Hornet vs. MiG-21 + Pro Landing

[pegg00]

Hello all! Id like to know why the boresight radar mode is taking so long to lock? Is this intentional? Also any constructive criticism in my dogfighting is greatly appreciated as I love to learn.. thanks and enjoy.

 

[Frederf]

The gun dashed circle isn't boresight but a conical scan pattern. Primary lobe on the radar should be about 3 degrees and would have to sweep around that cone space which looks like 20 roughly degrees total angle.

 

I found a real life video that shows a lock at close range at about a 2-3s interval. DCS videos at longer range are showing in the 5-10s range. Boresight itself seems to take 2-3s DCS and no more than 2s close range on the real video.

[M1Combat]

At ~1:30 you should have used lag pursuit to get a better angle later. Think of it as putting firing position in the bank in exchange for range and angle.

 

 

You have air brakes. Use them gently.

[ChasingNeedles]

Hello all! Id like to know why the boresight radar mode is taking so long to lock? Is this intentional? Also any constructive criticism in my dogfighting is greatly appreciated as I love to learn.. thanks and enjoy.

 

 

completely guessing here but the FC radar needs time to process the data to give you a solution

[ChasingNeedles]

At ~1:30 you should have used lag pursuit to get a better angle later. Think of it as putting firing position in the bank in exchange for range and angle.

 

 

You have air brakes. Use them gently.

 

At the merge, with 560 cash to spend, I'd spend it on altitude and go with the flow from there

[Dangerman]

Grab some angles when you are committed at the merge by lead turning

[v4ri4ble]

I found a real life video that shows a lock at close range at about a 2-3s interval. DCS videos at longer range are showing in the 5-10s range. Boresight itself seems to take 2-3s DCS and no more than 2s close range on the real video.

 

 

In OP's video he has the target at close range from 1:37 to 1:44 and it doesn't lock up. I tend to have this same issue in turnfights.

[probad]

right now the radar has some trouble picking up stuff with relatively low closure rate, but once you pick it up it can hold the lock fairly well

you can use boresight mode for its faster scan to sorta brute force the lock

[ESzczesniak]

1) Corner speed! Your where about 560 kts at the merge. You want to corner at about 350-400 kts. You’ll get a better turn rate and radius. If you do have extra smash at the merge, trade it for some altitude you can use later.

 

2) If you’re not offset at the merge, open a 1 circle fight by turning away from the bandit. Shrink your turn radius and you’ll be able to unload in to a lead turn at the “second merge”.

 

3) Pay attention to your angle off tail. If your too far off the flight path of your bandit you risk overshoot, will not get a stable gun solution, or will degenerate in to a rolling scissors trying to correct. Staying in lag pursuit longer can help you decrease this angel and then pull in to the lead for a shot.

 

4) Particularly when using the funnel, you want to be flying in the same plane as the bandit. If you’re out of plane, the funnel provides little meaningful guidance.

 

5) Energy management. Almost all of your turns were at high g (blacking out). This bleeds energy quickly. Sustained turn at corner speed and moderate g will conserve energy the best.

 

6) When out of plane, put you pr lift vector on your bandit to come around. I’m your turn right at the merge, you spent a lot of time and energy in a high g turn below the horizon for little gain in position/angles.

 

And the landing...many more patterns are in order. You where off AOA, fighting it with pitch instead of power, and touched down at almost 1300 fpm virtually in a stall. That’s hard for even the carrier and near the structural limits.

[pegg00]

1) Corner speed! Your where about 560 kts at the merge. You want to corner at about 350-400 kts. You’ll get a better turn rate and radius. If you do have extra smash at the merge, trade it for some altitude you can use later.

 

2) If you’re not offset at the merge, open a 1 circle fight by turning away from the bandit. Shrink your turn radius and you’ll be able to unload in to a lead turn at the “second merge”.

 

3) Pay attention to your angle off tail. If your too far off the flight path of your bandit you risk overshoot, will not get a stable gun solution, or will degenerate in to a rolling scissors trying to correct. Staying in lag pursuit longer can help you decrease this angel and then pull in to the lead for a shot.

 

4) Particularly when using the funnel, you want to be flying in the same plane as the bandit. If you’re out of plane, the funnel provides little meaningful guidance.

 

5) Energy management. Almost all of your turns were at high g (blacking out). This bleeds energy quickly. Sustained turn at corner speed and moderate g will conserve energy the best.

 

6) When out of plane, put you pr lift vector on your bandit to come around. I’m your turn right at the merge, you spent a lot of time and energy in a high g turn below the horizon for little gain in position/angles.

 

And the landing...many more patterns are in order. You where off AOA, fighting it with pitch instead of power, and touched down at almost 1300 fpm virtually in a stall. That’s hard for even the carrier and near the structural limits.

 

This is what Im talking about man hell yeah, you are the real MVP, thanks for the info. I agree and will work on nearly every point you mentioned. However, about energy management, isnt it necessary to pull high G maneuvers in order to get behind your target and keep him off of you?

[ESzczesniak]

This is what Im talking about man hell yeah, you are the real MVP, thanks for the info. I agree and will work on nearly every point you mentioned. However, about energy management, isnt it necessary to pull high G maneuvers in order to get behind your target and keep him off of you?

 

G load is not a meaningful value in a dogfight. The values that will win the fight are turn rate, turn radius, and energy (airspeed, power, altitude).

 

Turn rate in particular can be broken in to instantaneous (rate at any given second) and sustained (through several seconds or minutes) turn rate. High G will typically produce a high instantaneous turn rate. This can be useful for a last ditch evasive maneuver or a last bit of effort to pull from a lag pursuit to lead for a gun solution. However, high G is an energy expensive maneuver. It is often at high alpha with deflected control surfaces producing a lot of induced drag. Energy wins fights and you don't want to waste it.

 

Most of your dogfight is better suited to maximizing your sustained turn rate, as a full 1 circle turn will take several seconds still. A maximum rate, minimum radius turn with the hornet in full AB can be sustained at about 6.5-7g's at corener airspeed. G above this is wasted. And this is at sea level. Typically, the hornet has power to sustain 350 kts (corner speed, max rate, min radius) at about 5-6G in the environment of most dogfights. You'll use higher G at times to cut a corner, switch pursuit path, etc, but sustained higher G will bleed energy.