Cannot line up in Hornet. Just do not see runway lineup lines on carrier until in close

[DmitriKozlowsky]

Cannot line up in Hornet. Just do not see runway lineup lines on carrier until in close

Can't do it. Cannot line up. At 3/4 miles, I do not see carrier runway textures. All I see are blurry gray and white that only resolves into a discernable image in close , and by that time, its too late. Tried the 180 -20 method, but still I need to see carrier line up lines. But cannot see them.

Anyone else having that issue.

[PawlaczGMD]

This might depend on your graphics settings, but you have many other tools to line you up.

If you use proper comms, LSO will tell you to line up left/right.

The red/green light below the ramp indicates if you're lined up.

Switch on ILS and it will also tell you this.

You should also know the runway heading, it is BRC - 10 degrees.

Use the zoom function to overcome rendering distance problems. I have it bound on HOTAS.

[Dos]

I felt the same way, but over time you will learn to que off what PawlaczGMD said. Until then their is a mod I used. Darker and Less Glossy Deck for the Supercarrier and Stennis (digitalcombatsimulator.com)

Kindly,
Jesus

[DmitriKozlowsky]

At some times, on final. LSO would go quiet, no communications at all, and ball overlay would loose the light. I appear to be on some glideslope, but with no ball light, I cannot tell. Does that mean that something went wrong? I have deviated so much off glideslope that OLS and LSO just ignore me, when I am on final. No wave off. Just silence. But then I trap, and I get a C or  '___' grade. So it is confusing.

I still have lineup issues. I am not sure why. I fly upwind leg of case 1 at 800 AGL at 250 knots, 800 feet off stbd beam of carrier. Then enter base leg at 650-700 feet at 200knots , gear down, flaps, hook down. Baseleg is continuous turn into downwind leg at 600 feet at 150 knots, then enter into continious crosswind leg turn into final to line and intercept slope. But despite best efforts, turning 170 deg to final from upwind leg, I dont get a line up. I end up far off beam, and have to fly at angle to inter. All my turns are between 30 and 40 degrees of bank. 

[PawlaczGMD]

1 hour ago, DmitriKozlowsky said:

At some times, on final. LSO would go quiet, no communications at all, and ball overlay would loose the light. I appear to be on some glideslope, but with no ball light, I cannot tell. Does that mean that something went wrong? I have deviated so much off glideslope that OLS and LSO just ignore me, when I am on final. No wave off. Just silence. But then I trap, and I get a C or  '___' grade. So it is confusing.

I still have lineup issues. I am not sure why. I fly upwind leg of case 1 at 800 AGL at 250 knots, 800 feet off stbd beam of carrier. Then enter base leg at 650-700 feet at 200knots , gear down, flaps, hook down. Baseleg is continuous turn into downwind leg at 600 feet at 150 knots, then enter into continious crosswind leg turn into final to line and intercept slope. But despite best efforts, turning 170 deg to final from upwind leg, I dont get a line up. I end up far off beam, and have to fly at angle to inter. All my turns are between 30 and 40 degrees of bank. 

post a track

[DmitriKozlowsky]

Here is me struggling with line up and altitude control, while in pattern. Also I am less confused about sequence of actions at catapult. Point of 'what should I do now' at catapult, when hook up greenshirt is below the plane and spinning his hand. Is that a signal to pilot or to someone else? If I don't do anything, he just sits there spinning his hand.

I  don't get why I am getting such large excursion, to starboard when coming on to final. I bank at same 45 or so angle at same or so speed as bow break/

FA18CCQl.trk

[DmitriKozlowsky]

Track recording and playblack needs an ACMI style GUI and playback. With rewind, fwd, and trajectory of aircraft.

[draconus]

On 6/30/2024 at 8:51 AM, DmitriKozlowsky said:

At 3/4 miles, I do not see carrier runway textures.

Apart from bad lighting or meteorological conditions case you need Anisotropic filtering 16x.

6 hours ago, DmitriKozlowsky said:

when hook up greenshirt is below the plane and spinning his hand

It's the engines spool up sign. Get them on MIL.

As for Case I, I don't know where did you get your numbers from, but 250kts approach is slooow and 150kts final is too fast - are you heavy? This is how it's done.

Edited July 1, 2024 by draconus

[DmitriKozlowsky]

Thank you.

