Viggen.training - A new training approach for the DCS AJS37 Viggen by Heatblur Simulations

[TOViper]

Good morning fellow pilots, and welcome to Viggen.training!

With this thread I am opening a new era of pilot training for our beloved "AJS37 Viggen" module.
The thread gives you a rough outline of the project, which I am proudly presenting to you!

What is it?

Viggen.training is the first public pilot type-training platform for the AJS37 Viggen for DCS.

The training is designed open, so that you can start at any time, and only complete the content that you really need. It is not a requirement to start from scratch. On the other hand, if you are new to the AJS37 Viggen, you may find it useful to start over with this sophisticated training.

The syllabus

The basis for Viggen.training is the ATIS 37 manual, a document used by the Swedish Air Force. This manual contains the whole training syllabus (all relevant learning objectives and required training flights and check-flights) for the Viggen.

The syllabus is divided into 3 stages/phases (Swedish "skede"):

• "Skede 1"
• "Skede 2"
• "Skede 3"

In order to make this work using a computer game simulation like DCS, the syllabus had to be modified in one way or another.
Viggen.training will initially cover “Skede 1”, which focuses on:

• Flight training ("flygutbildning" - FLY)
• Theoretical knowledge training ("teknik" - TEK)

 

What is waiting for you?

Homepage

The homepage www.viggen.training is your “home-base” and offers a collection of services. You can, e.g. create your own user profile. The user profile is your "life record" and also contains a "flight log". The homepage also hosts the "Eternal list of the best" (for the best of the best). You may visit the training office and the flight line, and maintain your user data and user settings.

Training Office

You can enter the "training office", which hosts a lot of information for you:

• You can read about:
  • The theoretical knowledge training
  • The theoretical knowledge examinations
  • The current theoretical knowledge training syllabus (2023)
• You can download a variety of training material
• You can browse the collection of relevant training videos

Flight line

You can enter the "flight line", which currently hosts 3 different types of missions/flights:

• Quick missions
• Training flights
• Proficiency-check flights

QUICK MISSIONS

These are intended to bridge the gap until the entire training syllabus becomes finished (yes, it is work in progress).

You may use the quick missions in a sense of "recurrent training", so that you can quickly become "current" again after a long absence from flying the Viggen. Another approach could be to see them as "unguided type training", where you "learn by doing" on your own.

Currently, 69 missions are available, covering the most important topics.

TRAINING FLIGHTS

These are:

• "Simulator flights" guided by an instructor (SUL)
• "Real flights" guided by an instructor in the double seater (Dubbelkommando - DK)
• "Real flights" without instructor in the single seater (Enkelkommando - EK)

All flights are made for DCS, you just have to click the take-off button, download the miz. file and then fly it. If you want to log this flight, you must enter the flight code into the CK37, and your flight time and your success rates then become logged; finally, once you have finished your flight, you just have to upload the .LOG file created on your Windows Desktop folder.

This list also contains all necessary self-study lessons (KLASS), they are in between the flights. Each entry provides the name of the lesson, a detailed description including:

• Topics
• Theoretical knowledge requirements and references to training material
• Lesson type
• A detailed briefing

PROFICIENCY CHECK FLIGHTS

These flights seriously test your skills in certain phases of the training; the success of these flights is relevant for your "life record" and for the "eternal list of the best". They test if you fly the aircraft safely, and in a sense of the specific requirements of the flight. The home-base is Kobuleti (in Caucasus region), which hosts a real airspace environment.

  And yes, your performances will be rated in depth, so be prepared!

At least one proficiency check flight will be available very soon.
Further missions might become available in the near future, but these are highly dependent on user acceptance of the whole project.

These services are free!

ASSESSMENT CENTER

There are even more services waiting for you in the Assessment Center:

Preparation courses

• AJS37 Viggen Manual RC2.1 (page per page, with progress bar)
• A1 / B1 Exam Preparation Course (hints for questions, and all necessary RC2.1 pages to study)
• B4 Exam Preparation Course (hints for questions, and all necessary RC2.1 pages to study)

All training material and all preparation courses are free!

ATPL training material

If you have no experience with flight instruments and basic navigation at all, you may study ATPL training material, which is available in the form of e-learning courses; these are used in the real FCL pilot training environment worldwide.

Currently available courses are:

• Instruments / 02 Measurement of air-data parameters (Part 1 - Part 3)
• Instruments / 03 Magnetism
• Instruments / 04 Gyro
• Instruments / 05 Inertial navigation
• General navigation / 01 Basic navigation

On user request, further chapters of FCL content might become available very quickly.

