A Viper Pilots Transition Into a Warthog

[Bones]

OK so last night I finally sat down and started my Warthog Indoctrination in earnest!

I have been putting it off for too long now and I am going to make it a point to fly only A-10C for the next few weeks until I feel as comfortable in it as I do in the Viper. It?s going to be hard to pull away from Falcon but I know that the payoff will be huge in the end as mastering the Warthog will be a thing of pride.

I plan to chronicle my progress over the next few weeks as I ease my way into the Thunderbolt II by flying at a minimum of 12 hours per week until I know this ungainly looking aircraft like the back of my hand. My goal is to write an informative collection to help others who may be intimidated by the difficulty scale of DCS-A10C. If anything it will be an interesting read!

I will use the simple military training format of: TASK, CONDITIONS, and STANDARDS to outline the various training procedures as I tackle them with the first Training session presented below.

[Bones]

Cockpit Familiarization and Rampstart Procedures

TASKS:
Using the included tutorial missions contained within the simulation, learn the where all the different control panels are in the A-10C cockpit and perform ?Cold? startup procedure without aid.

CONDITIONS:
Tutorial 1 ?Familiarization?
Tutorial 2 ?Startup procedures?
DCS-A10C Manual
Logitech G940 HOTAS
Cougar MFDs
TrackIr 4 Pro
Dedicated Training Time ? 3hrs

STANDARDS:
Perform the above TASKS without aid of the tutorial or manual in a real mission environment.
----------------------------------------------------



I really like that Eagle Dynamics has included tutorials. Most simulations don?t really bother with them and more or less just throw you to the wolves. As I sat through the first one ?Familiarization? I never felt lost or overwhelmed. This may be due to the fact that I do have a substantial amount of digital flight hours under my belt with other simulations but I think that it?s more of a testament to Eagle Dynamics well thought out approach to it. The Instructor voice over is nice and the highlighted buttons and switches are a great touch to help those new to the simulation get acclimated to the myriad of controls.

?Hey, some of this stuff looks pretty familiar!?


If you have experience with flight simulations you will find the A-10C cockpit pretty easy to navigate. You standard fare of analog flight instruments are scattered about and a host of other more interesting systems and panels yet to be discovered. The MFCDs look and function much as they do in the F-16. The Warning Panel Lights, HSI, Landing Gear Lever, Fuel Indicator, Engine Gauges, and Communications Panel are all found in pretty much the same place as they are in the F-16. There are a few other panels that will take time to learn but it shouldn?t be much a problem at all.

?This is not your Fathers Corvette, you can?t just insert key and drive off.?


Ramp starting the A-10C in this simulator is very similar to the F-16 Falcon in various ?Falcon? titles. The basic ideas still apply and if you have a strong familiarization of the titanium office that you are in then it is a fairly easy procedure. The difficult comes in memorizing all the steps and in what order those steps need to be applied. Just remember Electrical, APU, Engines, Avionics or EAEA for short. Keep in mind that this is a simulator and because of that real times are taken into account for things whether they are mechanical (ex. engine spool) or electrical (ex. BIT tests) to cycle and or complete.

After spending a solid 3 hours playing through both tutorials several times I can now cold-start the jet without any problems. I am also very comfortable inside the cockpit and I feel that I have a good foundation to build upon as the training continues. I can?t stress this enough when I say that all aspiring Hog pilots should start with the mundane basics and work their way up to the more fun stuff that this simulation has to offer. I know that the urge to just get in there and ?blow shit up? is great but without a firm grasp on the fundamentals of how the Thunderbolt II works you may find yourself frustrated rather then having a good time.

Overall I am fairly pleased with the DCS-A10C. So far it has been both challenging and rewarding at the same time and I can?t wait until I start to dive into the avionics/weapons systems in depth.


Next Training Lesson: Takeoff and Navigation

[Guest Chaz]

Good post Bones.

I have been deep in the avioincs, still picking up things here and there and it just amazes me how deep the TGP and CDU can get. Being a long time militant Falcon fan since Falcon 3.0 in the early 90s, I have found a sim that may end up my Viper days. No hate, but I think it's just time for me to move on.

Perhaps tonight or the next couple of nights I'll be able to hop on TS. Just busy with packing and preparing to move to our new house.

