Lessons Learned for Newbies

[ruddy122]

The DCS Viper is amazing. Along with the Hornet and Tomcat it is one of my favorite modules in DCS.

 

Being a former KC10 IP I always think I screwed up somehow

 

These are a couple of things I learned the hard way

 

When starting the DCS Viper cold there are two FLCS tests if you want a quiet clean cockpit. There is a BIT Test and another switch to test the FLCS found in the panel behind it

 

Pitot heat is way in the back on the left side

 

Starting the INU wait till State /10 or lower to switch to NAV if not the INU may not work properly

 

Make sure you toggle Laser Arm for CCIP to release your bombs

 

If your Bingo is set to 2400 lbs your approach speed should never be below that number unless you are really good

The formula is 140 + 4 kts for every 1000 lbs of fuel so our approach speed should be around 148. If your FPM disappears from view on your HUD you are either really good or you are about to stall the Viper which is bad. There’s a lot of good landing threads and rudder threads but how much fuel you have is a big factor for landing in any airfield in the Caucasus Map or hitting the ILS antenna when off roading a viper.

 

If you understand these little nuances you’ll have a lot of fun in the viper

 

 

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[Falconeer]

1 hour ago, ruddy122 said:

 

 

Make sure you toggle Laser Arm for CCIP to release your bombs

 

If your Bingo is set to 2400 lbs your approach speed should never be below that number unless you are really good

The formula is 140 + 4 kts for every 1000 lbs of fuel so our approach speed should be around 148. If your FPM disappears from view on your HUD you are either really good or you are about to stall the Viper which is bad. There’s a lot of good landing threads and rudder threads but how much fuel you have is a big factor for landing in any airfield in the Caucasus Map or hitting the ILS antenna when off roading a viper.

 

 

I think we all forgot to set the Laser Arm or even Master Arm at some point 

 

As far as landing speed, i never pay attention to that. I think AOA is far more important. If your AOA is correct and you are on glidescope, your speed should be correct to for that configuration. Never had problems going to slow or scrape the nozzle upon touchdown

Edited January 29, 2021 by Falconeer

[kotor633]

Okay as far as everything is understood. Just what exactly do you mean by that: Pitot heat is way in the back on the left side. That you should always turn on the pitot?

All of this is in Chuck's Guide or in the handout for the F-16C ...

[Falconeer]

5 minutes ago, kotor633 said:

Okay as far as everything is understood. Just what exactly do you mean by that: Pitot heat is way in the back on the left side. That you should always turn on the pitot?

All of this is in Chuck's Guide or in the handout for the F-16C ...

Basicly, yes. I'm not sure if it matters in DCS though

Edited January 29, 2021 by Falconeer

[kotor633]

I'm not so sure about that either. At least with the BIT tests, I think I know, you may or may not be able to do it. The damage model is not so far advanced that random errors can be triggered during cold start, which are then detected by the BIT test ... but without guarantee. Anyway, for the sake of reality we do that and this weekend I will enjoy the F-16C and its RED FLAG campaign.

[ruddy122]

I used Chuck’s Guide and the early access manual to understand how the DCS:Viper works system wise

The Pitot Heat is on the left side parallel to the rails of the ejection seat

Find EPU panel it’s beyond that


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I use AOA to land but it gives you a numerical back up if Math inclined

If you are below that number their better be a good reason


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[ruddy122]

DCS:Viper is one of the modules you actually have to turn on the pitot heat from Cold and Dark

It’s not hard but if your track Ir is not setup to reach that switch or see it you’ll be very surprised

Again I love the DCS:Viper but it has a few niggles you have to know to enjoy it more


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[Mustang25]

2 hours ago, ruddy122 said:

DCS:Viper is one of the modules you actually have to turn on the pitot heat from Cold and Dark

 

I learned recently that the pitot switch is only needed if you need heat on the ground and/or during takeoff, in the air it will be on regardless of the switch position. 

[ruddy122]

Good to know Foghorn does the real Viper do that for Pitot Heat?


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[DoctorVixen]

When starting the DCS Viper cold there are two FLCS tests if you want a quiet clean cockpit. There is a BIT Test and another switch to test the FLCS found in the panel behind it

 

Pitot heat is way in the back on the left side

 

It's not exactly clear to me what i am supposed to learn the hard way if i don't do this.

 

Because i pretty much don't do these things and i am not having any issues.

