Search the Community

I'm making a dedicated thread on a throttle nozzle quadrant build that I'm working on. This is something that started a while ago with a pretty detailed design effort that was put on hold for two reasons: 1. my 3D printer was having issues that needed to be investigated, and 2. designing the throttle grip was quickly determined to be too difficult based on the information I had at the time. Since then I have bought a new 3d printer and the old one has now been stripped down for parts for the quadrant. I have also stumbled across several excellent photos from @mattjonesgr9 that were posted on a UFC build thread. This is now enough, along with a short break in work travel madness, to allow me to hit this project hard again. I'm hoping I can keep enough momentum to get a working prototype finished in a few weeks. These are the original renderings of the quadrant enclosure assembly: I did manage to print out this first grip effort, but it was so far off the mark, I didn't know where to start. Since then I have come up with this design for the shell: Whilst not perfect, for a solid body, it's close enough. I've also scaled down the component by a factor of 0.9 as the printed version felt a tad too big for an ungloved hand. This first prototype won't be made of sheet metal as originally planned, but will be assembled from 2020 extruded aluminium and 3D printed parts. I will also be using a hall effect sensor for each of the three rotating axis instead of potentiometers.

Hi All, Long story short, after buying a 3D printer over Christmas I thought I'd get to grips with how to generally design things and how to print them. I've learnt over the past 3-4 weeks that my 3D printer (Anycubic Chiron) can be a cruel mistress and be very unforgiving. :( Before I tackle the F-18's UFC which is my main aim, I thought I'd have a go at the AV-8B NA UFC and see how far I get. I know Brun has designed a UFC, and as great as it is, I've struggled printing it at home. I've printed it 5-6 times with various Cura settings and each time I'm not happy with the results. I think one of the main issues I've found is that it has to be printed with supports. Its worth noting that I bought it off Shapeways about a year ago and have been using it ever since then, it truly is a great bit of CAD. From the images, it's pretty clear to see my progress; I fly mainly in VR so I don't have much use for panels etc to be back lit. All the components (UFC housing, UFC itself, R & L cautionary panels, buttons & HUD control panel) are separate and can be easily printed without the need for supports. I've decided to create and use my own buttons as I like the feel of 6mm tactile switches, it makes the designing process easier when trying to avoid printing with supports and I also think it makes for a more life-like reproduction (aesthetically). I've managed to find someone on eBay who's printed the UFC button stickers for me so I didn't have to create 25+ individual buttons which I think will be a real time saver. All other hardware that this is designed to be used with (toggle switches, rotary knobs and pots are standard off-the-shelf eBay stuff so they should be very easy to acquire I'm planning on sharing the STLs once I've added a few finishing touches but wanted to share it here to get any feedback prior to publishing. Anyhow, let me know what you think! Av8B UFC Complete.zip Thanks!

Greetings, The Virtual Airforce (VAF) is a virtual fighter squadron that operates in DCS. We are a milsim-lite group focused on multi-airframe operations and camaraderie. Our well-established European wing boasts an average member age of 30+, creating a mature environment. VAF currently has operational squadrons flying the F-15E, F-16C, F/A-18C, AV8B.We recently opened a dedicated F-4E Phantom II squadron as well. Twice weekly, these squadrons conduct a mix of formal training and operational deployments. We are currently only Recruiting EU and British pilots for our AV8B, F-16 and F-4E squadrons. We welcome experienced pilots to lead additional airframes. We also seek dedicated ATC controllers - ground, tower, approach, GCI, and JTAC - to establish a controller unit within VAF. This key role has proven difficult to fill. If our squadron appeals to you, please connect with me for introductions. We look forward to welcoming fellow aviators and controllers into our ranks! Please note we fly at 8PM UK time, and currently do not have an American wing within VAF.

I'm going to be building a full scale AV-8B Harrier simpit in my basement. I'm starting an "OpenHarrier" group and plan to share all files I create for the greater good of the hobby. For the past couple of months I have spent countless hours building up a CAD model in FreeCAD. I want to use as much free and open source software tools as I can over using paid software. I'm not planning on selling anything, and sharing is caring. Anyway, here's what I've got going so far. The construction geometry is only draft placeholder stuff for right now, as I figure out the size and materials that I'm going to use to recreate the different pieces. I have a long way to go. I hope to start actual wood construction in about 1-2 months and I will certainly be sharing my models by then. For now, here's a taste:

