jaylw314

Right now the only way to use custom profiles is to have some type of macro command for a sequence of OSB button presses to configure your stuff. I've heard a couple people use VoiceAttack, you could use Joystick Gremlin or anything else that can run a button macro. When you jump in a plane, you press your setup command and it runs your macro to set up your custom preferences. I've never bothered with it, though. FWIW, CCRP/CCIP is the least important profile setting, since you can just spam the Master Mode button after you select the profile to change it anyway...

The advise is not to STARE at the basket. You do still need to SEE the basket Track the tanker with your eyes. The basket will be in your peripheral vision, so you won't see any details (and in IRL would be out of focus). Of course, you don't NEED to see details on the basket, just that it's in the right place. One subtle benefit is that your peripheral vision is significantly more sensitive to motion than your foveal (center) vision, so you can perceive movement of the basket earlier than if you were staring at it. In the meantime, you're tracking the tanker with your foveal vision, where you DO need to see details to monitor your relative position and distance, but it's motion in your FOV is much less relevant.

There is none specifically, but CMS Up dispenses one flare and CMS Down dispenses one chaff bundle.

IIRC, the FAA published an AC a few years ago suggesting pilots forgo polarized lenses with the increasing number of digital displays in cockpits

Are you using CCIP? The CBU-97 has so much drag CCIP drops can be quite difficult--by the time you're close enough to see the CCIP reticle in the HUD, you're often already too low. I've always understood the HOF for CBU's to be feet AGL, not feet MSL. Better is CCRP mode, best is using CCIP in CR (Consent to Release) mode (enable from the IFFCC test menu). Bunyap's On the Range videos are brilliant, and how I learned the A-10. The only complaint I have is that he keeps saying "reticule" instead of "reticle"

I reported this a while back. That whole row should actually be shifted left one column

Pretty quick, unless you don't use a spell checker

During startup, turn on the CDU and EGI. When that completes, go to the SYS menu -> INS submenu -> ALT ALIGN submenu and press the button next to FAST. This starts the "cocked" or scramble alignment that completes in 90 seconds, simulating the ground crew starting up the EGI and aligning it before you got there. It's supposed to be less accurate, but that's not modeled in DCS. Note you only have 25 seconds to do this after the startup BIT page completes on the CDU (if you're too slow, it skips the FAST align and starts the default GROUND alignment). Once the INS NAV RDY block flashes, press the NAV button per usual (I think the alignment data reads "1.6.x.x") -- If you're trying to intercept an aircraft with A/A TACAN, use the HSI: Tune TACAN to the appropriate channel and press the TCN button on the NMSP Dial the CRS arrow until it points at bearing pointer #1 (the skinny doghouse), which is the TACAN bearing. The CDI should center. Fly the heading on the CRS arrow and watch the CDI. It will drift left or right. Turn in that direction to stop the drift, 45 degrees if it's drifting fast, 10 degrees if it's slow. Recenter the CDI needle by turning the CRS arrow. Repeat #3-5 until the CDI needle stops moving. You are now flying the intercept course This works better than watching the bearing pointer, because it's easier to see rate of movement on the more sensitive CDI -- The default head position can make it difficult to see the top of the colored telescoping section of the boom in AA refueling. Lean forward a bit or lower the seat so you can see it, since it's your distance cue. -- Use the HMCS symbology to judge distance. The HMCS boresight cross is about 20 mils across, which means a fighter-sized aircraft that is the same span is about half a mile away. If that aircraft takes up half the cross, it's about a mile away. A vehicle-sized target is about a quarter and a half mile away, respectively, using the same references. While there are a number of other mil size references in the HUD and airframe, the HMCS symbology has the advantage of being nearly everywhere you look. -- If you're in a flight, hook your wingman's datalink symbol on the HMCS using TMS up short while HMSC is SOI. You will now always have a yellow line pointing in his direction, which will help with SA. Note that this does not affect or interfere with the other functions of HMCS cueing. Likewise, you can hook a different target on the TAD, so it does not interfere with that function, either (IRL, it seems you may only be able to have one hooked target between both, though). -- With laser-guided weapons launched at maximum range in a medium-threat environment, it can be difficult to keep the target in the laser FOV while staying out of enemy firing range, since keeping the target near the 3 or 9 o'clock position involves turning towards the target and masking the laser. Being above 15,000-20,000' AGL can make this turn possible. Alternatively, a 10 degree climb can also make this possible, since the geometry of the climb allows for a slight bank into the target without masking.

Use mark points on the TAD to triangulate ground radar on the RWR: Drop an overhead mark point On the TAD, make a mark point in the direction of the RWR threat (3 or 9 o'clock works best) Fly a few minutes, then repeat 1 and 2 On the TAD, each pair of markpoints will be on a line. Where those lines would intersect is where the threat is. Drop a markpoint there on the TAD and slave your TGP there When you're given a mission to attack a target from a heading, use the HSI and CRS arrow to keep your position SA. Make sure you have a steerpoint near the target. If instructed "final attack heading 300", twist the CRS to 300. Now if you fly southeast of the target, when the CDI needle centers, you know to turn towards the target. If you follow the CDI needle in, you'll be tracking into the target on a heading of 300. If you get the instruction to "offset right", you just keep the CDI to the left. On CDU, from the WP menu, select the ANCHOR PT submenu. Press the LSK next to "HUD OFF" and it'll change to "HUD ON". now you have a persistent data block for your bullseye bearing and range in the upper right corner of the HUD. To get to the Inventory Store page to change a weapon's laser code, on the DSMS, simply press INV->select weapon pylon->INV STAT. The INV STAT OSB takes you directly to the Inventory Store page where you can change the laser code. Change it, then press LOAD or LOAD SYM to save the change.