In my Case 1. Stennis has TACAN of 74X. I have TACAN ON, and enabled in HSI. But I don't see STN 'DIST' on HUD. Thats the only difference for HUD symbology I see. Also , on my 2560X1440 panel, unless IFOLS overlay is ON, I do not see ball lights. They are either too dark or too small or both. Same for Kuz. My RTX has a tendency to darken view through HUD a bit.  

In Wag's demo, his Stennis's landing area textures are clearly seen from distance. Mine don't resolve until I am between mid and in-close, and my aniso filter is 8X. Higher then that and it hits my FPS. Obvious that people wh find line up easy have a superior sight pcture then I do.

[draconus]

Visibility depends on factors like sun position vs carrier BRC and weather. Show your screenshot and try different setup.

[DmitriKozlowsky]

Going through Supercarrier manual. One or two things seems inconsistent. They dont reflect whats actually happening in sim.

I am confused on calling the ball.

1. Inbound communication

2. See you at 10 communication

3. REQUEST LANDING  .. THis communication command is MISSING, when I am in Hornet landing on Stennis. AINT THERE!

4. When IFOLS overlay pops up as I am rollijg into final, I am suppoused to call the ball. THere is no "Ball" menu item! Where is it? I get a "Clara" option, meaning I cant see the ball. Is it now assumed that player sees the ball? So I never get "Roger Ball" ack from LSO. From that point things get inconsistent for me. Either I get LSO calls talking me down, and I ALWAYS, ALWAYS get "C" grade. Meaning it was unsafe, as no 'Ball" communication is issued by me. But I have no way of doing it! Maybe my memory is hazy. I recall that early in 2020, I saw LSO menu option . But I never get that anymore. Nor do I get Reuqest Landing menu option for Stennis, and of course no "Ball" menu option in communication. I have multiple issues all stacked up on top of each other, really wrecking the experience with Supercarrier module. Its confusing and frustrating, becouse it is not consistent with manual.

 

There are few things in life more infuriating then learning something with outdated or incorrect documentation. I watched Wag's Case 1 landing video, and I am left with few questions "WHERE IS THIS IN MY GAME"?

[DmitriKozlowsky]

When LSO grade states WX, that mean WINGS at start of final. WIngs what? Wings not level? 

[DmitriKozlowsky]

Here is a point , that I don't see in manual, and dont know what to do. 

When I report "See you at 10", ATC acknowledges and tells me "Switch Tower". Which may mean that I am suppoused to switch frequences to LSO. What is that frequency? Where is it found? After "See you at 10" , I have no options to "Request Landing", and a before , no option to "Ball". So I have  no clue how to contact LSO. This is not described in material. ED updates modules , but much poorer job in addressing documentation.

[DmitriKozlowsky]

This is what I am talking about.

lens overlay NOT showing the ball.

There is NO "Request Landing"menu option

There is NO "Ball" menu option, thus no LSO "Roger Ball" ack. Thus bad communications, and bad landing. 

I am left frustrated, and scratching my head, becouse I have no usefull actionable feed back from the sim.

Observe my finals throuh LSO view. I am clearly within the scope of the lens cam, yet I get no ball lights.

FA18Case1_no_comms_bad _grade.trk

Attempted Case III

Again bad grade due "No Communication". This is so insanely confusing. 

FA18CaseIII_no_comms_bad _grade.trk

[Jenson]

1. increase sharpness in graphic setting

2. increase texture quality

3. try this: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3325364/

 

Overall, it's a matter of hardware vs graphic setting. Now I'm running DCS with everything 100% in the setting, even in VR the deck painting/marks look crystal clear. 

[DmitriKozlowsky]

I have this. Does not really help. My problem is miscommunication in communications. Its so convoluted.

Here is Grade OK but LSO has no feedback. All it states is Grade: OK. Wire #2 (BC). Not much use there.

FA18Case1_Grade_OK_wire2_BC.trk

[rob10]

Grab the guide here and it will answer a lot of your questions:

 

[DmitriKozlowsky]

I like this

https://dcs-docs.lordvesel.win/en/sc/04.recovery/#in-the-groove

But here is the problem. I am faced with B.S.!!

What is in manual is not what is in the sim. Specifically "Ball" is missing. Not there. Unavailable. Aint't there. I am unable to comm with LSO.

[PawlaczGMD]

3 hours ago, DmitriKozlowsky said:

This is what I am talking about.

lens overlay NOT showing the ball.

There is NO "Request Landing"menu option

There is NO "Ball" menu option, thus no LSO "Roger Ball" ack. Thus bad communications, and bad landing. 

I am left frustrated, and scratching my head, becouse I have no usefull actionable feed back from the sim.