 

--

basically, flip 3 switched in the f16 and you are good to go. I made a track of my f16 cabrio i use when the weather is nice. It's a chick magnet :P.

 

 

123-f16StartUp.trk

[ruddy122]

If you don’t have problems good on you

For me it was little things like I couldn’t drop in CCIP?

there is no tadpole or distance information?

It was frustrating but I didn’t do something quite right

I’m no expert, those were my gotchas as i learn DCS:Viper

Many thanks to real F-16 Instructors to find what am I doing wrong


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There’s a pitot heat switch where is that?

why the pitot heat it’s way over there why does FLCS say Aircraft Battery how do I get rid of that?


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[Frederf]

Pitot is way back on the test panel after left console. In real life the "off" position still turns itself automatically without WOW. It's still part of the takeoff checklist to set it on but if forgotten it should still function in air.

 

The FLCS test switch tests the changeover of FLCS electrical power to the airplane battery. The four channels A B C D should light up as well as some changes on the electrical panel indicating that things are receiving power differently. It's testing a simulated FLCS electrical supply failure and you're seeing that it properly switches over to backup power. This test is typically done with main power switch in BATT. If you do it in MAIN PWR you get different changes and the relays latch requiring cycling the switch out of MAIN PWR to unlatch them. First thing you typically do entering the airplane (after other safe switch checks) is battery on, set your UHF radio, and then do the FLCS relay check. Then you can go MAIN PWR and continue the start.

 

FLCS BIT is a psychical sequence of control surface motion where FLCS tests itself. It's good to move the surfaces a few times by the stick before running the BIT so the sequence occurs smoothly and no false faults are found. It's a danger to ground crew and due to the need of hydraulic power is done with engine running.

 

The INU status 60 or lower is all the same except for the level of expected drift over time. Certain things won't be so happy (weapons) with worse alignments but in general the airplane will fly fine. Status numbers above 60 are showing other steps in the process. The status number divided by 10 is the multiple of normal drift rate expected e.g. 30 is 3x drift relative to normal. Normal alignment takes up to 8 minutes and involves typing in your L/L during the first two minutes. Stored heading is much faster and is prepared for you by default in DCS. To use a second stored heading the airplane must be prepared by doing a full normal alignment and then turning it directly off without flying.

 

DCS should have sometime the list>misc>laser page on the DED which allows you to set code and change between the 1.06 and 1.54 micron laser wavelengths. The longer one is used for training safety. It's the default so you'll have to change it to the combat wavelength every power up if you want to designate for laser weapons and similar.

 

USAF rules are 800/1000/1200 pounds fuel when beginning the final approach segment for block 30/40/50 respectively. Bingo is often the minimum fuel needed to recover from the farthest point in the mission. It can be updated throughout to lower numbers as the distance to home is reduced. You want to precalc the approach speed as a cross reference but the AOA indexer/bracket is the primary landing reference. As you slow down check the calculated speed matches on speed AOA. Once confirmed that AOA is working right use it for the rest of the landing. If you're down to 150 and AOA reads low then you know something's wrong.

[ruddy122]

Thanks

I learn something new everyday

I personally like the FBW of the Falcon not as twitchy or you get into PIO like the Hornet

Don’t taxi to fast or use the NWS on landing or your viper goes off roading or you shear off the gear both bad

It’s also more of a pilot’s airplane

Don’t get me wrong I love the Hornet but the Falcon is also a module that is special

ED has a great product with the Viper once all the reported bugs are resolved


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So 2400 is a little excessive

Aim for 1200 in the tanks?


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[ruddy122]

My thought process is if you could figure out the Viper and/or Hornet you can figure out any FBW airplane like the Mirage 2000, JF-17, EF-2000


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[TheBigTatanka]

Rudy, nice work putting together these lessons, nice to see another tanker guy enjoying the viper. And thanks to Fred for the additional information. Always enjoy when people have meaningful and thoughtful contributions.

I've been flying the dcs F-16 since it came out with a few ex F-4 guys, and we have a ball. There are always some quirks, some things broken, and some things we wish were more fleshed out -- but it's an incredible simulator for home desktop use -- better than any desktop trainer I used in the USAF.

Anyway, thanks for contributing to the tribal knowledge. Fred -- thanks for those approach fix fuel numbers.

