Diesel_Thunder

I had something similar last year, and it turned out I was using the intercom instead of the correct mic switch for the correct radio. What radio are you tuning, and what mic switch are you using? You mentioned mic switch fwd, is the via keyboard or a HOTAS? What radio is that mapped to in your controls page?

This must be a new change then (I've had the Viper since spring of last year), as this was not normal behavior that I have been accustomed to. Starting to wonder if the formation light knob is now set to full by default on a cold and dark start. I haven't ever touched that knob for normal ops before, just used the switches, and the master mode and strobe knobs.

Correct as is? How in the world is this correct? The lights are switched off, yet still appear as if they are turned on. They also follow the flashing and dim switch settings. Nothing should be lit, or cast light, if they are switched off. EDIT: The formation knob position caused the lighting confusion. New post below.

Was practicing AAR last night and noticed that the probe does not line up with the basket when it is connected and taking fuel. Don't recall seeing it do this before. Forgot to save the track, but did grab a screenshot:

Noticed this last night when I was flying in multiplayer. Preparing for an air to air engagement I turned off my lights. After a few minutes I noticed that it looked like my nav lights (wing,tail, fuselage) were still on. I double checked my switch settings and looked again and saw that the lights themselves were indeed turned off, but the reflections were still showing as if they were on. It would also follow the switch settings for the most part. Light master switch OFF or NORM - reflections are present When set to flash, the reflections would flash. The reflections would also follow the bright/dim switch setting as well. I don't have a track as I was in multiplayer, but can post one if needed. Here are some screenshots showing this: Two more screenshots:

I use Open Track, which uses a modified Playstation PS-Eye camera and a USB powered IR LED head clip. Cost me around $40 and 2 hours of my time to modify the camera and set everything up. No complaints and it is way better than using a mouse or keyboard for changing your view. Can see the CDU or any of the side panels much easier.

Your AoA gauge (to the left of the HSI) comes in real handy for times when you don’t need max power. There are three bands marked off on that gauge for quick reference. The first is at 15-16 units AoA meant for efficient cruising (maximum distance). The 17-18 band is for maximum endurance (loiter time). The 19-21 band is for approach and landing.

For an iPad, no I haven't found one myself yet. Not sure how much more difficult it is to develop apps for IOS, but there sure isn't a lot of DCS apps for the iPad. However, if you have an android tablet sitting around, DCS UFC is right up your alley. You don't even need one that is very powerful. I repurposed one of my kids Amazon Fire tablets (a gen 5 I think), and it runs great. Lot's of panels for the modern DCS aircraft, including the Hornet. The guy who wrote is here on the forums too. He wrote two apps, DCS UFC, and the AOA Indexer. The indexer app is free, and works great to work out the kinks and get a tablet set up and running correctly. The UFC app is $12 and well worth it's price.

That airstrip is also only 1,500 feet long. For DCS purposes, you'd only want to use a chopper on that island.

Pavement and concrete last a very long time in the tropics, as you don't have to worry about freezes causing issues with cracks and/or subsurface displacement. Overgrowth tends to cause most problems once it's left alone. The airstrip on Pagan is only 1,500 feet long though. Not terribly useful for nearly all fixed wing DCS aircraft.

I'm running a GTX-980, and framerate in the Marianas are mostly smooth for me. The area where it will start to stutter for me is the central area of Guam, especially around Tumon and Tamuning (the highly populated area to the west of the International Airport). Really see it stutter down low, no matter what aircraft I am in, and it improves the higher you are. Above 5k feet and it doesn't stutter much, if at all. The update on October 20th really smoothed out the landscape. It's also runs smoother on my machine, minus the area I mentioned above. It's an awesome map, and one that will get better and better over time. I may not have a high horsepower PC, and it does not hurt my enjoyment of this map one bit.

Not paracord, it’s bungee cord. Most pilots use it to hold down charts, papers, and similar items out of the way so they don’t end up loose inside the cockpit.

