THE NEW BENCHMARK IN FLIGHT SIM TECHNOLOGY ¨
TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ..................................................................................................... xvi About Falcon 4.0 ............................................................................................ xvi How to Use This Documentation ............................................... xvii Chapter 1: Learning How to Fly .................................................................... 1-1 Overview ...............................................................
Initial Conditions ...................................................................... 2-14 Mission Description ................................................................ 2-14 ACMI Debrief ............................................................................ 2-15 Mission 7: High-Speed Over-the-Top Maneuver ............... 2-16 Training Mission Overview ................................................... 2-16 Initial Conditions .................................................................
Overview of Air-to-Air Radar Modes ..................................... 4-2 ACM ............................................................................................... 4-3 The B-Scope ................................................................................. 4-6 RWS ............................................................................................... 4-7 TWS ............................................................................................ 4-11 VS ........................
Initial Conditions ......................................................................... 5-7 Mission Description ................................................................... 5-7 Mission 19: CCRP With Unguided Bombs ........................... 5-12 The CCRP Bombing Triangle ................................................ 5-12 CCRP HUD Symbology .......................................................... 5-13 Training Mission Overview ...................................................
The Targeting Pod Display .................................................... 5-45 HUD Displays ............................................................................ 5-47 Training Mission Overview ................................................... 5-47 Initial Conditions ...................................................................... 5-47 Mission Description ................................................................ 5-47 Mission 26: HARM Air-to-Ground Missile ..........................
Mission 30: Defensive BFM ......................................................... 8-8 Training Mission Overview ................................................... 8-11 Initial Conditions ...................................................................... 8-11 Mission Description ................................................................ 8-11 Mission 31: Head-On BFM ......................................................... 8-14 Options at the Pass .................................................
Building Tactical Engagements ............................................. 11-15 Tactical Engagement Terminology ................................... 11-15 The Tactical Engagement Editor ....................................... 11-16 Mission Builder ...................................................................... 11-17 Map Menus ............................................................................. 11-19 Mission Builder Tools ..........................................................
Personal Data ........................................................................... 13-4 Squadron Patch and Name .................................................. 13-4 Rank ............................................................................................ 13-4 Career Statistics ....................................................................... 13-5 Campaign Statistics ................................................................ 13-5 Dogfight Statistics .............................
ACMI File Size .......................................................................... 16-5 Graphics ............................................................................................ 16-6 Video Driver .............................................................................. 16-6 Video Card ................................................................................. 16-6 Resolution .................................................................................
Attitude Director Indicator ................................................... 17-10 Vertical Velocity Indicator .................................................... 17-11 Horizontal Situation Indicator ............................................. 17-11 Ejection Handle ....................................................................... 17-13 Kneeboard ................................................................................ 17-13 Voice Message System ............................................
SOI (Sensor of Interest) .......................................................... 18-6 Break-X ....................................................................................... 18-6 RPM ............................................................................................. 18-7 Other HUD Modes ......................................................................... 18-7 NAV Mode ................................................................................. 18-7 Air-to-Air Missile .........
Simplified Mode ............................................................................. 21-5 Air-to-Air Mode ......................................................................... 21-6 Ground Map Mode .................................................................. 21-9 Realistic Mode ................................................................................ 21-9 FCR Page ...................................................................................
Flight Radio Commands ............................................................. 23-4 Combat Management Page ................................................. 23-5 Mission Management Page ................................................. 23-7 Formation Management Page ............................................. 23-8 Identification Management Page .................................... 23-11 Tower Radio Commands ......................................................... 23-11 Tanker Radio Commands ........
Takeoff and Climbout ............................................................... 27-12 Ingress ..................................................................................... 27-12 Threat Reaction .................................................................... 27-15 Dealing With Enemy Aircraft ............................................ 27-16 Dealing With SAMs ............................................................. 27-17 Dealing With AAA ................................................
INTRODUCTION
About Falcon 4.0 Falcon 4.0 carries on a proud tradition of presenting the most accurate, realistic and engaging F-16 flight simulator available anywhere. In Falcon 4.0 you’ll pilot the F-16 Fighting Falcon, one of the premier dogfighting and air-to-ground combat aircraft in the world today. A favorite of experienced combat pilots, the F-16 is widely used by the United States and allied air forces. Falcon 4.0 simulates the F-16 with unbelievable fidelity. This is as real as it gets! Inside Falcon 4.
INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION Campaign is the final challenge. In it, you’re a highly trained F-16 pilot, a combat veteran assigned to a combat theater in which you’ll play a vital role. The Falcon 4.0 Campaign uses a complex real-time simulation engine that wages a major war on the Korean peninsula. Many battles are being fought simultaneously as you fly your sorties. If you successfully complete your missions, the enemy will be deprived of crucial supplies and your side will gain the edge.
Don’t feel overwhelmed by the amount of material presented here. If you’re new to flight simulations, start with The Cadet’s Guide which describes the simplified avionics and flight model. Use the training missions in Part 1 of this manual to learn more about the F-16. If you need help on the interface screens, click the Help icon (which looks like a question mark) for more information. Also, don’t forget to check out our Web site at www.falcon4.
PART 1: TRAINING MISSIONS Chapter 1: Learning how to fly CHAPTER 2: LEARNING TO TURN CHAPTER 3: LANDING AND NAVIGATION CHAPTER 4: AIR-TO-AIR WEAPONS CHAPTER 5: AIR-TO-GROUND WEAPONS CHAPTER 6: AIR-TO-AIR REFUELING CHAPTER 7: MISSILE THREAT REACTION CHAPTER 8: BASIC FIGHTER MANEUVERS CHAPTER 1 LEARNING HOW TO FLY
Part 1 of this Flight Handbook consists of 31 training missions. The missions themselves are located in the Tactical Engagement section of the game, and the mission descriptions and instructions are contained here in the manual. The missions are task-oriented and teach very specific skills. We’ll provide all the instruction you’ll need to complete each learning objective, but there is one caveat. The training missions use a building block approach.
learning how to fly TRAINING MISSION SETUP All of these training missions assume a specific setup. Please follow these instructions for all of the 31 training missions: CHAPTER 1 1. Select Setup from the main menu. 2. Click the Simulation tab at the top of the window. 3. Select “Ace” from the Skill Level option. This will set the Flight Model, Avionics, Weapons Effects, Autopilot, Air Refueling and Padlocking to the proper options. 4.
FREEZE MODE You can always press sP at any time during the training mission to “freeze” the game. Unlike the regular pause mode (P key), freezing the game lets you operate all the F-16 avionics and instruments, most notably the radar. Note that the mission clock keeps ticking in Freeze mode. If you are supposed to be at a specific location at a specific time, the time you spend in Freeze mode counts against you.
learning how to fly CHAPTER 1 Since Falcon 4.0 flies like the real jet, it should be relatively easy to fly. Just because flying the jet is easy, however, does not mean that it is effortless or that there is no learning curve. This mission will help you master flying so you can go on to the more complex and demanding air combat tasks. We will also cover a few displays and instruments that are also shown in other parts of this manual. Everything you need to fly this mission will be presented here.
Gun cross AOA = difference in degrees between gun cross and flight path marker Flight path marker The gun cross is the small cross symbol at the top of the HUD. It is an important reference since it represents the nose of the aircraft. Keep in mind that the gun cross is not where the aircraft is pointing (although it is very close to where the aircraft is pointing). The difference between the gun cross (the nose of the aircraft) and the flight path marker is the AOA (Angle of Attack).
learning how to fly HUD CONTROL OPTIONS Figure 1-1 shows all the HUD displays called up, which is the way that I fly in both Falcon 4.0 and the real F-16. Not all fighter pilots, however, use the HUD the same way, so you can configure your HUD display to suit your needs. CHAPTER 1 Press H to declutter the HUD. The first time you press H, it will remove the pitch ladder, the second time will remove the flight path marker. Press H a third time to return to the default HUD display.
The airspeed indicator shows the aircraft’s airspeed in hundreds of knots. When the red needle is on the “4,” you are going 400 knots. The altimeter shows the MSL altitude (altitude above sea level) of the aircraft on the round dial. The digital readout on the inside of the dial shows the altitude in thousands of feet. The white needle on the dial displays the altitude in hundreds of feet. HUD AOA INDICATOR Figure 1-4a The AOA indicator is a tape that shows the angle of attack of the aircraft.
learning how to fly The RPM gauge shows the revolutions per minute of the turbine blades at the core of the engine. RPM is shown as a percentage, with 100% being the fastest the engine can go and 0% being an engine that is not turning at all. 70% is idle power. RPM is directly tied to throttle position, which controls how much thrust the engine produces. CHAPTER 1 TRAINING MISSION OVERVIEW This mission starts with the Falcon in the air.
To get a closer look at the world, press L. Press L again to return to normal view. You can also press 7 and 1 on the numeric keypad to zoom an outside view further in or out. Falcon 4.0 has additional views, but they will not be needed in this mission. 2. Bring up the 2-D Cockpit by pressing 2. Press sP again to unfreeze the game. 3. Set the RPM gauge to 85% by using the throttle on your joystick or press + or - to set the throttle. 4. Move your joystick left to start an easy left turn.
learning how to fly 6. Next, we will practice climbs and descents. To climb, align the HUD flight path marker with the 5° pitch line. Notice that the aircraft starts to climb and that both the cockpit and HUD altimeters show increasing numbers and that your airspeed decreases (if you don’t, add more power). In addition, the movement of your flight path marker lags slightly behind your control inputs.
HUD altitude options. The next series of maneuvers we are going to practice are called HARTs, which stands for “Horn Awareness Recovery Training.” These maneuvers are used to train the pilot to recognize and recover from a nose high attitude. When the jet is above 45° nose high and the airspeed goes below 170 knots, the low speed horn comes on. Actually, it is a combination of pitch (nose relative to the horizon) and airspeed. Figure 1-7 shows the low speed warning horn chart used by the F-16.
learning how to fly because you are pulling Gs, but it will come back down as you ease the pull to set your pitch angle at 70°. Figure 1-8 shows the climb. 4. Once the jet is inverted, start a smooth pull to get your nose down below the horizon. Once the nose of the jet is below the horizon, stop pulling on the joystick and let the nose fall through the horizon. Keep the jet inverted (upside-down). CHAPTER 1 3. The horn will come on at about 170 knots.
Next, determine the callsign of your flight. Click the Briefing icon (which looks like an easel on the bottom of the screen). The third section, labeled “Package Elements,” shows the name of your flight. In this case, your flight is Cowboy 1. In the section labeled “Ordnance,” your aircraft is highlighted in green. In this case, your aircraft is Cowboy 12 (One–Two). When you hear ATC call “Cowboy One” or “Cowboy One–One,” they are talking to your entire flight.
learning how to fly CHAPTER 1 GUN CROSS AIRSPEED Figure 2-2 cleared for takeoff.” In either case, the entire flight is cleared to take off. 3. Increase your throttle to full afterburner by pressing s+. 4. Fly the jet straight down the runway using the joystick or rudder pedals to steer. Pay attention to both the runway and the airspeed gauge in the HUD. 10° PITCH LINE GUN CROSS Figure 2-3 5. When the airspeed gets to 150 knots, pull the gun cross up to the 10° line in the HUD.
Figure 2-4 6. As soon as you are airborne and climbing, raise the landing gear by pressing G. This will happen quickly, so be ready to raise the gear as soon as you get airborne. Warning: do not exceed 300 knots with the gear down while flying or you will damage the landing gear. 7. Confirm the gear are up by switching to the lower left console (by pressing Z on the numeric keypad followed by A on the numeric keypad).
CHAPTER 2 LEARNING TO TURN
In this chapter, you’ll start by learning how to make basic turns and then advance to more complicated maneuvers at a variety of airspeeds. Mission 3: Max G turn at corner airspeed The objective of this training mission is to practice maneuvering the jet in a tight turn. Turning the jet is a very important combat skill. Fighter aircraft like the F-16 Fighting Falcon are designed and built for one purpose: to close with the enemy and shoot them down.
Learning to turn This sounds great at first, because it appears that all we have to do to optimally turn the jet is to fly faster than 330 knots. This is not true. Above 440 knots, you can still pull 9 Gs, but your turn radius increases dramatically while your turn rate actually goes down. This is because above 440 knots, the jet’s flight control system does not allow you to pull any more than 9 Gs. The extra airspeed then only hurts your ability to turn the aircraft.
The PS chart shows a series of fluid lines that represent specific energy states of the F-16 at an altitude of 15,000 feet and a drag index of zero. The drag index is determined by what is loaded externally on the jet. The zero PS line is the area of the chart where the jet can maintain airspeed and altitude for a specific G load. The PS lines that have negative values represent a flight regime in which the jet will lose either airspeed or altitude.
Learning to turn 6. Roll the jet either right or left and set the wings between 75°–85° of bank. Figure 3-2 shows the proper movement of the joystick and the corresponding response of the aircraft wings. The side-toside movement of the joystick controls aircraft roll. CHAPTER 2 7. Pull all the way back on the stick to command the maximum G possible. Forward and backward movement of the joystick controls aircraft pitch as shown in Figure 3-3. Pitch essentially equates to aircraft Gs.
8. Keep pulling around the turn, trying to maintain 330–440 knots, until you are back to your original heading (thereby making a full 360° turn). Since this is a canned maneuver, you have the luxury of using the HUD to help you make this level turn. Figure 3-4 shows the HUD flight path marker, the HUD level line and your airspeed and altitude scales. LEVEL PITCH LINE FLIGHT PATH MARKER AIRSPEED ALTITUDE Figure 3-4 9. During this turn, drag the flight path marker across the level pitch line in the HUD.
Learning to turn Figure 3-5 shows what do with the joystick in order to correct a climb or dive during this turn. 11. Press F to stop the ACMI recording. 12. Press q and then select “End Mission” to end the training mission. One last point: in this training mission, we used the HUD to make a level turn. In most combat situations, however, your attention will be focused on the bad guys and you will not be able to use the HUD to make a perfectly level turn.
330–440 knots. Remember from Training Mission 3 that corner airspeed is the speed at which the jet can make the quickest, tightest turn. TRAINING MISSION OVERVIEW In this mission, you will practice max G level turns starting well above corner airspeed. This lesson demonstrates the effects of trying to turn the jet at too high an airspeed. If you fly well above corner airspeed, the turn rate of the jet goes down and the turn radius increases dramatically.
Learning to turn 5. Pull all the way back on the stick to command maximum G possible. Front and back movement of the joystick controls aircraft pitch as shown in Figure 3-3. Pitch essentially equates to aircraft Gs. Figure 4-1 shows the HUD flight path marker, the HUD level line, and your airspeed and altitude scales. LEVEL PITCH LINE FLIGHT PATH MARKER CHAPTER 2 ALTITUDE AIRSPEED Figure 4-1 6. During this turn, drag the flight path marker across the level pitch line in the HUD.
Labels: Name, Airspeed, Turn Rate and Turn Radius Selected Wireframe Terrain Wing Trails: Maximum Vehicle Magnification: x8 Use the view controls to view the turn from directly overhead. Note the turn rate and radius of your turn. It should take approximately 35 seconds to complete a 360° turn in your F-16. The turn radius for this turn is approximately 6,500–7,000 feet. The objective of this mission is to see how flying too fast will adversely affect your turn performance.
Learning to turn 5. Roll the jet and set the wings between 75°–85° of bank. Figure 3-2 shows the proper movement of the joystick and the corresponding response of the aircraft wings. The side-toside movement of the joystick controls aircraft roll. 6. Pull all the way back on the stick to command maximum G possible. Front and back movement of the joystick controls aircraft pitch as shown in Figure 3-3. Pitch essentially equates to aircraft Gs.
Use the view controls to view the turn from directly overhead. After completing this turn, note the radius of the turn circle and the time it takes to complete a 360° turn. The turn radius for this turn is approximately 2,500 feet, but at 200 knots you can’t move the nose at the same rate you can at corner airspeed. In fact, at 200 knots, it will take approximately 40 seconds to complete a 360° turn. This poor turn rate can get you killed.
Learning to turn 6.0 GR 5.7 GR 5.7 GR 5.0 GR 4.0 GR 4.0 GR Figure 6-3 CHAPTER 2 4.3 GR Since air combat is a three-dimensional affair, it is important to master turning the jet in both the horizontal and vertical planes. A big difference between the two different maneuvering planes is the effect of gravity on the jet. If you are turning the jet straight across the horizon in the horizontal plane, then gravity has relatively little affect on your turn performance.
TRAINING MISSION OVERVIEW In this mission, you will practice flying a Split S maneuver from 7,000 feet. INITIAL CONDITIONS Airspeed: 400 knots Altitude: 7,000 AGL (Above Ground Level) Throttle Setting: Mid-range Configuration: Clean MISSION DESCRIPTION Use this maneuver to descend quickly to low altitude. To execute the maneuver, perform the following steps: 1. Load training mission “06 Min Altitude Split S” from Tactical Engagement. 2. Press F to record your flight using the ACMI feature. 3.
Learning to turn 5. Pull full back on the stick to command the maximum G possible. As the Gs increase during your dive, pull the throttle back slightly to maintain 400 knots. If you are still going too fast, extend the speed brakes by pressing B. Don’t forget to retract them when you get to the proper airspeed. The maneuver is complete when the jet is in level flight heading in the opposite direction, as shown in Figure 6-6. CHAPTER 2 6. Press F to stop the ACMI recording. 7.
Altitude Poles On Wing Trails: Maximum Vehicle Magnification: x8 Use the view controls to view the turn from an isometric angle or a side view of the jet. Mission 7: High-speed over-the-top maneuver In this mission, you will practice maneuvering over the top or up in the vertical. This training mission and the one that follows will help you gain more confidence and control when climbing in the jet.
Learning to turn MISSION DESCRIPTION Pirouette CHAPTER 2 In this mission, you will fly the jet over the top and end up at a higher altitude heading the opposite direction. A key to this maneuver is to get the jet pointed up away from the earth and to note your airspeed and the altitude you’ve gained. Once the jet is going straight up, the pilot has several options if the maneuver was started at high speed. When you get going straight up, you can pirouette the jet.
To perform a pirouette during this over-the-top maneuver, follow these steps: 1. From the starting entry conditions, start a wings-level 6 G pull. 2. Place the throttle in full AB. 3. Continue the pull all the way over the top, but stop when you are going straight up. Figure 7-5 shows this position with the jet going straight up, 90° from the horizon. Figure 7-5 4. Once the aircraft is established at 90° nose high, relax back stick pressure and then roll the jet 90°.
Learning to turn Wing Trails: Maximum Vehicle Magnification: x8 Use the view controls to view the turn from an isometric angle to a side view of the jet. The object of this mission is to get a feel for maneuvering the jet in the vertical at high speed. In this mission, you will practice maneuvering the jet in the vertical at low airspeed. To maneuver a jet, you need airspeed. Low speed maneuvering against an enemy aircraft in the vertical is a critical combat skill that is difficult to master.
Roll Pitch Yaw Figure 8-2 The F-16 moves through the air along three axes of movement: pitch, roll and yaw. Pitch is movement around the horizontal axis of the aircraft. You experience it as the nose moving up and down. Roll is movement along the long axis of the aircraft. You experience a roll by seeing the horizon in front of you. Yaw is movement around the vertical axis of the aircraft. You experience it as the nose moving left and right from your point of reference as the pilot.
Learning to turn Throttle Setting: Mid-range Configuration: Clean MISSION DESCRIPTION To execute the basic maneuver: CHAPTER 2 This maneuver shows the capability of the aircraft to maneuver in the vertical, even when starting at slow speeds. Getting the jet in the vertical at slow speeds requires finesse. Just pulling the jet straight up and down toward the horizon is not difficult, but be careful when doing a pirouette at a slow speed. 1.
7. Now roll back upright to level flight and note your airspeed and altitude. You should be at approximately 27,000–28,000 feet and 100–200 knots. The aircraft will be very difficult to control in both roll and pitch. This lack of control authority can be attributed directly to your slow airspeed. Contrast this with the previous training mission, in which you reached the same spot but with 100 knots more airspeed. Next you will practice doing a pirouette.
Learning to turn 6. The maneuver should end with the jet heading 90° from the original heading at this new higher altitude. 7. Press F to stop the ACMI recording. 8. Press q and then select “End Mission” to end the training mission. Practice this maneuver until you can comfortably pirouette the jet in the vertical after starting at a slow speed.
If the jet is inverted: 3. Rudder: Opposite yaw direction If you are in an upright deep stall, you can skip this step since the FLCS will automatically dampen your yaw rate. If you are inverted, though, you have to arrest your yaw rate by stepping on the rudder that is opposite your yaw or spin direction. If you are yawing left, step on the right rudder or press >. 4.
CHAPTER 3 LANDING AND NAVIGATION
The following missions will teach you how to land the F-16, including a how to perform an instruments landing and a “flameout landing.” You’ll also learn the basics of navigation, including how to use steerpoints. Mission 9: Landing from 10 nm out on final This training mission will teach you how to land the Falcon. The F-16 is not hard to land if you do three things: configure the aircraft correctly, get close to a 2.5° glide path and, last but not least, control your airspeed.
Landing and Navigation 4. Make sure your airspeed is below 300 knots. 5. Lower the landing gear by pressing G or by clicking on the gear handle on the lower left cockpit console. To switch to this console, press A and Z on the numeric keypad from the 2-D Cockpit view. GEAR POSITION LIGHTS GEAR HANDLE CHAPTER 3 Figure 9-1 Notice that when the gear handle is placed down, the red light in the gear handle will come on indicating that the gear are in transit.
