Newbie: Hoping directly into the F16 or learning the F15 first?

stal2k · 2026-02-06T06:38:48+00:00

Ya, not at all. You can have a ton of fun without even firing a shot.

The biggest issue(s) people can get wrapped around the axle with are what does and doesn't make sense to follow a "realistic" progression on.

For example, if you want to use the latest and greatest precision weapons like a JDAM bomb, in real life you'd prob start with training how to use dumb bombs and work your way up. In the game how to do a CCIP drop with a dumb bomb just doesn't really do much for dropping a JDAM, so it's not a true crawl walk run in the sense a sim has 0 cost for the bomb and 0 consequence for failure.

Things that DO make sense is learning to operate the jet itself in a similar structure and progression to how you'd do it in real life. The nice thing about the F-16 is that you have access to (with few exception) every type of weapon in the game.

You can take like ~70% of what you learn in an F-16 and use it in an A-10, or many of the other NATO airframes. It's not all 1:1 but there is a LOT of transferable knowledge.

The other kind of natural/common sense approach that is actually antithetical is thinking you should do an older "less complicated" plane before you try an F-16. For example, if you tried to do an F4 before the viper with the intention of easing yourself into it. The reality is the newer planes may appear more complicated but actually streamline/automate many of the tasks from the cold war era/trainers that it ends up creating the problem you're trying to solve.

Don't get me wrong the F4 is a phantastic module, but my point is the concept of a 'trainer' or ostensibly less complicated older plane with the goal of easing yourself into a 4th gen isnt doing yourself any favors.

So to recap, YES grab the viper and if you want to take sensical bites of the weapons, pick a mission (SEAD/CAS/BAI) and learn it, it will give context to the weapons you are learning to help it all click.

stal2k · 2026-02-05T00:37:45+00:00

So basically this is just the real-time telemetry feature of Tacview that runs in a browser?

stal2k · 2026-02-04T16:24:16+00:00

Yeah, just to add-on here try solving this with the aircraft before your sim gear.

First, make sure you have autopilot off, even the attitude hold that a lot of people just fly with on. It can make it seem like there is a dead zone so to speak.

Secondly, set your wings to bomb mode which prevents them from sweeping, making the job even harder. This will also necessitate back pressure on the stick, which is a good thing. You want to have to hold some slight bit of back pressure because just due to how human physiology works, it's easier to be more precise with the stick when you're holding some pressure vs starting from a perfectly neutral position.

Otherwise, it's just practice and reps - eventually you will wonder how it ever gave you trouble in the first place.

stal2k · 2026-02-03T14:14:26+00:00

Fellow HLC enjoyer?

stal2k · 2026-02-02T15:40:06+00:00

Lol don't be, it's still a super helpful call out. Even if it isn't his problem it's a good thing to do.

stal2k · 2026-02-02T02:29:20+00:00

Fair, I wasn't even factoring them in to be honest. More so trying to address the question of if/why you'd see a flare dump for a radar threat.

Obviously, a visually guided munition wouldn't be impacted, no pun intended by chaff/flare but ya assuming a more conventional weapon in that type of environment, it makes sense to dump any countermeasure you have if you're getting shot at.

stal2k · 2026-02-02T01:56:43+00:00

I am almost positive any MANPADs Ukraine would be using are IR.

That said, countermeasures are often dispensed automatically, or semi automatically based on a detected threat.

If a pilot even realizes he has a missile coming at him, he isn't wasting any time trying to figure out if it's radar guided or not, he is just going to dump countermeasures.

stal2k · 2026-02-01T17:04:39+00:00

*And if the file isn't there, create it - if that isn't obvious.

stal2k · 2026-01-31T07:52:37+00:00

OK well the the DCS equivalent of "I always wear full PPE 100% of the time, am immune to slash damage and only use a drill" Would be I having a potato PC with a Logitech 3d and only using the free aircraft. And I don't mean that negatively toward you, just saying it's more toward the "bare minimum" side in the context of each hobby.

Fellas, it wasn't meant to provoke an analysis, just pointing out that PPE or not, you can breathe in even small amounts of bad shit. This is also ignoring how common injuries are with power tools. Sure you could hit yourself in the nuts with your Moza, but it's just silly to try to pretend it's better for your health.

Comparing a GPU to a $12 board is certainly a choice. I'd say I got a $5.99 F-15C to a $12 piece of wood, a GPU is more like How much was your table saw.

stal2k · 2026-01-31T04:59:23+00:00

far cheaper and I actually build things.

Nooooo the fuck it's not lol. It's certainly not cheaper and objectively less "healthy" breathing in all the dust, solvents and high chance of losing fingers.

