I don’t think that you’ll be disappointed Scoop. And you have access to the best possible alternative, other than flying the real thing!
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Sent Reflected’s Startup Video to dad… he sent back pictures of the checklist. It’s for a C Model and not the latest revision (-1CL I think) be he thinks he can still get her lit off!
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Of course he can. He’s a goddamn Air Force pilot! 
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But only when slow (high AoA), which makes sense. It’s when fast (low AoA) where rudder usage gets murkier for me. I remember in all the teaser trailers whoever was flying that thing was using so much rudder there was severe proverse yaw, which always struck me as odd. Conventional wisdom (second-hand) for analog jets is no rudder at low AoA, yes rudder at high AoA.
To be fair though, the first release of any module doesn’t have a perfect flight model, so I suppose the only thing to do is experiment with personal best-practices until it gets changed, if it gets changed.
Also, has anyone figured out how to turn off the red console floodlights? The instrument floods have an off switch, but the console floods 3-position switch just changes the brightness, and I can’t find an off switch anywhere in the manual(s) or the cockpit.
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Got the same response on my first attempt. I took it as a compliment. Pure luck. The second and third…crickets [from Jester]. Got to thinking too much after the first one I guess.
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I have had one “Nice Job” or words to that affect….the rest of my landings either weren’t worth commenting on, or prompted complete sarcasm 
.
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“Window key” + “Home” - I just tested it, to see if it worked last time 
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It the opposite for me- lineup was ok, speed and aoa were all over the place, and I got it back onto the runway before somehow skidding, drifting, flipping, and dying- but not fire balling.
I know I missed the altitude cues for where I was supposed to end the descent, and barely kept it out of the water.
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Using quick start is never something to be ashamed of, but unlike the switch nightmares of modern aircraft (and the MiG-21!!) she seems easy to get going if you let Jester handle the INS.
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Guys, I have just learned the obvious. Today, I flew all day, over a dozen sorties with a friend in the back. He’s a much better pilot than me but he wanted to learn the radar. We actually never locked up an enemy except when I was using my own ACM modes. But just having him call what’s on our six and time the flares and our missile breaks made us 10 times better than I could ever be in the MiG, or dependent on Jester in the Tomcat or Phantom. We got four human kills and died twice (once from running out of gas). (Good) Human WSOs RULE!
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Can confirm: I’ve had similar experience in the Strike Eagle, which I’m normally comfortable enough driving by myself from the front seat 
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When I live streamed the Phantom the day before release I recall Jester called me out for a “Navy Landing”.
Came down on the runway hard and fast
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I haven’t managed a landing yet that will have anything less than a disparaging comment from Jester. Apparently I fly like a jarhead 
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Landings are Cessna-like for me. I just come in at a speed that’s just a smidge above an AOA the gives the first beep tones. Then chop the power across the numbers. Land in a soft stall. Nice!
Takeoffs? My takeoffs SUCK! I’ve tried various negative trim; some positive trim (not recommended). Full stick; half stick. That last one is best but still PHUGLY (literally!)
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I have settled on pretty much the technique that’s described in the manual. It works very well for me.
What I do when the main gear comes off the ground depends on wheight, the rest is always the same:
- Trim 3° nose down
- Hold brakes, RPM to 85%, release brakes, full burner
- Stick full aft once Jester calls 80 knots
- Hold full aft until the main gear comes off the ground
- With a light to medium loadout you will now have to release a tiny bit of aft pressure but not much
- At MTOW you need to hold full aft until you are well clear of the runway
- Gear up, flaps up
- hold the climb and trim it out
- out of burner at 300 knots or if you are heavy keep climbing in full AB for a while
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I’ve managed takeoffs and general flying now. Pitch 2° ND works better for me than 3° for some reason. The pitch issue I’m having is definitely something with how the flight controls are modeled: I can see the simulated diamonds in the controls indicator do things that don’t match the diamond representing my actual stick. When they all align, things are good. When they don’t, the nose does funky things. For now it’s easy enough to keep them aligned as long as I’m paying attention.