FUEL FLOW GAUGE RPM GAUGE Figure 9-2 Be sure to watch your airspeed closely during this phase of flight so you don’t get too slow. Do not get below 160 knots until you are on the glide path and using the AOA (Angle of Attack) bracket. 7. Again, while you are slowing down, be sure to keep the flight path marker on the level line, 0° of pitch, as shown in Figure 9-3.
Landing and Navigation 8. As you look out on the horizon, you will see two wide strips and at least one narrow one. The wide strips are the two parallel runways, while the narrow strips are the taxiways. If you are on the left side of the runway, gently bank right until the runway is aligned below the airspeed tape on your HUD. If you are lined up too far to the right of the runways, turn to put the runways under your altitude tape on the HUD.
Now let’s talk more about the AOA bracket. It’s OK to let the flight path marker drift down to the middle of the bracket (13° AOA) during your approach, but do not let it get to the bottom of the bracket (15° AOA). It is difficult to control the aircraft at 15° AOA and get it on the runway safely. In addition, if you hit the runway too hard while landing at 15° AOA, you can scrape the speed brakes.
Landing and Navigation Mission 10: Landing from a Base leg position using the instruments In this mission, we will practice combining the cockpit instruments with the HUD to line up on the runway and fly an approach and landing. The primary cockpit gauge involved is the HSI (Horizontal Situation Indicator), which is used to position the aircraft on final approach when you cannot see the runway due to weather or darkness.
COURSE DEVIATION DOTS TAIL OF BEARING POINTER REARING POINTER Figure 10-3 The other important part of the HSI is the CRS (Course) knob, which allows you to set a course in 5° increments into the course window. The course window sets a course that is shown on the dial by the CDI (Course Deviation Indicator), which is a needle that deflects to show your position from the selected course.
Landing and Navigation When the ILS is selected, ILS steering appears in the HUD to match the HSI. One limitation of the ILS is that you must be close to the airport (approximately 20 miles) and near the antenna pattern in order to receive ILS steering. For this reason, it is best to use the TACAN first and then switch to the ILS when you are within 20 miles and near the inbound course.
MISSION DESCRIPTION When the mission starts, the jet is approaching the final approach course from a 90° angle. You will already be in ILS mode, but when you are returning from a real mission, you may have to navigate back to the runway using TACAN and then switch to ILS. The HSI will have the runway heading dialed in and will show your position approaching the inbound course. Figure 10-5 shows you an overhead view of your position from the runway.
Landing and Navigation 6. Look right in the cockpit by pressing S on the numeric keypad. Switch the Instr Mode switch to TCN/ILS. Next, set 340° as the inbound course for the Kunsan ILS. You can get the TACAN channel and runway information from Appendix C: Airport Maps. Use the course dial (CRS) to change the numbers in the window. I know this is a lot of work, but you wanted real and you got real. This is just the way it is in the jet, so hang in there. 7. Unfreeze the simulation by pressing sP. 8.
10. After rolling out on final, you are now between 10–12 nm out. At this point, lower the gear by pressing G. You must be below 300 knots or you will damage the gear. In the HUD, the ILS steering cue consists of a horizontal pitch bar and a vertical roll bar in the HUD. When the ILS is called up, these lines will direct you to the ILS glide path. To get on the ILS glide path, you must center these bars. 11. The first bar that should be centered is the vertical bar that displays your course deviation.
Landing and Navigation Figure 10-11 14. Once you have the ILS steering bars centered, use the throttle to control your airspeed and keep the AOA scale at 11°. This scale is just to the left of the ADI. CHAPTER 3 13. Keep the jet in level flight with the ILS vertical steering bar centered. The ILS glide path indicator will start to descend as you approach the glide path. As the horizontal bar gets to the center of the ADI, deploy the speed brakes by pressing B and start down the glide path.
Mission 11: flameout landing Picture this… you’re flying home from a successful mission. You have long since forgotten about that pesky warning from the jet’s voice warning system when suddenly you notice that things are getting very quiet. You are shocked to notice that the motor is not, well, motoring. You are a glider. Your heart sinks into your stomach as you realize that you should have paid attention to that Fuel Low warning. Your only options now are to jump out or crash… right? Wrong.
Landing and Navigation Fly the jet on this glide path to maintain the proper airspeed throughout the approach and landing. Because of your steep approach and lack of thrust, you will need the increased airspeed to execute a flare and slow your descent rate. Remember that our normal flare for landing is at approximately 11° AOA, whereas this flare for a flameout landing starts at 6° AOA. Since this is a 50 knot airspeed difference, it takes some practice.
4. Find the runway out on the horizon. Fly 210 knots toward the runway and note your glide path. In order to keep your airspeed at 210 knots, you need to be in a shallow dive. If this dive is between 11°–17°, then you have enough energy (altitude and airspeed) to make a flameout landing. If you are less then 11°, you may make the runway. At glide paths of less than 11°, it depends on the winds and just how far below 11° you are.
Landing and Navigation 5. Make small bank angle changes to align your flight path straight down the runway. 6. Once you have everything under control, press T to talk to the tower. Declare an emergency landing by pressing 3. Remember that you should always fly the jet first and talk on the radio second. The tower does not have a sky hook that they can use to lower you to the ground safely. They’re just a bunch of goombahs sitting in air-conditioned comfort drinking coffee.
Mission 12: Navigation and Timing Every fighter pilot needs to know where they are and where they’re going on the battlefield. This training mission covers the F-16 avionics that provide you with navigation information. THE INERTIAL NAVIGATION SYSTEM The primary F-16 navigation aid is the INS (Inertial Navigation System), which consists of a ring laser gyro that aligns to your initial parking location.
Landing and Navigation STEERING CUES Change the selected steerpoint in the cockpit by using the increment and decrement arrows on the ICP (Integrated Control Panel). Figure 12-2 shows the ICP with these arrows along with the primary HUD steering cues and information. When you change the steerpoint, the number on the DED (Data Entry Display) will change. Bring up the steerpoint display on the DED by pressing the STPT button on the ICP.
GETTING TO THE SELECTED STEERPOINT Steering to the selected steerpoint can be accomplished with the HSI, HSD and HUD. When the NAV mode is selected in the DED, a diamond is displayed in the HUD when the selected steerpoint is in the HUD’s field of view. This diamond is ground-stabilized over the selected steerpoint and, as you get close to the steerpoint, you should see it lying on the point on the ground that corresponds to the steerpoint coordinates.
Landing and Navigation The last and probably the most important steering cue is the tadpole, which consists of a small circle with a line attached. This cue is present in the HUD and is always positioned level with the flight path marker. When the flight path marker is directly over (or superimposed over) the tadpole, the jet is heading directly for the selected steerpoint. Remember that the flight path marker represents the path through the sky that the jet is flying.
THE HSD INS steering can also be viewed on an MFD with the HSD (Horizontal Situation Display) selected. To select the HSD, press 2 for the 2-D Cockpit view to display an MFD. Press ] to cycle the right MFD until you see the HSD. ROUTE OF FLIGHT AIRCRAFT CROSS Figure 12-7 The HSD has a fixed aircraft cross in the center of the display (just like the HSI). The route of flight is displayed with lines connecting each steerpoint.
Landing and Navigation GETTING TO THE SELECTED STEERPOINT ON TIME Steering cues are only part of the navigation equation—time is the other. In the Falcon 4.0 Campaign, it is important to arrive at the target on time. When you plan your mission, each steerpoint has a corresponding desired time or ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival). The F-16 has several displays to help you arrive at the proper place at the desired time. The first of these is the steerpoint display in the DED.
If you have the vertical airspeed and altitude scales called up (by pressing cH), then the cue or caret is displayed as a small horizontal line to the left of the airspeed scale as shown below. If you adjust your airspeed to line up with this cue, then you will arrive at the selected steerpoint at exactly the correct time.
Landing and Navigation TRAINING MISSION OVERVIEW This mission starts with the jet established on a low-level route. Using the HSD and the HUD, you will practice navigating to each steerpoint on the route and arrive at the target steerpoint at the desired time. INITIAL CONDITIONS Airspeed: 400 knots Altitude: 5,000 AGL Throttle Setting: Near military power CHAPTER 3 Configuration: Gear up with 6 Mk-82s Weapons Mode: NAV MISSION DESCRIPTION In this mission, you are flying a low-level mission to a target.
4. Bank the aircraft left or right to center the tadpole under the flight path marker. When you accomplish this, the diamond will be vertically centered in the HUD. You can also use the heading scale in the HUD to line up the vertical steering line. Your HSD provides an overhead view of your route. Press - or = to change the HSD range display. It is helpful to keep the steerpoint you are driving to onscreen. 5. Check your distance remaining to the selected steerpoint in the bottom right corner of the HUD.
CHAPTER 4 AIR-TO-AIR WEAPONS
These training missions will teach you about the F-16’s radar and let you practice delivering specific weapons. Mission 13: Air-to-Air Radar modes Falcon 4.0 has several avionics difficulty levels: Easy, Simplified and Realistic. The instructions for these training missions assume that you have chosen the Realistic Avionics setting, which displays the most realistic radar modes. The F-16 AN/APG-68 can find and track targets that are within ±60° of the azimuth and ±60° of elevation from the aircraft nose.
air-to-air weapons Most of the time, however, all you have to do to get the FCR to appear is to press [ until “RWS” appears on the left MFD. RWS is the default radar mode. Then you can simply press 1 to bring up the desired air-to-air FCR mode. Once you are in a radar mode, change its operating characteristics by pressing 8 to cycle through the submodes. In the case of the ACM master mode, 8 changes the pattern of the radar significantly. The table below shows how the FCR master modes and submodes cycle.
Figure 13-3 Boresight is one of the most commonly used ACM modes because it is very precise. You can lock up the intended target with precision due to the tight scan pattern of the Boresight mode. This mission should start in the RWS mode of the FCR, but if not, press [ to get to “FCR” on the MFD. Next, press 1 to cycle through the air-to-air radar modes until “ACM” appears. Then press 8 to cycle through the ACM submodes until “BORE” appears next to “ACM.
air-to-air weapons Li Lift Vector The Vertical Scan submode is extremely useful because it can lock up targets that are along your lift vector. The lift vector, shown in Figure 13-5, is a vector line that extends straight out of the cockpit. ft Ve c to r Whenever you pull a target toward your nose at Figure 13-5 high G—and you’ll do this often—you wind up pulling them along your lift vector.
Slewable ACM Submode Figure 13-7 The Slewable ACM submode provides a slewable or moveable 20X60 scan pattern. When you enter this mode, the HUD shows a vertical cross similar to the Boresight submode cross but with one major difference. In the Slewable ACM submode, a circle will appear somewhere on the cross. This circle represents the center of the 20X60 scan pattern. Figure 13-7 shows the Slewable ACM radar sweep and the associated HUD symbol. Slewable ACM is a very useful radar mode.
air-to-air weapons Notice in Figure 13-8 how the angular radar beam is pulled apart at the base B-scope display and spread along the bottom of the scope. When looking at a B-scope, the nose of your jet is not at in the center of the bottom part of the B-scope. The nose of the jet is instead spread along the entire bottom of the B-scope.
AZIMUTH GATE AZIMUTH SCALE AZIMUTH SCALE AZIMUTH SCALE BAR SCAN BAR SCAN BAR SCAN AZIMUTH GATE Figure 13-10 AZIMUTH GATE In RWS, you can select one of the following range modes: 10, 20, 40, 80 or 160 miles. Most airto-air targets, however, will not show up on radar until they are well inside of 40 nautical miles. Decrease the radar range by pressing 3 or increase the range by pressing 4. The next search option is azimuth sweep. In RWS, you can use ±10°, ±30° or ±60° search volumes.
air-to-air weapons drawback is that for a given radar elevation tilt, you are covering less altitude. This can be a major drawback but must be weighed against your need for a fast sweep. As a rule of thumb, if you know where the bandits are, then select 2-bar. Normally, however, it is best to stay in 4-bar scan. Radar antenna elevation tilt Figure 13-12 The last option available is the antenna tilt angle. Figure 13-12 shows how you can tilt the entire search volume up and down.
RWS TARGETS RWS targets start out life on the scope as small squares. Each time your radar beam passes over the target, another square is generated and displayed. (It’s really not that simple, but this is all you need to know for this training mission.) The old square that was generated on the last sweep fades as it stays on the scope for a few radar sweep cycles, creating what F-16 pilots call “target histories.” These histories define the path that the target is taking down the scope.
air-to-air weapons Figure 13-16 CHAPTER 4 A few other things change besides the azimuth sweep. The biggest difference you will notice is that you now have a target designated. A TD box or locator line appears in the HUD, and the square target symbol changes to an arrowAZIMUTH GATES shaped target with a velocity vector sticking out DESIGNATED TARGET the nose. Next to this target is a number representing the altitude of the target.
VS The last and certainly least radar mode is Velocity Search. To get to the VS mode, press 1 until you see “VS” on the MFD. This radar mode changes the MFD from a B-scope to a modified Ascope. An A-scope shows closure (also called overtake). Closure is simply how fast you are closing on a target. In VS you can select either 1,200 or 2,400 knots per hour closure.
air-to-air weapons press P. This will stop everything. Unfortunately, radar is nonfunctional in Pause mode. On the other hand, the radar and other avionics still work in Freeze mode. To exit Freeze mode, just press sP again. The first modes to practice with are the ACM submodes. They are used to lock onto a target that can be seen visually by the pilot. Use the 30X20 HUD submode, the 10X60 Vertical Scan submode and the 20X60 Slewable ACM submode along with the Boresight submode to lock onto visual targets.
way to change the range scale, however, is to move the radar cursors to the top or bottom of the scope. This bumps the scale further out or closer in. Figure 13-19 shows the range scale buttons and how the cursors are moved to change the range scale. Increase range Decrease range Bump cursors to the top of the scope increases range scale Bump cursors to the bottom of the scope decreases range scale 7. Change the azimuth sweep by pressing 8 Figure 13-19 or by pressing the OSB next to the azimuth readout.
air-to-air weapons GUN SIGHT THEORY A gun is a simple weapon. You pull the trigger, and the gun shoots straight out in front of you on a predictable path. When you shoot a bullet, it travels in a straight line and is primarily affected by two forces: gravity and drag. In other words, a bullet in flight will get pulled toward the center of the earth by gravity and will start slowing down the millisecond it leaves the gun barrel because it keeps banging into air molecules.
answer is no. It is the same thing as trying to hit a clay pigeon moving through the sky with a shotgun that is pointed behind it—impossible. In both of these cases of pointing behind the target, the projectiles will pass well behind the target. Let’s examine a case in which you point the gun cross directly at a target moving across the sky, as in Figure 14-2. Can you hit the target? The answer is again no. The target, of course, will be gone when the bullets get to this location in space.
air-to-air weapons Even if you could determine the proper lead angle, it would be very hard to shoot at the right instant to get a hit. The same thing works for aerial gun shoots. You must be moving the gun in the target’s plane of motion in order to hit the target. The three things you need, then, for a successful gunshot: the gun must be out in front of the target (lead), the target must be in range, and you must be moving the gun (your jet) in the target’s plane of motion.
The first is that your gun has a very high rate of fire, 100 rounds per second. The second is that the bullet’s time of flight is very fast. The third is that the gun has a dispersion pattern of 6 milliradians, which means that 80% of the bullets will hit within a 6-foot circle at 1,000 feet. The F-16 cannon, in other words, has a built-in “shotgun type” dispersion pattern that is designed to hit fighter-sized targets.
air-to-air weapons In addition to the funnel, the EEGS sight also has a set of MRGS lines (Multiple Reference Gun Sight) lines at the bottom of the EEGS display. The MRGS lines help you line up in the target’s plane of motion. Another EEGS feature are the small “+” and “-” signs that appear when you are locked onto the target. These symbols are essentially a 1 G (+) and 9 G (-) pipper. If the target is at 9 Gs, the 9 G pipper provides an accurate reference for a gunshot.
MISSION DESCRIPTION This mission starts with three different aircraft in front of your jet. These different targets allow you to practice various gunshot setups. When the mission starts, a Tu-16 Badger bomber will be almost directly on your nose. This target will start a gentle turn. The next target is a MiG-29 Fulcrum that will start line abreast with the Badger, but the Fulcrum will start a more aggressive turn when the mission starts.
air-to-air weapons With LCOS, you should get a radar lock on the target. The procedure is the same, however, with or without a radar lock. Fly the target under the LCOS pipper by placing the gun cross out in front of the target’s nose. When the LCOS is over the target, shoot, adjust and then shoot. This means that you should fire a 1-second burst and then watch where the tracers go. Make an adjustment and then fire another short burst. 5.
AIM-9P WEZ Flight path AIM-9M WEZ Figure 15-1 AIM-9s are very simple to understand and employ. Aircraft engines produce heat, and the AIM-9 seeker head tracks heat. The AIM-9P can only see the engine heat when looking up the target’s tailpipe. The AIM-9M, however, can see the heat from the target’s engine from all aspects or, in other words, from 360° around the target. AIM-9 MECHANIZATION The current model AIM-9 seeker heads can track targets before the missile is even released.
air-to-air weapons RMAX 1 RMAX 2 MISSILE DIAMOND RMIN 1 RMIN 2 DLZ BRACKET Figure 15-2 Rmax1 is the maximum range that you can shoot the missile at the target. CHAPTER 4 The DLZ bracket has several parts that are labeled in Figure 15-2: Rmin1 is the minimum range that you can shoot the missile at the target. Rmax2 represents the top of the maneuver zone of the DLZ. Rmax2 is a more realistic maximum range for a target that is maneuvering. Rmin2 represents the bottom of the maneuver zone of the DLZ.
This brings up a very important point about the AIM-9. You do need a radar lock on the target to provide DLZ information in the HUD, but you do not need a radar lock to shoot an AIM-9. The AIM-9 is a launch-and-leave heat-seeking missile. All you need to shoot an AIM-9 is to be in range and have a heat tone from the target. You can use your own eyes to estimate the range to the target for an AIM-9 shot where you can see the seeker head position in the HUD via the missile diamond.
air-to-air weapons AIM-9 RETICLE DLZ SRM Figure 15-4 CHAPTER 4 Call up the AIM-9 missile symbology by pressing e to cycle through your air-to-air weapons until an AIM-9 reticle appears. You can tell when you have AIM-9s because “SRM” (Short-Range Missile) will appear in the lower left corner of the HUD. In addition, the AIM-9 has a missile tone. As you continue to press e, you will cycle through all of the air-to-air missiles that you have loaded on your jet.
Training Mission Aids Two aids are available to assist you in this training mission. The first is the Labels function. To see the targets more easily, turn on labels by pressing sL. The labels are displayed over the vehicles and other objects. The other aid is the Freeze mode. Enter Freeze mode by pressing sP to pause the simulation but still use the radar and all other avionics. If you are in Freeze mode, you can lock your Sidewinder onto the target but your plane will not move through the sky.
air-to-air weapons 9. If you are in range and have a good heat tone, shoot—look—and shoot again if the missile fails to guide. Shoot the missile by pressing z or joystick button 2. Practice taking shots with both AIM-9Ps and AIM-9Ms. Remember that the AIM-9P is a rearaspect missile that can only lock onto the stern of the target, while the AIM-9M is an all-aspect missile that can lock onto the target from any angle.
Notice that the AIM-120 display looks very similar to the AIM-9 display. Both missiles have a missile reticle and a DLZ bracket on the right-hand side of the HUD with basically the same information. The DLZ information displayed is identical for both missiles. Rmax1 is the maximum range that you can shoot the missile at the target. Rmin1 is the minimum range that you can shoot the missile at the target. Rmax2 represents the top of the maneuver zone of the DLZ.
air-to-air weapons Note that when you shoot a missile, another set of AMRAAM timing numbers will appear in the HUD. When there is no missile in the air, you only have one number—but as soon as you shoot, you have two sets. The bottom readout shows information on the missile in flight, while the top readout shows information on the next missile to fire.
Practice taking AIM-120 shots on all the targets that appear and watch your missiles time out in the HUD. Here is how to take an AMRAAM shot: 1. Load training mission “16 AIM-120 AMRAAM” from Tactical Engagement. 2. Select the AMRAAM mode by pressing M. 3. Fly in a straight line until you see targets appear on your radar. When they appear, turn to place the targets in the HUD missile reticle. 4. Freeze the simulation by pressing sP. 5. Press 4 until your radar is in the 20-mile range.
air-to-air weapons What are the differences between the AIM-7 and the AMRAAM? The AIM-7 Sparrow missile requires the shooter to stay locked onto the target all the way to missile impact. On the other hand, a pilot firing an AIM-120 can launch the missile and break radar lock on the target at a specific point during the missile’s TOF. The requirement to stay locked to the target for the missile’s entire time of flight is the biggest limitation of the AIM-7.
AIM-7 SPARROW MECHANIZATION Remember that the AIM-7 guides on reflected radar energy from the F-16 radar. When the missile is fired, you have a time countdown in the lower right corner of the HUD under the DLZ. You must keep a radar lock on the target until the time in the lower corner of the counts down to zero. TIME COUNTDOWN Figure 17-2 Notice how the time readout looks the same as the AMRAAM timeout when the missile goes autonomous.
air-to-air weapons TRAINING MISSION OVERVIEW In this training mission, you will practice using the AIM-7 to shoot down enemy aircraft. INITIAL CONDITIONS Airspeed: 400 knots Altitude: 10,000 MSL Throttle Setting: Mid-range Configuration: Gear up, 2 AIM-7s and no guns Weapons Mode: NAV MISSION DESCRIPTION CHAPTER 4 This mission starts with several MiGs out in front of your jet. Use the Freeze mode to take your time analyzing your AIM-7 DLZs.
