Bunny Clark

I've seen people claim that changing this to SML has improved their Pk, but I'm not aware of any real evidence that it does so, and we haven't had any word from ED that it actually does anything in the game. Not currently in DCS. I believe this will happen in real life if you command Fast Acquisition on a D/L contact, but we don't have a lot of MSI features with D/L right now. Why in TWS and HI? That's not an ideal choice. Generally HI is best for seeing targets at longer ranges if they're closing on you quickly, but once you're within weapons range you'll loose tracking fidelity and it'll be more likely to drop. Search at long range in RWS HI, then switch to TWS either MED or INT, or STT, for weapons engagement. It's general purpose is to give you an at-a-glance view of the vertical aspect of the battlespace ahead of you. It's great for visualizing your antenna scan elevation, or picking out targets separated by altitude. It additionally includes more IFF information and Auto IFF controls that aren't present on the Attack Radar page, and lets you cue the FLIR onto targets if you have one. Only if you transfer them manually. PP is primarily intended for use with coordinates loaded into the aircraft on the data card, without that functionality they can really only be used if you feel like typing in the coordinates manually on the UFC. You can target a waypoint or markpoint with a GPS weapon in TOO mode by using the WPDSG button. No, that is not a feature of the AIM-120C.

Specifically, what you want to hit is the Auto Throttle HOTAS button on the throttle, whatever you have that mapped to. It's not something you can click on in the cockpit. "ATC" will appear in the HUD when it's active.

Yup, the Viper and the Hornet land very differently (on airbases). The Viper wants to areobrake, with the pilot holding the nose high until the aircraft has slowed, then enabling NWS once the nose wheel is on the ground. The Hornet wants to get the nose wheel on the ground right away and use the speedbrake plus wheel brakes to slow the aircraft. The Viper also flies the approach with the speedbrake extended while the Hornet does not, though on both aircraft you want to hit the speedbrake extend once you're on the ground. The Hornet also has much greater trailing edge flap extension, which helps slow down the approach speed and provides a bit more drag.

Is this something that can be done on the real Hornet? There are multiple map styles available for the Hornet in the TAMMAC system, but I'm not sure it supports mission-specific maps. But if it does, it would be pretty cool to see the new drawing features from the mission editor tie into the in-cockpit maps.

It's supposed to be a surprise attack and a significant escalation of hostilities by Iran. The point is that the US is not expecting such a strike. Besides, it's not that lopsided. There are 4 Hornets airborne at the start of the engagement, plus two more alert fighters launched from the carrier. And most of the threat aircraft are bombers, not fighters. The fighter-fighter ratio is 6 Hornets vs 6 MiG-29s, then there are Tu-22s which can only threaten you with R-60s. This mission continues to confuddle me. I've had multiple people complain about it being too hard, yet when I play it I always win easily, with the friendly AI usually defeating the northern attack without any help from me at all.

The Hornet automatically enables NWS as soon as there is weight on the nose wheel.

Not a small circle, it's a small diamond. That signifies the "DT2" track file. With a DT2 designated, hitting the NWS/Undesignate button on the stick will swap the DT2 target to L&S. You can use this to rapidly engage two specific targets with AMRAAMs. Sparrow cannot be guided to two separate targets simultaneously, that is not possible with a mechanical radar.

Maverick laser codes are set via the MFD, exactly like how it works in DCS. Paveway II and III guidance units do indeed have the code set on the guidance unit itself. These are set by the ordnance crew and cannot be changed in flight.

As far as I know, on the Hornet, the Data Storage Set (DSS) allows for flight planning setup with a computer and direct transfer to the aircraft for: Waypoints, offset points, and sequences, SA threat zones, all PP/PB target points, weapon delivery profiles (including fuzing, HARM data, and JDAM/JSOW terminal profiles), all CMDS programs, datalink setup and MIDS, IFF codes, radio channels, TACAN, GPS configuration, and wind data. NATOPS also mentions being able to transfer radar data, I'm not sure exactly what that means, perhaps per-weapon radar profiles can be customized and loaded ahead of time?

The real Viper avionics has a "high vis" display mode, which swaps all the white text to bright yellow. I don't think this was a pilot-selectable change, and different squadrons seemed to implement it at different times. Not sure when that started to be a thing, it may be out of time from for the DCS Viper.

I believe GEN-X, MK.77, and Sea Mines are all canceled. In the case of Mk.77 and Sea Mines, I recall Wags saying that they may be implemented in the future when there is actually DCS World support for such weapons.

Realistically, the weapon of choice would probably be a cluster bomb. Or in more modern times, GBU-12s coordinated with other flight members. The Hornet in USN and USMC service does not seem to have carried the MAV-F very often. The Navy seems to think of it more as an anti-ship weapon, and both the Navy and Marines prefer the Laser MAV-E for CAS missions. It is telling, perhaps, that the Hornet's computer systems call the laser version "MAV" and IR version "MAVF" like it's a secondary variant.

