fjacobsen

I very much think Your right in Your theory. I think the amount of negative G's depend on diveangle and airspeed. When the mode selector is set to "Bomb" the sight is depressed and restricted to 10° down. During the dive gravity will cause the sight to stay and 10° depression angle, but at the instant when the decreasing gravity overcomes the 10° depression due to the spiraling diver (slowly constant increase in negative G's due to "bunching") the bomb(s) will be released. Thats then the point where the reticle will start to move from 10° towards 0°. Not in the text that there are both an airspeed below and a static (Altitude) below. So if the altitude isn´t right, then the solution might also not be right to trigger the bomb release. It´s still a somewhat vague theory until someone can explain it deeper or better simpler. FinnJ

The full text can be found here: http://www.avialogs.com/viewer/avialogs-documentviewer.php?id=15729 Look on page 635-670 (Actual page numbers in the lower right corner) for more indepth description of the A-4 sight. On page 640 there is a schematic that explains which inputs are used for the various sight modes. The above text can be found on page 664. For auto bomb release, the following can be read: Used inputs: Airspeed Bomb target windscale These two are fed into the: Bombing accelerometer Which again feds into the: Elevation gyro Which again feds it´s signal into the: Elevation amplifier The elevation amplifier controls the sight reticles up/down movement as well as sending a signal to the differential relay, which again triggers bomb release and switches of the reticle. But I still find it hard to gather how these parameters interact inorder to give a bomb release signal. FinnJ

I think it´s more the randomness of damage thats the problem, though I´m still not sure that there is a problem. In some cases I have shot down P-51D's with a single or 2 shots from the Mk108. In other cases I expended all my Mk108 munition with some hits, but seeing the P-51 fly away at high speed only trailing some fuel or coolingfluid. I think its too weak, but on the otherside I don´t want a laserzapper. FinnJ

While You perfectly might be right, even with a dive angle of 30° the error between the depressed sight towards sealevel and the target ontop of a mountain is not that great and with a building as big as the one used as target, it´s hard to gauge. Note that on the A-10C target altitude related to CCIP or CCRP, as well as measuring slantrange without the use of the laser ranging do matter. But maybe a somewhat simpler approach has been mad for the F-86F and Mig-21. FinnJ

As said by the other guys here.... Practise, practice, practice. Don´t jerk on the stick :smilewink: and don´t throw the collective back and forth. Smooth but determined moves on all controls and learning to anticipate what the helicopter is about to do next is the key. Reaction to any action must be practised until You do it without having to think, cause often that comes too late. But once mastered it will be a very satisfying feeling. Don´t think that hardcore heli simmers don´t crash - they do it constantly too when practising. Thats the positive side of flying a simulator. FinnJ

Note that target altitude is not known by the A-4 sight. When pointing the pipper on the target it´s actually not pointed at the target, but at the point where the bomb theoretically would hit at sealevel. The target is simply inbetween the point in the air and the theoritical pojnt where the bomb hits at sealevel. With a dive angle of 30° (as used in the video shown above by Holbeach) the error between the bomb flightpath towards this theoretical point at selavel and the target on top of that mountain/hill is minor and appr. off by maybe 200 ft max. Maybe this PDF tells more about the sight: http://afhistoricalfoundation.org/images/awards/The_A-1C%28M%29_Gunsight_Air-Power-History_Best-Article-2009.pdf And here even more technical stuff: http://www.google.dk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=12&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCQQFjABOAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dtic.mil%2Fcgi-bin%2FGetTRDoc%3FAD%3DAD0492300&ei=ySqoVJObEIKrOpSxgJgD&usg=AFQjCNF4VgIM_JqknNj6iPGLo__7xjl0gw&sig2=0uregPuXMUWl9KWZqrBn6Q Look at chapter 6. Basicly both documents tell about the difficulties of proper dive bombing with the Gyro sight(s). I think the F-86F went into a hole between WW2 like fixed sights, where bombing targets was a matter of pilot experience guessing the proper tie of release and the pray for a good hit, and later more modern fighters with alot more computing power and sensors to calculate bomb impact point, like used for CCIP and CCRP bombing. Maybe one can even say that bombing accuracy dropped when faster jetfighters arrived after WW2 and until more advanced firecontrol systems where developed, and that is exactly what we experience here with the DCS F-86F. FinnJ

Altitude seems also to be a big player. Depending on dive angle, You MUST have a steady aim, sight uncaged electrically and pressing the release button before reaching an altitude which is dependent on dive angle. Here are very rough estimates: 70° => 7500 ft 50° => 5000 ft 30° => 3500 ft To be safe, better be established 500-1000 ft before reaching those altitudes. Releasing the elec. uncage button after passing through those altitudes and the release parameters does not fit. But also airspeed is a big player. Not 100% sure about this, but I guess the airspeeds noted for manual pip divebombing are valid i.e: Dives from 10.000 ft => entry= 305 knots Dives from 15.000 ft => entry= 288 knots Dives from 20.000 ft => entry= 270 knots I also tested having radar ranging active or not - as told by Holbeach, this is no requirement. Bombs will drop if starting altitude, Entry airspeed and dive angle is right and when Your fully established before reaching those altitudes. This said, accuracy is not high. I have a document from some reallife bomb test runs (Posted somewhere for some time ago in these forums), and accuracy was really not great, regardless if a Fixed sight, Manual pip or Auto release was used the average result was that only 50% of the bombs dropped hit within 200 feet from the mean impact point, which again where at best 150 ft short and 50 ft lateral displaced from the target, with the worst results up to 1000 ft short and lateral 200 ft displaced. So if You consider being a bad shot, this is not just the man, but also the machine. In one of the test runs where 47 bombs where dropped, only one bomb would have been considered close enough to have been able to hit and destroy a Tank sized target. What we really need is a more comprehensive manual with tables showing diveangles, airspeed and altitudes. The Mi-8 Manual (still WIP) actually do a good job for the weapons used for the Mi-8, like weapon type, airspeed, launch distance and sight depression angle. FinnJ