If you do not see a flash in the TD box as the time to impact goes to zero (“T 0”), then shoot again. On this mission, it is important to lock onto all the targets in each target group to see the effect of aspect on the DLZ. Remember that the target controls aspect. All the enemy aircraft has to do to affect your DLZ is turn his jet.
CHAPTER 5 AIR-TO-GROUND WEAPONS
These training missions will teach you about the F-16’s air-to-ground radar and let you practice delivering specific weapons. Mission 18: Air-to-Ground Radar Modes In this training mission, you will learn how to use air-to-ground radar. The air-to-ground and the airto-air radar have the same purpose: to find targets and point weapons. The air-to-ground radar is optimized to search for both stationary and moving targets on the ground.
air-to-ground weapons Note that the air-to-ground radar display has an artificial horizon line that is identical to the horizon line in the air-toair modes. Keep in mind that this line does not represent the wings of your jet RANGE SCALE but rather the earth’s horizon. In other words, this horizon line moves opposite the wings of the aircraft when you roll. The air-to-ground radar display also shows range in the same way as the airto-air radar.
Remember that the air-to-ground radar is used to track targets and point weapons. When you move the cursors and lock onto a target, you get attack steering in the HUD to that target. This attack steering is provided via the CCRP (Continuously Computed Release Point) bombing mode. CCRP is explained in full in the next training mission, but you need to know that CCRP mode is important because it ties the air-to-ground radar display to the HUD.
air-to-ground weapons Radar Scope Mnemonics and Functions Several mnemonics are arranged horizontally around the scope. GM, GMT and SEA stand for Ground Map, Ground Moving Target and Sea. These are the air-to ground master modes. One of these labels will be displayed in the top left corner of the MFD. Cycle through these modes by pressing the OSB on the MFD above “GM” or by pressing 2. MAN stands for “Manual” and is a fixed display in Falcon 4.0. NRM stands for “Normal” and is one of the four GM submodes.
By the way, if you do turn the jet so that the radar can no longer see the EXP point on the ground, the radar automatically reverts back to the NORM mode. The other submodes that are closely related to EXP are DBS1 and DBS2. DBS stands for Doppler Beam Sharpening. DBS1 provides a slightly better Expand picture with the same basic characteristics. In DBS2 the radar picture is zoomed in even closer than in EXP or DBS1. EXP expands the radar display around the cursors and centers it on the scope.
air-to-ground weapons RADAR TARGETS Radar targets are displayed as bright spots on the scope. The GM mode can only see man-made objects such as buildings and bridges. In the GMT mode, the radar can only see moving targets such as tanks and trucks. In the SEA mode, the radar will only display ships. Once displayed on the radar scope, however, all of these targets can be tracked and you can point air-to-ground weapons at them.
6. As shown in Figure 18-7, Steerpoint 4 is displayed on the DED and a diamond overlays Steerpoint 4 on your HUD. Figure 18-7 7. Once you are in GM mode, slew the TD (Target Designator) box in your HUD over the steerpoint diamond. Look at the GM radar. Note that the cursors are now centered over Steerpoint 4. The target bridge will appear as a bright green dot on the radar scope. 8.
air-to-ground weapons The GMT mode is next. 1. Select GMT master mode by pressing 2 until “GMT” appears in the upper left corner of the radar display. It will take a few sweeps for the radar to adjust, but after a few seconds, the radar display will show only moving ground targets. In this mission, several tanks are near the bridge. These targets were not visible on the radar in the GM mode, but when you change to GMT, the tanks appear on the scope (as shown in Figure 18-9).
3. Slew the cursors around the buildings and then go to the EXP submode by pressing the OSB on the MFD above the “NRM” mnemonic. This button will cycle you through the EXP, DBS1 and DBS2 submodes. DBS1 and DBS2 require some time to build a radar picture to display. Go through all these submodes and notice how the display changes for each one. Keep in mind that in all of these submodes the radar cursors will be centered on the radar display. Return to EXP submode.
air-to-ground weapons 3. Go to Steerpoint mode by clicking on the OSB labeled “STP.” 4. Select Steerpoint 4 by pressing S until Steerpoint 4 appears in the DED. 5. Unfreeze the simulation by pressing sP . Notice as you fly forward how the radar cursors get closer to you. Remember that the cursors are tied to the selected steerpoint, which in this case is Steerpoint 4. 6. Go to the Snowplow mode by pressing the OSB labeled “SP.” As you fly along, notice that the cursors are no longer moving closer to you.
Mission 19: CCRP with Unguided Bombs This training mission will discuss how to drop unguided (dumb) bombs using the CCRP (Continuously Computed Release Point) bombing mode. CCRP is a “blind bombing” mode that is used in conjunction with the air-to-ground radar. CCRP is the primary mode used to bomb targets that are not visible due to weather or nighttime conditions. Another important use for CCRP is target cueing.
air-to-ground weapons CCRP HUD SYMBOLOGY The CCRP mode has one major identifying feature, a long vertical steering line that runs from the top to the bottom of the HUD. This steering line, along with a TD box, provides the best air-to-ground target cueing of any F-16 bombing mode. Figure 19-2 shows the CCRP HUD symbology. Figure 19-2 LOCATOR LINE CHAPTER 5 Figure 19-3 If the target is in the HUD’s field of view, a TD box will be over the target.
To repeat, the release cue will not even appear on the CCRP steering line until the FCC calculates that you can loft a bomb on the target. This means that when FCC calculates that you are in range to loft the bomb to the target, the release cue appears for the first time. It marches down the vertical steering line, hits the flight path marker and the loft reticle flashes. At this moment, you can go to 100% power and loft a bomb that will come off when the jet is in a 45° climb.
air-to-ground weapons 1. Load training mission “19 Bombs with CCRP” from Tactical Engagement. 2. Once the training mission starts, freeze the game by pressing sP so you can practice using the radar without having to fly the jet. 3. Call up the CCRP mode by pressing B to bring up “CCIP” in the right MFD. Next, press the OSB above “CCIP” until “CCRP” comes up. When CCRP is up, the GM air-to-ground radar mode should appear in the left MFD.
11. Reduce the range scale to 20 miles by pressing 3. 12. When the target gets inside of 5 miles, consent to release the bombs by holding down the pickle button (z or joystick button 2). 13. Drive straight for the target following the CCRP steering until the release cue descends down the vertical steering line to the flight path marker. The flight path marker will flash when the bomb is released. This next attack will be on the same target with the same weapon.
air-to-ground weapons The next thing you should try in this training mission is using the GMT (Ground Moving Target) airto-ground radar mode to lock onto moving targets and attack them using CBU-87s. Use the same procedures listed above for both level and loft deliveries. Before starting, switch the air-to-ground master mode from GM to GMT by pressing 2. Select CBU-87s by calling up the SMS page on the MFD.
The only additional information needed by the FCC to compute the CCIP bombing solution is the weapon type and the jet’s parameters (airspeed, G, etc.). The radar constantly ranges on the ground in front of the aircraft (abbreviated “AGR” for “Air-to-Ground Ranging”). CCIP HUD SYMBOLOGY CCIP symbology simply consists of what is called a bomb fall line with a circular pipper attached to the end, as shown in Figure 20-2. The CCIP bomb fall line is attached at the top to the flight path marker.
air-to-ground weapons This does not mean that you cannot get the pipper on the target without placing the bomb line through the target. You can, but it is harder to get the “thing” on the “thing” this way and is also less accurate. It is less accurate because, if you are not smooth with the jet, the CCIP will lie to you. The FCC simply cannot keep up with violent aircraft maneuvers and cannot compute an accurate CCIP solution.
When the delay cue is present, your display will be different after you pickle the bomb. Without the delay cue, the bomb will come off when you pickle and the CCIP pipper will not change. With the delay cue, however, you must hold the pickle button down because the real bomb impact point is somewhere under the HUD. Your pickle is a “consent to release” just like in CCRP, and you must fly closer to the target before the bomb will come off the jet.
air-to-ground weapons To execute a CCIP dive bomb level attack on the target: 1. Load training mission “20 Bombs with CCIP” from Tactical Engagement. 2. Once the training mission starts, freeze the game by pressing sP. 3. Call up the CCIP mode by first calling up your SMS page on one of your MFDs. Press [ or ] repeatedly until the SMS page comes up. 4. Click on the OSB next to the “A-G” label. This will put you in the CCIP bombing mode. 5. Press S to go to Steerpoint 4 in the DED. 6.
10. Hold the flight path marker stationary on the ground. The target should be about equidistant from the flight path marker and the CCIP pipper, as shown in Figure 20-7. You will have a delay cue on this delivery when you first roll in, but it should disappear prior to pickle altitude. TARGET 11. Increase your throttle to 100% for this shallow dive angle. Keep in mind that for steeper dive angles Figure 20-7 that it is important not to drop bombs while above .95 Mach since this is a transonic region.
air-to-ground weapons BOMBING OPTIONS To release a string of bombs, change the RP (Release Pulses) count in the right MFD to “12” by clicking on the OSB next to “RP.” This number is the number of pulses sent to the bomb racks when you hit the release button to drop the bombs. Since it is “one pass and haul ass” on most combat missions, normally your RP count should equal the number of bombs on the jet. The next option you have is to change the interval (spacing) of bombs.
THE DIVE TOSS BOMBING TRIANGLE Before going into the HUD symbology, let’s take a quick look at how Dive Toss actually works. Figure 21-1 shows the Dive Toss bombing triangle. Dive toss bombing triangle Release point Slan t ran ge Bomb range Figure 21-1 In Dive Toss, the F-16 radar provides the FCC direct slant range to the target (just as in CCIP).
air-to-ground weapons In pre-designate Dive Toss, the TD box is stuck to the flight path marker. To drop a Dive Toss bomb, fly the flight path marker over the target and pickle. When the pickle button is pressed, the TD box detaches from the flight path marker and ground-stabilizes over the target. After the TD box sticks to the terrain, you have a new display in the HUD, post-designate Dive Toss (as shown in Figure 21-3).
TRAINING MISSION OVERVIEW In this mission, you will practice a Dive Toss delivery. INITIAL CONDITIONS Airspeed: 400 knots Altitude: 7,000 AGL and level Throttle Setting: Mid-range Configuration: Gear up and 12 Mk-82s MISSION DESCRIPTION In this training mission, you are set up to toss (loft) the bomb to the runway complex. You are set up 4 miles out and 90° from the target. Use the following steps to perform this Dive Toss attack: 1.
air-to-ground weapons 8. As you gain a tally on the runway complex, place the flight path marker just short of your intended bomb impact point. For this attack, just pick a specific part of the runway complex and place the flight path marker below this point. 9. Bring the throttle back to 70%. 10. Let the flight path marker and TD box fly up to the target. Pickle and hold when the TD box hits the target. The TD box will detach from the flight path marker.
Mission 22: 20mm Cannon (air-to-ground) Although the 20mm cannon in the F-16 is primarily an air-to-air weapon, it can be used to attack ground targets. The big problem with using the 20mm gun against ground targets is lethality. The 20mm projectile is small and the muzzle velocity relatively slow (about 2,000 feet/second). Slow and small are a bad combination of attributes for most weapons, but the gun does have a few advantages nonetheless. The first and foremost is that you are PIPPER always carrying it.
air-to-ground weapons MISSION DESCRIPTION This mission starts with the Falcon pointing towards a coastline. A building will come into view near the coast, and near the building is a group of target vehicles. Some of these vehicles are trucks, which can be destroyed with the 20mm cannon. Most of the target vehicles in this mission are tanks. The 20mm projectile will bounce right off the tanks. In the same general area as the tanks should be a few lighter-skinned vehicles to shoot up.
Some of the targets in this training mission are moving. The correct technique for hitting a moving target is to place the pipper out in front of the target and stabilize your aimpoint on that spot on the ground. Fire a short burst and make a correction off that burst. It is helpful with moving targets to line up your pass along the same axis as the target’s motion. In other words, if the target is heading straight north, maneuver to make a pass from south to north.
air-to-ground weapons TRAINING MISSION DESCRIPTION This mission starts with the Falcon pointing toward the coastline. A building will come into view near the coast, and near the building is a group of target vehicles. All of these vehicles can be destroyed with rockets. Although rockets can kill the tanks that are near the building, they are not the best weapon for tank killing since they are hard to aim.
Mission 24: AGM-65 Maverick Missile The Maverick missile is an AGM (Air-to-Ground Missile) that is optimized for use against tanks and other armored vehicles. The seeker head in the Maverick missile is similar to a video camera and creates an image of a target that can be viewed by the pilot and tracked by the missile. This image is produced by an IIR (Imaging Infrared) seeker head in the Maverick that presents a heat profile of the target which is very similar to a normal video camera view.
air-to-ground weapons The Tracking Gate The Maverick missile sees the target image and locks on via a tracking gate. This gate is very similar to the radar cursors in several ways. First, the tracking gate can be slewed (moved) over the target by the pilot. Second, it can be slaved to the radar and pointed at the target. And last, once the tracking gate is locked onto the target, it will provide a Dynamic Launch Zone in the HUD for range to the target.
A target is centered in the MFD when you lock onto it with the Maverick. When you are looking in the MFD, you cannot tell where that target is in relation to the axis of the missile body without some indication in the MFD itself. The pointing cross shows where the seeker head is in relation to the missile body. The pointing cross works in conjunction with a series of horizontal lines, shown in Figure 24-4.
air-to-ground weapons When the SMS page is called up, press B to cycle through your air-to-ground weapons. When you get to the Maverick, the video will appear in the MFD. To change to the slave mode, press the OSB on the MFD next to the “BSGT” label on the MFD. This OSB cycles the Maverick between boresight and slave, which are the two basic ways the Maverick can be aimed at the target. In the boresight mode, the Maverick is in a fixed position looking straight out of the HUD.
Boresight Mode In boresight mode, the pilot points the TD box in the HUD, designates to ground-stabilize the missile, slews the tracking gates over the target and then designates again to lock the target. After designating the target the first time, the TD box in the HUD ground-stabilizes or fixes itself to the terrain (rather than the HUD). The Maverick can now be slewed or moved over the desired target.
air-to-ground weapons To review, locking on the Maverick takes two designates (press 0 on the numeric keypad twice). The first ground-stabilizes the Maverick, and the second locks onto the target when the tracking gate brackets are breathing. An important Maverick feature is the EXP (Expand) submode. This submode provides 4x magnification of the display. This is a very helpful mode for picking out individual targets. To get to the Expand submode, press the OSB above “FOV” (Field of View) or press '.
The Maverick missile must be locked onto a ground target in all modes of the Maverick before it is fired. If the missile is fired without a lock, it has very little chance of hitting the target. To lock the missile on the target, you must first ground-stabilize the missile by designating (0 on the numeric keypad). The next step is to slew the Maverick directly over the desired target and wait for the tracking gate brackets to breathe over the target.
air-to-ground weapons MAVERICK DLZ The Maverick missile uses a similar DLZ (Dynamic Launch Zone) display as the air-to-air missiles. This DLZ has an in-range caret that displays the Maverick’s kinematic ability to reach the target. Figure 24-10 shows the Maverick HUD display after a missile is locked onto a target and the Maverick DLZ. TRAINING MISSION OVERVIEW DLZ Figure 24-10 In this mission, you will practice using the boresight and slave modes of the Maverick missile.
6. Set the throttle to 80% and fly the TD box in the HUD over the diamond in the HUD. The diamond is over Steerpoint 4 while the TD box is where your Maverick seeker head is looking. There will be several buildings near the steerpoint. When you see them in the MFD video, freeze the simulation by pressing sP. 7. Make sure you see some buildings or other targets (such as tanks or vehicles) in the Maverick MFD display. 8. Ground-stabilize the TD box by designating the target (0 on the numeric keypad).
air-to-ground weapons 12. Ensure that the Maverick is in range by checking the DLZ in the HUD. The in-range caret should be inside the DLZ bracket. If the target is in range, unfreeze the simulation by pressing sP. Shoot the missile by pressing z or joystick button 2. If you are not in range, then drive in closer and shoot when you are in-range. The next series of steps will take you through shooting the Maverick using the slave mode.
8. Once the radar cursors are over the target, lock on by pressing 0 on the numeric keypad. This will lock the GMT radar onto the moving target. A diamond will now appear over the target in the GMT display. If you look in the Maverick display, you should see a target. 9. When the Maverick tracking gate brackets start to breathe over a target, designate it by pressing 0 on the numeric keypad. When the Maverick is locked on, unfreeze the simulation by pressing sP. 10.
air-to-ground weapons The targeting pod itself can display and lock onto targets up to 150° in any direction from the nose of the jet. Figure 25-1 shows the gimbal limits of the targeting pod. Targeting pod gimbal limits CHAPTER 5 I should mention one thing about nomenclature and terms. You will hear the term LGBs and GBUs (Guided Bomb Units) used throughout this discussion. LGBs is a general description of the weapon. GBU, on the other hand, is a designation for laser-guided bombs specific to the U.S.
Notice that the pod is providing an image of the steerpoint in STP mode and an image that is constantly changing in SP. The important point here is that the targeting pod is always initially looking at the air-to-ground radar cursors. The operative word here is “initially.” The targeting pod (like the Maverick) can be slewed around at any time by the pilot. The pod in the slave mode starts out by looking or pointing at the position on the ground that corresponds to the radar cursors.
air-to-ground weapons pod can see the target at this time, it may jump straight to the lock on mode with this single designate. You will know the targeting pod is locked onto the target because you will not be able to slew the display. This is not a problem, but you may have to break lock on the target and slew your targeting pod to a new target. After designating the target, CCRP attack symbology will appear in the HUD, as shown in Figure 25-5.
breathes over the target, you cannot lock on. The pointing cross rotates around the display to show you where the target pod is looking relative to the POINTING CROSS nose of the aircraft. This means that if the pointing cross is centered in the display, then the targeting pod is looking right down the nose of the jet. If it is off to the right side of the display, then the targeting pod is looking to the right of the jet.
air-to-ground weapons HUD DISPLAYS When the targeting pod is in the slave mode, the CCRP bombing mode appears in the HUD. CCRP also appears in the boresight mode after you first designate a target. The CCRP is the only bombing mode that can be used with the targeting pod. Remember that CCRP is tied to the air-to-ground radar cursors. To review, CCRP allows the pilot to bomb the target that is under the radar cursors. CCRP puts a vertical steering cue in the HUD.
4. Call up your LGBs by pressing B until “6GB12” appears on the right side of the MFD display. When the targeting pod video comes up in the MFD, CCRP will come up in the HUD if you are in the slave mode. Figure 25-9 5. To switch to the slave mode, press the OSB next to the “BSGT” mnemonic or press '. As you switch between boresight and slave modes, your HUD display will change. 6. In the other MFD, call up the air-to-ground radar by pressing [ until you see “RWS” appear at the top of the left MFD.
air-to-ground weapons 8. Go to DBS2 by pressing the OSB above the “NRM” mnemonic on the MFD until you see “DBS2” appear. It is best not to lock the air-to-ground radar on the target. Use the DBS2 radar display to get a long-range picture of the target area. If you are flying in a multiplayer game, you can use DBS2 to divide up the target area among your flight members. Figure 25-11 shows the target area in DBS2. CHAPTER 5 Figure 25-11 9. Unfreeze the simulation by pressing sP. 10.
11. Watch for the tracking gates to “breathe” over the target. If you are sure that the tracking gates are breathing over the correct target, lock on by pressing 0 on the numeric keypad. If the gates are not breathing or are breathing over the wrong target, continue to look for your target by slewing the targeting pod. 12. You can use the Expand submode of the targeting pod display to aid in finding the target. Press the OSB above “FOV” on the MFD.
air-to-ground weapons 2. Select Steerpoint 4 by pressing S. Steerpoint 4 will be flashing in the HSD. 3. Since the boresight mode is a visual bombing mode, you have to gain sight of the airfield. To do this, place the TD box in the HUD over the diamond in the HUD. You should now see the airfield complex in the targeting pod video in the right MFD. When you are sure you are seeing the airfield, designate by pressing 0 on the numeric keypad.
Lofting LGB is graduate-level stuff so it will probably take you a few tries before you get it down pat. The key to low-altitude lofting is getting the target identified correctly and locked up. After that, the only difficult part is getting the bomb off (you have to follow your CCRP steering for this to happen) and keeping the targeting pod locked onto the target.
air-to-ground weapons HTS MECHANIZATION The HTS is called up the same way as all other air-to-ground missiles. The most straightforward way is to press [ or ] until the SMS page comes up on the desired MFD, as shown in Figure 26-2. Once you are at the SMS page, press B to cycle through all the available air-to-ground weapons until the HTS appears on the MFD. Figure 26-2 THE HTS DISPLAY The HTS display is used to display and lock onto threat radars.
For example, if an SA-6 SAM suddenly comes up on your nose at 10 nm, the HTS displays a bright “6” symbol at 12 o’clock and 10 miles (as shown in Figure 26-3A). If it then starts tracking you, it would go to a reverse bright symbol (as shown in Figure 26-3B). SA-6 SA-6 Figure 26-3A Figure 26-3B Superimposed on the HTS display is the HSD (Horizontal Situation Display). This allows you to view the proximity of radar threats to your flight route. The HSD provides an overhead view of your planned route.
air-to-ground weapons WPN stands for “Weapon.” Press this OSB to cycle through the AAM (Air-to-Air Missile), AGM (Airto-Ground missile), A-G (Air-to-Ground) and GUN weapon modes. SWAP swaps the left and right MFD displays. # is the number that shows the station that the selected missile is loaded on. The lower left corner shows a missile station if the HARMs are symmetrically loaded. The next missile to fire is the highlighted station. 15 is a range number for the HTS.
