104th_Maverick

Always make right hand turns in the orbit sir and you should be good ;)

Check your radio bindings sir. RAlt+ Radio button = Radio 1 Rctlr+ Radio button = Radio 2. If you just press the Radio button like FC3 aircraft it won't work. The tanker will always give you the Left hose first if you approach solo. The only way he'll give you the Right hose is if someone else is already pre-contact or contact on it.

You never go in to afterburner at all in the B Tomcat when you trap, bolter or wave off. Full MIL is the limit in case you catch a wire, the engines on the B are too powerful the wires would snap or be ran out. All the shots of the Tomcat in afterburner while on the shuttle in TopGun are all A model Tomcats. Your wipe out check takes around 5 seconds so its not wasting any significant amount of fuel. I actually dont know the reason why its done this way but at a guess it would be so the deck safety guys (bro's in white shirts) can see that everything is working properly even with the engines producing full dry heat. The Hornet is the only carrier aircraft that has the auto launch computer that 'flys' you off the CAT ;)

I'm staring at the refuel pod under the tanker wing while using my peripheral vision to line up my probe with the basket. You can practice this by watching the video a few times over and over again. Try to watch it without looking directly at the basket, instead stare at the refuel pod and practice tracking the basket without directly looking at it.

I get the same thing... I'm calling aliens!

[No Bug] Not able to reproduce, my zoom keys work just fine as intended. Looks like a problem with your key bindings, please recheck in settings.

It works with both E3 and E2.

You need to stop the bad habit of using the A/P and start working more on your vertical control. :smilewink: Seriously tho, the more practice you get at doing it properly the easier it will become. Once you have enough practice AAR is actually very routine and not as big a deal as you think when you first start out. :thumbup:

Once you connect with the basket drive forward approximately 6 feet to give yourself a little wiggle room. What you dont want to do is stay the same place you connected to the basket. Once you're in try focusing on keeping the right hand side of your canopy lined up with a certain point on the tanker fuselage, this will help to keep you in the same place as you're making adjustments.

I'm not, I don't reference the pod to any part of the aircraft. Instead I'm focusing on nothing but the fuelling pod in front of me. You use your peripheral vision to do all the lining up rather than trying to line up something with a point on your aircraft. You can do this in VR or non VR, its the same technique that they teach in real life to do AAR. It sounds strange but it really does work. Stare at the refuelling pod and then line your probe up with the basket using your peripheral vision, after some practice it becomes very easy and the technique is the same for every aircraft that basket refuels with the probe in front of the aircraft in the pilots eye line. In the link I sent you at the start of that video you see I connect while leaned all the way over to the right so I can't even see the HUD. I made another one below with the HUD off and leaned over to the side to show that you don't need to line up anything in the HUD at all.

DCS bug that ED need to fix [No Bug]

There is no hold back bar sir, not in DCS anyway. The launch bar on the aircraft is operated by the deck crew, its not like the Hornet where the pilot has the ability to raise and lower it. Shot steps: Taxi to the cat and line up approx 0.5 meter behind the shuttle. Press and hold the kneel switch so the aircraft kneels all the way down. Now press U Observe steam coming up along the cat track and the Jet Blast Door rising behind the aircraft, you will also be moved forward slightly to connect to the shuttle. Ensure wings are forward in the AUTO position with flaps down Power up to MIL (not full afterburner) Do a wipeout check (move all controls and verify they work) Now press Lshift+U to give the salute Half way down the shot pull back (approx 20-25% aft) on the stick to ensure nose up authority at the end of the track Hope for the best ;)

Cheers, I'll look in to this tomorrow and report any findings to the devs.

