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Learning to fly...


Dave73

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What you can do is just fly and get a good feel for the sim and have fun, you can take things more serious when you get better at flying, landing and shooting stuff. When your ready and have a better idea what you want to stick with for awhile? then dig in. You will then know just how serious you want to take things. This sim is hard and you will learn a lot, that's why most here like it too! It can really push you and frustrate the crap out of you...;)

 

Military pilots don't learn all this overnight, some fly one aircraft for their career, general piloting skills comes first then fighter skills, well depending on assigned aircraft etc. Their main job when all this basic piloting stuff is done is putting warheads on foreheads. So knowing all the potential threats you could face and how to deal with these threats (insert your aircraft type?) is also something you can learn (More Learning :cry:). Mission/campaign builders don't always play nice.

 

SA-13 Gopher info

 

Watch some full missions on YouTube

 

 

 

See how he/she turns and orbits away from these air defenses after each launch. Maximizing his weapon use and keeping out of trouble.

 

You can also download many great guides done by the community that have combined the info. Here's a great example.

 

Lobo's DCS A-10C Normal Checklist & Quick Reference Handbook V8d

 

Example Pic from above Checklist, these are just some of the A-10 weapons

 

 

 

attachment.php?attachmentid=189523&stc=1&d=1531122241

 

 

Also, you have got the DCS manual? C:program filesEagle DynamicsDCS WorldModsaircraftFlaming CliffsDoc (A-10A Flight Manual EN.pdf)

A10Wep.jpg.d3f1fe2e65462fa2faf0e76998dd476a.jpg


Edited by David OC

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Chuck's DCS Tutorial Library

Download PDF Tutorial guides to help get up to speed with aircraft quickly and also great for taking a good look at the aircraft available for DCS before purchasing. Link

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What helped me a lot was to go back to a civil aviation sim (doesn't matter which one) to learn and practice the very basics of piloting and navigation (take-off, landing, VOR, NDB).

 

Once you're comfortable with this, moving into DCS modules isn't nearly as overwhelming. You'd be surprised how the basic fundamentals serves as a solid springboard for the more advanced military stuff. :)

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In terms of a avionics ww2 and cold war era jets like f86 or f5e are easy to learn.

 

These are also still relatively forgiving aircraft. More so than the contemporary migs imo

 

In terms of flying on it's own any modern jet with fly by wire is generally very forgiving aircraft and generally easier to fly than older generation aircraft. Even compared to the likes of the sabre or f5

 

 

A10 has complex systems but I found flying it including landing was straight forward

 

When I first started dcs there were no 4th generation full fidelity modules at the time nor even trainer jets.

 

 

My first jet was an f86. followed by the mig21 and then the a10c.

 

After learning avionics ov the a10 reading through manual was strenuous but was determined to learn and ultimately very rewarding.

any other fixed wing module thus farhas seemed relatively easy to catch on to. Once you are used to modern complex aircraft like it.

 

In the hornet I was pretty much up and flying after 15 min. ( mostly setup) . I mostly needed the manual from ed just to get accustomed to a2a related controls although in that case I was already accustomed to flying a super hornet in another sim.

 

Only thing that really took practice in the hornet for me was carrier landings and further practice for a2a refueling.


Edited by Kev2go

 

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First let me start with you guys rock!!!! Thank you!!!

I think what is happening is i started with flaming cliffs because of the a10( my favorite all time plane) upon learning to start it up, taxi, take off and about 70% land it good, i saw the a10c...Now all that went through my mind was" aww man, if i gotta learn systems than i might as well get the c version"

 

Well, you don't have to learn systems if you don't want to. Especially if you just want to blow stuff up. Take it all in at your own pace, learn what you want to learn. It's your game and your free time. It's a good thing you bought the aircraft you have a passion for (rather than the one that "makes sense" but you don't really care for). It'll make it less of a struggle.

 

Also, what you learn in the A-10A won't go to waste when/if you decide to move up to the C. The two fly pretty much the same, a lot of the combat employment/tactics will be the same as well. You'll have to learn all the extra systems, particularly the nav and sensor stuff will be challenging, but once you do, you'll already have a good idea how to make use of it all. It's not a bad idea at all to start with the A and move to the C later.