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[jmig]

On 1/29/2021 at 4:04 AM, Falconeer said:

I think we all forgot to set the Laser Arm or even Master Arm at some point 

 

As far as landing speed, i never pay attention to that. I think AOA is far more important. If your AOA is correct and you are on glidescope, your speed should be correct to for that configuration. Never had problems going to slow or scrape the nozzle upon touchdown

 

I am brand new to DCS. However, I was a real world pilot. I flew the T-38A in pilot training. At the time, not all the T-38's had AOA, so we calculated approach speed based on fuel remaining and used that. In the F-4C we had AOA and used it. However, we still calculated approach speed based on remaining fuel. The reason was to back up the AOA. It has been know to be wrong.

 

I am enjoying the DCS F-16. It is a fun airplane to fly. Makes me think I am 24 again.

 

John

[TheBigTatanka]

John, welcome to DCS! We did some stuff together a while back with Toby and the milviz 38. You're going to like DCS.

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[jmig]

21 hours ago, TheBigTatanka said:

John, welcome to DCS! We did some stuff together a while back with Toby and the milviz 38. You're going to like DCS.

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Thank you! Yes, Toby and I still email every so often. He is doing team acrobatics real time, lucky dog. I will say that this DCS F-16 makes me feel like a 90 day wonder butter bar wandering through the Pentagon. It is a challenge for this old man.  I need to catch up with the jet.

[TheBigTatanka]

John, I've been lucky enough to go out and do some formation flying in real life with Toby. He's getting a lot of good warbird time too. It took me back to memories of UPT as well. It's neat that we have this simulator to act as a treadmill for the mind. It keeps my hand flying sharp too, which often fades with most airline guys. It's also neat to use it as a training aid for sight pictures before we meet up for real world flying.

I think you've got a lot of good years of simming ahead of you. My dad is an 88 year old F-86 and F-100 guy, and he had learned to employ the DCS F-16 in VR with modern tactics -- a military pilot's mind is an agile thing as long as we keep using it.

Anyway, thanks to all for the Viper techniques here. I suspect we will have a lot more to learn as we get more DED pages and weapons.

Two pieces of advice that i will give -- if your MFDs act up on you, you can't get certain pages to come up, or the HARM doesn't want to target anything -- just reset the MMC switch at your right hip by turning it off and on. That clears most problems we've had interacting with the MFDs.

Second, if flying in Multiplayer and the guy in your flight isn't displayed on your HSD datalink in blue -- go into the DED page for Datalink (list + enter I think), and turn off the GPS time sync. Don't enter a new time, as that will take you off the net -- but if you both turn off your GPS time sync, it fixes problems with own flight datalink display. This is most common on missions/servers with a lot of people. It would seem that the datalink can only populate 30 contacts, and it pushes out your own flight at some point.


Press!

Dances

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[Falconeer]

13 hours ago, TheBigTatanka said:

Two pieces of advice that i will give -- if your MFDs act up on you, you can't get certain pages to come up, or the HARM doesn't want to target anything -- just reset the MMC switch at your right hip by turning it off and on. That clears most problems we've had interacting with the MFDs.
 

That will damage the electrical systems for sure in RL. It has a reason why some switches are operate in a sequence. 

[ruddy122]

Couple of things I figured out thanks to Real Life Viper Instructors

1) You can release CBUs in CCIP with Master Arm on only

2) The plane is smarter than you because you need to dive the plane a certain number of degrees for CCIP to work. In other words when diving the Viper in CCIP you will look like your gonna smack into the ground but a good pull up and plenty of altitude to spare will prevent you from becoming a statistic


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[ruddy122]

Doing a CCRP mission with Mk 84s from a cold start

Goal is to see how CCRP in the F-16 works and land in less than 8000 ft of Runway safely without crashing on Roll Out or hitting something expensive on rollout


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[DoctorVixen]

1) You can release CBUs in CCIP with Master Arm on only

 

let me tell you another secret, you can't release any weapon unless master arm is on.

 

 

[DoctorVixen]

52 minutes ago, ruddy122 said:

Doing a CCRP mission with Mk 84s from a cold start

Goal is to see how CCRP in the F-16 works and land in less than 8000 ft of Runway safely without crashing on Roll Out or hitting something expensive on rollout


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Check the manual or chuckies guides.

Send the track file if u need help ;).

 

[ruddy122]

Early JDAMs were Mk 84s with new fins and GPS Tail Kits the rest was MK84

On the mission I created there are 4 of them


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