DCS A-10C QUESTIONS

[PFunk1606688187]

An unrelated question: Is there a strategy on searching the area with TGP for targets? A big area, like the enemy front in an automatically generated mission. My AI wingman find everyone extremely fast (And I don't know how to ask him to mark it for me, so that would be nice, too), and I just slew the TGP around and lucky to find a single truck or a tank in 5 minutes. Narrow fov is too slow to cover all that territory, and wide fov makes enemies too small to see sometimes.

Stand off at distance, not within weapons range, and you should find it easier to scan. The TGP has a readout of the MGRS grid you're looking at. If you had a proper map you could correlate this to what you're seeing on the TGP but I know of no high quality map available of DCS' Georgia that would match the kind of map real pilots would have available.

 

The practical reality is that the Targeting Pod is not a search pod, its for targeting. This roughly means you know at least what vague area your target is in. Its not used for general target discovery because that'd violate all kinds of smart pilot stuff like not having your head stuck in the cockpit for 20 minutes twiddling some slew hat vainly hoping to find stuff. This is different if you know there are targets in a much more specific area, but if you don't know where they are to within say a couple hundred meters its like staring through a soda straw at 8000 feet.

 

The simplest method is just to use your eyes, spot what looks suspicious, use the HUD to put a SPI/Mark point right on top of it. Of course you could attack it without using the targeting pod. If you can't spot targets and figure out how to kill them without using a targeting pod you're using that TGP far too much like a crutch. TGP is nice, but only one of many tools. Don't put it on a pedestal.

 

Of course the TGP would be a lot simpler to use if we had the HMD. Then it'd be almost like cheating.

 

Another thing. Our TGP has crummy fake FLIR that hardly creates the kind of contrast you'd expect in many situations. That hinders it usefulness overall. You could of course try to tweak gain to see if you can make it a bit better. This can help for finding targets sometimes, particularly at night.

 

Third question: What are some good guides on defending against fighters like mig 29? I learned most of the A-10 systems, but I'm a complete zero in tactics.

I dunno about anyone else, but I try to run away before thats an issue.

Edited July 12, 2014 by P*Funk

[Archer7]

When is DCS set? In other words what configuration is the DCS A-10C? How different is it from actual A-10Cs?

 

I've heard it uses Software Suite 3 (instead of 7, maybe 8?) but all the cockpit hardware seems quite up to date to me.

Don’t actual A-10Cs also have more HOTAS commands and a Slew Z-axis? Does the Thrustmaster Warthog have the Slew Z?

 

Externally I’ve heard the AGP is used instead of the TGP today, maybe?

 

Oh and HMCS, helmet mounted targeting basically?

 

Also what does 518/NON518 mean in the T.O.?

I thought it meant that it does not apply to the A-10C in DCS which makes sense since there are two OBOGS checks which of one is marked NON518 and one 518 so only one would be executed.

However curiously the only instance of checking the oxygen supply and oxy ind test are marked NON518...

Edited July 12, 2014 by Archer7

[Snoopy]

The A-10C in DCS is very outdated in relation to the current real world A-10C. It's suite 3 ish but we are about to start upgrading to suite 8 real world.

 

HOTAS commands are slightly different but layout exactly the same as what we have in DCS. Not sure what an "agp" is but we very much still use tgps. And yes, HMCS is the helmet mounted cuing system.

 

The A-10C in DCS doesn't have OBOGS just a good old fashioned LOX converter.

Edited July 12, 2014 by Snoopy

[SkateZilla]

Gotta admit, the Idea of an A-10C with JHMCS Type Targeting system .... ground units wouldnt stand a chance..

[Snoopy]

Gotta admit, the Idea of an A-10C with JHMCS Type Targeting system .... ground units wouldnt stand a chance..

 

It's been used a lot in Afghanistan. Hawgsmoke was this past week at DM and one of the rules was pilots couldn't use it. So obviously it give a nice advantage :).