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  • 1 month later...

I only recently started into flight sims, so I can relate! I started with a brief stint in War Thunder, then immediately wanted the real deal so I moved to DCS and IL-2 Battle of Stalingrad. As others have said, take it one thing at a time. Do your homework - there are plenty of resources online that explain everything including instruments, takeoff and landing procedures, general flight principles, trimming, engine management, energy management and bfm, you name it.

 

I would recommend practicing in this order:

1) Straight and level flight - learn to maintain a heading, maintaining your altitude +/- no more than 100m, trim. Climb or descend, learn how to trim to maintain while hands free, then level off at new altitude and retrim for straight and level flight.

 

2) Level turns - turn from your heading to a desired heading while keeping speed and altitude constant, and no slipping or skidding

 

3) Slow flight at low altitude - learn how the controls feel and how the plane handles at speeds just above stall speed, both in flight configuration and landing configuration

 

4) Takeoff and landing - self explanatory, try to keep everything in one piece :D

 

5) Acrobatic maneuvers - hammerhead turns, loops, aileron rolls (rotating around the fuselage axis and finishing at the same altitude you started out, maintaining that altitude throughout (it requires knowledge of how all 3 control surfaces affect the attitude of the plane and coordination of them), barrel rolls, etc

 

6) Energy management and bfm - lots to learn here!

Weapons use

 

Hope that helps someone. If any of the more seasoned pilots have any critique for what I wrote I would be interested to know! Learning all this has taken a lot of reading, research, and video viewing. It has been a rewarding minor (read: major) obsession for me.

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There is a reason why most pilot/aviator training is measured in years and not weeks or months. Being that this is a detailed study-level sim, you cannot expect to become proficient in a matter of days or weeks.

 

 

 

But don't try to do too much. Learn hbow to fly before you worry about weapons deployment, counter measures, radar, intercept, air-to-air, air-to-ground etc. Do touch and go's to learn how to fly. (but don't start with the FA18 carrier landing! :)) Take it slow and easy. And watch youtube for folks like Bunyap, Wags, Jabbers, Gerry Abbot among others.

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My best advice would be read the manual, watch the YouTube videos readchucks tutorials for your aircraft. Take it one step at a time learn the start up procedures then you can use autostart once started learn to fly by starting in the air Learn to fly straight and level, then trim so you can go hands off then use the throttle to climb and descend. After that learn to turn or bank so you roll out at your desired heading. Then learn to land and taxi back to the parking ramp. After that I feel comms should be next then one weapon system at a time once you learned the aircraft then start learn basic combat techniques after you mastered the basic techniques learn the intermediate ones then the advanced. This is a game it’s a full fledged study simulator which will require you to put in the study and practice time. If your having trouble with the brevity terms them write them down during you video play afterwards look them up using google then watch it again with your brevity guide and it will make more sense. Unless you are a pilot in rl combat version don’t expect to master any aircraft in less than a few months for the simple one a year for the modern fighters probably. Have you looked at what it takes a pilot to go thru the three phases of schoolhouse training before hitting their firstunit as a nugget? Over a year for most intial training phase is 90 minimum the intermediate phase is another 90 -120 same for advanced those are work days where they start before 7am and finish the training classes and daily flight after 5pm if they are lucky. Add that up and you’ll find it is more hours than most simpilot dedicate in their total sim lifetime

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Firstly You are not stupid!!!!

The reason you find it hard is that ED is lazy and they have made a poor trainingpart in the sim. Really pisspoor! Sorry for my language.

Thats why someone like Chuck found it necessary to make a completly new manual. That is unheard of whith other sims. And thats why there

are so many videos to help you out. I know at least 5 guys that have bought and then shelved this sim. Pitty. I think DCS lose a lot of customers this way.

Ed could just studie BMS and see how they have solved this problem. That solution have been there under their lazy nose for 20 years! So it´s really amazing that Ed can´t do better. Lazy lazy lazy.

 

Now this is what I did.

You have to read the manual, there is no way around this. There are important information thats not mention in Chuck´s manual or in internet videos.

While you read you got to have some fun. So hastily learn the basic in flying AND then learn to use the gun - rockets - bombing.