[Bones]

Chaz LAN_WROTE ...

Good post Bones.

I have been deep in the avioincs, still picking up things here and there and it just amazes me how deep the TGP and CDU can get. Being a long time militant Falcon fan since Falcon 3.0 in the early 90s, I have found a sim that may end up my Viper days. No hate, but I think it's just time for me to move on.

Perhaps tonight or the next couple of nights I'll be able to hop on TS. Just busy with packing and preparing to move to our new house.

I know what you mean Chaz. While I don't see myself giving Falcon up for DCS anytime soon I certainly see my flight time split between the two. Now if Eagle Dynamics next title does in fact turn out to be the rumored DCS-F/A-18E Super Hornet then that is an entirely different matter. !pilot

Matt Wagner (aka Wags) from ED has stated several times that their next DCS title will be a "Fixed Wing U.S. Aircraft" and that it would make the masses very happy. Now if you take into account a recent poll that ED put up on their official DCS forums asking the community which aircraft should be next the results were overwhelmingly in favor of the Rhino (F/A-18E Super Hornet).



Here is the actual poll:
http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=51462

[=VG= BLuDKLoT]

Awesome info man, maybe when you're doing this we can pair up, I need to the same immersion in the A10 but I'm still neglecting it, it's kinda been like going to the Dentist. You need the fillings but don't want the shots. (makes sense to me) Blah.

[Bones]

BLuDKLoT LAN_WROTE ...

Awesome info man, maybe when you're doing this we can pair up, I need to the same immersion in the A10 but I'm still neglecting it, it's kinda been like going to the Dentist. You need the fillings but don't want the shots. (makes sense to me) Blah.

Great analogy Blud!

My reasons for putting it off were mainly due to the fact that I know it is going to take an extremely large amount of time to become proficient in the sim. It is far easier to just say "fuck it" I'll go drop iron and shoot longsticks in Falcon because I already know what I'm doing. This endeavor is going to take a lot of discipline and perseverance to see it through.

[Guest Chaz]

I would be pleasantly surprised if the next DCS module is the Super Hornet. Is there really enough declassified material to make a sim on par with ED's realism? My darkhorse picks are the F-15E and F-16.

[=VG= Outlanders]

Best ongoing thread now, i think. Hope to see videos of your flying, Bones.

[Bones]

Thanks for the support fellas!

I'm gonna try to get the new write up done this morning so be on the lookout. I am just amazed at the level of detail that this sim provides.

As for the F-18, I believe that there is plenty of declassified info regarding the aircraft. It has been in service almost as long as the F-16 and widely exported. There is another F-18 sim (it is actually the F-18C model) currently being developed and from what I have seen/heard it's going to be on the same level as DCS avionics wise but only time will tell. It is still rough around the edges but looks promising.

Check it out: Seven-G

[yt=640,390]H5ANPoFOSTw&hd=1[/yt]
[yt=640,390]gIyJzR0mgio[/yt]
[yt=640,390]HORJ_u3YVME[/yt]

[Guest Chaz]

I figured the Super Hornet being relatively new (well, it's been in service since 1999 so maybe not THAT new) there wouldn't be much declassified info, but since it is just a slightly bigger, low radar signature version of the C model with new avionics perhaps it is viable.

Yeah I've been following that Seven G sim. We'll see how that pans out.

[Bones]

Basic Takeoff and Basic Navigation

TASKS:
Using the included tutorial missions contained within the simulation, learn basic takeoff and handling in the A-10C as well as become proficient with the CDU navigation system.

CONDITIONS:
Tutorial 3 ?Takeoff?
Tutorial 4 ?Navigation?
DCS-A10C Manual
Logitech G940 HOTAS
Cougar MFDs
TrackIr 4 Pro
Dedicated Training Time ? 4hrs

STANDARDS:
Perform the above TASKS without aid of the tutorial or manual in a real mission environment.

"Up Up and Away!!!"



Now that I am comfortable in the cockpit of the A-10C I felt that it was time to see if I could not only fly it but also navigate the designated steer points using EGI (Embedded GPS/INS), TAD (Tactical Awareness Display), and CDU (Control Display Unit).