Lock onto the symbol by designating the target. Please note that the HTS can be very finicky about locking up targets, so if you can’t lock on, just keep trying. Because the symbols may be moving on the scope, you need to anticipate threat symbol movement to get the cursors over the target. When you have the target locked up, a circle will appear over the threat symbol, as shown in Figure 26-5. LOCKED TARGET The HTS is limited to locking only one Figure 26-5 target at a time.
air-to-ground weapons In the above figures, notice that a DLZ (Dynamic Launch Zone) bracket is in the HUD. This bracket appears when a target is locked up on the HTS. The bracket shows the maximum and minimum range that you can fire a missile at the target. Along with the DLZ bracket, you also have a digital range readout in the HUD as shown in the above figures. The range readout and the small circle (or locator line) provide cueing on the location of the threat radar.
4. Lock onto the nearest radiating threat by placing the HTS cursors over the target using W, Z, A and S. When the cursors are over the target, lock on by pressing 0 on the numeric keypad. 5. Check that the threat radar is in range by noting the position of the carat on the HARM DLZ bracket in the HUD. In addition, if the symbol is in range, it should be inside the range footprint oval on the HTS scope. The range oval is a dim circle on the HTS scope.
CHAPTER 6 AIR-TO-AIR REFUELING
Air refueling is one of the more challenging tasks facing a new fighter pilot. The first time I approached a tanker, I couldn’t believe that they really wanted me to fly that close to a big airplane with the intent of hooking a pipe between us. My first experience with this process was in the venerable F-4. I approached the tanker with the enthusiasm of youth. This couldn’t be too hard, I thought; I’d already mastered formation flying and basic fighter maneuvers (or thought I had).
AIR-TO-AIR REFUELING INSTR MODE KNOB Figure 27-2 Next, set the Instr Mode knob to the TCN position. You now have the bearing and range for the tanker verbally from AWACS as well as on your HSI. As you follow this steering, the KC-10 tanker should appear on the radar. When a target does appear on the radar, lock up the target and check the range and bearing to ensure that it lines up with the HSI steering. By the way, you do not have to use the air-to-air TACAN.
CLOSING ON THE TANKER Once you find the tanker, the trick is to get behind it in a position to refuel. Since the tankers fly large racetrack patterns, most of the time they will be straight and level. To make the tanker fly a predictable flight path, request fuel from the tanker. Press Y to bring up the tanker command menu and then press 1 for “Request refueling.” Once you request fuel, the tanker will slow to 300 knots and fly a large racetrack pattern.
AIR-TO-AIR REFUELING Range in Feet Outside 1 nautical mile (6,000 feet) 6,000 feet 5,000 feet 4,000 feet 3,000 feet 2,000 feet 1,000 feet Overtake in Knots 100 knots 60 knots 50 knots 40 knots 30 knots 20 knots 10 knots The key is to keep slowing down as you get closer to the tanker. Once you get inside of 1,000 feet, stay at 10 knots of closure (overtake) or until you are right up on the boom. At that point, move past the boom at walking pace.
Since the director lights are optimized for big airplanes such as the B-52 and C-5, the fore/aft and up/down lights are on the opposite side from what you would expect. In an F-16, the throttle is on the left side of the cockpit while the stick is on the right. The throttle makes you go fore and aft, but the fore/aft director lights are on the right side of the tanker. The stick in the F-16 is on the right side of the cockpit, but the up/down director lights are on the left side of the tanker.
AIR-TO-AIR REFUELING The director lights are important, but it is more important to start your air refueling by looking at the entire tanker and flying a good position under it. In fact, you can air refuel without even looking at the director lights. You should decide on your favorite view option for air refueling. I like to use the HUD Only view (1 key). Once you have received your gas, slow down and disconnect from the tanker.
6. Your airspeed should be almost identical to that of the tanker at the start of the mission. Push the throttle up slightly to get some overtake. Since you will start about 2 miles behind the KC-10 tanker, watch your overtake. The chart above is very conservative, but it’s a good place to start. 7. When you draw to within 1 mile, indicate you are ready to take fuel by pressing Y and 2. 8. Maneuver gently to have the boom pass directly over your head.
CHAPTER 7 MISSILE THREAT REACTION
Falcon 4.0 features many lethal enemy threat systems. All of these systems have weaknesses, though, that a good fighter pilot can exploit. Mission 28: Missile Threat Reaction This training mission will discuss procedures for defeating both SAMs (Surface-to-Air Missiles) and AAMs (Air-to-Air Missiles), but first we will talk about missiles in general. MISSILE GUIDANCE Both SAMs and AAMs use either IR (Infrared) or radar to guide them to their targets.
Missile threat reaction Radar missiles, on the other hand, generally require guidance commands or directions from the shooting platform. There are very few exceptions to this rule for radar missiles. Radar missiles come in two basic types: command-guided missiles and semi-active missiles. CommandCommand-guided radar missile Figure 28-1 guided missiles are fired while the shooter radar tracks the target and sends guidance commands to the missile as it flies toward the target.
The following missiles use semi-active guidance: SA-5 SA-6 SAN-9 AA-7 AIM-7 AA-10 Another radar guidance technique uses a combination of command guidance and active radar. The AIM-54 Phoenix, AIM-120 AMRAAM and Russian-built AA-10C Alamo use this system. These air-to-air missiles come off the rail and get command guidance until they are close enough to track the target with their own onboard radars. At this point, the missile is autonomous and can guide without further assistance from the shooter aircraft.
Missile threat reaction close enough for the warhead to detonate within a lethal radius. For some missiles, this radius can be a small as a few feet, while others can kill if they explode up to 100 feet away. Your goal is to stay out of that lethal radius by using a combination of jamming, chaff and flares, and maneuvering. MISSILE LAUNCH LIGHT THREAT WARNING SYSTEM Before you can successfully react to a missile launch, you must first detect that you are under attack.
For radar systems, the TWS will not only display a unique symbol but will also provide an audio tone for both radar tracking and missile launch. The radar tracking tones are distinct for each different radar system on the battlefield, but the missile launch tone is the same for all radar missiles. In other words, if the TWS detects a missile launch of any kind, it will put out a generic missile launch tone. The TWS scope itself displays threat symbols on their proper bearing from your jet.
Missile threat reaction In addition to chaff and flares, the F-16 can also carry a jamming pod called the ALQ-131. It is used to jam or confuse enemy radars. Jamming essentially makes it harder for an enemy radar system to track your jet precisely. In the Campaign, you should always fly with a jamming pod because it will help reduce the Pk (Probability of Kill) of enemy radar-guided missiles. Turn on your jammer (if you have one loaded) by pressing J.
To take on a missile: 1. Load training mission “28 Missile Threat” from Tactical Engagement. 2. Select either Steerpoint 3, 4, 5 or 6 by pressing S. 3. Drive toward the selected steerpoint until you are engaged. 4. Confirm the missile launch by checking your TWS scope. If it is a radar missile, you will get a launch light and a launch tone from your TWS. If it is an IR SAM, you will hopefully hear a “break turn” call if you have a wingman.
Missile threat reaction 7. As you start your defensive turn, drop 2–3 bundles of chaff and 2–3 flares by pressing X and Z. If you get a missile launch indication on your scope, just drop chaff and save your flares. Any time you are not sure which type of missile is guiding on you, however, drop both chaff and flares. 8. Get below 300 feet if possible. Don’t try to descend this low during your defensive turn.
11. As you start to actually see that the missile is a missile and not just a dot on the screen, execute a max G orthogonal break into the missile. This last-ditch break turn is shown in Figure 28-10. Figure 28-10 12. If you survive the missile attack, confirm that no more missiles are in flight by pressing + on the numeric keypad to cycle through targets in the Padlock view. If another missile is on the way, you will have to repeat the steps you just followed.
CHAPTER 8 BASIC FIGHTER MANEUVERS
Offensive BFM (Basic Fighter Maneuvers) is all about maneuvering to shoot down a bandit in the minimum amount of time. In this chapter, we will briefly discuss the theory of offensive maneuvering. More important than the theory, however, are the actual techniques needed to fly offensive BFM. This chapter will give you the step-by-step procedures and techniques for shooting down enemy airplanes.
basic fighter maneuvers In order to stay at his 6 o’clock, you must keep control of angle-off, aspect angle and range. Angle-off is the angle formed by the difference between your heading and the bandit’s heading. When a bandit turns angle off, he creates aspect and range problems for you. Aspect angle is the angle measured from the target’s tail to your aircraft. At 0° aspect, your jet is right behind the bandit’s jet. At 0° angle-off, you are pointing in the same direction as the bandit.
TURN RATE AND RADIUS To review the lessons of Training Mission 2, the first two characteristics of turns are turn radius and turn rate. Remember that turn radius is simply a measure of how tight your jet is turning. If you were to look down on the aircraft as it turned, turn radius would be the distance from the center of your turn circle to the aircraft, measured in feet. Turn rate is the second important characteristic of turning the jet.
basic fighter maneuvers Throttle position controls how much fuel you burn. Drag devices refer primarily to speed brakes. Nose position in relation to the horizon also affects airspeed. Finally, G force causes airspeed to bleed off. Remember from our discussion earlier about exchanging energy for position that no modern fighter (with the possible exception of the F-22) can stay at corner velocity while pulling max Gs at medium altitude. As you pull Gs, you will slow down.
TRAINING MISSION OVERVIEW In this mission, you will practice offensive BFM behind a bandit aircraft. INITIAL CONDITIONS Airspeed: 400 knots Altitude: 15,000 MSL Throttle Setting: Mil Configuration: Gear up and 6 AIM-9s MISSION DESCRIPTION This mission starts with the Falcon 6,000 feet behind an Su-27 that should start a defensive turn into you while dropping flares. You need to perform your best offensive BFM to keep a position of advantage and shoot down the enemy.
basic fighter maneuvers 5. Watch your airspeed! If you are not between 330–440 knots, then get there. Be heads up about the bandit’s speed. Many a crafty enemy pilot will snap the power to idle to get you to overshoot. Watch your overtake as well as your airspeed. Figure 29-4 shows the place in the HUD where you can read overtake. You must have a radar lock on the bandit to get this overtake readout. 6. Change to the Padlock view (4 key) and then call up the Situational Awareness bar by pressing s3.
10. As you see the wings of the bandit come into view, pull the nose to lead pursuit and take a shot with your cannon. Figure 29-6 shows this position. Figure 29-6 11. At low aspect (when your fuselage is aligned with bandit), throttle position controls overtake so be careful where you park your throttle in full AB or you will ride that big Falcon engine right past offensive into defensive BFM.
basic fighter maneuvers Notice how the turn in Figure 30-1 causes angle-off and aspect to build and also rapidly decreased the range. This type of turn forces the bandit to make a move and, more importantly, it forces the bandit to make just the right move. Any time you force your adversary to react quickly and correctly to your maneuvers, there is always a chance he will make a human error. The idea here is to make your best defensive move and force the bandit to do some good offensive BFM.
This turn must be performed at corner airspeed for all the reasons that I have stated before. But just in case you forgot, I’ll cover it again. Turning the jet at corner airspeed will give you the best turn rate (how fast you move the nose of the jet around the circle) and the tightest turn radius (how small a circle you are carving in the sky). Radius is particularly important on defense because a tight turn radius may cause the bandit to overshoot your jet and place him out front of you.
basic fighter maneuvers TRAINING MISSION OVERVIEW In this mission, you will practice flying defensive BFM against a bandit that starts directly at your 6 o’clock. INITIAL CONDITIONS Airspeed: 400 knots Altitude: 15,000 MSL Throttle Setting: Mil Configuration: Gear up and 6 AIM-9s MISSION DESCRIPTION This mission starts with your Falcon in a position of disadvantage, with the bandit directly at your 6 o’clock and at your same airspeed.
GUN DEFENSE When you are close enough to make out the bandit’s wings, he’s in range for a gunshot. Additionally, when the bandit is in range and within 45° of getting his nose on your jet, get ready to defend yourself against a gun attack. Remember that the gun is an all-aspect weapon and the bandit does not need to be at your 6 o’clock to kill you with his gun. Perform the following steps to defend yourself against a gun attack: 1.
basic fighter maneuvers These are not magic maneuvers guaranteed to work every time, but these procedures should usually work if executed properly. Figure 30-5 Missile Defense This section covers defending against a missile. When a missile is heading your way, you have no choice but to stop whatever you are doing and maneuver quickly to defend against it. Follow these steps to defend against a missile: 1. Make a descending turn at max G to put the missile on your 3/9 line. 2.
5. After establishing the missile or shooter aircraft on your 3/9 line, do a series of loaded pulls up and down in the vertical plane as shown in Figure 30-6. These pulls in the vertical with the missile on the beam may force a larger miss distance on the missile. The goal is to make the miss distance greater than the missile warhead’s lethal radius. Again, these procedures are not magic. They will, however, give you the best chance of surviving an enemy missile attack.
basic fighter maneuvers Again, keep in mind that the bandit may be lining up for a gun attack on you. Even if he is not, head-on gunshots are dangerous because of the high collision potential. Your options as you pass the bandit are (1) you can go straight up in the vertical, (2) you can turn nose low, or (3) you can turn level. You can do a few other things like pitch back or split S, but these maneuvers are not optimum maneuvers for getting around on the bandit.
Side view of slice Top view of slice Figure 31-1 Figure 31-1 shows how this maneuver looks. THE LEVEL TURN Another good option at the pass is a level turn into the bandit. This option does not get your nose around as fast as the slice, but its big advantage is that at low altitude you won’t double-dribble yourself off the ground. In addition to being safer at low altitude, it is far easier to stay oriented to the horizon.
basic fighter maneuvers If you do decide to go in the vertical on your first head-on pass, here is how you do it. As you pass the bandit, start a wings-level pull at 550 knots. This is not corner velocity, but it doesn’t matter. As you start your 7 G pull, you will bleed off knots like sweat off a pig. Figure 31-2 shows this initial move in the vertical and how much altitude you will gain on the bandit by pulling straight up rather than in the oblique.
ONE-CIRCLE AND TWO-CIRCLE FIGHTS The options that we discussed at the pass can result in either a one-circle or two-circle fight. If both fighters start a lead turn, then the fight will go two-circle as shown in Figure 31-3, which means that two distinct turn circles are created. Two circle flight Figure 31-3 If one of the pilots turns away, then the fight goes one-circle, as shown in Figure 31-4.
basic fighter maneuvers If you are offset from the bandit and turn away, you are not using the turning room available and, worse yet, you are letting the bandit use it. Figure 31-6 illustrates why turning away from the bandit will cause you big problems. Lateral offset Figure 31-6 Two-circle fights have another advantage for an aircraft with a high turn rate and an all-aspect heat missile: you may be able to get your nose around fast enough to get a shot at the bandit.
TRAINING MISSION DESCRIPTION This mission starts from a head-on position. When the simulation starts, the Su-27 will pass you close aboard and then start a turning fight. In this training mission, you can practice a head-on gun shot or any of the head-on BFM options that we discussed. The optimum maneuver at the pass is the slice. Follow these procedures to execute an effective slice at the pass: 1. Load training mission “31 Head-on BFM” from Tactical Engagement. 2. Ensure that you are 400–450 knots. 3.
PART 2: MAIN MODULES Chapter 9: Instant Action Chapter 10: Dogfight Chapter 11: Tactical Engagement Chapter 12: Campaign Chapter 13: Logbook Chapter 14: ACMI Chapter 15: Tactical Reference Chapter 16: Setup INSTANT CHAPTER 9 ACTION
Instant Action is the place to be when you want to start flying and fighting right away. To get into Instant Action, click the Instant Action menu item on the left of the screen. The Instant Action screen has three sections: the Options area, the Map and Sierra Hotel. Once you’ve set your options, click the Fly icon at the bottom right of the screen to take off. FLY ICON Instant Action Options Use the Instant Action options area to customize three areas of your experience.
instant action MISSION The Mission option allows you to choose between a primarily air-to-air mission and a ground attack mission. Choose “Fighter Sweep” for a chance to shoot down lots of air threats. Choose “Moving Mud” for more air-to-ground targets. Your mission choice will affect your weapons loadout. WAVE This setting—either Recruit, Cadet, Rookie, Veteran or Ace—determines the enemy difficulty level. The higher the level of enemy difficulty, the smarter, faster and more deadly the enemy will be.
ending your mission You fly and fight in Instant Action until you decide to quit, land, eject or get shot down. The enemies are unending and relentless. If you are shot down, the Instant Action mission will automatically end. You can also end at any time by pressing q. When an Instant Action mission ends, you’ll return to the Instant Action main screen. If you’re fortunate enough to score enough points to put you in Sierra Hotel (the best of the best), your name will be added to the list.
CHAPTER 10 DOGFIGHT
The Dogfight module provides you with head-to-head action against other aircraft. In it, up to four teams, in any combination of human and AI (Artificial Intelligence, or computer-controlled) pilots, can battle in the skies. Enter the Dogfight module by clicking Dogfight in the main menu. Starting a Dogfight 1. If you are playing a Dogfight game by yourself, click on the Saved tab. 2. Click one of the Dogfight setups below (Furball, Match Play or Team Furball) or choose a setup you’ve previously created.
DOGFIGHT FURBALL In Furball, it’s you against everyone else. You rack up your score by the number of kills you make. You get a point for each kill you make—but you lose a point each time you crash into the ground or eject when you are not damaged. When you set up a furball, set the Points slider to the number of points required to win. Once any player earns this number of points, he is declared the winner of the furball.
TEAM FURBALL In Team Furball, you play in teams—but your goal is still to reach the point limit the game’s host set using the slider. However, your team wins when the cumulative number of kills made by your team equals the point limit. In other words, the first team whose combined points equal the limit wins. If you set the slider to Unlimited, then the game isn’t over until all players quit.
DOGFIGHT If you want to add AI pilots to a particular team, click the Add Aircraft icon for that team to open the Add Flight dialog box. Choose the type of aircraft and pilot’s skill level for the new flight. If a plane icon is selected, clicking the Add Aircraft icon will add a new aircraft to that flight. You can also add aircraft by right-clicking in the team quadrant to display a pop-up menu containing skill levels and aircraft types. Right-clicking on a flight will add an aircraft to that flight.
Unlimited Guns Select unlimited guns if you don’t want to worry about running out of cannon rounds. Otherwise, you are limited to 510 rounds for your M61A1 Vulcan cannon, and enemy AI planes are limited to their normal cannon load. ECM Select ECM if you want everyone in the Dogfight game equipped with an ECM pod for countermeasures. Range The range slider determines how far each group of aircraft is from the starting location. The fighters will start toward a central point.
CHAPTER 11 TACTICAL ENGAGEMENT
“Tactical engagement” is the term used by Air Force personnel to describe any planned encounter with the enemy. When actual missions are created, Air Force personnel rely on tools similar to ones in Falcon 4.0’s Tactical Engagement editor. This chapter walks you through the Tactical Engagement editor and shows you how to create missions that closely parallel actual military procedure and structure.
tactical engagement Training Missions CHAPTER 11 Mission Description appears only after you have selected a mission. This overview provides a quick synopsis of the engagement or mission. Falcon 4.0 includes 31 training missions (Part 1: Training Missions) created by Pete “Boomer” Bonanni, an F-16 instructor pilot. To jump into a training mission, simply select the Training tab and then the mission you’d like to fly.
LOADING A TACTICAL ENGAGEMENT Loading a tactical engagement involves a few simple clicks and then you’re on your way to participating in a new mini-campaign or sortie. To load a tactical engagement, follow these steps: 1. Click on Tactical Engagement in the main menu. 2. In the opening screen, click on the Saved tab. 3. Click on the filename for the engagement you’d like to play. The right side of the screen displays the Theater Map and the Mission Description.
tactical engagement CHAPTER 11 Quick start: Building a Simple Mission The fastest way to build a mission in the Tactical Engagement editor is to accept most of the defaults. This section shows you how to build a simple air-to-ground mission that includes an enemy intercept near the target point. 1. Select Tactical Engagement in the main menu. 2. Click on the Saved tab and then click the New button. The screen changes to show the Mission Builder.
4. Click on the P’yongsan Nuclear Plant, which looks like and is located near the border. (To find the P’yongsan nuclear plant on the map, turn names on or hold your mouse cursor over the icon until a map label appears.) After clicking on the nuclear plant icon, the Add Package window will appear. LOCKED PADLOCK 5. Lock the takeoff time by clicking on the padlock icon until it is green and in the locked position. 6. Click on the New button and the Add Flight window will appear. 7.
tactical engagement CHAPTER 11 The takeoff time appears in the package window. The mission planner automatically computes steerpoints to the target, and you will see the flight plan on the map. FLIGHT PLAN 8. Click on the OK button in the Add Package window. 9. Click on the Flight Plan icon at the bottom of the screen. 10. Cycle through the steerpoints by clicking on the right arrow next to STPT (Steerpoint) until you see TGT (Target). Click on the Assign button that appears at the bottom of the window.
