Things I can and can't do in DCS

Things I can consistently do well in DCS:

-Combat employ the A10C, F/A-18C, AV8B, Spitfire, Mustang, Gazelle, Huey, and others

-Employ all available weapons systems for all of the above platforms

-Win the majority of BVR and WVR engagements against AI or human players in the F/A-18C;

-Air to air refuel via probe and drogue for the F/A-18C and AV8B

-Air to air refuel via boom for the A10C

-Takeoff and land, via wheel landing or 3 point landing, in the Spitfire and Mustang;

-Land the Huey or Gazelle on a ship, rooftop, oil platform, or anywhere else I please;

-And many other things...

Things I cannot do well in DCS, despite HOURS of practice:

-Land the F/A-18C on the carrier

But in all seriousness, I had it down for quite a while, and suddenly *poof*, I can't do it anymore. I fly the pattern as per Wags and Jabbers' videos, all on the numbers, etc - I just bung it up in the short strokes.

One thing I've been having problems with is bolters - I can be right on the ball, on speed and everything, follow the ball right down, and the hook will miss. This seems to be happening a lot more lately. I'm beginning to wonder if there's something amiss, because I fly a lot of passes that previously would have been good traps to at least one of the wires, that now miss a wire.

Is anyone else noticing the same thing, or have I perhaps developed a bad habit somewhere that's inhibiting me? Unfortunately, I can't even go back and watch the tracks to see what is happening, as they are bugged for carrier landings (always end up landing in the water).

If you can land the Spit anything else is a piece of cake :D

If you can land the Spit anything else is a piece of cake :D

Ha, you'd think so! I've actually found landing the spit to be super easy (OK, it took a lot of practice, but I've got the hang of it)

For some reason, there's a mental block landing the Hornet on the carrier. Just can't do it... Not consistently.

The other thing I've been finding is I can be bang on the ball, then in the really short strokes, the ball starts to go high fairly quickly. I either chop throttle to try to stabilize it and slam into the deck (usually resulting in a hook bounce bolter), or I miss the wires. I don't understand why I can be stabilized to nicely, then all of a sudden have it go off without any inputs. It's almost like ground effect is coming into play or something. If I try to anticipate it, I usually go low or bolter anyway. *frustration building!!!* LOL

i actually found carrier landings ( daytimes at least)Far more easier to do than Aerial Refueling.

Funny thing is i actually managed to do a carrier landing the very first attempt when the Hornet came out without watching Wags video on proper CASE techniques, albeit missing wires on 1st pass, and succeeding on the second Pass catching wire #3, Mind you this was also with the stress of Overwhelmingly low fuel. My first Landing i had 800 lbs of fuel left. That wouldnt have been enough for attempt #3 if second one failed.

Guess i have good intuition.

On another note a skill what i really learned to appreciate is Fuel Management in the Hornet. Over land im not nearly worried due to the availability of airfields, but going for carrier landings far out in sea, one really has to learn to manage the fuel in this aircraft . Coming From an A10C, you never really had to eye that fuel guage. the recent FPAS page update certainly really helps with regards tp planning how to efficiently use your fuel. Flying in dcs Now i really understand why US navy felt the Legacy Hornets had "short range"

I've experienced somewhat of a similar progression. Instead of excessive boltering, I tend to SAR a lot. (Jar and the VFA-113 Stingers' "Don't Settle" song playing on repeat over here lol) I believe it's due to fine tuning of the Hornet's flight characteristics. Unfortunately, the changelogs for the Hornet updates tend to only include major systems additions and not smaller changes when both are in the same update. I believe there were a few updates over the last 2 months or so that saw changes to the Hornet's drag coefficient, including how deployed landing gear, speed brake, and loaded pylons, affect the handling of the aircraft.

Edit: I should also add I feel it's more difficult for me because of how much more realistic the flight characteristics have become since the Hornet was first released in EA. After all, one of the most difficult and dangerous things to do in aviation is land an aircraft on a carrier! :)

I had my fair share of "nights in the barrel" as well, but recently I noticed that my landings are best when the ball is slightly low close to touch down (could be my head position in VR?).

That said, I usually trap after my second attempt, with the first one more often than not being a bolter.

PS: Oh, and I second the notion about landing the Spit, even though it does seem easier now (either things 'clicked' for me, or the PFM has been adjusted, dunno).

i actually found carrier landings Far more easier to do than Aerial Refueling.

Ah, that's still a mystery to me as well. I never, ever done an aerial refuel in any module successfully. I had some really decent attempts, but each time I think I'm gonna nail it, the tanker turns...without fail. ;)

i actually found carrier landings ( daytimes at least)Far more easier to do than Aerial Refueling.

Ha, I am the exact opposite. Probe and drogue AAR, I can go from empty to full in a single plug, I can hold it through the turns, even connect in a turn. Boom AAR I need a couple plugs usually, but the boom operator AI leaves much to be desired. Carrier landings? Big nope!

I find VR makes a huge difference in AAR, just having that depth perception. Seeing the ball is tougher, but I can usually see it enough by the 3/4 mile point, so I’m not sure that’s my problem, though maybe it’s part of it...

Is anyone else noticing the same thing, or have I perhaps developed a bad habit somewhere that's inhibiting me? Unfortunately, I can't even go back and watch the tracks to see what is happening, as they are bugged for carrier landings (always end up landing in the water).

