Yet another clueless pilot

OK… I have spent considerable hours the past week reading both the A10C GUI Guide and the 600 page manual. I’m going to risk putting my intellect on the line here and ask some questions that I’m still grappling with. If I have missed the answers either in the manuals, which I did reference, or tutorials both in the sim and online, please give me and this 63 year old well worn brain a pass. I really am trying here.

The most frustrating issue I’m running across is trying to save a mission that sets the A10C on the ramp in Batumi cold and dark. I make an advanced fast mission, choose the southern most airfield from the nearly useless map, lacking any labels, and change all the hardware on the right to none save a minimum ac setting. I create the mission, and then using the Mission Editor I name and save it. I look in the missions folder and low and behold, there it is. However, when I fly the mission at least half the time the mission place me in Trablinkski (spelling wrong I know). The other half of the time it does place me correctly. What am I doing wrong here? I read somewhere that the Hammer with ACA mission puts you there, but as soon as I get into the air I get chased and shot down. Not conducive to a flight training environment.

Along the same issue, I read that after I setting the mission up I can set up my avionics such as ATC frequencies and some CDC settings. However, every way I attempt to do this, following the very brief and unclear manual, the mission starts me in mid air off the coast with no aircraft. I’m just hanging in midair motionless with no aircraft. I have tried setting the radios and settings and saving in multiple steps and get the same results. What am I doing wrong?

I get it, I can’t save a flight like I’ve been doing in “the other sims”, but it sure would be nice to be able to set myself up in a static situation of my choosing so I can do some pattern, nav and maneuvering work more easily than what I’m going through now.

Exterior lighting. I have spent hours trying to figure out how to get exterior position and nav lights working. The switches are inop. No exterior lighting at all. Have read and looked online and can find no solutions. Any help appreciated.

Radios… I set the freq for Batumi, call ATC for an engine start, get it and then when asking for taxiing permission the only option on ATC is “request startup” again. What am I doing wrong?

Once up and running and taking off I am getting some good flights in. Trimming is coming along. TM WH works really really nice. Slowly learning my way around. It would go so much more fluidly if I did not have to dicker with a set up to get a cold dark cockpit to start from. 20 minutes of ff around takes the momentum out of the learning process.

Any clues would be most welcomed by this old crusty pilot.

Cheers,

In mission editor when you have mission loaded click on the plane. Then on right side of screen theres a box that gives you multiple options on how you start (cold start, hot start, airborn, or on runway.

Whenever you start a create fast mission it will automatically save for you. Its called MG.miz in mission folder. Once you add routes or make changes just do a save or rename it.

I usually do runway starts and evertyhings up and running but I know to turn off exterior lights its the 2 toggle switches just above the 5 dials that control interior lighting on the right side panel so those should turn on the lights, The position lights have a dial.

hey man, first of all no need to get frustrated cos of not being able to do something. There are plenty of people here that are more than happy to help.

That second paragraph kinda confused me a bit though. Here is what i understand and please correct me if im wrong:

1) Mission needs to start at night time, complete darkness.

2) Aircraft needs to be cold.

3) Aircraft needs to be positioned on batumi airfield.

4) Labels set to off. (Are these only the unit labels or do you want to switch off the cockpit tooltips too?)

5) "and change all the hardware on the right to none save a minimum ac setting" by this did you mean, switching everything except a couple of systems to off on the right console? If so, which ones?

6) Dont know what you mean with CDC. Can it be CDU? If so, what do you want to change in CDU?

7) Do you want to pre set your radios to the ATC frequency or do you want to create preset radio channels?

8 ) "However, every way I attempt to do this, following the very brief and unclear manual, the mission starts me in mid air off the coast with no aircraft. I’m just hanging in midair motionless with no aircraft." This could be happening cos of the "skill" setting of that aircraft. It should be set to client or player.

9) Your exterior lighting problem, to me, sounds like a HOTAS Pinky switch problem, are you using it? This is the switch for the exterior lighting located on the left side of the left throttle.

10) This could sound a bit dumb but are you sure that your aircraft is up and running while you are trying to get permission for taxi? I've just tried it myself, it works just fine for me.

