Knowing and using are unfortunately far apart on the spectrum. I really enjoy manual bombing, and have developed a reasonable intuitive ability to do it (I mean after 30 years of simming, I’d be concerned if I hadn’t). However, if you handed me a given sight picture and gauges and asked me for corrections, I’d stare at it for an impractically long time muttering before I’d hazard a correction.
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For its time it did all right. You use it as a search radar in a few missions. It’s very limited, however, and the eyeball is certainly primary.
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FWIW, in order to earn a Bombing “E” in the Training Command, you had to have a CEP within 75ft.
I’d say this looks more like 50.
So, you get “an above in accuracy, continue in phase”! 
Now, let’s talk about dropping 10 degrees steep without aborting…
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Everytime I do…I end up upside down…so yeah…good call…
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Are…are the ejection handles in the same place?
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Black Sea Resolve - Mission 02 - Shipping Lanes
Our next mission is to protect some shipping inbound to Novo - the port that is the lifeline to Krasnodar. It is a rainy morning. I’m not sure if the mission designer specifically picked these conditions…or if they morphed into being over the course of updates to DCS World. The conditions look great…but probably aren’t ideal for a person trying to get the lay of the land with regards to the AO.
Our briefed mission has us going offshore to fly CAP over the approaching convoy.
Unfortunately…and this is where I have had a recurring problem with DCS World - mission designers don’t always account for the human condition. As we climb out I’m told to maintain contact with AWACS, but also to standby for orders. When AWACS calls out fast approaching aircraft…I turn to engage them. Apparently I wasn’t supposed to do that because I get no more triggered events until I actually go back to base later, low on fuel…
Whatever the case…since I never receive the message to concentrate on the Su-24s…I get into a scrap with MiG-21s instead… Neither of my missiles connect. I think I screwed up and maybe they are rear aspect only… But eventually I chase down a MiG-21 and gun him down…
By now I’ve been dragged north…and am on fumes getting back to base. I’m seriously wondering if the engines will flame out on short final…
I check the mission status…and see I’m only at 50% mission success. Apparently I was supposed to continue to the next waypoint…which would have triggered instructions for me to focus on the Su-24 attackers. As a result…all my ships got sunk.
Anyway - I’ll take the DRAW and proceed to Mission 3. I’ll try better to follow the mission briefing to the letter.
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Black Sea Resolve - Mission 03 - Shipping Lanes
So apparently this is a near repeat of Mission 02…in that a second convoy of ship will be attempting to make their way to Novo. With the lessons learned from the last mission…I’ll know to stay on station and wait for specific instructions.
This time the attackers are in two 4-ships…one consisting of MiG-23s and the other Su-17s. We are warned the the -17s carry long range anti-ship missiles…and they are the primary target…
On our way…
Soon we are given a vector to intercept. Unfortunately…as one would expect, we come across their escort flight of MiG-23s first. I actually DO spot them on radar this time. I mean…they are juicy targets…how do you NOT go engage them. Not to mention, I have no idea where the bombers are. So I do the prudent thing and order my flight of four F-5s to engage…
Despite a lot of maneuvering and being in a good spot to take a shot…my wingmen poach my pursuit and I end up not firing a single missile…
A call to AWACS confirms the second group…which is likely the bombers…but now they are heading away from us having not launched their anti-ship missiles. They retreat at buster speed to the coast and into the protection of their SA-6 site. Once the SA-6 site starts launching on my wingmen, I order them to return to formation and we break off the pursuit…
So what sucks about this situation is that we prevented the attack…no friendly ships were struck…but the mission design still only gives you 50% (a draw) because we didn’t actually shoot any of them down.
A flight of F-4s coming into the theater…
All ships are safe at the end of the mission…but still a 50% and I’d technically have to refly the mission (I won’t)…
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Black Sea Resolve - Mission 04 - RECON CAP
According to the briefing for our next mission about 70% of the ship convoy made it to port. Which is probably not far from accurate given my total failure on Mission 02 and somewhat redemption on Mission 03. Today’s mission is a CAP flight over a RECON on the other side of Krasnodarskoye Lake…it looks like the Russians are moving men and equipment towards the west.
Not long after takeoff…we get the call that there are waves of Mi-8 helicopters heading for Krasnodar airfield…
I order my wingmen to go weapons free. I’m actually able to pick up the helicopters…well…a couple of them…on my radar despite the ground clutter. Not that it matters…this will be a close-in fight. As we approach the airport I can already see Mi-8s unloading streamers of rockets and gunfire onto the friendly troops holding the airport. I get tone on an AIM-9 and get my first missile kill of the campaign…
The airspace over the airport is buzzing with enemy helicopters who are dropping troops off. There is a lot going on. Mixed in among them are a couple of friendly UH-1s that we have to be careful of. It is a scene reminiscent of the early battle of the War in Ukraine where the Russians attempted to take Hostomel with an airborne assault.
