Jump to content

** DCS: F-14 Manual Early Access Release!! **


Cobra847

Recommended Posts

Cobra,

 

What a great manual… so much to it….It's kind of difficult giving feedback based on a web form, but here are some feedback of the edits I'd make from the beginning through the section on communications.... I went through it pretty quick this is as far as I’ve gotten so far.

 

In general, you've done a good job of using the full version of a term and then using its associated acronym, but there are some examples where the acronym is used first. Always use the full term first.

 

Examples include TID, PTID, PMDIG, JDAM, etc....

 

Specific items:

 

Service life upgrades

Change "General Electrics" to "General Electric"

 

AIM54 Phoenix

"Outstanding features of the AIM-54 missiles were their long range as well as their ability to launch at and track up to six simultaneous targets"

I'd be a little more clear here and say some like "The Tomcat was able to simultaneously launch six AIM-54 missiles at six independent targets." The ability to do this was an ability of the F-14, as each Phoenix could only enage one target at a time.

 

Under controls

I would change the general structure to say a control "selects", "controls", or "initiates" a function rather than "selecting", "controlling", or "initiating". The structure jumps around and you should stay with parallel construction. For example, "Outer dial selects first two digits and inner dial selects last digit for TACAN channel selection." is better than "Knob selecting which amplifier to use for pilot’s headset audio." The latter would be better if you just wrote, "Knob selects amplifier for the pilot’s headset audio.

 

Speed Brake Control

"Speed brake remains in position it’s at when released."

Change to "Speed brake remains in position when released."

"RET - Toggle position retracting speed brake."

Change to "RET - Fully retracts speed brake."

 

"READ button- Button toggling display of selected channel while held."

For this and many others, the second "button" is redundant, so it would be better as:

"READ button - HOLD to toggle selected channel display"

 

"BRT knob - Knob controlling display brightness."

change to "BRT knob - Adjusts display brightness."

 

There are a bunch of these like these that could be cleaned up and simplified.

 

 

"Refuelling probe indicator light - Transition light lit when refuelling probe is not in extended or retracted position."

A better convention is to use "Illuminated or extinguished" rather than "lit". I think you go with this later for other items. Also, I think it is refueling with one 'L'.

 

"BOTH - Engages both anti-skid and spoiler brake function with weight on wheels."

change function to functions. Is it engage or enable?

 

"Resets CADC failure detection system, resetting associated fault displays."

change to "...system and associated fault displays"

 

"Displays control surface positions, see below."

change to "Displays control surface positions. See below.

 

under Spoiler, "Up-arrow - Extended above wing."

Down-arrow - Drooped below wing surface."

Why is one wing and the other wing surface?

 

Down lock ORide

More explanation would be good.

 

"Used to indicate indicated airspeed up to 200 knots."

change to "For airspeeds up to 200KIAS" and so on... Maybe a paragraph before explaining a littler more on the various scales. Also, the inner scale covered until relevant so maybe change "Used to indicate indicated airspeed from 200 knots to 850 knots. Covered by airspeed dial until relevant." to "An inner scale for the range of 200-800 KIAS appears when appropriate"

 

Left engine fuel shutoff handle

Change "pulled out" and "press in" to PULL and PUSH

 

"Tape showing angle of attack (AOA) on a scale of 0 to 30 units. (Equivalent to -10° to +40° rotation of the AoA probe.)”

Change to “Tape displays angle of attack (AOA) on a scale of 0 to 30 units, which corresponds to -10° to +40° rotation of the AoA probe.

 

“These lights are also repeated”

Change to “These lights are repeated“

 

For the HUD left side indicators,

Change flashing to flashes.

The green lights are advisory, not caution, right? If they were caution wouldn’t they be yellow?

 

HUD

Night mode is available…

 

“Also has two engine stall warning lights (L STALL & R STALL) mounted on the left and right sides respectively. They indicate the presence of an engine stall condition in their respective engine.”

Change to “Engine stall warning lights (L STALL & R STALL) are mounted on the corresponding sides of the HUD. Illumination indicates a compressor stall condition in the associated engine.”

