Tutorials and studies T1: Basic Concepts (altimeter, radar, latlongs, etc) and Resources

[Karon]

Hello there fine ladies and gentlemen!

 

My here account is 10 years old, and I never noticed the Tutorial section. Shame on me!

 

 

Through the last couple of years I put together some studies and tutorial I hope you may find them useful. The ratio was me, knowing nothing, trying to correct the status quo by learning as much as possible about fixed-wing stuff, in primis air-to-air combat.

The point of view is mostly from the F-14 RIO. Since there is little documentation about the role, I figured I could adapt the declassified docs focused on other modern aircraft to this 50 years old amazing bird.

Nevertheless, the bedrock concepts are the same, no matter the module you are flying.

 

Some studies and tutorials I wrote are unfortunately outdated (for example the study about the AIM-54, where I launched a few thousands Phoenixes and collected data), others cover procedures and techniques, so changes in the module will not affect them.

 

I plan to open two topics. One introductory with the basic concepts, a second with the advanced stuff. This is the former, and here is the latter.

 

Basic Concepts ("Back to Basics" series plus other introductory articles)

These short articles cover some basic topics.

• Latitude and Longitude (DMS, DD, DDM);
• Brevity Codes;
• Radar Elevation Bars and Scan Azimuth;
• Barometric Altimeter (Q Codes, TA/TL);
• Heading, Bearing, Track and Course;
• RIO Training in Single Player;
• Target Aspect and Missile Performance;
• Rate of Closure (Vc);
• The “Plus 2 Minus 2” Rule;
• Back to Basics: Radar Displays: B-Scope vs PPI;
• INS, Drift, and Navigation.

 

• AWG-9 WCS Advanced Part I (overview of concepts slightly more advanced such as PRF and Zero Doppler Filter);
• AWG-9 WCS Advanced Part II (same as above, but covering clutter and notching).

 

Basic Radio Comms

Very basic radio comms, aimed for newbie-friendly servers such as Georgia At War (GAW).

• Part I: Introduction – Frequencies, ATC, ATIS, Runways;
• Part II: Taxiing and Take off;
• Part III: Tasking and Landing.

 

Antenna Elevation model

One of the first issues I had as noob FW player was understanding the antenna elevation. Here is where Maths came to the rescue!

• Antenna Elevation Study Part I;
• Antenna Elevation Study Part II
• Antenna Elevation Angle Quick Formula.

Various

Other articles covering various topics.

• Bullseye in any module - A simple Spider Card

Resources

The following are lessons held by former or active military personnel (e.g. JTAC, Mi-17 Pilot) about different topics:

• FLIP and Instrument Approach; - this is useful for new clouds I guess!
• Introduction to CAS control – Extract from a training session;
• Close Air Support Theory Lesson  by 132nd.AssafB;
• DCS Syria Map: Historical and Geographical Introduction  by 132nd.AssafB.
• DCS Missiles Visualised - YouTube

 

Modules-specific guides

Although more focused on specific modules, the following articles can often be applied to different airframes:

DCS: Black Shark

This is one of the oldest guides I wrote, it has probably 6-7 years now. It dates back to when the Ka-50 and the A-10 where the only modules in DCS, and I was playing FAC/A with the Shark.

• Ka-50 / A-10C: Sharing Data. Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV

 

DCS: F-14 Tomcat

In the link below you will find most of the articles about the F-14. They are simply too many to be listed here, and they would be better listed in the F-14's dedicated area.

• F-14 RIO

 

DCS: F-4E-45MC Phantom II

• Phantom Phamiliriarisation series (pre DCS release)
• F-4E Articles: tactics, avionics, operations, and more.

 

Training / Presentations

I do not organize training sessions as often as I used to any more, but when I do, I record them. They can include different topics, so take what interests you and skip the rest,

• 31/03/2021: NAVGRID, ZDF & Notching, Timeline, Geometry
• 29/10/2022: 3h livestreaming session split in 6 parts (Part I, the others are on the YT channel)

 

 

Note that rather than spamming new topics on the forum, I will update this thread.

Edited February 13 by Karon
updated post

[Karon]

Added article & video about a 1-1 session (but open to spectators) held on 31/03/2021.

[Karon]

On 4/2/2021 at 5:03 PM, Desert Fox said:

Super nice collection and well written! Like it.

Thanks mate!

 

 

Added two articles to the "Basic stuff":

• Heading, Bearing, Track and Course: old stuff, I forgot to add it to the list;
• RIO Training in Single Player : a short video + article I put together in a couple of hours, discussing how the backseat role can be trained offline.

[Charly_Owl]

The FlyAndWire articles are criminally underrated. Really top material!

[deep]

Wow! I had totally missed this. Amazing material!

 

Also interested in your Arduino projects. Have you had a chance to check out the Raspberry Pi Pico yet?

