Can't find out how to use bombs

[DN308]

Well, I now have a specific question from a situation in mission I have flown:

I receive a mission from a JTAC;

He send his 9-Lines and a mission in my TAD;

I understood that I have to click on "WILCO" that make appears a red triangle both on my map and in my HMCS;

with the TAD as SOI, I have to move my slew to this triangle and "TMS FWD short" (correct?);

Then "TMS FWD Long" to make it SPI (correct?);

Ok, so, how to slave my TGP to this SPI? China Hat Fwd or Aft ? Short or Long? Or something else?

Edited February 2, 2022 by DN308

[Frederf]

All correct hooking TAD object and making TAD the SPI sensor. Slaving all sensors to SPI is china hat forward long (SOI doesn't matter).

China hat forward short generally changes FOV or expand view of the selected sensor. Aft short I can't remember except rejecting/caging missiles oh and toggling TGP LSS. Aft long is special in that it slaves a sensor to a point but only TGP and only to steerpoint and so regardless SOI or SPI.

Edited April 13, 2022 by Frederf

[DN308]

Many thanks.

Sorry for these noob's questions and "KISS" procedure, but I need to make my muscles memory working instead of my old brain.

[BuzzU]

Sure wish the stick and throttle had more switches so that wouldn't have had to jam so much on one switch.

My memory is overloaded and i'm seriously considering flying the A-10C instead. It's complex enough.

Keeping a good memory as we get old doesn't seem to be possible.

[jaylw314]

1 hour ago, DN308 said:

Well, I now have a specific question from a situation in mission I have flown:

I receive a mission from a JTAC;

He send his 9-Lines and a mission in my TAD;

I understood that I have to click on "WILCO" that make appears a red triangle both on my map and in my HMCS;

with the TAD as SOI, I have to move my slew to this triangle and "TMS FWD short" (correct?);

Then "TMS FWD Long" to make it SPI (correct?);

Ok, so, how to slave my TGP to this SPI? China Hat Fwd or Aft ? Short or Long? Or something else?

 

You could make the TAD SPI by pressing TMS FWD Long before or after hooking the target, it doesn't matter.

With the TAD as SOI, once you hook the target with TMS FWD short, and the TAD is set as SPI, you then press China Hat FWD Long to slew all sensors to the SPI.

I'm not 100% sure because I haven't tried it in a while, but I don't think you can hook a JTAC data target (the red triangle) from the HMCS.  I thought I remember being unable to, but I might be wrong on that.  Can't remember the last time I used an AI JTAC, usually it's just my buddies yelling at me   Anyone know for sure?

 

Edited February 2, 2022 by jaylw314

[Yurgon]

6 hours ago, jaylw314 said:

You could make the TAD SPI by pressing TMS FWD Long before or after hooking the target, it doesn't matter.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the TAD require a TAD object to be hooked in order to generate the SPI? I think so, and in turn, the workflow to first hook a TAD object and then make TAD SPI is more reliable than the other way around.

6 hours ago, jaylw314 said:

I'm not 100% sure because I haven't tried it in a while, but I don't think you can hook a JTAC data target (the red triangle) from the HMCS

Works fine in 2.7.10, but I don't know if maybe it didn't work in earlier versions.

Edited February 3, 2022 by Yurgon
JPG better suited for screenshot

[jaylw314]

6 hours ago, Yurgon said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the TAD require a TAD object to be hooked in order to generate the SPI? I think so, and in turn, the workflow to first hook a TAD object and then make TAD SPI is more reliable than the other way around.

Works fine in 2.7.10, but I don't know if maybe it didn't work in earlier versions.

 

Oooh, thanks for the reminder  

[QuiGon]

15 hours ago, BuzzU said:

My memory is overloaded and i'm seriously considering flying the A-10C instead. It's complex enough.

There isn't really much of a difference between the A-10C and A-10C II in terms of HOTAS controls. Sure, the A-10C II has the optional HMD, which has its own set of HOTAS controls, but if you just turn the HMD off, then there is pretty much no difference between the HOTAS controls of the A-10C and A-10C II (except TGP boresight).

Edited February 3, 2022 by QuiGon

[jaylw314]

8 hours ago, Yurgon said:

Works fine in 2.7.10, but I don't know if maybe it didn't work in earlier versions.