 

 

Now that I think of it, it would be good to go with color coded descriptions of warning, caution, and advisory messages to match the indicator in the airplane throughout the manual. So, for example on the main pilot caution panel, use yellow text for PITCH STAB 1 & 2 and green text for RATS and MACH TRIM.

 

 

For “HOOK BYPASS – Sets AOA lights to either FIELD or CARRIER mode, with the switch in CARRIER and wheels down the AOA lights flash if the hook isn’t down.” Change to “Sets AOA lights to FIELD or CARRIER mode. In CARRIER mode with gear down, FLASHING AOA lights indicate HOOK not down.”

 

… many more cases of “controlling” vs “controls”…..

 

“The HYD TRANSFER PUMP switch has two positions, SHUTOFF and NORMAL (guarded position). The NORMAL position (also the standard setting) will make the hydraulic transfer pump try to pressurize a failed hydraulic system from the other when it drops below 2,100 psi. The SHUTOFF position (which can be accessed by lifting the guard) is used when the transfer pump can’t supply enough pressure to the failed system making the operational system also fail. This setting turns of the transfer pump.”

If I understand correctly, change to “The HYD TRANSFER PUMP switch has two positions, SHUTOFF and NORMAL (guarded position). In the NORMAL position (also the standard setting) the hydraulic transfer pump cross pressurizes either side of the system when the pressure in that loop drops below 2,100 psi. When sufficient pressure cannot be maintained in both systems due to failures or damage, the SHUTOFF position can be accessed by lifting the guard). In certain cases, SHUTOFF should be used to deactivate the transfer pump and isolate the failed system from the operative one.”

Similar fixes for RIO position…..

TEST light

“OFF - Turns of power to the AN/APX-72.”

Change of to off

 

 

 

General Design and Systems Overview

“In addition both engines also drive separate fuel, hydraulic and electric generators to create redundancy.”

I think you are trying to say that each engine has its own fuel pump, hydraulic pump, and electrical generator? How about “Each engine drives accessory fuel and hydraulic pumps and an electric generator to provide redundancy.”

 

“In case of a failure in the AFTC the MEC (Main engine control) is capable of assuming control of the engines to provide a fall-back mechanical control of them. The normal mode, AFTC, is the primary mode (PRI) and called as such while the fall-back MEC is the secondary (SEC) mode. The selection of primary or secondary is automatic in case of a failure in the AFTC but can also be selected manually. Of note is that in secondary mode the engine nozzles are fully closed and disabled in addition to the afterburners being disabled with a corresponding loss of engine performance.”

 

Change to “In case of a failure in the AFTC, the Main engine control (MEC) is capable of assuming fall-back mechanical control. The normal mode, AFTC, is primary (PRI) and called as such while the fall-back MEC is secondary (SEC). The selection of primary or secondary is automatic in case of a failure in the AFTC but can also be selected manually. Note that in secondary mode the afterburners and engine nozzles are disabled with the nozzles in the fully closed position with a corresponding loss of performance.

 

Fire suppression system

“The advisory lights will both light after a successfull application of the system and might also light if an error drains the pressure in the bottles.”

Change light to]” The advisory lights will both illuminate after a successful application of the system and may also illuminate if bottle pressure is low.“

 

I think thing following uses of “light” should be change to illuminate as before follow this…

 

“External power is automatically disconnected from the aircraft power system when one of the interal generators come online.” Typo, should be INTERNAL

 

“As long as both main hydraulic systems are functioning the maximum wing-sweep change rate is about 15°.”

I am thinking you mean 15 degrees per second???

In general, things look pretty sharp once you get to the systems descriptions.

 

“The system does not allow pilot-only ejection because it would be undesirable for the RIO to remain in the aircraft alone.”

This one made me smile!

 

“The formation lights are dim green lights used for formation flight which can be dimmed gradually. They are located on the aircraft nose (behind the radome), the wing tips, on the fuselage aft of the wings and on the top edge of the vertical stabilizers. All duplicated on both sides of the aircraft.” Change last to “all are duplicated”

 

“CADC Central Air Data Computer

The Central Air Data Computer or CADC is the…”

Change to “Central Air Data Computer (CADC)

The CADC is the..”