Thank you for the responses. It is appreciated. Knowing that the MG.miz file is the most recent Fast Mission helps. However, maybe I’m missing something in getting the front office set up and saving it as a desired scenario mission.

I created a fast mission. All is good. According to the GUI Guide in page 57 I need to open the ME, drop down the Flight and then the Prepare Mission menu. The page reads:

“The PREPARE MISSION mode is used for integrating navigation and environmental data into the saved mission file. When near the end of creating a mission, you can start the mission in the PREPARE MISSION mode (it will look much like usual FLY MISSION start) and configure various avionics in the cockpit. Your avionics settings can then be save and will start in saved states whenever other players open the mission.”

So… I go all the way out to the DCS splash screen (icons on bottom) and choose the ME. From there I opened MG.miz from the file menu. I’m looking at the map overhead at Batumi. MG.miz is noted bottom right. I then click Flight/Prepare Mission and the briefing splash page comes up.

I click FLY.

According to the manual this “mode” is similar to the regular FLY, but it is here where I can make changes. I do so. I change the TACAN and ILS frequencies, I attempt to change my VHF#1 radio but discover that my TH WH throttle will not move. SO… start APU, I can then get the throttle out of the way and change that radio setting. I stop here. I know there is more I can do from reading the guide.

The GUI guide then reads “Once your avionics are setup as desired for the mission, exit the mission and press the SAVE button in the ME once again to save all the prepared data in the mission file.”

This step may be where the whole thing falls apart. I’m on the mind the only way, per the above instruction, to exit the mission is to hit the escape key then press quit. I do that and get back to the ME. I then click save. While I’m there, I’m thinking what the hell, I’ll also do a SAVE AS and name it Batumi Cold Dark.

I then exit out of DCS, come back, open the both the recently saved missions MG.miz OR Batumi Cold Dark and neither one has had ANY avionics saved from the Flight Planning effort.

What am I missing?

Thank you for your patience with me. I feel getting this down is important not only to utilize my valuable free training time more wisely, but will cross over to other areas of learning when I become more proficient.

I know I can just practice resetting the avionics, but guess what, I’m an ANAL old man who needs to understand how systems work.:)

Appreciate the help here.

Radial, if you are interested in pattern work, ATC, etc, I would recommend creating your own mission versus modified a randomly generated one.

From the main splash screen, select Mission Editor, create new mission, and then save the miz file wherever you want. That way you will have full control over all of the variables.

Hang in there, keep at it and asking questions. This module is excellent and rewards hard work at the beginning.

Peaches.... thanks for the encouragement. I have created a new mission. I really don't want to spend hours at this point learning to build missions. The GUI guide clearly states I can take a fast mission I have created, which is saved in the missions folder as MG.miz and set avionics parameters, resave, and then fly again "at will" with the newly saved avionics settings. It simply doesn't work that way in reality.

I believe I'm following the manual to the letter. The changed avionics simply won't stay with the file when saved. I'm following the procedure as outlined quite carefully. It's a NOGO.

I must be missing something, but I cannot figure out what, if anything, I'm doing wrong. I have now spend considerable time and am just giving up on the idea. I will manually set avionic frequencies each time I fly.

The really good news is that I got the TACAN down fairly well and can land her 4 times out of five and come to a nice stop.

There's hope.

Cheers!

Radial9 AKA "Nugget"

Not sure if this is it but where are you saving. Under File along the top is where you do it. There is also a Saver option under Mission Generator column which just saves all your preferences for the advanced create fast mission screen .

The GUI guide clearly states I can take a fast mission I have created, which is saved in the missions folder as MG.miz and set avionics parameters, resave, and then fly again "at will" with the newly saved avionics settings. It simply doesn't work that way in reality.

I've never used the "Prepare Mission" feature before and I don't know how reliable it is, or how well it worked in the past.

Following your description, I set up a new mission with an A-10C set to start hot on ramp in Batumi, changed a few avionics within prepare mission, saved, and then flew the mission.

My findings are:

- radio freqs are correctly saved

- changes on the lighting panel were not saved

- changes to the countermeasures program were not saved

- changes to NMSP were not saved

All things considered, I just wouldn't bother with "Prepare Mission". It seems this feature works only half-way, and instead of figuring out how to make the best possible use of it, I'd just set up the avionics every time.

