RustBelt

Covering the photocell is mandatory with the Sidewinder. You can’t fly with fingertip precision with that stupid thing turning off the motors.

Any particular tests FFB users can do to give you better info?

Nobody knows, it's been a years long conundrum of something that's probably a single value in some esoteric lua file. Mine is always dim except for external views. So it's some whatsits to do with how it does the cockpit.

Don't forget, that's AMRAAM shooting from the 1970's which was a much bigger deal, in a much bigger missile only one plane could use.

And how fast are you going to make 330 KIAS at 90,000 feet? While performing a zoom CLIMB?

When it comes to a warthog, especially when it doesn’t have an extension, I have to disagree with Iron Mike. 15 years ago when it came out it was a very good stick, but it’s now a very stiff, very short throw with a less than stellar resolution. Stock it makes over correction and Pilot Induced Oscillation on a non-fly by wire plane like the Tomcat way too easy. You may as well be flying with a PS4 controller stick. A non-combat flight sim maker had a video about the how and the why of curves and why they apply. I’d post it but rules. Personally I run a Sidewinder FFB2 with an extension and a custom grip, so for me I don’t use a curve on the tomcat but that’s only because the stick is moving the same distance as the “actual” stick being modeled. When I fly the F-16 with my warthog side stick, I put in a good amount of curve or it’s practically unflyable.

Because they gave up on it.

So there’s a chance of a full “THUMP, BANG” failure on the Iranian cats hopefully!

Go to Wags to ask about new features and plans, go to Nineline or BigNewy to get on the ground answers. Especially when it comes to 3rd party.

You ever have one of those bosses that just says whatever without looking into something first?

Be less conservative with the curves. The warthog has a teeny throw compared to the stick in the Tomcat. And what doesn’t LOOK like much compared to the horizon is enough for a beast like the F-14 to make 1-2000 FPM.

But, in the real world, no two planes ever performed exactly to the book either. Although being clear on the margin of acceptable deviation would also make it easier to discuss any results realistically.

What does the NATOPS say about windmilling an engine? More likely from my experience is getting the engine spinning again isn’t modeled, or is as hard as the NATOPS says it is. What’s your memory Items for dual engine failure in the Tomcat? Aside from RIDE ROCKET CHAIR?

Yes although just direct drive or a simple gear train can work. You can either use a motor with a hall sensor, or a separate hall sensor or potentiometer that feeds back to the motor control. If you look at the Authentikit builds you can basically replace the damper with an output gear connected to a small stepper motor. If you’re real slick with driver code you can even get the stepper to act like a damper when you’re not in auto throttle. Heck depending on how heavy your throw is, you could just use one of those hella big servos they use in giant R/C planes. There’s off the shelf servo driver boards for both Arduino and Pi. And servos work PWM not analog so that saves overhead.

That's because the DLC comes out well before engaging ACLS. On case 1 it's when you're downwind on the pattern after the break.

Any Normal Pot will have more than enough travel for the wing sweep. So any basic 10K pot. There is 100% a way to have it behave EXACTLY like the real thing, but that's going to involve having it be driven by a motor running off DCS BIOS. And for easy packaging using a Hall sensor to see rotation angle of the handle. You can make the motor cutout when you lift the lever. But as for positive re-engagement, you're basically going to be building the exact mechanism. Or put up with it just being driven back to it's set position when you push it back down and the motor cuts back in.

If you can't get the core spinning, you don't restart them. No battery, no APU. You just pulled a Pinnacle Airlines 3701. Core lock. Plus no battery means no Igniters, so even getting lucky and getting the engine windmilling you're still not likely to get light off. Don't let both engines die.

You mean Open OUTPUT. Just enumerating all the sim variables is not "Open Source"

A lot of what’s going wrong is all the FFB is being run on 20 year old hardware that’s tired. Or stuff that has to talk to DirectInput through an interpreter because it’s enterprise level equipment playing down to old DirectX FFB. The fact that it works at all is still a small miracle given the circumstances.

Another thing to consider is when not in Air-quake, making an enemy go cold and bug out is as much a success as a kill. The primary goal as the plane and weapon system is actually designed is denial not necessarily burning metal. Them NOT getting a kill or a shack is just as good an outcome as them in a crater.

Oscillation usually means the PID feedback isn’t set correctly. Or is too far down the hierarchy of the control to respond in time.

I mean, for the Pentagon in the 80’s only 10 years behind is lightning fast.

Get some of that super bitter anti-chewing goo and hose your pedals. I have a couple cats who are also big into treating USB cables like licorice ropes. They lose interest real fast once that stuff hits their lips. Unknowingly got some on my hands once, imagine the most hipstery triple IPA made by a brewer who didn’t understand Magnum and Apollo wern't meant to be fermenter dry hopped. But they had a whole bushel of them so….yea. And it lingers. works a charm.

Translation, go single target track and stop trying to single handedly win the war with one fighter and no data link.

So basically exactly how they’re supposed to be used? I mean, does the Navy even have data about using the Phoenix in Air Quake engagements? I know Iran popped of quite a few of them in anger, but really what are the REAL WORD capabilities of this giant Chevy Suburban of a missile? It Obviously has limitations beyond just its size or they wouldn't have rushed to replace it with the Slammers before the tomcat even retired. Is most pf the “problems” just user error because unlike a real Tomcat crew, players just don’t have the institutional knowledge to deploy this chonky-boy properly?