DCS World 1.2.16 - F-15c (DCS world only module not FC3) Attempt A2A Refueling

Greetings guys,

I'm getting so much desperate :) I've been out of flying from the Sims for about a year and out of DCS for a few years (used to fly just before DCS World came out and there was only A10c, right after the merge of the BlackSharks and A-10c on the same servers) I'm getting so much anxious until F/A-18 comes out that i got back to fly the F-15 C... i used to be able to refuel with the A-10c, hard but i was able to as you can see with the bwlow link of a vid i made with some tricks to help felow virtual squadron back then. But now, with the Eagle i'm having such a hard time, i can't connect for mpre than 30 seconds and that, doesn't happen much, and this happebs, when i am able to connect. Here a Track of me, trying for over 25 min to get a connection but none, nada, niet, rien! :( I watched back the track as F2 Camera view selected on the Tanker so i get a stable view of my bird trying to fly formation, it wasn't that bad, so many times i was clsoe to but nothing, i suck so much at refueling that it gets me frustrated or makes me feel dumb! lol But on Youtube people seems to be able to do it real easy :cry:

A-10c refueling back then:

And here's the Track of my flight.

Havent tried to A2ARF in a while with the f15 but if you have duel throttles just use one side to help..

As far as youtube if they are older videos the f15 use to have scripting once you where contacted you could walk away and forget about it and it will fuel.

Don't look at the boom ..fly formation with the tanker , remember that in the f 15 has the refueling "hole" on the left side not right in front of you so it's slightly harder for the first time.

Now with our current AI system, you must be careful because sometimes the AI boom operator does nothing even if it's in the ideal position so take a quick look at the boom from time to time when you are close and you get no contact. If the boom operator is having a beer instead of dealing with your f 15 , go back and reset the boom.

Be careful where you stand and how high from the tanker you stand ( after refueling the AI suddenly drops the boom down so it can kill you (you just blow out of the sky because the upper part of the boom is collidable.)

One thing to avoid this is to be slightly lower than normal and fly formation slightly on the right side of the tanker. Remember the first 2 or 3 times it's hard .. after that it's easy as pie.

If you feel that you can't control so many aspects like altitude etc , use altitude stabilizer autopilot when you have reached the optimal altitude and go from there.

Another thing but i guess that you already know this if you made air ref in the a 10(did not watched your vid, no time :(), micro adjustments on the throttle and very careful with the rudders!

Keep in mind that the F 15 has more powerful engines so the micro adjustments that you made in the a 10 are 2 much on this bird also when you are going to be full of kerosen the plane will be little harder to control (especially when you have 3 bags) so you know how it goes with DCS ....PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE.

After you have coupled with the boom, take a reference point (ex: tanker's engines) and keep them still on your monitor; if your speed is a little lower or higher than the speed of the tanker, the boom will disconnect due to drifting away or moving forward too much. The same goes for lateral movement.

One thing i use is to lock the tanker in TWS and read the speed difference between the 2 planes .. it must be 0 if the speed goes to -1 you are too slow and you must add power and so on.

I hope that all this helped you at least a bit, sry for my bad english, good luck.

There is an existing bug in DCS when using refuelling in Single Player or as the host of a mission that causes the boom operator to only extend the boom but not actually move it to connect with the receiver.

Refuelling is still possible however it is just more difficult in SP or as the host because you as the pilot have to manually connect yourself (sounds harder than it actually is). It takes some practice but after a while it becomes very do-able to connect with no help from the boom operator.

You can make it easier by joining the Virtual Aerobatics Server and take an Eagle up to their tanker and see how you get on as a client, or ask a friend to host your mission for you. You should notice a very positive difference with regards to the time it takes to connect providing you are in the correct position.

Once connected all you should be focusing on are the PDL lights (Pilot Director Lights) on the tanker, when those lights change position you have do something to react to this. As long as you do something positive to react to the lights changing... eg, if your Vertical Light drops a bar then start to slowly climb, then staying connected for long periods of time becomes routine and more manageable!

When I am connected to the tanker I am constantly saying to myself in my head "relax... just relax and react.... relax....relax", every 10 seconds or so!

