bonesvf103

So there is the HARM SP submode where even if you have another weapon or master mode selected, it allows you to fire a HARM at a detected target. By default, this is overriden unless you press PB16 in the MFD. I used to have that working but now it seems weird. This is using the stock Weapon Qualification AGM-88C HARM Caucasus mission. When I start, I verify that PB16 has "SP HRM OVRD" boxed. I press the HARM button on PB5 to bring up the HARM MFD. HARM at PB5 is now boxed and X'd, and it is in SP mode. I select TOO mode. I get spiked. PLBK is in the HUD as I would expect since the override is on. I pickle--nothing launches. I try to cycle to the SAM and hand off. It cycles but does not hand off. I am in nav master mode so I hit A/G. Stores page shows up with HARM boxed and X'd in PB5. I press PB5 and HARM is boxed. I press PB5 again, it goes to the HARM MFD and TOO is still boxed. I hand it off and pickle. PLBK in the HUD and MFD turn onto HARM but X'd out but the missile launches. OK, next test. I remain in A/G mode, in TOO mode. HARM in PB5 is boxed but X'd. This time I press PB16 tu turn off the override, so now "TOO HTM OVRD" is not boxed. I get spiked. HARM shows up in the HUD and MFD but when I pickle it is X'd out and no launch occurs. I press PB5, bringing it back to the stores page where HARM is not boxed, then I hit PB5 again and it brings it back to the HARM page with HARM boxed and X'd ,defaulting to SP mode. I select TOO mode and pickle. No launch, HARM in MFD and HUD X's out. I switch to SP mode. It says uncrossed-out HARM in the MFD and HUD and a target is boxed in the HUD and I'm able to fire, but when I do, the HARM in the MFD and HUD crosses out. I pickle three more times and every time I do the HARM in the MFD and HUD crosses out but I get good launches. So I'm really confused. From my understanding if you have a HARM powered up and the HRM OVRD is boxed in PB16, then if a radar threat is detected and you pickle, a HARM will not launch because it is overridden. So if you unbox it, then there is no override, so when a radar threat is detected, it should launch when you pickle. Mine did not. It only did when I changed the mode in the HARM MFD to SP by pressing PB5. But then what is the point of the SP submode? I might as well just leave it in SP then. The whole point of leaving the override off is so that if I'm say attacking with a Meverick and I get spiked, I can fire the HARM without having to select it. But as in the above, it won't fire unless I press PB5 for SP. I seem to recall it working properly before, is it not working now? Track attached. Video is here: Thanks! v6, boNes HARM SP.trk

Yes, "F-14 RIO" or something along those lines. v6, boNes

That is a possibility. I don't think I did but maybe I overstressed the frame and didn't notice. Or maybe it is VAICOM Pro related. In any case, no harm, no foul, I found a way to get it working. I just looked at my video on it and there might be one other factor: The coordinates given were 41 deg 50 min 4 seconds. Not remembering that in the Tomcat it is degrees-minutes-tenths-of-a-minute, I put in 41504 when I should have put in 41501. Same with easting. Could .3 minutes have made such a huge difference? Maybe, maybe not. But I would think that the WP would be still pretty close to where the correct WP would be. v6, boNes

That's what I did, I put in the coordinates but it had no effect. I put the coordinates in for waypoint and had steering mode in DEST, the caret was showing I should fly west instead of east. So I put a map marker wast of Kashuri and told Jester to set it to waypoint 2. That failed so I had him set it to fixed point, and that failed so I had him set it to IP, which also failed--the caret would always be bearing around 270. So I went in the back and did it myself, for WP2, IP, fixed..same thing. That's when I just used the F10map to navigate. I did hit the 2 targets and made the decision to take the mission. I just left that out of my latest post because it was irrelevant--I was posting about finally being able to make it past the former bug point where the enemy would be stuck at the one spot and not move. v6, boNes

I finally found the time to try the mission as patched and updated stock as part of the beta update. SPOILER ALERT: It worked fine, the only problem I had was when I was ordered to fly to Kashuri and have Jester QWP to WP2. I couldn't get him to set the LANTIRN to WP2, so I set it myself. But it was showing a WP west of us rather than east. So I set a map marker east of Kashuri and had him add it as a fixed point. It still showed a WP west. Same with IP. So as a last resort, I put the coordinates for Kashuri myself. It still refused to show the correct waypoint direction in the HSI. So eventually I just F10 mapped my way to Kashuri and just went from there. I noticed that Jester would not be able to find targets but since I had eyes on it didn't matter. I did get worried though if we were tasked to kill anything I was delighted that the target made it past the bus station and checkpoint, I could finally go on in the mission! Also, when the Turks show up, Jester seemed to be able to take over LANTIRN ops as briefed. The theatrics and voiceovers of this mission were great, you guys did a great job on it. What I thought was really great about it was that it was what I expect a typical F-14 Bombcat mission would be like in terms of you may be circling over a target over and over but may never get the shot. The mission took 2 hours and I never got to drop, which sucks, but this is what could happen IRL. And yet it was still gratifying. The anticipation of what will happen next is great, and in this particular case (I took the moral high ground) the results from my decision were harrowing, but probably happens more often than we know. Which would suck, but that's life, right? v6, boNes