There is no need to explain the acronym in the title and the details… just do it once for each…. I’m seeing this for some of the following systems, too.

“In whichever case, with the MLC filter off, the target can not notch the AN/AWG-9 if it is above the radar.”

Change to “In whichever case, with the MLC filter off, the target cannot notch the AN/AWG-9 if it is above the radar.”

 

“This blind area is a hardware limitation as being a doppler radar mode it can not detect targets without a doppler shift.”

Change to “This blind area is a hardware limitation. Doppler radar modes cannot detect targets without a doppler shift.”

 

“The resulting blind area is 200 knots wide at, as mentioned, negative own groundspeed (100 knots slower to 100 knots faster).”

Maybe rewrite this sentence for clarity….. something like a blind spot around the F14’s relative vectot heading and speed +-100 knots…? I think the rest is explained well afterwards.

 

“On later F-14B aircraft incorporating the PTID upgrade the AN/ALR-67 was also integrated into the MDIG diplays system, allowing for a more detailed threat display on the ECMD.”

Which is implemented in the heatblur version?

 

“The TACAN system indicates a slant range of up to 0.1 nm and a bearing of 0.5° to any surface station selected.’

NOT SURE WHAT YOU MEAN HERE… IS THIS THE ACCURACY?

 

The figures for volume, amplifier selector and function selector are labeled incorrectly, i.e., there is no #4 in the figure.

6700K@4.6 48Gb - 1080Ti Hybrid - Warthog - RIFT

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Weapons

 

Gun description

Sticky the space between 20 and mm so it stays on the same line.

 

“To fire the gun no input is needed from the WCS, the gun can be fired manually by the trigger on the pilot stick when selected by the weapons selector on the same stick, provided master arm is on.”

Tweaked -> “The gun can be fired manually using the trigger on the pilot stick with the weapons select hat in the GUN position and master arm ON. Firing the gun does not require WCS input.”

 

“The gun rate is selected by the GUN RATE switch on the ACM which also indicates selected mode, the mode normally being set automatically for respective type of engagement.”

I think this is better? “The gun rate is normally set automatically based on the type of engagement, but may be modified by the GUN RATE switch on the ACM <panel?> which also annunciates the selected rate.”

 

“The WCS can however provide symbology on the HUD to increase gun accuracy. For both air-to-air and air-to-ground modes the gun has two sights available. For air-to-air it’s the manual sight and the RTGS (real-time gun sight).”

“The WCS can provide symbology on the HUD to increase gun accuracy. For both air-to-air and air-to-ground modes the gun has two distinct sights available.”

Show the standard gun mode first?

 

The section on the gun sighting is a little rougher than the other sections:

“If target data is available from the WCS (target tracked in an STT mode) the pipper instead shows bullet location at the target’s current range out to 4 000 feet and the diamond show radar line of sight to the target (target location). This means that when having a target track the pilot should fly the aircraft to place the pipper over the target to hit it.

In addition to computing the solution to put bullets at the targets location the RTGS sight is also able to show a hit indication. When the bullets fired are computed to be at the target’s location the diamond switches from target indication to indicating bullet position at target range. This is also indicated by the diamond blinking.

Using this it’s possible to see where the target would have needed to be to be hit by the fired bullets. If the gun engagement was executed successfully this means that the diamond should still be on top of the target, blinking, indicating that the bullets passed through the target’s location.”

I’d recommend giving this section some love. It’s a little rough. Missing punctuation and I’m thinking 20mm canon projectiles should be called “rounds” rather than “bullets”? I’m no expert here…. What the heck here’s a stab, but I’m not sure I have this right:

“If target data is available from the WCS (i.e., target tracked in an STT mode), the pipper predicts a firing solution for the target’s current range out to 4 000 feet. The diamond indicates radar line of sight to the target. In this case, the pilot should fly the aircraft to place the pipper over the target and fire.