https://discord.gg/sySYqKEw2M Combined Joint Task Force Theta is a US-based DCS tactical realism group with an emphasis on joint air/land/sea multi-national operations. As a tactical realism group, our focus is on the employment of realistic military tactics and doctrine. The group’s main activity are handcrafted campaigns. Campaign missions are run on a weekly to bi-weekly basis. Most often the campaigns depict realistic military operations, but we are not above more fantastical plots on rare occasions. CJTF-Theta does not have mandatory attendance policies. We understand the fact that life sometimes gets in the way of pastimes. The group also does not stipulate that we be the only DCS community that you participate with. If you are interested in joining, want to learn more, or just want to pop in now and then for a flight connect with us via our Discord linked beneath. Any other DCS communities interested in participating in our campaigns, events, or connecting for any other reason are welcome to reach out to us as well. null CLICK ME! https://discord.gg/sySYqKEw2M

Hello, good morning, afternoon or evening, today I come to talk about a problem that has been around forever, which is the issue of height editing in waypoints, that when you try to set as for example 20000 in the mfd question marks appear or directly put 0, and in the ufc comes a random number from 6093 to below, I can not currently upload a trk file but I have a video unfortunately in Spanish from a well-known channel in our community that shows the problem, in minute 7:08 to 7:14

Hello, good morning, afternoon or evening, I would like to talk about a problem that has been practically forever and has to do with external sounds, that is, about the ratio of sharpness of the sound x rpm. As seen in real life, the harrier has a very low sound that raises the sharpness a lot when raising rpm which in dcs has not been simulated, the sound is perfect, but we only need to polish that, I do not know if it has not been I was able to program by the dcs sound engine, but if I'm wrong or not it would be fine if everything is made clear in this discussion, thanks

Hi friends! I want to know if is there any place to share projects to build in home? I am starting this topic with the intention to share my projet in the future and colaborate with community's projects. I am doing this display with arduino leonardo and a 9,7 hdmi display. The bezel will be backlighted too, so it start from a white material, receive paint and translucent label. I am also working in a force feedback control with 775 dc motors, arduino and optical encoder. you can see a planetary to colect three motors torque in the image above The flight control project will contemplate, ailerons and elevators controls, also rudder.

Hey there, I'm writing this post, as I thought some newer users may appreciate it, or a sort of PSA if you will. The learning curve involved with DCS, as well as learning your aircraft of choice is a massive task to undertake. As much as it is inspiring to watch a DCS YouTuber effortlessly dogfight your favourite plane or dodging SAMs, it is also quite daunting learning how to get to that same point of skill. Perhaps you've found yourself mixing your training between haphazardly referring to the manuals, scouring forums, and YouTube videos. You're getting to the point in which you've played most of the instant action scenarios and some of the free missions, and feel like you need to take it further; and the option of multiplayer seems more attractive. However, unlike dogfighting against computers, you're operating alongside(or perhaps against) humans, which can feel like a quantum shift. You may be considering online squadrons, but nervous about your skill level in relation to theirs. Believe me when I say this, the vast majority of squadrons love to have more people share in their hobby, and take great pride in training people up. The great advantage of multiplayer, and by extension online squadrons, is the added value of learning, community, and most importantly immersion. When I first considered multiplayer, I was quite apprehensive, but once I joined I never looked back, and my flight simulation hobby is vastly enriched because of it. Learning: This can be a sticking point for newer people, since they feel that they aren't adequately experienced, or not good enough for an online group. This may be counter-intuitive, but in some scenarios, being less knowledgeable and joining a squadron to learn can be better. Ultimately while you're in single player, you don't know what you don't know, whereas when you train with other people, they can immediately identify what you need to learn, or what's not going right. Most DCS modules are extremely complex, and frankly the learning process for all of us never ends; we're all just at different points in that journey. As a newer user, you will massively benefit yourself to join a squadron as they can tailor your training requirements. Additionally, many instructors enjoy teaching, and it further enriches their hobby. The core note here is that you won't be burdening anyone from whatever experience level you're starting from, and most instructors love to teach anyway. Community: This may seem marginally obvious, but actually having people to share in your hobby is great. Flight simulation, let alone the DCS community is quite niche, it's not like you can easily have fellow hobbyists down the road. Instead communities are globalised over the internet as we're all spread few and far in between. Thanks to platforms like Discord, the value of community within a flying group is far greater in which you can jump in and talk to your fellow squadron mates seamlessly. Since I've been part of DCAF, I have made some great friends, and I enjoy being able to share my hobby with likeminded people. Immersion: At the end of the day, the value of flying with other humans rather than AI can't be understated. Whether flying with a human RIO or operating as a flight(or both!), the immersion offered is unparalleled. I'm still always impressed when I'm part of a flight of four in parade formation, as we all collectively work together. Or when you all go into a mission, splash some bandits and return to the carrier, the sense of achievement at the end of it is exceptional, because you all had to work together and thoroughly plan what you were going to do, and reaped the rewards of it. I often find going back to single player scenarios feel rigid and too 'sterile' now, since the only human component is yourself. Like what I was saying over learning and community, flying as part of a group fundamentally enriches the hobby. If you're still unsure, feel free to contact myself either here (or Discord), as well as some newer members who fly with me. This can be a good opportunity to scope out what it's like to join a flying group. We're all part of DCAF(Digital Coalition Air Force): Me: Panny#2973 Vak(halfway through training on the F-14): Aisxos#8894 Deivid(also in training on the F-14): Deivid#3419 Brody(recently finished training and is a line pilot): brodyzach#1944 You can also visit our Discord should you wish: https://discord.gg/RrzuvXXd9M Otherwise, if you're interested in my group, I fly with DCAF(Digital Coalition Air Force) as an F-14 instructor, and would love to help more guys out. We also have F-16 Fighting Falcon, F/A-18C Hornet and AV-8B squadrons, who will be delighted to take on more people. You can read about us here: And here: https://dcafoc.wixsite.com/home Or jump onto our Discord!: https://discord.gg/RrzuvXXd9M I hope for those entering on their journey with DCS, this post can at least alleviate a few concerns about the online paradigm. Cheers, Peter