Observe my finals throuh LSO view. I am clearly within the scope of the lens cam, yet I get no ball lights.

FA18Case1_no_comms_bad _grade.trk 3.74 MB · 1 download

Attempted Case III

Again bad grade due "No Communication". This is so insanely confusing. 

FA18CaseIII_no_comms_bad _grade.trk 4.63 MB · 1 download

Looking at this Case I track, you are not flying the pattern correctly. You overfly the carrier at 250 kts and 600 ft, it should be 350 kts and 800 feet. Therefore, you end up too close to the carrier on downwind, you were 1 nm, should be 1.3-1.5 nm. This causes you to need to overbank and you just end up in the wrong place for landing, you were low and didn't have time to line it up.

And bad comms is because you didn't call the ball. There is a key binding for it.

Edited July 2, 2024 by PawlaczGMD

[DmitriKozlowsky]

So 'Call Ball" is not even a communication menu item. How lovely. But the rest is helpfull.

[PawlaczGMD]

31 minutes ago, DmitriKozlowsky said:

So 'Call Ball" is not even a communication menu item. How lovely. But the rest is helpfull.

It is there, it should appear when you actually see the ball.

[DmitriKozlowsky]

17 minutes ago, PawlaczGMD said:

It is there, it should appear when you actually see the ball.

Its NOT!

This whole process is confusing becouse its so badly documented without feedback. There are multiple issues happening, that are contradictory. At 150 knots, the FCS automatically sets the trim in a way that fights me , pushing the nose up, while I am tryiing to stay on glide slope. At 145, with full flaps, aircraft sinks and is mushy. At above 150, LSO is telling me I am fast. The lineup is just about impossible to get right. I have dark deck mod textures. and to me the deck stays grey until close in. ball les overlay is incosistent as to ON/OFF. It appears then disappears. Or the ball light does not appear on it. Other time it does. Or I would get cut/WO lights flash without LSO audio.  Its unpredictable, so I am unable to diagnose my errors.  Even if everything is smooth, I get Grade C, which means I made major deviations in close. When I don't think I did. Eventually,I may get it. Be nice to have a vitual back seat IP telling me what I am doing wrong or right, what to do and when to do it.

Enter pattern at 350 knots at 800 AGL, 500 feet abeam of starboard.

Bow break. When, at what angle. TO end up downwind leg at 1.2nm from carrier. at 600 feet AGL

Enter base at 150 knots 600 AGL. At what angle. 45 deg (?)

Intercept glideslope on final 3/4 nm at 500 AGL at 150 knots.  This never happens to me. I am either too wide or too shallow. What does 3/4 nm from ramp looks like? I do not know how to correct. I have no actionable feedback. Am I too fast? Too slow? Not enough bank? Too much bank?  Why is FCS fighting me at 150 knots, pushing the nose up? Why is pitch trim so far down , all of a suddenly when 10 seconds ago it was nearly neutral? Aircraft sinks at 135 knots below glide slope, and ball light disappears never to return on this pass. LSO is silent.

If I rescue by placing pathmarker on #4 wire and ride that down, I may trap with #4 , 3 or 2, but will get a C grade regardless.

All of the above is happening at same time. So it is not feaseable to figure out whats causing what?

[PawlaczGMD]

13 minutes ago, DmitriKozlowsky said:

Its NOT!

This whole process is confusing becouse its so badly documented without feedback. There are multiple issues happening, that are contradictory. At 150 knots, the FCS automatically sets the trim in a way that fights me , pushing the nose up, while I am tryiing to stay on glide slope. At 145, with full flaps, aircraft sinks and is mushy. At above 150, LSO is telling me I am fast. The lineup is just about impossible to get right. I have dark deck mod textures. and to me the deck stays grey until close in. ball les overlay is incosistent as to ON/OFF. It appears then disappears. Or the ball light does not appear on it. Other time it does. Or I would get cut/WO lights flash without LSO audio.  Its unpredictable, so I am unable to diagnose my errors.  Even if everything is smooth, I get Grade C, which means I made major deviations in close. When I don't think I did. Eventually,I may get it. Be nice to have a vitual back seat IP telling me what I am doing wrong or right, what to do and when to do it.

Enter pattern at 350 knots at 800 AGL, 500 feet abeam of starboard.

Bow break. When, at what angle. TO end up downwind leg at 1.2nm from carrier. at 600 feet AGL

Enter base at 150 knots 600 AGL. At what angle. 45 deg (?)

