Shark, one Havoc, and a pair of Hinds if my memory of the briefing is accurate. Cont...

Good catch - way too used to knots and not kph..even though I know it means kph when I'm in the cockpit.. :D

As we approach the turn-around point I keep a close eye on the fuel burn. I'm starting to feel confident that I'll have enough fuel to return to base provided we don't have any diversions. The glare heading up the valley is tremendous, almost making me want to squint! We need a sunglasses mod! Our two-ship team reaches the turn around point near the head of the valley. As we head back down the valley I keep my flight lead in sight. After all of the talk of attacks and ambushes I'm on high alert that at any moment an RPG will come zipping across my line of sight. The flight down the valley goes without difficulty though and soon the flight lead sends me off to land with some encouraging words and welcoming me to the squadron. I fly to my parking area and land, relieved that the mission unfolded without any serious problems. The fuel problem can be solved by just changing the base to "RED". I don't know if this can be done by users or if the developer must do it. (I will find out) If I look tired in the screenshot, it is because I am! For a non-combat mission these two sorties required a lot of concentration, precision flying, and attention. Total mission duration was 1 hr. + 42 min - quite a long time at the controls. The mission unfolded just fine - all of the scripting and actions performed wonderfully. I'm hopeful that the rest of the campaign will have imported just fine into DCS World, but it remains to be seen. I can comment that the radio communications and overall quality of this second mission are very good. I'm excited to see how future missions unfold. BeachAV8R

For our second mission in the Vergeev Campaign we are tasked with a unique dual-sortie mission. For the first mission we will takeoff, form up with a flight leader, and fly a familiarization patrol along the border with Georgia. Once that patrol is completed, we will return to base, refuel, then a second flight lead will take us up the valley to the north of Sochi-Adler airbase toward Krasnaya-Poliana. The early morning ramp is misty and dark as the sun is just starting to rise in the eastern sky. It still takes a bit of time for me to get the Ka-50 up and operating as I search for switches and verify the operation of systems. Fortunately, the flight lead will not commence the mission until I lift off. I immediately notice that neither the ABRIS or PVI-800 are preloaded with the mission waypoints which means I'll have to be extremely careful to keep the flight lead in sight at all times. I won't be able to fall back on my ABRIS moving map and operating so close to the Georgian border will require extra vigilance. Meanwhile other flights arrive and depart... Once I'm up and running I takeoff and hover at midfield and wait for my flight lead to commence the route. Flying formation in helicopters can be particularly challenging - definitely a hands on experience at all times. My flight lead is in an Mi-28 "Havoc". As we approach the border to the east I anxiously await the turn. I keep stealing glances at my ABRIS hoping the flight lead doesn't make a mistake. The summary text messages are only outlines of the much more descriptive voice communications coming from the flight lead. He points out checkpoints, interesting facts, local operational history, and tips. The recorded voice communications both to and from our helicopter is very well done. We reach the border and, as briefed, the flight lead turns northbound to parallel the border. As we pass the border outposts they check in and report seeing us or hearing us overflying. Flying formation with the AI Mi-28 is a challenging and fairly fatiguing. The AI is flying moderate nap-of-earth which results in fluctuations of speed, pitch, and altitude. Constant control inputs are required. Fortunately you can trim the Ka-50 for the proper speed (approximately 150 kph) and then make deflections of the controls until the lead settles down and then you are already in the proper trimmed state. After a few more waypoints we reach the termination of our flight along the border and turn back to base. As we approach the base my flight lead releases me and I know from the briefing to proceed back to my parking area on the ramp to refuel in anticipation of the next sortie. I land and request fuel - where I discover a bit of an incompatibility with DCS World. It seems that DCS World uses a different system for assigning airbases to friendly/enemy/neutral. When I check my F10 map, I can see that Sochi-Adler is defined as "neutral", which is (I think) the reason that I cannot get refueled. As time passes I wonder how to proceed to the next phase. I glance nervously at my fuel gauge wondering if I will have enough fuel remaining for the second sortie. I takeoff and hover, waiting for a signal that the second sortie has begun. My patience pays off and the second sortie begins after the first flight lead has taxied in and shutdown. Presumably this is to allow you enough time to take on fuel if that was working. I once again form up with a second Mi-28 and we head north-northeast toward the valley leading to Krasnaya-Poliana. I keep checking my fuel level throughout the flight, wondering how close it will be. As we proceed up the valley the new flight lead gives continuous updates of the operational history of the valley. The road is frequently used by supply convoys and it seems that the valley is frequently targeted for attacks. We pass a couple supply convoys on the way up the valley. The flying on this second sortie is MUCH more easy than on the first since the flight route is at a higher altitude and requires a lot less maneuvering up and down. For much of the flight I'm able to trim out the helo for 150 knots and make small adjustments with rudder and power alone, giving my cyclic shoulder a well needed break. The tension in my neck reminds me that helo flying is so much more different than fixed wing flying. Enroute we pass the burnt out wreckage of a convoy that had been attacked a few days prior. The flight lead gives a rolling narrative about the dangers of the valley. Cont..