I get that, and that is how it works normally. The point is having empty externals in the first place. Yes, though fuel can’t flow into a full tank. Being able to start with them empty keeps you from having to deal with 5K lbs of gas (bags on 4/6) that you may not have wanted to deal with. I have a few missions that I set up where I can practice aerial refueling in my fleet of aircraft. I didn’t see the point of empties on the Tomcat at first until I started learning to refuel that bird. It gives more time on the hose and also makes you have to compensate for an aircraft that is gaining a lot of weight at the same time.

I agree, would be nice to have a separate slider for externals. Having the option of empty external tanks would be nice in the meantime.

That slider only affects the internal tanks. It does not change the quantity in the bags, whether it’s on 4/6 or centerline. Anytime you put on externals, it comes full of gas.

Would like to request empty external tanks as a loadout option. The Tomcat has these as an option in the loadout menu, and makes for a bit better practice when doing aerial refueling.

The Tomcat can select empty or full tanks in the loadout menu, one can even take one empty and one full one. I’d like the option for empties also. For one, doing CQ as mentioned above. A second reason is for practicing aerial refueling. Having empties there gives more time for practice as you need to stay on the hose longer and compensate a little more as the weight increases.

This should help for your first question: And yes, you use full throttle and supplement as needed with the turbo. Big thing to pay attention to as well is not ever allowing the engine to be windmilled so you aren’t damaging the crankshaft bearings.

Viking has very limited fuel capacity. A Tomcat with or without bags carries more fuel than the S3 can. S3 in refuel configuration has its internal tanks and one external tank typically on the right wing, and the refuel pod on the left. Total fuel was around 15K. Sounds like your getting all the fuel you can from the S3 before it hits its reserve. For full tanks on your Tomcat, you’ll have to get gas from either a KC-130 or the KC-135 MPRS.

Also, the probe extend switch has three positions. Retracted, extend internal, and extend external. If it was only in the extend internal (1st click), then only the internals get filled regardless if you have bags on or not. Extend external fills all tanks.

Trim like in the Mustang. Rudder trim first to eliminate the slip, then deal with aileron/elavator trim. If you don’t trim the rudder/side slip first you’ll be all over the place and the aircraft will have more induced drag.

Used to be worse: All of these were taken when I ran through the F-5 tutorials last year.

I punch in our mission waypoints during alignment all the time, though it depends on where the aircraft is. Shore alignment I punch in the aircraft position first (lat, long, altitude, mag var) and then our waypoints. On the boat I’ll initiate the datalink CVA alignment and then enter the waypoints. Biggest thing to remember is paying attention to what CAP page you are on so you don’t mistakenly screw up the alignment process. For the CLEAR button, I use it once when entering a coordinate set (lat and long), or if I make a mistake.

Something I noticed between both the last patch and the current one (open beta), is that the test lights on the IFF still work even if the IFF is switched off entirely. Having worked on this piece of equipment during my time in the military (not in the Tomcat, but same IFF controller for shipboard installation), that is not how that light works at all. If the master switch (upper right knob) is off, then the system is powered off and the lights should not light up at all. Here's a screenshot showing this. The master switch is off and I am pushing the test light down. It should not be lit, yet it is anyway.

Another aspect of this is that driving the supercharger in high gear also uses more power from the engine. Up at altitude the power gain vs the power needed to drive the compressor is worth it. However it hurts at low altitude as you are dealing with denser air. You end up with a double whammy where the compressor is using more of the engines power instead of going into the prop, and you have to back off the throttle to avoid overboosting the engine meaning that your engine is already making less power to start with. Not a good combination. Having one control for both engines also allows for both engines to do the supercharger gear change at the same time, which keeps the power level similar between both engines. If each engine had separate controls, one engine may switch gears at a different time than the other leading to a power difference between the engines and asymetrical thrust.