Flight Qualifications Campaign

[Balu0]

Ty!

I was off to the left of the waypoint be a good margine (not steep enough bank turn I guess)

[Archer7]

Ty!

I was off to the left of the waypoint be a good margine (not steep enough bank turn I guess)

 

It happens. Always use your own judgement when making turns and if you notice you are drifting course correct by turning 5-9 degrees (>10°=U) off-course in the direction you want to go.

[Archer7]

Tactical Training OpenBeta and exercise missions coming eventually?

[Sabre-TLA]

Yes we will release an OpenBeta version of the Tactical Campaign as soon as we can.

 

For the practice missions we looked into it but decided that since the Tactical Qualification was combat oriented that having practice missions would remove the "fog of war" and uncertainty feeling that is present in real combat operations. It may make the campaign harder to pass first time but when you do succeed you will have truly earned the Combat Mission Ready status.

 

Since these are combat oriented missions there are many different ways to achieve the objectives and the decisions are left to the player making for enhanced replayability. For example your decision to use a particular weapon system on a particular target could help or hinder your ability on other targets in the mission.

 

This campaign has taught us much and we hope to leverage these learnings into a future combat specific campaign.

[Archer7]

Yes we will release an OpenBeta version of the Tactical Campaign as soon as we can.

 

For the practice missions we looked into it but decided that since the Tactical Qualification was combat oriented that having practice missions would remove the "fog of war" and uncertainty feeling that is present in real combat operations. It may make the campaign harder to pass first time but when you do succeed you will have truly earned the Combat Mission Ready status.

 

Since these are combat oriented missions there are many different ways to achieve the objectives and the decisions are left to the player making for enhanced replayability. For example your decision to use a particular weapon system on a particular target could help or hinder your ability on other targets in the mission.

 

This campaign has taught us much and we hope to leverage these learnings into a future combat specific campaign.

 

I thought so and I agree it's a good idea to leave out exercise missions for TT.

[jcbak]

Formation flying BFT11

 

Anyone have any tips. I've been practicing this mission for an embarrassingly long time. I have definitely improved but my formation turns are still below standard. I know there's no easy answer just looking for some tips that may have helped others.

[Archer7]

Anyone have any tips. I've been practicing this mission for an embarrassingly long time. I have definitely improved but my formation turns are still below standard. I know there's no easy answer just looking for some tips that may have helped others.

 

Challenging mission!

My best advice:

 

• 
  
• As you enter the mission zone you join with the instructor carefully when he is moving north because once you meet him he will start moving to the next waypoint and it is easy to fall out of formation immediately if you join with him carelessly or going in the wrong direction! You don't want to have one strike without even having started flying.
  
• Note his altitude and speed and establish co-speed quickly (around 240 knots if I remember correctly), then maintain it without major changes in speed.
  
• Carefully managed the throttle and...
  
• SPEEDBRAKES!!! SPEEDBRAKES!!! SPEEDBRAKES!!
  
• When it is time to turn speedbrake slightly so you increase your distance to him and when he starts turning throttle up to max immediately and start turning at a high banking angle and maintain vision of him in your HUD throughout the turn.
  
• When it is time to ascend increase your distance to him as much as possible without falling out of formation and when he moves up set your throttle to max and mimic his steep upwards dive without shooting too high.
  
• When it is time to descend exercise extreme caution also.
  
• The mission has one ascent, one ascent/descent, one descent and four turns. You can actually fall out of formation in the beginning of the mission and once in ever ascent/descent and still be qualified.
  
• If he disappears from your vision speedbrake and descend slightly.
  
• Cheat: if you fall out of formation stay out of formation until it is safe to join up again instead of joining up while you are still destabilized in which case you will probably fall out of formation again immediately.
  

I'll say using speedbrakes and going max speed in all the manoeuvres is the most important.

 

I (barely) made it on my third try or so... Halo-skillz I suppose.

[Archer7]

Of minor importance: the icon for the AFT mission in the campaign selection has been broken some time and I believe the BFT campaign mission text is missing some information (no mention of phase 4)... and the other ones are missing a colon at the end of the first paragraph.

[jcbak]

Challenging mission!

My best advice:

 

• 
  
• As you enter the mission zone you join with the instructor carefully when he is moving north because once you meet him he will start moving to the next waypoint and it is easy to fall out of formation immediately if you join with him carelessly or going in the wrong direction! You don't want to have one strike without even having started flying.
  
• Note his altitude and speed and establish co-speed quickly (around 240 knots if I remember correctly), then maintain it without major changes in speed.
  
• Carefully managed the throttle and...
  
• SPEEDBRAKES!!! SPEEDBRAKES!!! SPEEDBRAKES!!
  
