TheBigTatanka

When conducting a Laser Guided Bomb attack, the timer above OSB 11 on the TGP page should show time to impact. In DCS, it is a repeater of the timing information on the HUD -- which shows time to release, and then time to impact. The information on the HUD is correct, but not the information in the TGP, which should always be time to impact in MM:SS format. A mod can contact me if they want to talk about the source document. As an aside... I'm really impressed with just how much ED has gotten right on the viper so far. Keep doing the good work. Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

Guns only fights should start from the perch setup (one aircraft already offensive) with the defender at 300-350 knots. He should bleed down pretty good in his initial deny turn. Now, if you are flying in a multiplayer server with dudes you don't know, doing sets you haven't briefed at 600+ knots ... You're not doing BFM the way it was intended, so you can't ask the jet's system to keep up. Like i said, the employment manual says to use the gun in BFM at much slower speeds. I don't think this is a bug, but improper use of the machine. #fox2 Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

Comrade, This looks very useful, I would second the desire for functionality to enter a list of coordinates in a text box, and then be able to load those into the jet directly. This way, people could copy/paste the coordinates they need from their flight leads. As a guy who flies in VR and on the Nevada map, I can see a lot of potential for this if we had a text box option instead of only the F-10 option. Nice work though, looks like a great piece of software.

The employment manual says not to try using the gun above either 250 or 300 knots (can't remember off the top of my head). It's a weapon for when the bandit is slow and predictable. If someone is flying BFM at 600 knots, their turn circle is measured in miles and not feet. Just shoot them with a fox-2. Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

Has anyone made or found a paint of the viper from the 16th WS? I've looked and looked, but haven't come up with one. They are pretty basic looking, but would be nice to have at Nellis.

They both work, and work well. We've been using VRP for pop up deliveries, it's great.

Here is a clipped video of putting our BVR, ACM, SEAD, and Strike training into practice as a blue force in a "combat" mission. The v65th is about a dozen guys who mostly fly training and adversarial sorties to better learn the fighter pilot skillset, but every now and then we have to go do a big combat mission to see how we can flex with less scripted ops. If what you see in this video makes sense to you, you like what you see, or you want to learn more -- we are interested in getting about 4-8 more F-16 drivers in our ranks for larger LFE ops. Feel free to contact us through our website (which is in dire need of updating -- but we fly a lot more than we mess with websites): https://v65th.wordpress.com/

One technique is to carry a TGP and use it for your second leaf of BVR. So, for example.... You and your wingman shoot into the leading edge at 40nm, and crank and go out at ~24nm. As you run cold, switch one MFD to the TGP in a/a mode. When you pitch back in, any survivors from the leading edge will be ~20nm in front of you. Sort the target group per your plan, but check to see their dead/alive status in the TGP before shooting. If they are dead, hold shots and switch to a sanitizing role as your wingman employs (assuming he sees someone alive). After this leaf any survivors in the leading edge are now ~10nm behind you, and you are in a delouse situation. On the first leaf, at 40nm, the TGP can't break out the bandit yet. Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

Assuming you don't have any control mapping issues, this is how trim should work in the Viper (and it does): With less than 15 units of AOA on the jet, the flight control logic is looking for G inputs. In level unloaded flight at less than 15 units of AOA, one click of trim = 0.1 Gs. So the jet will try to hold 1.0 Gs in level flight with no trim input. If you give it one click of nose up trim, it will try to hold 1.1G. 2 clicks is 1.2G, etc. Same for nose down. So, if you have the jet behaving oddly, unload the pull with the flight path marker on the horizon and look at the G meter in the Hud. If it reads something like -0.5, then you need 5 clicks of nose up trim. Cheers, Dances