Caging unreliable for bombing ....and there in lays the reasin why so many resources where used on developing laser guided bombs and also why clusterbimbs has been so popular. Delivering dumb bombs accurately has always benen an issue. With modern fighterbombrrs and rheir inertial navigation systems, accelerometers and weapondelivery computers this has been improved greatly, but it is still not very accurate. The problem I see in DCS is that normal highexplosive bombs and rockets do not cause enough damage. A near miss shiuld still cause damage on soft vehicles. Finnj

I would really like an indepth description on Holbeach's procedures too, since I simply can´t find a reliable way of doing it !! FinnJ

Seemingly not so in the DCS Belsim F-86F.... As flagrum told, the electrical cage button must be held until radar ranging starts in the dive towards the target. But not only that - the radar range must also be valid before releasing the electrical cage button. From radar ranging starts and until a valid range is measured, it will take approximately 1 second. My procedure: Fly level at 20.000 Select "Bomb" on the "Rocket, Gun, Bomb" selector Select the number of boms to release (Left, Right; All) Select "Auto release" Manoeuvre so thet that target will be either left or right perpendular to You at a distance that will give a dive angle of 40-50° Mechanical uncage the A-4 sight Electrical cage the A-4 sight (Hold the cage button untill...) When the target is almost perpendular, roll into the target Place the pipper on the target Once radar ranging starts - wait until the range indicator settles, this will take appr. 1 sec (it will increase and then stop, but still jump up and down - disregard the jumping) Release the electrical cage button Press the weapons release button Keep the pipper on the target At some point the pipper will go off and on again and the bomb(s) are released. EDIT **** This worked 9/10 times in one session. The next session (Sim start) it only worked a very few times. ******** FinnJ

It´s a while (Updates) since I flew the F-86F. I remember that in the start manual ranging of the A-4 sight worked. But after the last updates I cannot get it to work, neither with key bindings or controller axis'. Does anyone know if it has become inop, or if someting else needs to be done in the sim to get it working ? FinnJ

Here is the fix for it: http://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=2267410&postcount=9 Note that there are entries for Low, Medium and High that needs to be reverted to 0.2 instead of 0.02. Not sure why the devs makes such changes. FinnJ

Still not fixed for the official 1.2.14 update. Same with the wings breaking at 4g + FinnJ

Afte 1.2.14 update I have heavy flicjering of the runway texture when looking to the sides and back as if the underlaying ground flickers up on top of the runway texture. FinnJ.

It´s still beta and the gunpods has not been added yet, so I think we will see some weapon updates. FinnJ

Those values are not number of hits, but rather hitpoints. Using Tacview gives a much better overview of actual hits. FinnJ

This... ..and the fact that in the sim we don´t feel the lateral movements or pitching moments, but simply relies on visual and audible inputs. The visual side even via tunnelvision regardless of Your monitor size. So yes- I think it´s harder in the sim as in reallife, but without being unrealistic. FinnJ

I made some dogfights against an AI P-51, only firing the 108. Hitting the oponent is harder in DCS than in IL-2 BOS for certain. But in one fight Tacview reported 3 hits. Looking closely to the Tacview replay, the P-51 started to disintegrate allready after the second hit. In another fight I had a single hit in the P-51's wingroot, which took apart the entire wing. On other occasions I had serveral hits, like in the wingtips and rear fuselage with little effect apart from smoke and fuel trails. I think that generally the effects of the 108 is Ok, but the DM modelling of the AI is a bit off when hit at certain parts. The question is how the 108 and other large caliber cannons actually performed in real life. Where they really one-hit one-kill weapons ? I doubt that's the case, so until further I regard the 108 as sufficient modelled on the BF-109 K4. I have greater doubts on the correct modelling of the smaller caliber guns, like the .50 on the DCS P-51D and guns on the DCS FW-190 D9 and BF-109 K4. The biggest gripe I have with DCS is that damage doesn´t seem to affect the performance of the damaged AI aircrafts. FinnJ

So does the cargo camera actually work in the Mi-8 now ? Pressing Rshift+Rctrl+P does nothing on my system. FinnJ

I needed to check the checkbox - otherwise all instruments where dead. Finnj

Thanks for Your feedback... As You can se in my video above, I did that and succeeded. What makes the difference for me is to keep power up slightly. FinnJ

Seems I have improved :thumbup:... Edit *** The place where I tell "Stick slightly aft and to the left" should have been: "Stick slightly aft and to the right". FinnJ

You must switch to manual prop pitch mode via the switch beneath the throttle quadrant. It´s hard to see, but look closely. FinnJ

Thx for the help..... What is the best reaction to lateral movements ? Rudder input or differential braking ? FinnJ

Can someone please enlighten me how to land the BF-109 without tilting left or right. Approach and touchdown goes well. But quickly during the rollout the aircraft suddently tilts left or right, dipping the wings into the ground. Tailwheel is locked, Flaps fully down. Stick fully back once on the ground. Track: Bf109_Ldg.trk FinnJ