Raisuli

Yes. I'm not sure how I would target the things without the TGP, there's so little contrast in the image, even on narrow fov. I'm half wondering if it would be better to take a step back and try them without the TGP.

I'm not very bright...so I did. And I did. Just created a new mission just for MAVs; on an Il-76 sized target the IR mavs blink in and out of locked at about the seizure rate. If you're quick you can get one off. Sometimes two. I never realized that's what it was doing (blinking in and out of lock). Then there's the problem of two IL-76s parked next to each other. Select one with the TGP, get a mav off (in the second between lock and search), fly by, turn around, select the second with the TGP, hand off to the mav, manage to get it launched, and it hits the remains of the first one. *sigh* Still working at it, but I'm tempted to switch to laser guided. IR and I aren't getting along well today.

Ah HAH! It's always the broken line*, isn't it? I should have known! Is there a graceful way to lock up the MAV from the TGP? Is it as simple as pushing the button with SOI on the Mav? Thanks! (Broken Line is a memorial in Tallinn. My wife knew people on that ferry...)

I'm really struggling with these. If it's a bug then great; I'll move on. Only a dozen or so other systems to develop proficiency on, but I've made them work in the past and can't seem to get consistent results. I've seen posts where they work, and where people also struggle, but can't find a conclusive line. MA->ARM A/G->Selected Handed off from the TGP, cursors line up. In range. Ready to rain destruction on the unwashed heathens manning the gun (Air Force Aggressors have no Miranda rights). MavF says no...

The only other way to stop that ballooning that I've found effective is to slow down until alpha is over 8, then hit the gear and flaps. GB has said the RealThing doesn't have this problem (which is why I said he flew a fake aircraft), so this is a DCS artifact. I typically do this with the airbrake on, but it's not required. If you're slow enough for ~8 AOA clean the aircraft won't balloon on you...as long as you're gentle with the throttle coming into on-speed. If you hit flaps at 250 you get your astronaut wings.

I have everything you can get other than four or five campaigns. 205GB on disk for the game folder.

Personally I prefer one less layer between me and DCS and don't use any 3rd party software. My rig has SPDT and SP3T switches for all the inputs...that aren't 10 or 12 position rotary, analog, or encoder, at least. Yes, more pins on the board; I2C or more boards will fix that. That doesn't mean 3rd party software is bad; it's a trade off. If you're just starting out you need to decide for yourself which way is better for you and your situation.

I love the way they crossed out the regular price and put the same price above it. Awesome savings! $800 for the full set $564 for the throttle (with grip, thank you) $560 for the stick base (with stick) $1,124 if you buy the parts vs $800 is a 40% markup. Cheaper to buy the whole set and sell the stick (if you can) on ebay. I get they want people to buy the whole thing since they sunk the development costs, but thats too much premium for me. My TM throttle gets the job done for that kind of markup on the parts.

2. Your landing gear could care less how low you go, but it does care how fast you are. It sounds like the stall warning horn to me.

ACM and taxi. Otherwise feet off the pedals. Aye!

The planes GB flew were fake, these are real. Or something like that.

Working on the second iteration of my simpit, I'd build it around the WinWing throttle rather than TM if it was available.

I have to take my feet off them when utterly failing to successfully hook up to a tanker, but use them all the time if I need to get my nose pointed in a different direction quickly, or suddenly need to bleed speed and the airbrake isn't enough. It's probably possible to live without them for most things, assuming you come up with a nosewheel tiller of a different flavor.

HSI to 10 miles, CRS to BRC, your left wingtip should touch the CRS line on the HSI. It's not super precise, but it will get you close enough that a 27-30 degree bank will put you close, and you can tweak that as you make the turn. ...says the guy who can put his aircraft on the deck, either flight or hanger, almost every time, but I haven't run this mission yet. Still working on that final turn and approach in the groove...and I got that gouge from Jabbers. Can't take any credit.

I'd love to get a set of centerless cosmosim cams...when Virple can get them in stock :) Shipping is a nightmare as well...

I went from no curve to y sat 70 and 21 curve on roll and pitch. Made almost as much difference holding a (relatively) stable hover as switching from a WH stick to a Virple Warbird with light springs and light center (I do fly fast movers more than egg beaters). I say relatively; I wouldn't want to stand next to me loading a stretcher at a hover, even with one skid on the ground. Something I've done for real with a much, much, much (much) better pilot in the right hand seat. Some day I'll be good enough to stand next to my own helo. In the mean time I'm getting landings down to a CEP of about 5 meters, which is also a dramatic improvement.

The BuNo is how aircraft are tracked. There's all kinds of paperwork associated with maintenance, inspections, hours flown. Each airframe has a unique BuNo. Bit like the VIN on your car, but the records are probably a whole lot better unless you're a completely anal A&P like a buddy of mine (who flies for Southwest) and keeps car records like he keeps aircraft records. Sprinkler system records. Furnace maintenance records. He's amazing.