In addition to computing the firing solution, the RTGS sight is also able to show a hit indication. When firing the gun, the diamond indication switches to bullet position at target range. A successfully executed engagement will result in a blinking diamond still over the target, indicating that fired rounds are computed to be passing through the target’s location.”

Sparrow

“This means that the seeker of the Sparrow relies on the AN/AWG-9 painting the targets for it and following the radar emissions being reflected off the target.”

Change to “This means that the Sparrow tracks by following radar reflections returning from a target painted by the AN/AWG-9. If the F-14 stops painting the target, there will be no signal for the Sparrow’s seeker to follow.”

 

“Apart from the various improvements to the missile range, seeker and warhead, the major difference between the different versions is that the AIM-7E is only capable of being guided via continous-wave (CW) illumination while the AIM-7F and AIM-7M can also be guided via pulse doppler illumination in addition to CW.”

 

Change to “Whereas The AIM-7E can only guide via continuous-wave (CW) illumination, the AIM AIM-7F and AIM-7M can be guided via CW or pulse doppler illumination. These newer versions also offer various improvements in range, seeker and warhead.”

 

“It is not possible to select which sparrow to be launched, this is done automatically by the WCS.”

Change to “Selection of the specific sparrow to be launched is accomplished automatically by the WCS and cannot be manually overridden.”

 

“The AIM-54 is available in two different versions, the AIM-54A and the AIM-54C. The Heatblur Simulations F-14B Tomcat is modelled with both versions as well as modelling the AIM-54A with both mk47 and mk60 rocket motors. The two motors on the AIM-54A differing in effective range and the AIM-54C differing from the AIM-54A by having a digital seeker instead of an analog one, increasing its performance.”

Fixed … ”The Heatblur Simulations F-14B Tomcat can carry both the AIM-54A and AIM-54C versions of the Phoenix. The “A” version includes those with the original mk47 motor as well as the extended range mk60 rocket motor. The “C” version is only available with the mk47 motor, but enhances performance by swapping out analog seeker of the “A” for an improved digital version.

 

“VT - Sets air-burst mode at preset burst heigh for compatible stores.” … typo height?

“When the pilot designate the IP visually on the HUD the WCS recalculates the target location using the data set under the IP TO TGT function on the CAP, moves the target diamond to that location and instead displays guidance towards the real target location”…. When the pilot DESIGNATES

 

Checklist

Tacan…… Shoulde be TACAN in all caps?

6700K@4.6 48Gb - 1080Ti Hybrid - Warthog - RIFT

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"an RWR" is correct; the rule doesn't necessarily apply to acronyms (generally if it sounds right, it is).

 

Yeah, because the "an" rule is AFAIK that it goes before a vowel sound, not a vowel letter.

i386DX40@42 MHz w/i387 CP, 4 MB RAM (8*512 kB), Trident 8900C 1 MB w/16-bit RAMDAC ISA, Quantum 340 MB UDMA33, SB 16, DOS 6.22 w/QEMM + Win3.11CE, Quickshot 1btn 2axis, Numpad as hat. 2 FPH on a good day, 1 FPH avg.

 

DISCLAIMER: My posts are still absolutely useless. Just finding excuses not to learn the F-14 (HB's Swansong?).

 

Annoyed by my posts? Please consider donating. Once the target sum is reached, I'll be off to somewhere nice I promise not to post from. I'd buy that for a dollar!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

RTGS

 

In RTGS the WCS computes the bullet trajectory and displays the location the bullets will pass through at 1 000 and 2 000 feet if no target data is available from the WCS. The diamond representing bullet location at 1 000 feet and the pipper representing the bullet location at 2 000 feet.

 

According to the image above the text (showing the ADL, followed by the pipper and then the diamond), it should be vice-versa (the pipper representing the bullet impact at 1000 feet and the diamond at 2000).

 

Sorry, if reported already.

 

 

Missile Preparation (Sparrow)

 

It also injects CW radar video from the radar to the missiles via an emitter on the aft end of the rail to a receiver at the aft end of the missile.

 

Is this CW signal during seeker tuning really called the "CW radar video"? That sounds rather odd. Also, AFAIK, CW would not be considered a radar technically, as it's just a transmitter with the receiver antenna being on the missile's seeker.