OK, I think I see what you mean by "Artistic license." She said, "Get angry now--AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!" and "Kill him! Put the pipper on him and kill him!! Burn that f*cker!!!" My kinda girl! v6, boNes

I dunno if the randomness was lost in the mod, but whenever I trap, JestHer only says what the wire caught was. I am yet to hear her say something witty after a trap like her predecessor, haha. v6, boNes

Yoda, Thanks, that's what I had been thinking too. v6, boNes

Thanks, makes sense. Just wasn't sure if there was a prescribed procedure like, "must be at angels 20 by 100 miles" or something. I also suppose that in terms of say the Tomcat, there is always max fuel endurance which is about 250 KIAS/1200 lbs every 15 minutes. Of course altitude will have an effect on that. v6, boNes

Is there a recommended altitude to approach the CCA? Are there different ones for Case I/II/II? By this I mean for instance you are RTB and you are say 100 nm from the boat, does the boat want you at a certain altitude by the time you get to the 50nm CCA? Thanks! v6, boNes

You're gonna keep us in suspense, aren't you? For some reason, I don't think it will go over the same way when she says, "Can we trap? I really gotta take a <sierra>" haha v6, boNes

So does she say, "Give my love to Meg Ryan" and "stop teasing it and stick it in?" v6, boNes

I have been noticing that if you make multiple passes with a waveoff, by the time you do catch a wire, your grades for the previous tries are combined into one grade for the last pass. Is that right? It doesn't seem so. I would think that you get a separate grade for every pass. So, if you had 3 passes and caught the wire on the third pass, you should get a total of 3 grades. Otherwise even if I nail a perfect 3 wire, I'm still getting a bad grade overall because of the previous waveoffs. It used to give separate grades. Is this a bug? v6, boNes

Jester that will actually give timely clock code calls? v6, boNes

Yes, there is only ICLS. So I can't do actual ILS approached but I can do VOR-A style approaches or TACAN approaches. I just have to make sure I am at my minimum altitude at DME. It's not exactly pretty but it works. I usually use the every DME mile is 300 feet of altitude thing or the minute to live rule below 2000 MSL. v6, boNes

Yup, confirmed, it works now. This may also explain why when I edsignate a ground target with my JHMCS, the diamond suddenly slews away from the designation point! v6, boNes

What I do for a "boring" mission is do something like in flight refuel, then leave and go to a shore based airbase to land--in Case III/IFR conditions. Nothing more satisfying to me then making an instrument approach in low to no visibility, and touching down on the runway and coming to s stop. The beauty of it too is that you can do this anytime you want with an instant action free flight mission with weather set to whatever you want. Alternatively, you can plan a cross country flight from one airbase to another using only say TACAN navigation or ADF. v6, boNes

I think so. Then again, maybe I haven't actually tried to see if he does or not because I was satisfied with the zoom level her had. I'll have to try it purposely next time. But what I mean is that when I have head control, he doesn't change the zoom back to what he had or wants, because I have head control. v6, boNes

OK, thanks guys! I was wondering if it could be that, thanks for the tip. I'll try it and see if it helps. If anything I can always keystroke it. v6, boNes

It doesn't happen when I have head control, because, well, I have head control. But once I give control back to Jester, it's his decision unless I tell him over and over to zoom. Now in real life I could tell him to zoom in and keep it there, but really, as the pilot, I'm not the one trying to hold a valid lock in the LANTIRN for a weapons drop, it is the RIO. So if I tell him to zoom in all the way and he needs to zoom out based on his ability to keep the target locked or for procedure or whatever, he's going to ignore me and do what HE needs to do to keep the target locked not what I'm telling him to do. v6, boNes

If I go to the HSI, select UFC, then select GRID on the UFC, I get the grid on the right MFD. I hold down the TDC button, slew over to the grid I want, then release the TDC. The grid coordinate has an underline that blinks once then disappears. That's it. I can't enter coordinates because the underline never stays. What is wrong? v6, boNes

It might be, but it also might be that he is zooming it to where he needs it to do his work in the back. After all, it's the RIO that is performing LANTIRN work, and the pilot only pickles, he just follows what the RIO tells him to do until then and after. It's not really up to the pilot to tell the RIO how to zoom the image since he's not controlling guidance and tracking, unless the pilot needs to see something specific. v6, boNes

If you have VAICOM Pro, if you tell Jester, "Toggle view," he will zoom/unzzom the view as needed. Albeit for a short time until he brings it back to a view he needs to do his work. But you can tell him to toggle it again. v6, boNes

Yes, there is something odd in that before the patches all 6 would spawn properly. This mission is pretty old. v6, boNes

Nicely done. What happened to Virtual Pilot 7? Looks like he never spawned. You had 5 out of 5 Phoenix kills, so you must have come back with your 6th Phoenix still aboard. v6, boNes