CFrag's A-10A Flight School (Training Missions)

[cfrag]

Please note: Please use this discussion thread for any feedback

 

Link to download: please click here

 

Current Version: 1.3 final - May 14, 2021

 

 

Important Note: 
I was in the process of re-working all missions based on feedback. Some missions received optional "noise-overs", which is basically me reading the text out loud. And since I was forced to read my own writing, I've re-written most of the instructions for clarity. Also, many missions received some additional form of polish, being it in the form of dynamic scenery, background audio, or weather. About half of the missions have been updated. Improving these mission takes an incredible amount of time and dedication. Unfortunately, I feel that user reception doesn't justify the effort, and I have decided to discontinue developing this series any further.  

 

What is it?

CFrag's A-10A Tutorials are a series of missions designed to teach you how to fly the A-10A in Eagle Dynamic's fantastic DCS World. Emphasis is on accessibility and fun; some missions exchange realism for playability (examples: some training missions supply unlimited munitions, and in most training missions the enemy will not shoot back). I have designed these missions to be especially enjoyable with VR. They work perfectly well in pancake vision; in VR they simply "quadruple the fun". Many missions contain background audio which are not theater-realistic (I wasn't able to get my hands on audio from Caucasus towers) but from western sources.
 

Background

The A-10A is a great plane, but too few people fly the A-Hog. Why?

 

Mostly, because there are too few training missions available.

 

Let's change that. Here is a package of (currently) 17 (hopefully fun) missions that teach everything you wanted to know to drive the Hog: cold start, flying the pattern, firing Mavs, formation flying - all covered.  

Note: These missions work especially well in VR.

Version 1.3- 20210514 - Please see changes at the end

CFrag's A-10A Tutorials are a series of missions designed to teach you how to fly the A-10A in Eagle Dynamic's fantastic DCS World. Emphasis is on accessibility and fun; some missions exchange realism for playability (examples: some training missions supply unlimited munitions, and in most training missions the enemy will not shoot back). Some missions even contain entertainment elements. I have designed these missions to be especially enjoyable with VR. They work perfectly well in pancake vision; in VR they simply "quadruple the fun". Many mission contain background audio which are not theater-realistic (I wasn't able to get my hands on audio from Caucasus towers) but from western sources.

This package is a free download; please do not re-distribute.

Requirements

• DCS 2.7 or later
• A-10A module (either stand-alone or as part of Flaming Cliffs 3). These missions do not work with the A-10C or A-10C II "Tank Killer" modules.
• (strongly recommended) VR Headset
• (recommended) HOTAS controllers

Why?
The A-10A is a great und fun plane: it has a sophisticated flight model, is relatively bening to fly, it's ugly as sin, and has tons of weapons it can deploy on the battlefield. But unfortunately it comes with no training missions.

 

None. Zip. Zilch.

 

That's doing the A-Hawg a big disservice, and so I embarked on my own mission to bring this fabulous winged pig closer to your heart. Learning how to start, fly, navigate and fight the A-10 should be fun. That doesn't always mean that it's going to be easy, though. Some of the mission (for example IMC landing or formation flying) are flat out not survivable without some degree of practice. I included them because of that sweet, sweet feeling of accomplishment when you eventually succeed. The missions are designed to build upon each other; with the exception of the IMC (bad weather) and Formation Flying missions you'll get a lot more out of them if you fly them in order.

Copyright Notice:
These missions contain original and licensed audio files that have been licensed to me (Christian Franz) for redistribution. That means that while I, Christian Franz, may include them in my works, you MUST NOT extract, re-distribute nor otherwise package or include any of the packaged audio files in your own works without written permission from me.

 

INSTALLATION
To install, unzip and move the entire "CFrags A-10A Tutorials" folder to
    C:\Users\[your user name]\Saved Games\DCS\Missions\
or
    C:\Users\[your user name]\Saved Games\DCS.openbeta\Missions\

TO START A TRAINING MISSION
Start DCS, then click

•     Mission (Note: NOT Training)
•     My Missions tab (upper left)
•     CFrags A-10A Tutorials
•     choose the mission you like

 

MISSION ROSTER

• Start-Up
  Start a cold, dark Hog on a fresh, early morning. Communicate with Tower, and taxi to runway.
   