 

TWS

When using the AIM-54 with TWS the WCS automatically prioritises the tracked targets, giving them a firing order number indicating missile launch order. As the first target is launched at the first tracks number is removed and the other tracks numbers are decreased by one.

 

Should be "as the first missile is launched at the first track, its number is removed" or something. Also, "prioritizes".


Edited by Dudikoff

i386DX40@42 MHz w/i387 CP, 4 MB RAM (8*512 kB), Trident 8900C 1 MB w/16-bit RAMDAC ISA, Quantum 340 MB UDMA33, SB 16, DOS 6.22 w/QEMM + Win3.11CE, Quickshot 1btn 2axis, Numpad as hat. 2 FPH on a good day, 1 FPH avg.

 

DISCLAIMER: My posts are still absolutely useless. Just finding excuses not to learn the F-14 (HB's Swansong?).

 

Annoyed by my posts? Please consider donating. Once the target sum is reached, I'll be off to somewhere nice I promise not to post from. I'd buy that for a dollar!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like I wrote earlier, I really like the format. One thing that would make it even better IMHO, is an overview of the different sections with text showing what area is what, like: a picture showing all of left side console with text and pointers to the different sections, eg. G valve button, ICS panel etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, because the "an" rule is AFAIK that it goes before a vowel sound, not a vowel letter.

 

Sounds reasonable. Totally missed that and I never thought about it even though I did it right mostly, probably the abbreviation made it look strange to me. Well, lesson learnt 2r5mqdy6.png

 

I still prefer PDFs. Especially for my eBook Reader and iPad.

 

I don't prefer pdfs... I've yet to come across a pdf reader on any OS that's not totally cumbersome to use and usually they're extremely sluggish in terms of loading content and it always feels like using a dial up connection even on a less than 1MB file when scrolling. I'm using Foxit already and that's like a million times quicker that the piece of crab that Adobe provides as a reader, being the company that brings the whole document format after all... but their software has always been far beyond inconvenient and that's probably never going to change rdlaugh.png

 

The site however is as easy as it gets. You just need a decent browser... well, some devices like Kindles don't seem to have that lyra.png

 

After all, it's best to have both rainbowdashwink.png

 

The key thing here is to set page-break-before / page-break-after rules at the right spots so the images don't get cut in the pdfs printed from the living manual... twilightsmile.png

 

I know how painful it is to do that, but once it's there and rechecked quickly after every change, creating a good pdf then is easy as pie pinkiepieexcited.png

dcsdashie-hb-ed.jpg

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thx for the help all! Being mostly a one man job, there are unfortunately some typos and mistakes in there, I'm working to correct them though!

 

I'd like to know how you do this technically. I could imagine the shole thing works like a CMS where you put content in a GUI and it saves them to a DB, but looking at the links in the address bar it rather seems to be just generated HTML+CSS.

 

In that case, providing an offline version of the document would be as easy as putting a link to a zip file containing all those files, so we could basically have the whole thing somewhere on our rigs and mobile devices.

 

BTW I've seen the possibility to stow away the navigation area on my Android tablet in portrait format. It would be great if this was possible regardless of the device / screen width used.

 

 

I'm using a documentation tool called Sphinx, it's actually quite neat as it gives near LaTeX like functionality in regards to layout if you have a nice theme.

 

The source files are not in an easily readable format though as they're compiled to produce the end result.

 

This also means that tweaking stuff like the ability to minimize the navigational menus are a bit of work as they're a part of the theme.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

TID Description:

 

INS status indicator

Indicator light showing status of the INS during alignment. STBY indicates power applied but not aligned. READY indicates minumum launch criteria for AIM-54. Both lights turn of when INS mode is selected. Can otherwise indicate faults.

 

I'm guessing this should be 'off'?

 

Enjoying the read so far :thumbup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thx for the help all! Being mostly a one man job, there are unfortunately some typos and mistakes in there, I'm working to correct them though!