Further out to the east a forward placed SA-6 hassles us a bit. One of my three wingmen drifts a little too close and gets taken out by it…
My second missile shot misses…and then my gun runs against the slow moving helicopters are atrocious. I get a few more damaged…but no kills. I strafe some on the ground but am pretty terrible at it.
In the end…the outcome of the battle for the airport is a mystery until the next briefing…
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Black Sea Resolve - Mission 05 - CAS-AG
Apparently the Russians push for the airport failed with their heli-assault. This time they are sending a motorized column (again…shades of Hostomel!). Fortunately the column is advancing just on the fringe of their SAM coverage. Our flight will attempt to stop the column before they cross the river…followed up by a 4-ship of F-4s loaded with Maverick missiles.
I didn’t realize the F-5 was such a capable ground attack aircraft…it can actually haul quite a bit of ordnance…
Off we go for a quick attack on the bridge west of Krasnodar…
Soon after we takeoff the F-4 flight starts their sortie…
Lurking out to the east…
We get talked on to the enemy convoy…it is pretty easy to spot with the instructions…but red labels don’t hurt…
Enemy SAM sites start populating the RWR…
I don’t recall actually using high drag bombs…so I sort of do some guessing. I don’t recall using the interval and ripple settings either…so I put it on the max and sort of line up down the longitudinal axis of the advancing column…
Turns out…even on the highest ripple interval they are kind of close together…but I get enough damage on the first pass to get a MISSION PASS message…! I also take some damage from those darn sniper-accurate BMPs or BRDMs or B-whatevers…
I’ve taken some damage…and notice my air data computer is offline…I think also my communications are not working because I can no longer communicate with ATC or my wingman. I come around for a one-pass haul ass rocket attack… I dump all of them along the line…scoring a few more kills…
Meanwhile my wingman comes around for a pass and does a great job as well…
As I head back to base…the flight of F-4s checks in. They lob some Mavericks and then follow up with gun runs. By the end of it…there are dozens of destroyed or crippled vehicles…
The F-4s get some attention from the SA-6 (3?) site…
I believe I also have a fuel leak by the end of it all since I see the needles moving rapidly towards empty…
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Not necessarily, That’s also what happens when you are running away from the engagement area like a scalded dog using full afterburner. 
Wheels
I realize this thread has been going on forever. I started it at a strange time in my life…on the threshold of moving out…starting over. It was a bit of a life-ring for a bit. But I’ve never forgotten it. The last few installments I was flying the F-5 in the Black Sea Resolve campaign. I got about 5 missions in…and through no fault of the campaign designer…realized I really wasn’t having fun. Even the F-5…is just not my cup o’ tea…no offense. The original intent of this fantasy world thread was to go through a bunch of modules…exploring them as I went. But here we are…and F-16s have arrived in Ukraine. Flown by heroes. Supporting heroes. Fighting for their very existence and their homes. The indomitable spirit of Ukraine is simply astounding.
So…given the confluence of me not having a great time in the F-5…and the F-16 showing up in Ukraine…I pressed the fast-forward button. The intent was always to move into the F-16 from the F-5…so we aren’t skipping much…basically just the proving campaign that showed a bare minimum of competence in the airplane.
I’ve had the F-16 since it released. I don’t think I’ve flown it over the years more than maybe an hour or two (?)…just in free flight…not doing anything with it. Like I said…it hit at an odd point in my life. Things were changing long ago. So I am really excited to explore it a bit. Probably not to the depth I might have ten or fifteen years ago…but it should be fun.
And it doesn’t escape me that I’m cosplaying a Ukraine pilot in a Russian simulator…and even the training missions are in Russia. I briefly considered doing something with BMS - but there are qualities to DCS World that I do appreciate. I appreciate that everyone may not agree with this decision.
I will be using the stock training missions for the F-16 as provided by Eagle Dynamics. You know what I think would be cool to see…even though I know it isn’t going to happen - I’d love to see the NTTR map be made a free map and all training be moved to that map. There’s my wish. Anglocentric? Yeah…I guess…I don’t know. I just think it would be cool. I know I’m wrong. Feel free to tell me how wrong I am.
It is also worth mentioning that that font I’ve chosen to use in my AAR headers is called NASTUP BASIC…a little bit about that here:
“NASTUP BASIC – In 2022, stencil graffiti with an arrow and the word “Ukryttya” (Shelter) began to appear en masse on the buildings of Ukrainians. Designer Maksym Kobuzan, observing them amidst the sounds of explosions from Russian missiles and drones, wanted to use this modular stencil style but imbue it with a slightly different meaning. NASTUP means “offensive” in Ukrainian. By using this font, you support the idea that the war criminal Vladimir Putin will not stop until he is stopped, and only the Armed Forces of Ukraine and reinforced military support from civilized nations are capable of doing it.”