• Take-Off and Fun Flight
  Basically a joy-ride. Take off, and have fun taking the A-10A through a course marked out with green gates. Torsten "Nohaytch" rides shotgun with his axe. Try NOT to barrel roll out of sheer exhilaration. Alcoholic beverages not encouraged.
   
• Navigation
  Fly the Hog to pre-arranged way points.
   
• Straight-In Landing
  Learn how to land the Hog with this simple straight-in landing in good weather and without wind
   
• Touch'n'go Pattern
  The standard touch-and-go pattern used across the world to practice taking off and landings. Good weather, no wind.
   
• Touch-n-go with crosswind
  Efficiently practice taking off and landing the Hog with a crosswind component
   
• Airfield approach
  How to correctly insert yourself in to an airfield pattern for landing
   
• ILS assisted Night Landing
  Land at night and use ILS to remain correctly lined up for landing. Requires ATC procedures as demonstrated in previous missions because the operators at airfields only turn on the lights for flights that announce their presence.
   
• ILS Landing IMC - calm
  Bad visibility landing, and EXCEEDINGLY difficult: descend through clouds and remain lined up using ILS. Skip this mission until you are good. Really good
   
• ILS Landing IMC - Armageddon
  Bad weather landing, and deadly: descend through clouds and remain lined up using ILS, while wind, rain, and other surprises buffet your aircraft. Definitely skip this mission until you are good. Supremely good.
   
• Brrrt!
  Learn how to use the A-10's ridiculously oversized cannon
   
• The HYDRA
  Teaches you how to fire Hydra unguided rockets
   
• Maverick School
  Introduction to the Maverick TV/IR-guided fire & forget missile
   
• CCIP Bombing
  How to use CCIP to put fuzed ordnance on a target
   
• CCRP Bombing
  The more complex, less dangerous bomb delivery method explained
   
• Air/Air Combat (Sidewinders)
  A lesson in how to, and why not, engage the Hog in A/A combat
   
• Wing Commander
  Command your wing to attack ground forces, form up and RTB. Careful: the enemy has some teeth.
   
• Formation Flying
  Get close and personal with your flight lead. Difficult. Really.
   
• Free Flight Day Caucasus
  Fly the Hog freely. Different start locations and set-ups. Time: early morning, fine weather.
   
• Free Flight Day Caucasus
  Fly the Hog freely. Different start locations and set-ups. Time: deep into night, fine weather.

Planned, discontinued 

• Air-to-Air Refuelling
• AOA and slow flight 
• NOE, combined w/ rwr: the SAM on the hill  
• SAM evasion - canyon run and the bridge...
• RWR, AAA evasion Missile Evasion and counter measures
• Add kneeboard with rwr codes
• Otto 
• formation advanced - fly and make some turns, level changes 

 

Version History

 

V1.3 - 20210514 (final)
All missions received a DCS 2.7 update. Note that unfortunately, changes to 2.7 currently break the Cockpit Highlights in VR (and possibly pancake. I seldom fly without VR, and need to check). More missions received voice-overs and content overhaul, some small scenery updates. Completely rewrote all ILS missions - and added a really, really challenging ILS IMC mission. DCS 2.7 threw a spanner into the IMC mission visuals, and they may require some additional tweaking. Added kneeboard improvements to many missions; kneeboard now opens on mission start for many missions.

 

