DCS F/A-18C | Air to Air Refuelling Tutorial [Early Access]

Would you be pissed if my neighbor, a ex hornet pilot said IRL its not all about trim?

Why you trimming in Flaps auto ?

Great video though Mav

Would you be pissed if my neighbor, a ex hornet pilot said IRL its not all about trim?

Do please elaborate.

Thanks for the video, very useful. :thumbup:

Can you refuel the external wing tanks ???

Nice video, thanks!

"welcome to the Hornet Gentlemen *shadow on tanker*"

Now this is what I call quality advertisement.

Do please elaborate.

Reference ivan k's post.

Great video. Really enjoyed it.

It seems to be an easy task when you do, guys!!!

Different story when I am the pilot and have the tanker in front of my plane :D

Thanks for the video... It give us very useful information!!!

With external tank switches (left console near the throttle) in 'Norm' all tanks including externals will be refuelled.

Sorry, I should have been more specific.

I was referring to the current bug which affects most overs in flight refueling aircraft with external tanks.

If they start from the ground, they can't refuel the external tanks once empty.

(M-2000C, Harrier and F-15C I think)

On the live stream of smudge yesterday he did a AAR and it filled up his external fuel tank.

Sorry, I should have been more specific.

I was referring to the current bug which affects most overs in flight refueling aircraft with external tanks.

If they start from the ground, they can't refuel the external tanks once empty.

(M-2000C, Harrier and F-15C I think)

Works completely fine in the F-15. The only bug I've seen is if you drop your bags, the tanker will never tell you if you're complete.

What Ivank is talking about is

.8.2.2.5 Pitch and Roll Trim Switch. Normally, movement of the pitch and roll trim switch electrically biases the flight control computers and the stick does not move. Little if any pitch trim is required in the auto flap up mode due to the automatic trimming functions within the flight control computers. In MECH, pitch trim moves the control stick fore and aft, changing the stick neutral point. There is no mechanical lateral trim.

And

Since, in the auto flaps up mode, any uncommanded pitch rate or g is reduced to zero, the aircraft is constantly trimmed to steady state hands-off 1 g flight and there is little or no occasion for manual trim.

So theoretically shouldn’t need to trim, Although in the A-A refueling section it does mention trim. But whether that is stabilising so the auto trim does the job or using trim switch I’m not sure.

Flying on a wing tip Drogue like on KC-130 or alike may need some different control inputs and some trim may help I have been told.

Although in the A-A refueling section it does mention trim.

;)

Do what works for you.... trim happens to work for me.

..Totally nailed AAR.... people still tell you are doing it wrong....fml, no happiness anywhere :D

Can I just say, having only been able to manage to get a few drops of fuel before disconnecting and having to try again, I'd love to be able to do it as "wrongly" as you. :)

Edit: I've tried the A10C and the M-2000c and don't see why I would be any less inept with the Hornet.

Despite what you all want to believe about the realism of these DCS modules, they will never come close to the real thing in terms of actually performing some of the more precise types of flying required, such as air to air refueling, simply due to the lack of "feel" while in the real plane.. Maverick has some awesome advise in regards to the trim as far as I am concerned but as he says, do what works for you. The best part of his videos on this subject, especially as it applies to the Harrier, are his references to the visual cues necessary for making contact with the basket. I can say that, up until I saw his video on the Harrier tanking from the KC-130, I was just stabbing in the dark! After watching his video, I find that I can throw a strike about 3 out of 5 times and tanking in the Harrier has finally become routine. So thank you Maverick! I am really looking forward to doing this for myself!

Note: I believe that the rationale for Maverick's insistence on the use of trim is probably a result of the type of joystick he uses. I have a TM Warthog and the spring tension is not very light, consequently I find that if I have not trimmed out the stick forces in the regime of flight that I am in, I am constantly fighting the springs in the stick. When right up close to something like the basket, I feel that if you are fighting against the stick position (and the spring tension) to hold a position relative to the basket, then you are just making more work for yourself unnecessarily. Some folks just get used to it and others may not have any - or nearly as much - spring tension to oppose. So, regardless of what it may be like in RL, I think that Maverick's advice regarding use of trim in DCS is quite valid and very useful. :joystick:

is it confortable to do the AAR at your speed shown in your video (around 225 kts if memory serves) ?

in the Mirage it is quite slugish at theses speed we much prefer 300-350 kts, thoughts ?

Regardless of trim or not, that refueling was SMOOTH!

Maverick, you mentioned you use the refueling pod as a reference as well as the left engine of the KC-130; do you also look at its fuselage as a reference, or is that more of a peripheral view thing?

And the KC-130 entered the turns very smoothly. Is that new? I seem to remember the KC-135s being a bit "exciting"...

Regardless of trim or not, that refueling was SMOOTH!

 

Maverick, you mentioned you use the refueling pod as a reference as well as the left engine of the KC-130; do you also look at its fuselage as a reference, or is that more of a peripheral view thing?

 

And the KC-130 entered the turns very smoothly. Is that new? I seem to remember the KC-135s being a bit "exciting"...

Mainly looking at the wing, the fuel pod and the number 1 engine on the C130 sir.

Once I'm actually in the basket I tend to watch the USAF symbol on the rear of the 130 and aim to keep my canopy lined up with it on the right hand side.

As long as you have contacted the tanker to take fuel it should reduce the angle of its turns and the speed it rotates at, which makes the job of following along much easier :)

;3484153']Mainly looking at the wing, the fuel pod and the number 1 engine on the C130 sir.

Once I'm actually in the basket I tend to watch the USAF symbol on the rear of the 130 and aim to keep my canopy lined up with it on the right hand side.

 

 

As long as you have contacted the tanker to take fuel it should reduce the angle of its turns and the speed it rotates at, which makes the job of following along much easier :)

Does the FCS help you make Aerial refueling easier or no?

is it confortable to do the AAR at your speed shown in your video (around 225 kts if memory serves) ?

in the Mirage it is quite slugish at theses speed we much prefer 300-350 kts, thoughts ?

Hi, yes the aircraft handles it very well. FCS really looks after you and keeps you stable, I even left my flaps in the AUTO position refuelling at that speed and it was very manageable.

You can see me plug in a few more times in the Live Stream I did last night, I plug in a couple of times to the KC130 going below 250kts, then later in the stream I connect up to a S3B multiple times while taking fuel for carrier landing practice.

Awesome!

Thanks for the answer and the stream, I’ll check it out ASAP!