That is interesting to read and watch. It is a no-brainer to use off the shelf software for such a cost effective training solution even if it isn’t exactly perfect. It goes a long way towards getting familiar with the cockpit real-estate…pretty nifty.
Moving on with our Ukraine Pilot Training - we’ve spent some time doing some basic flying in the Yak-52, gotten familiar with the L-39, and done a mini combat tour in the L-39ZA. Since we are headed towards flying Western equipment…next in line for our training will be the C-101EB as we adopt Western style avionics and cockpit architecture. As many of you know, I’m probably the biggest fan of the C-101 module for DCS World - it is really well done and worth every penny.
The first training mission for the C-101EB is a long one. I clocked it at about 50 minutes give or take. It is a complete introduction to the C-101 cockpit and explains a bit of the why and how of some of the procedures. You really have to settle in for this mission and accept that you may already know some of the stuff, but it is a superbly constructed training mission that feels closer to reality than many of the other module training missions that skim over a lot of details. Again, this is part of the reason I like the C-101 module so much is that you can tell a lot of love and passion was invested in the project.
Our slightly modified training skin for the Ukrainian Air Force…
The gorgeous C-101EB front and rear cockpits. Not slinging mud at the L-39, but my sense of relief at seeing a familiar avionics layout is palpable. Note - I did not invest in the NS430 cockpit mount for the EB…but you will see it later in the CC…
The tutorial sweeps through the cockpit from left to right. Different stages address the pre-start cockpit switch layouts and start…and they are very thorough. I think there are more than forty steps to the pre-start check where you are ensuring the cockpit is set up for start.
A nice touch is the visible and audible GPU connection when you are using ground electric power…
The tutorials go a bit beyond just where to put switches…with some components getting a nice description of the why and how of certain systems…
I might need the smaller text VR mod…I think one exists out there…
Finally got to the engine start portion and we are up and running…
Putting the flaps and speedbrake (air brake?) through the tests…
So after about 45-50 minutes we are through all the checks. Obviously, sim pilots are probably not going to exhaustively check every system everytime they fly. Nor would a real pilot take this long - familiarity and flows and not having to listen to an explanation of things would distill this mission down to maybe 10 minutes in a more real-world scenario. No flying on this mission though…just cockpit and procedures familiarization.