Newbie with questions.

[Dusan56]

Welcome in this beautiful madness. I started with X-52 but very soon figured out it's just don't feel right (however I like X-52 design). One step up, to X-52 Pro will make huge difference. Couldn't afford TM, so I went for Logitech G-940. In my opinion, very good alternative to TM for reasonable price and on the top, has Force feedback. There is lot of negative comments regarding to G-940. I express my own experience with G-940. Not easily to grasp, not easy to learn how to use, definitely not ideal but works damn well. Also, G-940 comes with rudder pedals.And no I don't work for Logitech. Cheers and Good luck!

Edited November 17, 2012 by Dusan56

[arteedecco]

IMO, your priority list for equipment would be:

1. DCSW - free

2. DCS A10-C Module

3. Stick (I run a crappy / broken Saitek X52 and it does the job... the Pro may be better and will get you going)

4. TrackIR 5 (must have)

5. I really like the Thrustmaster MFD Cougar Pack (http://www.thrustmaster.com/en_UK/products/mfd-cougar-pack). Relatively inexpensive and adds a nice realism quality to the sim.

EDIT(BEGIN) 6. Rudder pedals (get them with a heavy base, or make sure you anchor them down to a sheet of plywood or something like that) (END)EDIT

7. Eventually, get yourself the Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog. I will tell you this, the fidelity and quality of the Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog make it an excellent purchase. This stick is to DCS A-10C as a crappy generic Microsoft Sidewinder stick is to HAWX. <<-- Not sure if that made sense, but basically, what is the main thing you are doing in this SIM? Flying. (Some might argue operating systems, which is fairly true, but at the end of the day you have to fly the plane... WANT to fly the plane). So... if you get this stick it will add a quality and realism to the game that will take it up a whole new level, making it that much more rewarding.

8. Pit with three projectors and a large screen behind avionics stack for exporting all the cockpit instruments behind a nice bezel and mounted Cougar MFDs, etc. <<-- Definition of lust!

 

At any rate, you guys are doing the right thing. Get involved with the community. Ask questions. And... RTFM (read the f*ing manual). Don't mess around with Game mode... in your settings (I'm sure you've already done this) put 'er in Simulation mode and start there.

 

Learn checklists, which you can find and download from stickied posts on these forums. I wrote mine out and practiced practiced practiced them so I wouldn't have to take 30 minutes to get the plane taxiing. Then... like others have said... one realm of flight, one system, one weapon system / mode at a time.

 

If you want to fly w/ someone who's been flying for a while PM me. Sounds like we're in different timezones, but we can figure something out. My wingman and I would be more than happy to provide some training and tips (we've got a Teamspeak server we can use to communicate).

 

Cheers!

Edited November 17, 2012 by arteedecco

[SafetyTurtle]

Gotta be honest, no idea what that cougar thing is really about, but it looks awsome and it has buttons, so I'm sold.

 

I do wanna make a bit (though a mech themed pit..sorry!) but just don't have the space and the Warthog is on my wishlist for sure.

 

Can't wait to get into the game, right now I can't get it working though so no practice till that's done.

[Yurgon]

Gotta be honest, no idea what that cougar thing is really about, but it looks awsome and it has buttons, so I'm sold.

 

I just got mine last week, wouldn't want to fly without them any more. :)

 

The A-10C cockpit features two multi function color displays (MFCDs) with buttons all around them. The Thrustmaster Cougar MFDs are pretty much the buttons minus the MFCD. :)

 

They're ideally suited for the Hog, and it's just a lot faster setting up a weapon profile by actually pushing buttons than by clicking in-game buttons with the mouse pointer. Mine cost around 65€ at amazon.de, and I'm really happy with the purchase (but only as an addition to the TM Warthog - that one definitely comes first :lol:).

 

arteedecco's list is pretty good. As an addition, I would throw in rudder pedals somewhere after point 4. The Saiteks are a good choice, mine did the job just fine. Some people prefer CH, but I never had those, so can't comment.