 

I would love to eventually have am upgraded DCS A-10C with HMCS but that would require the Air Force to authorize suite 7 and I don't see that happening anytime soon.

[PFunk1606688187]

If that appeared in a patch note surreptitiously I'd start giggling like a school girl.

[Archer7]

The A-10C in DCS is very outdated in relation to the current real world A-10C. It's suite 3 ish but we are about to start upgrading to suite 8 real world.

 

HOTAS commands are slightly different but layout exactly the same as what we have in DCS. Not sure what an "agp" is but we very much still use tgps. And yes, HMCS is the helmet mounted cuing system.

 

The A-10C in DCS doesn't have OBOGS just a good old fashioned LOX converter.

 

Advanced Sniper Targeting Pod... wasn't sure if it had replaced the old targeting pod.

 

And and the A-10C doesn't have OBOGS? D'oh...

[Snoopy]

Advanced Sniper Targeting Pod... wasn't sure if it had replaced the old targeting pod.

 

And and the A-10C doesn't have OBOGS? D'oh...

 

We don't call the sniper an "AGP" it's just another TGP to us. And some A-10c's have OBOGS but in DCS it is not OBOGS.

[Archer7]

We don't call the sniper an "AGP" it's just another TGP to us. And some A-10c's have OBOGS but in DCS it is not OBOGS.

 

Aha and yes that's what I meant on the OBOGS.

[JayPee]

Having a brain fart here.. How do I get Bullseye to show up on the right corner of the HUD again?

 

Need it ASAP so winner gets free cookies.

[Flagrum]

Having a brain fart here.. How do I get Bullseye to show up on the right corner of the HUD again?

 

Need it ASAP so winner gets free cookies.

Dunno, something like, make Bullseye your steerpoint (CDU set to mission)?

[JayPee]

No.. There's a way to have the bullseye show up on the upper right corner of the HUD regardless of STP/MP.

[Zee Pet]

Is it a UFC function?

[JayPee]

It's a setting somewhere.

[Zee Pet]

Something in the TAD that based on spi gives you the info as if you were on the bullseye. Its a mode I think, you can cycle through them?

[JayPee]

Got it!

 

While on the CDU: FUNC 3 > ANCHOR PT > HUD (toggle ON/OFF).

[Archer7]

1) Commanding my wingman... how to? If I have enemies marked at my SPI, we're moving towards it at a few nautical miles and then I tell him to attack, will he?

Today he gave me a complete cold shoulder and I would believe I was accidentally set to ATC communications… but I swear I heard him talk when we were on the ground…

 

2) When you’re out of bombs and down to the big gun, how do you use it well from above? Say >10’000 ft.? Are you supposed to stand on your nose or is it really only meant to be used in somewhat lower altitudes? What can you do about it anyways? Idle, speed brakes up?

 

3) The ATC, TACAN and ILS… where does the ATC want you to go? He tells you a direction and distance but only once and I can’t see any marker on the maps, nothing obvious on the ground and can’t get any of my instruments to point me to this point where he wants me to go before I make my way toward the runway. Meanwhile TACAN only points you to a useless point near the airfield? Aren’t you supposed to be able to use it for landing? ILS is the only thing doing anything useful since it tells me how high they want me to go and the AOA Indexer or whatever it’s called tells me the speed… but the pointers still seem to be directed straight at the airfield instead of anything useful.

I try to ignore the ATCs directions and only use ILS to tell me how high I'm supposed to be but I feel maybe my landings would be smoother if I could use the instruments correctly.

The ILS training mission cheats by marking the "meeting point" on your map and the TACAN training only tells you how to go to a TACAN beacon but not how to use it for any landing.

Is TACAN only meant to direct you to the general area of the airfield?

 

I'm also annoyed by how they say "runway this" and "runway that" so you set your course set knob but the runway is always pointing quite significantly in some other direction.