I'm going to give it a whirl in BS2/DCS World... Mission Report Here! BeachAV8R

I'd been planning to play this payware campaign for a long time, but never got around to it. The Vergeev Group campaign was originally slated to contain 100 missions. As far as I'm aware, the only phase released was Vergreev Group 1/10 representing the first 20 missions of the planned 100 mission campaign. I'm not sure why the project was discontinued, if it will ever be revived, or any future plans. The website is still up and the first set of missions can still be purchased ($4.57) here: Vergeev Group I have no idea if this campaign will work with DCS World BS2, but I am attempting it. I know a lot of changes have been made to the DCS World mission editor over the years and perhaps some of the Vergreev Group missions will be broken. For that reason - unless there is a clarification from the developer, I'd urge caution before purchasing the product with unrealistic expectations. (You could always run it with BS1 ver 1.0.2 as it was originally written for..) I've started a new pilot for the Vergeev Campaign, although I don't know if the campaign will play out properly (I may have to play it as a series of individual missions). Our first mission is a local area familiarization flight in the area around Sochi-Adler airfield. The instructions are in English, but the grammar is a bit shaky. One could imagine perhaps being a foreign exchange pilot trying to fit into a Russian helicopter unit. The familirization flight is explicit in the requirement to hit all of the waypoints and extreme care must be taken not to wander across the border into Georgia. Once again, back in the Black Shark. I was a bit rusty at first, but after a bit I began to get comfortable with her once again. I've mentioned it before that flying and fighting the Ka-50 is about as rewarding an experience as you can have in a sim. After receiving permission to depart I start out on the flight plan. The text messages are supplemented with extensive recorded radio messages. The composition of the messages and feeling of getting a real tour are quite good indeed. I faintly recalled the ability to slave the autopilot to the PVI-800. I've never understood why you couldn't also slave the autopilot to the ABRIS - that would be a welcomed "upgrade" to the Black Shark! I keep my altitude around 100 meters and speed at around 150 kph. As we tick off the waypoints the narrative continues, giving me some background on the recent history of the border area. Approaching the border I slow a bit so as to not have such a large radius of turn - but I make a crucial mistake that almost ruins the mission. I forgot that the PVI-800 only stores a maximum of six waypoints. Upon reaching the border, the ROUTE mode of the autopilot just wanted to continue forging ahead! A quick snatch of the controls was necessary to keep from violating Georgian airspace. On the border, a Russian checkpoint looks over the river toward the Georgian side. Paralleling the border we fly back to the west and continue the tour. We cross a valley that descends from the mountains into Sochi-Adler. It is apparently a frequent target of attacks by the enemy. After a few more waypoints with descriptions we are dumped out on a final waypoint on the downwind leg. The Vergeev Campaign developer mentions that the philosophy of the campaign is to work into progressively more challenging missions. The local area tour is a perfect beginning to the campaign. After the first mission, I am suitably impressed with the radio messages and the start of the campaign storyline. I'm sure a LOT of work had to go into the radio messages - which may be an indicator of why the project was halted. I'll be anxious to see how the rest of the missions play out and whether they maintained their integrity even though they are being flown in a highly updated DCS World environment. Stay tuned... BeachAV8R

I need Real Life Labels... :D

Requisite get pumped video...(imagine they are Cs)

We need a Combined Arms aircraft tug module..

You/he might be interested in this. I fly over to Myrtle Beach a few times a year in my job and the new FBO they have built incorporates a lot of the old squadron information in the design as a tribute. Here are some of the old Myrtle Beach stuff they have in display cases and mounted on the walls: http://www.mudspike.com/MB.zip Hope you find something of interest there.. I love the dry erase boards.. :) Regards, BeachAV8R

Yeah..I "own" a beta build for 2 weeks at a time - but after release I either have to buy or (if I'm lucky) get gifted a retail release. :thumbup:

Yes.

Does anyone know if the map for sale through TFC includes the entire DCS World region? I seem to recall that World or the A-10C product added a bit more out to the south-east - is that region included on the printed map. If not, is there any plan to update the map and reprint it? Apologies if this has been covered before.... Store BeachAV8R

We just covered A2A Refueling in this month's PC Pilot magazine.. Might want to pick it up and have a browse of it.. (if you take it into the bathroom like George did on Seinfeld..you're gonna have to buy it..) :D

Our review of iControl is up at SimHQ: http://www.simhq.com/_mobile/mobile_006a.html BeachAV8R