Takeoff was your pretty standard affair. After I completed my ramp start it was just a matter of requesting taxi authorization. Once I was setup on the runway I got permission for takeoff and was ready to begin this training session. Being a veteran of Falcon this phase of the training was a cakewalk. I did a once over of all my controls and systems, set my flaps, turned Nose Wheel Steering (NWS) on, throttled up to 85% rereleased the brakes and I was on my way down the runway. Now that A-10C does differ from the F-16 in that after you hit 80 knots you need to disengage NWS manually (Falcon does this automatically) and then at 120 knots begin your pull. Not a big deal just thought I would mention it for all you budding Hog pilots. Once in the air things are pretty straight forward as far as ?flying? goes.

Now, on to the meat of this evenings training. Let me just say that the Navigation systems featured in DCS: A-10C are phenomenal! Some of the systems are familiar and look like Falcons but the level of depth and usability is what stands them apart. I have not delved too deep into them yet but I can already tell that there is going to be a lot of flight hours needed to master them all.

Using the CDU you can setup and load various custom flight plans. This is beneficial as all pilots know that sometimes you need to deviate from the initial mission plan. Having the ability to program and readjust your flight plan while in the pit is a great feature. I am not sure if this feature will be available in MP flights. It would be cool to see the flight Lead change the mission plan based on events during the mission and have that data transfer across to the other flight elements.

The CDU Panel


The process of creating a custom flight plan is fairly simple. I brought up the TAD in the left MFCD and the CDU in the right one. Next I made the TAD SOI and slewed the cursor over an area on the map. Once I had the cursor where I wanted it I hit the TMS left short command on my HOTAS. This should designate that point on the map as ?MARK Point A? in my CDU. I continued this until I had designated all the Markpoints I needed. After that I had to look down at the actual CDU (panel to the right of your right leg) and press the ?Flight Plan Menu? button. This brought up a menu and the default mission flight plan should be displayed. Since I wanted to create a new one I first needed to give it a name using the scratchpad on the CDU. After giving it a name I had to select it and then insert the waypoints. All I had to do was select each Markpoint that I had created earlier by pressing the corresponding letter (A, B, C etc) on the scratchpad and then pressing the corresponding waypoint button (1, 2, 3 etc) on the CDU display. This sets each Markpoint as a Steerpoint/Waypoint in the order that you entered them. Finally I needed to switch the CDU steerpoint mode switch to Flight Plan and the new flight plan was loaded and displayed in the TAD.

All of the familiar HUD symbology from the F-16 is found in the A-10C as well. There are a few minor differences here and there but for the most part they are the same. You get the FPM, Tadpole, and Steerpoint Information Block all displayed nicely in the HUD.

Switching between Steerpoints can be done in a manner of ways. You can use the Steer rocker switch located on the left side of the ICP or (if your HOTAS is programmed) you can use the DMS Up/Down commands. If you choose to use the DMS switch be sure that the HUD is the SOI (Sensor of Interest).

TAD (Tactical Awareness Display)


The TAD page on the MFCD is really nice as well. Not only do you have a fully colored military grade map but it also features a long list of options. The standard zoom level functions (5, 10, 15, 20, 40, 80 KM) can be adjusted using the switches on the TAD MFCD or again using the DMS switch on your HOTAS.

One more thing I am going to mention is the functionality between TCN/ILS and your communications systems in DCS: A-10C. You can really tell that Eagle Dynamics want to immerse you in their sim. Once you choose to navigate a TCN/ILS beacon you must set the proper channels in your TCN/ILS radio. If done correctly you will start to hear the desired channel sending its communication beacon via morse code in your headset. Just make sure that you dial in the correct channel freq, which can be found in the CDU. I will talk more about these systems as they apply more the next training mission involving landing.

After spending a few hours navigating and creating different flight plans I am confident in my abilities to safely and accurately get the Hog to where it needs to go. The next training topic I am going to tackle will be Landing and should be up by this coming Wednesday.

[Bones]

Sorry guys, next Training article won't be up today as promised. I actually have to do some stuff for work. Will get it posted as soon as I have some time.

[Bones]

Due to current events unfolding in Libya, I have postponed my current training regime in the A-10C in order to join back to the Fleet in supporting "Operation Odyssey Dawn". A-10C training will resume after Gadhafi's forces have been rendered useless and stability in the region is restored.

Read more about my Jane's F/A-18 Super Hornet deployment here.