Edited July 13, 2014 by Archer7

[JayPee]

3) ATC gives you an initial approach fix (IAF) which is a virtual point in space, 10nm out. Make sure you're flying at 2.500ft when you arrive at that point. Then use whatever means to steer towards the airport. Either TACAN, or TACAN+ILS, or simply the FPM and the STP marker on the hud. I find the latter the easiest yet also the most sloppy method. At roughly 5nm you should have managed to be flying at your landing speed with your gear and flaps down. If not, abort and retry. And yes, the TACAN beacon is off the runway so either use TACAN and switch to visual (FPM on -2.5 degrees at RWY treshold) when closing in or use TACAN and ILS.

 

Another trick is beaming the airport (either the TACAN or the STP) while keeping 10nm distance. When it's on your 2/10 make a sharp turn. Be sure to have set the RWY heading properly when using this trick, especially at low visibility.

 

What I just wrote is not the most detailed tutorial so I'll get back to it tomorrow if nobody else has done so by then. This should get you going for now though. By the way you're right about ATC calling out the wrong RWY. Sometimes the IAF suggests you have to land on 090 while later on ATC will tell you to land on 270. We have to assume that's where commercial games differ from million dollar simulators. :)

Edited July 13, 2014 by JayPee

[Archer7]

I had another annoying occurrence of bombs not hitting anything at all just now.

 

It was the Black Sea free flight mission where you have BDU-50s and 33s… I don’t get it…

It seems at some point my DSMS settings went back to default so the ones that need guiding missed but I don’t understand why the other ones missed… saved the track though.

[JayPee]

I loaded a 65D and 65G last night and tricked the inventory into thinking I had a symmetrical load of two Ds so I can recage+step easily. All of a sudden my G gives an IR feed when stepping the D... :-S

 

Anybody else experiencing this? Seems a lot like a bug where the feed is determined by a DSMS setting instead by what you're actually carrying.

 

Also, is there a way to step to a next MAV while keeping the previous one aimed instead of recaging it first?

[PFunk1606688187]

2) When you’re out of bombs and down to the big gun, how do you use it well from above? Say >10’000 ft.? Are you supposed to stand on your nose or is it really only meant to be used in somewhat lower altitudes? What can you do about it anyways? Idle, speed brakes up?

Its generally used at low dive angles. Optimal slant range is generally between .5 and 2 nm depending on your application. There's no reason you can't do a high angle dive with it but thats not the bread and butter tactic for the GAU. High dive angles would create a much greater risk of pressing too far and increasing the danger of failing to recover the dive before impacting the ground, or at least bringing you dangerously low in doing it. A higher dive angle would make the dispersion effect more focused though owing to the flashlight effect being less stretched across the ground than at a flatter dive angle so you could probably get away with firing from further away.

 

I try to make it a rule to not deploy speed brakes during an attack run. Your aim is to maintain as much speed as possible for the escape. Idle throttle is fine though and I usually go idle or stand the throttles up depending on the kind of attack. In a very shallow dive I probably won't chop them at all. Last thing I want to do though is forget to stow speed brakes during a SEM and bleed off even more energy at 4Gs. This pig doesn't like to keep energy soon as you put some Gs through the frame so don't give it anymore help.

 

I had another annoying occurrence of bombs not hitting anything at all just now.

 

It was the Black Sea free flight mission where you have BDU-50s and 33s… I don’t get it…

It seems at some point my DSMS settings went back to default so the ones that need guiding missed but I don’t understand why the other ones missed… saved the track though.

Are these free fall bombs or the LGB training bomb you're referring to?

 

How are you selecting the weapons profile? If you select the profile by pressing the OSB next to the given bomb on the DSMS main page you will not select any modified profiles you've created. This could lead to you releasing bombs in a way you do not expect.

 

Its hard to know though without knowing more about how you're intending on releasing these stores.

 

Also, is there a way to step to a next MAV while keeping the previous one aimed instead of recaging it first?

