Is AAR mandatory?

[LordOrion]

I'm stil a newbie with the tomcat and I'm not sure to be able to perform AAR right now.

[Reflected]

It’s not, but highly recommended. AAR is an important part of naval aviation and when you get the hang of it it’s quite fun and rewarding too

[LordOrion]

24 minutes ago, Reflected said:

It’s not, but highly recommended. AAR is an important part of naval aviation and when you get the hang of it it’s quite fun and rewarding too

Thanks, the problem is how long it takes to someone to "get the hang of it"

One last question: which mission does require AAR most?

[Jayhawk1971]

There are three missions where AAR is specifically part of the mission design (albeit skippable). The rest of the missions have optional tanker support.

You don't need to AAR at all (unless you're too liberal with burner use), but IMO it's recommended for immersion's sake.

Edit: also, don't forget that while you may not need gas, your AI wingman may very well need some...a lot, even. So probably a good idea to at least let him hit the tanker while you can practice formation flying while he's busy.

Spoiler

That would be mission 11, "dawn patrol"

 

Edited September 6, 2022 by Jayhawk1971

[hasole]

I've done it once without any AAR, but you must fly to the tanker to let the Mission work.

Once you can AAR, its well worth playing again and you feel like a real bad ass.

Otherwise if you can't AAR, some guy made a video saying you should stick to Instant Action missions

[Jive]

On 9/6/2022 at 2:35 PM, LordOrion said:

Thanks, the problem is how long it takes to someone to "get the hang of it"

One last question: which mission does require AAR most?

Maverick has a real nice video on AAR in F-14

Fwiw I use bomb mode on the wings and align the fuelling pod with the right side of the cockpit grab rail (above the HUD) 

Like the others have said it's a fun thing to do, just needs some practice invested