DCS F/A-18C

Just tested and sure enough, after a full shutdown, if you try to run FCS BIT checks with both engines on, the FCS BIT will go to RESTRT and brick out. Shutting down the left engine and then running the checks results in a successful FCS BIT after this, but trim doesn’t seem to normalize.

Hmm. That seems odd? I mean I can’t think of a reason for it to work like that on purpose :slight_smile:

I was in a P-3 once that had to shut down all its engines to reset some computer bit thing that went awry…I guess it could happen…although I’d be surprised that something like that wold be programmed in.

Actually, I always thought it “looked wrong” when F-16’s started putting AIM-120 on their wingtips (I was DC2 for Operation Northern Watch, summer of 1998). When they were taxiing and hit a small bump, the whole wing would bounce a bit.

For some reason they prefer the amraam on the wingips and sidewinders on the outer pylons. perhaps the amraam gives less drag that way and is more effective as a counter-flutter-weight? Late 50s soviet warplanes had big chunks at the end of their wings to lessen wing flutter i the transsonics.

⦁ Complete the AIM-7 with addition of FLOOD, Home On Jam (HOJ), and LOFT sub-modes
⦁ Integrate AIM-120B/C for STT employment (TWS employment will come later)
⦁ Integrate AIM-9X Block I. This includes both flight dynamics and new tones. Afterwards, in August or September, we will add the Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS)
⦁ Complete RWS air-to-air radar mode with such features as Non-Cooperative Target Recognition (NCTR), AACQ mode, Latent Track While Scan (LTWS) mode, Pulse Repetition Frequency (PRF) settings, ability to change radar settings with TDC along outside of radar tactical area, radar speed gate setting, COLOR option, and more
⦁ Complete radar warning receiver functionality with contact symbols and modifiers, EW HUD, and the OFFSET function
⦁ Integrate Paveway II series laser-guided bombs (GBU-10, 12, and 16) with JTAC designation
⦁ Further tuning of flight model with touch and go performance, gear drag, half flaps drag, takeoff pitch characteristics, and extreme angle of attack performance
⦁ Brightness control for the HSI display
⦁ Multiplayer carrier deck spawning issues
⦁ Wingtip vortices errors at low airspeed

End of August we should see these things. @near_blind it would appear the cart isn’t too far in front of the horse with the radar, but we will see.

I’ll believe it when I see it, and leave it at that.

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I think it’s just a bug, but I tried several times to see if the right engine, left generator, right generator, or battery were the cause; it always took a shutdown of the left engine before the FCS BIT would succeed. Also, turns out that the trim issue was because after doing this procedure, the left leading edge flap would not reset.

That all sounds great! Looking forward to these features and fixes!

Yes, from what I heard from pilots that is exactly the reason the AMRAAMs switched to wingtip mounts for certain planes and not others.

I noted that bombs from dual racks single racks cannot be dropped in the same salvo. Is that how the real Hornet works? Such loadouts have apparently been used:

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Yeah, it lessens the chance of bombs hitting each other after release and limits asymmetrical loading.

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…and of course you don’t want to be too close to an FA-18 when it jettisons a Snake eye…

…but we used th say on good old VF-32, “A kill is a Kill”…just say’n :sunglasses:

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:astonished:

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The Skyhawk pair ejected ok according to wikipedia source. An inert Mk.82 and rack in a dive (the video doesn’t really show the dive so much).

During a NAVAIR weapons release test over the Chesapeake Bay, a McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18A-3-MC Hornet, BuNo 160782, c/n 8, out of NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, drops a vertical ejector bomb rack with an inert Mk. 82 bomb from the port wing, which shears off the outer starboard wing of Douglas TA-4J Skyhawk camera chase aircraft, BuNo 156896, c/n 13989, which catches fire as it begins an uncontrolled spin. Two crew successfully eject before the Skyhawk impacts in the bay, the whole sequence caught on film from a second chase aircraft. Video of this accident is widely available on the web
List of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft (1980–1989) - Wikipedia

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With summer here, things tend to slow down a bit with much of the staff taking their summer holidays. However, much of the Hornet work continues on items like the AIM-120, AIM-9X, compete AIM-7, complete RWS mode, JHMCS, LGBs, FPAS page, FM tuning, and other items. In the more near-term, here are some items coming in one of the two next updates.

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Ah that is too bad. That single Mk-83 seemed to be a nice use of the center station. But with Mk-83 on the wings usually being on VER, the center bomb can then only be used individually.

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Some cool features getting added.

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Question regarding CCIP/CCRP and Snakeyes: is the ASL in CCRP mode really, really, REALLY offset for some reason? And in CCIP mode, it feels like the offset is extreme as well. Is it done that way on purpose or am I missing something?

I’m fairly confident they’re not properly implemented yet.

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