Change Details

• all missions: DCS 2.7 update to weather in lighting. 
  • start up and taxi
  • added 2.7 compatibility
  • joyride / fun flight 
  • added 2.7 compatibility
• navigation basics 
  • added 2.7 compatibility
• straight-in landing 
  • added 2.7 compatibility 
• Kneeboard: added pages: 
  • A-10 Pattern    
  • Approach
  • Cold Start Checklist
  • ILS fix point calculation
  • Morse Code
  • Pattern
• Free Flight Day:
  • Added Kneeboards
  • Auto-show kneeboard on mission start
  • pause mission until wpn fire
  • some dynamic scenery at Kolkhi to spiff up cold start surrounds
  • added mission image
  • added A-10 APR to Krymsk
  • radio chatter in background 
  • added 2.7 compatibility
• Free Flight Night (03 AM)
  • added mission image (night)
  • same changes as day mission
  • added 2.7 compatibility 
• Straight in landing    
  • reworked instructions
  • Added AOA instructions 
  • Optional Gear Down at 10 Miles
  • Voice-Overs (optional)
  • Tower Chatter
  • Added Indicators for AOA and Flaps
  • added kneeboard
  • open kneeboard on start
  • added 2.7 compatibility 
• LS Night Landing 
  • changed name to ILS-assisted as we are flying a visual approach and a mock-intercept
  • completely rewrote instructions for clarity
  • moved gear down to 10 miles
  • added mock ILS intercept
  • added optional voice-overs 
  • starting alt 3k5, 230 kias
  • added cockpit highlights for ADI, ILS Station
  • new mission image: night landing 
  • added 2.7 compatibility 
• ILS "Easy" - IMC 
  • removed wind and turbulence
  • set to start at 3k5, 230 kias
  • rewrote all instructions
  • added voice overs
  • optional voice-overs 
  • added 2.7 compatibility
  • weather needs more tweaking
• ILS "Armageddon" (new mission)
  • based on IMC easy
  • wind, turbulence, early morning, thunderstorm
  • optional voice overs 
  • added 2.7 compatibility 
  • weather needs more tweaking
• Pattern calm
  • set pattern height to 1500 AGL
  • re-calculated pattern speed, now 150-170
  • slightly reworked instructions
  • Added some AOA indexer and thrust/pitch hints
  • added voice overs
  • made voice overs optional
  • added some static scenery 
  • display kneeboard on start, pattern page
  • adapted pattern gates
  • added 2.7 compatibility 

 

 

V01.02 - 20220317
Summary: Main change are optional voice-overs and cockpit highlights for the first three missions (Cold&dark, Takeoff & joyride, Navigation Basics). The navigation basics mission has received significant re-writes. All missions have received some minor scenerey additions to make them more interesting.
 

Change Details 
  - New Missions: Free Flight Day Caucasus, Free Flight Night Caucasus
  - Cold & Dark:
        - Added voice-overs
        - Added some live scenery
        - 'Q' turns off/on voice-overs 
        - Improved instructions / wording for clarity
        - Added cockpit highlights
        - supports flaps toggle in addition to flaps landing position
        - improved flag handling for re-enabling voice
  - Takeoff & Joyride
        - Added voice-overs
        - 'Q' turns off/on voice-overs
        - Improved instructions
        - added minor active scenery
        - added cockpit highlights 
        - supports flaps toggle in addition to flaps landing position
        - supports gear toggle in addition to gear up 
  - Navigation Basics
        - Added voice-overs
        - 'Q' toggles voice-overs 
        - significantly reworked instructions, better included HSI, removed Otto entirely
        - re-pathed final third
        - Added cockpit highlights for HUD and HSI
        - now supports landings in Soganlug, actively not Lochini
        - added active scenery 

  - Straight-In Landing
        - prepared for audio voice overs
        - tweaked weather slightly

  - IMC Landing
        - enabled cross-wind and turbulences
        

V01.00 - 20210309 Initial Release

 

 

Edited May 14, 2021 by cfrag

[Rudel_chw]

Thanks a lot for making this, I’m not really on FC3 flight, but I’m sure many begginers will find them really useful. 
 

To make them easier to find, may I suggest that you classify the file as a "Campaign" or "Single Mission" rather than "other" ?  Also, let’s hope that a Moderator can pin this thread 

 

Best regards,

 

Eduardo

[cfrag]

Thanks, @Rudel_chw - I really didn't know how to correctly classify a pack of single missions. I'll see if I can modify it without infringing on posting policies.

 

[Rudel_chw]

6 minutes ago, cfrag said:

Thanks, @Rudel_chw - I really didn't know how to correctly classify a pack of single missions. I'll see if I can modify it without infringing on posting policies.

 

yes, you can edit the file easily and it won’t be subjected to the moderator approval time like when you upload the first time. Backup the description text just in case, by copying it into a text file.