 

Ah, you reminded me what the difference between TAD and HMCS was for JTAC targets.  On the TAD, you can hook the JTAC target, make it TAD SPI, then slave everything to that location.  With the HMCS, if you hook the JTAC target and make the HMCS SPI, you can't actually slave everything to the JTAC target because the HMCS actually is pointing at the HDC.  Sure, you can look or slew the HDC in the same general area as the JTAC target, but you'd only be as accurate as your eyeball and slew control.

Obviously, this is not a game stopper or a major issue, but picking up the JTAC target from the TAD might be a little faster and more precise.

 

[BuzzU]

4 hours ago, QuiGon said:

There isn't really much of a difference between the A-10C and A-10C II in terms of HOTAS controls. Sure, the A-10C II has the optional HMD, which has its own set of HOTAS controls, but if you just turn the HMD off, then there is pretty much no difference between the HOTAS controls of the A-10C and A-10C II (except TGP boresight).

 

I don't use it anyway. It's ok in VR and using the default button look but for Trackir it doesn't follow my head. I have to look back with my eyes and that's pretty uncomfortable after a short time.

Actually, I was in a strange mood when I made that post. Maybe I just don't like short/long presses on switches.

[QuiGon]

7 minutes ago, BuzzU said:

Actually, I was in a strange mood when I made that post. Maybe I just don't like short/long presses on switches.

Haha, I can understand why, although it's the opposite for me: I definitely prefer short/long presses on switches over having twice as many switches that I need to map and actuate.

Edited February 3, 2022 by QuiGon

[Yurgon]

On 2/3/2022 at 9:52 AM, jaylw314 said:

With the HMCS, if you hook the JTAC target and make the HMCS SPI, you can't actually slave everything to the JTAC target because the HMCS actually is pointing at the HDC.

I'm still wrapping my head around the finer details of the HMCS, and I find it to be a bit counter-intuitive in some regards. I'm only going by observations from DCS here, with no real-world-data whatsoever.

With no HMCS-object hooked, when the HMCS is made SPI-generator, the HDC becomes the SPI and is detached from the crosshairs (if it wasn't detached already).

However, if a HMCS-object is hooked and the HMCS is made SPI-generator, that object will be the SPI, and the HDC won't be affected.

In other words, it's totally possible to hook a JTAC-assigned target in the HMCS, then make that thing SPI and slave all other sensors to it.

More generally speaking, when the HMCS is made SPI-generator, any HMCS-hooked object will become the SPI, or with nothing hooked, the HDC will become the SPI. Unfortunately the system doesn't really tell the pilot which of these is the case, so pilots have to double check the wedding cake symbol and the SPI-line in the visor. Unhooking objects or caging the HDC also have different effects on the SPI, depending on which HMCS-symbol is the SPI-source. This whole concept is a bit opaque and seems not entirely in line with how it works with other sensors. But I guess hooking the HDC is probably a good habit because then there's no doubt what'll become the SPI when the HMCS is made SPI-generator (unless another object, like a JTAC-assigned target, is supposed to become the SPI).

For the fun of it, here's a HMCS-hooked JTAC-target as SPI, the HDC a little to the left and the TGP a little to the right. Talk about sensor(y) overload...

Edited February 5, 2022 by Yurgon

[jaylw314]

1 hour ago, Yurgon said:

I'm still wrapping my head around the finer details of the HMCS, and I find it to be a bit counter-intuitive in some regards. I'm only going by observations from DCS here, with no real-world-data whatsoever.

With no HMCS-object hooked, when the HMCS is made SPI-generator, the HDC becomes the SPI and is detached from the crosshairs (if it wasn't detached already).

However, if a HMCS-object is hooked and the HMCS is made SPI-generator, that object will be the SPI, and the HDC won't be affected.

In other words, it's totally possible to hook a JTAC-assigned target in the HMCS, then make that thing SPI and slave all other sensors to it.

More generally speaking, when the HMCS is made SPI-generator, any HMCS-hooked object will become the SPI, or with nothing hooked, the HDC will become the SPI. Unfortunately the system doesn't really tell the pilot which of these is the case, so pilots have to double check the wedding cake symbol and the SPI-line in the visor. Unhooking objects or caging the HDC also have different effects on the SPI, depending on which HMCS-symbol is the SPI-source. This whole concept is a bit opaque and seems not entirely in line with how it works with other sensors. But I guess hooking the HDC is probably a good habit because then there's no doubt what'll become the SPI when the HMCS is made SPI-generator (unless another object, like a JTAC-assigned target, is supposed to become the SPI).

