Refueling...

Does anyone know how to make the tanker go faster during refueling? Also can it be made to just fly straight and not break away as soon as its finished refueling? It sucks to have to chase the tanker down after one of my guys is done refueling... And it's WAY too slow lol

You have to go into the mission editor of the mission your flying and set the speed for the tanker to something higher than it is just now. You will have to edit the waypoint speed and the orbit speed.

The reason why it turns is because it will more than likely be set on a race track orbit... think about it.... if you want it to just fly straight, you'll end up in Turkey somewhere! :D

When a 'chick' is in tow the tanker makes reduced rate turns to make the contact and hold easier on the pilot connecting, once the refuel is complete the tanker pilot can then sharpen up his turn to get back to the set racetrack pattern dictated in the mission editor.

Mav

Check Dragons Training/mission's I found them to be just in the sweet spot for the A10. He has racetrack+orbit ones, check in his mission how he did it. ^^

for the most part when the tanker is in that racetrack turn its easy enough to stay connected.

99% of the time real world refueling is in a racetrack, only "straight" tracks I can think of is when flying over the pond.

The reason why it turns is because it will more than likely be set on a race track orbit... think about it.... if you want it to just fly straight, you'll end up in Turkey somewhere! :D

:megalol: :megalol: I need oxygen !!!

You can adjust the speed of the tanker in the ME... but you can't stop it from resuming its course after taking the light bank around the corner. Basically the AI is just trying to get back on its assigned course and unless you have radioed it to indicate a desire to refuel, it will maneuver aggressively.

I always waited for it to complete its sharper turn before I radioed in- that helps to prevent having to hookup while it's turning... or at least minimize the time it takes to get a good idea of how fast he's going. Easier for me since I suck at refuelling.

Stock speed (270 I think) is okay for lower altitude but I find anywhere above 15000, 290-300 is about right. Keep in mind that the higher you go the lower the apparent speed is going to appear.

no matter what I do, the tanker still flies the 'track' at 170 KIAS....

Not true. Most AR tracks are not Anchor Tracks ... I've done plenty of fighter drags, which as you mention, are usually over the pond. You are confusing the AR rendezvous (Point Parallel vs. Fighter Turn On) with the AR track (flight plan).

BTW ... NKAWTG! (Unless you're a Minuteman III)

You set the speed in the advanced waypoint actions, not in the waypoint data. There you will find the "Orbit"-line. Edit this and you will find the actual orbit speed. Keep in mind that this speed is the TAS and not IAS.

For example in my refueling training mission, tanker has a TAS of 270 kts (the value in the mission editor), but at rendezvous you I join him going 190 KIAS, that is at angels 22.

Following issues are known to me:

-instantly after connection, boom disconnects "transfer complete"

-tanker flies way above the orbiting altitude entered via the mission editor

-tanker can't be set to take off from airfield/ramp situation in mission editor, since the task attributes "tanker -a" and "tanker -a -ref" can't be set in the mission editor (does anyone know what "-a" and "-ref" tell?)

Hmmmmm- that might explain my current tanker issues in some missions... The fact that they can't be made to take off.

I have one mission with a specific track set- but the tanker just flies wherever it wants... And doesn't show up on tacan. Wonder if that contributes.

I'm going to try an air stat with it and see what happens.

Thanks rongor. Rep if that solves my problems!

Tanker should at least take off (with known ME mechanisms) and follow its track, also do the orbit. But the TACAN will remain silent and also the refueling mission won't be available.

Following issues are known to me:

-instantly after connection, boom disconnects "transfer complete"

I'm seeing the same problem. Mentioned it to those in the know..

Also, it seems that the AI A-10Cs don't have a problem staying connected and taking fuel..

EDIT - Scratch all that. The AI stays connected to the tanker for an impossibly long time, then I believe he ran out of fuel because he ejected while still on the boom! That caught me by surprise..

BeachAV8R

I have a problem with AAR too, I made a little video:

tnMe6t1epqU

One of the best missions for AAR is made by Sabre-TLA. I highly recommend you check it out.