Social Security number of the aircraft you're sitting in.

I use teensy boards, personally, but there's a bunch of ways to do that. My first question is "how many switches" and second is how much you like writing light code, because teensy/arduino need 'sketches', which is a little code, to work. I can give you the basics and you can go from there. Apparently there are some that just work, but they're a little more expensive. Those dual pole devices are 2 switches, by the way, so a single device might count as more than one switch. A 12 position rotary is 12 switches. e-bay. Caveat emptor. I've bought switches from e-bay; they're in my junk switch drawer, but that doesn't mean they're all junk. I'm going to steal that link above, just to see what Deadman sees, in fact. Just be aware; I bought all several hundred of mine from Mouser; mostly NKK. Expensive in total (I try not to add it all up) but I've had zero problems with any of them. Just started initial work on my Mk. 2 SimPit; going to be a blast to design and build.

A "Left Right" SPDT momentary switch is an "Up Down" switch mounted sideways. There's a million (give or take a few hundred thousand) places to buy them, depending on how much you want to spend, but most of them come from Japan, Taiwan, or China if you don't want to spend in excess of 100 euros each for the sealed, insane duty, 'real thing'. 3mm plate will be fine, need 1 and possibly 1.5 holes. 1 big one for the barrel (depends on the switch) and possibly a second half way through the plate for the alignment washer. If you don't want to use the washer you can flip it over, but torque the switch down so it doesn't rotate. If none of that made sense I'll start over. You need SPDT (on)-off-(on).

The AI is all knowing. Heck, they can smell an IR missile launch from ten miles away, knows your exact position anywhere in the universe, and even if it's in an I-16 it can can out run, out climb, and out turn an F-16. It really doesn't matter if you quit DCS and start flying in 'A Simulator that Cannot Be Named', it will suddenly appear and smite you. Think Yul Brynner in Westworld... Ok, maybe not quite that bad, but pretty close. As for making your own missions, set your enemy aircraft to attack/intercept your aircraft at WP0. Or, just copy the training mission to your missions folder and edit it. That's how I got started figuring out the mission editor. The camera view advice is gold. Make sure it sees you in the center of the camera or you're going to get into trouble somewhere.

Yes, and half of it is learning to keep my head steady. Sure, playing with curves is important, as is having your TrackIR in a position to allow full motion, but DCS won't let you go back more than 180 degrees in any direction. But my biggest problem was getting all out of position in my chair; now the zero-point on my trackIR has moved and nothing works right. The smoother you can move your head, and the better you can keep your body alignment, the better it works. Which doesn't stop me from loosing sight and flying donuts in the sky trying to find the guy (gal?) and she is on my six... You might start by flying against an F-14. Easier to spot, and you can work on technique. Go guns only on the bad guys and dial back their skill level. Step one is SA. Step two is maneuvering. Step three is keeping 2 120s and 2 9xs for those days when steps 1 and 2 don't work, and you get frustrated. Credibility is DOWN, kill ratio is UP!

I've seen CVBGs spread over a hundred miles of ocean. We're AW/AS up there deep in the threat axis surrounded by sandbox all on our little grey lonesomes. On a good day the E2s and our own radars will give us enough warning to put a few white birds in the air before we turn into a spectacular display of flaming aluminum and radioactive debris. You have to remember everything in the battle group combined is less important than the carrier, so an SSN or two looking deep, ASW out to 100 miles or so (to give us time to swat the cruise missiles they fire), some AAW assets in close, but with airborne threats there are AAW assets way up the axis as well. The organization of the battle group depends on the threat picture, not some pretty pre-planned formations. All those pictures you see are photo ops. At sea with the exception of one close-in missile platform you're unlikely to see any other BG assets inside the horizon unless they're doing unreps. On westpac I never saw another ship (NOT on the carrier) unless we were doing towex or golfex or playing plane guard or tiger cruise airshows or something like that.

Honestly I'd rather let people who know what they're doing advise you. I know I had a much easier time of it once I turned on the needles (ICLS). Even doing a case I (I don't do much case III yet, though I have a daylight approach set up for practice). On a case III...no idea what that looks like. On a case 1 you (basically) overshoot your base turn and end up pointed down the right runway. One of my big breakthroughs was watching a HUD tape of a real case 1 landing (*cough* hornetvideos *cough*) and realized I was way, way, way too long in a groove. Here's a video of a case 1 I did that didn't suck. Too bad. Is it great? No idea. I'm landing in a vacuum myself. http://xenon135web.s3.amazonaws.com/Images/vs-3%20wire.mp4

<hijack> Why do they sometimes aim for the two wire? That was something I saw somewhere on the Nimitz. </hijack>