If for no other reason, then for the sake of learning proper procedures, in case you ever join MP servers. They won't set up your avionics for you, or they might even do so in an unexpected manner. Better just get proficient at setting up your jet instead of setting up the game.

Besides, you already have a few choices:

- Start airborne with all systems up and running, configured for battle (Master Arm on)

- Start on runway, ready for take-off

- Start hot on ramp, ready to taxi

- Start cold on ramp

It really, really pays to spend a bit of time in the Mission Editor and learn some of the fundamentals. It seems you're 75% there already. If you take the time to look at one or two tutorials on YouTube, you should be able to set up your own training missions in no time. :thumbup:

Yurkon... Thank You! for taking a moment to see this through. Very kind Sir.

I will of course follow your advice. Just headed down the wrong road at the start here.

I'll take your advice and spend some time becoming familiar with the ME.

The checklists are becoming more second nature and memorized so it should get easier.

Cheers!

"Nugget"

Just a quick follow up to say thanks again. I did spend time to study YouTube tutorials on the ME. Of course after doing so light bulbs just starting going off in the old cranium. Now I get it. I’m new to the entire DCS world and still had the Bill Gatus of Borg (You Will Be Assimilated) way of flight simming. I now see how important it is to be able to use the ME.

Two issues that persist that I would appreciate comment on if anyone wishes to opine.

The throttle will not move out of the way during cold start proceedure to scroll the leftmost VHF#1 radio knob to 13 for Batumi tower. After the APU is running I can forward the throttle lever to reset the frequency. However, it also starts the turbine PRIOR to getting clearance from the tower to start engines. Am I doing something incorrectly?

The HUD readout placement. I have read a bunch on the issue in the forum. I get it, the HUD is a mirror projection and it is modeled the way it should be. I have fiddle f’d with TrackIR, my zoom slider and head movement and cannot find a position that gives me a steady magnetic course heading at the bottom while flying throughout the pattern. I can dip my head down and read the steam gauge, and that works, but it would be much smoother to stay on the HUD. Again, is it just lack of experience or is there a preferred methodology I’m missing.

Cheers,

Nugget

Just a quick follow up to say thanks again. I did spend time to study YouTube tutorials on the ME. Of course after doing so light bulbs just starting going off in the old cranium. Now I get it. I’m new to the entire DCS world and still had the Bill Gatus of Borg (You Will Be Assimilated) way of flight simming. I now see how important it is to be able to use the ME.

 

Two issues that persist that I would appreciate comment on if anyone wishes to opine.

 

The throttle will not move out of the way during cold start proceedure to scroll the leftmost VHF#1 radio knob to 13 for Batumi tower. After the APU is running I can forward the throttle lever to reset the frequency. However, it also starts the turbine PRIOR to getting clearance from the tower to start engines. Am I doing something incorrectly?

 

The HUD readout placement. I have read a bunch on the issue in the forum. I get it, the HUD is a mirror projection and it is modeled the way it should be. I have fiddle f’d with TrackIR, my zoom slider and head movement and cannot find a position that gives me a steady magnetic course heading at the bottom while flying throughout the pattern. I can dip my head down and read the steam gauge, and that works, but it would be much smoother to stay on the HUD. Again, is it just lack of experience or is there a preferred methodology I’m missing.

 

Cheers,

Nugget

You can still click the knobs even if the throttle is in the middle. IIRC it is left click for decreasing and right click for increasing. Starting frequency is 124 by default, so for Batumi you need to left click the second knob 3 times and right click the first one 1 time.

Anyway, even if you don't ask for startup clearance everything is fine. You can even forget about it and start rolling. The ATC will give you runway anyway if you are in the correct frequency.

Or you can just request startup when both the turbines are running. Just push a bit the throttle and hold brakes so the plane doesn't move to avoid conflict with the EGI align.

Concerning your Track IR issues, I think you can bind one key to elevate the pilot seat, so your neutral head position will be higher, and you will be able to see the nav gauge.

