Theodore42

Not a big deal, I just opened up my comment with a casual statement so people don't take me too seriously. But it is a statement that doesn't pertain to me under any circumstances so I understand why it triggered you. I opened with it because I've been known to shoot my mouth off :huh: Also, thanks for the proper wall of text reply :D

When you quote me out of context like that I guess I sound pretty stupid. But I think with the context of the rest of my post a normal person would infer my quote to mean "just have fun." But you're right of course. Everything about the F-16's design is speed. As to not duplicate what I said previously I will explain why: The F-16 can sustain a turn as well as or better than anything you're fighting. But when under cornerspeed, which means you are hitting your AoA limit, you're going to be losing a lot more speed. Not a big deal, except that anything modern in the sky is going to be able to pull a higher AoA than you. If a target is on your tail and you're going under corner speed, you've only got 25 AoA to work with and most anything else has more. They out turn you for a kill, even though the F-16 could out sustain-turn anything. So don't go under corner speed or you lose your advantage. If you are on a target's tail under corner speed: he can just rip a crazy high AoA turn and you will never be able to get your nose over him and you'll pass him. So when you're behind someone, think about tactics that keep you fast when your target is trying to go slow.

Ya this bothered me at first as well but after thinking about it... It does give a helpful input for when you're experiencing negative Gs that a pilot would be keenly aware of. Negative Gs are also reported as being very annoying to pilots so an annoying sound is apropro. It also represents the disorientation that you feel. Try hanging upside down and reading your favorite book. How well can you follow it? On the other hand, in my 20s when I was really hardcore about working out, we would do a handstand against a wall and stay there. At first, you are gonna give up at about 30 seconds, but after a few months your body adapts and there was no effect. I could stand on my hands for a half an hour and stopped only because I got board. So I think the effect is somewhat overblown, especially for representing a pilot that would have trained and adapted to negative Gs. I even remember at the first airshow I ever went to (in the '90s) I saw an F-15 demo and this guy did a NEGATIVE High-G turn. So I suspect at the high end the effect is at least a little overblown as well. (The announcer said it was -6Gs but there is no way.) Since this is a WIP I'm going to assume they'll put a milder effect for the - .5G to -1G range, which I still think should be in the game.

imo anything that works in a dogfight is correct :) Also imo: if you are in an F-16 against.... basically anything, going less that corner speed is doom. Even 330-350 kts will put you at a disadvantage against something like a 29 that, at that speed and distance, can easily put his nose over you whenever he wants. F-16 wins by going fast. But as far as ACM goes, I agree with Smoked's analysis. I would just add that the minimum speed should be more like 330kts, not 150! Lower skilled AI will let you go any speed and react to your maneuvers spatially. Good for learning what to do, but not so much how to do it.

If you're attempting a standard AR (30,000ft 310KCAS) then you'll find it MUCH easier after this latest patch. Pretty sure ED corrected some stores drag, as I haven't noticed a difference on my clean configuration but with stores loaded I'm getting a lot more acceleration at high altitudes/speeds which helps AR a LOT!

"Calibrated" just means that the data is interpreted. Calibrated Indicated Airspeed (CIAS) refers to the speed interpreted by a dynamic pressure gauge on an aircraft which may give inaccurate readings due to high AOA or something. "Calibrated" is just "corrected." This is the only form of calibrated airspeed I'm familiar with, so it may just be weird manual verbiage. If I had to guess, what the manual means by "calibrated" is some variation of "speed over the ground." If you have on your radar many targets at many altitudes going many different ways with various winds aloft and wind shear, then reporting the speed through the air (IAS, TAS) isn't going to be as helpful as giving all the targets a speed over the ground. And the data might further be calibrated such that it gives the aircraft speed in a climb what it would be relative to the ground in level flight (So an attacking mig21 10k ft below and 5 mi in front would show up as coming at you at 500kts rather than 200kts over the ground.) As for the altitude thing, I dunno, it has been generally sketchy for me as well.

