StrongHarm

The most important aspect of situational awareness is orientation, or knowing where you are at all times. This is why Bullseye is so important. My preferred method is to hook an object on TAD and always have a landmark reference for visual orientation (body of water, mountain, etc.). If you want to get good at orientation, practice keeping track of orientation to target and egress in your head. I know this sounds obvious and simple, but it doesn't come naturally to most people. To put the exercise into perspective, here's the thought process; target north, egress south, bullseye east (change direction) target west, egress east, bullseye north. If you do this while you're training, you'll start to orient automatically and subconsciously.

I agree with Kippy that standoff is the best way to keep track of a fast moving convoy (among other benefits). If you're too close it's easy to lose sight.. kind of like trying to track a running rabbit 10 yards away with a 32x sniper scope. If you find yourself in this situation and you're worried about losing sight of the moving target, place a mark at their current position, and then another X miles ahead on the same course. You can do this by slewing the TGP, TAD, or HUD and using TMS Short Right to create the markpoint.

I'd like to register for Blueflag as a lonewolf please: Callsign: StrongHarm Prefered Aircraft: A-10C, KA-50, F-15C

I should have added; I fly on the 99th server NTTR, and 104th on Caucuses. They're good servers with skilled mission designers. My NTTR server has a good map with hundreds of hours of dev in it, but it's not a squadron server with a lot of people on all the time.. so it's kind of a backup.

If you're interested in NTTR, my server is StrongHarm Dedicated Public. There are 8 Blacksharks and 4 Gazelles on each side. The map in rotation is a 'cooperative pvp' called Desert Rock. Server and mission have received good feedback. If you don't see it in the list: server: dcs.strongharm.com TS: ts.strongharm.com

Xavven's tactics seem pretty sound. In my learning process I remember always having to be right up on the target. Later I found that stand-off is the best policy. I also learned late in the game that waving off from a run-in is not the end of the world. If it doesn't look pretty I just go around for another pass. You're kind of hanging your rump out in the wind with each additional pass, but it's better than wasted ordnance or 'seat of the pants' mistakes that are made when you try to compensate for bad ingress. Personally, I do most of the things that Xavven said, like standing off 10nm and getting a good picture of the threat area and doing at least minimal prep. Additionally, if I'm nervous about the threats, I'll create mark points so I can get out of the area as quickly as possible: - Get in a 10nm 10k orbit (if possible) and get eyes on the target area - TGP to target 1 (highest threat) and markpoint (TMS Right Short) - Find a nice egress point about 5nm away on the TAD and mark it (TMS Right Short) - TGP to target 2 and mark it - Find a different egress point on the TAD and mark it - TGP target 3, etc. The result is that you go to markpoint A, drop ordnance, then follow egress to B. Go to C and drop then egress to D. It sounds like a pain, but when you make it part of your TTP and get used to it, planning and execution both take half the time, and you get away from the threat area quicker. Keep in mind also, if you're in mark mode your Z mark is always the point you hit last. Even If I'm not organizing my sortie with markpoints at all (and keeping it simple), I still use Z mark to keep situational awareness on my last target point. For my tank busting tutorial mission, I now have an NTTR version which is much improved over the Caucasus version. You can find both in my sig. When I started using it I could only kill maybe 2 T-80s/90s with a full load of cannon rounds.. if I was lucky. I usually kill 16 tanks now with a full load. It's helped me a lot. I try to fly it once a month to stay skillful. I have it running on my public NTTR dedicated server, but it's not in the normal rotation. If you see me in there and want to fly it together, just say the word and I'll queue it up.

Yes. The HMS simply gets your shkval in the area of the target. You still need to manually designate and lase the target once you place the reticle on the intended target. With some practice this becomes a pretty quick series of actions. I prefer to use auto turn-to-target and 'manual' instead of 'auto' weapons authorization.

That did the trick, thank you!

I added the pony and wolf for recon. This is influence from Tracer of the 99th. He makes some great missions and it seems to work for him. I'll add M-2000s in my next update, but leave the KAs. Additional Black Sharks was a request from another user. Thanks everyone for taking the time to provide feedback, it's really helpful. I've got something to work with here.

Is there a way to disable CTRL+F11? I had a request from a player on my server, and can't for the life of me find any information on this.