The throttle will not move out of the way during cold start proceedure to scroll the leftmost VHF#1 radio knob to 13 for Batumi tower. After the APU is running I can forward the throttle lever to reset the frequency. However, it also starts the turbine PRIOR to getting clearance from the tower to start engines. Am I doing something incorrectly?

In order to be able to move the throttle out of the OFF position to the IDLE position, it should not matter whether or not the APU is running. To the best of my knowledge, you either have to have a Thrustmaster Warthog, which will detect this automatically, or you will have to map a key on your keyboard to move the throttle over the "OFF" detent.

However, in many cases DCS doesn't properly detect the (real) throttle position at mission start. Could it be that your first attempt doesn't work, but the second does?

In that case, you could just move the throttle to OFF, then to IDLE, then back to OFF, and then back to IDLE again in order to be able to set the freq on the VHF AM radio, and then set the throttle back to OFF prior to APU start.

Depending on your view mode (TrackIR/VR headset/keyboard and mouse), it's actually possible to view the VHF AM frequency readout without moving the throttles away, but it does take a bit of shifting the head/view to the proper position.

And ultimately, DCS doesn't care if you start the engine with ATC clearance or without it. ;)

It's nice to be cleared for engine start by the tower, but there is soooo much work required for the ATC in DCS, this is just one tiny little bit. Don't worry if you don't follow procedures all the way, no one will rip your head off if you just start the engines. ;)

I have fiddle f’d with TrackIR, my zoom slider and head movement and cannot find a position that gives me a steady magnetic course heading at the bottom while flying throughout the pattern.

I'm actually struggling with this as well, although I'm not sure whether our problems are the same.

When I start in the pit, everything is fine. But after looking over my shoulder, and especially after looking up, the lower part of the HUD is out of view, as if my head had moved to a much lower position. The only real solution for me is to re-center my TrackIR view. By default I believe that's the F12 key.

This is fairly annoying, and I don't think it's always been like that, and I also don't know if changes to the TrackIR profile can solve it, or whether it's something that Eagle Dynamics would need to address.

Concerning your Track IR issues, I think you can bind one key to elevate the pilot seat, so your neutral head position will be higher, and you will be able to see the nav gauge.

If the problem is there right from the start, then that should work. :thumbup:

The problem I tend to have every now and then is that it works great at first, but after looking around a lot, my head position is waaaay to low, and seat height adjustment would only be a crude workaround, if it even solves the problem (I haven't tried that yet).

Also concerning the throttle, sorry I didn't realize your problem. The throttle in the Hog has two positions, idle and off. To "bump" from off to idle you need to either have a Warthog throttle or other similar HOTAS with detents to configure them and "detect" the bump, or just use RAlt + Insert and RCtrl + insert to start each one of the engines. The whole process is explained in the training missions.

Practice with them if you haven't already :)

I do have the TM WH set. Engine starts are no problem. I'll work with the various views to try to get the radio set. As mentioned, I don't need to be so anal about it. No one is going to ground this Nugget for not calling the tower.

Keep in mind I'm a complete rookie with DCS and the A10C, but I am experiencing the same set of circumstances with regard to viewing the HUD. All is centered and readable on take off and most of the pattern, however after being up for a bit the view will not remain centered, even though I recenter my TrackIR and place my head in the sweet spot. I'll get there.

This 4th week the whole famn damily is headed out to go RVing. Grandpa will be able, with any luck, to set in his lawn chair with Surface in hand and read A10/DCS "stuff" while the grand kids break stuff and get on everyone's nerves.

Is there a fairly up to date PDF of the weapons encyclopedia a cadet can download to become familiar with weapon and asset systems in DCS? Gunnery range work is down the road some but it won't hurt to start becoming familiar with systems and terminology. I didn't see anything in the DOC folder.

Thanks,

Radial9

Do you have the "Chuck's Guide" for the A-10C?

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=135765&highlight=Chuck

Emmy... I do, thank you. I just looked in there and see I should start there. Thanks for the pointer. RTFM..... probably going to hear that more and more. :)

Although it would be nice to have a reference outside of the sim to become familiar with weapons as well as all the other placeable assets I'm likely to encounter. No worries... I will Google and see what comes up.

Learning the A-10 is like eating an elephant.

Just take it one bite at a time...