Terry Dactil Posted March 21, 2021 Posted March 21, 2021 I have been exploring the channel map in a P-51 and preset 4 of the airfield radio frequencies using the mission editor. Communication with a selected airfield (using Vaicom) works fine, but if I request a vector (navigational assistance) or announce 'inbound for landing' then ATC will give me a completely incorrect heading to fly. The error is generally around 60° but can be 180° sometimes, and is never anywhere near being correct. It is not a great problem as the kneeboard and waypoints woks fine for navigating, but it would be nice to have ATC vectors working too. Is anyone else seeing this error?
Terry Dactil Posted March 22, 2021 Author Posted March 22, 2021 Some more information: I made a small mission where I flew on a track of 270° inbound to Manston. Along the way I announced I was 'inbound for landing' and also requested vectors. The resulting ATC vectors were OK at long range but rapidly deteriorated as the range decreased.. In fact, near the coast the vector was to go somewhere behind me! Here is a plot of the bearings I was given and which wanted me to go some distance to the South East of Manston. I checked the map coordinates for Manston and they are correct. However, DCS obviously thinks Manston is somewhere out to sea.
razo+r Posted March 22, 2021 Posted March 22, 2021 ATC gives heading and distance for a "reporting point", not the airfield itself. You can see this behaviour on any map.
Terry Dactil Posted March 24, 2021 Author Posted March 24, 2021 Quote You can see this behaviour on any map. I am in a P-51 with no radio navigation aids at all, so an initial approach fix for an instrument approach is useless to me. (even if it existed then - this is WW2) It can't be a visual reporting point if it is over the water. All I want to know is the direction to the airfied. So where do I find this 'any map' which will show me where I am being vectored?
Art-J Posted March 24, 2021 Posted March 24, 2021 26 minutes ago, Terry Dactil said: It can't be a visual reporting point if it is over the water. It can and it will, unfortunately. What razo+r pointed is - the ATC system in DCS has never been tweaked for warbirds and it works the same way no matter what DCS airplane and map you're using. Vector or inbound command will always take you to some "in the middle of nowhere" point on the line extending more or less from the runway (an even that point might change because of wind speed and direction). From that moment you're supposed to find the airfield and set up the approach yourself - which might be an issue in warbirds, at night or in poor weather. i7 9700K @ stock speed, single GTX1070, 32 gigs of RAM, TH Warthog, MFG Crosswind, Win10.
draconus Posted March 24, 2021 Posted March 24, 2021 1 hour ago, Terry Dactil said: All I want to know is the direction to the airfied. Easy - when you reach the approach fix and you get the ATC respone, you then turn and fly about 5nm the heading you were given at the Inbound call ex. "runway 27" - so you should fly course 270. Keep in mind also magvar around 10 degrees west for your instruments (Margate 1944). Win10 i7-10700KF 32GB RTX4070S Quest 3 T16000M VPC CDT-VMAX TFRP FC3 F-14A/B F-15E CA SC NTTR PG Syria
Terry Dactil Posted March 24, 2021 Author Posted March 24, 2021 Thanks for the replies. I set up a mission where I started on the runway center-line and 30 miles out. The vector I received was runway heading for 20 miles. It looks like the vectoring could be to a point 10 miles out on the runway center-line. I'll check from some other directions and see if that still applies. I guess there will be a few adjustments needed for magnetic variation and turn radius if not on a direct approach. It is starting to make more sense now.
ED Team BIGNEWY Posted March 24, 2021 ED Team Posted March 24, 2021 ATC is being reworked but will take time, we have a pretty busy schedule this year, we will share more news as we get closer to its implementation, but I have no ETA for you all currently. thank you Forum rules - DCS Crashing? Try this first - Cleanup and Repair - Discord BIGNEWY#8703 - Youtube - Patch Status Windows 11, NVIDIA MSI RTX 3090, Intel® i9-10900K 3.70GHz, 5.30GHz Turbo, Corsair Hydro Series H150i Pro, 64GB DDR @3200, ASUS ROG Strix Z490-F Gaming, PIMAX Crystal
Terry Dactil Posted March 25, 2021 Author Posted March 25, 2021 More info that may be of interest. I stuck an oil rig platform in the sea to mark the position of a 10 mile final for RW 28 at Manston. Any time I called 'inbound' I receive an accurate heading and distance to that position However there was never any notification when I arrived there and I just overflew the position.. Next, I used visual sighting of the oil rig to turn onto the final approach heading Now everything worked! At 5 miles I was cleared for a visual approach and to call the tower. The tower cleared me to land when I requested landing. The tower also cleared me to find a parking spot at the end of the landing roll. The big problem is that WW2 aircraft with no radio aids have no way of knowing when they reach the approach fix. Real world ATC give an instruction to turn onto final with allowances for intercept angle, turn radius/speed etc. If ED could just tell me when I had one or two miles to run I could probably work most of that out myself.
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