(At this point, I would have recommended Simpeds from German based DHS Elektronik, but they went out of business a couple months ago :()

[arteedecco]

arteedecco's list is pretty good. As an addition, I would throw in rudder pedals somewhere after point 4. The Saiteks are a good choice, mine did the job just fine. Some people prefer CH, but I never had those, so can't comment.

(At this point, I would have recommended Simpeds from German based DHS Elektronik, but they went out of business a couple months ago :()

 

Gah! I knew I forgot something! You're completely right, rudder pedals make a big difference but should not be considered a barrier to getting started (I still don't have any and use the keyboard for rudder on t/off and landings!).

 

One word of advice on rudders... get ones with a heavy base! And/Or anchor them down to something that won't move. Super annoying to have your pedals scooting all over the place on ya!

 

I'll go back and edit my equipment list... for posterity. :smartass:

[shagrat]

 

One word of advice on rudders... get ones with a heavy base! And/Or anchor them down to something that won't move. Super annoying to have your pedals scooting all over the place on ya!

:

Very good point there! The Saitek rudder pedals can and should be screwed to a board or the like that is fixed against the wall, or it will slide away when used :joystick:

[SafetyTurtle]

So, I've taken the first baby steps!

Gotten the game installed and working and now eating through the training...had one weird thing happen in the second training video (where you're in the air and you get told about the displays, HOTAS etc)...the plane crashed...though it should be on autopilot.

 

I had my cat on the table at that time though, so he might have hit something on the keyboard ^^

 

Anyways, enough writing...back to training!

 

Edit: Scratch another item off the list, just ordered TrackIR, not sure how well it'll work with the size of my screen and with the headmovements, but we'll see.

Edited November 18, 2012 by SafetyTurtle

[shagrat]

 

Edit: Scratch another item off the list, just ordered TrackIR, not sure how well it'll work with the size of my screen and with the headmovements, but we'll see.

Good to see you started enjoying. For TrackIR the screensize is more or less irrelevant.

I've got a 24" single screen and it works great.

Expect a bit of "dizziness" during the first flights, this is normal, brain needs a moment to get used to the strange head- vs. eye-movements.

For configuration look at fish's brilliant video tutorial.:thumbup:

 

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=85798&highlight=trackir

[SafetyTurtle]

Should be here sometime next week along with my joystick.

Right now I'm just going through training...learning to start up the plane with it falling apart ^^

[shagrat]

yeah, training is what you do often. After flying the hog in DCS for two years, I found a thread about wind corrections with LASTE and just this afternoon I'm back to training with Mk-82s in bad weather.

:megalol:

 

You will love this sim!

 

enough chat need to drop bombs...:D

[SafetyTurtle]

I already love it, just tried for the first time to start it all up and I'm already excited about it.

Also took the time to write the whole procedure down for the future, dunno if that counts as "cheating" though ^^

[dburne]

I already love it, just tried for the first time to start it all up and I'm already excited about it.

Also took the time to write the whole procedure down for the future, dunno if that counts as "cheating" though ^^

 

I think that is what I need to do, I have already gone through the ramp start training mission about 10 times and I still don't quite have a handle on it, at least not where I could just do it from memory.

[SafetyTurtle]

I've written down what order I need to do things in, haven't written down where they are, just the names, so will still have to look for them and get used to where they are located.

Guess it's all a question of "muscle" memory.

[Yurgon]

Also took the time to write the whole procedure down for the future, dunno if that counts as "cheating" though ^^

 

Writing stuff down and taking notes is actually a very good way of learning. Real pilots do the same thing.

 

BTW real pilots, I enjoyed watching Jetstream (discussed here and here), and documentary about Canadian CF-18 pilot trainees. They're all pilots already, but starting the CF-18 up for the first time takes them about 30 minutes (as opposed to about 2 minutes for an experienced CF-18 pilot).

 

Plus, you don't really have an Instructor Pilot holding your hand. It's like soloing right from the very beginning. :)

[arteedecco]

yeah, training is what you do often. After flying the hog in DCS for two years, I found a thread about wind corrections with LASTE and just this afternoon I'm back to training with Mk-82s in bad weather.

:megalol:

 

You will love this sim!

