A question about weapons and radar. please help. Thanks!!

[Dudester22]

Can someone please tell me if I am doing the right thing here because I cannot find what I am looking for in the manual. What I want to know is when I enter (LRS) Long Range Search mode in the F15 fighter, do I first have to select Vertical Scan or Boresight mode before I select LRS mode? I ask this because when I select (LRS) on it's own I get no scanning until I have selected either Vertical scan or Boresight mode first. What I was trying to do was select my aim 120 missiles and then hit key 2 which takes me into LRS mode, but like I said there is no scan untill I select either Boresight mode or vertical scan mode first and then LRM.

 

Also, does the Aim 120 missiles only have a range of 13 miles? Because when I do manage to lock on using the Long Range Mode it tells me to shoot at a range of 10 miles or less. I hope someone can answer these questions because I am unable to play the game untill I know the answer. Thanks

Edited May 6, 2011 by Dudester22

[Frostie]

After pressing '2' you need to switch your radar on with 'i'. Your not likely to see much without it. :)

 

AIM-120 max range is displayed on a bar in your HUD which is described best in the manual.

[Gunja]

this might help

http://lockon.co.uk/flaming_cliffs_2/training/F-15C.php

 

also videos from here can explain a lot

http://flankertraining.com/ironhand/a2a.htm

[Exorcet]

The question was already answered, but for clarity, the AAQ modes (pressing 3 or 4) will turn the radar on automatically. 2 requires the pilot to turn the radar on.

 

The former modes are meant for dofighting, so there is no need to conceal yourself. BVR on the other hand can be a lot easier when you go unseen, so you shouldn't have your radar on all the time.

 

Missile range is complicated

 

from the manual page 147

 

The missile launch range, or missile employment zone (MEZ), is greatly influenced by the aircraft‟s altitude at the moment of missile launch. This is due to the much denser air at lower altitude. If the flight altitude is increased by 20,000 feet, the maximum launch range is about doubled. For example, the AIM-120‟s launch range at of 20,000 feet is twice as great as when launched at sea level. When attacking a target higher or lower than one‟s aircraft, the maximum missile launch range is equivalent to the maximum launch range of the average altitude between the two aircraft.

 

I'll just say that you can get kills with AMRAAM up to 40 miles.

[Dudester22]

Thankyou for the replies they helped me a lot. However, I cannot get my head around something. I am just thinking why you would have your radar set at 20 miles and not 160 miles all the time? With 160 miles set you would be able to see a lot more all of the time and you could lock the targets to see their range at any time. I know I am obviously missing something here so can someone correct me and explain why you would set the range shorter then 160 miles? Thanyou!!

[Exorcet]

Well firstly, the chances of seeing something on radar beyond 100 miles is very low. I use 80 miles as my standard range. For fighter type targets, the F-15 can see about 60 miles out with PRF set to high.

 

Secondly, it's a lot harder to manage your radar when everything bunched up to the last 25% of it. I always shrink the window down to the smallest range that will display my target of interest. You wouldn't want to be in dogfight and lose awareness because you can't pick up which aircraft on the radar is the biggest threat.

[Dudester22]

I am still having problems with this radar and I am wondering if this is a bug I have? When I select my 120B missiles and hit key 2 on the keyboard to go into LRS mode, for some reason after I hit key 2 it changes my missile to Aim 9m. I then have to switch back to 120b missile by using the weapon select button. I am just wondering is meant to switch my missile back to Aim 9m when I press key 2 which is set for LRS mode?

 

I would also like to know if this radar On/Off switch is supposed to switch on when I press it after selecting the 120 missiles? I select my 120 missiles and press the key thats suppose to switch it on, but nothing happens.

 

Can someone please run through each key they press to go into LRS scan mode using the 120 missiles. Please explain it from the radar set to off and tell me what you do, it's the only way I am going to find out if I have a bug. I have watched the videos and what they tell me doesn't work, but I may still be missing something. Thankyou!!

[Exorcet]

It sounds like something isn't right. Changing your radar mode shouldn't change weapons, and the radar should be able to go on and off at all times. To use AIM-120, this is what I do (I use custom controls on the X52 Pro, so the default keyboard commands I'm pulling from memory and might not match exactly)

 

1 Press 2 to go into LRS mode

 

2 Switch to AIM-120 (I forget which key)

 

3 Turn on radar with I key

 

4 Lock on with Tab key (?)

 

5 Fire with Enter key

 

1, 2, and 3 can be done in any order though, it doesn't make a difference.