Bob1943

Great, I will play around with the "F" keys some more and see if I can get everything sorted out. Thanks for all the comments & help.

As I posted on another thread, I also feel the F-18 "Instrument Panel Lights" are way too dim. They are much brighter in my F-16. I am not using VR, just a 34" 1440P curved screen. I have DCS Gamma set at 2.2. So, any chance we get some brighter "instrument panel lights" in the F-18?

OK, I flew a test flight, saved and then replayed the track file. How do you choose your camera angle? I hit F2 during the reply and got the normal external view - is this what you are referring to? When I hit F11 to get a free camera view, it took me to a completely different geographical location than where I was flying. So, are you referring to the "F" keys for camera angles during the track playback?

Compared to the F-16, the Instrument Panel Lights seem much dimmer in the F-18. I have the IPL brightness knob cranked fully clockwise and the lights are still really dim. Is this a known issue, or, is that as good as it gets?

Have not made any movies yet in DCS, so I am still on the low end of the learning curve. So, how does one do what you are suggesting above? Are you saying that there are different camera angles being simultaneously recorded during a flight? And we can pick and choose which camera recording we want to look at after the mission is complete?

Is there a way to position a free camera on the deck of a carrier so that it locks onto to the pilot flying final and landing? I want to remain in the cockpit view so that I can fly the plane during this sequence, while still having the external camera filming my approach and landing. Would it be possible to have 2 cameras going at the same time, i.e., one view from the cockpit and the 2nd external view from the carrier deck?

Trying to figure out how to operate the various camera options in DCS. Is there a way to position a free camera on the deck of a carrier so that it locks onto to the pilot flying final and landing? I want to remain in the cockpit view so that I can fly the plane during this sequence, while still having the external camera filming my approach and landing. Would it be possible to have 2 cameras going at the same time, i.e., one view from the cockpit and the 2nd external view from the carrier deck?

Much appreciated, David. Excellent instructions. I flew out of Nellis back in 1968 in the F-111. So I am looking forward to a return visit with the F-16. Thanks again for your help. Bob

New DCS user here. I cannot find any options that allow me to specify what location I want to takeoff from in a simple free flight mission. For example, I would like to takeoff from Nellis AFB in an F-16 - just a free-flight sight-seeing mission. Surely, this is a simple task to set up. But, so far, I cannot find a way to do this. I have the F-16 module and the Nevada NTTR map.

Here is one more 1968 picture out on the NTTR in the F-4. A lot of cloud cover on this day, so not a lot of terrain detail to see.

If I remember right, the "white" pods mounted under the right wing were 20mm gun pods. In fact, here is a Google picture of an F-4D carrying the same pod. The smaller, brown cannisters under the left wing were rocket cannisters.

Have you guys unchecked "Force Feedback" like JuanAJ suggested in Post #19?

Thought some of you might be interested to get a real world glimpse of Nellis AFB and the NTTR in September 1968. I had just finished Pilot Training at Williams AFB in May 1968 and was assigned to an F-111 squadron (428th TFS) at Nellis AFB. As you may know, the USAF Fighter Weapons School (counterpart to the Navy "Top Gun" School, formally at Miramar NAS) is stationed at Nellis. I made some friends with some of the instructors in the Fighter Weapons School and asked them if I could jump in the back seat of one of their F-4s and go on a few missions with them. To my surprise, they said "Yes". I flew about 4 missions with the instructors before my F-111 squadron commander found out what I was doing and told me "no more". Never understood why he was opposed to that, but I was just a 2nd Lt at the time. The instructors were great to fly with and always gave me the stick after takeoff and let me fly most of the way to the range. I carried a little pocket camera on these missions and took several pictures. I have attached a sequence of 8 pictures from a mission that we flew in Sept 1968 - starts with a formation take-off and ends with the "break into the overhead landing pattern at Nellis. Fun years.

This^. Worked for me in the F/A-18.

Agree 100%, Major improvement over the animations in the earlier Supercarrier trailer. People are starting to look much more realistic now.

In addition to the T-37 & T-38 during pilot training, I flew the F-111, F-100, and A-37 (also a little back-seat F4 time with the Fighter Weapons School instructors at Nellis). Speedbrake operation was similar to the landing gear, i.e., mostly the vibration caused by the air load on the speedbrake and the very subtle deceleration sensation of moving slightly forward against the seat straps for a second or two. Not really any hydraulic operation sounds that could be heard in the cockpit during flight. Yes, something like the JetSeat would be the answer to get that tactile sensation that these systems were operating. Only other option would be to put in an unrealistically enhanced sound that could compensate for the absence of the real-life cockpit vibration sensation. Maybe an audio slider that could be moved to enhance (or lessen), to the user's preference, the magnitude of sound associated with the operation of these systems.

Link is not working.

Thanks Wags. That was also my experience from the USAF fighters that I flew. The vibration effects were noticeable in the cockpit. I adjusted some of the DCS audio settings and was finally able to hear a very subtle "low frequency whirring" sound when the landing gear was actuated.

Thanks. I'll play around with the audio settings to see if I can enhance it more.

Just recently bought the F/A-18 module. Perhaps I missed something in the Control panel settings, but I don't hear any kind of sound when the landing gear is extending or retracting. Does this module include a sound track for landing gear operation?

For any "new users" (such as myself) of the Warthog HOTAS that may be reading this thread, I will add a final comment that you need to be sure to download the "Package drivers - Hotas Warthog - 2018_TMHW_1 + Firmware" that is available on the TM website. The Hardware User Manual that came with my Warthog system states: "The HOTAS Warthog requires installation of the TARGET programming software." No mention was made of downloading a separate driver package. I downloaded the TARGET software as instructed and "assumed" that included everything that I needed (including drivers) to get operational. Unknown to me at that time, the drivers are a separate download, as listed above. So, be sure to download the driver package and follow the driver install instructions to get your controllers running properly.

What TM told me, that I don't specifically see in any of the replies, is that the controls are automatically re-calibrated by the firmware every time the controls are powered up. For me personally, that is an important fact to be aware of.

Google "The Great Santini" with Robert Duvall for some F4 highlights.

Here is the reply to my question to Thrustmaster. The units are pre-calibrated. Each time you turn them ON - you establish the USB connection with the computer - the firmware kicks in and the axes are calibrated once more. To check their calibration, accurately, you can use the TARGET Script Editor / Device Analyzer tool. Thank you to everyone for all the replies.

Ok, so what TM calibration tools are you referring to, the ones that Ant0ine referred to? I would like to use the AB stop that comes with the Warthog throttle. Will I have to re-calibrate the throttle if I use the AB stop? Or, do I just adjust/tune the throttle axis in DCS for the AB stop?