DCS A-10C QUESTIONS

[Shadow KT]

IRL the anti-col strobes are quite literally blinding when close at night. They are also visible from tens of miles away in clear conditions, DCS doesn't represent them well at all with the current aircraft lighting effects.

 

So, no AC lights at all when in a formation ? What about the red ones, like on the F-15 and I believe the Hornet has them as well. They don't seem to be that bright

 

[Eddie]

Those are the Nav lights and formation lights, and yes they are used in formation, the anti-col lights are many times brighter. Nav/formation lights also tend to have multiple brightness and/or NVIS modes for night/NVG ops.

[Shadow KT]

Those are the Nav lights and formation lights, and yes they are used in formation, the anti-col lights are many times brighter. Nav/formation lights also tend to have multiple brightness and/or NVIS modes for night/NVG ops.

 

Hol' up. Pretty sure those are the anti-collision lights. The nav lights are the green and red lights on the wingtips, which are not present on the gif ?

 

 

Edited December 1, 2017 by Shadow KT

[Eddie]

Indeed, looks like the Eagle has red anti col lights which are less blinding than the white strobes. Although the nav lights are visible on the gif, they just look quite dim compared to the anti col lights and the reheat plume. The trouble with photos and videos is that the exposure settings often hide how bright things appear to the naked eye, for example at night reheat plumes look much brighter than that gif would suggest.

 

Some aircraft have anti col strobes that can be switched between white and red (and on some jets also IR covert strobes).

[Nooch]

Same goes for the F-5. If I can recall correctly it has dim red anti-collision lights like the F-15.

[Shadow KT]

The thing is you, cannot really find (or at least I can't) a definitive way of using the lights. I am currently using

 

NAV flash when cold

 

NAV steady when hot

 

NAV flash when taxi

 

NAV steady and AC on, on take off and during flight

 

and obviously lights off when in the AO

 

BUT from what I've read, NAV lights are not needed during day time flying (AC are required). No idea when to use DIM or bright. And from what I understand from Eddie, AC are too bright for formation flying and also IRL switched off in fogs.

 

What about when they are red ?

 

Some planes only have a single steady setting for NAV lights....

 

I always try to catch what are pilots doing with the lights when flying commercial

[Eddie]

Commercial and military are quite different as far as lights usage. Military even vary a lot between aircraft type and even individual squadrons.

 

But in general, nav lights on as soon as power is applied to the aircraft, anti-col lights on before entering the active runway, and formation lights as required.

 

You are correct that it’s common to turn off strobes before entering clouds/fog, they reflect heavily off the cloud and can dazzle the crew. Although this isn’t generally done in civil aviation to my knowledge.

[Shadow KT]

Taking in mind that we are talking about aviation, which is quite a definitive sphere, when it comes to rules... I am quite bamboozled, that the light usage is so free forming.

 

So yeah, no AC in formation ? And when are DIM lights used ? We will see how they are portrayed in 2.5.

 

Sorry for asking so many questions, which can be close to the mind. But I don't really have a proper reference as you know how they are in DCS

Edited December 1, 2017 by Shadow KT

[Nooch]

Taking in mind that we are talking about aviation, which is quite a definitive sphere, when it comes to rules... I am quite bamboozled, that the light usage is so free forming.

 

Even in aviation, a few rare things are left to the pilot's discretion. Take the speedbrake on the F-15 for instance. There is nothing telling pilots to land with it deployed or not. So they just end up doing what suits them best.

[Eddie]

Aviation is quite definitive yes, but the rules governing civil and military aviation are not the same. The military do a lot of things civil aircraft don’t, as therefore have a lot of areas where they differ quite significantly.

 

For example, it’s perfectly possible to have military aircraft take off/ land at night without any lights being switched on. In fact I’ve spent time at airfields in sandy places where civil transports had lights on and military aircraft did not.

[mvsgas]

Based on DCS: AV-8B Harrier vids I'm watching, looks like ED caught on to the error and made the pointing cross solid when locked, flashing when not.

 

Still does not apply to DCS A-10C as of 1.5.8.12265.407 (with hot fix). Pointing cross flashes when lock.

[Nooch]

What's the practical effect of changing the solution parameter in the DSMS for LGBs? The manual says "Set desired flight path of bomb between ORP for Optimal Release Point and BAL for Ballistic release point." I'm curious to know what's the best choice for a given scenario and if it matters at all in DCS.