Unless the A-10C has a TACAN fix to approach the airport for an ILS, it wouldn't. I don't believe the GPS/INS is IFR certified, nor are there approach fixes in the database. In DCS, of course, you'd simply pull up the airport waypoint, set it as the steerpoint, make sure the NMSP is on STEERPT, dial in your desired approach direction on the HSI CRS, then fly it as an ad hoc non-precision approach. If the CDU/EGI is busted and there's no TACAN or ILS and you're in IMC, well, then you're out of luck. The A-10C was not designed to be an all-weather aircraft.

FWIW, I'm not sure if helmet visors are polarized to remove sun glare anymore, since they also render LCD screens visible only at certain angles. Polarizing filters are great for removing surface reflections, but tinted unpolarized visors and glasses don't do that, they just reduce eyestrain. Anyone know?

I wouldn't argue with some compromise, though--IRL, you'd know instinctively how to move around to deal with glass reflections, but in DCS they don't behave exactly like they should IRL

Oof, nothing wrong or illegal about aiming for the numbers, but whenever I do flight reviews in a single-engine slow GA plane and land on a runway with an ILS and PAPI, my CFI smacks me in the back of my head when I aim for the numbers "What is this, a short-field landing? Aim for the aiming point!"

Only workaround right now is put the button binds into SRS and make sure "Always allow SRS hotkeys" is ON.

Pitot Heat? When off, DCS automatically triggers pitot icing after about 40 minutes. How are you measuring percent "power"? Fan speed is the best measure of % power, fuel flow is a reasonable alternative. I've never heard of auto throttles on the A-10C?

OK, that's weird, when I tried it when I tried to make the HMCS SPI with the JTAC target hooked, it attached the SPI to the HDC for me. When I had the HDC slaved to the crosshairs, the SPI became whatever point was under the crosshair. Something wonky is going on

Ah, you reminded me what the difference between TAD and HMCS was for JTAC targets. On the TAD, you can hook the JTAC target, make it TAD SPI, then slave everything to that location. With the HMCS, if you hook the JTAC target and make the HMCS SPI, you can't actually slave everything to the JTAC target because the HMCS actually is pointing at the HDC. Sure, you can look or slew the HDC in the same general area as the JTAC target, but you'd only be as accurate as your eyeball and slew control. Obviously, this is not a game stopper or a major issue, but picking up the JTAC target from the TAD might be a little faster and more precise.

Oooh, thanks for the reminder

You could make the TAD SPI by pressing TMS FWD Long before or after hooking the target, it doesn't matter. With the TAD as SOI, once you hook the target with TMS FWD short, and the TAD is set as SPI, you then press China Hat FWD Long to slew all sensors to the SPI. I'm not 100% sure because I haven't tried it in a while, but I don't think you can hook a JTAC data target (the red triangle) from the HMCS. I thought I remember being unable to, but I might be wrong on that. Can't remember the last time I used an AI JTAC, usually it's just my buddies yelling at me Anyone know for sure?

As a workaround, turning the SYM and BRT settings down 2-5 helps. Still unpleasantly bright, but at least not blinding.

Dang guys, you people are perfectionists, I need people like you at work! I figured you'd put that at the end of a list somewhere!

It's like a Eureka moment, isn't it? All of a sudden, it goes from inscrutable to the coolest thing in the world! Hard to know, but realize when you make a mark point using TMS Right short with HMCS as SOI, it marks the location of the HDC, not the center cross. By default, the HDC is slaved to the center cross, it'll look like an "iron cross" when so. But if you've slewed the HDC somewhere, the markpoint will created there, which might not be where you're looking

Are you talking about the Day/Night/Off knob or the BRT +/- rocker switch? I'll check it tonight Edit: Yes, it does appear the DISP +/- rocker switch does not adjust the backlight for the MFD's. BRT, CON and SYM all seem to work normally

I might have misunderstood, when you said "lasing from ~12 miles with precision hits" I assumed you were talking about a different scenario with laser-guided munitions. If you were still talking about AGM-65H, laser has nothing to do with it other than getting the range FYI. The seeker tracks the TV picture, regardless of how far away it is. For GPS/INS weapons, yes, using the laser to get the range to the target instead of the ground behind it is a thing, but for AGM-65H it should not be.

If you use a TGP-guided weapon using CCIP, like TGP-->CCIP-->GBU-12 or TGP-->CCIP-->APKWS, absolutely! Like I said, the SPI is irrelevant for that kind of weapons employment. If your SPI was STPT to a waypoint 200 miles away, those workflows would still hit the building. If, on the other hand You need to slave something to the TGP, like TGP-->CCIP-->MAV (EO or IR), you better make sure the TGP is SPI before you press China Hat forward long. If not, your MAV seeker will point the steerpoint 200 miles away You need to use CCRP, you better make sure TGP is SPI, otherwise the CCRP cues will direct you to the steerpoint 200 miles away. If the steerpoint was pretty close to the building, this might still work! You need to use a GPS/INS weapon, your JDAM will try to target the steerpoint 200 miles away unless you make the TGP SPI.