bonesvf103

If you fired a Phoenix in TWS-A and then changed the TID range afterwards, does it trash your missile? v6, boNes

I just heard in a tutorial video that if the AIM-54C loses a track, it will go active automatically and try to find the target itself. I thought that in DCS this is not the case. Which is true? v6, boNes

@MAXsenna beware of the scan low command in VAICOM. I've noticed that when you do that the top and bottom of the scan (numbers on the lower left of the TID) go to 0 and 0, which is useless. v6, boNes

Well yes and no....there are F-14s in the background. I took this photo when VF-103 came back from their final Tomcat tour and VF soon to be VFA-103 had their new Super Hornet waiting for them when they ceremoniously arrived. So it really is a Tomcat photo more than a Super Hornet photo. v6, boNes

Has anyone else been getting an issue where if you tell Jester to "Scan low,", he puts the scan so low that the TID upper and lower altitudes are 0 and 0? v6, boNes

Here's my menu and loading screen:

This particular one is MP v6, boNes

In the same mission, I noticed sometimes if I put a map marker on the F10 map then tell Jester, "Map marker X to fixed point," for example, he doesn't do it. BUt if I do the same thing on another mission, it will probably work. So do you think there is a possibility that it depends on how the mission was written/setup where I get this Icemma/Jester anomaly or the map marker one? v6, boNes

I've noticed on random occasion that if you jump in the backseat and give a command to Iceman, when you go back to the front seat and give a command to Jester, it will not be carried out and you will get a message "You are in Jester's seat!" even though you are in the front seat. Then if you go to the RIO seat and give an Iceman command it will say, "You are in Iceman's seat!" Anyone else get this phenomenon? v6, boNes

Recently it worked fine for me. v6, boNes

"Bio" Baranek wrote in his book Tomcat RIO that they would fire 1 second long bursts to be effective. IronMike, thanks to you guys! I haven't had that much fun in a mission in a while. I keep coming back to fly it. When I have more time I'll check out Op Reforger. v6, boNes

When you say you are rising relative to the glideslope, that is telling me that you are flying through the glidepath. Picture it this way: the slope is headed diagonally down from your nose to the deck. If you are flying at the same altitude (whether you know it or not), it may be on slope at that moment, but if you held that altitude, now the glideslope is beneath your nose and so your needles will indicate you are high even though you haven't gained any altitude. And the glideslope needle will get lower and lower as you continue on at the same altitude. To maintain your position on the slope, it take alot of having the donut on your AOA indexer (which is primarily controlled by pitch via stick) and power control (subtle and tiny amounts of throttle jockeying). You should strive to use what is called a three part power corrections. Let me allow a naval aviator to explain it: I will also add one of the most valuable tips I can think of: TRIM TRIM TRIM! Trimming your aircraft to be on AOA is probably the single best thing next to throttle control there is to making a successful trap. When you trim your aircraft to be on AOA, you are trimming your aircraft to not only be on speed, but to have your nose pitched up in such a way that the hook dangling from the back of your aircraft is poised properly to catch that coveted 3 wire. You can tel if you are properly trimmed if you can take your hands of the controls and the aircraft will fly straight and level with the AOA indicator showing the donut. I wouldn't recommend hanging on the trim button to dump in your trim except at the start. after that, just a few clicks should do it--even better if you keep track of how many clicks you put in in case you need to back off a bit, you can get a feel as to how many clicks in the opposite direction you need to put in. Anyway, by being trimmed on speed you now have released all that back pressure from the stick and have your hook positioned in the best place for landing and can now concentrate on the ball/slope and the lineup. v6, boNes

That's a good question. I think maybe the best thing is to distill it down to who is actually the biggest threat, ie, who is on your six? v6, boNes

Thanks for the heads up. I checked out that mission (didn't know I had it) and it was fun. I don't recall a burst issue though. I was able to shoot down one F-15 and was poised to kill the other but then I ran out of bullets and almost gas. I also discovered this other mission, "Imhotep's Bandits (BVR)--that was fun. I had 4 AI wingmen but they all got shot down leaving me to fight at least 5 by myself until the ready 5 arrived. v6, boNes

I think the main thing aside from trusting your instruments is to keep in mind that when landing, the throttle is only used for altitude/position on the glideslope (helped with DLC) and the stick is used for airspeed or in the more relevant case, maintaining the donut in the AOA. If you do this, the jet won;t fall out of the sky. But it becomes a hard dance when you are in Case III conditions without visual reference and so you really really have to trust those instruments AND make very small subtle but intentional control inputs. That's what I can offer from the start. Trying doing it ashore without ICLS or any ILS for that matter and no approach charts. That is hell! Now who's the glutton for punishment? v6, boNes