 

Still does not apply to DCS A-10C as of 1.5.8.12265.407 (with hot fix). Pointing cross flashes when lock.

 

I guess you need to report it in the bug/problem section for it to be addressed.

[mvsgas]

What's the practical effect of changing the solution parameter in the DSMS for LGBs? The manual says "Set desired flight path of bomb between ORP for Optimal Release Point and BAL for Ballistic release point." I'm curious to know what's the best choice for a given scenario and if it matters at all in DCS.

Not sure if I understand your question. Could you explain more?

 

 

 

I guess you need to report it in the bug/problem section for it to be addressed.

Why? is been like that for 7 years, it's fine...and it has been reported, a lot. Edited December 4, 2017 by mvsgas

[Nooch]

Not sure if I understand your question. Could you explain more

 

I meant: what's the point of this setting? When should I touch it?

[mvsgas]

AFAIK, within DCS, it does not matter. We also would need a lot of additional information not provided to us. Information you need from RL manuals, for example info like this:

[ATTACH]173380[/ATTACH]

But in the real manual, this would be full of information.

[Nooch]

I see. At first I thought it might have something to do with with stationary vs moving targets. From what I now understand, using ORP increases the probability of a hit but also requires the input of additional parameters.

Edited December 4, 2017 by Nooch

[mvsgas]

IIRC, you are telling the aircraft systems more specifics to allow for a more complete trajectory calculation and helps the pilot be at the right spot in 3d space and speed, etc.

[Nooch]

IIRC, you are telling the aircraft systems more specifics to allow for a more complete trajectory calculation and helps the pilot be at the right spot in 3d space and speed, etc.

 

Makes sense. Got it now, thanks!

[Yurgon]

What's the practical effect of changing the solution parameter in the DSMS for LGBs?

 

Not sure if it's modeled in DCS.

 

In any case, the trajectory for a guided final flight phase is different from that of an unguided release. If you were to drop the bomb "dumb", that is without laser guidance, you should switch to BAL or else the bomb would be waaay off target. For guided attacks with laser illumination, keep it at ORP.

[Nooch]

I was curious to know what's the point of setting up all the parameters in the DSMS? For a mk-82 for example I'm talking about SEM, DES TOF, RT, UP, EJECT, RACK. Is it going to help me make a better pass and if so then why?

[Eddie]

RT, UP, EJECT, RACK are maintenance setting and not applicable to DCS.

 

SEM is the safe escape manoeuvre and is used as one of the parameters driving the abort cues, so setting to wrong one may give you abort cues earlier than needed depending on your delivery type.

 

DES TOF is the desired weapon time of flight in seconds and is used to drive the desired release cue (DRC). This is the small horizontal line shown on the ASL when using CCIP aiming. It is placed over the desired mean point of impact during a delivery in order to ensure the weapons are released at the planned altitude, assuming the initial delivery parameters and dive angle are also correct.

 

You can see the DRC in action in the videos shown in this thread: http://www.476vfightergroup.com/showthread.php?3131-Air-to-Surface-Weapon-Delivery-Methods

[Nooch]

Ok, I understand now why I was often getting abort cues for no apparent reason. It's probably coming from the SEM setting. Next time I will set it to none and see if it helps. Thanks!

[Eddie]

Setting none will be more likely to give an early abort cue as they are there primarily to avoid weapon frag patterns. The SEM is performed primarily to keep you out of the frag pattern.

 

If you’re getting abort cues it’s generally for a reason. Normally low altitude and/or slant range.

[MRaza]

just updated my dcs to 1.5.8.12823.414 and I'm gettting a lot of random, really long pauses, and I just got kicked from 2 separate servers back to the main screen for no apparent reason...

 

can someone help me or point me to the appropriate thread to ask about this?

[Frederf]

Not sure if I understand your question. Could you explain more?

 

 

 

Why? is been like that for 7 years, it's fine...and it has been reported, a lot.

 

My understanding is that in ballistic setting the release is such that a ballistic (non-guided) LGB release will hit the target. Under "optimal" the release point is later so that there is some extra energy for guidance maneuvering. If there is no laser guidance the bomb would fly beyond the designated location.

 

So if for some reason the laser was broken and you had to deliver an LGB unguided anyway you'd pick ballistic so the delivery would be as accurate as possible. Otherwise pick "opt" which is otherwise a miss but the laser shines and the bomb has some extra wiggle room.