I then made myselve a mission with abt 50 groundtargets and after reading for a couples of hours I spend the rest of the evening shooting stuff up and having fun and after some months I actually becomming quite god at finding and shooting stuff to smitherin .

Thats the foundation, you then just have to follow all the other good advise in this thread.

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Rest assured that all of us have gone through this and have had the same frustrations. It's not so much about learning how to use this simulator, but in fact, learning how to fly! (see the post by Eclipse above).

 

If you accept that there is a lot to learn and find accomplishment in incremental achievements then you'll have a much more rewarding experience.

 

Stick to a specific discipline (helicopters? modern jets? WW2 props?), then stick with a specific aircraft and learn all the different aspects of operating it (avionics? VFR navigation? aerial gunnery?). Eventually, it will all come together and you'll be completing missions using the multi-disciplinary skill-set you've developed, and that, good sir, IS THE GREATEST REWARD OF ALL! ;)

 

Then later when you switch to a new aircraft, be ready to start the process over again. One of the most wonderful aspects of flight simulation is there's practically no end to the things you can learn! :)

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If you wanna get up and go, without watching long 45 minute videos, theres 1 minute DCS videos on youtube, they helped me a fair bit, but reading and asking questions with the community then putting them into practice will go a long way, also get Tacview, it'll give you a much better understanding of what you can improve on, I mean that's what made me better at DCS.

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

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To be honest my guy, how I first started was honestly just simple. Just fly.

 

Don't focus much on the systems of the aircraft just get the feel of it. Start with learning how to start the aircraft up, you don't have to know what they stand for, just understand that flipping this switch will turn on this—etc. After being fairly confident in starting it up without looking up a checklist or tutorial, you can focus on other systems. Start with the small and easy stuff and work your way up after understanding it well enough—just enough to know that this does that.

 

Everything will come in place. It's one big jigsaw puzzle and every module is a puzzle. Understand the basics, build upon it, master it. Then you can work on the weapon systems and navigations.

 

Just as many individuals have stated here, use resources like guides and youtube videos, but don't rely on them too much. That's information overload. Just understand their purpose and how to operate it on a basic level. After understanding how it works/to turn on then you can look at the resources in front of you to get a more advanced knowledge of it. (Example: RWR and symbologies).

 

But everyone is different. I started out with the F-15C (FC) module and I didn't understand what anything meant. All I knew was that pulling on the stick meant I go up. Then A10A to A10C. Always treat each bird differently and try not to compare, but soon you'll see a lot of similarities and pick up on them quite easily.

 

And lastly: Have fun. That's really all there is to it. Just enjoy the module.

 

And all the stress included in it. Like you A10C. Ya damn big bird.

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

 

"Dying Embers can still start a fire"

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Every pilot starts somewhere the learning is up to you how fast or slow. Just enjoy the process of virtual flying... If you can find others in Multiplayer server on like a teamspeak it helps keep you coming back..

There are 2 categories of fighter pilots: those who have performed, and those who someday will perform, a magnificent defensive break turn toward a bug on the canopy. Robert Shaw

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There is a reason why most pilot/aviator training is measured in years and not weeks or months. Being that this is a detailed study-level sim, you cannot expect to become proficient in a matter of days or weeks.

 

 

 

 

What the hell are you talking about...... :P

 

 

 

People migrating from Battlefield, Arma and such video games can sure become DCS Multi-Player Aces at spamming their +/- 10 loaded AAMRAMS in a row at the speed of sound in their FC3 F-15C or now in the Hornet in less than a few hours of training. :P

 

 

 

[sarcasm here] :P

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  • 2 weeks later...
Like when i do a practice tutorial and listen to the instructor talk, its like another language with all the terminologies and such.

...just seems trying to learn this with the game tutorials they jump all over and its so much so fast. Not all of us have pilot backgrounds or have played flight sims our whole life.

....Thanks for any help you can offer me, just seems like im spinning wheels half the time:mad:

 

You have to read the manual, there is no way around this. There are important information thats not mention in Chuck´s manual or in internet videos.

 

Hi again.