• When it is time to turn speedbrake slightly so you increase your distance to him and when he starts turning throttle up to max immediately and start turning at a high banking angle and maintain vision of him in your HUD throughout the turn.
  
• When it is time to ascend increase your distance to him as much as possible without falling out of formation and when he moves up set your throttle to max and mimic his steep upwards dive without shooting too high.
  
• When it is time to descend exercise extreme caution also.
  
• The mission has one ascent, one ascent/descent, one descent and four turns. You can actually fall out of formation in the beginning of the mission and once in ever ascent/descent and still be qualified.
  
• If he disappears from your vision speedbrake and descend slightly.
  
• Cheat: if you fall out of formation stay out of formation until it is safe to join up again instead of joining up while you are still destabilized in which case you will probably fall out of formation again immediately.
  

I'll say using speedbrakes and going max speed in all the manoeuvres is the most important.

 

I (barely) made it on my third try or so... Halo-skillz I suppose.

 

Thanks for your time on this reply. I've been trying to keep the lead aircraft in the left triangle area next to the HUD which is causing me problems. You mentioned keeping visual in the HUD. That does make things easier. I guess I was trying for something more like an airshow formation. I'm just trying to pass.

Edited November 10, 2014 by jcbak

[Sabre-TLA]

First post updated with links to the OpenBeta installer for the Tactical Training Qualification Campaign.

 

Part A is available in the User Files section. Part B is available from our google drive but will be posted to the User Files section shortly.

[Archer7]

Aaah!

How about updating the AAT practice missions? They’re still 1.0 and the newest version is 1.4.

 

In AFT01 what do you do if you're full? I filled up after maybe 7 well dones... I'm going to have to watch closely how much fuel I get with each well done and how quickly I can burn it.

 

Edit: oooh... starting with no fuel. Excellent plan.

 

Edit: OK, is it me or is AFT01 completely dumb?

I’ve managed 20 successful connects however that means starting with as close to zero fuel as possible, filling up to full, then flying at full speed with full speed brakes at close to minimum allowed altitude to burn fuel and if I do that enough I can finally do another few connects adding up to 20 on the final stretch.

What an overcomplicated process! Cutting the amount of successful connects down to 10 or the allowed disconnects up to 4 might make it possible but 20 successes to 1 miss?

And you better be quick about it because otherwise you won’t be able to burn enough fuel to be able to fill up without the tanker aborting you.

 

Anyways after the 20 connects the instructor just says nicely done but you’re not given any qualification and I’ve tried landing both at Batumi and Kobuleti without any more instructions… so did I pass?

Or do you seriously have to connect successfully 20 times with at most 1 pilot-induced disconnect? It's insane.

Edited November 16, 2014 by Archer7

[txmtb]

Anyway to get around the ILS power switch bug for shutdown?

Went through a new install and now can't get pass shutdown.

[Sabre-TLA]

It's a bug in the latest version of DCS World. It's supposed to be fixed in the next update.

 

If you can't wait then you can follow these instructions to go back to an earlier version:

 

Start

Type CMD

Open Command Prompt.

Type: CD C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World\Bin\

Type: DCS_updater.exe update 1.2.10.32582

 

Attached is a simple mission to test the ILS operation.

ILS Test.miz

[Archer7]

Can someone confirm if you really need 20 successful connects with only 1 disconnect in AFT01?

Also is the only way to do that to start with bingo fuel, connect quickly until you’re full, then go engine 100% with full speed brakes at min allowed altitude until you have enough space to fill up the final few times until you are at 20 counts?

Also when you’re done how and when do you get your mission qualification?

 

I’m not even going to bother attempting 20-1 unless I know the mission can be completed.

 

In both the AFT01 and AFT03 (I haven't attempted AFT02 yet) practice missions I'm not getting any instructions after they say I'm done and I get nothing on touch-down and nothing after shutting down, no qualification.

In AFT04 I both get instructions to go down at Kobuleti, I'm told where to park and I get my qualification after I'm parked.

Edited November 16, 2014 by Archer7

[Sabre-TLA]

AAR is likely the toughest and most challenging thing to do in DCS on any aircraft. You need to ensure proper trim and manage the speed carefully.

 

The practice missions are setup so you can practice your connections and disconnections. You can do up to 20 before the mission says "That's enough". A connection is measured as being connected for 10 seconds so fitting 20 into the flight plan should be no problem.

 

For the qualification campaign mission we reduced the number to only 3 to make it reasonable for most folks.

 

Hopefully after being able to connect 20 times in the practice mission doing 3 should be no problem. Maybe I should change the qualification mission so you have to do 20 connections. Maybe 3 is too easy. :doh:

[Archer7]

AAR is likely the toughest and most challenging thing to do in DCS on any aircraft. You need to ensure proper trim and manage the speed carefully.