It might be that the tanker is giving speed over the ground, not the indicated airspeed. As for the altitude, make sure you're using the correct barometric pressure setting. Also I've noticed in dcs the tanker seems to give an altitude about 1000 ft too low. Maybe it rounds 24900ft down to 24k ft or something.

Hi all, I found the manual for the USAF viper solo demo so learned the descriptions and attempt to do them in DCS: I went with the "take" with the most interesting narration rather than the best flying, so..... Anyway, let me know if it was informative.

Ah, ok. I was motivated to reply to the ATT Hold reference because it reminded me of when the autopilot was implemented in an older F-16 simulator. It confused me in the way I described for the longest time until I read about it in the manual, lol. Not sure if everyone gets confused in the same way I do though. And the TGP pod drives me crazy also! EDIT: If you guys are talking about the ATT setting on the EGI knob on the Avionics Power panel then that's just referring to if the EGI fails and you want to manually align the attitude so you can use the ADI and HUD without a functioning EGI.

Check your autopilot switches maybe. They are on the left console near the Master Arm. ATT stands for attitude, so this will only keep your pitch at a constant angle. So if you want to climb or descend at 20 degrees up or down, this will keep you there. Going from memory, HDG is for heading, so it will keep you at a set direction that you can manually input on the HSI, that compass looking thing in front between the pilots knees. There is heading knob that will let you set what direction you want to go. I have no memory of using this feature in DCS so it may not yet be implemented. I'll jump in the game and check (getting on forums before firing up the game) so I'll check back here, but if someone hasn't already answered your question by the time I'm done writing this, then it will be answered by the time I get back to you :D EDIT: Ya it is confusing AF to explain but easy to figure out while just messing around. There are 2 switches that matter for the autopilot, labeled on the left eyebrow console as "MISC" for some reason. They are the two switches located under the master arm switch. The left one is labeled "ROLL" and the right one "PITCH" Instead of explaining everything I'll just tell you what is going to confuse you and you can jump in game armed with your confusion repellent and quickly understand what is going on. The "ATT HOLD" writing in between the two switches is referring to the left "ROLL" switch, not the right "PITCH" switch. Makes no sense? Don't worry, the right "PITCH" switch also has a "ATT HOLD" setting as the bottom selection. If you think the "ATT HOLD" letters between the two switches is referring to the right "PITCH" switch, you will actually have the right "PITCH" switch set to "A/P OFF", which is the opposite of what you're trying to do. If the right "PITCH" switch is set to "A/P OFF" then the setting of the left "ROLL" switch does nothing. Set both switches to "ATT HOLD", which means the left "ROLL" switch is in the middle and the right "PITCH" switch it flipped down. When I tested this I didn't get any uncommanded roll inputs. If you have an asymmetrical loadout it might be different, or it might just be WIP bug, but if you're symmetrical then you should be fine. For completion's sake, when I earlier referred to the "HDG SEL" on the HSI: On the HSI, which is the compass thing on the center console between the pilots legs, there is a knob in the bottom left. Its kinda hard to see. Use the right mouse button to drag the knob around and set your heading on the little notch on the compass. As long as the right "PITCH" switch ISN'T set to "A/P OFF" and the left "ROLL" switch is set to "HDG SEL" then the autopilot will point you whatever direction you manually input into the HSI. If you set the left "ROLL" switch to "STRG SEL" and the right "PITCH" switch ISN'T set to "A/P OFF", then the autopilot will turn to the current waypoint. If you're confused about any of this, just mess with the switches and *****REMEMBER YOUR CONFUSION REPELLENT***** The "ATT HOLD" writing in the middle of the two switches is referring to the left "ROLL" switch and not the right "PITCH" switch.