12. Click the Recon button to see a black-and-white satellite image of the target. Verify that it is the target you want. Then close the Recon window by clicking on the “X” in the upper righthand corner. 13. Click the Assign button at the bottom of the Target List window to assign that target to your package. Close the Target List window. 14. Verify that the correct target is shown in the Flight Plan window. When you finish, close the Flight Plan window. BRIEFING 15.
tactical engagement ADDING OPPOSITION CHAPTER 11 A bomb run is challenging, but it’s even more adventurous when you have two MiGs barreling down on you from above. To add an intercept mission to your new strike sortie, follow the steps listed below: 1. Click the Fit Flight Plan button so you can see the entire route from takeoff to target. 2. Turn on the icons for the fighter planes by right-clicking on the map and selecting Air Units – Fighter from the pop-up menu. 3.
7. Click on the Add Flight icon. Then click on the F-16 icon for your flight, which appears along the route. 8. The Add Flight window will pop up again. Change the aircraft to a MiG-29 by selecting it from the Aircraft drop-down list. 9. Check to make sure that Role is set to Intercept. The target will change automatically to the closest aircraft that can be intercepted. Check that the target is your flight name (as seen on the map). Not every aircraft type can fly every mission.
tactical engagement ADDING VICTORY CONDITIONS CHAPTER 11 Now, it’s time to add some victory conditions to the mission you’ve built. Victory conditions establish what a team needs to do in order to complete its mission successfully. 1. On the left side of the screen, click on Victory Conditions. 2. Zoom in on your flight’s target (which is the P’yongsan nuclear power plant) by clicking the “+” button. Drag the map to center the target. Right-click on the icon for the nuclear power plant. 3.
6. Click on the Assign button and then close the Target List window. You will see the specific subtarget following the main target in the list. MAIN TARGET SUBTARGET 7. Right-click on the map and select Show Victory Conditions from the pop-up menu. You will see a blue diamond around the target icon in your team color. You will also see “Victory Condition 1” underneath the name of the target. 8. Now, we’re going to assign a point value for successfully destroying the target.
tactical engagement TEAM NAME ASSIGN CHAPTER 11 11. Click the underlined word “Assign” to the right. Move your cursor over your flight’s icon (the blue F-16) and hold it there until you see your flight’s name pop up. Now click on your flight’s icon to select your flight as the new target for the other team’s victory condition. 12. Make sure that the Victory type is set to Intercept and that the name of your flight appears under Victory Condition. 13.
15. Click on Points for Victory at the top of the Victory Condition window and type in the required points for any team to win. Type in 1,000 so that either team can win the mission. 16. Under Mission Type at the top of the window, select Sortie (not Engagement). 17. Change the Start Time clock to “1, 8:57:00” (Day 1, 8:57 AM). 18. Set the Time Limit for the mission to “1, 12:00:00.” 19. Set the Tactical Engagement clock back to “1, 8:57:00.” Otherwise, the mission may start without you when you load it.
tactical engagement 3. Choose the team you want to fly (USA) in the Theater Map area by clicking on it. CHAPTER 11 4. Click on the Commit button in the lower right corner. 5. Click the mission you want from the Mission Schedule list. 6. Click a plane icon below to place yourself in that plane. “1” is the lead aircraft, and “2” is the wingman. 7.
objective. To complete this objective, strike, SEAD and escort flights may be necessary. All of these flights would be part of the same package. Mission The general objective or reason for a package. Sortie A single mission from takeoff to landing. In Falcon 4.0, sorties are short engagements centered around one mission or tactical objective. Engagement The actual fight with the enemy. In Falcon 4.0, this is a long-term minicampaign that includes packages with multiple tactical objectives.
tactical engagement The Tactical Engagement editor has the following tools listed on the left side of the screen: This is the primary tool for setting up the forces involved in an engagement and for planning missions and flights. Teams You can divide the Korean peninsula by teams (up to 7). You can also set skill levels for each team. Victory Conditions You can assign victory conditions and points awarded for achieving specific military objectives and the number of points needed to win an engagement.
Map Buttons The Mission Builder map has buttons on the right side for adding forces to the engagement and viewing the map. ADD PACKAGE HELP TEAM SELECTOR ADD FLIGHT ADD BATTALION ADD SQUADRON ZOOM OUT ZOOM IN FIT FLIGHT PLAN LINEAR ALTITUDE PLOT LOG ALTITUDE PLOT Help Press this button to display the Help window for the Mission Builder map. Team Selector This button sets the current team. All units, flights and packages created will be added to the team displayed.
tactical engagement Click this button to add squadrons to an airbase. To display airfields on the map, right-click on the map and choose Installations – Airfields. When the airbase icons appear, click on the Add Squadron button. Then click on an airbase (not an airstrip or highway strip) for that squadron. Click on the Add Squadron button again to turn it off. You can also add a squadron by right-clicking on an airbase and choosing “Add Squadron.
Map Options Menu Right-click anywhere on the map that is not over a map icon to display the Map Options menu. Recon Displays the Recon and Target List windows. The Recon window provides aerial photography of the target site. The Target List window allows you to select a specific target at that site. Add Flight Adds a flight to the currently selected team. Select this option to display the Add Flight window. Add Package Adds a package to the currently selected team.
tactical engagement Bullseye Other Menus CHAPTER 11 Turns on the bullseye, which is a common reference point used to specify locations. For more information, see the “Bullseye” section in Chapter 21: The Radar.
MISSION BUILDER TOOLS The tools along the bottom of the screen provide intelligence options, weapons configuration, status reports and more. Help If you need help with Tactical Engagement, click the Help icon (which looks like a question mark). ATO The ATO (Air Tasking Order) displays all packages and flights planned in the engagement by team and mission type. The ATO can be used to view, find, edit and delete mission plans. SHOW FLIGHT PLAN Team Lists all teams in the mission.
tactical engagement Show All Packages CHAPTER 11 If you’re editing, click on this box at the bottom of the window to display all the packages in this tactical engagement for all teams. If you’re playing a tactical engagement (vs. editing), you will see only the packages for your team. If the box is not selected, though, you will see only the flights in your package when you are playing. OOB The OOB (Order of Battle) is a list of armed forces and installations for all the teams in the tactical engagement.
Mission Briefing Click on the Briefing icon (the notepad at the bottom of the screen) to access your mission briefing. You must click on a flight icon first or else the Briefing window will show the mission brief for the last selected flight. The document contains detailed information about the mission.
tactical engagement CHAPTER 11 Flight Plan Window Click on the Flight Plan icon at the bottom to access the Flight Planner window. You can also display this window by right-clicking a steerpoint on the Mission Builder map. The Flight Plan window is labeled with the number of your flight package and provides the following information: Flight Selects the flight you want to modify. If more than one flight is part of your package, you can select and change the route parameters for the other flights.
Airspeed Set the airspeed for each steerpoint by clicking the arrows next to Airspeed. You can change airspeed in increments of 5 knots. Setting airspeed automatically locks it. Chapter 27: Mission Planning and Execution has more information on adjusting TOS and airspeed for an entire package. If any entries are not possible for the flight, the line item and route will appear in red. Climb/Descent Choose whether the climbout to the next steerpoint is immediate or delayed.
tactical engagement Description Drop men, equipment or supplies Attack ground troops Level bombing Combat Air Patrol – defend area against enemy air forces Await further instructions Electronic Intelligence Protect other air assets from enemy air forces Forward Air Control – coordinate ground attacks near friendly troops Refuel friendly air assets Intercept and destroy an assigned enemy flight Jam enemy radar Pick up troops Reconnaissance – take aerial surveillance photos at the steerpoint Rescue a downed a
AIRCRAFT TABS At the top of the Munitions window are tabs that represent every aircraft in the flight. You can make changes to any or all of the aircraft at the same time. All aircraft are initially selected. If you don’t want to change the loadout of a given aircraft, click its tab so that it is not selected. You can reselect it by clicking again. Changes will apply only to the selected aircraft. 3-D MODEL A 3-D representation of the aircraft that is being loaded appears in the top half of the window.
tactical engagement CHAPTER 11 missiles on the left wing, the airplane may handle unpredictably during heavy maneuvering because of weight and drag caused by the bombs. For this reason, try to keep everything symmetrical by adding the same number and type of munitions to both sides of the aircraft. To learn more about aerodynamics, read Chapter 25: Aerodynamics and G Forces. To learn more about different weapons, see Tactical Reference in the game.
Blue The weapon on that row can be loaded on that station, and that station is currently empty. Bright Green The weapon on that row is loaded on that station. Dull Green The weapon on that row can be loaded on that station, but that station currently has a different weapon loaded on it. Striped Blue/Green The selected aircraft have different types of weapons loaded on that hardpoint. To select a munition from these inventories, just click on the hollow circles below the desired hardpoints.
tactical engagement 1. Select the flight on the map or in the ATO. 3. When the Munitions window appears, all aircraft in the flight are selected, which means that modifications you make to loadouts will be made for every flight member. CHAPTER 11 2. Click on the Munitions button at the bottom of the screen. 4. Deselect the aircraft that you do not want to modify by clicking on the name tabs at the top of the window. (Deselected aircraft have black tabs; selected aircraft have blue tabs.) 5.
Size Sets the number of aircraft (1 to 4) assigned to this flight. Squadron Sets the squadron the aircraft in this flight are drawn from. If the squadron is set to “New,” a new squadron will be created at the chosen airbase. Airbase If an existing squadron is chosen above, this field will display its home airbase. If a “New” squadron is set in the squadron field, it will be created at the airbase chosen here. Target Select the target you’d like to attack.
tactical engagement Purpose Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses. SEAD Escort Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses. Protect a strike package from enemy air defenses. Offensive Counter Air strike. A mission flown against enemy assets (such as airbases or search radar systems) designed to help obtain air superiority. Air-to-ground mission flown against a wide variety of enemy targets. Air-to-ground missions flown against a wide variety of enemy targets deep in enemy territory. Forward Air Control.
Add Package To see packages on the Mission Builder map, right-click and select Show Packages. The package icon will appear wherever there is a package target. Open the Add Package window to create packages. Click on the Add Package icon on the right side of the Mission Builder map and click on a target or location on the map to open the Add Package window. Package Type Tactical objective of the package. The package type is taken from the mission role assigned to the first flight created for the package.
tactical engagement Time On Target CHAPTER 11 Displays the desired time for the first flight in the package to reach the target. When the TOT is locked, the planner will adjust takeoff times as necessary so that each part of the package arrives at the appropriate interval. Add Squadron The Add Squadron Window allows you to set the attributes of a new squadron. Open the window by clicking on the Add Squadron button and then choosing a home airbase on the Mission Builder map.
Unit Type The types of units available for the country chosen under Equipment. Roster The men, weapons and vehicles that will be assigned to the new unit. Once a battalion is created, give it marching orders by clicking on the unit and then dragging its steerpoint to the desired location. The unit will move to the assigned location, capturing it if necessary, then assume a defensive posture until further movement orders are received.
tactical engagement Name The name of the team. Click in this field and then type in a new name. Flag The team’s flag. Use the arrows next to the flag to select your flag. Colors The team’s color. This color is used for map displays and icons in the Mission Builder map and label colors in the simulation. Pilot Skill Represents the average skill of all personnel on the team, including ground forces The skill distribution is a bell-shaped curve centered on the average skill rating you have selected.
VICTORY CONDITIONS Victory conditions determine which team wins a mission. To win a mission or engagement, a team must score at least the required number of points by accomplishing the tactical objectives listed in the Victory Conditions window. These objectives include capturing installations, destroying structures and units, and intercepting specific enemy aircraft. It is the mission builder’s responsibility to create victory conditions and assign the points necessary for a team to win.
tactical engagement The Time Limit setting controls the end of the engagement or sortie. If you’d like to limit the time a player has to fly a sortie or limit the time an engagement lasts, set the time limit for either in this window. For example, if no team achieves its victory condition in the time limit set, then the tactical engagement will end in a stalemate. Keep in mind that the first number for both Time Limit and Start Time represents the day in the engagement.
Occupy applies only to Installations. Points will be awarded when the specified team occupies the installation after the specified time interval. Only ground units can occupy an installation. If the installation is recaptured after the time interval, the points will still be awarded. To force a team to hold an installation for the entire engagement, set the time interval equal to the mission time limit. Destroy applies to specific buildings or structures at an installation.
CHAPTER 12 CAMPAIGN
The Campaign section of Falcon 4.0 separates fighter pilots from cannon fodder. Once you enter the campaign, all your skills, training, instinct and experience will be tested. The campaign is the real thing. You’re thrown into a chaotic military action, given a job to do and must prove your mettle in combat. The campaign takes place in the volatile Korean peninsula, one of the hotbeds of military activity. Ever since the Korean War “ended” in 1953, tensions between North and South Korea have continued.
CAMPAIGN Jumping Into The Campaign If you are ready to join the battle and fly now, you can accept the default campaign settings and jump into battle. To join the campaign quickly, follow these steps: C H A P T E R 12 1. Click on Campaign at the main menu. 2. Click on one of the three campaign scenarios: Tiger Spirit, Rolling Fire or Iron Fortress. Sit back and watch a video of the current military situation. 3. Click the Commit icon in the bottom right-hand corner (which is the F-16 icon).
MAP MISSION SCHEDULE MISSION DESCRIPTION FLIGHT CALLSIGN BRIEFING MUNITIONS FLY ICON 4. You will automatically be placed in the lead aircraft of one of the first generated missions. If you want to choose a different mission, click on any mission in the Mission Schedule and choose your plane in that mission. You can choose from air-to-air, air-to-ground, recon and other types of missions.
CAMPAIGN 7. Examine the area through which you will be flying on the Mission Map in the bottom right corner. Review the loadout of your aircraft and the entire flight by clicking on the Munitions icon. If your mission is in flight, you will not be able to change the munitions or flight plan. C H A P T E R 12 8. Click on the Fly icon in the bottom right corner.
9. If you have selected a flight that has not yet taken off, a countdown screen appears when you click the Fly icon. It displays a digital countdown timer and two ground starting point options: Taxi and Takeoff. 10. Click on Taxi if you’d like to be on the taxiway or you need some extra time to set up. Select Takeoff if you’d rather be positioned for takeoff when you enter the cockpit. At this “countdown” screen, Falcon 4.0 speeds up the clock to your selected mission departure time.
CAMPAIGN Creating A New Campaign C H A P T E R 12 This quick start for the campaign accepts all the default settings provided by Falcon 4.0. The Campaign screens provide numerous options you can change. This chapter will show you how to use these options to influence entire battlefield scenarios and missions, configure squadrons, adjust munitions loadouts, and plot new steerpoint courses and objectives before joining the virtual battlefield. Falcon 4.
Set the challenge rating and determine the ratios of opposing forces The Campaign screen consists of three areas for adjusting these parameters: the campaign selection area, the airbase display map and the scenario detail screen. Campaign Selection The campaign selection area in the top left of the screen allows you to start one of three battle scenarios, load a saved campaign or join an online campaign. THE SCENARIOS Falcon 4.
CAMPAIGN North Korean onslaught. Choose one of these conflicts by clicking on the picture for the conflict. You can also load a saved conflict or join an ongoing online campaign. If you’ve previously saved a campaign, load it by clicking on the Saved tab and selecting the campaign you want to load. Now click the Commit icon in the bottom right corner and the saved campaign will start.
the Main Campaign screen informing you of a redeployment to a new airbase if this occurs. Scenario Overview The Scenario Overview part of the Preliminary Campaign window provides an overview of the scenario you’re about to enter. Four areas provide information on ratings and strength: Situation provides an overall sense of the situation in one of five categories: Bleak, Poor, Fluid, Good and Excellent. Challenge Rating provides four settings that influence the power of the enemy in the campaign.
CAMPAIGN The Mission Schedule screen consists of three areas that help you prepare for a mission: Every mission available to your squadron. You can organize the missions by priority, takeoff time, package number, status and type. Click on one of the priority tabs along the top of the Mission Schedule. Click on the mission you’d like to fly. Event Map A map of the Korean peninsula showing the current battle situation, recent high activity and communiqués.
takeoff times. Therefore, a particular mission may not be available to you because the AI is flying the mission and is ingressing to the target. SELECTING AN AIRCRAFT Your flight consists of from one to four F-16s. Below your assigned flight callsign, you’ll see icons for each aircraft in the flight, along with the ranks and names of each pilot assigned to the flight. Pick the aircraft you want to fly by clicking on it. Your own name (the name from your Logbook) will appear under the aircraft.
CAMPAIGN One way to see the rapid development of the war is to speed up the clock and then check out the JSTARS display in the Intel section. This will allow you to see troop movements over the course of the campaign. Planning Map After you select a mission, its flight plan appears on the Planning Map. This is an invaluable tool for planning and adjusting your mission. The Planning Map includes a wide variety of information and tools for viewing your flight plan and making changes to your mission.
MAXIMIZE Press the Maximize button to enlarge the Planning Map to fill the screen. In addition, two new buttons are added: Linear Altitude Plot Displays a side view of the selected mission’s flight plan. This view shows the altitude your flight will fly between each steerpoint. Log Altitude Plot This side view is a larger scale version of the linear plot view and is another way to alter your altitude changes for the flight plan. HELP Press this button to access online help.
CAMPAIGN FIT FLIGHT PLAN Press the Fit Flight Plan button to reposition the map and zoom in to fit the chosen mission’s flight plan in the center of the screen. C H A P T E R 12 THE PLANNING MAP MENU With the Planning Map enlarged, right-click on the map. A pop-up menu will appear with options for display overlays to show you the complete tactical situation into which you’ll be flying. Keep in mind that enemy intelligence is based on imperfect information. The fog of war applies to Falcon 4.
Threat Circles let you display radar and ADA (Air Defense Artillery) threat areas on the map. This will allow you to see if your flight plan takes you within known SAMs or AAA (low- or highaltitude) or low- or high-altitude radar coverage. Low altitude represents radar coverage taken at about 5,000 feet; high-altitude radar represents radar coverage area at about 20,000 feet. Names toggles object names on the map.
CAMPAIGN load is appropriate for your mission. The Munitions window allows you to change loadouts for your flight only. See the section “Munitions Window” C H A P T E R 12 OOB ATO JSTARS REPLAY SIERRA HOTEL later in thisFORCE chapter. LEVELS Weather SQUADRON RECORDS Lists the predicted weather conditions for your mission, including wind, temperature, cloud information and the contrail layer.
quick overview of the status of the war, select an asset for each bar group. Click on the headings of each group and choose the asset you want information about. At the bottom of the Intel display area is a scrolling list of updates from the war that is raging as you plan your next mission. This list is updated in real time with the latest items appearing at the top of the list. After you select Intel, a number of new buttons appear onscreen at the bottom of the window.
CAMPAIGN FORCE LEVELS C H A P T E R 12 The Force Levels window provides an overview of each country’s air defenses, naval power, supply, fuel, airbases, aircraft and ground vehicles. Force levels are available for the North Korean side (DPRK and potentially PRC and CIS) and the South Korean side (ROK and U.S.). Allied countries are grouped together. This diagram is the easiest way to compare the levels of forces and war supplies for each side over time. North Korea is in red, and South Korea is in blue.
based and its role. The bottom of the window alternately displays detailed squadron information or pilot information. Click the Squadron button to see squadron information. This window includes detailed information on your squadron, including battle statistics and pilot status. Click on the Pilots button to access career totals for each pilot in the squadron. This window also displays the number of kills and mission ratings.
CAMPAIGN Formation FLIGHT LIST LOCKED C H A P T E R 12 Used primarily for your AIcontrolled wingmen. Select from Spread, Wedge, Ladder, Stack, Trail, Res Cell, Box or Arrowhead. See Chapter 23: Radio Commands for information on formations. UNLOCKED STEERPOINT Enroute Actions Actions you can specify enroute to the selected steerpoint. See “Setting Enroute Actions” in the Flight Plan section below for details. Action Allows you to set the action at the selected steerpoint.
Setting Altitude allows you to set the altitude for the steerpoint. Setting Climb/Descent allows you to choose whether the climbout to the next steerpoint is immediate or delayed. Select Delayed to remain at the last steerpoint’s altitude until just before arriving at the next steerpoint. Select Immediate to climb to the current altitude immediately on arriving at the steerpoint. Setting Formation tells your wingmen to fly a particular formation.
CAMPAIGN Changes will apply only to the selected aircraft. A 3-D representation of the aircraft that is being loaded appears in the top half of the window. This model can be rotated and zoomed with the controls to the left. Aircraft Statistics The Munitions window dynamically calculates the current loadout weight and drag index of munitions attached to the aircraft. Weight and drag are important factors in all missions because they dramatically affect an F-16’s flight characteristics and turning ability.
click on OK, you cannot use Restore to bring back the computer-selected loadout. Clear completely removes a loadout from the selected pilot. With a clean slate, you can begin building your preferred loadout. Cancel any changes you’ve made to your loadout or your squadron during this visit to the Loadout window. OK accepts the current loadout shown onscreen. This includes any modifications you’ve made to the default loadout.
CAMPAIGN If you chose Take Off, you will enter the simulation on the runway, cleared for takeoff. S CRAMBLE C H A P T E R 12 If attacking aircraft are approaching your airbase while you are briefing or debriefing, a special dialog box appears asking if you want to accept this Scramble mission. If you want to accept this mission, click the Intercept button and you will return to the Mission Schedule window, with you being placed automatically in the intercept flight’s lead aircraft slot.
ABORTING A MISSION If you need to abort a mission while in mid-flight, press q and either select End Mission or Discard Mission. When you press the End Mission option, a Debriefing window will appear with information about your flight. The campaign will record the success or failure of this mission when you decide to exit. If you do poorly and want to scrub a mission, choose the Discard Mission option. The mission will end and you will be taken back to the Mission Schedule window.
