LaCapitanSalty Posted June 22, 2020 Posted June 22, 2020 Hi, I have a problem with using the phoenix missile, Obviously I am doing something wrong. I am new to air to air fighting and the tomcat. anyway, I have put a MIG 21 in a little sortie, I enable master arm, switched to air to air hud mode, switched to the Phoenix missile, radar shows the target, I tell jester to lock the target via the stt, jester locks the target, the target is 16 miles away, I pull the trigger, missile doesn't launch, long press, short press , weapon release, I tried it all, but the thing just not firing, now, at some point while trying to launch it, the missile will launch, I don't know what changed, sometime the missile will launch after a struggle, but will go after a different target, like a helicopter way further, which is weird cause I never managed to get a radar signal nor a lock on the Mi-24 even when I tried to go after it specifically. any help will be appreciated.
ustio Posted June 22, 2020 Posted June 22, 2020 Have you turn on Missile prep? The button next to the master arm? Once you turn it on, it takes a while until the Phoenix is ready to fire.
LaCapitanSalty Posted June 22, 2020 Author Posted June 22, 2020 Thanks for the reply, Yes I turnd on missile prep, but I always switch it on for the aim 9, didn't realize the phoenix also has prep timer. will, check it out now.
LaCapitanSalty Posted June 22, 2020 Author Posted June 22, 2020 Have you turn on Missile prep? The button next to the master arm? Once you turn it on, it takes a while until the Phoenix is ready to fire. Thanks, It was indeed the prep timer. one question though, I now realize that when the phoenix hit the Mi-24 Helicopter, it was basically guiding itself to the target, which brings the question, why my radar doesn't pick up on the Helicopter but the phoenix self guidance does?
ustio Posted June 23, 2020 Posted June 23, 2020 Thanks, It was indeed the prep timer. one question though, I now realize that when the phoenix hit the Mi-24 Helicopter, it was basically guiding itself to the target, which brings the question, why my radar doesn't pick up on the Helicopter but the phoenix self guidance does? Any chance that the ACM cover is open? If it is it then wont track any target you lock and will fire like a maddog
LaCapitanSalty Posted June 23, 2020 Author Posted June 23, 2020 Any chance that the ACM cover is open? If it is it then wont track any target you lock and will fire like a maddog I keep it close, though when the Phoenix hit the chopper it could have been open, or It could have been that changed the missile mode under the prep button, I did try to press anything I could in order to get the thing to launch :). on more positive note, because of that experience I learned that I can just launch it in maddog in order to take down those pesky helos :thumbup:
Southernbear Posted June 23, 2020 Posted June 23, 2020 As far as I'm aware, MSL Prep is only used for Fox 1 and Fox 3 missiles....gives power to the pylons and allows them to calabrate or whatever the heck they do...pretty sure you can just fire AIM-9s with SW Cool on so the seekers cool down...could be wrong tho....
LaCapitanSalty Posted June 23, 2020 Author Posted June 23, 2020 As far as I'm aware, MSL Prep is only used for Fox 1 and Fox 3 missiles....gives power to the pylons and allows them to calabrate or whatever the heck they do...pretty sure you can just fire AIM-9s with SW Cool on so the seekers cool down...could be wrong tho.... You are right, only need SW Cool. Got confused with the fact that the cooling also has 1 minute timer to get full effect. Thanks.
Bruce_D Posted June 23, 2020 Posted June 23, 2020 The only way for us to identify the problem is that: Create the mission, play it and send us the track so we can try to identify what are you doing wrong. Best regards
near_blind Posted June 23, 2020 Posted June 23, 2020 Thanks, It was indeed the prep timer. one question though, I now realize that when the phoenix hit the Mi-24 Helicopter, it was basically guiding itself to the target, which brings the question, why my radar doesn't pick up on the Helicopter but the phoenix self guidance does? How fast was the helicopter going? Quoting the manual: "because of the way the radar operates the doppler filters it will have two blind ranges. The main lobe clutter (MLC) region which contains most of the ground returns, those returning with zero groundspeed is one of them and is 266 knots wide, centered around own aircraft groundspeed (133 knots slower and 133 knots faster). This is the reason that the radar can be notched as a target with the same relative groundspeed as the ground will also be filtered out." Most likely the helicopter was moving slow enough that the AWG-9 filtered it out of the Pulse Doppler modes, and if you're flying alone Jester only knows how to use PD search modes. If you know where the helicopter is, you'd probably be able to lock it fine in PAL, PLM, or either of VSL modes.
LaCapitanSalty Posted June 24, 2020 Author Posted June 24, 2020 How fast was the helicopter going? Quoting the manual: "because of the way the radar operates the doppler filters it will have two blind ranges. The main lobe clutter (MLC) region which contains most of the ground returns, those returning with zero groundspeed is one of them and is 266 knots wide, centered around own aircraft groundspeed (133 knots slower and 133 knots faster). This is the reason that the radar can be notched as a target with the same relative groundspeed as the ground will also be filtered out." Most likely the helicopter was moving slow enough that the AWG-9 filtered it out of the Pulse Doppler modes, and if you're flying alone Jester only knows how to use PD search modes. If you know where the helicopter is, you'd probably be able to lock it fine in PAL, PLM, or either of VSL modes. Thanks, I indeed let jester do all the work, still havent learned how to operate the radar myself, I will learn it now and see if that resolve the issue for me.
LaCapitanSalty Posted June 24, 2020 Author Posted June 24, 2020 How fast was the helicopter going? Quoting the manual: "because of the way the radar operates the doppler filters it will have two blind ranges. The main lobe clutter (MLC) region which contains most of the ground returns, those returning with zero groundspeed is one of them and is 266 knots wide, centered around own aircraft groundspeed (133 knots slower and 133 knots faster). This is the reason that the radar can be notched as a target with the same relative groundspeed as the ground will also be filtered out." Most likely the helicopter was moving slow enough that the AWG-9 filtered it out of the Pulse Doppler modes, and if you're flying alone Jester only knows how to use PD search modes. If you know where the helicopter is, you'd probably be able to lock it fine in PAL, PLM, or either of VSL modes. Well, i have started to learn about the Radar, funny thing, the first thing it teaches you is how to find a Helicopter in Pulse search :) So I guess mystery solved, its Jester that is the problem. I really like this Jester mechanic, too bad it isn't as good as I wished he would be.
LaCapitanSalty Posted June 24, 2020 Author Posted June 24, 2020 The only way for us to identify the problem is that: Create the mission, play it and send us the track so we can try to identify what are you doing wrong. Best regards Thanks for the suggestion, however with all the help I got in this thread I already figured out what is going on. Appreciate the help.
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