Alexander Seil

I think I was trying to do this - maybe without closing the throttle completely. I'll have to retry. On the other hand - perhaps I exaggerated in the original post. It does slow down...It's just that in Youtube videos people seem to able to land it "by the book" from a shallow dive. I line it up like a 747 and still end up at 150MPH crossing the threshold. Naturally, more practice needed. More generally, if I need to alter my speed in level flight, should I be using the throttle or the pitch lever? Or both?

As I mentioned, flaps were fully down. Unless you mean one notch from no flaps. That said, it didn't seem very effective at slowing me down. The manual also suggests slowing down to 165MPH before dropping full flaps, and there is no mention of flaps being mandatory before this. But how are you supposed to slow down in the first place?

I've been trying out the trainer (while waiting for Leatherneck to sort out the MiG-21 gunsight), and it is very clear that I have no idea how prop planes work in DCS. How do you slow this thing down? It has no airbrakes, and it seems to happily fly at 200MPH at any manifold pressure. I found it pretty cavalier of the manual to claim that it's supposed to land at 90MPH...I can't seem to get it down below 150MPH with gear down, flaps down and after a series of sharp turns. Only comes down after I close the throttle completely and fly halfway down the runway. The prop pitch is set 4/5ths up. So, what's the normal way of controlling speed for landing? Throttle? Pitch? Both? Am I supposed to fly half a mile with a closed throttle before I cross the threshold? (I've seen some short approach landing videos, but can't seem to replicate what they're doing)

Is there any way to raise gear manually in the Mig-21? I had a bent left gear, initially I could raise the right one, but the front and the left could not be raised. After lowering the right gear again, I tried raising and everything was stuck. I tried doing some high-G maneuvers to the limited extent possible under such circumstances, but the gear doesn't seem to move. Tried to have the raise gear lever up, and with manual emergency gear levers engaged. This, surprisingly, would actually have a use case - MiG-21's weapon systems are locked as long as the gear is down, so if you have to take off like that in an emergency (or don't feel like waiting 3 minutes after a bad turn...), you're screwed.

I suspect a substantial portion of DCS players are life-long airheads, and many may have real life flight training, so this question may sound odd, but I doubt I'm the only one who's curious. Thing is, I'm into wargames, and what I like about DCS is precisely that it's a wargame where the "chrome" comes from all chrome-plated nuts and bolts it simulates so well. But, of course, it's also a flight sim. This presents a bit of a problem for someone like me, having only flown (seriously) simulated planes in the now-ancient Il-2. My question is, how to train oneself in flying these things well? Sure, I can get the (fantastic) MiG-21 off the ground, fly it, and do all sorts of things with it, just by knowing what the systems do. But it would be awesome if there were a guide, or perhaps even a set of missions, that would teach the proper flight techniques at a level of depth a little more involved than just listing basic tactical maneuvers. In particular, as DCS World already comes with a fully-simulated training aircraft for free, it would be especially nice to master that. What I want, specifically, is not systems and procedures training (I know there are missions for the A-10, at least, focusing on that), but training in how to fly intelligently.

So, then, stay on the ground, spot them with radar, get underneath and climb?

Should it be possible to survive at 20KM up with the cabin hatch jettisoned? At supersonic speeds, no less.

This is still an issue in the latest patch. Same situation, plane crash-landed, everything is off, but a whiny electrical sound (maybe the generator?) keeps going.

To me it seems pretty clear that the next thing is the F-4, and the whole Pacific theater thing is a bit of clever misdirection. Reason #1. The obvious. The background image on Leatherneck's Mig-21 page is an F-4. It FOUGHT against it. It's still a largely analog affair, and I'm guessing that building designs of a particular era has an economy of scale to it. From a cost and marketing perspective, it seems just too obvious of a fit. Reason #2. The speculative. The cryptic image that Leatherneck used to hint at the Tomcat features, from what I've read among you experts, a Wildcat, an F4F. Except that, how much sense does it make to work on a WW2 plane, when most of your experience lies with building a Cold War era jet? There is also a Japanese flag...and they still operate the F-4. Reason #3. The technical. It seems that basics of F-14 systems (AI, look-down capability) could be tested on the F-4, as it's likely a more niche product. The absence of a two-seat MP capability is made-up for by being able to fight a period-appropriate enemy. Reason #4. The theater. It could be a chunk of central Vietnam around Da Nang. No big cities, mostly jungle, a good tie-in with Huey, increasing sales among helicopter lovers.

I was trying to look up the historical doctrine for using Mig-21s, but all I came across was this fascinating document (Indian use of MiG-21's in 1965 and 1971 wars), http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/Aircraft/MiG-21.html Most of the encounters in this amount either to circling close-in dogfights (I'm a n00b when it comes to anything flying, but it doesn't seem like MiG-21's forte), or strafing ground targets. Are there examples of systematic strategies tailored specifically to MiG-21 and successfully used in practice? It's obviously a very fast plane that can get up to very high altitudes, but seems like the way to use it would be in a climbing intercept, as it's so easy to flameout when recovering from a dive.

So, I ran out of fuel and crash-landed the plane. Gear released. On touchdown, I lose the gear and come to a complete stop. Obviously, the engines are dead (as is the DC generator, as I saw in the debriefing). I turn everything off (batteries, generators, transformers), but the plane continues making noise! Can't tell which system it was, but nothing was powered on. Track available.

Situation as follows - take off, climb, (accidentally) enable "return to horizon" (the one on the stick) autopilot. Mess around in the cockpit. Then I discover that the autopilot shutoff button (the one on the stick) isn't clickable. It doesn't even pick up that there is a button there! Had to shut down electrical power to the autopilot... On restart, everything works fine.

Indeed, one can turn on the grid, and the button lights, before anything else is on. Additionally, if everything is turned on, and self-test is activated, shutting everything off keeps the self-test readouts in place. These can then can be turned on and off.