Why is the deck crew telling me to raise the launch bar after hooking up to the cat?

If I start a mission from parking on the super carrier, hooking up to the cat requires lowering the launch bar, and once hooked, I get the hand signal to raise it again.

Looking outside at the jet, the launch bar isn't in front of the shuttle, and yet I'm getting the hand signal to run up my engines.

If I start a mission already attached to the catapult (screenshot attached), the launch bar is lowered, and the deck crew is giving me the signal to run up engines.

Isn't the launch bar the thing that the catapult shuttle presses against to drag the plane down the launch area? How else would my plane get launched if I raise the launch bar again?

It's incorrect. ED hasn't tailored the hand signals for the F-14. It's unclear whether they intend to. Just ignore that hand signal.

It's incorrect. ED hasn't tailored the hand signals for the F-14. It's unclear whether they intend to. Just ignore that hand signal.

If I ignore it though, the launch bar will still be lowered once I cycle my gear again. I thought the switch was supposed to snap up once weight was off the wheels after the launch.

Are we supposed to manually raise the launch bar switch as part of the post-launch procedures?

If I ignore it though, the launch bar will still be lowered once I cycle my gear again.

I believe this is a bug. An actual bug, not a "feature"-bug like the incorrect hand signal. Have a look at the bug section for discussion/details.

just raise the strut and dont worry about it. its not correct but its an easy workaround

If I ignore it though, the launch bar will still be lowered once I cycle my gear again. I thought the switch was supposed to snap up once weight was off the wheels after the launch.

 

Are we supposed to manually raise the launch bar switch as part of the post-launch procedures?

Ah yes, that part is a Tomcat bug. The strut kneel valve should go to extend with weight off wheels and right now it doesn’t. So we’re in a weird place with a hand signal that shouldn’t be there, which just so happens to relate to a bug that also shouldn’t be there. Lol. So for now, at least what I do, is ignore the hand signal that shouldn’t be there, and flick the kneel switch to Extend before I salute, and then you won’t land in kneel.

Cool thanks.

The raise launch bar signal after hookup is for the Hornet, where that is the proper procedure. The Tomcat's kneeing launch bar system works differently. It sounds like both ED and Heatblur still have some work to do to get everything working as it should on launch.

On the real Tomcat the launch bar is operated by the ground crew. In the sim it comes up/down with the nose strut kneeling as a workaround.

The launch bar is tied to kneeling and extending the strut. It is connected to the scissors by a pair of bungees and will be raised and lowered as the scissors extend and retract. There is a latch that the ground crew can either pull on as the strut is kneeling, or if they miss it, they can lift the launch bar slightly to take the tension off the latch, pull it, then drop the launch bar. The latch will also un-latch if the nosegear is swung left or right more than 10 degrees, which is also a common way for the yellow shirt to get the launch bar down if the green shirt is not in position to do it and the jet is not up to the catapult raceway yet... just signal the pilot to swing the nose gear.