I advise my pilots to do the same when we train AAR, its very easy to mildly panic once you are connected and get all out of shape. The key is to keep reminding yourself to relax, you have already done the hard work, now all you need to do is stay in the same place! ... Focus on the lights and react to them.

I've made some refuel videos in the past, check out this first one which is a tutorial on where to position your aircraft (F-15C) and how to approach the tanker, I also explain how the PDL lights work.

This second video is demo of a 11,000lbs transfer at night with a left orbit turn, notice how I am always watching the PDL lights.

Hope this helps, good luck!

;2445406']There is an existing bug in DCS when using refuelling in Single Player or as the host of a mission that causes the boom operator to only extend the boom but not actually move it to connect with the receiver.

 

Refuelling is still possible however it is just more difficult in SP or as the host because you as the pilot have to manually connect yourself (sounds harder than it actually is). It takes some practice but after a while it becomes very do-able to connect with no help from the boom operator.

 

You can make it easier by joining the Virtual Aerobatics Server and take an Eagle up to their tanker and see how you get on as a client, or ask a friend to host your mission for you. You should notice a very positive difference with regards to the time it takes to connect providing you are in the correct position.

 

Once connected all you should be focusing on are the PDL lights (Pilot Director Lights) on the tanker, when those lights change position you have do something to react to this. As long as you do something positive to react to the lights changing... eg, if your Vertical Light drops a bar then start to slowly climb, then staying connected for long periods of time becomes routine and more manageable!

 

When I am connected to the tanker I am constantly saying to myself in my head "relax... just relax and react.... relax....relax", every 10 seconds or so!

 

I advise my pilots to do the same when we train AAR, its very easy to mildly panic once you are connected and get all out of shape. The key is to keep reminding yourself to relax, you have already done the hard work, now all you need to do is stay in the same place! ... Focus on the lights and react to them.

 

 

I've made some refuel videos in the past, check out this first one which is a tutorial on where to position your aircraft (F-15C) and how to approach the tanker, I also explain how the PDL lights work.

 

 

 

 

This second video is demo of a 11,000lbs transfer at night with a left orbit turn, notice how I am always watching the PDL lights.

 

 

Hope this helps, good luck!

Thanks all for the replies! But, Mav, you're the man! When i posted on here my main goal was to hear about a possible bug, or people watching my Track and see the behavior, because each track i'Ve wachted of me trying to refuel always made me questionned, each time i was close to the boom near but the tank the boom was acting weird by shaking or not moving as if i had to always fly right on spot, no boom much activity, and your note about SP bug got my attention, i tried making my mission as MP with 2 players aircraft, and still no joy, couldn't connect more than a min, and no reconnect even though as l always do and did before posting here, watching the lights closely on the tanker, both light cented etc... so for me there was a problem there... so i then decided to try out the server you mentionned as to try SP without being the Host.

To make a long story short....

Got my hand to save time on a already airborn F-15c, but with low fuel, so i tried to intercept one of the tankers, but no AWACS :( and no Tacan on the F-15, so witht he direction from the MAP in F10 i was able to find with the radar the Tanker, bug it on TWS knowing it was a tanker at 17k feet.. all went well and wasy as usual and intercept it, but lol had the bingo fuel on for a while, as i close in, pre-contact and all, the second i made contact, the master caution light went on and BAM, the tanker went flying fast away from me because i was out of fuel! lol damn it, ejecting and retry with another bird, this time, i landed, refueled 75% on the ground, took off and re-intercept the tanker.. and guess what? My tank was about 1/2 full, with 3-4 contacts i was able to get my « Transfer complete » from the tanker, got connected way longer than my earlier tries on SP, right with both greens centered as i was expected in SP before, so i confirm, SP or MP as host boom is bugged. :( Thanks a lot. :pilotfly:

;2445406']There is an existing bug in DCS when using refuelling in Single Player or as the host of a mission that causes the boom operator to only extend the boom but not actually move it to connect with the receiver.

Hi Mav!

I just saw this post and was wondering if the bug was fixed or if it is still on?

Also, does this bug apply for the A-10C as well?

Thanks in advance!

Hi Mav!

 

I just saw this post and was wondering if the bug was fixed or if it is still on?

 

Also, does this bug apply for the A-10C as well?

 

 

 

Thanks in advance!

