Flying for wargamers

I suspect a substantial portion of DCS players are life-long airheads, and many may have real life flight training, so this question may sound odd, but I doubt I'm the only one who's curious.

Thing is, I'm into wargames, and what I like about DCS is precisely that it's a wargame where the "chrome" comes from all chrome-plated nuts and bolts it simulates so well. But, of course, it's also a flight sim. This presents a bit of a problem for someone like me, having only flown (seriously) simulated planes in the now-ancient Il-2.

My question is, how to train oneself in flying these things well? Sure, I can get the (fantastic) MiG-21 off the ground, fly it, and do all sorts of things with it, just by knowing what the systems do. But it would be awesome if there were a guide, or perhaps even a set of missions, that would teach the proper flight techniques at a level of depth a little more involved than just listing basic tactical maneuvers.

In particular, as DCS World already comes with a fully-simulated training aircraft for free, it would be especially nice to master that. What I want, specifically, is not systems and procedures training (I know there are missions for the A-10, at least, focusing on that), but training in how to fly intelligently.

In my experience after learning the systems and procedures of the A-10C, learning to fly intelligently came only after many hours of in flight experience with coop multiplayer missions. After over 2 years with this sim I still continue to hone my skills and learn from my fellow pilots. It has been this never ending challenge to get better that has given me an ongoing enthusiasm that I can't seem to find in any other endeavor. I am hopelessly addicted and grateful for it.

Yep, gotta agree with Blooze. To be honest, my ability went through the roof when I started flying with a squadron. No labels, voice comms, missions, all help you in some way or another.

Now if only I could learn to stay away from SA-11's. :)

Dale

As I mentioned, what I'm looking for is not the military aspect of flight. Or avionics. Just the flight part. I'm actually looking forward to the whole slew of trainers ED and others are developing - I'd like to see a full length training campaign focusing on the airmanship.

(However, I'm also looking forward to the MiG-21 training back by the guys who did the A-10C one)

Something like this whit the slalom course i guess then?

Try joining the Virtual Aerobatics Server.

Couple of these kind of slalom courses can be found there for any plane to fly trough.

Even keeps track of your current time and personal best as well as best on the server.

(at that moment, no idea if and when these times get reset)

If I understand you correctly, you want to know how to get the most performance out of your plane. This is something that comes in a couple forms. The first part is knowing the airframe limits. For the MiG-21Bis in DCS at this time, you can safely do 1350km/h IAS at any altitude before you stall or blow the engine. IAS decreases relative to TAS as altitude increases. So at 10km, that 1350km/h IAS is close to 2300km/h TAS (Mach 2.2). For G's, you probably already know the limits of when various types of ordnance fall off. You should also already know that DCS doesn't model structural damage for most planes, the MiG-21 included.

The next step is knowing how to maneuver efficiently, and I suspect that's what you're really asking about. This is something no one can adequately explain on the forums here. There is an awful lot of finesse in a dogfight. Simply yanking the stick into your gut isn't going to get you anywhere but low, slow and dead, even in a manned missile like the MiG-21. For this bit, I recommend finding someone who is skilled in the type you are training on and do a little game of follow the leader. It's amazing what you can learn from a master by simply trying to keep up with them. And they can help you along the way via voice comms as they spot your mistakes.

As for theory, there is a lot. To get started, you need to know about energy. If you already know about potential and kinetic energy, then you need not read further in this post. If you are not familiar with it however, then it goes like this:

Altitude = Potential Energy (PE)

Indicated Air Speed (IAS) = Kinetic Energy (KE)

Total Energy E = KE + PE

In order to maneuver efficiently, you must always try to keep your E as high as possible. Ideally, you want to always have a substantial E advantage over your opponent. This applies in any sort of WVR engagement but does not necessarily apply to long/medium range missile jousting (there are other concerns). In any case, in a WVR fight, an energy advantage grants you options. My own rule for air combat is never dump the airbrake and never back off the throttle. If I'm going to overshoot, I pull up over the top of them to convert my KE into PE and then dive back down as I fall back behind them. In doing so, I am able to give myself the ability to power away at will while denying them the ability to fire. This type of dogfighting is known as energy fighting. A subcategory of it is boom and zoom (B&Z), which you probably heard of in your old IL2 days. It's where I first mastered it. Most think of this in the context of WW2, but it works just as well with WW1 birds in RoF (it was invented in WW1 btw), Korea and even modern jets.

Edit: I do actually pop the airbrakes and reduce throttle at times. I shouldn't say never. But those situations are generally when things are terribly one sided and a quick snap shot doesn't carry any risk.