4404

Looks like a port from a phone game!

4405

It is in the training missions I get messed up. I have no problem switching between attack modes (AA/AG), caging uncaging missiles, switching between hardpoints. Thatā€™s all fine. But like in the AMRAAM training mission they want you to do some other stuffā€¦ switching the right-hand MFD to some other kind of targeting mode, slewing (I think is the term) to highlight and box a target, and doing some other stuff. Thatā€™s where I run into trouble. And like with guns. You can switch between boresight mode and funnel mode etc. I know I can click a bunch of stuff on the MFD to do that, but I need to be able to do that with my joystick and Iā€™m not sure what thatā€™s called, so I donā€™t know how to cycle those modes with my stick. Can you fill me in?

4406

Stuff thatā€™s done on the mfd is there for a reason. You rarely need to touch those buttons in the heat of combat. And quietly flying along, you can use a mouse, trackball or point ctrl unit to punch them.

I have never switched gun modes on the hornet, the default pipper is perfect to my needs.

You should have a mini stick on your throttle bound to TDC (target designator controller) which is used for cursor control in the jet. Use a hat on the stick to switch which display is controlled by it. A small dot in the upper right corner of the mfd will indicate when itā€™s the one being used.

This seems wildly inconvenient and obtuse. But it also makes that you can do a LOT of things without ever taking your hands off the HOTAS, which is the point.

4407

Can anyone recommend an inexpensive throttle to pair with my existing Thrustmaster T.16000M that I purchased a few years ago and still works great? Just canā€™t justify buying a complete new HOTAS setup when I already have half of one. My budget is under $50 (USD). Iā€™m not hardcore about flight combat sims but it would be nice to have a functional HOTAS that I didnā€™t pay an arm and a leg for (the T.16000M was something like $30 when I bought it on sale from B&H Photo a few years agoā€¦ now they typically retail for over $100, I think).

4408

Your best bet with the T.16000M is the TWCS throttle; but itā€™s $109 and currently hard to find at retail price.

I donā€™t know of any $50 throttlesā€¦ Pre-MSFS/Covid Iā€™d say pick up an old used CH Throttle but nowadays people are even gouging on those. Sadly I tossed an old Saitek throttle because the joystick wasnā€™t working about a year ago. Little did I know that would someday have value for folks.

If you canā€™t go $100-ish for the TWCS, your best bet is going to be watching used, or if you know someone with a 3D printer, you can make your own using an Arduino and 3D-printed parts for about $50.

4409

By the way, a while ago I watched a video and Falcon 4 BMS is still around and seemingly doing surprisingly well. They really have improved a lot compared to what I saw a few years back. I only fiddled with it a little bit, the only annoyance being thereā€™s no shortcut to the MFDs, so you have to move the mouse and zoom to look at one. Even the old 2d pit is gone. Thereā€™s some way to set up custom views, but itā€™s extremely complex and requires editing files in a not accessible wayā€¦

I just checked and they released a major new version just before Christmas, hereā€™s the changelog:

Itā€™s a 2.3Gb file that unpacks to 9Gb, still requires a falcon4.exe laying around to actually install.

The documentation manuals in particular seem excellent.

4410

This might just mean VR is in the future as well šŸ˜‰

4411

That is the exact first thing I thought of when I saw this.

4412

Oh myā€¦ I can only get so rigidā€¦

4413

That dynamic campaign in VRā€¦ yeah thatā€™s a real taint tickler there

4414

Iā€™m writing down all my joystick button assignments as I canā€™t remember them allā€¦ is there a way I can view them in VR? Like upload it to my kneepad in DCS?

Also whatā€™s CCW/CW stand for and should I have them assigned to my hotas?

4415

Clockwise, counterclockwise? I dunno tbhā€¦ context?

I learned playing jet hotas by first settting the thing up blindly following the guide. Then I took the interactive training combined with multiple excursions to the options screen. You push a button oe a hat in the controls screen, it tells you what its bound to unless free. This is how I take my inflight reminders of what did that button do again?

Yes there is a way to get a random pdf onto ypur kneeboard but itā€™s a hassle.

But for getting a procedure down, the interactive training followed by a simple, short exercise mission is best imo. For many things there are quick missions under the instant action tab. The mission editor is worth getting to know too.

Say i want to learn agm-65 maverick. I set up a single jet, armed with as many missiles as possible. Ten miles away twenty trucks. Voila, have at it.

4416

I keep forgetting that I can go to options and use the joystick and itā€™ll take me to its binding. Thanks!
The CW and CCW are in relation to the MFDā€™s. I re-did all my bindings based on the guide you linked last night, and it already feels 100% better.

And funny thing. I had a dream after that that I was in an F18 and had all Mavericks instead of sidewinders, and was launching them at planes anyways hoping one might somehow hit. Even though it was a dream I still couldnā€™t manage to make them do something theyā€™re totally not designed for lol.

4417

Well, I have shot a helicopter with a mav onceā€¦ ;)

4418

I think those would be the brightness knobs, or maybe contrast? I donā€™t remember which ones the Bug has, exactly.

shakes fist in rotorhead

4419

Using a Maverick for a laser-guided bombā€™s job!

4420

OMG I just remembered the rest of that dream. I was flying with your Friday night group @schurem . I was supposed to be flying CAP but I couldnā€™t figure out how to load air-to-air missiles. Everyone was getting irritated waiting on me so I chose the best option I could out of all the A/G options - the Mavericks. I knew I looked like a moron with 12 Mavericks loaded for an A/A job, so I was desperate, no frantic, to redeem myself. Here it was, the one job I could maybe handleā€¦ A/A tasks, and I was flying around with a bunch of fat missiles. I thought if I could make just 1 kill while everyone in the group died, itā€™d still be OK.

4421

Welp, you would would have fit right in ;-) Last friday we mostly did urban helicopter combat. Gun armed Gazelles and Hueys in downtown Dubai. It was hilarious fun. Most often we do guns-only BFM. Either way, loading missiles often is not what fight club is about. It could be tho! Flying with someone on comms who sees what youā€™re seeing and explains is a fun and effective way to learn.

4422

Whatā€™s BFM?

4423

Basic Fighter Maneuvers. Airplane Jiu Jitsu. The art and science of meeting another fighter aircraft and then driving it in such a way that you can shoot him, while making sure they canā€™t shoot you.
Modern missiles take most of the fun out of it, an AIM-9X can be shot over the shoulder even! No fun at all. But a guns-only dogfight is about the most fun thing you can do with an airplane. Takes some real skill to do it in a machine like the F-14.