Intercept glideslope on final 3/4 nm at 500 AGL at 150 knots.  This never happens to me. I am either too wide or too shallow. What does 3/4 nm from ramp looks like? I do not know how to correct. I have no actionable feedback. Am I too fast? Too slow? Not enough bank? Too much bank?  Why is FCS fighting me at 150 knots, pushing the nose up? Why is pitch trim so far down , all of a suddenly when 10 seconds ago it was nearly neutral? Aircraft sinks at 135 knots below glide slope, and ball light disappears never to return on this pass. LSO is silent.

If I rescue by placing pathmarker on #4 wire and ride that down, I may trap with #4 , 3 or 2, but will get a C grade regardless.

All of the above is happening at same time. So it is not feaseable to figure out whats causing what?

Sorry but you are mostly wrong. FCS doesn't do that, nose goes up because you deploy flaps too early and/or didn't trim out for the speed. You can get on speed without changing altitude much.

150 kts is too fast for normal landing weight.

Bow break is a level turn at approx. 3.5 G, coming down to 2.5G. As much bank as you need to keep level, drag the velocity vector across the horizon.

Base turn is around 30 degrees bank. 

You are getting low grade probably because you're not flying the right profile at the right distance behind the ship. In the Case I training mission, I think there is a kneeboard page that shows your approach on a chart?

Place the velocity vector on the ship crotch usually, not on 4 wire, this means you are not on glide slope. 135 kts is too slow so it's normal that you sink? I think 145 kts is about right, but I just look at AOA.

Again, FCS doesn't change trim to mess with you. Don't drop flaps too early to avoid nose rise. Then set the correct AOA and don't use any pitch, throttle only to control rate of descent. If you're banked, you need to increase speed to keep rate of descent, because the lift vector is no longer vertical.

It just seems like you need a lot more practice... OK grade is flying an almost perfect approach, not just slamming the plane somewhere in the wires.

[DmitriKozlowsky]

25 minutes ago, PawlaczGMD said:

Sorry but you are mostly wrong. FCS doesn't do that, nose goes up because you deploy flaps too early and/or didn't trim out for the speed. You can get on speed without changing altitude much.

150 kts is too fast for normal landing weight.

Bow break is a level turn at approx. 3.5 G, coming down to 2.5G. As much bank as you need to keep level, drag the velocity vector across the horizon.

Base turn is around 30 degrees bank. 

You are getting low grade probably because you're not flying the right profile at the right distance behind the ship. In the Case I training mission, I think there is a kneeboard page that shows your approach on a chart?

Place the velocity vector on the ship crotch usually, not on 4 wire, this means you are not on glide slope. 135 kts is too slow so it's normal that you sink? I think 145 kts is about right, but I just look at AOA.

Again, FCS doesn't change trim to mess with you. Don't drop flaps too early to avoid nose rise. Then set the correct AOA and don't use any pitch, throttle only to control rate of descent. If you're banked, you need to increase speed to keep rate of descent, because the lift vector is no longer vertical.

It just seems like you need a lot more practice... OK grade is flying an almost perfect approach, not just slamming the plane somewhere in the wires.

When I place flighpath marker on crotch, the threshhold of landing area at bow, the hook never catches. I T/D beyond the wires and bolter. Every time. So the marker should be just short of crotch deck edge. But its so dark and greay its just about impossible to tell, regardless of zoom. You are supppoused to use meatball only. Using flightpath marker is chasing the deck, and is not the corect technique. Here is my problem. I can't trust he meatball light, becouse it disappears or turns off, unpredictably.

[PawlaczGMD]

1 minute ago, DmitriKozlowsky said:

When I place flighpath marker on crotch, the threshhold of landing area at bow, the hook never catches. I T/D beyond the wires and bolter. Every time. So the marker should be just short of crotch deck edge. But its so dark and greay its just about impossible to tell, regardless of zoom. You are supppoused to use meatball only. Using flightpath marker is chasing the deck, and is not the corect technique. Here is my problem. I can't trust he meatball light, becouse it disappears or turns off, unpredictably.

Initially on the crotch, then it drifts down as you keep correct descent rate of around 700 fpm. You should be stabilized by the time the meatball disappears. If you land in the wires and don't catch any, then your AOA must be wrong. I've never not caught the wires when on AOA, unless I'm to shallow and the burble rocks the jet in pitch. 

I definitely agree with you that the lighting system for the meatball is lacking, and you need the overlay to see anything. But for me, the overlay stays up until just before touchdown and is sufficient.