Progress Report

Thought I'd do a progress report to say where I'm up to so far as Falcon training goes!

• Ramp Start OK, usually remember how to start up most of the time!
  
• Air-to-Air Missiles OK in standard Air-to-Air mode and Dogfight Mode (most of the ones in the Instant Action / Air-to-Air TEs anyway)
  
• CCIP OK.
  
• CCRP OK.
  
• Rockets OK.
  
• LGB OK.
  
• Maverick OK in radar mode (i.e. lock up target on GM/GMT/SEA screen, then fine tune with missile seeker head screen.)
  
• Harm OK using the external pod.
  
• UHF Tower Comms OK (i.e. setting up the tower frequency after ramp start)
  
• ILS OK, not tried it that much though.
  
• Autopilot seems simple enough
  
• Mid-air Refueling, still not so much.

Haha, great. Sent Skip a PM yesterday to ask where you're at atm, and next day, this pops up. (not saying there's a connection, but it's funny )


Just a question:
"UHF Tower Comms OK (i.e. setting up the tower frequency after ramp start)"

Why only set tower frequency AFTER ramp start, when it's a lot easier to set it through the UI? (could post a small how-to, if you want)


Anyway, glad to see you're making good progress.

Eagle-Eye wrote:Why only set tower frequency AFTER ramp start, when it's a lot easier to set it through the UI?

No reason in particular, it's just that's how it was done in the ramp start video I was using as a guide.

I've had a go at changing the Data Cartridge settings but that was mainly for changing the countermeasure pre-sets - any knowledge you have to share would be appreciated though, thanks.

Probably included to show frequency plays an important role now, I guess...

How to do it in UI is on this screenshot (click on it if you don't see full image):


In order:
1) Click DTC
2) Click Reset to make sure first 14 frequencies are standard (AI uses all those, so best to keep them there)
3) Select Preset you want for TWR (in this case 15; keep in mind communication between different flights and ATC will use UHF 99% of the times)
4) Click "Set Tower" to set correct frequency of departure AD
5) Select current channel as default
6) Save

Then you can close DTC, hop in the jet, and U15 will be the starting radio channel, so you can immediately start communicating with ATC.
Note: Step 2 can be skipped if already using the default presets.

Another reason to change presets this way is in case you need to use the BUP radio when UFC doesn't work anymore. In BMS, we can't set specific frequencies in the BUP, but we can set UHF presets (however, always defaulting to #6, iirc)

Thanks for the info, I'll give it a shot.

While on the subject of the DTC.

Is there a recommended setup for the countermeasures? As there seems to infinite possibilities for the timing of sequence bursts of just chaff, just flare, and both.

Also it may be worth noting that the countermeasure setup up is saved, but you have to set the tower frequency each time.

Afaik, CMS settings will change for every mission in real life, depending on the threats.

To simplify things, though, I'm now using a setup where the CMS programs "switch" every time. Don't know the exact values I'm using anymore, but it's basically like this:
1) medium chaff, no flares
2) no chaff, medium flares
3) medium chaff, low flares
4) low chaff, medium flares
5) high chaff, no flare (Panic Switch 1)
6) no chaff, high flare (Panic Switch 2)

PGM 1 - 4 are low-rate long-running release (4x release every .75 or 1 second or so, 2 or 3 bursts with 2.5 sec interval)
PGM 5 - 6 are high-rate short-running release (4x release every .25 second, 2 or 3 bursts with 1 sec interval)


99% of my flight time, I have PGM 1 selected for CMS Up, and PGM 6 for CMS Left (default), giving me a good all-round protection. When I go for a low level attack (runway run, pop up, ...), I'll switch to PGM 4, to protect me from both SAM and IR Launchers, and initiate it when I start my run. By the time I'm done and leaving, so is the PGM (approximately).