Don't feel bad, I've helped 3 people on my server in the last week find the setting. I'm sure they will eventually do a windows region check on install and set it appropriately. You would think the setting would need to be changed by Russian speaking English, unless I've underestimated the ratio of multilingual people. DCS is complex, but ED gets it right eventually.

DESERT ROCK: For a twist, this mission is both COOP and PVP, Cooperative PVP if you will. Essentially, there are 200 AI ground units (mixed) engaged near the town of Desert Rock. The task is to protect your AI and ensure the destruction of the other team's AIs. The first team to eliminate all targets wins the match. If there are only players on one side, it becomes simple coop, and you have to eliminate all targets within 3 hours. There are a wide array of aircraft, include SEAD and Fighters, so if half of the team is on attack, and the other half on A2A, things could get interesting. There are some heavy SAM sites, but each team has SU25Ts. If a player doesn't get in a SEAD bird within 10 minutes of mission start, AI SEAD spawns and takes care of it (approx. 80% chance). There are inactive SAMs at RU and US bases that only AI Activate if an opposing aircraft gets close, then the AI shuts down again (to save performance). AI SEAD won't touch these (keep the base rape down). The AI vehicles at the AO fight each other and seem to be evenly matched. I let the mission run through several times without intervening and found they averaged to 60 RU, 55 US vehicles remaining after 3 hours. CA is enabled, so you can jump in a tank and do some damage if you want. There are ammo depots and supply trucks on each side. If you're curious how your team is doing, you can use the F10 menu to see remaining units on each side. If you get down to 15 minutes and have a few hidden enemy vehicles left, they pop red smoke so you can find them (to compensate for AI issues). You should be able to see the AO easily, I'm using ammo depots and fuel trucks for smoke and secondaries (explode when someone gets within range, or after 10min.) RU Helos have a FARP just north of AO, and US helos are out of Creech (about same distance). There are Blacksharks and Gazelles available. I've been having a good time with this mission. I'll typically start F-15C and try to take out RUs air logistics. I then jump in an A-10C and clean up the dangerous ground units, then go to a KA-50 to do massive damage to soft targets. If there's anything left after that I'll jump into an M1 and go tanking. I can sometimes finish the mission by myself, with like 5 minutes to spare. Though, if someone jumps on RU and tries to block me, I can't get even 50% complete before the 3 hours are up. DEDICATED SERVER: StrongHarm Dedicated NTTR This map is rotating on a new dedicated server I built and tweaked for the purpose. If you don't see it in the list for whatever reason, the IP is dcs.strongharm.com (default port). TS is available at ts.strongharm.com (default port). Password: dcs I installed SLMOD 7.5, so if you end up flying on it a lot and want admin privs, just tell me. Everyone who's been on says it runs very smooth, even the EU folks. Here's an excerpt from blue tasking:

There wasn't enough MP action going on in the NTTR map, so I put together a dedicated server and a 'cooperative pvp' mission. It's running SLMOD, so if you fly there a lot and want admin privs, just tell me. TeamSpeak is available as well. http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=2770194#post2770194

I built a dedicated server for NTTR and a special 'cooperative pvp' mission for it over the last few weeks. I really like this map, but there wasn't enough going on. The server is powerful and smooth, and the mission is lots of fun. Check it out: http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=2770194#post2770194