 

enough chat need to drop bombs...:D

 

Man.. I gotta go learn about that. There is something VERY rewarding about a successful delivery of "dumb" bombs on target. Especially rippling of two full TERs on a column.

 

I need to read about the LASTE... what threads / pages from the manual do you recommend @shagrat?

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Last night was flying on a server with Dragon's The Dam map. The server didn't cycle after mission accomplished so we were just buzzing around and shortly @K L R rico hopped online and asked if I wanted to try some ACM (air combat maneuvering) and scrimmage.

 

This was a great, fun way to a.) get really familiar with the air to air gunsight on the A-10 (we were guns only), b.) handling of the A-10C in various extreme maneuvers (up against stall, max performance, etc), c.) start procedures :) <-- because when someone hits you with a well aimed burst of GAU-8, your wings tend to come off and you get to practice your startup again!

 

All in all, just "playing" is really educational and having fun leads you to repeat things, which leads to muscle memory, which leads to getting a handle on everything (learning).

 

@GGTHaros says he can get the A-10C airborne in about the same amount of time as the DCSW Su-25T doing in-air alignment... I've gotta look into that because that's the one thing that slows me down.. waiting for alignment.

 

I will say, the aircraft has gotten MUCH more forgiving in its startup sequence than during BETA and other previous releases, so be happy for that. The whole "not in DTS mode after startup" nightmare cost me several hours while learning - course I'm better for it now!

 

At any rate, I'm really excited to have all you new pilots ramping up and getting onboard. The more folks in this community, dedicated to learning how to operate this amazing SIM properly, the better IMO.

 

Keep at it and keep asking questions.

[shagrat]

Man.. I gotta go learn about that. There is something VERY rewarding about a successful delivery of "dumb" bombs on target. Especially rippling of two full TERs on a column.

 

I need to read about the LASTE... what threads / pages from the manual do you recommend @shagrat?

 

 

Here the first post is quite accurate... and yes, it is meters per second not feet.

I get 90% hits now in ccip. In ccrp I suffer from the drag while running in when not aliged with the wind. That somehow mess up the PBIL and Queue alignment ever so close before the drop... need to fly more stable in bad weather, I guess.

 

Will attach the training mission I build this afternoon. Wait a second...

 

LASTEwindCorrectionMission.miz

Edited November 18, 2012 by shagrat

[Yurgon]

Wind correcting Dumb Bomb Delivery seems to be the #1 resource.

[davedontmind]

rudder pedals make a big difference

 

I use the pedals from my Driving Force GT steering wheel, which work well enough for me. It saved me splashing out on even more hardware. So if you already have a steering wheel & pedals, it's a good way to save a bit of cash.

[SafetyTurtle]

So, last newbie update:

Got my X52 Pro joystick, TrackIR is on the way in the mail and I just had my first trip into the skies...and what an experience.

Mind you, this is my very first flight sim and I'm blown away, really great experience just flying around trying to keep controle of the hog.

 

It's a shame the training mission is bugged but I'm enjoying myself either way.

Now, back to practicing.

[davedontmind]

So, last newbie update:

Got my X52 Pro joystick, TrackIR is on the way in the mail and I just had my first trip into the skies...and what an experience.

Mind you, this is my very first flight sim and I'm blown away, really great experience just flying around trying to keep controle of the hog.

 

It's a shame the training mission is bugged but I'm enjoying myself either way.

Now, back to practicing.

It's my first serious sim too - 6 months in and I still don't have a clue what I'm doing half the time, but I love every minute of it.

 

I've just splashed out on a TM Warthog (it should arrive in the next day or two) which is my early Christmas present to myself.

 

While you're investing in the game, I highly recommend getting a printed copy of the manual - I got mine from here - it's much better than having to refer to a PDF on screen.

[SafetyTurtle]

I'm thinking about printing out the manual myself to put it in a binder of some sort.

 

Yeah, the Warthog stick is on my wishlist to, but got 2-3 other items I would like to get first ^^

[EddieMuntz]

If your making a binder as i did, download and print all the PDFs from the wiki as they are more valuable than the bulk of the manual if your starting out. Especially Memphis Belles stuff on startups etc.