 

The practice missions are setup so you can practice your connections and disconnections. You can do up to 20 before the mission says "That's enough". A connection is measured as being connected for 10 seconds so fitting 20 into the flight plan should be no problem.

 

For the qualification campaign mission we reduced the number to only 3 to make it reasonable for most folks.

 

Hopefully after being able to connect 20 times in the practice mission doing 3 should be no problem. Maybe I should change the qualification mission so you have to do 20 connections. Maybe 3 is too easy. :doh:

Wait, what? The campaign mission only has three? With one allowed pilot-induced disconnect? Sounds easy :doh:

I wouldn’t make it 20 but maybe 5… or 10 but with two allowed pilot-induced disconnects.

Disconnecting too soon is hardly a big disaster.

 

Anyways it seems you don’t understand the issue in the practice mission. You simply can’t stay connected 10 seconds for 20 times because that will fill up your tanks and when your tanks are full the tanker will automatically disconnect!

Each “Well done” you fill about 600 lbs and doing that 20 times equals 12 000 lbs but you can only carry 11 000 lbs… maybe it can be done if you use external tanks, I haven’t thought about that.

By default the mission starts without any tanks and close to full tank so you can only do about 7 connects until you’re full.

 

Also at the end of AFT01 and AFT03 I’m not getting any qualification. The instructor seems to break after telling you to fly home however AFT04 and AFT05 work perfectly.

I'm currently only playing the practice missions.

Edited November 16, 2014 by Archer7

[Sabre-TLA]

Wait, what? The campaign mission only has three? With one allowed pilot-induced disconnect? Sounds easy :doh:

I wouldn’t make it 20 but maybe 5… or 10 but with two allowed pilot-induced disconnects.

Disconnecting too soon is hardly a big disaster.

 

Anyways it seems you don’t understand the issue in the practice mission. You simply can’t stay connected 10 seconds for 20 times because that will fill up your tanks and when your tanks are full the tanker will automatically disconnect!

Each “Well done” you fill about 600 lbs and doing that 20 times equals 12 000 lbs but you can only carry 11 000 lbs… maybe it can be done if you use external tanks, I haven’t thought about that.

By default the mission starts without any tanks and close to full tank so you can only do about 7 connects until you’re full.

 

Also at the end of AFT01 and AFT03 I’m not getting any qualification. The instructor seems to break after telling you to fly home however AFT04 and AFT05 work perfectly.

I'm currently only playing the practice missions.

 

When I was first trying AAR even getting 3 connects for 10 seconds each I found really difficult until I learned through lots of practice. I didn't want users to get frustrated with the first campaign mission and quit so I figured if they can do a bunch of connects and disconnects in the practice mission then doing 3 for the qualification should be easy enough.

 

20 was just a number we chose as a limit at the time. If you get to WP7 then the FE says to quit anyway so the number is not important in the practice mission. I can certainly lower it to 10 in the next update.

 

Also for AFT01 and AFT03 likely you are missing the parking spot. If you come straight in to Kobuleti from the West the FE says to take the taxiway to the right and park in the first free revetement on the left. The parking zone is set on the 2nd parking spot on the south side but I'll also update the parking zone so it won't matter which spot you pick.

 

I think we have different parking zones for AFT04 and the later missions but I'll make sure they are consistent in the next update.

[Sabre-TLA]

This is a recap of my go at TAC12 - Stationary and Moving Target Tasking from the Tactical Training Qualification Campaign. I did manage a Qualified rating, which came as a surprise to me as I made a few obvious mistakes. I missed calling a final IN when attacking the convoy and hit them with guns to get them stopped. I also went over the time limit which resulted in dawn coming and my decision to quit using the NVG's. I had to lie to the JTAC about seeing his IR pointer. This is not meant as a tutorial, only as familiarization.

 

My first attempt at this mission seemed to have been going well until I landed and found out I had not killed all the targets. If you are behind on time the JTAC may tell you no further tasking. The P.E. may inform you are at end of VUL. If you are in question contact UZI 11 a second time for an extra APC to kill with guns. To pass this P.O. you must kill 6 individual armored targets and a convoy of 3 moving vehicles.

 

If I had it to do over I would have made sure to turn off the gun cross. It gets in the way when trying to use the rocket pipper.

 

Good job and thanks for posting your experiences.

 

I can't tell you hard it was to get the JTACs to behave properly. :doh:

 

In testing I would put the NVGs on when I entered the range and turn them off when I exited. That's the nice thing about a mission like this is that there are many different ways to play it. I used the NVGs and the IR Pointer to confirm the target. You can make do without it (you have flares too) but I thought it would be a good experience to get used to working with NVGs, JTACs and IR Pointers.

 

As long as you kill all the targets in the end then the mission is considered successful (unless you violated some of the other stated conditions - hard deck, transit routes, range check in and out, etc).