 

Edited March 10, 2021 by Rudel_chw

[Johnny Dioxin]

Agreed - the A-10A can be loads of fun to fly and some of the missions are very enjoyable - it's a shame we don't have links to Chris Frishmuth's AARs from pre-release here for new guys to have a look at, too, just to whet the appetite.

[chumpeagle]

You wonderful person. We were having a chat elsewhere on the forum about how nice it would be to have some training missions for the A-10A.  I will try them out.

[chumpeagle]

First three missions completed and so far so good. I'll work on the others and feed back as time permits. 

[Rudel_chw]

OK, just completed the first mission and here is my feedback:

 

- I loved the background radio calls, really really nice.

- I believe that for a beginner it would be confusing to indicate the key commands by their name, rather than just state the needed keys. I had to constantly pause the sim to check the controls and see which key I needed to press. It would be an advantage in case a user has binded other keys to each command, but I doubt a beginner would do that.

- I missed Instructor's voice-overs.

- Finally, I could do without the drums sound 

 

All in all, a really good training mission ... thanks a lot for sharing this with the community 

 

 

[MAXsenna]

Thank! Much appreciated. Had a blast with these today.
I agree with Rudel. It would be nice to be reminded of the key commands, and voice overs would be icing on the cake!
Cheers!

Sent from my MAR-LX1A using Tapatalk

[cfrag]

Thank you so much for the feedback!

 

Not using the key commands was a conscious decision on my part because I thought that not only do they confuse (me), I thought that since I use a HOTAS setup (and I imagined everyone else too), I'd better remember what the buttons do, not their bindings. I now realize that I'm probably wrong about this, and I'd love to hear more feedback from you (pro / con).

 

I initially recorded spoken audio for the first mission, but hearing myself speak was enough to turn me off that one  [plus, recording audio is immensely time-consuming for me]- if I have the time I might be adding spoken audio, and y'all be treated to my dulcet voice, laden with a heavy German accent, ja?

 

 

Edited March 11, 2021 by cfrag

[chumpeagle]

I personally didn’t mind the lack of keyboard commands. I think it forces you to get familiar with looking them up, then you learn a bit more by exploring other commands and thinking about how to map to HOTAS. I guess no harm in noting the defaults in the briefing so you cover both preferences. 
 

I agree though that the radio chatter is very cool. 

[chumpeagle]

I've done all of them now up to and including the foggy landing. So far all working well. One comment related to what we talk about above re: not providing key commands. In the instructions you call the gear light the landing light so that may confuse some people (e.g. have them looking around for a landing light command when there isn't one).  

 

Otherwise so far so good and looking forward to the weapon training. I like how you have used different times of the day to make it more interesting and added all the other traffic, also that you have the option of turning the gates on or leaving them off.

[Rudel_chw]

15 hours ago, cfrag said:

I initially recorded spoken audio for the first mission, but hearing myself speak was enough to turn me off that one  

 

Indeed .. exactly the same happened to me, and put me off editing training missions for a long while

[cfrag]

9 hours ago, Rudel_chw said:

 

Indeed .. exactly the same happened to me, and put me off editing training missions for a long while

 

So I'm re-recording voice now, and would love to have some tips on how to streamline the process - I'm currently using Logic, but my toolchain is too long for quickly editing voice-overs. I really don't need any of  Logic's specific features for pure single-track voice, nor the equipment, so I can simplify. A lot: On average, a 25 second audio v/o takes 21 minutes to record the old way (with three round-trips), only 6 when directly recording in Audacity. I would like to solicit tips on how you have integrated voice-overs with Mission Editor. Are there any tools you recommend? 

 

Also, I'm thinking of making the VO optional to preserve my nerves during test (people say that I like to hear the sound of my voice, but I guess they mean that differently )

 

[cfrag]

12 hours ago, chumpeagle said:

I've done all of them now up to and including the foggy landing. So far all working well. One comment related to what we talk about above re: not providing key commands. In the instructions you call the gear light the landing light so that may confuse some people (e.g. have them looking around for a landing light command when there isn't one).  

 

Otherwise so far so good and looking forward to the weapon training. I like how you have used different times of the day to make it more interesting and added all the other traffic, also that you have the option of turning the gates on or leaving them off.

