Victory205

Every Tomcat I flew had a yaw string. Being a Aircraft Division Officer, if they went missing, they were written up and replaced. I'd love to have a copy of the MilSpec for that string. ;)

I'm having issues trying to get the buttons on a to be recognized under Windows 10. So far, I haven't had a useful response from Virpil, they point me to something that I already described as not working. I have a VPC WarBRD Base Set# 003164 with a Mongoose T-50 CM2 Ser # 005270. When I run the setup software, the base is detected in the pulldown menu and the axes are detected and work, but the T-50 grip is not detected and doesn't show up in the pull down menu in the setup software. I've tried three different versions of the Virpil setup software, all behave as above. The grip doesn't show in the pulldown window on the setup software. Windows by the way, does detect the base, but not the buttons on the grip. First thing I did was to carefully check the orientation of the base to grip connection plugIt is correct and fully seated. Have you any suggestions? Again, the connector is correctly oriented, the pins look fine and are not bent or missing, and the connector is fully seated. I've tried multiple USB ports, including powered hubs and using every USB port on the computer itself, all without success. All other USB peripherals that I own are working using those same ports.

Full AB, accelerate to .9 IMN, climb to ~37000, unload to .5 G to 1.2 IMN (or slightly above, just out of Mach buffet), continue climb at that mach until at your desired Altitude, then unload again for whatever velocity you want in the end state. Better have a tanker close by.

I Believe!!!!

You boys are spot on with your explanations today, really on the ball... ;)

Need to model tie down chains.

Any sort of cushion increased the distance the seat had to accelerate before impacting the pilots legs, which could theoretically break your femurs. The integrated cushion was very thin, and very uncomfortable.

We started the engines, set and stored the alignment, did OBC, prepped and tuned missiles, shut down, topped off the fuel, and sat there for hours, listening to our Sony Walkman tape cassettes, punctuated with a loud zap every six seconds or so as the ship's radars swept by our jets. Some guys sat on bubble wrap, but it was prohibited and had to be thrown over the side before closing the canopy. Anyone guess why?

You’d get waved off if flying a full fast AOA, depending on conditions. We already discussed hook skips if slightly fast or if the pilot eased the nose. Setting the hook seemed to work if necessary.

Heh, there is rank in the cockpit. You’ll understand in spades when you get back on the ground.

The flight lead was usually the senior pilot in the flight, assuming that he or she was qualified to lead the number of aircraft in the flight. The Senior Crewmember, no matter what seat, was usually the Mission Commander. That could change, depending upon the size, scope and distribution of assets and the experience or recency of the Senior crew member. Sometimes, say on a large strike of some sort, there was an overall Mission Commander, a Fighter Lead, a Recce lead, etc. Depends upon the Airwing policy. In an individual engagement, the person or crew with the best SA, system status, tactical position, etc could assume the tactical lead, and that designation could change within the fight as well as SA changed due to jamming, failure, missile expenditure, fuel status...you name it. Loose Deuce concept, which is learned very early in the tactical portion of training command for the jet pilot. That flexibility is a huge advantage.

This^^^^ Chaogen's comments illustrate something that I find quite interesting, not just in the HB module, but across the different simulation communities. If something seems difficult, then the response is often a demand that some change be made to make the task easier. It is a false assumption. Upgrading the HUD won't solve your problems, not at all. In fact, digital airspeed, AOA or altitude takes longer to interpret than an analog gauge. The core issue here is that the FBW modules, and the poor quality of flight sims in general (handling and structural limitations specifically), have spawned a generation of expectations that are very different from reality. Think about it. When the pilot knows that he or she can't change the aircraft or the displays, then the pilot approaches the problem very differently. You want to keep your wings? You have to learn and adapt to the characteristics of the aircraft you were awarded, whether you liked it or not. You have to master the beast, and all aircraft have design deficiencies that are a PITA. Fascinating to watch the different mindsets. As far as airspeed calls. I did occasionally ask for airspeed for one reason and in one scenario- a pure 1v1 when I wanted to know that I had enough energy to get over the top of a vertical killing maneuver. 90% of the time, you already knew, without glancing inside. Other than that, once in a visual engagement, the RIO needed to be heads out, and let the pilot fly. The Tomcat is very easy to fly. It gave more feed back than the trainers that Naval Aviators came from. More stable, more honest, more power, better displays, better cues. The RIO was a godsend, let him do the radar work, you listen and visualize the tactical situation. That's the way the aircraft was designed to function.