Two things: 1. The viper performs very close to published Em data in official (unclassed but not public) sources. It also performs the way those sources say it should in relation to it's flight control logic -- things like how trim affects G, how it responds to stick input at certain AOAs, and the G or AOA it seeks -- that's all spot on, and can be tested with HARTS maneuvers. It's rather impressive that ED has that all right. Some guys have talked about onset of G and pitch authority -- i can't speak to that as I've never seen documents about that, nor have I flown a viper. 2. The only EM material I've seen for the hornet relates to the Swiss export version, and it is official use only. Can't comment on how closely the DCS hornet flies to that, because I don't fly the DCS hornet. However, we need to keep in mind that the C model that ED is representing has the big engines, and anecdotally (from guys who have flown against it), it can rate very well depending on its load out. This isn't the original C model that a lot of the books, articles, stories, and impressions of the hornet are rooted in. A friend of mine flying the F-16 today against Hornets in BFM often finds himself at the end of the fight in a stack/tree fight. This means a mature fight developed and it wasn't a quick rate plan to a kill. Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

Yes, the comm switch filter is the method mentioned in the 3-3. There are also steps prior to that for narrowing azimuth and elevation scan to break out your assigned group. And thanks for providing some context -- I've not tried in DCS to turn my datalink filter back off after targeting. Does it break lock or just re-popupate the other contacts? Will have to try it. Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

If it helps.... The F-16 employment manual tells you (as a technique) to filter out the datalink contacts from AWACS prior to targeting. There's a little memory aid for targeting technique, but it involves using the datalink contacts for SA, then filtering them out once you have the picture, then locking your assigned target group. Dances Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

That all sounds legit Tobias. I believe the low altitude speed issue has to do with a limit on the canopy glass with heat from friction. Here's the other thing..... Who is flying 800 knots on the deck? In formation, you don't want to get much above 450-500 so you stay a steady platform for your wingman -- and you'll only be at those speeds going IP-TARGET. Otherwise, you'll burn too much gas to get to your target. And in any kind of BFM, if you are above 450knots, your turn circle is measured in miles instead of feet -- and you are going to soak up a fox-2. If someone in DCS going that fast on the deck, maybe there should be some "punishment" but I just laugh when I see people flying single ship and crazy. Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

It doesn't surprise me at all that the viper can hit 1.5 mach level at that altitude and loaded. The issue is, it takes a long time to get that fast -- so it isn't tactically viable to wait until you are that fast (because your commit criteria is probably going to be 80-100nm) and you CAP in the mid-20s. So by the time you commit, get to expected contact range, meld, target/sort and shoot -- you are most likely down to 35-40nm and only mach 1.0. If you wait until you are closer (and faster) to shoot, you are inside MAR for any long-burn threat by the time your missile goes pitbull. If guys are capping at 36K to start with, they are going to have issues with look down capability, not to mention the difficulty of holding formation in that thin air. The eagle, or the Raptor, are true air superiority fighters, because they can get really fast on a commit by the time they hit shoot range, and this give their missiles more kinnematic energy, screwing up the bandits' timelines. Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

A few current viper pilots have said the DCS F-16 is under powered in terms of acceleration, and appears too draggy. I think ED has done a great job modeling some subtleties of the flight model, and you can see that by flying the HARTS maneuvers and seeing how closely the jet matches the real world examples. It has felt a bit underpowered to me though, based on my expectations. As far as getting killed by a viper 25nm away -- that sounds normal. I shoot at 40nm and go out at 25. Dances Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

My friends and I are having a problem with the mod, in that it cuts out our ability to use Simple Radio Standalone (SRS). Both programs end up listed in the export.lua file -- I'm assuming that it's a syntax issue. Has anyone gotten both SRS and the moving map to work in multiplayer? Cheers, Dances

John, I've been lucky enough to go out and do some formation flying in real life with Toby. He's getting a lot of good warbird time too. It took me back to memories of UPT as well. It's neat that we have this simulator to act as a treadmill for the mind. It keeps my hand flying sharp too, which often fades with most airline guys. It's also neat to use it as a training aid for sight pictures before we meet up for real world flying. I think you've got a lot of good years of simming ahead of you. My dad is an 88 year old F-86 and F-100 guy, and he had learned to employ the DCS F-16 in VR with modern tactics -- a military pilot's mind is an agile thing as long as we keep using it. Anyway, thanks to all for the Viper techniques here. I suspect we will have a lot more to learn as we get more DED pages and weapons. Two pieces of advice that i will give -- if your MFDs act up on you, you can't get certain pages to come up, or the HARM doesn't want to target anything -- just reset the MMC switch at your right hip by turning it off and on. That clears most problems we've had interacting with the MFDs. Second, if flying in Multiplayer and the guy in your flight isn't displayed on your HSD datalink in blue -- go into the DED page for Datalink (list + enter I think), and turn off the GPS time sync. Don't enter a new time, as that will take you off the net -- but if you both turn off your GPS time sync, it fixes problems with own flight datalink display. This is most common on missions/servers with a lot of people. It would seem that the datalink can only populate 30 contacts, and it pushes out your own flight at some point. Press! Dances Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

