RIO Radar Techniques

So I’ve been spending more time in the RIO seat with a human pilot and am decent in it but I don’t feel efficient.

 

So what are your usual effective techniques? For instance, how do you usually set your elevation with the knob, then fine tune with the stick? How do you know where to set it initially? What numbers do you usually go for? When you set up TWS, how do you keep your centroids constant?

 

Any thoughts or tricks on this or anything else would be appreciated. Just want to hone my skills.

Thanks!

 

v6,

boNes

RWS, wide and high, splitting the airspace in half horizontally with my wingman to build SA and have a good "view" of the area (sanitization).

 

For the elevation, I use my model, it works fine to get the elevation of the target having range and ΔAltitude. Recently HB added a dedicated kneeboard page as well IIRC.

 

 

 

Tips and tricks, well, we can spend a day here discussing them, and we would be nowhere near the end of the list. So I'd start with your issues. What have you studied and what issues did you run into so far?

 

 

 

The greatest advices I can give you are: read the manual 2-3 time thoroughly at least then test, test, test. Spend as much time as possible setting up scenarios with the ME and do your tests and learn. Active pause is a great tool but don't use it for too long (it messes up the INS, unless they fixed it) so, for instance, set up an orbiting target, study how it changes in the DDD and TID, when and how to counter if and when it disappears.

Great topic !

 

In case you missed it, Spiceman made a nice video about radar techniques

 

One thing that I think is key, is to always keep an eye on the closure rate in order to avoid targets being filtered out

If I'm a single RIO (i.e. no wingman or single seat wingman with no human RIO) I'll often reduce my scan width and increase the scan bars, then cheat my azimuth toward the threat axis or the air picture if the datalink is good. It is intuitively easier to scan azimuth than it is to scan elevation. I do like the RWS until you get contacts, then convert to TWS technique as well.

 

I'll go to PD Search if there's a known target at long range that I have cueing on (e.g. datalink), because then I can pay attention to the DDD if I know where I'm looking and what I'm looking for.

 

Finally, Pulse search for slow targets like helos. You can pick them out of the ground clutter, but it's as much art as science.

Thanks all and thanks for the model Karon!

 

 

 

 

 

Tips and tricks, well, we can spend a day here discussing them, and we would be nowhere near the end of the list. So I'd start with your issues. What have you studied and what issues did you run into so far?

 

 

 

 

 

Well, that is also what I hope to spark with this thread. Let's throw our heads and tips and tricks in and see what we all come up with!

 

 

My main issue right now is figuring out how the elevation control know works, as well as the HCU fine tuner, and how to know what the best setting is for them. This I think may be explained by your model, but I want to hear more. It being a knob, it is also often hard to figure out if I have it zeroed out or not. Also when I have Phoenix in flight in TWS, how do I know that I am keeping the scan on the centroid of the target area since there is no TWS-A yet.

 

 

v6,

boNes

One thing I do specifically with TWS is knock down the TID display range to roughly match the target I'm shooting at for easier elevation correction.

 

Example: Target is at 48nm, I'll set TID display to 50nm and narrow the scan azimuth onto him. Then I adjust elevation to cover both below and above his current altitude to give the radar as much chance as possible to maintain the target when he goes defensive from the missile.

 

Keeping the TID display at 100nm - 200nm when engaging targets at 50 or below makes the job harder then it needs to be IMO.

My main issue right now is figuring out how the elevation control know works, as well as the HCU fine tuner, and how to know what the best setting is for them. This I think may be explained by your model, but I want to hear more. It being a knob, it is also often hard to figure out if I have it zeroed out or not. Also when I have Phoenix in flight in TWS, how do I know that I am keeping the scan on the centroid of the target area since there is no TWS-A yet.

I don't mean to be rude, on the contrary, but I don't see the problem to be fair: the details of the knobs are in the manual. It says how much they can be turned and there are buttons to recentre them. Therefore, if you can't adjust the altitude with finer thumbwheel anymore, simply reset it, compensate with the "wider" knob (left of your left knee) and that's it. With time, this will become second nature.

 

About the TWS, if you have done a good job centering the antenna, then just keep the target in the cone. The only issue is cranking: if the pilot turns hard (in AoB terms), then the target may leave the cone unless you compensate for its altitude. If you have done some tests to understand how the WCS works (this is a 10 months old article, but still applicable), you know this is not a real issue unless you are employing at massive ranges, where every bit of loft and thrust are necessary.

