AH_Solid_Snake

Next question fellow pitters....has anyone figured out the right entries to the default.lua file to get the gun elevation / hud BRT / gun round counter to go up at sensible numbers using rotary encoders? My effort so far is as follows and these are the kinds of tiny numbers I've gotten down to, but one press / turn still moves the counter by about 11, so its almost impossible to hit on 53 reliably {cockpit_device_id = devices.WEAPONS, pressed = device_commands.WEAP_Gun_Elevation, value_pressed = -0.0000001, name = _('Gun Elevation Lead Adjustment - DECREASE (Slow)'), category = {_('PDCP'), _('Custom')}}, {cockpit_device_id = devices.WEAPONS, pressed = device_commands.WEAP_Gun_Elevation, value_pressed = 0.0000001, name = _('Gun Elevation Lead Adjustment - INCREASE (Slow)'), category = {_('PDCP'), _('Custom')}},

Its mostly wording, no need to get focussed on nitpicking other answers while not contributing to the original question. What @draconus was aiming at was kinetic energy, what @Dragon1-1 is talking about managing is potential energy. Think about it a couple of ways, before the fight you have all the time in the world to set yourself up for a good engagement, build up a solid bank of both types of energy (get high, get fast). Then think of it as making trades, you don't want to tank all your potential energy on the first turn, if you just spiral downwards pulling all the Gs you will trade away everything for 1 good turn and 1 chance. Once the fight begins as draconus said, you need to start trying to hold onto speed or altitude wherever possible, and depending on what you're trying to do like lead or pure pursuit you are trading PE or KE to do it. Generally the PE you started with is pretty much what you've got to work with as if you try and level the wings and go up you risk giving the bandit an easy angles problem. Going downhill during a sharp turn will help maintain the circle so long as it's worth it. If you find yourself fast for some reason then instead of using the brakes or throttle, then as Dragon says, you could bank that energy by doing a yo-yo or something rather than just throwing it away like your opponent just did. There's no simple answer to winning dogfights, but if you understand your best rate / radius turns and can do those, and you know your basic aerobatic manoeuvres, then start combining them depending on what you and the bandit are doing. It's fairly normal for new pilots to start thinking very horizontally and to master the vertical later, but there is always something to learn and its a very very currency driven skill.

A teaser question for my fellow pit-builders, does anyone know what type of switch this is called? Its on the left vertical panel / landing gear panel.

@Hagen - amazing work as usual thanks

I don't have many pictures to share yet of the finished result but I thought I would post here that I have shared all the STL files that I have created so far for my own project. https://github.com/AHSolidSnake/F-14A-Cockpit feel free to use them however you like and if you make an improvement please raise a PR.

Does anyone know if @LASooner is still around or if his 3D models were ever put somewhere else after the demise of shapeways? I've an ACM guard switch of his which is cracking work but never managed to pickup the Master Arm before the shapeways crash.

Thats a really nice switch actuation there - are those some kind of dampers in the silver piston near the top?

@Hagen This switch is a really nice touch - did you / are you happy to share the model of this?

Its a reasonable question but I've never been able to make that work fully. My biggest problem most recently was going FFB (VPForce and now Moza) and using the axis limiter and even with the software adjusting the endstops to match the X/Y in windows it would not work at all with the DCS F-14 autopilot. As best I can tell the FFB outputs would not be adjusted for the axis limit so just the autopilot active motions would be enough to knock off any ALT HOLD mode for example. Best alternative I've come up with is just offsetting the grip aft.

The other problem with consumer sticks vs the real thing is that they deflect the same amount in both directions. The real stick is something like 2 inches full forward and 4.5 inches full aft deflection. My solution was similar, a 10cm extension with an offset 20cm aft to try and shift the stick back far enough and low enough to push full forward without hitting the HSD or bottom of the VDI.

I think the accuracy of the HUD is unrealistically good. I do wonder if theres an expectation and reality problem. In a lot of electric jets you can put the airplane into a particular state and it will hold itself there incredibly precisely. With the F-14 and anything earlier its all on you, so look out the window and watch for the horizon moving, you can use visual markers like canopy bow or the instrument panel for where you expect the ground to line up with. After that if you are just starting then accept some degree of deviation… +\- 100 ft working to 50 to 10. Expect continual inputs even when you are in trim if you are expecting to maintain right on the dot.

The only one I'm curious about was the modelling of a variable RCS - that seems like an engine limitation might be finally addressed and HB could update the AWG-9 to respect that?

@Yogi8 - your throttles are looking fantastic, great integration into a simpit too. Did you consider using more stepper motors to drive the throttle levers themselves for the auto-throttle?

That's a pretty amazing upgrade on the ThrottleTek (I'm a previous user). Are you going to open source any of the files to allow people to test print the parts and help with feedback?

Jeez can we cut some slack here? Its an interesting nugget of information on related aircraft, from the right country in the right time period. Its even directly known to have been in other century series fighters - so its at least tangentially related, which is cool on a slow news day for F4 development and we haven't even ruled out that its not the right CADC. In other news - cool find, enjoyed the read.

Theres nothing better than trimming by feel in a flight simulator for the first time. Particularly on the downwind.

Wave goodbye to most of the AP modes, but the trim and feel is amazing.

Im perhaps missing something here. The one missile on the new API is the AIM120, for which this value is either unused or meaningless?

Sure, does that mean this parameter cannot be applied to older missiles?

Are you aware of any rationale for that change applying only to the AIM-120? If its a work-around for the omniscient AI why not apply it to the SD-10 or AIM-54? If its 120 specific is there some reason that it should be "silent" compared to the other ARH missiles?

Under effects you want to look for Endstops, my settings are attached and give me a roll range which doesnt slap my thighs with the stick center mounted and a forward position a bit under half of its normal range of travel.

Orbit direction was maybe lower down the list of priorities. Because the initial integration was done quickly on zero budget it might be completely arbitrary, or maybe some wiring bundles happen to be easier to access from the starboard side. I’d be really interested if anyone can do better than conjecture here - it was no doubt documented at the time but where thats gone is anyones guess.

Its worth bearing in mind where the expectation comes from - for the majority of us who are just enthusiasts theres 2 broad categories of takeoff we've witnessed (IRL or videos) Airshow / training from a land based runway - this is very light weight, for training maybe an ACMI sidewinder and bags, for airshows slick with the bare minimum fuel to complete the routine safely Operationally from a carrier - heavy but usually actually still less weight than your average players DCS sortie and most of the work being done by a 100 yard catapult stroke The example only really found in DCS or maybe by Iran is taking operational warloads off from a land based runway, which is going to look much less impressive than either of the two aforementioned cases we're used to thinking of.

I can only add to the mixed reports, because its only made to order it does seem like little changes and improvements are being made so YMMV. I bought one at the end of 2019 and used it for 6 months before the frustrations were enough to rebuild it from scratch, the only bits I retained was the outer casing and wing sweep / flap levers. In my case the issues were jittery pots on all axis grips undersized by roughly 30% compared to real ones mushy and jittery switches, particularly the push buttons on the front not very positive AB gate, its there but only about 2mm thick so was far too easy to push through rather than go outboard

Its a good option the discord also has a showroom area for guys that have taken the DIY kit (2 motors, control board, software) and then built all sorts of weird and wonderful mechanical interfaces for.