Our first mission is a simple start-up tutorial. Granted, after this initial training mission…we probably won’t all go through all the multitude of BIT checks and other “in the weeds” items that are included in a real F-16 startup checklist…but it was fun to go through it. And to be honest, I was surprised with how little there was to do compared to some much antiquated aircraft. (Bro…the Viper is just about as old as me…damn…)
Our UAF F-16 is a fictional paint scheme by Raven 7-1:
F-16C - 114th Tactical Aviation Brigade, Digital Pixel | Ukraine (Fictional)
As expected…the mission is flipping switches…observing parameters…and making sure things test correctly. Having only taken a glance at the F-16 in DCS World in VR…it is pretty amazing. The fonts on the warning panel…much like the Harrier…will require some squinting. But wow…what a view from that cockpit.
That’s cute…a $20 million USD Predator drone. Has General Atomics seen what these Ukrainians can do with a DJI Mavic? 
After some button pushing and testing…we are all booted up…well…the engine is started. I know ZERO about the navigation and MFDs and HUD…and radios…and…well…everything but starting the engine.
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Awesome!
If you do get in the habit of completing the FLCS BIT, that muscle memory will do you well if you try out BMS in the future 
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I’ve flown quite a bit of the DCS F-16, more than any F-16 since AF back in 2005/6 I think.
As Ukraine’s Euro MLU F-16s are basically blk 50 avionics but in an older 16A airframe, I think DCS’ version subs well. Main difference is the thrust and ability to carry certain weapons or not.
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I have to admit…after having been through the Yak, L-39, C-101, and F-5…the F-16 sure does feel whiz-bang. My Falcon 4 days are so far in the past…but there is some familiarity there…
Mission #02 is a simple taxi and takeoff with a hot start.
We also cover a few pre-taxi and pre-takeoff checks that weren’t covered in the cold start tutorial. I end up swapping out the bombs and external wing tanks for just some captive wingtip missiles and a belly tank. I thought a trainee hauling around 4,000 lbs. worth of bombs was probably an insurance risk…
Pressing buttons…flipping switches…
Soon we are ready to come out of the blocks. Wait what…???
I did download a nice quick checklist that has both expanded and scramble lines…useful for someone new to the jet…
I’m still amazed at the great view out of the cockpit. Love it in VR… We go through a few more checklist items including checking the fuel quantity. Fuel falls under one of those essential things.
A nice quick list of expectations. Of course, since I took the bombs and external wing tanks off…my acceleration was pretty brisk to say the least…
This isn’t a C-101… 
Yep…short roll and airborne and having to pull the throttle back. No idea what the gear retraction and extension limitations are…I’m gonna need to look those up…
The tutorial officially ends at takeoff…but never one to leave an aircraft airborne…I bring it around the pattern to land it. Not sure what the max landing weight is either…so I’m sure I’ll get written up or something.
So I am a little confused…for some reason I though the F-16 fly-by-wire was sort of like an Airbus in that you just roll and pitch, let go of the stick, and it maintains that commanded state - I did not find that to be the case… If I pitched to 10 degrees nose up…I found the nose would drop over a short period and I had to manually trim. Is that correct? I thought the plane was supposed to be smarter than me…
I just flew the AOA gauge down not knowing the proper speed. At one point I think I had speedbrakes out (airbrakes?)…I seem to recall the F-16 having different positions for that based on landing gear extension or not…
I probably did the wrong thing and tried to flare for a smoother landing…which probably gave me too high an AOA on touchdown. I don’t think I scrapped the nozzle…but it had to be close…
Fun stuff. The acceleration is phenomenal. The views out the canopy are amazing. I’m going to enjoy this plane.
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I’ve always used 300kts for the gear limitation and it hasn’t hurt me (in the F-16), I use Batlunette’s kneeboard which has a very abbreviated start checklist and a table of the rotation speeds for aircraft weights (Available here), but that checklist you’re using looks more complete!
On landing… I still teach (when asked) the old “hold the nose attitude and apply power to flare” method that the Falcon3 Advanced Tactics handbook suggested, but personally use a touch of power and a touch of back stick to flare (10 degrees nose up is fine, greater than 14 isn’t… again IIRC) - but I tend to come in fast with a bit of a nose-low attitude… it’s a sim
Also - I never realised it wasn’t Shift-/ in DCS, and would probably have told someone it was if anyone had asked me 
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Really?
You wouldn’t think it was, considering all the times I’ve waited for a Viper with fuel priority.
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It’s been great following along. Through the fire and the flames, both in your life and over in the east.
Viper is an awesome ride, isnt it? Hella deadly too.
“Single seat, multirole! We can fly right up our own @&&hole!”
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There was a podded version of the GAU-8, I think it was the GPU-5, but I could be wrong. IIRC testing showed what the F-16 lost in carrying a podded gun instead of more fuel was way more than what it gained from having the 30mm gun option.
Of course, the GPU-5 probably only existed to try to convince congress the USAF could retire the A-10 and buy/upgrade more F-16s in its’ place
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