Navigation methods?

[ChoSeungWan]

I'm not really sure how to make a flight plan. Do I need to print off maps and use acetate + permanent marker? Do I need a compass, ruler or some other tools? Do I do this in conjunction with ARC?

[YoYo]

RSBN+ARK+VFR? :).

[ChoSeungWan]

RSBN+ARK+VFR? :).

Call me dumb but I can't seem to figure out how to go about this :doh:

 

Am I supposed to learn the terrain and landmarks off by heart? How do I find a precise target? I don't think there's a distance scale on the kneeboard maps so how can I know how many miles from a RSBN station I have to be? Maybe I'm missing something but it appears the manual only tells me how to find a place to land.

[Nereid]

Navigation is similar to other modules. Just search for tutorials on youtube and adapt it for the Mig-21.

 

But you look for a way to find a ground target? Won't JTAC work with the Mig? Otherwise as YoYo said: RSBN+ARK+VFR.

[QuiGon]

To find your waypoints and targets you have to use classic landnav: map & compass. Compare the environment you see around you with what you see on the map, it's just that simple. Of course it's not easy, simple but not easy. I'm used to this because I also play Rise of Flight a lot and in WW1 there was no fancy nav equipment, so i have to use IFRR (I Follow Roads and Rivers). Same thing now in DCS with the MiG (or the WW2 planes and the Huey). But I have to say that the kneeboard maps in DCS are pretty bad though.

[portman]

If you just want to hop from one RSBN station to another, and then to another, this is quite easy and covered by some tuturials on YT. But if you want to navigate only by waypoints 'in the middle of nowhere' you have to get yourself a map, place your waypoints, measure the correct headings and distances (navigation ruler!!) and calculate flying time. Those were the days :D

[coldViPer]

Anyone use "Kneeboard mark current position" or is it "cheating" :D

[ruddy122]

The kneeboarding is not cheating and is actually recommended for Dead Reckoning Navigation see pages 124-125 in the manual

 

I've been building the flight logs manually to help in navigating the MiG21

 

I'll try to post some examples in this thread later

[Gate-5]

I use the ruler tool in the mission planer and write down what course I have to fly from one WP to the next. To be able to determine the exact location of a WP on my course I use RSBN and ARK radials.

[ObvilionLost]

Mainly you study maps before taking off take note of any unique terrain features, especially close to your waypoints.

 

To help you you can create a simple diagrams, something similar to this:

 

Where you basically note distance, headings and time for path between waypoints, additionally terrain features might be drawn there.

 

To help the pilots there is is usually also manual flight "computers", such as NL-10M, NPL-M. Basically equivalent to the E6B flight computer. NL-10 looks similar to regular slide rule, while NPL-M is basically kneeboard with built in flight "computer", looks like this:

 

 

http://gallery.greedykidz.net/get/990229/sf-avia_2011_compressed_ed-DSC_9276-2.jpg?g2_serialNumber=1

Edited September 27, 2014 by ObvilionLost

[effte]

Having a magical entity equipped with a grease pencil to mark out your current position on your kneeboard, even though you yourself are utterly and completely lost, is gaming in my book. You couldn't do that in the real aircraft, right? No matter if it is in the game manual or not...

 

How to do it: Note down the course and distance of each leg. Calculate the time enroute for each leg. Fly courses as noted, correcting for wind and other factors, for the time calculated. If you are able to eliminate all errors, you will get to where you were headed.

 

Now, eliminating all errors is the tricky part which there are books written about. Short ones for PPL level, Very Big Books for oceanic navigation in the pre-GPS era.

 

One of the first means of eliminating errors is to use easily recognizable landmarks for turning points. Get within visual distance of the landmark, correct course, fly next leg - repeat.

 

In real life, depending on requirements, you can calculate your actual winds from preceding legs and make better estimates as you go, you can correct for course and ground speed errors on the legs etc. With a bit of practise, it can get to be a rather exact science. That's probably beyond your requirements here though!

 

There should be good tutorials available online. Try to find some and post here. If you're not successful, I know a few good ones but they'll throw you straight into the more exact versions so are not exactly what I'd recommend for someone just starting out.

[Flagrum]

 

http://aafcollection.info/items/list.php?item=000198

[ChoSeungWan]

Good stuff guys :thumbup: