[REPORTED] catapult broken - Destroys aircraft while trying to "attach"

[T-Pap]

When attemptin to hook up with the carrier catapult , the system instead of attaching the aircraft to the catapult , even if you are abit off , it now literally catapults the plane of the deck upwards like being hit with a sledgehammer .

 

This only happens when you try to attach yourself . When starting ready and hot and already attached there is no issue however the shaking appears to be increased on launch and makes it feel ridiculus .

 

Have tried to far with F18 and F14 with same result . Everytime i press to attach to catapult it fires me through the air and crashes .

[T-Pap]

Could not reproduce. Can you attach a track at Caucasus map?

 

Video of issue :

 

[cmfrosty]

I can, I spent 2 hours trying to either connect to the shuttle or getting thrown off the deck (not clear when connected to shuttle).

 

What I did

I would approach the shuttle and lower the launch bar just behind or on top of it.

I would press 'U' to connect - this did not happen every time. On a couple of occasions the shuttle would move forward slightly to connect with the launch bar.

 

After asked for ATC approval to take off - the blast shield would raise when permission given. If I thought I was connected to the catapult, I pushed the throttles to full, and the aircraft would take off as if it was on a normal runway (no catapult).

or if I was unsure, i would press the 'U' key and the aircraft would be thrown across the deck like a rag doll, on one occasion it was over the side. This only occurred at catapult 3.

[3mta3]

I had same issue. After landing and rearming, when I hit "U" to connect, jet was thrown wildly, causing damage to carrier and of course my aircraft. I was partially off the deck, but able to do a repair. Tried again, same result, except this time aircraft exploded. I'm trying to narrow it down if it's only the "second" launch as the initial launch after spawning was fine. Still testing.

 

 

Added a couple of tracks. I've had it happen on CAT 3, four times now.

cat launch problem.trk

cat launch problem2.trk

Edited February 15, 2020 by 3mta3

[JamesRothwell]

I have the same issue, only tried it with Tomcat.

[T-Pap]

It's best to upload track, preferably on Caucasus map. After your flight, on debriefing screen press "Save track" and then upload it here.

 

Track is here -

 

https://we.tl/t-cfujv43XqC

[Blinde]

+1

 

Same here, happened twice with Tomcat. Couldn't also attach to catapult.

[Sickdog]

I’ve had the exact same thing happen to me and my friends on our own server in multiplayer. I haven’t had a chance to see if it happens in single player or not, but guessing the answer is yes. I had a thought and will test later if I can... the only mission I’ve played since update is a mission created prior to the update. I’m wondering if a new mission created after the update would yield the same bug or not. I seem to recall some bugs in the past were due to pre-update missions. Someone want to test that? (I’m away from the computer today)

[T-Pap]

I’ve had the exact same thing happen to me and my friends on our own server in multiplayer. I haven’t had a chance to see if it happens in single player or not, but guessing the answer is yes. I had a thought and will test later if I can... the only mission I’ve played since update is a mission created prior to the update. I’m wondering if a new mission created after the update would yield the same bug or not. I seem to recall some bugs in the past were due to pre-update missions. Someone want to test that? (I’m away from the computer today)

 

Im remaking a mission i had made before the update to see if the problem exists however i have already noticed than you cannot place in the mission editor a plane on a catapult when choosing takeoff from ramp. Previously , you could choose on which catapult the plane would spawn cold , now this option is not available for anything other than the "takeoff from runway" option ...

[T-Pap]

This is a mission editor problem ..... I recreated missions and the options are no longer available in spawning .

 

Any mission setup before the update that had a plane setup on a specific catapult as a cold start now is broken .

 

In the spawning options the ability to choose a catapult under "Takeoff from ramp" and "Takeoff from parking hot" has been removed . You always spawn in the middle of the carrier no matter what . This means all old missions are now broken ... I hope this is an oversight or bug , removing the ability to choose catapult cause the fact that you have to spawn in the center now is restricint and annoying .... I hope for some fix to this please !

[Padonis]

I have the same thing, as soon as I press the "U" key, DCS freezes, the dedicated server also freezes.

[Hinkey]

Had the same thing happen. Cold start Hornet with taxi to cat 3. Thrown 20 feet after hooking up. Bent landing gear, trashed jet.

[Sickdog]

I tried to edit the pre-update mission, switched Hot start ramp Jets to takeoff from runway (start on CAT), and deleted and re-added a couple slots as well. I tested it and the slots that were set to take off from runway properly started on the CAT (however 3&4 slots didn’t start on CAT 3&4 as I had set them up to do but instead started on CAT 1&2) and they launched fine. My first landing i was able to connect with no issues to CAT 2, but subsequent traps and reconnects exhibited the same bugged behavior. I suppose the next test is to try making a mission from scratch with new update but I was hoping an old mission load and new save with update would do the trick. I’m now suspecting this is a legitimate bug. Ugh.

[paeagle]

Broken catapults on Stennis

 

I tried to take off in MP with Hornet from No. 1 catapult on Stennis, it didn'work, so I moved to No. 4 and took off from there. That one looked to be OK. I landed succesfully on the carrier in the end of the mission and then after refueling and rearming I wanted to take off from No. 4 catapult again. I was aligned with the shuttle, the launch bar was extended, but instead of a hooking the bar with the shuttle, the plane was thrown up when I pressed "U" to hook the bar. Hornet flew across the deck and fell into the water. This accident happened to me twice after the 2.5.6 update, never before that. Short video captured from Tacview record is attached. DCS track file is too large, it's about 100 MB and not quite correct. I tried to replay it to make some video or screenshots, but the flight ended in a crash after about 30 minutes in the record, the landing and the second taking off from the carrier was not there.

Stennis_Cat4.zip

[Jackjack171]

I tried to take off in MP with Hornet from No. 1 catapult on Stennis, it didn'work, so I moved to No. 4 and took off from there. That one looked to be OK. I landed succesfully on the carrier in the end of the mission and then after refueling and rearming I wanted to take off from No. 4 catapult again. I was aligned with the shuttle, the launch bar was extended, but instead of a hooking the bar with the shuttle, the plane was thrown up when I pressed "U" to hook the bar. Hornet flew across the deck and fell into the water. This accident happened to me twice after the 2.5.6 update, never before that. Short video captured from Tacview record is attached. DCS track file is too large, it's about 100 MB and not quite correct. I tried to replay it to make some video or screenshots, but the flight ended in a crash after about 30 minutes in the record, the landing and the second taking off from the carrier was not there.

Happened to me too on CAT 4! Landed on deck, collapsed nose wheel.

[Reflected]

This is a mission editor problem ..... I recreated missions and the options are no longer available in spawning .

 

Any mission setup before the update that had a plane setup on a specific catapult as a cold start now is broken .

 

In the spawning options the ability to choose a catapult under "Takeoff from ramp" and "Takeoff from parking hot" has been removed . You always spawn in the middle of the carrier no matter what . This means all old missions are now broken ... I hope this is an oversight or bug , removing the ability to choose catapult cause the fact that you have to spawn in the center now is restricint and annoying .... I hope for some fix to this please !

 

Oh, this is bad :( I wish they assigned numbers to the parking spots like on airfields, and you could simply pick them when selecting ramp start or "parking hot".

[Hexypu]

Catapult problem. I tried launching in the Tomcat and after the salute (Shift U) would not launch the jet. At first I thought it was because of my pre 2.5.6 mission, but then tried making a new mission and the same is true. Carrier just won't launch aircraft.

[cmfrosty]

Here’s a tacview of both incidents scroll to the end of the video. It seems to have resolved for me. But seems you need to be a little more precise when aligning with the cat.

[cmfrosty]

Look around the 3:20 mark

[TOMCATZ]

Catapult problem. I tried launching in the Tomcat and after the salute (Shift U) would not launch the jet. At first I thought it was because of my pre 2.5.6 mission, but then tried making a new mission and the same is true. Carrier just won't launch aircraft.

 

I have the same Problem: No launch after Salute. Allways, when I made a Cold and dark start up. Clean Version, no mods, latest update. Old missions, new created missions and Campaign …

[Lau]

+ 1

Catapult 3 & 4 broken, will launch aircraft vertically after attempting to hook up to the catapult. Tried catapult 1 with no avail since carrier is not giving take off clearance after requesting it throught the centextual menu (Com # 1 127.5 Mhz) and once at the right position to hook up to the catapult, CVN ATC will just dirtect you to go back to the parking area.

 

Please fix the boat so we can continue having fun with DCS!

[maxTRX]

I've created a brand new mission in SP: bunch of static junk on deck, one AI Hornet launching ahead of me from cat2, I taxied to cat4 (both of us started from parked hot).

Boat moving at 20 knots, headwind 10 knots. No sliding around the deck whatsoever.

My line up was perfect (no shifting left and right as in previous build... well, the deck movement seems to be toned down a little). My launch bar was about an inch from dropping into shuttle when I engaged... kaboom!

This happened only once so far. I tried 4 more launches from cat4 and had no issues. I'll play with it some more...

[Sickdog]

I don't want to sound like an ungrateful or whining DCS user, but curious why things like cows and other (just in my opinion) less important bugs are being acknowledged and labeled as "REPORTED" when we're on page 3 of this (again, in my opinion) massive issue, and yet silence. Haven't there been enough reports here to justify either acknowledgement of the bug by the mods or some other representative of ED, or that it's being investigated? I get that they're probably overloaded with a lot of reports of bugs, but this just seems like a pretty big problem for a lot of the community that enjoys the naval aviation aspect. I appreciate their hard work but sure would be nice to see some sort of acknowledgement from them about this issue.

[Sickdog]

Still bugged after update. Anyone else???

 

(attached a track... no problem first hookup to CAT 3, launched and landed {after a bolter, don't judge, in a hotel room testing with crappy joystick and didn't bother getting carrier into the wind}, attached to CAT 3 and POW!)

CatapultCrazinessBug.trk

Edited February 20, 2020 by Sickdog
calmed down and revoked my anger

[Auntystatic]

its raising the bar from getting in the cockpit for me

http://auntystatic.uk/dcsworld/bug.mp4