I don't think so. Your only recourse would be to set SPI on the point you want to aim at, Step and fire at another target, then snap to that old SPI. Generally I just aim and fire in sequence. No reason to complicate things. If there's a SPI to engage it was created well before I started my run.

Edited July 14, 2014 by P*Funk

[Archer7]

Its generally used at low dive angles. Optimal slant range is generally between .5 and 2 nm depending on your application. There's no reason you can't do a high angle dive with it but thats not the bread and butter tactic for the GAU. High dive angles would create a much greater risk of pressing too far and increasing the danger of failing to recover the dive before impacting the ground, or at least bringing you dangerously low in doing it. A higher dive angle would make the dispersion effect more focused though owing to the flashlight effect being less stretched across the ground than at a flatter dive angle so you could probably get away with firing from further away.

 

I try to make it a rule to not deploy speed brakes during an attack run. Your aim is to maintain as much speed as possible for the escape. Idle throttle is fine though and I usually go idle or stand the throttles up depending on the kind of attack. In a very shallow dive I probably won't chop them at all. Last thing I want to do though is forget to stow speed brakes during a SEM and bleed off even more energy at 4Gs. This pig doesn't like to keep energy soon as you put some Gs through the frame so don't give it anymore help.

 

 

Are these free fall bombs or the LGB training bomb you're referring to?

 

How are you selecting the weapons profile? If you select the profile by pressing the OSB next to the given bomb on the DSMS main page you will not select any modified profiles you've created. This could lead to you releasing bombs in a way you do not expect.

 

Its hard to know though without knowing more about how you're intending on releasing these stores.

 

 

I don't think so. Your only recourse would be to set SPI on the point you want to aim at, Step and fire at another target, then snap to that old SPI. Generally I just aim and fire in sequence. No reason to complicate things. If there's a SPI to engage it was created well before I started my run.

 

I selected the bombs not using the DSMS...

I'm watching the track now and I did configure the all profile settings properly and save while on the ground.

Yet some time later after dropping a few bombs and them not hitting I went into the profile settings pages again and nothing was configured...

 

Oh, I just remembered though! When I went out on the runway I had one of those downloads (momentary master caution etc.)… I’m not sure why I got that in the first place (wrong side of the runway?) as you normally get it after touching down not before going up but I’m quite sure that was after configuring all my settings anyways.

 

I can see now also that I accidentally selected the BDU-33s using the DSMS. Does that explain all settings going back to default though? I dropped two-three bombs, then went to the DSMS and all settings were unconfigured… so unexpected.

 

By the way they were set to SEM I believe and N/T... I dropped them from 10k ft... I don't understand all of the settings available so maybe I should have changed something there?

 

Anyways going to try again and see if I notice anything strange.

[Flagrum]

I can see now also that I accidentally selected the BDU-33s using the DSMS. Does that explain all settings going back to default though?

Probably this.

 

You must be aware that there are two ways to alter a profile. The first one is to go to the profile page (OSB1 "profile" without selecting a weapon first at the DSMS main page) and select a profile, show profile, OSB16 for "change settings". This way you modify an existing profile that you can select via the profile page.

The other way is to select a weapon first, OSB 1 for "profile" and you get directly to a profile page where you can hit OSB16 for "change settings". In this case you change the parameters only for the previously selected weapon. As soon as you select an other weapon type or profile, your settings are gone. This is only a temporary profile and you can see it by the preceeding "M/" (for "manual profile") at the profile name (i.e. HUD lower left corner).

[shagrat]

M/ in front of the weapon name indicates a manual release setting! It is not a profile of any sorts. It is going to default setting for that weapon every time you manually call that weapon. Always select weapon profiles with the DMS right/left with HUD as SOI or with the SELECT (or DATA?) rocker on the UFC if HUD is not SOI.

If necessary you can switch between release modes (CCIP/CCRP) with the master mode button anytime.

[Zee Pet]

That's actually extremely helpful, thanks.