There is a note in that manual on p22: "In later planes the vapor return goes to the fuselage tank instead of the left wing tank. With these planes, use the fuselage tank first. However, the only way of finding out to which tank the return is connected is to ask the engineering officer." Or, in our case, the DCS manual :) It's important for a few reasons: Firstly and simply, the startup checklist says to start from whichever tank has the vapor return line. So we are all ritualistically simulating this act but we can't experience the negative effects for failing to follow the checklist (wasting fuel). If it is 10 gallons per hour, that is kind of a big deal. However, there is also the matter of fuel management: If you are keeping a schedule of switching between external wing tanks and then internal wing tanks, you may end up with a lot more fuel in the vapor return tank than you have scheduled. Probably not the kind of thing that would get noticed unless you are flying a LONG time, but if 10 gallons per hour is the maximum.... it could make relevant an understanding how much fuel is going back to the vapor return tank. MOST importantly, however, is that the checklist says simply to start up and take off with the vapor return tank. If you have a full fuselage and external tanks, then you are switching to the fuselage tank asap to prevent reversibility. Then you are switching to the external wing tanks so you can drop them if need be. That is a LOT of time spent returning vapor to the vapor return tank... And if it is full then you are losing fuel. Anyway, I was going to do some testing last weekend to verify that there is/isn't any vapor return but... you know.... that F-16 module :)

From the manual 51-127-5 page 22: (Concerning the vapor return): "Also, check the tank occasionally in flight to make sure that it isn't completely full. If you don't do this, the recovered gas, which may amount to as much as 10 gallons per hour depending on operating conditions, will be lost through the overflow pipe." When I read this I tested it (about a year ago). It suggested that there were only specific conditions that would result in 10 gph. I remember GUESSING that conditions conducive to vapor lock would result in a higher vapor return rate, but my tests at that time didn't detect a discernible vapor return. I tested max heat at SL and at max altitude. Since I couldn't find anything I just assumed that I didn't know what operating conditions caused the max vapor return rate. If I was operating the aircraft such that the vapor return rate was only 2-3 gallons per hour, I wouldn't have been able to detect the return with the tests I did. DCS has far more subtle engine effects modeled, so I would describe this as a bug rather than pedantic aviation nerd rage. *UNLESS it is modeled and I just don't know how to cause it. Does anybody know for sure what "operating conditions" would cause the most vapor return? Is it just the engine setting, or would it be affected by ambient temp and atmosphere?

(OT so posted in a new thread): https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=4119169#post4119169 From the manual 51-127-5 page 22: (Concerning the vapor return): "Also, check the tank occasionally in flight to make sure that it isn't completely full. If you don't do this, the recovered gas, which may amount to as much as 10 gallons per hour depending on operating conditions, will be lost through the overflow pipe." When I read this I tested it (about a year ago). It suggested that there were only specific conditions that would result in 10 gph. I remember GUESSING that conditions conducive to vapor lock would result in a higher vapor return rate, but my tests at that time didn't detect a discernible vapor return. I tested max heat at SL and at max altitude. Since I couldn't find anything I just assumed that I didn't know what operating conditions caused the max vapor return rate. If I was operating the aircraft such that the vapor return rate was only 2-3 gallons per hour, I wouldn't have been able to detect the return with the tests I did. DCS has far more subtle engine effects modeled, so I would describe this as a bug rather than pedantic aviation nerd rage. EDIT: UNLESS it is modeled and I just don't know how to cause it. Does anybody know for sure what "operating conditions" would cause the most vapor return? Is it just the engine setting, or would it be affected by ambient temp and atmosphere? Actually, this is OT so I'll start a new thread: https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=4119169#post4119169

Is that modeled in DCS and what conditions lead to it? I've flown for over a half hour at a time in all kinds of environments (extreme heat/cold/altitude) and have never seen a measurable return to my left tank. (NOTE: if you're going to test this sometimes changing altitudes can give weird readings).

Dude you have the best charts. Look how clearly you can see the channels when you should be using WEP with high blower on. I've always noticed that while flying her but to see it drawn out is something else. And the interesting bit is on the right side, the True Airspeed. Apparently the P-51 at 26,000ft is godmode :D This chart has been saved for future reference.