I like to underline this advice. I had the same problem and I recognise the feeling when I twenty years ago was learning Falcon 4.0. I tried to learn by taking shortcuts, videos and trainingmiz but there were always words and expressions that was not explained. I Remember how I futily read and search the book to get different things explained. Often not finding whath i wanted It was really frustrating.

After some months I decided I had to sit down and bite the bullet and read the book from first side to the last. Finally I got everything explained and I also know were to find stuff when needing it. That was a big help for me and I really think that the best advice of all is to start reading the full manual, just read it through as a novel and then start practice.

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I'll probably be repeating much of what has been said in this thread but what seems to work for me the most is tutorial videos on YouTube. I'll watch a number of tutorials on a single subject, i.e. carrier landings, then head over to the game and try it out while the tutorial video runs on a tablet. Notes do help, as do knee-board checklists, but then everything becomes automatic after a while.

Next comes the endless practice but it's no good practising if you don't analyse your performance so watch the tracks after a flight. Figure out what went well and what went wrong and why.

Understand why you were successful and recreate those conditions.

 

Jump into one of the non-combat or non PvP servers online and practice with others. Ask questions in chat (LCtrl+Tab), people are happy to help in my experience. It's also much more fun practising online.

 

What also helped me was investing in some kit. I was never going to air to air refuel with an old joystick with a 50% deadzone so I found a second-hand TM Hotas and A2A refuelled first time using it.

Constantly resorting to the keyboard with its key combinations was a ballache, the Hotas and a cheap head tracker (Track Hat) helped a lot.

 

I've also decided to stick to one module for the time being.

 

Flight Sims are a steep learning curve but that's what makes them so rewarding.

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

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  • 1 month later...

I'm just starting out with DCS too.

 

I just started with the simplier airframes - WWII stuff, F-86 ..

 

Got familiar with basic flight stuff and instruments.

For this I watched some YouTube tutorials and did general research on the internet.

 

After that I started to try a few different things like navigation, simplier weapons systems etc ..

 

Just do one thing at a time and dont try to learn all at once.

 

Start with the basic stuff and continue from there on.

 

I just started using my DCS in the last couple days after getting a HOTAS this week. I spent some time with the Frog Foot start-up tutorial, but took a break to fly the P51 just to enjoy free flight around the map. I already understood the instruments and flight controls of WWII fighters from IL-2. All I had to do was get a feel for the flight model and iron out some issues with my HOTAS assignments. What a pleasure that was. It's nice to start slow and enjoy your accomplishments before you continue on to greater complexities.

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Listen, your first step is wanting to learn! I remember when I starting flying sims a long time ago and remember how daunting everything was as well. Took weeks to learn even the basic stuff sometimes!

 

Definitely follow a lot of the advice the others have already said. Just know that once you get good and start accomplishing some of those goals (like successfully dropping bombs on target, or landing on a carrier) it will be very rewarding and wanting you to come back for more!

 

I also recommend a decent HOTAS setup, especially for military flight sims. They make life soooo much easier! You don't have to spend an ungodly amount of money like I have over the years to get a decent setup, but whatever you get will be worth it.

 

Just keep up with that grind man! It will pay off!

 

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Listen, your first step is wanting to learn! I remember when I starting flying sims a long time ago and remember how daunting everything was as well. Took weeks to learn even the basic stuff sometimes!

 

Indeed it looks like it's the strange combination of choosing a workable learning approach with suitable sub-goals and the level and kind of motivation that gets you to complete it.

 

I have a bit of a background in flight sims, and enjoyed the excellent HIND back in the mid-90s. But something started happening in the 90s: the sims got more complex and detailed, the aircraft modeled were newer with more avionics and so... Enemies being just a radar blip or the IL-2 taking 4-5 steps just to get the engine running and not able to gain any altitude once airborne... there were some lighter sims like Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, certainly nice but WW2 stuff - sims were not for me any more at that time. I read about the precursors of DCS and was intrigued, especially of the Flanker by that time but I was into different kind of gaming.