Everything. Some pilots were very invested in knowing the system and technique, some brain dumped most of it, but RAG students went to the same classes and sims. Either way, experienced pilots ended up flying with FNG RIOs and had to help them at some point. Experienced RIOs broke in nugget pilots on shipboard operations and tactics. Very much a team effort with constant communication between front and back. We even attended the RIO only sims, standing outside at the instructors console, which was a great learning experience. It gets very complicated with respect to ECM and ECCM. My back seat hop was a blast. As you know, lots to play with.

You just pull the little handle...

Shaking? What is this shaking you reference? Oh, you mean aerodynamic buffet! Buffet, now that makes sense. Shaking is what your knees do after a night trap in bad weather with a pitching deck and a sour tanker. Buffet is what all jets doe at high alpha. The FBW aircraft do too, it’s just that Heatblur models it with far better fidelity.

Very high. The NATOPS upright spin procedure specifically includes a separate canopy jettison to allow time for the canopy to clear the ejection seat trajectory. There is a low pressure void above the aircraft and little to no horizontal airflow to help the canopy clear. Killed a RIO in my last squadron. The canopy hit the RIO’s seat, and for whatever reason, he wasn’t able to employ the manual bailout procedure. He rode the aircraft all the way to the deck. Pilot ejected normally, and they did jettison the canopy separately. TOPGUN the movie was generally cringeworthy

It doesn’t do that scan pattern. Period.

An additional factor is that when kneeled, the nose strut releases stored energy at the end of the cat stroke to help rotate the nose. For the sim, there is no reason to hold the stick full aft, just go off at takeoff trim and gently pitch the nose up. Don't overcomplicate a simple maneuver. The pitch was natural and easy to control, but that assumes proper trim and CG loading. The guys who came from Phantoms loved it in comparison.

If the pilot let the stick move freely during the cat shot, which is what a lot of guys did, then the bob weight system and the inertia of the stick itself would allow the stabs to go the full TEU position. However, as soon as the acceleration of the Cat stopped, the stab would immediately go back to the takeoff trim position, resulting in a normal rotation and fly away. In other words, when it came time to rotate, the stick wasn't full aft. If you hold the stick full aft, you'll get an extreme pitch up. Duh. I held onto the stick with my elbow against my hip- I wanted to know where that sucker was, and didn't think that the old school technique of letting the stick come into your open, braced hand made any sense at all. The cat shot wasn't that violent on the big deck ships. You'll see a lot of guys do that on launch as well. If the stick was held full aft, then yes indeed, the nose would continue to pitch up. I've seen a tail slide off of the cat during CQ, it was magnificent, and superior pilot skills, centering the stick and rolling with rudder, saved the day. The pilot unloaded, got some knots, and recovered before hitting the water. This was in an F14A. Exactly what is modeled by Heatblur.

Based on Ironmike's comments, I just ordered a Virpil base and stick. The Warthog, even with an extension, has an inordinate amount of friction and drag. I was hoping that it would loosen up with use, but still feels like flying dual with an instructor riding the controls...

Always be Thankful!

That’s the way the ASI works...if I understand you correctly.

Still amazing that pilots don't understand Angle of attack. https://aviationweek.com/business-aviation/understanding-angle-attack-indicator?utm_rid=CPEN1000003189404&utm_campaign=21581&utm_medium=email&elq2=817e3fb5d57f4843b8d9ffe2485bd2fe

“Darker than six foot up a bull’s ass...”

Use The Force...