CHAPTER 13 LOGBOOK
The Logbook contains all of your personal information, including a record of your entire career in Falcon 4.0. You can even add your photo and a personal squadron patch. You’ll use the Logbook to identify yourself during online or single play. Call up the Logbook window by clicking Logbook on the main menu. You can also bring up the Logbook by clicking the name in “Settings for: [name]” in the Setup window. Adding a New Logbook Entry The Logbook can hold records for more than one pilot.
LOGBOOK The Pilot Information Some pilot information can be entered or changed by the pilot, such as the callsign. The Logbook also records information about your career that you cannot change manually. This information is based on the missions you fly and the successes (or failures) you achieve. PILOT PICTURE C H A P T E R 13 At the upper left of the Logbook is a place for your picture. Click the Picture area to choose from a variety of pilot photos.
PERSONAL DATA This area is used to enter any personal data about yourself, such as your e-mail address, IP address, phone number, etc. This information can be seen by other online players and can be changed at any time. SQUADRON PATCH AND NAME In the lower right corner of the Logbook is a place for your squadron patch and name. Your squardron patch represents your virtual squadron, not your squadron in the Campaign. You can personalize this patch in the same way as your pilot picture.
LOGBOOK CAREER STATISTICS These statistics are cumulative for the duration of your career. Commissioned The date your Logbook entry was created. Ace Factor A numerical rating based on online combat with other humans only, similar to a chess ranking. Other online pilots can look at your Ace Factor to get an idea of how good you are. Fighting against AI (computer-controlled) pilots does not count in the Ace Factor score. Since the lowest rating is 1.0, your Ace Factor will remain 1.
Online Your online kill ratio. This represents the ratio of the number of kills you have made against human pilots to the number of times you have been killed by human pilots. A-A Kills The cumulative number of your air-to-air kills in all Campaign play. A-G Kills The cumulative number of your air-to-ground kills in all Campaign play. Static The cumulative number of kills of static targets, such as buildings, runways, etc. Naval The number of Campaign ship kills you have accumulated.
LOGBOOK MEDALS As you fly Campaign missions, you will earn medals, awarded upon the successful completion of your missions and for outstanding achievements. These medals appear in the Medals panel of the Logbook. The Air Force Cross is awarded for tremendous heroics. It may be given to any person serving with the U.S. Air Force when engaged in action with an enemy of the United States or when serving in conjunction with allied forces engaging opposing foreign forces.
If you earn a medal more than once, it will be designated by a cluster or a star on the first medal. The oak leaf clusters are given for medals awarded for personal bravery or achievement, whereas the stars are given specifically for earning multiples of the Korean Campaign Medal. The bronze oak leaf cluster or bronze star indicates one extra medal, and the silver oak leaf cluster or silver star indicates five extra medals.
CHAPTER 14 ACMI
Air combat has often been described as “hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror.” In those moments of terror, it is sometimes hard to perceive or remember all that happens. However, your job as a fighter pilot is to learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others. The best way to do this is to record and review your mission with the ACMI (Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation) system.
ACMI ACMI controls The ACMI controls, at the bottom of the ACMI window, are divided into several subgroups. C H A P T E R 14 TIME DISPLAY EVENTS LIST VIEW SELECTION VCR CONTROLS EVENTS LIST This list describes the major events that took place during the recording of the tape along with their time stamp. By scrolling through this list, you can quickly identify events you want to review and their associated times. VCR CONTROLS AND TIME DISPLAY The VCR controls let you move the tape forward and back.
Time display Indicates the time of the current display. It uses the same time frame as the events list. Stop button Stops the tape. Reverse button Plays the tape in reverse. Forward button Plays the tape at normal speed. Fast reverse button Plays the tape backwards at several times the normal rate. Fast forward button Plays the tape forwards at several times the normal rate. Single step back button Steps backwards through the tape one frame at a time.
ACMI SATELLITE The Satellite view places you directly above the aircraft. Since you are fairly high, you can see a lot of the action. You can zoom in and out, but rotation is restricted. ISOMETRIC The Isometric view provides a three-quarters oblique view, granting a good overhead perspective that takes in many aircraft. FREE C H A P T E R 14 This camera places you in space, but you are not connected to any aircraft. You can maneuver freely through space along three axes.
Use this list to determine which object you want to look at during playback. For example, if you select a MiG-29 from the Focus list and the Camera view is set to Internal, you’ll be looking out the HUD of the MiG-29. If the camera view is set to Chase, you’ll be outside the MiG following it from behind. Whichever object is selected in the Focus list is the one that the Camera looks at. The list has two small arrows that you can use to step through the object list sequentially.
ACMI OPTIONS You have many options for displaying additional information during the playback of an ACMI session. Click the Options button to get the list. Labels C H A P T E R 14 This item provides a right-hand pop-up menu that allows you to toggle a number of identifying labels for all aircraft (although not for helicopters).
Wireframe Terrain You can draw the terrain in wireframe. This can make it easier to see individual aircraft and ground units because they are not lost in the ground clutter. Wing Trails This option adds colored trails from the wings of all aircraft. These are like the smoke streamers used by exhibition aircraft at flight shows. The trails are green for the right wing and red for the left wing. This lets you see the “history” of the aircraft’s movement through space.
CHAPTER 15 TACTICAL REFERENCE
One of the best pieces of combat advice is “Know your enemy.” Mission briefings will help you out, but the clever warrior seeks a detailed understanding of the enemy’s aircraft, ground units and weapons. We have built an online reference library into Falcon 4.0 that contains this valuable information. The Tactical Reference contains detailed data not only about enemy assets but also about allied resources.
tactical reference SPECIFICATION PANEL The Specification panel on the left side of the window lists the basic specifications for each asset. Above the Specification panel is a drop-down list that lists all the assets in the selected subcategory. When you select an entry, its specifications appear under several headings. Click the plus marks to expand and the minus marks to collapse the specifications. C H A P T E R 15 ENTRY DESCRIPTION Below the Specification panel is the description.
OBJECT PHOTO AND RWR PANEL Below the 3-D Model Display is a real-world photograph of the object. You can see how closely the Falcon 4.0 objects are modeled after the real things. If the vehicle has radar, you’ll see the RWR (Radar Warning Receiver) panel next to the photograph. This panel displays the RWR indicators for the types of radar used by aircraft, ships, AAA units, etc. In addition, you can click on the RWR Tone button to listen to the demodulated signal from the selected radar.
CHAPTER 16 SETUP
Since Falcon 4.0 is a complex military flight simulator of great depth, we’ve provided a large selection of configuration options. You get to the setup screens by clicking Setup in the main menu. The Setup window has four tabs across the top: Simulation, Graphics, Sound and Controllers. At the bottom of the screen are three buttons and a pilot name for whom the settings apply. Since you can have more than one pilot in the Logbook, you can also have individual settings for each pilot.
setup REALISM RATING The Realism Rating indicates how realistic your settings are. The range is from 100 (highest) to 0 (lowest). This value is computed automatically according to your other Simulation settings. The Realism Rating is used as a multiplier for your score in Instant Action and as a factor in computing your Ace Factor, which is in the Logbook. Changing any of the Simulation settings below (except for Disable Clouds and Bullseye) will change the value of the Realism Rating.
AIR REFUELING Air refueling requires very precise control of speed and heading. Because this level of precise control varies substantially with different joysticks and throttles, air refueling has three settings: Realistic, Simplified and Easy. In the Realistic setting, you must get into position without help and you have the longest refueling time—approximately one minute. The refueling boom will help to stabilize the aircraft in position once you are connected.
setup UNLIMITED FUEL If Unlimited Fuel is checked, you’ll never run out of fuel. If unchecked, you have a normal fuel load. UNLIMITED CHAFF AND FLARES If Unlimited Chaff and Flares is checked, you can shoot off chaff and flares as often as you like. If unchecked, you have a specific load of 60 chaff bundles and 30 flares. NO COLLISIONS If No Collisions is checked, you can run into anything (except the ground) and you won’t die.
Graphics The Graphics setup section lets you configure your video card and control the level of detail of the simulation graphics. You will want to modify these primarily to affect performance. The higher the level of detail, the better the game looks–but more demands are made on your computer. Adjust the graphics settings to give yourself the best balance of visual realism and performance. Next to the check boxes are a set of sliders that let you control graphic detail.
setup TEXTURED OBJECTS Every object in Falcon 4.0 has a detailed texture map that is “painted” on the object whenever it is displayed. If you turn off Textured Objects, this texture map is not drawn. Objects won’t look as detailed, but you’ll get better performance. TEXTURE SMOOTHING The Texture Smoothing setting smoothes out the ground texture, giving it a more realistic look.
OBJECT DENSITY Moving the Object Density slider to the right increases the number of ground objects, usually in a city area. Moving the slider to the left will give you fewer ground objects. When the slider is all the way to the left, only the most significant buildings are drawn. This setting affects frame rate significantly, especially in Campaign. PLAYER BUBBLE The player bubble is the area around you in which grouped objects are broken out into individual objects.
setup DEFAULTS The Defaults button under the Preview window sets the Graphics settings to the defaults. If you make changes but then click the Defaults button, the graphics will be restored to their original settings. RECOMMENDED GRAPHICS SETTINGS Below are two charts that show which settings we recommend for your system configuration. We feel that these recommendations are the best balance between frame rate and gameplay.
WITH A 3-D GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR 166MHz Pentium 200MHz Pentium 233MHz Pentium 266MHz Pentium II 333MHz Pentium II 450MHz Pentium II 640 x 480 640 x 480 640 x 480 800 x 600 800 x 600 800 x 600 Disable Clouds On On On Off Off Off Textured Objects On On On On On On Texture Smoothing On On On On On On Transparency On On On On On On Gourard Shading On On On On On On Haze On On On On On On Terrain Texture 1 3 4 4 4 4 Terrain Detail 1 5 6 6 6 7 Obj
setup Engine Your basic engine noise. Sidewinder The “growl” your missiles make when they lock onto a heat source. RWR The tones from the radar warning receiver, which lets you know if unfriendly radar units have locked on to you. You can listen to the sounds of specific radars in the Tactical Reference section of Falcon 4.0. Cockpit The Voice Message System sounds, warning tones, etc. Other Comms All other communications outside of your flight.
If you have a joystick that has a digital hat on it, you will see a graphic above the throttle/rudder bars. This graphic will let you verify the four-way movement of the hat. Since Windows 95 does not recognize some older joysticks (such as the ThrustMaster FLCS) as having a hat, you won’t see it on the Controllers screen. To center your joystick, let go of the handle and press the Center button. You can also test your joystick buttons by pressing them while in the Controllers screen.
setup MOVE VIEW UP MOVE VIEW LEFT FIRE GUN CHAFF/FLARE AUTO TOGGLE CHAFF FLARE CHAFF/FLARE AUTO TOGGLE MOVE VIEW RIGHT MOVE VIEW DOWN CYCLE A-A RADAR MODES CYCLE BOTTOM LEFT MFD CYCLE BOTTOM RIGHT MFD CYCLE A-G RADAR MODES PADLOCK VIEW CH FIGHTER STICK C H A P T E R 16 DESIGNATE TARGET CHANGE RADAR SUBMODES CHANGE RADAR BAR SCANS CHANGE RADAR AZIMUTH SCANS RADAR RETURN TO SEARCH 2-D COCKPIT VIRTUAL COCKPIT ORBIT VIEW INCREASE HSD RANGE DECREASE RADAR RANGE INCREASE RADAR RANGE DECREASE HSD RANGE UN
For information on joysticks not listed above, check the Readme file and www.falcon4.com. KEY MAPPING Falcon 4.0 uses a large number of keys. Although we provide a default mapping of keys, you can change this mapping if you like. The keyboard mapping area has two columns of text. The column on the left is the key command, and the column on the right is the description of what the key does. Use the two buttons on the bottom for saving and loading keyboard mapping files.
PART 3: REFERENCE—WEAPONS, AVIONICS, INSTRUMENTS Chapter 17: the consoles Chapter 18: the hud Chapter 19: the mfds Chapter 20: the icp and ded Chapter 21: the radar Chapter 22: the views Chapter 23: radio commands Chapter 24: airport operations Chapter 25: Aerodynamics and g forces CHAPTER 17 THE CONSOLES
This chapter describes the switches, gauges and other instruments that you’ll find in the F-16 cockpit. The real F-16 has hundreds of switches and displays, and many of them work in Falcon 4.0. You must be in the 2-D Cockpit view (2 key) to operate the switches and knobs. Once you’re in the 2-D Cockpit view, to switch to different consoles, press the numeric keypad arrows (W, Z, A, S) or move the mouse cursor to the edge of the screen (you can also use the hat switch on your joystick).
The Consoles Front Console The most important instruments are directly in front of you since these are the ones you’ll use in combat and navigation. HUD The HUD (Head-Up Display) is a special glass upon which important information is projected as you look out the front of the canopy. The HUD is crucial during combat because taking your eyes off the enemy to look down into your cockpit can cost you your life.
AOA INDEXER To the left of the HUD are three vertically arranged symbols that comprise the AOA indexer. AOA stands for “angle of attack” (the attitude of your aircraft during flight). Your AOA is particularly important during landing because the nose must be up while you are descending or you will hit the runway too hard. The indexer works all the time, whether the landing gear is up or down. The AOA indexer visually represents your angle of attack by illuminating its symbols.
The Consoles AR STATUS/NWS INDICATOR This indicator, located to the right of the HUD, provides status information during air refueling. (How to refuel in midair is described in Chapter 6: Air-to-Air Refueling.) RDY The RDY display illuminates in blue when you are cleared for contact by the tanker. AR/NWS The air refueling/nosewheel steering display illuminates in green when the refueling boom is latched in place.
LEFT EYEBROW WARNING LIGHTS Some lights on the consoles indicate important conditions and are grouped either as eyebrow warning lights or as caution lights. Eyebrow warning lights indicate more serious events that pose immediate lifethreatening conditions. Caution lights are less serious and immediate. The warning light below appears on the left front console. ALT The ALT (Altitude) light comes on when you are below the set ALOW altitude limit. (See Chapter 20: The ICP and DED for more information.
The Consoles When your F-16 is inverted, the symbols on the RWR flip left and right to keep a true ground track relationship. They return to normal when the aircraft returns to a non-inverted attitude. The Tactical Reference in Falcon 4.0 displays the RWR symbols for all of the radar units you’re likely to encounter, along with their threat tones. Note that if you selected Easy Avionics in the Simulation setup, you will only see enemy targets on the RWR.
aircraft. If you press TGT SEP, the highest priority threats remain where they are but the lower priority threats are moved radially away from the center. This allows you to see all the threats more easily. ICP AND DED The ICP (Integrated Control Panel) sits directly below the HUD and is used for weapons release, landing and navigation, and communications. The DED (Data Entry Display), to the right of the ICP, is used to display systems information.
The Consoles very good at belly landings. In addition, the T/L CFG light will come on if you are in a slow, tight turn because the flight computer (based on AOA and airspeed) will think you are landing. OIL PRESSURE INDICATOR The oil pressure indicator displays engine oil pressure, ranging from 0 to 100 psi (pounds per square inch). If the pressure drops below 15 psi, you have a serious oil pressure leak.
AIRSPEED INDICATOR ALTIMETER ADI AOA INDICATOR VVI value of 1.0 will not always equal the same calibrated airspeed. This gauge is a backup for your HUD speed indicator. ALTIMETER The altimeter displays your altitude above sea level (barometric) which can differ from your altitude above ground level. This gauge is a backup for your HUD altimeter. AOA INDICATOR The AOA indicator displays the current angle of attack numerically on a moving tape. The range is ±32°.
The Consoles VERTICAL VELOCITY INDICATOR The VVI (Vertical Velocity Indicator) is a vertically moving tape indicating your rate of climb or descent in feet per minute. You are descending if the tape is in the black and climbing if the tape is in the white area. The VVI has a range of 6,000 feet per minute. You can also put a vertical velocity display on the HUD in NAV mode if the altitude tape is displayed and the scales switch is set to “VV” in the HUD control panel.
A course set knob. Use this knob to dial in the course you want which then moves the course arrow. The course selector window. This window displays the dialed-in course in degrees. The course deviation indicator. This shows graphically how much and in which direction you have deviated from your desired course. Course deviation scale. These dots represent 2.5° deviation each, showing the amount of deviation depending on the offset of the course deviation indicator.
The Consoles show whether you are on course or not. If it is deflected to one side of the course arrow, you need to steer in that direction until it aligns properly with the course arrow. If the steerpoint is a runway, press the STPT button on the ICP and set the Instr Mode switch to NAV/ILS to activate the ILS bars on the ADI when you get within 10 nm of the runway. The ILS bars will be pinned to the extremes of the ADI if you are not on approach.
“PULLUP–PULLUP” When you hear this message, you’d better pull up because you’re about to collide with the ground. In addition, you’ll see a Break-X in your HUD. “ALTITUDE–ALTITUDE” This message occurs when the aircraft altitude is below the ALOW value. ALOW (Altitude Low) is initially set to 300 feet, but you can set it to any altitude. (See Chapter 20: The ICP and DED for more information.
The Consoles Left Auxiliary Console AUTOPILOT SWITCH STORES JETTISON SWITCH GEAR STATUS LIGHTS HORN SILENCER GEAR HANDLE HUD CONTROL PANEL SPEED BRAKES POSITION INDICATOR AUX THREAT WARNING PANEL ECM TOGGLE SWITCH RADIO SELECTOR PANEL EXTERIOR LIGHTS SWITCH MPO SWITCH AUX COMM PANEL This toggle switch turns the autopilot on or off. You can also toggle it by pressing A. The autopilot mode is selected in the Setup screen. Falcon 4.0 has three autopilot modes: 3-axis, Steerpoint and Combat.
LANDING GEAR HANDLE The landing gear handle determines the position of the landing gear. When the landing gear handle is up, the gear will be in the up position. When the handle is down, the gear will be in the down position. You can manually move this gear handle in the 2-D Front Cockpit view or by pressing G. As the gear is raised or lowered, the red lamp will light within the landing gear handle. When the landing gear is down, the three green wheels-down lights turn on.
The Consoles Flight Path Marker Switch This switch selects various modes of display for the FPM (Flight Path Marker). The ATT position selects both the attitude reference bars (the pitch ladder) and the flight path marker. The FPM position displays only the flight path marker. The Off position removes both the pitch ladder and the flight path marker. You can also cycle through these settings by pressing H. DED Data Switch This switch controls the DED display on the HUD.
ACT The ACT light indicates radar activity has been detected. LOW Press the LOW button to give priority to threats that are more dangerous when you are at a low altitude such as AAA guns and lowaltitude SAMs (Surface-to-Air Missiles). When not lit, it gives priority to threats more dangerous when you’re at a higher altitude such as air-toair radars and high-altitude SAMs. If Easy Avionics is selected, this toggle is automated. PWR This button controls the power to the RWR system.
The Consoles 4 Proximity (anything to and from your team within 40 nm) 5 Guard (anything said to and from your team) 6 Broadcast (anything broadcast to the world) 7 To and from the tower or tanker your TACAN is tuned to If the radio is set to channel 0, the radio is off. If the radio is set to channel 1, you will only hear messages to and from your flight. For all other channels, messages to and from your flight are always included. If set to channel 2, you will hear messages to your package.
CNI Switch The CNI (Communications, Navigation, IFF) switch indicates where navigation data will be coming from. When set to the UFC (Upfront Controls) position, the navigation system uses the ICP. Specifically, data is taken from CNI SWITCH programmed steerpoints, markpoints or datalink points. When set to Backup, navigation TACAN data comes from the TACAN FUNCTION KNOB channel programmed into the TACAN station selector.
The Consoles FUEL QUANTITY INDICATOR The fuel quantity indicator displays the total amount of fuel you have. Read the total amount of fuel in pounds in the digital readout at the bottom of the gauge. The red hand displays your internal tank, and the gray hand shows the amount of fuel left in any external tanks. CAUTION LIGHT PANEL The caution light panel contains 12 individual lights that, when lit, indicate problems with onboard systems.
adversely affected and you will land at a faster airspeed. AVIONICS This indicates a general fault with the system avionics or FLCS. You’ll have to examine the other caution or warning lights to determine additional details about the problem. HOOK The F-16 has a hook that is used only in emergency landings. Normally, the hook is in the up position. When this caution light is illuminated, the hook is not up and locked. You probably won’t see this fault occur.
The Consoles In Instant Action and Dogfight, the clock starts with the time of day that was set in the user interface. In Campaign and Tactical Engagement, the time of day is set by the game. AVTR TOGGLE The AVTR (Audiovisual Tape Recorder) records activity through the HUD gun camera. All activity near your plane (including your F-16, other aircraft and ground units) is recorded and can be played back in the ACMI. When the AVTR is on, the word “Recording” is displayed onscreen.
Navigation System The table below breaks down how to use your navigation system. The first column lists the objective (what you want to do). The second column shows the settings for various switches and knobs. The third column shows the effects on these settings on the HSI (if any). The fourth column shows the effects of the same settings on the ADI (if any). The navigation system in your F-16 is composed of many interconnected parts: the mission computer, the TACAN channel selector, the HSI, the ADI, etc.