Question to VR Harrier Drivers out there: Just got a Quest 2 and couldn't be happier! Things are pretty well sorted out for me in the F/A-18 (though always tweaking to get it better). Harrier looks great and is a blast to fly in VR as well, but I have one issue: When doing Cold Start or Shut Down, I have a lot of trouble "reaching" the switches and controls at the back of the panels. Ejection Seat Safe, OBOGS, DECM, Fuel Cutoff lever etc.. Seems like my head tracking doesn't work that far even when I crank myself around and when I try to get the mouse back there it kicks the dreaded "WINDOW IS NOT THE FOCUS" error. I have the checkbox in DCS VR for keeping the Mouse within Window Boundaries so I don't know why it keeps kicking the focus out. Happens in the F/A-18 as well, but for that the head tracking pointer works great, and I have been using THIS METHOD: Any ideas for a setting? Mask maybe?

Hello all, I'm inviting anyone who would like to participate to an AIN ship operations multi-player mission. We are going to run it on Caucasus map with no mods. There will be 4 big ships, super carrier, non super carrier, Tarawa, and Kutz for the flanker pilots. The mission will have active csar/ctld so the helo pilots can do plane guard duty while the jets do flight operations. AIN will have tutors for all the fixed wing, and at least a few of the helicopter models. There will be a few low threat level ground targets so people can practice that as well. We haven't yet set an exact time and date for this training, as we're going to run it several times, and we'll likely leave the server open and without a password while this mission runs. So come out and hop in your favorite aircraft and do some carrier practice. The tacans will work, as will the ICLS so you can even do automatic carrier landings in your tomcat. There will be tankers up with active TACANs and easy comms will be enabled. The mission will be "AIN Ship operations" in multi-player. Here is the link to our discord.https://discord.gg/JuBydbsfDn More information will be forthcoming, and I'll will add to this post. We hope you'll show up regardless of your flight experince level. We'll see you in the skies!

Video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3w20af70gzmgkt9/Rudder Trim Bug.mkv?dl=0 Track: https://www.dropbox.com/s/7a6ztzcwfxpurb1/Rudder Trim Bug Track.trk?dl=0 On the ground, aircraft powered up and configured for take off, rudder trim behaviour is as expected. I.e. when either rudder trim: - switch is clicked with mouse, - default keybindings are pressed, or - bound jostick switch is used The rudder trim gauge moves in the correct direction, the pilots feet and pedals move in the correct direction, and the rudder control surface moves in the correct directions. When the aircraft is airborne and configured for flight, none of the above actions result in any rudder control deflection or indication. Rudder Trim Bug Track.trk