 

To give you a better idea, behold my LibreOffice skills! :D

 

As I said, spend one of two dozen hours testing in every scenario you can think of, you will probably run into the vast majority of the issues that the RIO has to face. Note these issues down, then try to solve them. If you can't after checking the manual and trying everything you can think of, come here and let's discuss them :)

Thanks. I'm not necessarily looking for help for myself but rather am trying to get a thread going as a "forum in the forum" about RIO techniques where everyone can share their techniques and tricks for the betterment of others.

 

 

I've been flying simulated F-14s since the Fleet Defender days of 1995 so I'm aware of many of these things but I want to hone them, especially since this is a "new" platform/sim. I know there is a manual and I check them but let's be honest. We're not career naval aviators where we have all the time to study up on the manuals because that is part of our job. I've delved into them as much as I can and actually prefer reading manuals more than anything else, but sometimes you just don't have the time to study the more poignant things and especially retain them. Besides, the Heatblur manual is not exactly the best write in the world. It's primarily a "bill of materials" of the F-14's controls and not an OPERATIONS manual. IMHO I find that Chuck's guides are more of an actual procedural operations manual.

 

 

So sometimes it's easier and quicker to just ask the question directly, especially if you encounter it recently and want to find out while it's fresh in your head.

 

 

The knob is a good example. I can clearly see that there is a tick mark for centering the scan. But how do I know I am actually centered on it? The mouse isn't exactly a surgical scalpel and there is no physical feedback to feel if there is a click confirming you are centered. I doubt that's in the manual. So the question in this kind of forum is not so much how do you center it as much as what do YOU do to center it or know for yourself that it's centered? That is my point of my starting this discussion----what are YOUR techniques, not necessarily the MANUAL's.

 

 

But I do thank you all for your input and links. And I praise your OfficeLibre skills!

 

 

Thanks!

 

 

v6,

boNes

Your initiative is commendable but I don't think that a forum is the best platform to do that, unless you keep track of the IDs of the posts and add a summary at post#1. Unfortunately, post by post, the content gets spread. A wiki-like framework would be better I guess (that's why I opened a website btw, although I'm not happy about the blog format). Have you thought about contacting ED's wiki or Hoggit's wiki staff?

 

The knob is a good example. I can clearly see that there is a tick mark for centering the scan. But how do I know I am actually centered on it? The mouse isn't exactly a surgical scalpel and there is no physical feedback to feel if there is a click confirming you are centered. I doubt that's in the manual. So the question in this kind of forum is not so much how do you center it as much as what do YOU do to center it or know for yourself that it's centered? That is my point of my starting this discussion----what are YOUR techniques, not necessarily the MANUAL's.

My technique is simply pressing one of both resets. We know exactly where the antenna is pointing and I fairly remember how much I turned the knobs due to muscle memory. Nevertheless, resetting is much faster. This solution came automatically before the first flight, when I mapped my controls, it sounded the easiest and fastest.

 

 

 

So sometimes it's easier and quicker to just ask the question directly, especially if you encounter it recently and want to find out while it's fresh in your head.

Personally, I prefer to bang my head on the problem until I solve it, if I'm asking, it's because I really hit the bottom of my documentation and I haven't found a solution. By doing this I always learn something new and I'm sure I remember how I fixed my issue (which is great because my memory skills suck. No really, I'm terrible!).

 

 

 

I actually love HB's manual, it's the one I prefer the most so far: it's clear, concise, web-based. There are some inconsistencies here and there but nothing too weird. I prefer it over any 3rd party guide to the point that I was thinking to write one myself exclusively for the RIO, but I decided it's not necessary.

I understand what you mean about the time, we're in the same boat. But for me, reading the manual 2-3 times and testing works much better than using 3rd party guides because the latter often lacks those tiny details that sometimes make the difference. Unicuique suum (to each one his own) :)

Karon,

 

I looked at your website and it picked my fancy. I think i'll have a harder look at it when I get more time.

 

as for hitting reset for the knobs, when you do that, do the knobs snap back to the zero position? Like some kind of solenoid kicks in?

 

v6,

boNes

 

What is this? I'm pretty sure the radar is horizon stabilised so the green a/c is both banking right and turning radar antenna left, right?