 

One man job?! Keep up the incredible work. The manual is really impressive, no need to apologize for errors. As you can see, the community is here to help editing and I am sure is readily available for whatever additional help and support you guys need.

i5 7600K @4.8GHz | 1080 Ti | 32GB 3200MHz | SSD | DCS SETTINGS | "COCKPIT"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm using a documentation tool called Sphinx, it's actually quite neat as it gives near LaTeX like functionality in regards to layout if you have a nice theme.

 

The source files are not in an easily readable format though as they're compiled to produce the end result.

 

Sphinx? Yuk!

 

You’ve done a great job putting this manual together. Keep up the good work :thumbup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm using a documentation tool called Sphinx, it's actually quite neat as it gives near LaTeX like functionality in regards to layout if you have a nice theme.

 

The source files are not in an easily readable format though as they're compiled to produce the end result.

 

This also means that tweaking stuff like the ability to minimize the navigational menus are a bit of work as they're a part of the theme.

 

Thanks, thought that already. Sphinx is mentioned and linked in the footer of every page, just didn't know about the details. Would be nice to have some usability tweaks later on (like the possibility to stow away the nav area or some kind of automated pdf generator integrated to the site), but that's absolutely low priority. The manual is great already the way it is and you did some awesome work here ajmug.png

dcsdashie-hb-ed.jpg

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It’s pretty easy to print to pdf if you want to grab a section or two to take with you in those instances. Even iOS devices make that a snap.

 

So heartwarming to see so many excited about reading their manuals...

 

I'm one of those who find reading aircraft manuals fun, though depending on how i'm feeling I have noticed some of them do have chapters that you get like 2 paragraphs into and then fall asleep on.. but that could also be a combination of pain meds and the writing never quite worked it out.

 

But the main reason is I've been in Heat Blur's position I know how much effort goes into it and reading the manual and seeing how well it's been done with that knowledge makes it even more appreciative. Based on what I've read and seen on vids etc, they have done another beautiful job and she's going to be a thrill to learn properly and to try and master, I don't envy you guys who had to do it for a living, though again having made basically a P.T.T. I know how much study goes into learning everything so that it's rote muscle memory for a lot of it.

 

On being able to read anywhere.. as I said, saddly there is always the chance I'm gonna have a trip to a hospital at any point, and manuals make a nice distraction ;) problem is they some times get really upset when you leave mobile phones on (especially if they have an ECG attached to you hehe).

 

Too the guys who've done the PDF's thanks :D

 

And to the person/s who wrote this manual.. awesome work well thought out and placed like some others my only suggestion would be to maybe make some linking of systems etc to make jumping between references easier etc.

i7 13700k, 64gb DDR5, Warthog HOTAS, HP Reverb G2 VR, win 11, RTX 3070

TGW Dedicated Server Admin, Australian PVE/PVP gameplay. (taskgroupwarrior.info/2020)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry if asked before, but will everything written in the manual (at some point) be implemented in the module?

 

I read about the "ADM-141 tactical air-launched decoy". Would be a great addition to the NTTR map :thumbup:

System specs:

 

i7-8700K @stock speed - GTX 1080TI @ stock speed - AsRock Extreme4 Z370 - 32GB DDR4 @3GHz- 500GB SSD - 2TB nvme - 650W PSU

HP Reverb G1 v2 - Saitek Pro pedals - TM Warthog HOTAS - TM F/A-18 Grip - TM Cougar HOTAS (NN-Dan mod) & (throttle standalone mod) - VIRPIL VPC Rotor TCS Plus with ALPHA-L grip - Pointctrl & aux banks <-- must have for VR users!! - Andre's SimShaker Jetpad - Fully adjustable DIY playseat - VA+VAICOM

 

~ That nuke might not have been the best of ideas, Sir... the enemy is furious ~ GUMMBAH

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Right under the picture is Note: Image shows TF-30 engine instruments, F110 EIG coming soon.

 

 

Hey Guys,

thx for the huge Manual. I would appreciate a PDF-Version for mobile purposes.

 

I also have problems with the shown TIT explained as EGT. Does the note mean, that the F110 EIG Version will show an EGT-Indication? If yes, the TIT isn't explained yet for the present illustration!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...