Landing though, after that one greaser I’ve been doing Navy landings. I pull off power and give aft stick expecting my AoA to increase, but instead my Aoa remains unchanged and my descent rate doubles. For the life of me I can’t get slower than -500fpm while on-speed…in a very light jet (3,000~4,000lbs fuel, empty centerline), and she wants to plummet at -1,000fpm any time I try to increase my AoA.
I settled on flying the approach a tad faster than on speed, aiming for the fast tone just above on speed tone, with the airbrake partially extended to keep engine RPM high and then I flare and extend the airbrake fully to set her down. I’ve managed quite a few landings that felt just right and Jester was either pleased or didn’t comment so they must have been okay.
It’s quite a high workload though and there are still plenty of landings where Jester complains but they are getting less frequent the more I practice.
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LOL… I don’t think he’s looking to take any shortcuts.
The discussion around using rudder intrigued me a bit as it didn’t sound right for jets in general or my (brief) experience in the DCS F-4 in particular.
So, I decided to try a few things when I got home.
As a baseline, I started at 15K, 300KIAS, level in a 30-degree banked turn (Case I).
This gave me about a 1/2 Standard Rate turn with a requirement of about 5 degrees of pitch. Note, I am not applying any rudder. The ball is slightly displaced but, honestly, so little that I would not have been generally disposed to step on it.
Case II: 200KIAS. Same AOB. Gear and flaps up. Slightly greater turn rate as you might expect. Though the AOA is creeping up towards 15, I still only require about 9 degrees of pitch but a bunch more power, no surprises.
Still no rudder and with no more deflection of the ball.
Case III: Same same, 450KIAS. If I understand correctly, this is about the speed where it was stated that more rudder was required. But again, no manual rudder input here and what I would think of as a fairly “normal” turn. I just can’t find the requirement for a big bootfull of rudder in this regime…it feels like the ADI/YD is acting as it should. 
Case IV: I decided to wrap her up a bit. Still 450(ish), 60 degrees AOB, 2G. She seems to hold a pretty flat turn, in that she doesn’t need to have a high nose high attitude to fly a level turn at higher G (i.e. she doesn’t feel prone to “nosefall”).
Still no rudder in the steady state turn and I don’t really notice a ton of adverse yaw on entry/exit.
Case V: Gear down, flaps down, on speed. From what some indicated earlier, I kind of expected that this case would surely require a goodly bit of rudder. But still a fairly centered ball. Lots of power required at this altitude and speed of course!
Now, there is a certain amount of lag as the jet enters or leaves a turn if entered aggressively enough. But I still don’t feel like it’s excessive or unusual and not more than I’d expect from the Stab Aug’s “settling time”.
The Strike Eagle (to try to stay in class) does it too. This is a series of turn reversals. Note the ball in the left hand MPCD.
Unfortunately, I don’t have the Tomcat to compare it to. But, if you watch the BFM scenes in Top Gun, watch how the Tomcat rolls. It looks like it’s flopping on its back, not rolling on its axis. Compare it to how cleanly the Skyhawk rolls.
I think we’re seeing some similar effects in the Phantom.
Last thing. There’s a certain amount of VVSA (Velocity Vector Separation Anxiety ) when switching between VV and no VV aircraft. Once you get your head around the VV, it becomes natural to view “it” as “you”. The fact that all the other HUD elements are swinging all over the place, gets largely filtered out by your brain.
Try it. Take your jet of choice up and start a loaded roll with it. Notice how rock solid the VV looks to you? Notice all the crazy crap the waterline is doing? Ever notice that before?
When you lose the VV, it can feel disorienting not knowing where the aircraft is actually going and the effects that are always occurring can feel more pronounced…if you even noticed them at all previously.
I’m not saying that this thing flies like an F-16. But I personally can’t seem to find the rudder requirement that others seem to notice.
Is it possible that it’s a control issue? Maybe something they left out of the checklist?
Just some thoughts.
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I’ve always noticed this and I’m glad you mentioned it. Looks like the roll starts at the wingtip rather than on the centreline. If you know what i mean.
I know, that sounds stupid. But its the only way i could describe it
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