Mission 5 - Can't find the target

[rge75]

In mission 6 (sorry, title is wrong, it's mission 6 not 5), it's said to fly NW for about 3 miles. How do you know how much is 3 NM and if you didn't overshot the target? Do you calculate it (something like flying at x knotes for 1 minute = xy NM)? I also wasn't able to see a scale on the F10 map, so I have no idea how much 3 NM really are on the map (well...5.6km, but that's not the point). And in the air, it's also quite difficult to estimate how much 5.6km are.

 

 

Ok, maybe I simply didn't correctly understand a message. But I flew to the mentioned city - or lets say I at least think I was at this city.

 

 

Anyway, you see my problem - I simply started to get lost and had no idea if I still have to fly NW or back again. Well, when the fuel went out, I had to abandon the mission. So I really searched quite a while.

 

 

Maybe Greg could add a few triggers when you really overshot the target by miles (I think we're too far east)?

 

 

Just as a side note for the mission itself (warning, spoiler ahead)

 

 

I really like the sudden change of the mission. That was very unpredictable and that was a really cool story change. When I first read the briefing, it was like "...oh, yet another sling-load, and even returning and doing the same again". So that was pretty cool when "something unexpected" happened.

 

 

Edited April 29, 2017 by rge75

[rge75]

Well, I managed to finish the mission even though I didn't really find the target IMO. But it looks like the planes dealt with it once I was slightly NW out of the town. The question about how you deal with distances remain though.

[Redglyph]

I finally found them! After a lot of time checking whether it was a typo and perhaps NE, or SW...

 

 

 

They're actually west of the FARP, not NW, and on the other part and outside of the nearby town, not inside.

 

Nice turn of events for sure :)

 

 

 

Yeah... this part could probably be made more clear to the pilot ;)

 

For the distance, when there is no map to get visual reference like here, I simply time the route, for example at 90 kts I wait for two minutes.

 

And then...

 

 

 

I've also spent a while repositioning the helicopter on the landing pad before the soldiers embarked. I'm not sure it's the position or the fact the doors must be closed, or something else, it was a mystery.

 

 

[rge75]

Thanks. I can't re-check since I'm at mission 8. But it might be helpful if I go through the campaign for a 2nd time.

 

 

As for the landing:

 

 

Did you land on the correct pad? The co-pilot tells you to land on the same pad where you took off (so the one where the cargo is located).

 

 

[Redglyph]

Thanks. I can't re-check since I'm at mission 8. But it might be helpful if I go through the campaign for a 2nd time.

 

 

As for the landing:

 

 

Did you land on the correct pad? The co-pilot tells you to land on the same pad where you took off (so the one where the cargo is located).

 

 

It's always possible to run any mission independently of the campaign, by clicking on "Mission" then navigating through the directory structure to the campaign files (DCS/Mods/campaigns). Sometimes it helps with a difficult mission, as preliminary training.

 

 

I did, I think we just have to wait for a while. Or perhaps it just requires to put the AI back to "hold" combat position. In any case, it worked, I'm just not sure whether it requires some specific conditions to be fulfilled apart from landing there.

 

[rge75]

Ah thanks, I didn't think of that.

 

 

Yeah, I noticed that in several missions that it takes a while until the event gets triggered once you're on the ground. Sometimes it needs a bit of patience.

[Sharkku]

Yeah, I had the same trouble with this mission! But what a great mission!

 

It would be great if the information provided was a little more detailed, at least giving the direction to the mortars as WNW instead of NW. And the best way is definitely to just fly at a fixed speed and time to get 3 NM. As mentioned in an above post, 90 kts for 2 minutes makes 3 NM. (3NM/90kt)*60min = 2min

 

[rge75]

Thanks both for the information about 2min = 3 NM at 90 knotes. This is very helpful as a reference. And the formula is exactly what I was looking for.

[HipoxiK]

Travelling at 90 knots indicated airspeed with no wind and at sea level will mean you travel at about 1.7 miles/minute (1 knot = 1.15 m/h). That should help with distance/time navigation in the Huey.

 

Being indicated airspeed at sea level it will require little adjustments for high altitude or winds, especially if doing long distance flights.

Edited May 2, 2017 by HipoxiK

[rge75]

Thanks, I think an "estimated" value is ok especially because I doubt I'll do exactly 90 knots for the whole distance. It's more to avoid things like "ok, I now flew 20 minutes....so shouldn't I already have my 10 nm or not?". So now I at least have a reference time.

[SPAS79]

Thanks, I think an "estimated" value is ok especially because I doubt I'll do exactly 90 knots for the whole distance. It's more to avoid things like "ok, I now flew 20 minutes....so shouldn't I already have my 10 nm or not?". So now I at least have a reference time.

 

consider

1 kn = 1Nm per hour.

60kn = 60Nm/hr -> 1Nm per minute

90kn = 90Nm/hr -> 1.5Nm/min

120kn = 120Nm/hr ->2Nm/min

 

Ballpark figures but they help me estimate time/distance to do dead reckoning. That + map reading...

 

Now that I'm considering this, I'm not sure if the miles we use in DCS are statute or nautical?

 

Flying naturally calls for nautical, but...

[Redglyph]

consider

1 kn = 1Nm per hour.

60kn = 60Nm/hr -> 1Nm per minute

90kn = 90Nm/hr -> 1.5Nm/min

120kn = 120Nm/hr ->2Nm/min

 

Ballpark figures but they help me estimate time/distance to do dead reckoning. That + map reading...

 

Now that I'm considering this, I'm not sure if the miles we use in DCS are statute or nautical?

 

Flying naturally calls for nautical, but...

 

It's usually indicated now, thanks to a recent fix. When you're looking at distances on the map, it's in nm if you chose imperial units in the main menu, or in km if you chose the ISU. If you're looking at the speed of an object, it should be kts or km/h, depending on the option.

 

In an aircraft, it's another matter ;) British aircraft like the Spitfire are traditionally using statute miles, the Viggen is using Scandinavian miles (=10 km), Russian and old German planes are using ISU, and US aircraft are using nautical miles. But it may depend on the cockpit skin.

 

And then there are the pressure units... :D