For the fun of it, here's a HMCS-hooked JTAC-target as SPI, the HDC a little to the left and the TGP a little to the right. Talk about sensor(y) overload...

 

OK, that's weird, when I tried it when I tried to make the HMCS SPI with the JTAC target hooked, it attached the SPI to the HDC for me.  When I had the HDC slaved to the crosshairs, the SPI became whatever point was under the crosshair.  Something wonky is going on

[DN308]

Using that thread to get answers on my noob's experience, I would like to know the procedure to have my GBU-38s READY instead of ALN UNS?

The most frustrating is that when coming back to base, I just noticed that they are at last, READY....

What I'm doing wrong or forget?

[jaylw314]

2 minutes ago, DN308 said:

Using that thread to get answers on my noob's experience, I would like to know the procedure to have my GBU-38s READY instead of ALN UNS?

The most frustrating is that when coming back to base, I just noticed that they are at last, READY....

What I'm doing wrong or forget?

They require an occasional turn to stay aligned.  If you fly on autopilot for a while, they'll require a couple gentle turns to keep them ready.

[DN308]

5 minutes ago, jaylw314 said:

They require an occasional turn to stay aligned.  If you fly on autopilot for a while, they'll require a couple gentle turns to keep them ready.

I assume I've read that somewhere else. However, I tried that, and no luck. I swear I made some gentle or hard turns. Nothing changed. I'm not sure at 100%, but I think that was already marked as ALN UNS at the beginning of the mission.

Should I have to make a specific alignment somewhere?

[Yurgon]

14 minutes ago, DN308 said:

I'm not sure at 100%, but I think that was already marked as ALN UNS at the beginning of the mission.

That's the JDAM status at startup.

With the aircraft's INS fully aligned, you'll have to turn some 90 degrees and it should go to RDY while still on the ground.

In the air, it should never show ALN UNS (alignment unsatisfactory), but it can switch to ALN RDY (which is a bit odd because the weapon is not ready then ), in which case you'll have to rock the wings or fly a sufficient turn to get it back to RDY.

So if you take off with ALN UNS, it's probably not going to fix itself, but you could double check the EGI status or try an inflight INS alignment, or go back to the airfield and grab a fresh jet.

Just remember that after 5 to 10 minutes of flying straight, the JDAM can go from RDY to ALN RDY, so plan for a bit of wing-rocking or a turn of 45° or more before engaging a target.

[DN308]

That was for sure till the beginning. Since it was a 84mn mission, I would't come earlier...

But good to know, and many thanks for that

[DN308]

That's what I have inflight

I have tried to make turns, altitude changes, wild turns, etc. As you can see I even tried to make an INS align, GPS INFLT align etc. Nothing...

[Frederf]

Your alignment page says T= 1.6 7.7. Transfer alignment isn't going to transfer until the airplane has an alignment worth transferring. Try it again after a 4.0 0.8 align.

[DN308]

5 minutes ago, Frederf said:

Your alignment page says T= 1.6 7.7. Transfer alignment isn't going to transfer until the airplane has an alignment worth transferring. Try it again after a 4.0 0.8 align.

And I can do that while airborne?

[Frederf]

I think eventually GPS will refine your alignment to a sufficient quality and/or you can do an inflight alignment. Can you get EAC switch to stick on? I'm guessing that's the go-no go threshold for JDAM transfer alignment.

[DN308]

6 minutes ago, Frederf said:

I think eventually GPS will refine your alignment to a sufficient quality and/or you can do an inflight alignment. Can you get EAC switch to stick on? I'm guessing that's the go-no go threshold for JDAM transfer alignment.

EAC stick-on for a long time yes

[ASAP]

Hopefully not insulting your intelligence, but are you getting a good EGI alignment on the ground before you takeoff? Are you waiting for the flashing INS NAV RDY  after a 4 minute alignment before hitting NAV on the CDU? You should have a FOM of D5/B1 on takeoff.

Edited April 14, 2022 by ASAP

[Ephedrin]

I haven‘t followed the whole discussion but the last couple of posts. I haven‘t been able to drop GBU31 lately, no problems with the GBU38. I know very well how to fly and use the Hog but this bomb simply hasn‘t worked for a couple of beta updates now. ALN UNS all the time.

Edited April 14, 2022 by Ephedrin