 

I adapted the wiki HOTAS over lay with my own setup and made my own printed version which helps a great deal. i added a link to the X52 printable page which may help when your altering your hotas assignments

 

 

http://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A0PDodgTO6pQbnMAN5tNBQx.;_ylu=X3oDMTBlMTQ4cGxyBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1n?back=http%3A%2F%2Fuk.images.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dx52%2Bflight%2Bcontrol%2Bsystem%2Bline%2Bdrawing%26n%3D30%26ei%3Dutf-8%26y%3DSearch%26fr%3Dyfp-t-702%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D17&w=1052&h=744&imgurl=i17.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fb68%2FBucic%2FA2Aforum%2FX52_blayout_Bucic_JamesBprofile0611.png&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fforums.eagle.ru%2Fshowthread.php%3Ft%3D44992&size=243.3+KB&name=%3Cb%3EX52+%3C%2Fb%3E%2F+%3Cb%3EX52+%3C%2Fb%3EPro+printable+button+layout+and+template+-+ED+Forums&p=x52+flight+control+system+line+drawing&oid=4b4ec44781bfb06228b985a02c84f377&fr2=&fr=yfp-t-702&tt=%253Cb%253EX52%2B%253C%252Fb%253E%252F%2B%253Cb%253EX52%2B%253C%252Fb%253EPro%2Bprintable%2Bbutton%2Blayout%2Band%2Btemplate%2B-%2BED%2BForums&b=0&ni=56&no=17&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=11dvqouam&sigb=14e3qmaf7&sigi=12lnji3o1&.crumb=GuagJuOpeZz

[arteedecco]

I'm thinking about printing out the manual myself to put it in a binder of some sort.

...

 

You can make a sort of syllabus for yourself if you grab the sections for each part you are practicing. You can tab them apart in the binder and then use each section as your guide for each hop. This separation also helps your mind break things up into blocks which helps reduce the "overwhelmed" factor.

 

If your making a binder as i did, download and print all the PDFs from the wiki as they are more valuable than the bulk of the manual if your starting out. Especially Memphis Belles stuff on startups etc.

...

 

What @EddieMuntz said. Use the Wiki and get the checklists, layouts. The guides you will find most helpful from now through whenever are:

1. Checklists (memorize flows and use checklists to make sure you did it all and got it right)

2. Stick / Throttle / Key commands / layouts (having on ONE page is very helpful to avoid page flipping and struggling to remember quickly what TMS up does when you're trying to get your Maverick's going!)

3. Threat guide (when you're buzzing around it is really helpful to have knowledge of what can kill you at what range and altitude combo.. and how.. IR / Radar, bullets / missiles)

4. Airport / approach charts (optional, but can be handy and adds to game realism)

 

Happy hunting!

[NullSpace]

Another newbie pilot here. I've played around with FSX and a bit with some low-detail combat sims, but this is my first study sim. This thread has had a whole bunch of awesome advice so thanks to all the experienced pilots who've been posting in there. It's good to have a friendly and welcoming community while putting in the practice hours.

 

Got me thinking, is there somewhere on these forums a newbie pilot like me could go to find some more experienced DCS A-10C pilots who'd be willing to fly around with me/give me some pointers? I only ask because I've seen several experienced pilots in this thread offer just that. If that thread already exists and I'm just missing it, many apologies >.>

 

Also:

...dreamt about being a fighter pilot as a kid (sadly I'm to tall ^^) so the more realism I can get the better!

 

Same for me, but my eyes aren't good enough :)

[arteedecco]

In another thread I mentioned it would be a great idea to have a "training" or "newbie" sub-forum. Not sure who can make this happen?

 

Anyhow, feel free to PM me. I'm happy to schedule a time to do some training sorties and answer all your questions. Can arrange for a teamspeak server to get voice comms.

 

We could even schedule what I'd call a RAG, or advanced training squadron for those just getting into the A-10C / DCS. We could set up a group sortie for some evening during the week. Could have some pre-requisite material to review and a few things we would cover during the time. If we could get a sub-forum going we could have a thread for scheduling and setting up the syllabus for each sortie.

 

Anyhow... PM me to let me know if you want / need some help.