Try taking off ashore when doing a CASE whatever recovery to get a valid track. This will be the best way for others to give you some hints to improve your landings. As soon as you're on a moving flight deck, all subsequent action is porked on the track.

On another note a skill what i really learned to appreciate is Fuel Management in the Hornet. Over land im not nearly worried due to the availability of airfields, but going for carrier landings far out in sea, one really has to learn to manage the fuel in this aircraft . Coming From an A10C, you never really had to eye that fuel guage. the recent FPAS page update certainly really helps with regards tp planning how to efficiently use your fuel. Flying in dcs Now i really understand why US navy felt the Legacy Hornets had "short range"

I think FPAS really helps a lot of people. I always tried to cruise at around 30 FF per engine at high altitudes (usually 36k ft - 42k ft) and somewhere in between 60 and 100 when climbing, including min AB above 24-30k ft. Worked pretty well, though best endurace is achieved with 22 FF per engine. 30 is for best range. If fuel reserve allows, I even tend to go full AB, ~ M 1.44 - 1.6 at 48k - 54k ft. FF is about the same or even lower than at full MIL on the deck. It's easily possible to cut the throttle down to idle some good 100-120nm away from the homeplate that way which saves a lot as soon as the speed drops below M 1.2 and the engines really go idle. Recently, I did a flight with a clean Hornet, max internal fuel from Senaki-Kolkhi to Anapa, turning around with 30° AoB ending like 60-75nm NNE of Anapa and coming back to where I took off. Flight time was ~60 minutes, half of that being in full AB and supersonic including the turn. Had ~3000-3500lb of fuel left after the turn IIRC which was enough to get back. It's always good to have a decent estimation of how far you can go.

Have done the carrier landings pretty well mostly (I can still count my bolters on one hand and three of them were on my first two landings), but I didn't do heavy weather ones yet and most of them were straight in without the CASE I pattern. Have been struggling with the AAR as well and been very proud of myself when I was able to get 4k lb of fuel without disconnecting once. Precision flying woth those helicopters is an issue as well for me, but I probably lack training there. Having a FFB stick gives me some advantage in how the controls feel (like the real thing), but also the disadvantage that my FFB2 is less precise than practically every modern stick and it doesn't have an extension which surely would help big time. Curvatures mess up the FFB spring centering so that's a no go and I have to control it in ranges of a few nanometers to stay in a hover alone. Same goes for AAR probably - I'll be an ace once I've gotten a FFB base + extension for my TM Warthog stick...

my 2 cents.....

I've been flying the Hornet for approx 2 weeks, single player and have been fairly "average" in my success rate with landing on the CV. I've done the school work, watched the online videos, but was only trapping on every 3rd attempt despite my conviction that I was "flying the numbers".....

Then I had a go at my 1st play in Multiplayer - and went "simple" and joined a server JUST doing CASE 1 recoveries. Guess what, because I "felt" I was being watched, I must have involuntary "upped" my game considerably and really flew the numbers, becoming much more self critical about every aspect of the pattern and approach. Now I was trapping at the 70% level.

So (with me I guess?) I get a little lazy & casual when flying single player, but put in way more effort & focus when online.....might not be the case for everyone, but give it a try.

I just made some changes to my carrier practice mission. I did originally have 15kts of wind and 15kts of carrier movement, with 16* of offset, to get 30kts of wind right down the angle. It worked, I had wind right down the angle, but it was making the pattern more challenging to fly as the slight crosswind in the pattern would make flying the numbers harder.

I just changed it to have 25kts of carrier movement and 5kts of wind, right down the pipe. Now, I have a bit of a crosswind in the groove, but the pattern is easier to fly. I'm having far more success now, with 2-4 wires in most cases. I did, however, still have one inexplicable bolter - again, right on the ball, on speed, when I hit the deck it felt right, yet no catch. These are the ones that have me still confused.

On a related note, I know the easy formula where equal wind speed and carrier movement should see the wind 16* off to get the wind down the angle, but is there a rule of thumb when you don't have 15kts of natural wind to get 30kts down the angle?

For example, if I have 10kts of wind, then I want to steam the carrier 20kts to get 30kts of apparent wind - but what angle do I place the carrier's heading off of the wind to achieve wind directly down the angle? I know I could figure out the trigonometry of it, but is there a rule of thumb?

It's a perishable skill. If you leave it to long you lose all that muscle memory.

Ah, that's still a mystery to me as well. I never, ever done an aerial refuel in any module successfully. I had some really decent attempts, but each time I think I'm gonna nail it, the tanker turns...without fail. ;)

basically this.

In general though, the pilots scan should continuously moving between the ball, lineup with centerline, and AOA throughout the entire pass until the last moment when the scan becomes ball, ball, ball. Fly on speed, look at the ball. Don’t let the ball get low, and move the ball proactively instead of reactively. Finally, fly the ball all the way to touchdown!

I do all my Case I's by Mark-I Eyeball and I usually get it down in one piece.

I did my first Case-I shortly after it came out, pumped the throttle up & down and thought "OMG this is wrong or I am rusty"...but I nailed it :) I then refused to do them as I thought this Throttle is bugged...and it was.

They are MUCH simpler now, aim and land.

and yeah...AAR...is a different topic.....baahhhh I fail 99 out of 100

Haha, I seem to be an anomaly in that I can AAR any day without even really thinking about it, but can’t land on the carrier (well)!