Zeno~SPARTA~

DCS World is free to play with 2 aircraft (SU25T and a TF-51 Mustang). The SU25T is a ground attack plane and although it does not have a clickable cockpit, it is still a capable and challenging plane to fly. DCS will be having a sale on steam in a couple of days, so I thought I would help you get get started in the SU25. Here is a generic startup procedure for a "low fidelity" plane in DCS World and Flaming Cliffs 3. Battery on RSHIFT L Start left Engine RALT HOME Cockpit Lights L Nav Lights RCTRL L Landing Lights RALT L Nosewheel Steering (not applicable to SU25) LALT Q Canopy Toggle LCTRL C Make sure you map flaps and trim, these are mapped to my joystick I have built a simple mission where we can: Start the plane Get to the runway Take off Navigate a set of waypoints Jettison payload Land the plane at another base Once we are able to master these we can practice bombing some tanks. It should be noted I have not bombed with this plane, but I am sure it can do CCIP (Continously calculted Impact Point) dumb bombing, Fi we get that far we can try to figure it out together.

We had some good races yesterday. PCars plays surprisingly well with a controller. A lot of incident free races are always a plus. Lets see if we can get more on next week.

Lets try for around 8pm UK time

Ok I have reinstalled PCars 1. I know a bunch of you have it so if you want we can have a bash this weekend. Rocky I see you have it too, I will try to fix a time for this weekend.

Happy Birthday, have a great day.

Our first attempt at the 633 squadron mission highlighted a few flaws. The 11 second delay fuze certainly helps the plane dropping the bomb, less so the planes in the rear. There is no escaping it when we hit the factory but I have an idea for the Flak positions on the way in. I can add 3 P47s armed with 8 50 cals and 6 rockets (which can be fired in pairs). They are fast heavy fighters and can fly in front of the Mossies attacking the Flak positions, Alternatively I think I can add rockets (possibly eight) to the lead Mossies or even all of them. I like the idea of having the heavy fighters sweep in front. Just some random stuff. Here is Luggs using a high altitude fire bombing run. And here I am inspecting two ship that I sank, I should point out the pristine Beaufighter I am flying is the fifth in this attempt, its 4 brothers are at the bottom of the Pacific having been shot down after releasing a total of 6 or 8 torpedoes.

How long did the 5 trips take, what was the risk of piracy, does a rented ship have insurance or is there a deposit? To get a sense of what UECs are worth and using 10 trips as a reference what does 40k net let you buy? A nice meal, a hand gun, a component to enhance your ship, or even a ship?

There may be a slight disconnect here, I think Rocky is talking about Project Car 2, but Cent is talking about Project Cars. Only a few of us have PCars 2, but I only want to play with friends.

A little reminder of one of your torpedo runs

That sounds like a recipe for disaster. Seeing how you enjoyed torpedoing the ship, there is a Beaufighter mission in the pack which involves sinking a ship with Torpedoes. I think when we do this we will turn off unlimited ammo and do the run in sequence abeam the ship. Of course after we complete the 633 squadron mission with limited ammo.

Thanks guys, I am enjoying it but it is truly at the limits of my abilities to comprehend this stuff. I thought I understood the process for targeting and releasing the Maverick but it only works 3 out of 5 times in a scenario of my making. I watch videos to learn, but this is a world of Dobbers, TCS, SCS and TDC. Each of which can play a roll. Still I try every day so I reckon my usual process for learning will work eventually. As for the F86, I am sure it is sweet but it is a gunfighter and I am absolutely useless at that!!

Glad we managed to test the hosting and get a bit of practice setting up the controllers etc. It is a bit clunky but we managed to fly under bridges and sink a couple of ships. Tomorrow 633 Squadron. We will have a few goes at it. 1st - start in the air, unlimited ammo 2nd - start in the air, limited ammo (I think its 2 500 lb bombs each) 3rd - if interested start on the ground in Scotland, fly to target, then fly back.

Another new milestone today. I managed to destroy a BTR with an AGM 65F Maverick in conjunction with a Litening Pod. Setting up and interacting with the MFDs has taken me a couple of days, but I finally managed to lock onto the target using the Litening FLIR pod. Here is the F18 configured with the Litening pod located in the centre, four mavericks on the wings and four air to air missiles. The left MFD shows the view from the Maverick seeker head and the right show the view from the FLIR pod. At this point the target is locked and in range and the missile has just been released. Here is the missile on its way to the BTR And here is the impact I finally feel like I am making progress in this simulator, but I can barely comprehend how a pilot can fly a plane and configure it on the go for aerial and ground engagements.