I really like the NTTR map, but there aren't a lot of servers active. So I built a server and put it on a 60m line and spent a few days doing all the tweaks to make it smooth. I also installed SLMOD 7.5, so if you end up flying on it a lot and want admin privs, just tell me. Everyone who's been on says it runs very smooth, even the EU folks. If you don't see it in the list for whatever reason, the IP is dcs.strongharm.com (default port). TS is available at ts.strongharm.com (default port). Password: dcs DESERT ROCK: It's currently rotating a single mission I spent over 100 hours developing. For a twist, it's both COOP and PVP. Cooperative PVP if you will. Essentially, there are 200 AI ground units (mixed) engaged near the town of Desert Rock. The task is to protect your AI and ensure the destruction of the other team's AIs. The first team to eliminate all targets wins the match. If there are only players on one side, it becomes simple coop, and you have to eliminate all targets within 3 hours. There are a wide array of aircraft, include SEAD and Fighters, so if half of the team is on attack, and the other half on A2A, things could get interesting. There are some heavy SAM sites, but each team has SU25Ts. If a player doesn't get in a SEAD bird within 10 minutes of mission start, AI SEAD spawns and takes care of it (approx. 80% chance). There are inactive SAMs at RU and US bases that only AI Activate if an opposing aircraft gets close, then the AI shuts down again (to save performance). AI SEAD won't touch these (keep the base rape down). The AI vehicles at the AO fight each other and seem to be evenly matched. I let the mission run through several times without intervening and found they averaged to 60 RU, 55 US vehicles remaining after 3 hours. CA is enabled, so you can jump in a tank and do some damage if you want. There are ammo depots and supply trucks on each side. If you're curious how your team is doing, you can use the F10 menu to see remaining units on each side. If you get down to 15 minutes and have a few hidden enemy vehicles left, they pop red smoke so you can find them (to compensate for AI issues). RU Helos have a FARP just north of AO, and US helos are out of Creech (about same distance). There are Blacksharks and Gazelles available. I've been having a good time with this mission. I'll typically start F-15C and try to take out RUs air logistics. I then jump in an A-10C and clean up the dangerous ground units, then go to a KA-50 to do massive damage to soft targets. If there's anything left after that I'll jump into an M1 and go tanking. I can sometimes finish the mission by myself, with like 5 minutes to spare. Though, if someone jumps on RU and tries to block me, I can't get even 50% complete before the 3 hours are up. Here's an excerpt from blue tasking:

Well mvsgas, I was reviving a 5 month old thread to say that I'd experienced the same thing, and had a valid theory as to the cause. Your comment followed mine and contradicted it. Are you following me around with a contradictory stick? Keep that thing to yourself.

NO mvsgas.. you're right dude. My introspective and half joking, purposely illogical comment is thoroughly nullified by your pointedly contradictory statements which graciously clarify the obvious. Admirable. Moderator, feel free to delete the entire thread. It's like your grandpa spending five minutes explaining a simple one line joke.

No mvsgas; it's not about an audible response. It was that they said 'copy', but the countdown and repair never occurred. I'm the one who created the mission, so it's not a matter of bad code/practices. My answer was not a question, but rather an assist for FlightControl. St3vv3f, that's a superb idea.

Had this happen tonight. I was spooled down and all was set. Crew said "copy", but no countdown. I was just repairing to refresh my laser. Perhaps nothing happens if there's no real damage.

Yes, I've personally put a cigarette out in JP5 because I didn't believe it when they said in "A" school that it wouldn't ignite. I wonder if a countermeasure flare would ignite it though... I think probably.

I dropped flares accidentally while refueling. I fully expected to die a horrible fiery death.. Have mixed feelings about the fact that I did not.

And now he's back on the attack again after all these years.. And after I thought he'd finally seen the superior ways of the AP channel.. It's my duty to warn people away from your Trimmy corruption, Yurgon... :)

I brought one up too: IP: ts.strongharm.com:9987 pass: dcs

NP Blackwolf. Don't feel unique in the sense that proper use of the AP channels didn't come intuitively to you. Most of us started 'fixed wing' before the Shark, so we're used to a single AP channel that's either all on or all off. The Shark forces us to rethink this or 'become a slave to our trim'. (<looks around> .. that's what she said?).

Nice writeup BitMaster. I totally agree that high wind situations is really the only time I overuse trim. Else, I overuse AP rather than Trim. One sweet use I found for APaltitude is for popups: - Get behind some terrain within range of target -(I like to use ERBL for IP planning, since I can see altitudes, and I can also leave ERBL on so I can see the offplan heading to my ERBL cross) - Adjust Alt so it's level at 0 with APalt off while still masking terrain - Turn APalt on - Increase collective until you 'just start' to increase altitude (getting past the 20% authority) then back it down - Now, turn APalt OFF and you'll 'pop up above the terrain' - Turn APalt back on when you're just above terrain. - Get target lock without laser - Bottom collective out and turn APalt off until below terrain, then center collective and APalt back on - Alter lateral position and repeat above - On second popup from different position, lase and fire, then pop back down As I stated previously, learning to use the AP channels (on/off) to my benefit (rather than trim) has exponentially increased my effectiveness in the shark.