All ATPL courses are paid content, they can be bought at any time.

Pre-entry checks

You can take “pre-entry checks”; these serve as proof for being fit for the examinations.

All pre-entry checks are free!

Examinations

You can take "examinations"; these are question banks regarding all technical and procedural aspects of the Viggen. For accomplished examinations, you will receive a dedicated certificate. This is the real stuff, and of course a real challenge.

All examinations are paid content, they can be bought at any time.

 

A word about the history of the project:

This project was created in spring 2022; it is officially supported by Heatblur Simulations and Eagle Dynamics.
Two people are currently working on the project in the foreground and a few more people support it in the background.

The return of paid services is solely used to keep up the project (assessment center, homepage, domain, programming, etc.).
Note: The introductory price for all paid services is reduced, so take advantage of this opportunity now!

Thanks

I would like to thank @Groove from Eagle Dynamics and @IronMike from Heatblur Simulations for giving their official "thumbsup".
I would give A BIG THANK YOU to Eagle Dynamics for creating DCS world and Heatblur Simulations for making such a wonderful module!

Guys, if you have questions and feedback, please use this topic.
You are definitely invited to become a member of the Viggen Pilots squad, so join now!
And as of now, we are keeping scores ...

 

Yours sincerely,
TOViper

 

Edited January 31 by TOViper
Added Quick Start Guide

[IronMike]

First of all a BIG THANK YOU to @TOViper from all of us at Heatblur Simulations!

 

Viper has not only created a great, structured training program to support the Viggen module and its pilots, but also supported the DCS: AJS-37 Viggen over the years with great input and feedback, culminating in curating the updated Viggen manual that you can now all find included with the product. His outstanding work and contributions kept us on our toes and helped us revisit the module to keep improving it, which we will continue to do, of course as long as we breathe. Without you all, the community, without your support and feedback, your sharp wits, your infectuous passion and never ending curiousity, your genuine desire for more and better, we could never achieve what we set out to achieve, and projects like Viggen.training are proof of just how vital, creative and supportive the community can be. We cannot stress enough how grateful we are for that.

 

Not only do we endorse this training program, we highly recommend to anyone, new or proficient in the Viggen, to give it a try. It is a first in structure and organisation, in providing great free services - but also well thought out paid for services for those who desire more - and thus includes truly something for everyone who is interested in getting better in the Viggen.

 

Full fidelity simulation addons, or modules, as we call them, do not come without a certain, sometimes maybe daunting "mountain of knowledge" each and every user has to absorb in one way or another at some point, if they care to squeeze the most out of their experience. And while we ofc try to give you as much of a head start as possible with the manual and the training missions, as well as the additional content from Quickstart missions to campaigns - it can always ever merely scratch the surface of what we would commonly call "proficiency". There are many great tools and tutorials out there, from brilliant guides to youtube videos - but there is no one place that can guide you through the learning process in such a structured, dedicated and user-tailored manner, with a fun and useful feedback mechanism that is responding to your personal needs, all in one place, like this one.
 

It is a great pleasure of ours to endorse and fully support the Viggen.training project in any way we can, and we hope that it brings you all many fun hours of learning the Viggen like a pro!

 

From the entire Heatblur Team, thank you!

 

[Rudel_chw]

2 hours ago, TOViper said:

Good morning fellow pilots, and welcome to Viggen.training!

 

This seems like a great initiative, as I love the "study" aspect of DCS aircrafts. I intended to return to the Viggen once the Kola map gets released, but viggen.training looks promising enough that I went to register ... sadly, the verification code never arrived to my e-mail ... yes, I did check all spam folders, but no joy    Will give it more time and then retry. best regards.

Edited October 25, 2023 by Rudel_chw

[TOViper]

Hey Rudel, long time no read!

I ll take a closer look.
In the meantime many users have registered, thus I consider a problem with e-Mail, not with the registering form itself.
I will contact you via e-Mail or PM, so please standby pal!

[Raisuli]

Viggen training good.  My Svenska bad.  Actually, calling my Svenska bad is insulting to people who speak a language badly.  More like 'nonexistent'.

Flying formation with the current state of AI:  Where'd she go?

 

[TOViper]

2 hours ago, Raisuli said:

Viggen training good.  My Svenska bad.  Actually, calling my Svenska bad is insulting to people who speak a language badly.  More like 'nonexistent'.

Flying formation with the current state of AI:  Where'd she go?