Unzip these files https://www.dropbox.com/s/wg0qa2130shsuwp/633 Squadron IL2 1946.zip?dl=0 into ?:\??????\Steam\steamapps\common\IL 2 Sturmovik 1946\Missions\Net\coop

I have had the Steam version of DCS World for some time. The base game is free and comes with an SU25 and a TF51 Mustang (training). The SU25 is a "low fidelity" plane, which essentially means you cannot interact with the switches in the cockpit it is all done with keybinds. The SU25 "Frogfoot" is a slow ground attack plane. You can customise its payload and fly a variety of missions. To the base game you can add modules. The first module I bought is Flaming Cliffs 3, this adds the F15, A10, Su27, Su33 and Mig 29. These are also "low fidelity". For the longest time all I did with these planes was cold and dark starts, take off and landings. I then bought the F18 modules in a steam sale. I bought this module, because the F18 is a multi role combat aircraft and comes with an aircraft carrier as well. Then I bought the F16. It's still in early access, so not all the systems are fully implemented, Still it can carry smart and dumb bombs, and a variety of anti air missiles. Not sure what air to ground missiles it has yet. Until a couple of weeks ago all I did was take off and land. Finally I mastered the mission editor sufficiently to add waypoints to distant airfields. At this point I was able to take off, navigate a series of waypoints and land in a good proportion of the planes. Yesterday I created a mission for the F18 to attack a tanker at sea using the AGM 84D Harpoon antiship missile. Each missile needs to be programmed individually. Basically instructing it on its flight profile, heading, when it activates and when it self destructs. It is jet powered so it has a long range and will attack anything within its radar cone. I flew to a target, correctly programmed the Harpoon, launched from around 25 miles and sunk the tanker. I am not a quick study, I watch with envy as young people jump into these planes, heavily laden with munitions and fuel fly in formation and fight, It has taken me 18 months to start the plane, arm it, fly to an unarmed target and shoot it. At this rate I should be competent before I am 70.

For the Xbox XBox Controller here is a possible setup Left stick flight stick Right stick to look around Throttle to shoulders Rudder to triggers Weapons to A and X Bombs and Rockets to Y and B

I will be running this locally, not as a dedicated server. So I need a volunteer to check that it still works. I have opened the necessary port, just need to make sure people can connect.

Mine is mapped to my Thrustmaster Hotas x, you will end up using the controller and keyboard.

I have a few versions of the 633 squadron mission, one of which starts in the air nearer the target, so no take off to worry about. On the first few goes we can make it less difficult, then if there is still interest we can add difficulty. Afterwards I can look for other missions including for the B25! That's weird Adder, I'm sure it will workeventually.

So far I am trying to rope Luggs, P and Adder into having a bash at this, it would be great if you jumped in too. Does Forrester have IL2 1946?

All this talk with Forrester about planes made me want to fly the B25 and the Mosquito. My steam IL2 1946 has many planes including those 2. When I checked my co-op missions I found one that Dai-san modified years ago based on the film 633 squadron. The mIssion starts in Scotland, near Peterhead, on the ground with engines off. There are 12 Mosquitos and 4 Spitfires for cover. We will fly across the north sea to Norway, navigate the fjords to a factory next to a mountain, which we will have to blow up. There are enemy antiaircraft positions dotted along our path, as well as a couple of ships and Me/BF 109s. If you survive the bomb run, you need to fly back to Scotland and land. I tried a few times, several crashes later, I got to Norway: Bomb run 1 - arrived intact at target, hit target, crashed into mountain. Bomb run 2 - hit in the head by AA. Bomb run 3 - arrived intact at target, blew up a railway car, took damage to port engine which seized, crashed while attempting to land on an island. So similar outcome to the film. This is an old game that many of you have. In order to play a co-op mission you have to have it installed locally. There is no dedicated server, so we will gauge interest in this and then agree on a time to play. Because the game is old you can fly it with the keyboard or xbox controller and I doubt that it will strain any PC we use today. A few things I learned the hard way through impatience. 1 Map the bomb bay doors, I used L CTRL B 2 On take off it is helpful to lock the tail wheel, it is not mapped, I used L CTRL W 3 There are 3 weapon fire triggers on a Mosquito, MG, Cannon and Bomb release, mine were all mapped to the joystick, identify the triggers before takeoff 4 Similarly make sure you know how to raise and lower flaps and landing gear and brakes 5 It is helpful to trim the plane, because I don't use the keyboard for flying I used the "arrow" keys We can tune the game to be easier or harder depending on our abilities, take off with torque turned on, for example, can be difficult. Twin engine planes are usually less of a problem but the Mosquito still needs rudder correction. Powerful single engine prop planes can be very hard to take off. We can turn off the torque gyro to avoid this problem. Similarly we can have unlimited fuel and/or ammo. I fly a lot of simulators but I am still pretty poor and complete rubbish at combat sims. That's why I prefer bombers, fighters are much harder for me to fly.

That Airshow looked amazing, I found a video with a few B25's flying at Duxford Good shout on the film, here are a lot of B25's taking off in Catch 22 I have been practising in DCS world, At the moment I have the F16 and F18 modules, they do have warbirds as well (P51, Spitfire, Me109 and FW190), but I will probably use IL2 for those. I can finally cold start, take off, navigate a preplanned route, land and shutdown. I still havent tried any combat. What is amazing in old combat plane is the engine management. After startup in a modern jet you only manage the throttle, and startup is only a few switches, Piston engine planes need more attention at all stages of flight.

4 flying B25s, I am jealous!! Better than 4 merlins, not so sure. Well when you build your model post it here, I would love to see it.

Have a great day.

That is beautiful, I dont have the talent to elevate to that level, I am a big fan of the B25 as well and have seen one in Florida that is flight ready, but was not flying when I saw it. I have a few models but, dont want to get into that until I get an air brush and compressor and I dont want to do that unless I am confident I will stick with it, which I am not.