Fair, I'm certainly not an F-16 pilot, all I can do is read manuals. The -34 says to boresight in PRE or VIS mode, maybe that's just best practice, maybe it's the only way possible. I'm not sure how that would work though, as BORE mode operates independently of SPI, that's one of the main features of that mode. Though, as OP as noticed works in DCS, if the Mav is boresighted in PRE or VIS mode, that correction could be applied in BORE mode as well, getting the Mav reticle closer to the HUD EO reticle.

They spawn over Qeshm Island Airbase at the same time you get the scripted message from Wizard saying that bandits are taking off. From there they just fly to you. In my experience they frequently split up, so it's not too surprising that one snuck around behind you while you were fixating on getting a radar lock on his buddy. The AWACS is nearly 200nm from the airbase, so it's maybe not too surprising that it doesn't pick up the fairly small F-5s until they are closer to you.

Boresighting the missile in BORE mode is not possible. You can boresight to the HUD in VIS mode though if you want the crosshairs to be as accurate as possible in BORE. Eventually we'll also be able to boresight to the FCR in PRE mode if you don't have a TGP. ED's current implementation of BORE is questionable. There's no indicated in the HAF F16-34 that the BORE reticle moves on the HUD at all, though it doesn't technically say it doesn't move either. The manual states that the Maverick seeker will be "roughly aligned" with the HUD EO reticle and that the aircraft should be flown to align the target with the cross, then use the missile seeker to select the specific target for attack. Specifics can be found on page 1-446 if you're interested.

I did not know that, cool. Definitely no reason to pull it then, thanks for the info. That is, interestingly, pretty much how I came up with this procedure. I started with a slightly different document (Chuck's Guide and the Dash One) and then trimmed away everything that wasn't necessary. The final step, which I think is where you have the most problems, is I re-arranged some of it to minimize the amount of time spent sitting and waiting for other steps to complete. Yah, the result isn't strictly realistic, and calling it such was probably a mistake. I like to think I fall somewhere in the middle of a Dash One startup procedure and Air Quake cold start speedrun. Maybe not?

Yes, there are some DCS-ism here. As I said, while realism is a factor, so is speed and things that are game-relevant. Because in DCS the INS alignment can occasionally go haywire if you don't have a brake on. Because, in my experience, the ejection seat safety lever being in the up position makes clicking on the APU start switch very difficult. I never bother asking for startup permission. Is that even done over radio to ATC in real life? This may well be revisited when we get a new ATC system. Because in DCS the engine will never start incorrectly, so why waste time watching the gauges? Can you burn the pitot tube in DCS? I've never had it happen.

What units did you hide? It's always possible I missed something. The F-5s are using heat-seeking Sidewinder missiles that don't need a radar lock to target you, they're short ranged but you get no warning when they are launched. The F-5 also has a very rudimentary radar that you may pick up on your RWR occasionally, but they generally won't hard lock you since there's no need for them to do that to launch weapons. They can be quite sneaky. The AWACS should see them tough, and you should see them on the SA page over datalink.

On the current version, the only things that should be visible in the Mission Planner and F10 map are those things that would be known by friendly intel, though occasionally some mission critical things are allowed to be visible in the F10 map as an aid in case the player looses track of them. If you want an entirely realistic experience, you should not be using the F10 map at all.

In "Fight Fight" by Kevin Miller, both Legacy and Super Hornets are able to successfully take off by doing deck runs without a catapult. It's a fictional story, but I expect that he knows what he's talking about.

I've finally finished (for now) a complete overhaul of my startup checklists. These are intended for realistic but quick startup, which skips steps which are unnecessary in DCS. I've got checklists for the A-10C, A/V-8B, F-14, F-16, F/A-18, JF-17, L-39, Mirage 2000, and Mi-24P. You can download them all here: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3314229/

I've finally finished (for now) a complete overhaul of my startup checklists. These are intended for realistic but quick startup, which skips steps which are unnecessary in DCS. I've got checklists for the A-10C, A/V-8B, F-14, F-16, F/A-18, JF-17, L-39, Mirage 2000, and Mi-24P. You can download them all here: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3314229/

I've finally finished (for now) a complete overhaul of my startup checklists. These are intended for realistic but quick startup, which skips steps which are unnecessary in DCS. I've got checklists for the A-10C, A/V-8B, F-14, F-16, F/A-18, JF-17, L-39, Mirage 2000, and Mi-24P. You can download them all here: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3314229/

I've finally finished (for now) a complete overhaul of my startup checklists. These are intended for realistic but quick startup, that skips steps which are unnecessary in DCS. I've got checklists for the A-10C, A/V-8B, F-14, F-16, F/A-18, JF-17, L-39, Mirage 2000, and Mi-24P. You can download them all here: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3314229/

I've finally finished (for now) a complete overhaul of my startup checklists. These are intended for realistic but quick startup, that skips steps which are unnecessary in DCS. I've got checklists for the A-10C, A/V-8B, F-14, F-16, F/A-18, JF-17, L-39, Mirage 2000, and Mi-24P. You can download them all here: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3314229/