IFR without TACAN?

[Voyager]

Learning the F-14B systems and discovered the air field I was at did not have a TACAN beacon, only a VOR frequency. So, if the air field does not have a TACAN station, are there other ways to do instrument flights to it in the Tomcat? That was a day time flight so at the time I just had Jester pull a map way point so I had a steerpoint in case I lost track of the airport, but I don't think that would have helped on an instrument landing.

[Chuck_Henry]

INS waypoints are really the only other option. It's not legal (in the FAA sense), but it's better than no lateral guidance at all.

 

In real life with no NAVAID serving your intended airfield, you'd request a PAR or ASR approach, or at least radar vectors for the visual approach. Just like the F/A-18, the F-14 lacks civilian ILS/LOC capability, VOR/DME, and RNAV-certified GPS.

 

Welcome to yet another reason why ED needs to start making real progress on that Air Traffic Control overhaul.

 

Edit - If you have a tablet with an Electronic Flight Bag app like ForeFlight or FltPlanGo, you can use the DCS-to-GPS mod to give yourself a pretty nice moving map tool, and essentially radar vector yourself. That's what I do when I'm not flying the F/A-18 or A-10, at least.

Edited June 2, 2019 by Chuck_Henry

[Lucas_From_Hell]

The good news is, the VOR frequencies in DCS are in the VHF range. This means you can turn your second radio into a poor man's ADF. All you have to do is ask Jester to put it on DF mode and dial in the frequency. So long as you are not receiving TACAN, the needle should point to the VOR station and you can fly without worrying.

[SUBS17]

INS waypoints are really the only other option. It's not legal (in the FAA sense), but it's better than no lateral guidance at all.

 

In real life with no NAVAID serving your intended airfield, you'd request a PAR or ASR approach, or at least radar vectors for the visual approach. Just like the F/A-18, the F-14 lacks civilian ILS/LOC capability, VOR/DME, and RNAV-certified GPS.

 

Welcome to yet another reason why ED needs to start making real progress on that Air Traffic Control overhaul.

 

Edit - If you have a tablet with an Electronic Flight Bag app like ForeFlight or FltPlanGo, you can use the DCS-to-GPS mod to give yourself a pretty nice moving map tool, and essentially radar vector yourself. That's what I do when I'm not flying the F/A-18 or A-10, at least.

 

ILS is in channels when F-14s operate from an Airbase they have preset channels for land based ILS. Hornets have ILS IRL that is why it has an ILS button on the UFC. It is supposed to be in freq while ACLS in channels.

So it would be a nice feature for in the ME to be able to preset a channel to a particular Runway ILS for IFR.

[sLYFa]

ILS is in channels when F-14s operate from an Airbase they have preset channels for land based

Assuming by "land based ILS" you mean the conventional civilian ILS operating in the VHF range, there is no way the F-14 can use that. The F-14s ARA-63 ICLS reciever is meant to be used with the AN/SPN41 ICLS system which works fundamentally different from conventional ILS. IRL some bases have an ICLS trailer that can be used to provide ILS capabality for USN aircraft, but we don't have these in DCS.

Hornets have ILS IRL that is why it has an ILS button on the UFC.

The hornet we have in DCS cannot use normal ILS either. And please don't confuse ICLS and ACLS, these are two different systems.

 

Buttom line, no ILS for the Cat at the beach