Raisuli

Learn to use the mission editor. Stack targets up somewhere close to your starting point; even the flying kind. Blow up and shoot down to your heart's content.

Thanks, BN! Just shut the machine down (travel day), but adjusting the brakes is on my short list; even after calibration they've been a little wonky. I'll try again this weekend, but have very little doubt that's the problem.

This. Kind of. It was one of the cases where rocking back and forth on the wire finally got it to disengage, but that doesn't mean I'm not doing something else dumb. Still not completely sure I wasn't on the brakes, which is dumb, and I know I had anti-skid on because I forgot to turn it off. Apologies for the long-ish track. I just moved the jet back a few thousand paces of a Roman Legion to get proper coms in. As for the flying, at no point have I ever said I don't suck, and this met that requirement more than most. Kind of distracted. 2024.04.16 Stuck wire.trk

I've seen it. Usually happens on a hard landing; next time I'll try to get a track.

Not the worst idea in the world, but it really doesn't take long to learn how to place an item on the carrier, link it, then copy/paste and change as needed. Then whatever it is you're doing isn't blocked by that random static object in the way. No development skills needed, just some well targeted point and click. This. Though I have to admit I'd really like to have models for some of those static items that already populate airfields because I like to set those up as well. That and when I put a person on a hanger I mean for the person to be IN the hanger with the aircraft they've already fixed. Still remember aircraft parked on top of shelters...now I still have to move the aircraft out if I want to pretend someone (probably Navy because the air force doesn't have ground crews...no wonder they struggle) works on it.

Don't believe it. You could replace the 'standard' drive with an SSD. I've done that (or had it done by the guys) a few hundred times. I still have a drive cloner for things like that, and we have three more at work.

There's a (free for your purpose) tool called Macrium Reflect that will handle the mirroring, and even has instructions to get that done. If you can hook the new drive up via USB that will work, I think. Once that's done it's time to get out the number two Phillips and crack open cases. But it might be worth cracking the case early in the process. You might have more drive bays than you realize in there, and with a little wire and a few screws may be able to just add another drive. Depending on the computer the wires might already be there. Then again if you're using one of the mini desktops...maybe not. Not enough data to get specific here. For all I know you're using a laptop and all of this changes.

SSD drive slot? Any drive slot is SSD if you put an SSD rather than a spinny disk in it. The bus really doesn't care if the data comes from a chip or off a flying head. The choke point with an external drive is the data path, which is why it's not recommended. I have to ask if there's a reason not to mirror your existing drive onto a larger SSD and replace it wholesale if space is really a concern? Yes, you need to grow the volume once it's replaced, but the system will never know you changed the hardware (and I did exactly this a few months ago).

Drat. I was hoping $myPetIssue was already fixed and ready to go, but you held it back for the sub-patch after enough people slipped a bit of cat nip to You Know Who... Awesome effort; thanks for all the hard work! Everything moving in the right direction at the speed of software; that makes this a good day!

I made a mission last night that uses a static carrier (as in not moving static) standing in for FCLP. No wind, no nothing so the approach is a little skewed. Got an (OK) Wire 3[BC] during testing after the first touch and go. Need to start calling the ball even if I don't do the approach comms, but more than a little surprised that I got a grade, and it was not a "GTF off my boat", which is what I normally get on a moving carrier.

No worries, glad it helps. After two or three laps I was doing pretty good, and got the thing down fairly smoothly once I started to take the low road. Not sure why the marker beacon was going off, but that's a problem for later.

I should charge by the gate. See if this works for you. Don't get lost in those green interchanges, though... Pattern Training vR0.3.miz

I was all primed to make these 'real' missions, then I realized how hard ED makes real missions. I suppose I could just give instructions and let people flounder, but I have to load DCS_BIOS to figure out what the cockpit parameters are? All these lovely mission editing tools that we can't really use? Even if you figure one air fame out consistency doesn't exist...and based on anecdotal comments from the poor guys who do this for real the next update breaks something anyway. Then they wonder why the learning curve content doesn't exist. If we had the tools it would already be done. In any event, if all you want is an oval over the field that's pretty easy. I was going to tackle an F-16 ILS approach at some point, but I'm also doing operations manuals and then life and some other hobbies get in the way and all that...be prepared for divergent paths. They're easy once you realize what's going on.

If the parking spot you put them on doesn't have the right settings the ME will find a spot...somewhere. It's a lot more common to run into that with large aircraft than something as small as a fighter, but I suspect the same rules apply. On the other hand that generally happens in the ME and not just when the mission runs, so this might be something else. As Diego999 said if you don't want them to actually do anything, and that includes dying, make them static. If you want to blow them up make them uncontrolled AI. The damage models are different, or at least that's been my experience.

Now why didn't I think of that? This will solve the symptom, if not the problem, and that's enough for now. Thanks!!

I haven't been able to find a helper gate off or this wouldn't come up. Wouldn't even need flags!