I'm pretty sure the issue is with the tanker itself, irrespective of the modules.

I'm pretty sure the issue is with the tanker itself, irrespective of the modules.

Yeah, I was thinking the same, but wanted to confirm :cry:

well this bug is really starting to piss me off, can't even refuel in my missions i create or even can't when hosting a mission and fly with my buddies... really an anoying bug.... :( can't wait til this is fixed, i even tried lots of different options on the process or even in the mission editor trying to find a kinda bypass with this bug and noting happwns, sigh :)) i had to talk about it to let my little frustration comes out :)

Joining the tanker on the RIGHT side is wrong. Here are the KC-135 procedures. The procedure 2 with refueling observer is the one to be used on the current simulated tanker for A-10C and F-15C.

Joining - Probe and Drogue Tankers

a. Observation Position. The left-hand side of the tanker is allocated for joining aircraft, unless the lead tanker directs otherwise. The exact location of the observation position is dependent upon the availability of rearward facing observers or boom operators that can monitor the receivers; see the Tanker’s Nation Annex for tanker configuration.

(1) Tankers Without Refueling Observers. Where the tanker has no rearward facing observers, the receivers must move forward ahead of the wingline to the observation position in order to be seen and identified by the tanker pilots. See Figure 1-1.

(2) Tankers With Refueling Observers. Where the tanker has rearward facing

observers or boom operators, the observation position is behind the wingline of the tanker.

See Figure 1-2.

Fig 1-1

Fig 1-2

Joining the tanker on the RIGHT side is wrong. Here are the KC-135 procedures. The procedure 2 with refueling observer is the one to be used on the current simulated tanker for A-10C and F-15C.

 

Joining - Probe and Drogue Tankers

a. Observation Position. The left-hand side of the tanker is allocated for joining aircraft, unless the lead tanker directs otherwise. The exact location of the observation position is dependent upon the availability of rearward facing observers or boom operators that can monitor the receivers; see the Tanker’s Nation Annex for tanker configuration.

 

(1) Tankers Without Refueling Observers. Where the tanker has no rearward facing observers, the receivers must move forward ahead of the wingline to the observation position in order to be seen and identified by the tanker pilots. See Figure 1-1.

 

(2) Tankers With Refueling Observers. Where the tanker has rearward facing

observers or boom operators, the observation position is behind the wingline of the tanker.

See Figure 1-2.

 

Fig 1-1

 

 

Fig 1-2

 

 

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Wow nice, i was looking for this

For a while :) i always try fly like the thing and procedures, this will be fun :)

Well after a few weeks of different practice with the F-15c, new to air-air combat and stuff, i haven't refueld much since a week or 2, but i finaly got easy with refueling as host or single player with the bug :) Thanks to Mav with his queue and stuff. I simply never was able to refuel with flying at start the PDFL though, i hve to be a bit higher and i found it a bit easier to get a visuel reference on the tanker itself than the boom since it's moving.

Here's a little Tutorial i've made which explain a biit the bug for who doesn't know and come across this post and for those who might came across youtube video only. Not perfect, but it does it. :)

I wonder if it this will be fixed in 1.5 :(

Does anyone know if this bug applies to all aircraft?

Well with 1.5 beta out, confirmed, bug is still there, really sad.

Well can you believe that... well i don't. I haven't flown the F-15c since the week i posted this up, and today i decided to make a small video refueling all aircraft in DCS, well guess what, as surprises as i was flying the F-15C after about 1.5-2 years, i discovered this bug is still not fixed, using latest 1.5.4.xxxx patch, unbelievable. :) I guess trying to develop 3 DCS world versions (1.5 beta, 1.5 open, 2.0 alpha and 2.5) is asking too much time to fix things in all versions... ;) I'm always a patient person and understand the issues of game developpement, bug for a bug been out for that long and not fixed, i got to admit the 3 times i exploded trying to connect directly to the boom made me swear instead of flying as real thing the lights on the tanker and the AI doing it's part of the job... guess AI are better at not loosing sight of us through mountains and building than they are better to move the Boom around :P Guess i'll have to hop online to do my video using the F-15c since it's not bugged online as Client, but, that, if the Time out connection bugs allows me to. lol :P