The Consoles airbase runway (landing point) Set CNI switch to UFC Set Instr Mode selector switch to NAV/ILS ADI in view Fly to a markpoint Set ICP to MARK Set CNI switch to UFC Set Instr Mode selector switch to NAV Fly to a tanker using manual TACAN Set TACAN function knob to AA-TR Set CNI switch to Backup Set Instr Mode selector switch to TCN Course warning flag is set To-From indicator in view Fly to an airbase using manual TACAN Set TACAN function knob to TR Set CNI switch to Backup Set Instr M
Now let’s navigate to a specific airbase using manual TACAN (the sixth example in the table above). Look up the TACAN channel on the Korean map (for example, “105X” for Seoul airbase). Set the TACAN function knob to TR, set the CNI switch to Backup and set the Instr Mode selector switch to TCN/ILS. Now dial in TACAN channel “105X” by clicking on the numerals. This sets your bearing pointer to point toward the station you dialed in on your TACAN receiver—in this case, Seoul airbase.
CHAPTER 18 THE HUD
The HUD (Head-Up Display) is one of the most important pieces of equipment in your F-16. The HUD appears in the front-center of your cockpit and combines information from your navigational system, FCR (Fire Control Radar) and FCC (Fire Control Computer) into one integrated through– the–window display. The real value of the HUD is that it provides all the important information you need without making you look down into the cockpit.
THE HUD ALTITUDE The altitude indicators are on the right side of the HUD and display either as a discrete value (inside a rectangle) or as a tape. The discrete indicator gives altitude accurate to the foot. The altitude tape is marked in increments of 100 feet (for example, “10,5” for 10,500 feet). Read the tape by looking at the tick mark on the left side of the scale. The altitude measurement in this display depends on the setting of the altitude switch on the HUD control panel.
The flight path marker can be turned on or off with the FPM switch on the HUD control panel. You can also press H to declutter the HUD. If the wind is blowing, this will affect the flight path marker’s position on the HUD. G FORCE INDICATOR The G force indicator is a discrete readout in the upper left corner of the HUD. It indicates the G forces you are experiencing at any given moment. When you are flying straight and level, the G force indicator will read 1.0. The F-16 can pull up to 9.0 Gs.
THE HUD RCKT Rockets RPOD Reconnaissance Pod SLAVE Slaved Weapons Delivery Submode SNAP Snapshoot SRM Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile STRF Ground Strafe MACH INDICATOR Located above the max G force indicator, the Mach indicator displays the current airspeed as a percentage of Mach 1 (the speed of sound). A useful rule of thumb is to figure that you will travel 1 nm/minute for every tenth of a Mach in level flight. For example, if the Mach indicator reads 0.
GUN CROSS (BORESIGHT CROSS) The gun cross is the cross at the top of the HUD that represents the fuselage reference line and the direction your plane is pointing. The gun cross is displayed in every HUD mode. LOW FUEL When your fuel gets down to 1,400 pounds, the center of the HUD will display a flashing “WARN FUEL” and the VMS will say “BINGO–BINGO” to warn you that you are low on gas. In addition, a “WARN FUEL” readout will appear in the lower left corner of the HUD.
THE HUD RPM The RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) readout in the lower left corner of the HUD indicates the engine’s RPM. 70 is idle, 100 is full military power and 103 is full afterburner. Other HUD Modes The HUD displays special modes for navigation and weapons.
Steerpoint Readouts In the lower right corner of the HUD is the steerpoint information. The top line is either ETE (Estimated Time Enroute), TTG (Time To Go) or ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival). ETE (displayed as “MM:SS”) is the time it will take you to get to the next waypoint at your current speed. TTG (“>MM:SS<”) is how long until you should be there. In other words, TTG (Time To Go) is TOS (Time Over Steerpoint) minus your current time. If Time to Go is zero, you are late for your steerpoint.
THE HUD THE AIM-120 AMRAAM The AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile) is a powerful, BVR (Beyond Visual Range) weapon in your Falcon’s arsenal. The AIM-120 (also known as the “Slammer”) uses a combination active/semi-active radar seeker built into the missile. Your FCR (Fire Control Radar) locks up the target and directs the missile toward it.
Dynamic Launch Zone and Maneuvering Zone Scales The DLZ (Dynamic Launch Zone) ranging scale appears once a target has been locked up. The DLZ scale is really two scales that change in size depending on the radar range setting and the distance, speed, altitude and aspect angle of the locked target. The outer brackets represent the maximum and minimum range for non-maneuvering targets. The inner brackets are the maneuver zone markers.
THE HUD Attack Steering Cue The attack steering cue is a small circle that is used for two actions. When the target is outside the DLZ, the attack steering cue provides aircraft-to-target intercept steering. When the target is inside the DLZ, it provides missile-to-target intercept steering. In either case, you should maneuver the attack steering cue to the center of the reticle. For aircraft intercept, this will put you on the most effective intercept course.
AIM-9 RETICLE When SRMs are selected, the HUD shows “SRM” in the HUD mode indicator. A medium-sized circular reticle appears in the center of the HUD. You want to position an enemy aircraft within the reticle when firing a Sidewinder. RETICLE DLZ TD BOX RANGE TO TARGET Once a target is locked up on the FCR, a target aspect angle marker appears on the circumference of the circle. If it is at 6 o’clock, the target aspect angle is 0° (heading away from you).
THE HUD RANGE CARET AND CLOSURE RATE When a caret is positioned to the left of the DLZ, it indicates that the designated target is within the maximum non-maneuvering target range. The number to the left of the caret shows the target’s closure rate. If the caret is above the DLZ, the target is outside the missile’s maximum range. MISSILE TIME OF FLIGHT READOUT RANGE TO TARGET Once you lock onto the target, the distance to the target is displayed in the lower right of the HUD.
AIR-TO-AIR GUNS Your F-16 is equipped with the formidable M61A1 20mm cannon. This Gatling-style gun shoots at an incredible rate of 6,000 rounds per minute. This is a dangerous close-quarters weapon and requires great skill to use effectively in air-to-air combat. The F-16 is loaded with 510 rounds of PGU-28 20mm bullets, which will be spent in about 5 seconds of sustained shooting. So shoot in short, controlled bursts.
THE HUD THE FUNNEL The funnel pulls as you bank your aircraft, giving you a general indication of the path of bullets as if they were fired continuously. If you fired during a stabilized turn, the bullets would go down the center of the funnel. The funnel is also used to judge distance to the target. The funnel assumes that the target is a fighter-sized target with a 35-foot wingspan. The minimum range, corresponding to the top of the funnel, is 600 feet.
AIMING RETICLE The main aiming reticle is a circle with the gunnery pipper inside. A straight line connects the reticle with the gun cross. You want to have the gunnery pipper on the target when you fire the 20mm cannon. Two additional cues appear on the reticle once you have locked up a target. One is the typical range cue, which is a tick mark that indicates thousands of feet. Its position on the circle corresponds with a clock value times 1,000 feet.
THE HUD Snapshoot Gun Mode When you select the snapshoot gun submode, you’ll see “SNAP” appear in the HUD mode indicator. The snapshoot submode provides a tracer line with tick marks and a TD box. TD BOX TRACER LINE PIPPER TRACER LINE A straight line extends from the gun cross to the pipper. From the pipper, there is a floating, continuously computed impact line which shows where bullets would be if the gun was firing continuously.
slaved to the target. When the target draws within 12,000 feet, a range gap appears at 12 o’clock on the circle and opens up counterclockwise as the target gets closer. In addition, once you’ve locked a target, you’ll also see the DLZ display on the right side of the with the digital range-to-target display and the closure display under it. Cancel the Dogfight mode by pressing C to return to the previous radar and HUD modes.
THE HUD CCRP CCRP (Continuously Computed Release Point) is the basic A-G (Air-to-Ground) submode you’ll use for dropping bombs. There are really three submodes for bombs (CCRP, CCIP and Dive Toss), but since they all derive from CCRP, if you understand it first, the other two will makes sense. CCRP is used in conjunction with the GM radar mode for delivering weapons against preplanned targets. One of your steerpoints will likely be at or near a target of interest.
TOSS ANTICIPATION CUE AND SOLUTION CUE ' CCRP has two other important cues: the toss anticipation cue and the solution cue. The toss anticipation cue is a circular reticle that appears two seconds before the solution cue appears. The solution cue appears when you are at the most distant position from which it is possible to hit your target. In order to hit the target at this distance (which is approximately 4 miles), you have to “toss” the bomb by pulling up the aircraft.
THE HUD RELEASE MARKERS On the right side of the HUD are several symbols that provide information about the weapons release. At the top is the range scale. This value is used to measure the range bracket below it. The top of the range bracket indicates the maximum release distance and the bottom of the bracket shows the level release distance. A distance-to-target caret moves down the bracket as you approach the target. The full length of the bracket equals the distance displayed in the range scale.
PREDESIGNATE To use Dive Toss, you must see and designate a target. Do this by steering the aircraft so that the TD box, which is initially on the FPM, is on the target; then press the pickle key (z). This ground-stabilizes the TD box. POST-DESIGNATE Once the target has been designated, you end up with a HUD display that looks very much like the CCRP HUD mode. Use the vertical steering line to determine the proper azimuth steering to the target. Fly the aircraft so that the FPM stays on the steering line.
THE HUD MANUALLY PICKLING Line up your target with your flight path marker just above the target. Keep the bomb line running through the target. Pitch down at least 5°. At some point, the delay cue will disappear and the target will move down the bomb line until it is under the pipper. Pickle the bomb (z) when the pipper is on the target. You should immediately egress out of the area by banking to the side at least 60°, pulling at least 5 Gs, or else you’re likely to get hit by your own bomb blast.
Types of Bombs Available Falcon 4.0 has a fairly wide assortment of iron bombs available. In all cases, the HUD modes for bombs will operate the same regardless of which bomb you are using. When you select a bomb from the SMS (Stores Management System), its ballistic data is loaded into the FCC and this information is automatically used in the calculations for the various solution cues. Below is a quick overview of the various kinds of bombs you’ll use in Falcon 4.0.
THE HUD CBU-52B/B All the munitions named “CBU” (Cluster Bomb Unit) are cluster munitions holding a variety of submunitions. The CBU-52/B contains 200 softball-sized submunitions that are effective against soft-skinned targets such as personnel or lightly-armored vehicles. CBU-58A/B This cluster munition is optimized for killing soft-skinned targets such as personnel and lightlyarmored military vehicles. The dispenser holds 650 baseball-sized bomblets which are dispersed over a wide target area.
MAVERICK AGM-65 MISSILE The Maverick is an AGM (Air-to-Ground Missile) designed for close air support, interdiction and suppression of enemy air defenses. It is particularly effective against tanks and other vehicles as well as tactical targets like fuel storage facilities. Its long range and accuracy make it a good standoff weapon. The Maverick is considered a “fire-and-forget” weapon because, once you lock onto a target, the missile will track to the target independent of what you may be doing.
THE HUD Boresight Submode The boresight submode is a visual acquisition mode, meaning you acquire your target visually by placing the TD box in the HUD over the target. To get into boresight mode, press B to cycle through the air-to-ground weapons until you see “BSGT” in the lower left corner of the HUD. You will see a small square TD box appear over the flight path marker. Turn on one of your MFDs and cycle through it until you see the SMS (Stores Management System).
After you fire the missile, the dashed box (which is still centered on the last target) starts breathing again, which allows you to slew the seeker head and lock onto another nearby target. For example, you can target one end of a bridge, fire a Maverick, slew to the other end of the bridge, and lock and fire another Maverick. LOCKED TARGET Note that in Easy Avionics, only the slave submode of the Maverick missile works.
THE HUD friendly and green for neutral. The word “SHOOT” will flash in the HUD when the Maverick is locked on and has a good chance of hitting its target. GUIDED BOMB UNITS GBUs (Guided Bomb Units) are highly accurate laser-guided bombs. They are dropped like iron bombs but are then guided in flight to their targets by locking in on a laser designation that illuminates the target from the laser designator on your aircraft.
STEERING LINE RELEASE MARKERS TD BOX DIGITAL READOUTS When you designate a target, a large box appears around the target in the EO MFD. In addition, you’ll see a pointing cross that indicates where the seeker head of the LGB is looking in respect to the bomb centerline. The three tick marks on the lower cross hairs each represents 5° of deflection. Fine-tune the TD box until the large square in the MFD starts “breathing.” This means that the onboard laser designator pod has identified a target.
THE HUD SLAVE MODE Select slave mode by first selecting LGBs as the current weapon. Bring up the SMS page on an MFD. Use B to cycle through the A-G weapons. It should show an EO display with the GBU in boresight mode. To switch to slave mode, press OSB-20 or press ' to cycle through the FCC submodes. Slave mode is used in conjunction with the GM or GMT radar modes. If a target has been programmed in as a steerpoint, it will already be selected in GM radar mode.
Bring up the SMS page on an MFD. Press B to cycle through the A-G weapons until you see “HTS” displayed. The MFD shows a circle or a broken circle. A circle shows the area of detection in front of your plane. A broken circle indicates that the detection range is beyond the current display range on the scope. You will also see your flight plan. Preplanned threats are shown as dimmed symbols. Radiating threats are shown as numbers in flashing inverse video. The numbers (2, 3, 4, 5, etc.
THE HUD When you call up HARMs, the HUD mode indicator reads “HTS” (HARM Targeting System). A circular aiming reticle appears in the center. This reticle provides aspect angle and distance ranging cues just like the AIM-9 HUD mode. The HTS HUD mode also includes a DLZ, which gives additional distance information. When a radiating ground threat has been locked up in the HTS MFD screen, a circular TD appears over the target in the HUD.
RECONNAISSANCE POD The TARS (Tactical Aerial Reconnaissance Pod) is used for both recon and BDA (Battle Damage Assessment) missions. TARS does not provide any feedback to the pilot on the picture quality until after landing. You just have to fly the mission and take your chances. PIPPER For recon missions, you must fly over the target with the TARS pod and place the target under the 8° pipper in the HUD. When the target is in the pipper, press the pickle button to take the picture.
THE HUD ILS The ILS (Instrument Landing System) helps you line up your approach to airbase runways, particularly at night or in heavy clouds. Every airbase (although not airstrips) will have at least one active ILS system. You must approach the runway from the proper direction for the ILS beacon to be effective. Contact the tower by pressing T and radio, “Inbound” to get your vector to the airbase runway.
HUD CONTROLS You can control what is displayed on the HUD. For more details, read “HUD Control Panel” in Chapter 17: The Consoles. Press H to declutter the HUD. The first time you press H, the pitch ladder is removed. The second time you press the key, the flight path marker is removed. The third time you press H, the HUD is restored to its original state. Press cH to flip the scales switch. The first time you press cH, the altitude and airspeed are displayed as discretes.
CHAPTER 19 THE MFDS
The MFDs (Multifunction Displays) are two CRT-based displays that sit in the front of the cockpit. They are used primarily to display weapons system management functions—in particular, weapons stores information, radar information and weapons electro-optical displays. The MFDs are also used to display HUD, RWR and navigation information. The MFDs provide an integrated method of accessing the data required to perform a mission.
THE MFDS The OSB function depends on the MFD page you are on and the labels, if any, associated with a button. In general, however, the OSBs along the bottom of the displays control the selection of the main display systems. The OSBs along the top of the display control the submodes, and the OSBs along the sides are used to select options unique to each mode. In the HUD Only view, you can show up to four MFD displays simultaneously.
GHOST CURSORS RANGE SCALE OWNSHIP INDICATOR RANGE RINGS NAV ROUTE BULLSEYE HSD On the HSD page, you have the following OSB labels: OSB-3 NORM. Not used in Falcon 4.0. OSB-5 CTRL. Not used in Falcon 4.0. OSB-12 SMS. Switches to the SMS main page. OSB-14 HSD (highlighted). Returns to the Main Menu page. OSB-15 SWAP. Swaps the left and right MFD displays. OSB-19 Down arrow. Decreases the HSD range scale (-). OSB-20 Up arrow. Increases the HSD range scale (=).
THE MFDS Range Rings The three rings around your ownship indicator are used to judge range to the various steerpoints. Each ring represents one-third of the range scale setting. So if the range scale is set to 60 nm, each ring represents 20 nm. Navigation Route The main element on the HSD is your navigation route. This consists of your steerpoints connected by straight lines.
FCR PAGE The FCR (Fire Control Radar) page is accessed by pressing OSB-3 from the Main Menu page. You are in the FCR page when “FCR” is highlighted at the bottom of the MFD. In the FCR page, you select your radar modes. In Easy avionics settings, you only have two modes: air-to-air and air-to-ground. Simplified avionics setting adds an ACM mode. With the Realistic avionics setting, you have seven radar modes: four air-to-air modes (RWS, VS, TWS and ACM) and three air-to-ground modes (GM, GMT and SEA).
THE MFDS The main stores page gives you OSB access to your air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons, as well as your gun. OSB-6 AAM. Air-to-air missile page. OSB-7 AGM. Air-to-ground missile page. OSB-8 A-G. Bomb page. OSB-9 GUN. Gun page. OSB-13 FCR. Switches to the FCR page. OSB-14 SMS. Returns to the Main Menu page. OSB-15 SWAP. Swaps the left and right MFDs. OSB-20 INV. Inventory page.
OSB-10 #. This number shows the hardpoint that the selected missile is attached to. If the hardpoint holds the next missile to be launched, the number is shown in inverse video. If you press this OSB, the selected missile moves to the next available hardpoint. OSB-11 S-J. Switches to the Selective Jettison page. OSB-13 FCR. Fire Control Radar page. The “RDY” label indicates the general AAM system status. OSB-14 WPN.
THE MFDS OSB-5 HOC. Hot on Cold. This mode and its inverse, COH, are used to improve imaging. Not used in Falcon 4.0. OSB-6 Status, #, weapon type. Status will be “RDY” for Ready. The number indicates the number of weapons available. The weapon indicates the type of weapon selected. For example, a typical Maverick page would show “RDY 2AGM65B,” indicating that 2 AGM-65B missiles are available and ready. Press this OSB to cycle through the available weapons.
LGB PAGE The MFD becomes an electro-optical (EO) display when the LGB (Laser-Guided Bomb) is selected. The display provides a TV image from the weapon’s seeker head. OSB-1 OPER. Operational. OSB-3 FOV. Field of View. Press this OSB to toggle between normal and expanded FOV. When in expanded FOV, the label changes to “EXP” and is shown in inverse video. You can also press V to toggle between FOV and EXP. OSB-6 Status, #, weapon type. Status will be “RDY” for Ready.
THE MFDS LGBs at Easy Avionics Setting If you selected Easy Avionics in the Simulation setup, the LGB only works in Slave mode and the LGB’s targeting pod automatically locks onto whatever target is locked up in the A-G radar. To use LGBs, you must first lock onto the target in the A-G radar. When you lock on, the targeting pod will automatically lock onto the same target. For more information on using LGBs, see Chapter 5: Air-to-Ground Weapons.
OSB-16 #. This shows the hardpoint that the selected missile is attached to. If the hardpoint holds the next missile to be launched, the number is shown in inverse video. Press this OSB to move the selected missile to the next available hardpoint. OSB-19 Down arrow. Press this OSB to decrement the range that the MFD displays. The range shows as a value between the decrement and increment labels. You can also press - to decrement the range. OSB-20 Up arrow.
THE MFDS OSB-13 FCR. Switches to the FCR page. The “RDY” label indicates the recon pod status. OSB-14 SMS. This label is highlighted to indicate you are in the SMS submode. Click this button to return to the SMS main mode. OSB-15 SWAP. Swaps the left and right MFD displays. OSB-20 IDX #. This index counter runs continuously as soon as your plane is off the ground. When you press the weapon release button (z), it records what is inside the pipper on the HUD.
OSB-7 PROF. Preplanned profiles. Not used in Falcon 4.0. OSB-8 PAIR/SGL. This OSB toggles between pair and single release of bombs. If it says “SGL,” then only one weapon will be released at a time. You can also press a; to drop bombs singly. If it says “PAIR,” then weapons will be released in symmetrical pairs. You can also press a' to drop bombs in pairs. Not used for rockets. OSB-9 # FT.
THE MFDS A-G Gun Press B to access air-to-ground guns (strafing mode). OSB-1 GUN. Gun page. OSB-2 STRF. Strafe, or air-toground gun mode. OSB-4 INV. Switches to the Inventory page. OSB-6 Status, #, weapon type. RDY means the gun is ready. # shows the number of cannon rounds multiplied by 10. A full load of 510 rounds reads “51.” “GUN” indicates that the gun is selected. OSB-11 S-J. Switches to a page where you can specify individual stores to jettison. OSB-13 FCR. Switches to the FCR page.
OSB-2 Gun submode. This label indicates the gun HUD mode aiming device. Press this OSB to cycle through the various A-A gun submodes: EEGS (Enhanced Envelope Gun Sight), LCOS (Lead Computing Optical Sight) and SNAP (Snapshoot sight). You can also cycle through these options by pressing '. OSB-4 INV. Switches to the Inventory page. OSB-6 #GUN. This shows the number of available gun rounds (multiplied by 10). “RDY” to the left of the label indicates the gun is ready. OSB-11 S-J.
THE MFDS This display indicates one Miscellaneous Armament Unit (attachment hardware for weapons), one Triple Ejection Rack (used for holding up to three bombs) and three Mk-82 500 lb. bombs on that rack.
OSB-1 STBY. Radar standby OSB-11 S-J. Switches to the Selective Jettison page. OSB-13 FCR. Switches to the FCR page. The “RDY” label above this OSB indicates the general system status. OSB-14 INV. This label is highlighted when you are on the Inventory page. Click this button to return to the SMS main mode. OSB-15 SWAP. Swaps the left and right MFD displays. STORES JETTISON MODE IS SELECTED SELECTIVE JETTISON PAGE Press the OSB labeled “S-J” to bring up the Selective Jettison page.