[Karon]

On 5/3/2021 at 3:24 PM, Charly_Owl said:

The FlyAndWire articles are criminally underrated. Really top material!

It's an honour coming from you Sir, thanks!

 

On 5/3/2021 at 7:28 PM, deep said:

Wow! I had totally missed this. Amazing material!

 

Also interested in your Arduino projects. Have you had a chance to check out the Raspberry Pi Pico yet?

Thanks mate! I worked a bit on Raspberry Pi 6-7 years ago but for other purposes. I now have my libraries, and I'm comfortable with Arduino, so I'll probably stick to it unless I need something specific that Arduino does not provide.

It's incredible what this cheap and simple boards do, especially how simple their usage is. I worked with 8-bit microcontrollers a century ago, and when I learned about Arduino I was mind blown!

[Sacarino111]

Wow yess!

Hi, that's is a great finding! Always wanted a clear and easy lesson about altitud, QNE etc...

Thanks a lot

Saludos

Saca111

[Karon]

Added another "back to basics" article. This time I tried to introduce the Target Aspect. The thing is, everyone knows that speed and altitude are important, but the aspect is rarely mentioned. However, if the target is beaming rather than hot, it affects the missile employment way more than a few decimals of IMN or thousands of feet.

Let me know if the article makes sense, I sit on it for months and I'm still not sure if it conveys the message properly.

 

  

On 5/8/2021 at 9:25 AM, Sacarino111 said:

Wow yess!

Hi, that's is a great finding! Always wanted a clear and easy lesson about altitud, QNE etc...

Thanks a lot

Saludos

Saca111

Gracias hermano!

[Sacarino111]

Hi.

Very nice article. To me, all known, but for a beginer it is quite usefull. Thanks.

Saludos

Saca111

[Karon]

Added new F-14 Video Snippets under Resources.  Youtube Playlist - More info here.

 

 

 

 

I must say that the PSTT "salvo" of AIM-54 was a quite interesting and funny test to do. I should record it again vs 6 targets

[Karon]

Another short overview, as requested in one of the comments of the STT, this time about Track While Scan. The footage was instead recorded to answer a post on hoggit.

 

 

[Karon]

Added another simple article about Rate of Closure (Vc).

[Karon]

Added another article aimed to new players: the "Plus 2 Minus 2" rule (or "±2 rule"; it has a bunch of names, tbh). It is useful to calculate the reciprocal of a bandit, runways and so on.

[Karon]

Updated the first post, added a bunch of links.

In the last few months, I worked on updating my DCS missiles database as I'm working on an updated timeline article.
This is the last video posted today, which very rapidly shows, using a different approach, some of the most common missiles in DCS:

Also, something different: Intercepts in a Hornet, using only the RWR (yep, it's a silly video)

 

[Karon]

A brief video about Cranking and Notching, answering a number of recurring questions, such as speed management in the crank, altitude offsets when notching, and so on, using Maths, chats with real pilots and crews, and a bit of gaming perspective.

 

[skypickle]

thank you for making this video on cranking. but where is it on your website,  https://flyandwire.com/  ?

[Karon]

Added B2B: B-scope vs PPI (video and article).
 

https://flyandwire.com/2023/08/14/back-to-basics-radar-displays-b-scope-vs-ppi/

 

 

[Karon]

Uh, it has been a while since the last update. Here is something new:

 

[Karon]

***Thrust-to-Weight ratio, Fuel & Performance Study: F-14 Tomcat***

After a few months collecting data, I have finally finished a new thrust-to-weight fuel & performance model. However, the amount of data is so huge that I had to break it down into multiple discussions. This is the first one, and we start with a bang with one of the most beautiful aeroplanes ever designed: the F-14 Tomcat.

Article: https://flyandwire.com/2024/12/20/twr-fuel-performance-study-f-14-tomcat/

 

[Karon]

TWR, Fuel & Performance: F-4 vs MiG21 vs Mirage F1 - Aircraft Details

https://flyandwire.com/2025/01/16/twr-fuel-performance-f-4e-mig-21-mirage-f1-details/

This video introduces and discusses the thrust-to-weight ratio characteristics, fuel consumption, and performance of the F-4E-45MC, the MiG-21bis, and the Mirage F1CE. Due to its length, the next part of this series will compare the three directly.

[Karon]

Back to Back to Basics!

This chapter of the Back to Basics series focuses on the INS, the acronym for Inertial Navigation System. Often misunderstood or taken for granted, understanding the limitations, features, and potential issues of the INS is fundamental, along with knowing the alternative means the crew can use for navigation.

Article: https://flyandwire.com/2025/02/13/back-to-basics-ins-drift-and-navigation/

[Karon]

After a few months sitting on these numbers, I finally gathered enough mental strength to deal with modern DCS

Jokes aside, here is the probable final part of the Thrust-to-weight ratio, performance and fuel consumption study. This time the focus is on the 16-17-18 triad: FFalcon, Jeff and Hornet.