 

Thank you so much for the feedback. I've corrected this (hopefully everywhere it occurs) for a next release

 

[cfrag]

15 hours ago, chumpeagle said:

I've done all of them now up to and including the foggy landing. So far all working well.

 

Wait, you stood the IMC landing on your first attempt? That's a bug - let me get in there an up the xwind component

 

[chumpeagle]

1 hour ago, cfrag said:

Wait, you stood the IMC landing on your first attempt? That's a bug - let me get in there an up the xwind component

 

Haha, I did yes. But - that's only because I've been doing N22YF's F-15C lessons and that has a similar windy, low visibility landing test. I crashed in that one many, many times but the practice has carried through into your one with the A-10. If I was doing yours for the first time I would have no doubt crashed several times on that.

[MAXsenna]

 
Haha, I did yes. But - that's only because I've been doing N22YF's F-15C lessons and that has a similar windy, low visibility landing test. I crashed in that one many, many times but the practice has carried through into your one with the A-10. If I was doing yours for the first time I would have no doubt crashed several times on that.

Haha! I was going to say the same!

Sent from my MAR-LX1A using Tapatalk

[FupDuck]

I created an account just to come here and tell you how grateful I am to you for these training missions! I've been putting off using the A10 because it just seemed like there was no way I would be able to figure out all the different ordinance, especially the mavericks, those things operate on black magic in this game, I swear! Anyways, I know others have been giving you suggestions for voice overs and all that but in my opinion, the tutorials were exactly perfect just the way they were! I'm sure you Jane a lovely voice and all, but I loved the little "MOHAA" drum beats (at least that's what they sounded like to me) every time you hit a milestone, that was a great touch. And the little fun touches, like the music and the "enjoy a smoke", etc. Just great! 

 

I found these tutorials yesterday and woke up today all excited to do them. By this afternoon I'd done all but the last three, and had a big grin on my face. I feel like these have unlocked a whole new game for me, because I have a ton of A10 content downloaded, and now I can finally fly it! That's what I've been doing the rest of the day! 

 

As a note, I did find one maybe bug. In the take off tutorial, when I lowered my flaps as instructed, it did not move to the next instruction. I restarted the mission to see if I'd missed something, but after watching the flaps cycle 10-20 times, I decided to just gun it. The simulation picked up at "hog rolling" or something like that, so I was able to continue the tutorial. Funny thing... When I came in to land, it then played the milestone on what to do after putting down the flaps! I'm guessing the milestone is linked to a certain position on the runway that I didn't get to on take off taxi.

 

Anyways, like I said, thanks so much. If this is your first kick at this stuff, then kudos man, it was awesome and I hope you do more like this. Is this isn't your first rodeo, please point me to more of your work! Thanks! 

 

[cfrag]

Thank you for your kind words! I'm happy to see that people find these missions useful, and take the time to provide feedback. I've already re-worked the first two missions to provide optional voice-overs, and have also integrated cockpit highlights, which are really annoying to figure out and make VR-compatible. 

 

7 hours ago, Sandmonkee said:

As a note, I did find one maybe bug. In the take off tutorial, when I lowered my flaps as instructed, it did not move to the next instruction. I restarted the mission to see if I'd missed something, but after watching the flaps cycle 10-20 times, I decided to just gun it. The simulation picked up at "hog rolling" or something like that, so I was able to continue the tutorial. Funny thing... When I came in to land, it then played the milestone on what to do after putting down the flaps! I'm guessing the milestone is linked to a certain position on the runway that I didn't get to on take off taxi.

 

Thank you! If you don't mind, can I ask you to check which button you bound to flaps? The mission is very particular about which button press it expects; it expects 'Flaps Landing Position', and if you pressed 'Flaps up/down' instead, that will not register, even though you are doing the correct thing. I may need to consider when writing the mission.

[FupDuck]

 

Hi Christian, 
I was using the "F" button, which for me is the flaps toggle, and I think that's the default setting for the FC3 planes. I tried shift F as well, with the same result. Like I mentioned, the messages that should have come after the flaps milestone ended up popping up as I was landing. Maybe that's helpful to you? 

