How I Fly (Virtually for now)


About That Flight Simulator...



As I briefly mentioned in the first post, I recently put together a computer to use as a flight simulator to help teach me to fly and concepts of air combat. It is a program called DCS (Digital Combat Simulator), where I fly an F-16 Viper which is pictured below. It currently takes the place as the USAF's most flown fighter with over 700 in active duty, making it's systems the most applicable to specifics I need in learning.




What I'm Teaching Myself



For my own personal entertainment, I feel like this is segment I might do on a fairly regular basis. For obvious reason's learning to fly a full fidelity F-16 simulator is no easy task, so you are constantly being forced to learn new systems and tactics to employ those systems appropriately. This week I've been learning several Air-to-Ground systems my favorite of which is the HARM (High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile) which is used to destroy SAM sites (Surface to Air Missile). It is very in-depth and easily might be the most involved system yet. Due to the fact that they track off of radar radiation, it requires you to a target in order to actually fire. This forces the pilot to stay in danger so they can effectively eliminate the danger. It very quickly became a new favorite system because of the high stakes and missile evasion making you the pilot feel like Muhammad Ali dodging punches. Here are some more screenshots I took in the simulator to show what its like.







Now I'd actually really like to hear feedback, and I have a few vague ideas I have for future posts. If you have anything more you'd like to hear about me, the simulator, or just general aviation questions I'd happily write on it in a future post. I hope you all find it very interesting.


Thanks everybody,
Tyler



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Officer Selection

Image
ROTC Officer Selection In ROTC not everybody is guarunteed to get a spot as an Air Force Officer. There comes a point called PSP where everyone is stacked around the nation and the Air Force makes a selection based on those standings. This isn't always an easy process for cadets, so for many they may find they need to another year and try again, or even have to drop their aspirations to commission. As you may have guessed, this process has just begun for the sophomore cadets this year.  Looking Out For Your Wingmen The reason why I wanted to talk about this is because only about half of the cadets move on after PSP. It is imperative to look out for each other and insure the mental state of those who don't make it are still good. For this reason I will keep this post a little more brief as this is a stressful time for not only myself, but many cadets out there today. Keep a lookout for each and stay safe. On a good note, tomorrow will be much more lighthearted. A very big new ai...
Read more

Beyond Visual Range Combat

Image
The Basic concepts of Beyond Visual Range Combat  Now to preface this, most of the strategies and concepts I will be discussing are only associated with Digital Combat Simulator, nothing to do with real life strategies as that is entirely classified in every was imaginable.  What is it? Beyond Visual Range combat is air-to-air combat done between aircraft in a range of which from roughly 20 miles or further hence it being beyond visual range.  Energy Similar to WVR or BFM as talked about last week, energy, or speed, is crucial to success. If a missile is fired when the pilot is going very slow, inevitably the missile will also be slow. This will reduce it's range significantly. Faster = better in BVR.  Altitude Altitude is another crucial key to success in BVR combat. Higher altitude results in thinner air. Thinner air provides less drag on the aircraft and less drag on missiles, this also helps the missile go further. In a sense, the pi...
Read more

Week 2, Something New?

Image
A Normal Week? Nothing major has really happened in my journey this week physically. Mostly just a standard week of studying and learning essential information like inspirational quotes from past military leaders or major command bases. So there really isn't much to talk about (at least until big stuff starts happening hopefully soon). Something New... On a high note however, in my endeavors of teaching myself through a sim I actually decided to invest some time in another aircraft which the United States Air Force flies. The A-10c II, which is a ground attack aircraft designed to carry a large munitions payload and loiter on a battlefield for a long time. I decided to start flying it because I wanted to challenge myself to be able to fly as much as possible so that I can stay flexible so that when I fly IRL I can have a wider understanding on concepts I may not see in the F-16. In tomorrows update, I plan to talk quite extensively about the details of the new airplane and its capa...
Read more