Hello all, this post was made on request from Alpha Juliet on the Razbam discord, I'll try to encompass everything I can to make this a good bug report. Thanks for the hard work Razbam! TL;DR The main 2 issues are that in the "HUD only view"(HOV, LAlt + F1) some MPCD pages are semi-transparent, with the second issue being the ODU, cipher/encrypted radios, and the main UFC displays including the 2 main radios. This happens in regardless of mission start parameters(Cold, hot, tracks even). This video shows the main problems and is the best visual representation I could make. I will go into more detail into both of these in two separate sections. Transparency Issue The first thing I noticed was that some pages are either fully transparent(EW page), semi-transparent(FLIR, EHSD), or opaque like they should be(TPOD). The fully transparent pages include the EW page, CAS page, STRS page, ENG page, CONF page, and the COMM page, and of course the menu/emer menu. A special page that sort of fits here is the HUD repeater page, which shows nothing when in HOV(probably because theres already the HUD in the view. All of these pages have the green lettering, text, symbols, etc but have completely transparent backgrounds that show the terrain/water in front of the aircraft. The semi-transparent pages include the FLIR page, the EHSD page, and the DMT. These have semi-transparent backgrounds in which the terrain/water makes viewing the video or in the case of the EHSD the moving map nearly impossible to read. Much like the fully transparent pages however, all of the text on these pages are fully readable and opaque. The fully opaque pages include solely the TPOD page. This is where the TPOD video can be seen clearly and fully blocks the background. This is how I think all of the pages should be in this mode, and I have no problems with it. If anything, it's the best page to have working ;D This video was from a track that I recorded and cropped and it highlights the issues with the EHSD primarily. The TPOD footage looks decent(it being opaque and all) but the EHSD moving map is unreadable. Overlay Issue There are 5 main sub-screens that get overlayed on the right MFCD in HOV. First of note being the two cipher/encrypted radio displays, the ODU, UFC, and the two main radio screens. The main cipher radio screen gets put above the right MPCD, so it's ok. But the second cipher screen is in the bottom left of the right MPCD, so it's not very cool. The next one I noticed was the two main radio LCDs were overlayed at the bottom, left radio in the bottom left and the right radio in the bottom right. The little "M"s were overlayed below the cipher text. The ODU gets the cheese for the worst offender(when it's active). It is nearly smack dab in the middle of the right MFCD with the bottom two buttons being overlayed below the cipher as well as intersecting with the two radio "M"s. Finally, the UFC screen is put near the top of the MFCD, an ok amount above the ODU. I haven't seen any other jet overlay their screens like this, even in something like the A-10CII. You would think they would include a third screen for the CDU in between the left and right MFDs but they just don't include it, so maybe just removing the ODU, ICP, Radios, and cipher is the play here. But hey I'm not the devs, you guys do whatcha want Summary While this isn't game breaking or disastrous to the world of Harrier pilots, I do think it's a shame as this is the easiest way to get a quick tape of you shacking some bad guys. The alternative, exporting the screens to another display is slightly more complicated and has it's own issues that have been well reported. Thanks a bunch Razbam and especially Alpha Juliet, love the community you guys are growing! V/r, Mordant

First off - I'm not an engineer , nor exceptionally smart - so I had to lean heavily on this awesome community for inspiration and help. And trust into the motto: " just start and figure it out as we go" Big shout out to @Bog9y and @Xpendable- who've been an amazing helpers and gave me loads of feedback and input. Also to @sea2skyfor the general idea of creating a generic cockpit, that doesn't have to be suuuuper detailed and usable for multiple applications. I started with the typical setup some of us have - 2x Cugar MFDs and a small Numpad in the middle as my desk setup - it's easily built up and easily removed. As I played more and more, and also began to fly more serious ( thanks TAW JTF88 !) my setup stayed built up more and longer - and I wanted to make things more realistic and playable. I started building @obious designed AV8B UFC as well as @FoxDelta After that was done, soon I saw @sea2sky generic F18 cockpit , and I wanted to design something similar - generic but rooted in the AV8B. I learned how to use Shapr3D ( Fantastic Ipad app, if you have the iPencil as well) and designed the cockpit in it. I wanted it to be a small profile / small footprint type of simpit, that I could move around - hence the setup with the rollers and the "platform" that goes just up to the seat. The side panels are moveable as well, so that you can get it all together From this it went to a local CNC shop, got the wood adjusted it and painted it - and through the different building stages we ended up with this: things I still want to do short / mid term: 3 WinWing MFDs, 1 WinWing takeoff panel built in Throttle built into the left panel Figure out storage for my keyboard and kneeboard when not in use Glare shield Better seat solution Questions?Tips ? Comments? let me know €dit: Embed fail...will upload hi res pics once I find the will to do it all again

Hi, I've created a couple videos going into some detail about conducting CAS or close air support. I am testing the waters to see if there is a number of people that would like to see something like this continue. Its my first attempt at making a Youtube video and my two videos do have a watermark until I see if others can use this info or even care to take their DCS experience to another level. Thanks for your time! Rifle.