Disappointment! Trap-model & Forestall.

[LanceCriminal86]

I think head tracking and especially technologies like VR are a must for the carrier pattern. I won't say that's the only thing holding folks back, because there are a LOT of building blocks Naval Aviators have to have down near perfect to even get to "Das Boat". Things like being able to actually fly a precise, timed route, formation flying, being able to maintain the AOA and on-speed having been built off of formation flying because you have to constantly modulate throttles and stick to maintain that ideal speed and positioning in a formation. Without those skills and practicing them flying an actual bang on CASE I pattern by the books seems really tough. Each element of the pattern is in itself a movement combining a few different skills. Holding a particular speed, altitude, and bearing over the boat with your jet configured one way, then executing a particular radius turn and changing your configuration while you do it. That there screws me up every time, because I can't quickly look back and forth to see things like speed, altitude, AOA, and vertical velocity all while trying to watch the boat. And then after that, getting the jet set up to on speed and AOA while descending to the right altitude and again, watching the boat the whole time. And then AGAIN turning in at just the right time from the 180 onto your final while not stalling out and also again dropping altitude, not being too far out, too far in, left, right, low, or high.

 

I'll be honest I think equipment makes for a big part of being able to do a lot of this right. Not having rudder pedals, head tracking and a big enough monitor, good frame rates, rudder pedals, some good buttons/levers for all the functions you need in the landing cycle, and a good stick that allows you to make smooth and fine inputs, all of that makes each part of it tougher. And it's unfortunate that the overhead to run all of those things in DCS is so high, apparently even a 3090, a mountain of RAM, and an overclocked i9 or highest end i7 still isn't enough to have DCS run completely smooth with a reliably high framerate over areas like Syria, or heavily populated missions (In VR that is).

 

In whatever case I do look forwards to the T-45C mod, and it seems like a reason for folks to actually get online and do virtual squadron stuff like VNAO because to really get good at this, some of us probably need a whole virtual flight school running through the Navy's program as though we were fresh faced LTJGs at Pensacola, Kingsville, or wherever.

Edited March 20, 2021 by LanceCriminal86