Forget all about the pitch ladder sir and look directly at the refuelling pod under the tanker wing instead. Use your peripheral vision to line up your probe with the basket while still staring at the refuel pod, this way you wont be dependant on being at a certain airspeed to see the 10 degree mark on the pitch ladder. In my first AAR video on the Hornet I referenced the 10 degree pitch ladder mark however after getting more experience I stopped relying on that and instead just focused on the refuel pod instead. I went in to more detail in my second Hornet AAR video 'DCS Fuel School' at the link below. I've linked it to the time stamp of where I discuss what you should be looking at as you approach the basket.

Video isnt available. Is this always in Single Player or Multiplayer as well?

Try to memorise the needle position at 8 G as if you were looking at a clock. You don't necessarily need to see exactly what number its pointing to if you memorise which position indicates what G loading. Eg.. when you see the needle at the 4 o'clock position ... stop pulling :D

Don't trim to correct on approach, use the stick for corrections sir and then trim, never the other way around. I'd maybe try turning your deadzone down a touch then good man to be a bit more precise with your stick corrections. A deadzone of 5 is pretty high and might be why you're either going one way or the other. Up your curve to 20 and set your deadzone to 2 and see how you get on. It sounds like your doing the basics right but you're maybe just guilty of trying to fly by trim, always fly by stick and then trim so you don't have to constantly hold the stick back or forward to stay level.

This is exactly what I do I have to move my head down a little bit to see the gauge from my heads up out the window position but I can see it perfectly fine ... why you have to move your head down and zoom in is a bit of a mystery to me.

Trim is everything, if you don't think it helps you're getting something seriously wrong. You may have something up with your stick, perhaps adding a deadzone would help you out, or increasing your deadzone if you already have one as the trim on the aircraft works perfectly and does not act as you describe if done properly. Don't try to fly the aircraft by trimming, you make your corrections on the stick and then trim so you don't have to make any more stick corrections. Eg.. if you have to constantly hold the stick aft to maintain a stable attitude then you should be adding in trim up tabs until you no longer have to hold back on the stick. I've yet to miss the basket since the aircraft was released, this isn't down to some high level of skill but simply down to preparing the aircraft properly before attempting to connect with the basket. Preparation Prevents Poor Performance... take your time behind the basket, like I said, even if you're back there for 5+ mins its essential you trim the aircraft out so its stable before you start to move forward.

Yes, believe it or not that is exactly what is expected of you, and it sounds like you need more practice at it ;) Just be hyper aware of what your energy state is, there is no easy work around for this... its not a modern aircraft with FBW, you have to work harder to perform in it. So if you know your fast and you need to go somewhere you need to be super vigilant of the G meter as your manoeuvring. I hated doing it at first but after a while it becomes easier. Pull, look, pull, look, pull and look ;)

Is this on a particular single player mission or on any MP server?

No, its done totally manual. A lot of people make it harder for themselves by not trimming properly before trying to connect.... don't be one of these people. Aim to trim the aircraft out 'perfectly' before trying for the basket. As I mention in the video, you should be confident enough to take your hand completely off the stick for a second or two and not have the aircraft wander off anywhere. Doing this makes life much easier as you can put more of your focus in to tracking the basket in your peripheral vision rather than fighting the aircraft to keep it stable. The more time you spend behind the basket trimming properly the easier it will be to make contact and stay connected. Even if it takes you 5+ mins... take the time to properly trim... get the aircraft settled, then move forward for contact.

Tried to reproduce this with no success... Everytime I load or land on a carrier I can shoot off again no problem.

Master Arm needs to be on to get Jester to jettison the tanks ;)

There's nothing unrealistic about the wings snapping off after over-G sir, intentionally or by accident. You have to get used to looking at your G meter when you're loading up the aircraft if you want to avoid this. We have been spoilt in DCS with so many aircraft with advanced HUDs, however if you want to stay in the air in the Cat you need to start training yourself to bring your eyes back in to the cockpit to read your gauges, especially the G meter. Best practice is to point the aircraft where you want to go then slowly start pulling back on the stick, then look at the G meter then start pulling back on the stick and load the aircraft up.