Thanks all. See, the thing is, I set VAICOM Pro up fir the first time when I installed it back when it was payware and never had to change anything since until the Community Version came out. So that's a few years that I may not be remembering what my settings were. It may also be that I have been using it that way for so long that I don't exactly remember the nuances of the original setup V the current one (hence why the video is different from my post). I just felt like something was "off" and different in the new version and the part that stood out the most was how the comms menu was still there even after my broadcast was ended and I had to key the mic to make it go away. And yes, by clear the mike, I mean a button on my HOTAS. I have a button on my HOTAS set to emulate "R" for mic press and "T" for mic release. This is only set in VAICOM Pro, I did not set anything in DCS. I'm pulling this out of me head and I am not near my rig now to be able to definitely confirm (maybe later tonight) so I'l double check. MAX, I noticed and realized last night when fiddling with the options that the "hide menu" option was there...maybe I had that set before as in the video, the menu never seems to comes up when I key the mic and speak. I'll have a look and see again. Thanks both of you for the added insight! v6, boNes

Here is a video when I was using the Payware version. You can see at around 33:45 that when I call inbound no menu comes up but the commands go through fine.

Back when this was payware, it used to be that you key the radio mic and the comms menu would appear in the upper right, you said what you eneded to say, and then when you released the radio mic button, the comms menu would disappear. Now, if I hit the mic button the menu appears, I say what I need, releas the button, it does my command, but the menu stays up there. The only way for it to go away is for me to key the mic again or hit F12. Is that a change since the payware version? Any way to get the menu to disappear automatically? v6, boNes

This is for when it was payware, but it's essentially the same. You didn't used to have to say "page" or "show," you just said the keyword. Anyway, use these as a starting point and you'll figure it out easily: v6, boNes

You also forgot one more option: JestHer I've been using JestHer pretty much all the time now. When I do have a RIO other than her, I use my buddy Grifter. v6, boNes

Not to mention real USN Tomcat pilots prior to 1995 or so! v6, boNes

Although the turn to final is dicey, it really is not that much of a problem and when done right, you wont' be near stall speed at all. If anything, you will be in danger of sinking too fast and going into the water, but not of stalling. First of all, make sure the bird is trimmed trimmed trimmed. You should be able to let her fly straight and level hands off the stick. This will help ensure that you are on AOA and thus on speed all the time. Next, as someone pointed out above, you should not be turning more than 30 degrees of bank (as a guideline) or less than 27 degrees. This is determined by how far abeam from the boat you are. 1.0 miles would be 30, 1.3 would be 27. Adjust accordingly for this range. When you are turning, are you also making sure you are in coordinated flight? That left turn will cause a skid, you have to put it some left rudder to center the yaw ball. You don't need alot, and when the ball centers, you can let go of the rudder and it will stay centered pretty much. Ignore the E-bracket. It doesn't update fast enough and is ratchety. IRL F-14A and B pilots ignore it too. Concentrate more on the AOA indexer and your altimeter. You can see the trend if you are climbing or descending with the altimeter and if you are slow or fast with the AOA indexer. Likewise, use of the flight path marker should not be dependent on. In that turn to final, the most I would say use it is to place it on the horizon as you turn. The act of you trying to do that naturally gives your plane a slight descent from the 600 ft AGL you should be on downwind to the 450 you should be at final. You can use it to get you pointed at the crotch of the ship for landing, but that's it--don't use it to place you on the deck, the LSO can tell you are "spotting the deck" and that makes your approach dangerous. Your throttle shouldn't have to move in such gross motions to keep you in the air or even on the numbers. You should always be putting in discrete amounts of power or taking it out. 3 small power adjustments will net you better and more controlled effect rather than one huge power adjustment on a whole. If you are familiar with the "three point power correction" concept, use that. If not I can explain it further. The only thing I feel is difficult but takes skill to master at that phase of the approach to final is how the Tomcat seems to have alot of dynamic stability (I think that's the term). ie, you turn left, and you want to turn straight and level, but she still wants to keep turning left. Then when you get her to turn right to straight and level, she wants to keep turning right. It's constant corrections. v6, boNes

Thanks for doing this! Can't wait to update! v6, boNes

Also, any way to get her to make those snide comments when you trap that Jester does? All she says when you trap is what wire you have caught. Thanks, I've been enjoying having her in the backseat for quite a while now. v6, boNes

In case you didn't know, they often remove the refueling probe cover because of incidents where it would get knocked off and go down the right air intake, FODing the engine. I think in the photo above, that was an example of them voluntarily removing it. v6, boNes