jaylw314

Not to be pedantic (too late!), but flying by the "seat of your pants" originally referred to navigation, as in Douglas 'Wrong Way' Corrigan Nowadays, of course, we can use it to refer to whatever we want. Most commonly, I hear it in reference to using the proper amount of rudder to coordinate turns, as in using buttock-sensing instead of watching the ball

I don't believe there is much 'feel' from aerodynamic loads based on what I've read. The flight manual mentions that stick forces and positions for a given g load are essentially linear throughout the flight envelope, but that's about all the detail I've heard about, so I might be interpreting that wrong FYI the trim tabs function as servo tabs in normal flight (not MRFCS), so they also help to reduce aerodynamic loads proportionally. There is actually an 'artificial feel' mechanism that provides spring force to the stick. The trim control just adjusts its center point under normal conditions. This suggests that the expected aerodynamic loads are almost entirely cancelled out by the hydraulic and servo tab systems, but, again, that's just a guess on my part. AFAIK, the pitch SAS has limited authority so it probably doesn't contribute much to big control forces.

Nice work! That top image looks great, I might be a little higher so I can just see the operator window, but there's no 'right' picture, since your seat position matters. Yes, the actual connection point on the external view does look a little wonky, doesn't it? At least from inside it doesn't make a difference Congratulations! The A-10's nose refueling point is a unique challenge!

Yes, the director lights are tough to see, but you can if you tilt your head to the left while flying. Not great for posture I was referencing the director lights more so for when you're watching a replay in F2 view, though, it can be quite instructive for debriefing yourself! I put the boom operator window at the very top of the canopy arch and keep it there, so basically flying formation with the dude in the window. Another reference is to keep the tanker wingroots 2/3 of the way between the top of the HUD and the canopy arch. Both keep you on the 30 degree down line.

Watching your track, it's tough to tell how accurate the track is. It LOOKS like you're driving straight forwards to connect. The boom limits are defined by its angle, so you want to move forward and UP. Likewise, to back off, you want to move backwards and down. If you drive forwards without moving up, you'll move in and out of the allowable boom angle before it has a chance to connect. You want to keep the base of the boom stationary (maybe just under the canopy arch) as you move in (forward/up) and out (backward/down). It's tough to see the director lights, but the U/D light measures your angular position to the boom, not your relative altitude, and it should stay centered. FWIW, the telescoping section of the boom starts out mid-length, so once you connect, you only have HALF the allowable wiggle room in terms of distance. You REALLY need to creep up on the boom so that you don't overshoot. Once you do connect, then you have the full amount of wiggle room in and out.

I guess that makes sense since there's no flashing red or white anticollision light with the strobes off. I have to admit, if I was a civilian pilot taxiing at night at Fort Wayne Airport, I'd be pretty puzzled by a plane with a green flashing light, though

There's not any publicly available 'correct' that I've seen, I suspect it's up to the individual squadrons. Flashing position lights have no meaning in civil aviation, so I imagine (wild guess) that they're not used in National Guard squadrons that share airports with civilian aircraft.

After dropping a markpoint, I generally look at the target in the HMD anyway to verify I'm actually dropping it where I think I'm dropping it. Of course, if I'm dropping the markpoint with the HMD SOI, I can see it immediately

Oh I believe you, I was just pointing out the NIGHT setting is (ironically) easier to see than the green during the day sometimes, and easier to get without editing anything as an alternative

That's cool, I didn't realize it was just a filter. The fact that it is BRIGHTER than the green HUD is clearly a DCSism, then

I've had it happen while using PointCTRL, which didn't allow you to press both at the same time, so there may still be some other factors, but that is good to know in case it happens again

Flipping the HUD switch to NIGHT should give you an amber that is actually quite bright. I've heard from a couple people that it's not actually used for night since it's not NVG compatible, but I'm unsure if that's correct.

Thanks for the correction (and being nice about it)!

What, you've never reloaded DSMS just before touching down on a carrier and using the ground override switch and firing the cannon to stop in time? Granted, that's a pretty specific use case

IIRC with the gear down, you have to hold the speed brake switch in the open position if you want it to stay open.

Here's the sucker I'm thinking of. I'm sure there are other similar types of systems out there https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shtora-1

I think that is one of the much-touted anti-missile defenses of newer Russian tanks. I thought I recall the emitters facing forward on the turret, so I suspect the turret would have to be pointing towards the missile.

I can't get that "Set HSI to xxx" feature to work either, and as far as I can tell, and there's no other depicted way of finding the desired track to the next waypoint. OTOH, it's hard to imagine this would be the normal way of doing things. Probably an easier workaround once you're at the previous waypoint is to flip the STEER knob to MISSION and select the next waypoint. Turn the HSI needle in the vicinity of pointer #1, then flip the STEER knob back to FLT PLN. No point in being exact, since you'll fly off the needle instead of the course arrow anyway, in the same way having your course arrow a little off from the ILS doesn't matter much either. The easiest is way, of course, is to just leave the STEER knob in MISSION and just do TO-FROM with every waypoint.

Nope, MAV does not need to be SPI. the missile can be locked onto and fired at a target even if the TGP is SPI on a different target. For AGM-65's, SPI only matters inasmuch as you want to slave other sensors to it, or slave it to other sensors, but the MAV will always shoot at what it's locked onto.

AFAIK both fuselage and wing tanks have some kind of explosion suppressant plastic foam or sponge in them. However, only the fuselage tanks are self-sealing bladders, the wing tanks are just a compartment of aluminum wing skin and frame.

Make sure your windows is set to automatically update date and time, having the correct exact time is part of its DRM, AFAIK. I think some windows updates change this setting

The wing tanks are not self-sealing, so I suspect there is a preference to exhaust them before getting shot at, but I have no idea if this is planned on IRL

All waypoints show up in the HMCS, although there is a default distance limit. Can't remember if it's 25 or 50 miles

Neither can the A-10, sort of. Putting out the speed brakes disables the PAC control stabilization while holding the trigger

In fairness, it is perfectly possible to get water contamination with an aircraft refueled immediately after flight, since most cases of significant contamination I've heard of are due to either fueling with contaminated fuel, or environmental stuff like leaky fuel caps in the rain.