I have another question that isn't specifically related to your videos, but does have to do with the A10, and you seem to know what you're doing . In your maverick tutorial, the targets are all nicely clumped together, and the TDC/TGP locks easily as you move the reticle over the tanks. When I tried playing some of the FC3 missions, the maverick would not lock on to the target that I was designating with the TDC/TGP reticle. Instead it would lock on some other random unit off in another direction, and often even friendly forces! I tried using the "lock ground target" simplification command instead of hitting Enter (lock designated target), and that was marginally better, but seemed to be locking on whatever was in the center of the HUD vs the target I was designating with the reticle. Eventually I could cycle through targets by using the "next ground target" simplification, but sometimes it would take multiple passes over the AOR. So I guess my question is, do you have any tips for using the maverick in a "distributed target" situation, where there are also friendlies? And getting it to lock on to the target you are actually designating with the reticle? 

I haven't done the last three or four tutorials yet (but that's what I'm doing as soon as I'm done my coffee!), so maybe you already cover this. I will find out shortly!
 

Edited March 14, 2021 by Sandmonkee

[FupDuck]

So I just finished the tutorials. Either there is something wrong with my installation, or there is something buggy with targeting in the A10. I was not able to lock on to anything in the CCRP tutorial. I followed the steps exactly, moved the reticle over the targets, and hit lock/enter. The tutorial proceeds as if I'd done the right thing, but it doesn't seem to actually lock anything. I flew right over the targets without anything happening. I tried multiple passes, and even just trying to lock on to a random spot on the ground, switching CCRP on and off, etc, but nothing works. I also tried using "lock ground target" again, because that sort of worked for the maverick, but not this time.

 

I don't think this is an issue with these tutorials though. I did some googling, and there appear to be others having the same problem with this plane (targeting with maverick and CCRP) but at the same time there wasn't a ton of mentions of this here in the forums as I expected there would be for such a problem, so maybe there is an issue with my (and a few other people's) installation or something. 

 

Anyways, if anyone can tell me one way or the other if they've had issues properly locking targets with the maverick/CCRP reticles while doing these tutorials, it would be much appreciated! 

[N22YF]

10 hours ago, Sandmonkee said:

If anyone can tell me one way or the other if they've had issues properly locking targets with the maverick/CCRP reticles while doing these tutorials, it would be much appreciated! 

 

Hm, I just tried the CCRP tutorial and didn't have any problems myself. The instructions in the tutorial aren't super precise, so I would suggest reviewing the CCRP section of the A-10A manual (starts at the bottom of page 50) if you haven't already, to make sure you're not missing anything (it's only a page long, so it's a quick read). Also, could you post a track file? That would make it easier to see whether there's anything wrong in your approach.

[FupDuck]

8 hours ago, N22YF said:

 

Hm, I just tried the CCRP tutorial and didn't have any problems myself. The instructions in the tutorial aren't super precise, so I would suggest reviewing the CCRP section of the A-10A manual (starts at the bottom of page 50) if you haven't already, to make sure you're not missing anything (it's only a page long, so it's a quick read). Also, could you post a track file? That would make it easier to see whether there's anything wrong in your approach.

Thank you very much for this. There is certainly more detail there, and I'm kind of embarrassed to say I didn't think to look in the manual! I will try again after work tonight, but IIRC my issue seems to come when attempting to lock. The target mark box does not seem to appear, but maybe I just didn't know what to look for. Like I said, I will try it again and pay closer attention to the symbology mentioned in the manual. For the maverick, I didn't realize the range was so short, so maybe that was the issue there. I will try these again too. I will try to figure out generating a track file this evening and post it here if I still have problems. 

 

Also, unless I am mistaken, you are the author of several other tutorials I've been flying, so I would like to say thank you for those! They really helped me a lot too! 

 

 

[Ironhand]

On 3/14/2021 at 12:50 PM, Sandmonkee said:

...Either there is something wrong with my installation, or there is something buggy with targeting in the A10. I was not able to lock on to anything in the CCRP tutorial...

 

Probably neither. IIRC there are slant range limitations on the designator’s use. It’s been awhile since I’ve been in the A-10 working targets but that’s how I remember it.

Edited March 15, 2021 by Ironhand