So I lost my left horizontal stabilizer and decided to see how the aircraft handled: The effects of pitch are believable but it seems like the roll rate was almost unaffected. Also I was expecting left and right roll input to be different. It makes sense that input to the FLCS would be unaffected as long as the input remained within the range of what the remaining control surfaces are capable of, albeit less efficiently. WIP of course. I just like flying jets backwards :)

These figures are for max continuous operation. If you want to go faster then you want 3000 rpms and FT at any altitude. You can always test it, but if you're new to flying at high altitudes, technique is the most important thing. PLUG!!! At about 3 mins I increase to 3000RPM at 38,000ft and at 6 mins I decrease from 3000RPM to 2700RPM at 40,000ft.

The first time I used that feature I spent 60 seconds trying to figure out how it could be useful to have information duplicated LITERALLY right next to itself. Maybe it would be useful if you are putting the HUD on an MFD and need to keep track of fuel. Anyway, I concluded it was one of those engineer things. Or maybe someone was coming in under budget.

My first time refueling the F-16 with wing tanks:

Ok, when you are at idle (and MP is less than ambient are pressure) and you cut the fuel to turn off the aircraft, then yes, the RPMs go down while the MP goes up. But the MP is going up because of the ambient pressure you let in from the outside by opening the throttle, not from any air being compressed by the suprecharger. Also, if you are interested in more info, grafspee and I have been here before: https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=237533

The supercharger's flywheel is connected to the crankshaft. Higher RPMs make the flywheel spin faster, which makes the MP higher. The high blower setting changes gears between the flywheel and crankshaft, causing the ratio to be more like 11:1 rather than 8:1. Which is why when the high blower comes on, the MP goes way up, the ratio between crankshaft and flywheel increased and you're getting more pressure per RPM. You can test this by changing your RPMs and watching your MP follow (as long as you're below 41MP, otherwise the mustang will change the throttle setting to keep MP constant). So go up to high altitudes and try this. Also try turning off the high blower (set to LOW rather than AUTO).

What's so terrible about keeping the aircraft trimmed all the way in? Maybe its because I don't have rudder pedals and have to use the z axis on the stick, but.... If you don't have the ball centered, you lose lift in the Mustang (unlike other aircraft, a LOT of lift). Then you have to add more power, and even a little bit more power will throw the ball around even more. And if you're correcting with a bunch of rudder (for the ball), elevator (loss of lift because ball not centered), and aileron, then you're creating drag; then you gotta increase power because you're coming up short and then all that crap happens again. IMO, avoid stick inputs and use trim because the aircraft is very delicate in the glide slope. Unless you're very experienced, you'll very slowly lose or gain some speed in the glide slope and have to do a slight engine adjustment, which should be done very slowly and delicately. And even with a slight throttle adjustment you'll need to do a rudder trim adjustment or you could lose a significant amount of lift. This also seems like the easiest way to adapt to landings with lots of turbulence. Otherwise you'll not be able to discern what the air is doing from what your aircraft is doing. tl;dr is - keep the rudder trimmed in the glide slope. As long as the ball is centered the aircraft will fly itself in. As for myself, the only major stick inputs I make in a landing are when I cut power for the flare at the runway threshold.

ED has said they model the aircraft how they come off the production line. Default convergence is fine for ground attack since the guns are already so close together. But it would help air to air combat if there were an option to converge a couple of the guns much closer in. And a setting to remove 2 of the guns in favor of more ammo would be neat, but would anyone really use that? I wonder if that was ever actually done (kinda doubt it). It's so painful when you get down to just 4 guns. But it would be nice to at least get a "no tracers" setting like the Hornet has.

So if ED decides to model the effects of missile placement, what differences in handling can we expect between the 120 vs aim9 on the wingtips? Excluding long term wear-and-tear.

+1 I am very understanding when ED leaves bugs in for long periods of time or takes "too" long to update pre-release modules. They have such great attention to detail that when they do EVENTUALLY do something they do it right. But this module has been out for so long and is such a staple that they really should have this fixed. There are a lot of nerds that want to put fuel in the fuselage tank for a lot of reasons. It is strange that after so long you can't (when there is no apparent reason). The bug was introduced around the time they revealed the new damage model they're working on so I assumed that somehow I'm using a newer version of the module (that has nothing new implemented?) and the fuel system isn't quite worked out yet. That doesn't really make sense, but I'm an excessively understanding fellow. But most people aren't!