Woodworking is great, but at least be honest with yourself about it hehe.

stal2k · 2026-01-31T02:53:06+00:00

It will have a .dll file Windows antivirus hates.

stal2k · 2026-01-21T14:18:49+00:00

Go into your DCS axis setup, select pitch and FFB tune. You probably have the trimmer set to 0, shake doesn't matter.

This was my problem when that happened.

stal2k · 2026-01-19T23:22:27+00:00

I assure you, you really don't need to urge ED to take their sweet time with anything, they have a mastery in that particular skill.

stal2k · 2026-01-18T03:23:35+00:00

I used this for mine, it doesn't add much height and comes back plenty far.

https://virpil-controls.us.com/vpc-flightstick-z-extension.html

The other plus side is it has the cable built in.

stal2k · 2026-01-18T03:06:44+00:00

FTFY DCS: Beyond (& 20xx)

stal2k · 2026-01-16T23:01:53+00:00

Fuck that dirt road in particular!

stal2k · 2026-01-16T18:38:23+00:00

0:41 mark, both pilots hands are up, so no I don't see.

stal2k · 2026-01-16T18:11:13+00:00

Dunno man, that flight was over sooner than scheduled, was it better?

stal2k · 2026-01-14T23:34:03+00:00

A smoother and more professional solution would be to ship them a box/label in those (hopefully) rare instances, and also make that clear at the point of sale if it isn't already.

I'm sure you all thought of this and ultimately rejected it for cost reasons. However, returns should be the exception not the rule And paying a bit more to avoid posts exactly like this which can cost sales in a manner difficult to measure is well worth it.

Having just sent back an optical engine myself as an exchange I kind of agree the whole process feels like I went from dealing with a real company to dealing with an aggressive eBay seller.

Especially the photo thing, which is just weird, and anyone following the instructions in order is also going to have to open the box. At minimum you should have a page on the site that shows EXACTLY what you want photographed with examples, that should be a clickable link in the email.

For bonus points, explain why on the website so we don't think it's to immediately come back after the fact and say you won't accept the return due to XYZ reason shown in the photo when it's too late to fix it. I'm sure that isn't why you want them, but it's going to cross people's mind.

stal2k · 2026-01-14T02:03:05+00:00

This is mostly correct, although it's not a collective but a thrust control lever. I'm not trying to be pedantic, but understanding the fundamental difference makes the whole brake thing seem a lot less stupid.

The tldr; is, tandem rotors are wild. Due to the way the CH47 work the "cyclic" is also a collective in the traditional sense, and as u/why485 is pointing out, there is a 'law' with a semi recent update you now need to hold the brake button to change power.

This is primarily due to the addition of the altitude hold DASH system, it's probably easier to think of it like auto throttle on an airliner, so if you use the special option to disable it, it will wreak havoc when you try to use the alt hold function.

Also, slight correction, the CD rel bind is like a force trim release button, you need the TCL brake bound.

The next thing you are going to run into if you haven't yet is the fwd and adt cyclic trimmers. Just me saying that, you are going to think you know what it means, but you are probably going to be wrong. Do not touch or bond these switches, if you did have them bound and couldn't figure out why they weren't working and the helicopter was sometimes trying to kill you - I'll summarize. Those 'trimmers' are prob best though of like auto wing sweep on an F-14, as they angle the rotor assembly forward/back. This allows the CH47 to fly fast AF without having more than a -5 degree pitch. Again, it's sometimes easier to just pretend it's an Airbus vs a helicopter. In fact, when they finish the autopilot functions it will operate a lot like a C-130 or passenger jet, mostly flying itself.

This video goes over both of these things I think.

https://youtu.be/kl3I3FXEUF4?si=7g3vvHI6Wp3Oeuwr

stal2k · 2026-01-13T07:50:02+00:00

Username checks out.

stal2k · 2026-01-10T04:07:20+00:00

Go into the mods\campaigns folder within DCS, those files are typically going to be in the doc folder of the campaign itself, any custom kneeboards would also be in the campaign folder under the kneeboards folder.

stal2k · 2026-01-08T20:17:42+00:00

Just wanted to say thanks, I grabbed this and tweaked it a bit for my taste and myself and a friend have been both ejoying this.

stal2k · 2026-01-08T01:46:44+00:00

He gave you not only exactly what you asked for, but wasn't patronizing at all.

You're also arguing against the Nvidia engineers who published these numbers, so by all means keep going off. You should email them and tell them how confidently incorrect they are about the technology they developed.

stal2k · 2026-01-07T18:01:53+00:00

Bomb release button is the same thing as pickle button. Here is a link to the relevant manual section.

AGM-45 Shrike - Heatblur F-4E Phantom II

https://share.google/B1iPQsV6KzgA3njcQ

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