John, welcome to DCS! We did some stuff together a while back with Toby and the milviz 38. You're going to like DCS. Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

Rudy, nice work putting together these lessons, nice to see another tanker guy enjoying the viper. And thanks to Fred for the additional information. Always enjoy when people have meaningful and thoughtful contributions. I've been flying the dcs F-16 since it came out with a few ex F-4 guys, and we have a ball. There are always some quirks, some things broken, and some things we wish were more fleshed out -- but it's an incredible simulator for home desktop use -- better than any desktop trainer I used in the USAF. Anyway, thanks for contributing to the tribal knowledge. Fred -- thanks for those approach fix fuel numbers. Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

The HARM works really well to supress a radar, as in making the enemy think twice about turning on their equipment. If you can kill EW radars, then it forces the enemy to use targeting radars to find stuff, thus exposing them to detection by HARM shooters. What is really needed is a standalone EW platform, or a specialized pod like the Viper's HTS which can generate rough coordinates for where the threat is. Then those coordinates can be passed to someone with a good air to ground radar, or a TGP. They can then locate the threat and put a glide bomb onto it, which will kill the vehicle and take that threat out of the war. I know that's more about tactics than the perceived lack of lethality from the HARM... But it's just a reminder that these systems are meant to be used in combination and coordination. I too have shot several HARMs in DCS at SA-8s and SA-6s in POS and HAS mode, only to have them hit and cause very little damage, or near miss.... But you just have to keep shooting HARMs for the duration that your strikers are in the MEZ. Last night we ran a 4 ship in a SEAD CAP shooting POS mode HARMs at a single SA-6 site to cover our strikers for the few minutes they were in the MEZ. The SEAD CAP ended up shooting 8 HARMs (spaced out for a HARM impact every minute) at the single SA-6. We don't know if we killed it, but it didn't bother the strikers -- mission accomplished. We also flowed 2 vipers behind the strikers in HAS mode, filtered for any mobile SAM threats.... 4 HARM shots against 2 SA-8s. We killed one, and not the other -- but we may have damaged it enough to force the radar down -- again, no launches, so mission accomplished. If we had a DEAD flight (and coordinates), we would have sent them in to actually kill the radar vehicles. So again..... 1. This will all be better when we have tools to generate coordinates based on the emissions of threat radars, and 2. SEAD/DEAD is a large coordinated effort. Guys trying to take down SA-11s with 4 HARMs are going to be disappointed. Real world, an SA-11 attack would be the whole mission for a squadron on that go, using tactics that play to the weaknesses of that system. Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

I'm sure ED is referencing real world data that shows a HARM will not usually kill the radar's vehicle, but just damage/destroy the antenna. Detonating above and in front of the vehicle sounds right to me too, based on some conversations with HARM shooters. Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

I've shot a lot of 120Cs since the last update, and have been most satisfied with their kinnematics, guidance, and overall Pk. Pk is better than .8 against bandits that don't kinnematically defeat the missile. Remember, the enemy gets a vote, and you should be using these missiles to present the enemy a choice: they enter the area you are defending and probably die, or they stay out of the area you are defending and live. If your goal is to just shoot down bandits, you will be disappointed. Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

Hi, from what a SME said, it does indeed loft. It should loft via its own logic anytime it is shooting on a point. The "loft cue" refers to an assisted loft (like pitching up before shooting an AMRAAM) and is different from the HARM's own loft logic. Good question though, my virtual squadron wondered the same thing. Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

A good profile to loft is 520 knots, 500 feet, and 3.5nm from the target start a 5G pull. Have fun. Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

You guys all start with a cold jet? I'm always hot started on the ramp, ready to taxi. Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk