Awesome story. Thanks for that, I’ve never had the runway lights issue, but good to know it’s a bug. Why does DCS have so many little things broken that never get any attention, lol. Is there a way to call the ship and request landing or something?
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Not that I know.
I wish that there was a way for the ship to give a slow count on FM, so that you can get a fix. But they seem to be in EMCON otherwise. Once you get within a mile or so, there is an exchange about port vs starboard, but I think that’s it until the “troop” unloads.
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Ship fences go down when you request landing over the radio. If the ship’s radio freq isn’t in the breifing or included docs, try 127.5 (default) or open up the mission in the Editor and find the unit. I doubt the freqs are set to 0.
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Sweet, that’s what I was wondering. I’ve never tried it, will have to check it out. If ships with a landing pad work as rudimentary ATC (like a field), then maybe the “request navigation assistance” would give you the bearing to the ship.
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That brings up a good question about EMCON. When an aircraft leaves the boat in that condition, how do they know where mother is when they return? From AWACS or other agency?
I would assume the boat tells them where it will be for recovery. I know that’s how it worked in EMCOM in the Raven One campaign, and the books as well. If that didn’t work, they would probably have to fire up a TACAN or rely on either’s radar, but I’m sure someone else here knows for sure.
Kevin Miller’s 3rd book, Fight Fight has a great chapter on trying to recover a pair of C-2 CODs on a long range resupply flight during EMCOM under IMC conditions. Pretty great nail biting chapter in a fun book.
They eventually end up launching a Hornet to perform a visual search, and then fire up the ICLS briefly for the recovery, IIRC. They deemed that a lower risk than using the radar or TACAN, I think, since it’s directional, and radiating away from the threat vector.
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Oh yes. Great scene that one. In fact great book. I thought that it raised Miller up to near Clancy level.
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Yes, I really have enjoyed all of his books, and the fact that he collaborated on the Raven One campaign for DCS is awesome.
Even with EMCON wouldn’t they have to fire up the TACAN anyway for DME in CASE II or III?
Oh definitely, but I think when the mission launched it wasn’t supposed to be a II or III approach.
Wait, I’m tired and misread what you said. I think the hornet set them up on final, and once established on final DME isn’t as important on a case II. I don’t remember; read the book lol!
Seriously, the audiobook on audible is great.
I got the opportunity to fire up a flight simulator tonight…might be for the first time since the xmas flight. I’ve been watching your favorable comments regarding this campaign, and decided to buy it tonight.
Man, I’m happy I did! I just did the first mission (well, the first one you actually fly) and it was really fun! Took a bit of fiddling to remember which radio is which, as it has been a few years…but it turns out I can still kinda sorta fly the Huey. 
I’m looking forward to flying this campaign, it has a really nice feel to it. They have clearly gone out of their way to make it as Vietnam as possible without an actual Vietnam map 
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Glad you like it!
Mission 6, my last time as slick pilot before moving to gunships. Screens lightened a little so they could be seen on the forum.
Loading supplies at HQ. I knew that we were going to be heavy, so I parked at the back of the pad to get a little extra room on the way out. I’ve been departing the NW corner through a break in the trees, and this has worked well.
Enroute to a hot LZ to drop ammo and water. Just before fence in. I guess that for some people the war hasn’t changed much.
I made two passes over the north end of the LZ to let the door gunners work over the bad guys and also to check for obstructions. We ended up coming in fast and low from the reservoir side and slid in beside our troops.
Is this LZ hot enough for you? Actually, the dust effect is a bit overdone at night. The besieged troops unloaded quickly. Being lighter, we departed on the north side LZ using the trees for cover.
On the way to a LORP extraction. I couldn’t get the slow count homing to work, so we flew around in the general area until they whispered to us on the Fox Mike that we were right on top of them.
The gooks held their fire until we landed, the devious bastages they are. Then all hell broke loose. Fortunately, we were loaded quickly and with everyone shooting on full boogaloo, I grabbed full pitch and came out of there into the wind on a slight downhill. The enemy kept up their fire, but we were gone before receiving major damage. The LORP team was yelling and giving high fives in the back, we had come out of there so fast. In the distance, we could see the firefight at the north end of the reservoir still raging.
We dropped off the team at HQ and someone returned to throw on a case of Bud. Once we get underway. I told the crew chief to pass them around. Even warm, they tasted good as hell.
Just to prove that in the Nam, there are many ways to die, not all of them in combat, we were almost taken out by a BUF on final. Even though we were cleared direct and lit up like a Christmas tree, it was damn close.
Once safely in the revetment with the bird shut down, I sat for a while working on my second Bud, unwilling or unable to walk until my nerves calmed. A tap on the shoulder brought me out of my contemplative state, “The CO wants to see you - now.”
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I’m looking forward to de-blurring these stories 
The first mission was just the right amount of challenge as a reintroduction…looking forward to brushing up my flying to survive the rest.
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All that I can say is that you’re in for a treat Bearhedge. Your Huey chops will be excellent when this one is done.
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Great AAR, enjoyed reliving that mission haha!
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I am reading this thread with one spoiler eye closed and I want to tackle it soon but I am getting my VR setup squared away first. Quick question, thought, while everyones attention is here: what are the skills or commands that are required in order to give this a go. I hate pausing VR and going to look something up from Chucks Guides so a small list of things to pay attention to before digging in would be very appreciated
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You’re in for a treat!
The Huey is really a very simple bird and simple systems. It’s very HOTAS friendly because there aren’t a great deal of controls you need mapped, and the few that are spread around the cockpit only get used during startup so it’s easy to click around the cockpit with your mouse.
I would second Chuck’s guide for controls mapping. You may find better mappings that work for you later, but that’s a solid start. Then, if you’re unfamiliar with the Huey, watch the Laobi 1-minute DCS videos if only to learn where everything is. Then go practice hovering, takeoffs and landings for an hour or two, and Bob’s your uncle! 
The only control I had any trouble with was figuring out the radios: you need to map the pilot’s transmit switch, instead of the comm menu, and you need to turn the ICS selector (back of the center pedestal) to the radio you intend to transmit on.
One more thing to pay attention to, especially as you get heavier, are engine limitations. Normally in the Huey we are only paying attention to torque, since on the Caucasus the outside air temperature is relatively low most of the time. Well, in the Marianas it’s definitely not, and in hot weather, EGT becomes the limiting factor. The engine will exceed that limit before approaching the torque limit.
When you do your hover check, you can determine what the max torque you can pull before you redline EGT, and that can let you glance at the torque gauge later, since torque is instant while EGT has some lag, but be careful because this relationship is altitude dependent and will change as altitude/temperature vary. Just be conservative when pulling collective and you will be fine, but you will find yourself watching that gauge like a hawk, reminiscent of flying the P-51.
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