 

This is the first version so if there are things you would like to see changed please post it here or send us an email: mapleflagmissions@gmail.com

[bad-andy]

Good job and thanks for posting your experiences.

 

I can't tell you hard it was to get the JTACs to behave properly. :doh:

 

This is the first version so if there are things you would like to see changed please post it here or send us an email: mapleflagmissions@gmail.com

 

Thanks, I started posting the missions to encourage those who might not have extensive sim pits. I'm sure that all the bells and whistles make for a more immersive experience but are not necessary to complete these missions and gain proficiency in the A10C.

 

As for the missions and JTAC, what a great job! The only thing I noticed that might be improved is when I would fast forward while on auto pilot getting to W.P. 1 and 2 the in flight briefing seemed to get pushed back and complicated the radio transmissions while on the range. When I didn't fast forward, the briefing would finish before I entered the range.

 

Again, thanks for the missions, my goal is to complete the training.

[Archer7]

When I was first trying AAR even getting 3 connects for 10 seconds each I found really difficult until I learned through lots of practice. I didn't want users to get frustrated with the first campaign mission and quit so I figured if they can do a bunch of connects and disconnects in the practice mission then doing 3 for the qualification should be easy enough.

 

20 was just a number we chose as a limit at the time. If you get to WP7 then the FE says to quit anyway so the number is not important in the practice mission. I can certainly lower it to 10 in the next update.

 

Also for AFT01 and AFT03 likely you are missing the parking spot. If you come straight in to Kobuleti from the West the FE says to take the taxiway to the right and park in the first free revetement on the left. The parking zone is set on the 2nd parking spot on the south side but I'll also update the parking zone so it won't matter which spot you pick.

 

I think we have different parking zones for AFT04 and the later missions but I'll make sure they are consistent in the next update.

 

Good, you seem to be hard at work.

[bad-andy]

The only thing I noticed that might be improved is when I would fast forward while on auto pilot getting to W.P. 1 and 2 the in flight briefing seemed to get pushed back and complicated the radio transmissions while on the range. When I didn't fast forward, the briefing would finish before I entered the range.

 

It would seem that I was creating the problem by not switching to the Tactical Training Frequency (124.0 Mhz AM) when told to do so. What further confused me was that Uzi 11 is assigned the same Frequency.

[jcbak]

I'm having a problem with AFT 04, which appears to be a very simple mission. Both in the practice mission and the qualification mission, it doesn't appear that the target is triggered. Once I arrive at the IP, there is no direction from the FE. That's no problem so I tried to call in but the only F10 option I have is, "One, copy." I look for red smoke but it doesn't appear. The elevation for WP 5 is 8000. So I start looking with my eyes and the TGP but no joy. There are no specific TOTs in the brief with the exception of takeoff time. I didn't know if it was me or if the new update may have changed something.

[Sabre-TLA]

I'm having a problem with AFT 04, which appears to be a very simple mission. Both in the practice mission and the qualification mission, it doesn't appear that the target is triggered. Once I arrive at the IP, there is no direction from the FE. That's no problem so I tried to call in but the only F10 option I have is, "One, copy." I look for red smoke but it doesn't appear. The elevation for WP 5 is 8000. So I start looking with my eyes and the TGP but no joy. There are no specific TOTs in the brief with the exception of takeoff time. I didn't know if it was me or if the new update may have changed something.

 

It's possible a new game update has caused an issue. What version of DCS World are you using?

 

After the FENCE CHECK did you hear the following:

"Use the TGP and survey the area in the attack zone. The target is located close to WP 5.

We are popping red smoke to help you locate the target."

 

The SMOKE trigger is in the same trigger condition as the message so it should have gone off.

 

When you got to WP 4 did you hear the following:

 

"You are at the IP. Make your radio call and commence your attack run. You are cleared in HOT!"

 

The target is at WP 5 (but on the ground) so you should be able to see it through the TGP before reaching WP4. The target is hidden on the map but not late activated so it should be there.

 

I'll retest it tonight and see if I can reproduce the issue.

[jcbak]

I heard the message at the FENCE CHECK. When I got to WP 4 I did not hear ANY message. On one attempt, after passing through WP 4, I circled back again to be sure that I hit it exactly. Still no joy. It could very well be me and most likely is, but I've never really had a problem finding smoke on the deck before.

Edited November 20, 2014 by jcbak

[FSKRipper]

Had a similar problem today. Everything looked fine in AFT04, had the Fence check but the IP trigger didn't fire and finished with a rating of 0. Wanted to play it again to post a track but as I see now the campaign switched back to AFT03. The training mission worked fine for me...

 

AAT Version 1.4

DCS: 1.2.11.34087

Edited November 20, 2014 by FSKRipper
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