To be a real mission I need to add a bunch of stuff...like actual instructions. Haven't decided if there's enough need for that yet; if I'm only doing them for myself I already know <edit> Yeah, okay, got the script roughed out, now I need to take a training mission apart to see how all that works. I've been flying the carrier pattern all morning and I suck a lot less; remains to be seen how much that will translate to the carrier. Of course all this is off-topic for the F-16; should do some more work on that as well, but I did forget to turn my F-16 autopilot switches off before doing the chase mission, and that always makes flying interesting... <edit>

Bit of feature creep... Took the A-4 out of this version; not everyone has it. Only the F-18 for the carrier break because you'll hurt that dainty undercarriage in an F-16. Don't switch slots; there's no way to turn gates off once they're on, so you'll end up with serious confusion. Quit out and restart if you want to change planes (unless going from pattern work to chase work, where the gates are no factor, or vice versa the first time. You'll get it) For the carrier there's one set of gates for the initial break that descend into the gates for the touch and go. It's only mildly confusing. There are three close together on the runway; the first is the ramp, the second is the three wire, the third is the end of the deck. Fly through the first and third, touch down in front of the second. You'll want to be at mil power before the wheels stop smoking. There's also a couple 'chase planes'. B1B (everyone has it) flies around for 40 minutes; the chase planes are there to practice formations. Take off close, keep up, try to maintain a stable position. There are no cues the lead Bone is going to turn other than the lead Bone turning. A bit like A2AR, where the tanker pilots maneuver around just to be spiteful. Just remember if you have wake turbulence set up that bomber will flip you like a cheap burger, especially if you're in close and slow...like formation landings. And watch your fuel. I didn't give you any extra... Pattern Training vR0.2.miz

Doing really basic flight instruction missions, and I don't really want a separate mission for every aircraft so I overlap them. I can turn helper gates on for the selected unit, but then if I switch slots to try the same 'lesson' in a different aircraft I get overlapping gates. It'd be really nice to turn gates on for the active group and turn the gates off for the inactive groups.

I just finished the carrier version. Holy crap I suck! Start 3 nm away and to starboard of the airfield for the overhead break, roll into downwind, roll into the groove, bolter pattern and original approach are on the same downwind, but vertically offset slightly at first which is a little confusing if you don't know what or why. Three gates very close together on the runway...you better be flying through the first, your wheels should hit at the second, and you better fly through the third...makes it pretty clear how short those distances are! I need to tweak a few things and some instructions might help. Also added an F-18 and F-5 to the basic mission I already uploaded and that needs to be tested, but this is turning out better than I hoped.

Oh. You mean like I used the delete key to get rid of a waypoint I didn't need (twice) and blew up twenty or thirty minutes of fiddling to get my gates perfect both times? The good news is I'm a certified former sailor and am allowed to use language like that, but 'undo' would have been good for my blood pressure, not to mention my self image.

Remember when I said I work on consistency? There's nothing like a bunch of green gates to tell you how inconsistent you are. Leave your gear down or blast off and enter this from an overhead break, which ever you prefer. Tested this in an F-5E and an F-16C, but no promises. Downwind is 1.2nmi from baseline, which oddly enough is what you shoot for in an F-18 to land on a carrier, and ~1500' AGL. Currently set for an F-16 (but you can edit the mission to make it anything you want), Caucuses because everyone has that, Maykop because it's flat, left because...well, partly because I fly the F-18 a lot, partly because I used to use the road as a reference, partly just because. I will almost certainly make a carrier simulator version of this, but need to do the math to figure out the proper grove length for a stationary runway and the altitudes come down quite a bit. Pattern Training vR0.1.miz

Depends. Is your nose dropping because your speed is too low? Bank angle too high? Trim set wrong? Nothing about this is an isolated system. I typically bring -16s around the base leg to final too fast to make nose control easier, then back off to landing speed on final. Is that 'right'? No idea. Works for me, though, especially since the boards are already out. I have never been ordered to the ops shed or given a number to call on landing, even after flying down the Las Vegas strip at mach 1.3. I'm not practicing for a job with the air national guard, so until I get better information or more skill I stick to 'works for me'. You don't even want to know what the LSOs have to say about my chronic overshoots, but I generally end up on the boat.

So, if you really want to improve do patterns in your F-16 (I used Incirlik for this). Take off, leave your wheels down, turn over <that> building. Maintain 1500 feet AGL (set your TACAN, course, and altimeter before takeoff). Fly 1500' reciprocal until you get to <that> TV tower. If there's nothing there put a static object on the ground where you want to make your base turn. Turn final <there>. Lots of stuff on the ground to use as references; streets, fields, buildings, whatever you put there yourself as cues. Maintain level turns and constant altitude. Use the same climb and descent rates. BUT...only do one thing at a time. Today I focus on turning at specific points and don't loose sleep if I wobble a little. Once I can nail those turn points, then I think about altitude control, then I worry about speed control. You get the idea. I've spent hours doing touch and goes. Remember in (non-Navy) aircraft the secret to landing is not to land. Once your good at it switch direction. If you've done left patterns switch to right. I should make a mission for this. Gates are a crutch, but they'll at least get you going the right direction.

If I recall correctly 4 PSI at 100% O2 is enough partial pressure to get the job done. Those 'space suits' run just that; at much more than 4 movement becomes too difficult. <edit> Worth noting at sea level the PP of O2 is about 3 PSI; they add one because suits are hard work... </edit> If you want hypoxia set up an axis on the F/A-18 OBOGS, set it to maximum (I tested a 1-1024 and validated it was at 1024) and you'll die on the ground. Wags said this is working as expected, which does explain why the Navy is chronically short on pilots.