PLM, PAL, VSL...

I have read the manual and watched Jabbers tutorial video on pilot ACM radar aquisition modes. I have a very basic understanding of how to operate these modes, however; I don't know when to use them.

It looks like all of these modes have a range of 5nm or so which means they are used for WVR air combat/dogfighting.

My question is, in which scenario or position would each of these modes be best utilized?

PAL is 15NM, the scenario is WVR with fast moving bandit near You that the RIO can't "paint" with rhe radar cone.

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I find SEAM to be completely useless, so I use PAL (or VSL-Hi) first which slaves the AIM-9 seeker to the locked radar target, then uncage, then fire the Sidewinder.

I also use VSL-Hi in a turning fight, especially a gun fight, to get the lock while I'm in lag pursuit before deciding to pull lead for the shot.

I don't know about you though, but 15nm is waaaaaaaay outside my visual range...

I find SEAM to be completely useless, so I use PAL (or VSL-Hi) first which slaves the AIM-9 seeker to the locked radar target, then uncage, then fire the Sidewinder.

 

I also use VSL-Hi in a turning fight, especially a gun fight, to get the lock while I'm in lag pursuit before deciding to pull lead for the shot.

 

I don't know about you though, but 15nm is waaaaaaaay outside my visual range...

That’s the great thing about PAL , it’s a good half way house between the RIOs modes and pure WVR. When you know somethings out there but jester is slow.

I find SEAM to be completely useless, so I use PAL (or VSL-Hi) first which slaves the AIM-9 seeker to the locked radar target, then uncage, then fire the Sidewinder.

 

I also use VSL-Hi in a turning fight, especially a gun fight, to get the lock while I'm in lag pursuit before deciding to pull lead for the shot.

 

I don't know about you though, but 15nm is waaaaaaaay outside my visual range...

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Seam is. It a radar mode it is just a sidewinder search modr

Yes I know that. I'm just saying it's really hard to keep an enemy inside that DD pattern long enough for the SEAM to actually pick him up. It's like trying to line up a moving target on another moving target, and now without even seeing the DD on the HUD! Impossible in dogfight where seconds matter, much easier to slave the Sidewinder to the radar :thumbup:

Yes I know that. I'm just saying it's really hard to keep an enemy inside that DD pattern long enough for the SEAM to actually pick him up. It's like trying to line up a moving target on another moving target, and now without even seeing the DD on the HUD! Impossible in dogfight where seconds matter, much easier to slave the Sidewinder to the radar :thumbup:

So in a visual dogfight, does a scan pattern make sense to you, even if it is depicted by some sort of symbol?

So in a visual dogfight, does a scan pattern make sense to you, even if it is depicted by some sort of symbol?

Not sure I understand the question. I guess a pattern is better than boresight because you don't have to point your nose exactly at the enemy to lock him up. But SEAM is by definition for dogfighting, so I guess the designers thought it made sense.

But with SEAM it's not the shape of the pattern that I had an issue with, it's the speed of the scan. Before the patch, when you could see the cross move on the HUD, it was painfully slow to watch. I wasn't sure if I should just try to hold the target still in my sights and wait for the SEAM to wander onto it, or try to fly the target onto the moving cross. It just felt like every time I got close to a lock, had the target in the DD "zone", the seeker was pointing at just the wrong part of the pattern and by the time it was back where I needed it, the target was gone.

PAL by comparison zooms around a huge area almost instantly and locks.