 

So true.
LMAO
BTW: my Swedish language expertise is growing... continually. Yes. Of course.
Yesterday, I had reached 0.005% out of 100%. I am on a promising way

Edited October 25, 2023 by TOViper

[Raisuli]

14 minutes ago, TOViper said:

So true.
LMAO
BTW: my Swedish language expertise is growing... continually. Yes. Of course.
Yesterday, I had reached 0.005% out of 100%. I am on a good way

 

Well, I know what a 'skede' is now, but I almost certainly can't pronounce it intelligibly.

And yes, formations with AI are all fun and games until you tuck up close and that enormous aluminum cloud turns into you.  Since I created the route you'd think I'd be aware, but...not so much.  Pucker factor spikes every time.

On the whole, though, it's not too bad.  You get used to the little glitches at the top and bottoms of climbs and learn there are places where you just need to give the AI a bit of follow room.  It's the slides that really shake you, though, and you have to learn how to set up the waypoints so the AI doesn't do that.  I've got four or five formation trainers set up at between an hour and an hour and a half each.  The only clues I give myself (because I'm too lazy to create 80 waypoints and 80 trigger points with turn warnings) is when the lead aircraft spawns at the start and right before it breaks off to land at the end.

[Rudel_chw]

43 minutes ago, TOViper said:

Hey Rudel, long time no read!

I ll take a closer look.
In the meantime many users have registered, thus I consider a problem with e-Mail, not with the registering form itself.
I will contact you via e-Mail or PM, so please standby pal!

hi,

the registration e-mail arrived a few minutes later … so all is well now, thanks for the concern 

[TOViper]

1 hour ago, Raisuli said:

Well, I know what a 'skede' is now, but I almost certainly can't pronounce it intelligibly.

And yes, formations with AI are all fun and games until you tuck up close and that enormous aluminum cloud turns into you.  Since I created the route you'd think I'd be aware, but...not so much.  Pucker factor spikes every time.

On the whole, though, it's not too bad.  You get used to the little glitches at the top and bottoms of climbs and learn there are places where you just need to give the AI a bit of follow room.  It's the slides that really shake you, though, and you have to learn how to set up the waypoints so the AI doesn't do that.  I've got four or five formation trainers set up at between an hour and an hour and a half each.  The only clues I give myself (because I'm too lazy to create 80 waypoints and 80 trigger points with turn warnings) is when the lead aircraft spawns at the start and right before it breaks off to land at the end.

Hey Raisuli! Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences!
I will consider your experiences when I find some time for these kind of missions (in fact they would then be first used in the QUICK MISSIONS).
At some point, maybe ED is able to implement good AI flying skills (a year ago or so they said something somewhere about), thus I am looking forward in making more missions for formation flying (VFR and IFR, which is part of ATIS37 training syllabus).
Since you seem to have experience in making such missions (that acutally work!), I would love to come back to you on this someday.
 

Tag: Formation flying; Quick mission;

Edited October 25, 2023 by TOViper

[Raisuli]

6 hours ago, TOViper said:

Since you seem to have experience in making such missions (that acutally work!), I would love to come back to you on this someday.

 

Happy to help. 

Got to thinking about Viggens, set up some basic controls, and took one out for a spin (with an AI out in front).  I've owned it...forever.  Not sure I've ever flown one, but dang!  Surprised at how much I like it!  Thrust Reverser!  I want after market thrust reverser kits on all my jets!  J-turns on runways.  Pulled into a hanger, thought 'this is stupid', backed out of the hanger, turned around, then backed in.  How cool is that?!

Maybe not Norway, but I think Slartibartfast would approve

 

[Marsvinet]

Very interesting! I will try it out when I get that Viggen feeling back.

[TOViper]

Updates:

2023-10-28, 11:30 UTC
Training flights
The release of training flight 190-23-4 / Landing is planned for November 5^th.
Please note that in flight M190-21-2 / Checklists the "Stores released indicator light" (FÄLLD LAST) does not illuminate when performing the LAMPTABLA TEST. This is caused by a bug in DCS.

2023-10-28, 16:15 UTC
Training flights
All currently released training flights have been updated with optimized RC2.1 pages. This should increase readability, especially for VR users.
Affected flights are:
  - M190-21-2 / Checklists
  - M190-23-1 / Take-off procedure
  - M190-23-21 / Normal flight - Pitch
  - M190-23-22 / Normal flight - Roll & Yaw
  - M190-23-3 / Normal flight - AFK

Kind regards,
TOViper

Edited December 1, 2023 by TOViper

[TOViper]

Update:

2023-11-05, 15:35 UTC
Training flight
Training flight 190-23-4 / Visual landing is now released.