 

Gaming is much about instant gratification and sims with ever harder and more extensive learning curves may be a hard sell to gamers. I wasn't back until DCS: Black Shark 2 came around in the early 2010s. Yet the experience was still much the same - too much avionics and systems to make it a fun and easy game, and missions too difficult unless you make your own with the editor. Flying around was fun due to my helicopter specialization but that was it and finally the game ended up collecting dust on my shelf. The Combined Arms module was there and sounded like a very interesting concept but again I ended up sitting on a fence due to past experiences.

 

Fast forward a few years and there's some new things on the motivation side. I bumped into some air warfare issues in another gaming project and wanted to check out how things work in an authoritative simulation - when a steam sale came around I finally picked up that CA module plus the Gazelle, just one pick out of the many possible - whoa the selection has expanded! Also the workability of DCS has improved as it offers just so much more with way better performance, improved visuals (air combat is beautiful and feels authentic!).

 

In a summary my motivation today has multiple sources and multiple targets. The gazelle was easy to learn (AND I had that old base, things like already knowing the view system in DCS made it much easier to just enjoy looking at your aircraft/flying...), the hornet is quite a fixed wing blast after a break of 25 years, probably I'll very soon continue working on the Ka-50 for real... to me it's a benefit that I can switch platforms to suit the mood of the day and the variety is a reward in itself. Also the PG is just stunning to look at and inspiring, then of course doing more experiments on CA whether it can bring something to the gamer.

 

Youtube (haven't really needed it yet... well only for figuring out the Gazelle autopilot when I got stuck) and online communities can be great additional resources nowadays. I've been taking it fun and slow with the hornet and flew it for a couple of days without even opening the manual besides using it as a reference to understand the fuel gauges. (Now I'm learning with unlimited fuel & ammo turned on.) The manuals are my main source for learning. DCS Finland is a nice and newbie friendly community, somehow the hornet turns out to be a good learning platform when it's the only fighter jet that's operated in this country :D Just try and keep it all nice and fun, enjoy the ride and the sights and keep an open mind... the fun in DCS is a little bit different (it's kind of a relaxing experience, actually) from your regular games and it just takes a bit longer before you can enjoy blowing up things and getting shot at. Pick your battles.

 

Learning to learn in DCS and how to motivate yourself is also essential.


Edited by Varis

SA-342 Ka-50 Mi-8 AJS-37 F-18 M2000C AV-8B-N/A Mig-15bis CA --- How to learn DCS

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Noob question, I'm practising a lot the differents available training (practise tutorial). Repeating them. But it's frutstrating to restart it and having to hear (sometimes) the long same speach before being able to apply his instructions. Noob question : Is there any way to skip the current "speach" ? Having to wait the end of his phrases is a bit frustrating, when your restart the same tuto for the fifth time...

 

Thanks,

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No, you can’t skip it but you can fast forward:

 

Ctrl + Z <- To Accelerate time

Shift + Z <- To reset time acceleration

Alt + Z <- to slow down time

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My take.

 

Spend a bit of time with the Mission Editor. Learn how to place a plane, give it a loadout, and then place a couple targets. It's not too hard and actually pretty fun when you see the potential.

 

Next, pick a topic. Say, shooting Mavs from an A-10 using the targeting pod.

 

Then create a mission just for that. Make it fun with different types of targets, different terrains. Try different approaches. This is a good way to learn a system, because the mission becomes just about that system, rather than having to know all sorts of systems to meet an objective.

 

 

Edit: for those who haven't played with the ME editor due to intimidation factor, it's actually pretty easy. Fifteen minute youtube video will get you there. One huge advantage is you can fly the mission straight from the editor, and when done, be dumped back into the editor for that same mission. This is useful to make little changes, like say, forgetting to add the targeting pod to the loadout of the above scenario. Changing the weather. Etc.


Edited by Anklebiter
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No, you can’t skip it but you can fast forward:

 

Ctrl + Z <- To Accelerate time

Shift + Z <- To reset time acceleration

Alt + Z <- to slow down time

 

 

 

 

AH! I forgot about that. Thank you!

hsb

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---

 

i7-10700K Direct-To-Die/OC'ed to 5.1GHz, MSI Z490 MB, 32GB DDR4 3200MHz, EVGA 2080 Ti FTW3, NVMe+SSD, Win 10 x64 Pro, MFG, Warthog, TM MFDs, Komodo Huey set, Rverbe G1

 

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