Tanker should at least take off (with known ME mechanisms) and follow its track, also do the orbit. But the TACAN will remain silent and also the refueling mission won't be available.

True... it should- but I know in at least one of my missions it goes rogue and flies right into enemy territory where it is dutifully shot down by SAMs.

Anyway, maybe not related.

I get the bug issues, but why let it fly faster? A10 is slow, so tanker flys slow...

@Otto: Aim for the engines ^^

When flying the Sunset Sierra mission, what frequency should I be using to hail the tanker and what altitude will it be flying at? Any help greatly appreciated.

open the mission file in the mission editor. there take a look into the units list. klick on the tanker and read out its frequency displayed somewhere on the right.

I get the bug issues, but why let it fly faster? A10 is slow, so tanker flys slow...

 

@Otto: Aim for the engines ^^

If not adjusted, the tanker stock speed (270) will result in an indicated airspeed of just under 190 at 15000 feet (a practical and common refuelling altitude.

190 will result in rather sluggish performance for the A-10- especially if fully loaded... while fighters will struggle regardless of payload.

The tanker doesn't need to zip around at top speed... but bumping it up so the indicated airspeed at altitude is 210-215 doesn't hurt either. If you're having a hard time keeping up then... perhaps it's time to evaluate exactly how many groceries you're carrying home from market.

aaa, the sweet old art of AAR .. i've been blowing up tankers since 1997 when Jane's F-15E came out.. 1st try failed, 2 try failed, 3 try i blow up the tanker )) ..

what i miss in this situation is a function to make the joystick much less sensitive so a full pitch movement would make it move let's say 1 degree per second and not the normal 20-40 degrees per second.. i don't know if such "function" exists in real fighter jets but it would be nice since small movement of joystic when flying fast usually mean big deviation from the nozzle you try to get to and connect..

i don't know if such "function" exists in real fighter jets but it would be nice since small movement of joystic when flying fast usually mean big deviation from the nozzle you try to get to and connect..

It doesn't, but then real fighter controls have far greater travel available that most desktop sticks. Apart from the F-16...

aaa, the sweet old art of AAR .. i've been blowing up tankers since 1997 when Jane's F-15E came out.. 1st try failed, 2 try failed, 3 try i blow up the tanker )) ..

 

what i miss in this situation is a function to make the joystick much less sensitive so a full pitch movement would make it move let's say 1 degree per second and not the normal 20-40 degrees per second.. i don't know if such "function" exists in real fighter jets but it would be nice since small movement of joystic when flying fast usually mean big deviation from the nozzle you try to get to and connect..

I would suspect that you are looking for the curvature settings in options | controls | select aircraft sim | select axis |then X or Y Axis | then Tune. You can set the amount of saturation and input the joystick has to the aircraft. Caution: This does change the dynamics and flight characteristics of the aircraft so the rule of thumb is as little adjustment as you can handle. As you get more comfortable with the feel of the aircraft adjust the curvatures back to center ever so slowly without loose the stability of your formation flying. The tanker is a good solid pilot to formation fly at 5-10 ft off the wing as he will be the most stable. if you can hold pattern with him at 5-10 through out one rotation then your curvature are set correctly.

thanks

76th Capt. Falcon.

If not adjusted, the tanker stock speed (270) will result in an indicated airspeed of just under 190 at 15000 feet (a practical and common refuelling altitude.

 

190 will result in rather sluggish performance for the A-10- especially if fully loaded... while fighters will struggle regardless of payload.

 

The tanker doesn't need to zip around at top speed... but bumping it up so the indicated airspeed at altitude is 210-215 doesn't hurt either. If you're having a hard time keeping up then... perhaps it's time to evaluate exactly how many groceries you're carrying home from market.

Makes sense that the behaviour of a fully loaded A10 is not really good at about 186 kias, but why would you fly a fully loaded A10... You'll have this "sluggish" performance at ME's standard tanker speed and have a rather sluggish performance at missile evasion