Have fun guys!
TOViper

Edited December 1, 2023 by TOViper

[JG300_Papaye]

Good job!

Thank a lot for this wonderful tool!!!

[TOViper]

Update:

2023-11-08, 11:20 UTC
Training flights
Training flight M190-91 / Simulator Introduction has been modified. The kneeboard page 21 is now better readable, especially in VR.

Have fun guys!
TOViper

Edited December 1, 2023 by TOViper

[JG300_Papaye]

Hi, The mission M190-21-2 / Checklists can be download, there is a internal error

And for the mission M190-23-1 / Take-off procedure there is no log written in the desktop file so i can upload it.

Edited November 8, 2023 by JG300_Papaye

[TOViper]

21 hours ago, JG300_Papaye said:

Hi, The mission M190-21-2 / Checklists can be download, there is a internal error

And for the mission M190-23-1 / Take-off procedure there is no log written in the desktop file so i can upload it.

 

Hey guys!

• 190-21-2 / Checklist can now be downloaded again!
• 190-23-1 / Take-off now working (edit 2023-11-09, 10:10 UTC)

Thanks JG300_Papaye  for your headsup!!

Edited November 9, 2023 by TOViper

[CIWS]

Just wanted to say thanks for setting all of this up. 

The Viggen is a fun plane, but definitely need more/better training with it too.

 

[samba_liten]

This looks great! Signed up, going to start with the training missions.

[TOViper]

Thanks for your kind words guys.
Please leave comments on the training flights.
I am constantly improving them, and in case necessary I usually repair them very quickly if they show bugs.

Just a quick comment from my side regarding the M190:91 / Simulator introduction:
This flight is the one and only flight (so far) that contains only Swedish audio ... time to increase your language proficiency ...
It is the one and only "flight" in the sim that is not "guided" by an instructor, but is more or less a self-study lesson ...

Edited November 13, 2023 by TOViper

[renhanxue]

@TOViper, on this page on fly37viggen.com you have a link to ATIS 37 on my Google Drive. That's fine, I'm very happy that people are interested in it, but Google in their infinite wisdom has made it so that even though the file is supposed to be publicly viewable, if you don't have the right link to it, it forces people to log into their google accounts and request access to it before they can see it. That means I get an email and have to approve the access every time. I suspect a lot of people just don't do that, but some do and then I get emailed to approve the request. I don't want to have to do that, so could you please replace the link with this one, which should have the appropriate magic that grants access without me having to know about it: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8bCDRcq9BVeSGhTa3dRSU41WGc/view?usp=sharing&resourcekey=0-yyayxaqfe_YfaWn2AkDROw

[widen76]

@TOViper - Thank you so much for bringing this to the community! It must have been a monumental amount of work! 

Edited November 21, 2023 by widen76

[widen76]

@renhanxue 

 

5 hours ago, renhanxue said:

on this page on fly37viggen.com you have a link to ATIS 37 on my Google Drive. That's fine, I'm very happy that people are interested in it, but Google in their infinite wisdom has made it so that even though the file is supposed to be publicly viewable, if you don't have the right link to it, it forces people to log into their google accounts and request access to it before they can see it. That means I get an email and have to approve the access every time. I suspect a lot of people just don't do that, but some do and then I get emailed to approve the request. I don't want to have to do that, so could you please replace the link with this one, which should have the appropriate magic that grants access without me having to know about it: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8bCDRcq9BVeSGhTa3dRSU41WGc/view?usp=sharing&resourcekey=0-yyayxaqfe_YfaWn2AkDROw

That's actually my website and the link has now been updated  By the way, I will soon have finished converting the ATIS37 into Word and PDF-formats (including an English translation) and will post those soon on the site, as well as in this forum. Keep a look out for that!

[Rudel_chw]

15 minutes ago, widen76 said:

I will soon have finished converting the ATIS37 into Word and PDF-formats (including an English translation)

 

Thanks a lot for the effort, I'm looking forward at being able to read a translated version of the manual  

[deep]

On 11/21/2023 at 3:42 PM, widen76 said:

@renhanxue 

 

That's actually my website and the link has now been updated  By the way, I will soon have finished converting the ATIS37 into Word and PDF-formats (including an English translation) and will post those soon on the site, as well as in this forum. Keep a look out for that!

Outstanding! Many thanks from us non-Swedish speakers for an insight into some wonderful Swedish technology.