CHAPTER 20 THE ICP AND DED
The ICP (Integrated Control Panel) is an upfront console that gives you control over frequently used communications and navigation functions. The ICP is used in conjunction with a 3-line data display device called the DED (Data Entry Display). NAVIGATION MASTER MODE AIR -TO-AIR MASTER MODE COM 2 OVERRIDE DED COM 1 OVERRIDE AIR-TO-GROUND MASTER MODE ICP DED The DED is the display panel to the right of the ICP.
THE ICP AND DED immediately configure the FCC to the corresponding navigation or attack mode profiles and displays. Pressing a Master Mode button does not change the DED. NAV (Navigation) When you press the NAV button, the FCC automatically sets the left MFD (Multifunction Display) to the RWS (Range While Search) radar display (or the last previous radar mode) and the right MFD to the HSD (Horizontal Situation Display).
The eight communication channels are: 0 Off – Off 1 Flight – To and from your flight 2 Package – To your package 3 From Package – To and from your package 4 Proximity – To and from your team within 40 nm 5 Guard – To and from your team 6 Broadcast – Anything broadcast to the world 7 Tower – To and from the tower your TACAN is tuned to Your flight is the group of planes on your immediate mission, usually two or four aircraft.
THE ICP AND DED The first line shows the airfield type, which can either be home or an alternate. Home is the landing steerpoint for your current flight plan. The alternates are either alternate landing sites that you’ve planned or that AWACS recommends. You can have up to five alternate airbases. Cycle through the alternate landing sites with the ICP increment and decrement arrows. The airbase and TACAN information is automatically loaded into your flight computer for each mission.
The subsystems that Fault Acknowledgement can reference are: AMUX BLKR BMUX CADC CMDS DLNK DMUX DTE ENG EPOD FCC FCR FLCS FMS GEAR GPS HARM HUD IFF INS ISA MFDS MSL RALT RWR SMS TCN UFC Avionics Data Bus A Interference Blanker Avionics Data Bus B Central Air Data Computer Countermeasures Dispenser Set Datalink Display Multiplexer Data Bus Data Transfer Equipment Engine Electronic Countermeasures Pod Fire Control Computer Fire Control Radar Flight Controls Fuel Management System Landing Gear Global Position
THE ICP AND DED DUAL FIRE HYDR FLAR LFWD LDGR PFL RFWD RUDR SLV SLNT SNGL STA1 STA2 STA3 STA4 STA5 STA6 STA7 STA8 STA9 XMTR Dual System Fire Hydraulics Flare Left Forward Display (MFD) Landing Gear Pilot Fault List Right Forward Display (MFD) Rudder Slave Silencer Single System Hardpoint Station 1 Hardpoint Station 2 Hardpoint Station 3 Hardpoint Station 4 Hardpoint Station 5 Hardpoint Station 6 Hardpoint Station 7 Hardpoint Station 8 Hardpoint Station 9 Transmitter The levels of severity can be: DEGR FAI
Subsystem BMUX Function BUS Severity FAIL CADC BUS FAIL CMDS BUS FAIL CMDS CMDS DMUX CHAF FLAR BUS FAIL FAIL FAIL DTE ENG BUS A/I FAIL FAIL ENG A/B FAIL No chaff dispense. No flare dispense. No communication on the DMUX. DTE inoperative. Ice buildup on front frame, or anti-ice valve inoperative. No afterburner power. ENG FIRE FAIL Engire fire. ENG HYDR DEGR Low hydraulic pressure. ENG PFL DEGR EPOD SLNT DEGR Reduced fault detection capability. Can’t turn ECM pod off.
THE ICP AND DED Subsystem FLCS Severity FAIL FLCS FMS GEAR HARM A/P BUS LDGR BUS FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL Effect on System Non-announced inflight or preflight first failure. Loss of autopilot operation. No bingo warning. Landing gear is broken. HARM is inoperative. HUD IFF BUS BUS FAIL FAIL HUD inoperative. IFF inoperative. ISA ISA RUD ALL FAIL FAIL MFDS MFDS MSL LFWD RFWD SLV FAIL FAIL FAIL RALT BUS FAIL No rudder control. Loss of primary and secondary hydraulic system pressure.
Subsystem SMS Function STA8 Severity FAIL Effect on System Station operation inhibited. SMS STA9 FAIL Station operation inhibited. TCN BUS FAIL TACAN is inoperative. UFC BUS FAIL UFC is inoperative. Results Weapon(s) on hardpoint 8 unavailable. Weapon(s) on hardpoint 9 unavailable. TACAN system is nonfunctional. Upfront Control not working. Switch to backup on TACAN panel. STPT Press the STPT button (or numeric keypad c4) to select the steerpoints programmed into your flight computer.
THE ICP AND DED SEAD Suppress Enemy Air Defenses STRIKE Destroy enemy installations at target SWEEP Engage all enemy aircraft detected TAKEOFF Takeoff If it’s a steerpoint (rather than an initial point or target), the second line shows the TOS (Time Over Steerpoint) and your planned altitude. TOS is the clock time that you are expected to be over that steerpoint according to your flight plan. Unless the action is set to Takeoff, the third line shows ETA and your planned airspeed.
Press the LINK button (or numeric keypad c6) to bring up the info on your DED. Your datalink DED page will usually look like: MRK and ENTR Press the MRK button (or numeric keypad c1) when you want to mark a certain location as a temporary steerpoint. Mark a temporary steerpoint when you notice a target of opportunity not already assigned to an existing steerpoint. The markpoint is also displayed on your HSD as a small circle.
CHAPTER 21 THE RADAR
Radar (Radio Detection and Ranging) is one of the primary tools you’ll use while flying missions in the F-16. In modern battles, much of your airborne situational awareness and intelligence comes from the AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control) radar platform. But your F-16 has its own powerful radar system—and you better know how to use it. Radar basically sends radio pulses out and listens for any reflection of these pulses back from objects.
the radar RANGE RINGS NCTR INFO RADAR CURSORS LOCKED TARGET BULLSEYE READOUTS TARGETS Set the range of the radar scan by pressing 3 or 4. This determines how far out in front of you the radar will look. You can set the Easy radar display to 40 nm, 20 nm, 10 nm or 5 nm. The outer circle represents the range your radar is set to. The inner circle represents half that range. For example, if the radar range is set to 40 nm, an aircraft on the outer circle would be 40 nm away.
Once you lock onto a target, a circle is drawn around the triangle symbol on the radar display. Starting from the upper right and moving clockwise, the Easy radar display in air-to-air has the following readouts (in clockwise order). Radar Mode The current radar mode is highlighted. “AA” stands for air-to-air and “AG” for air-to-ground. Press 1 to select A-A radar mode or press 2 to select A-G radar mode.
the radar RADAR CURSORS RANGE SCALE LOCKED TARGET TARGET TYPE TARGETS RANGE RINGS BULLSEYE READOUTS Structures such as buildings and bridges are the medium-sized squares, while vehicle such as tanks and trucks are the small squares. Ground targets are color-coded in the same way as air targets: red for enemy, blue for friendly and green for neutral. Simplified Mode The Simplified radar is an intermediate mode, somewhere between the Easy mode and the highly accurate Realistic mode.
For example, if the radar range scale is set to 40 nm and a radar return is halfway down the screen, the aircraft that is being painted is 20 nm in front of you. If the radar return is halfway to the right, that aircraft is to the right of your nose by 30°. Simplified radar has two modes: A-A (Air-to-Air) and GM (Ground Map). In addition, A-A mode has a submode: ACM (Air Combat Mode). The highlighted label at the top of the MFD tells you which mode you are in. Select A-A mode by pressing 1.
the radar Lock up the previous target by pressing D. Each time you press D, the lock moves from the current target to the next closest target and so on. You can also manually lock up any target by moving the radar cursors (using W, Z, A and S) directly over the target on the radar display. Then designate the target by pressing 0 on the numeric keypad. To break the radar lock, press . on the numeric keypad.
NCTR requires a strong return to accurately identify an aircraft and probably won’t work on an aircraft that is far away. If NCTR cannot accurately identify an aircraft, it will display “????” at the top of the MFD. Artificial Horizon An artificial horizon appears in the center of the radar screen. This line always stays parallel with the horizon line. The downward tick marks point to the ground.
the radar GROUND MAP MODE When you switch to air-to-ground radar mode, the MFD label will read “GM” for Ground Map. This mode is basically the same as with the air-to-air radar modes. Buildings on the ground appear as small squares in GM mode. UNLOCKED LOCKED If you press 2 or click the OSB next to “GM,” you will switch from GM to GMT (Ground Moving Target). This GMT radar mode shows vehicles (moving or not). The target you are trying to lock must be within a 60° radar cone and in front of your aircraft.
Generally speaking, the broadest focus is a search mode in which you are trying to see what is out there in as big a volume of space as possible. As you narrow the focus, you start to get more information about the targets you see but this limits the area you can look at. When you identify a specific threat, you focus on that target exclusively by locking onto it. Detection is by no means assured with the Realistic radar, just as with the real APG-68 radar.
the radar A 4-bar scan covers the most area but takes the longest to complete, over 8 seconds. A 1-bar scan covers the least area but is the fastest, under 2 seconds. The 2-bar scan falls in between. You trade off coverage for quickness of response. B-Scope A The radar display, which is called the B-scope, is a synthetic display produced by the radar signal processor. It takes the radar cone and stretches the bottom of the cone along the bottom of the display.
STEERPOINT SYMBOL RADAR RETURNS RADAR CURSORS INTERCEPT STEERING CUE ARTIFICIAL HORIZON RADAR CURSORS The cursors consist of two vertical bars with upper and lower elevation data next to them. These cursors (also known as acquisition cursors) are usually used to designate a target. They also indicate the elevation that the radar is seeing at the range of the cursors.
the radar REACQUISITION ELEVATION SYMBOL This symbol (<) appears along the left side of the radar display for 10 seconds after a target track is lost. It is used to indicate the elevation of the radar to track a locked target at the time the track was lost. Use it to reposition the radar elevation (look for the antenna elevation marker) to the same elevation in order to reacquire the target. INTERCEPT STEERING CUE You will see an intercept steering cue if the target is “bugged.
Press 1 to cycle through these radar modes. Each ACM submode has a different function. For ACM mode, “ACM” replaces the “CRM” readout and the submode name (BORE, 20, 60, SLEW) appears to the right of “ACM.” Cycle through these submodes by pressing 8. NRM This label indicates that the radar is operating in its normal mode. OVRD Override freezes the radar and stops it from emitting for defensive purposes. This puts the radar in standby mode.
the radar BULLSEYE POSITION OF RADAR CURSORS RANGE FROM BULLSEYE TO YOU BEARING FROM BULLSEYE TO YOU Your radar has three indicators for bullseye (which also appears on your HSD). First, a bullseyeshaped graphic appears over the bullseye location on your radar (if you are pointing in the correct direction and close enough). In addition, the radar display has two bullseye readouts. One readout, which looks like a circle, indicates your present location with reference to bullseye.
AZIMUTH SCAN The azimuth scan is measured in degrees off the nose of your aircraft. The azimuth selection is displayed with an “A” and a number under it to indicate the width of the radar scan. These numbers can be 6, 3, 2 or 1 for ±60°, ±30°, ±20° (25° in TWS mode) or ±10°, respectively. Cycle through these azimuth settings by clicking the OSB next to the “A” symbol or by pressing 8.
the radar RANGE You can set the range of the radar presentation in RWS and TWS modes. The range readout consists of a number between up and down arrows. The number indicates the radar display range in nautical miles: 10, 20, 40, 80 or 160. The arrows correspond to the OSB next to them. Press the up arrow to increase the radar display range or the down arrow to decrease the range. You can also change the range by pressing 3 or 4.
ACM (AIR COMBAT MODE) ACM is the mode to use when in a knife fight. This mode automatically locks up the closest aircraft in the airspace you are scanning, depending on the ACM submode. STT (SINGLE TARGET TRACK) AND SAM (SITUATIONAL AWARENESS MODE) SUBMODES Realistic radar has two additional submodes: STT and SAM. STT provides the most accurate information on a target and can better track and hold lock on a target. STT, however, can give away your general position to a bandit.
the radar To get detailed information about a specific target, move the acquisition cursors over the target. A number will appear at the bottom of the cursors that indicates the target’s altitude in thousands of feet. This number, the Search Altitude Display (SAD), is displayed while the cursors remain over the target. If the target or cursors move, the altitude display disappears.
When you switch to RWS-SAM mode, the scan volume will dynamically change to balance the volume you asked the radar to scan vs. keeping the target bugged. If the radar starts to lose the bugged target, it automatically switches to STT mode to keep track of the target. The DLZ (Dynamic Lanuch Zone) ranging scale will appear when you have selected A-A missiles and have locked up a target. See Chapter 18: The HUD for more information about the DLZ.
the radar Designate any target as the target of interest (“bugged” target) by putting the radar cursors on it and designating it (0 on the numeric keypad). The bugged target has additional information about it (aspect angle, heading, airspeed and closure) displayed at the top of the radar display. The DLZ (Dynamic Lanuch Zone) ranging scale will appear when you have selected A-A missiles and have locked up a target. See Chapter 18: The HUD for more information about the DLZ.
RADAR RETURN Radar returns in VS mode are displayed as horizontal lines, rather than small squares. You can still determine azimuth information about a return by its left/right orientation on the display. The VS mode only shows aircraft with a positive closure. This obviously applies to aircraft moving toward you.
the radar default scan pattern. The 30X20 submode will lock up any aircraft within your HUD’s field of view. Press c6 to switch to the 30X20 submode. 10X60 SUBMODE The 10X60 submode, also called the vertical submode, generates a tall scan pattern of 10° wide by 60° up and down. This pattern is very effective if you are in a turning fight, on the tail of a maneuvering aircraft and are turning in the same plane as the aircraft.
Targets are automatically locked up just as they are with the 30X20 submode. That is, the first target to appear in the search range is automatically locked up. You will see a large cross on the HUD under the gun cross along with a slew circle cue. The cue indicates the direction the radar is searching. The main advantage of slewable submode is that you can slew the radar to a target and lock on without having to point the aircraft directly at the target. Press c7 to switch to the slewable submode.
the radar RADAR JAMMING Many aircraft in Falcon 4.0 have the capability to carry selfprotection jammers used to defeat enemy air-to-air and ground-to-air radars. An aircraft using a self-protection jammer will be displayed as an “X” on the radar scope. This “X” symbol will be positioned on the scope in approximately the correct range and azimuth location. The illustration below shows an aircraft with a selfprotection jammer displayed on the radar scope.
General Air-to-Ground Radar Characteristics Since the A-G (Air-to-Ground) radar modes share many characteristics in common, we’ll describe them first. Then we’ll discuss specific details. The A-G radar modes use a pie-wedge display (as opposed to the B-scope display of air-to-air modes) and processes the signal to give you a top-down view. You are located at the bottom center of the pie wedge. Radar returns will never be displayed in the areas outside the pie wedge.
the radar First, if the steerpoint is beyond the range of the radar (for example, the steerpoint is 60 nm away but a 20 nm scope is displayed), you will get a partially blank scope. The radar cursors will be pegged against the sides of the radar that are closest to the steerpoint. Similarly, if you are within range but are not pointed in the direction of the steerpoint, you’ll get a blank scope since the steerpoint is outside the gimbal limits of the radar antenna.
MAN This is a fixed display which has no function in Falcon 4.0. NRM This displays the current FOV (Field of View) options. NRM Normal mode EXP Expanded mode DBS1 Doppler Beam Sharpening mode 1 DBS2 Doppler Beam Sharpening mode 2 Only GM mode has all four options. GMT and SEA have only the NRM and EXP options. These options are described in more detail below. OVRD Override puts the radar into standby mode and stops it from emitting radar energy for defensive purposes.
the radar STP (STEERPOINT) Press this OSB to center the radar on the current steerpoint. If the steerpoint is outside of 60° azimuth or beyond the range of the radar, the radar cursors are parked at the edge of the MFD. The label highlights when Steerpoint is selected. Steerpoint mode is mutually exclusive with Snowplow mode. DCLT (DECLUTTER) The declutter option is automatic in Falcon 4.0. SMS Press this OSB to switch to the Stores Management System page.
Radar Gain Controls You can decrease or increase the radar gain while in the ground modes. Press s3 and s4 respectively. If you increase the radar gain enough, you’ll see contour images on the radar display. Decrease the gain if this information clutters the display too much. The new settings do not take effect until the next radar sweep. EXPANSION CUE MARKERS GM (Ground Map) Mode GM mode is used to find man-made objects on the ground such as buildings, bridges, airbases, etc.
the radar When you change the FOV, other things in the display change besides an increase in expansion or resolution. First, the cursor position is fixed in the center of the display. If you try to slew the radar cursors, they stay in the center of the MFD and the ground moves underneath them. In addition, a thin cross appears while in EXP, DBS1 and DBS2 modes to indicate the actual azimuth and range of the radar cursors if it wasn’t in an expanded display.
GMT mode does not provide terrain returns and only works out to 40 nm. DBS modes are not available in GMT. GMT mode defaults to Snowplow. Lock up targets in GMT mode the same way as you would in GM/Snowplow mode. SEA Mode SEA mode is optimized to declutter noise generated by the ocean and is designed to find ships at sea. This mode is functionally the same as GM mode, except that it doesn’t support the DBS1 and DBS2 FOV options.
CHAPTER 22 THE VIEWS
“Keep your eye on the ball and fasten your seat belt!” Falcon 4.0 features many views—from both inside and outside your jet—which you can access from the number keys on the top row of the keyboard (but not the numeric keypad). Understanding the benefits of each of these views will help you in any situation. Inside Views Falcon 4.0 provides a number of views from inside the cockpit. Use these inside views to look at your cockpit instruments, flip switches, scan your radar and perform other tasks.
THE VIEWS C H A P T E R 22 Use the hat switch on your joystick or W, Z, A and S on the numeric keypad to look up, down, left and right around the cockpit. To look around with your mouse, move the pointer to the side of the screen in the direction you want to look. If there is an available view, the mouse pointer will change into a green arrow pointing in that direction. Click your mouse when the arrow is displayed to move your field of view.
VIRTUAL COCKPIT VIEW Press 3 on the top row to switch to the Virtual Cockpit, a 3-D view of your cockpit. In Virtual Cockpit, you can swivel your viewpoint using W, Z, A or S on the numeric key pad or the hat switch on your joystick. In the Virtual Cockpit, you cannot click on cockpit switches or knobs.
THE VIEWS C H A P T E R 22 LIFT LINE FIELD OF VIEW ALTIMETER AIRSPEED AOA ADI VVI The rectangular box shown on the SA bar indicates the Virtual Cockpit’s field of view. The white edge represents the top of the field of view. The little tick marks along the center line of the SA bar indicate degree headings. The first tick indicates 30° looking up. The tick marks halfway up running along the side of the SA bar indicate 0° (red), 15°, 30° and 45° from eye level.
Press 4 repeatedly to cycle through the targets within range of Padlock view. Padlock will not work if the target falls outside the camera range for more than four seconds or is blocked by your aircraft. Note that the SA bar is available in both the Padlock and Virtual Cockpit views. Press s3 in either view to display the SA bar. Padlock Realism Settings The capabilities of Padlock, Virtual Cockpit and EFOV (Extended Field of View—see below) are determined by the Padlock setting in the Simulation setup.
THE VIEWS Aircraft firing upon you (ranked by proximity) C H A P T E R 22 Enemy aircraft painted by your radar Enemy air threats AIR-TO-GROUND PADLOCKING PRIORITIES SAM missiles Targets locked on radar Enemy vehicle firing Enemy vehicles painted by your radar Enemy vehicles NAVIGATION PADLOCKING PRIORITIES Friendly airbases and runways SAM missiles All other threats per A-A padlocking priorities EXTENDED FOV VIEW Press 5 on the top row to switch to the Extended Field of View (EFOV).
Outside views Outside views provide better situational awareness and a different perspective on your world. VIEW CONTROLS You can zoom and pan around in almost all of the outside views. Press 1 on the numeric keypad to zoom in or 7 on the numeric keypad to zoom out. In the outside views, pressing the arrow keys on the numeric keypad pans the camera around. Press W to move the camera up, Z for down, A for left and S for right.
THE VIEWS WEAPON’S TARGET VIEW FRIENDLY VIEW C H A P T E R 22 Press a7 to display the target of your missile; this view is similar to Enemy view. Press 8 on the top row to cycle through views from all the friendly aircraft in the area. FRIENDLY GROUND UNIT VIEW Press s8 to see views from friendly ground forces. CHASE VIEW Press 9 on the top row to switch to Chase view. Chase view is directly behind your Falcon.
CANOPY REFLECTIONS Turn on Canopy Reflections by selecting it from “Canopy Cues” in the Graphics setup screen. Use the reflections you see of your suit and instruments to keep yourself oriented as you look around. We only recommend turning on “Canopy Reflections” if you have a 3-D graphics accelerator; otherwise, the sim’s graphics will slow down significantly. The lift line is a good substitute for canopy reflections.
CHAPTER 23 RADIO COMMANDS
Falcon 4.0 has literally thousands of different radio commands. This chapter deals only with the two-way radio call feature of the simulation. In Falcon 4.0, you can call, or receive radio calls from, the following sources: AWACS (Q key) Flight (R key) Wingman (W key) Tower (T key) Element (E key) Tanker (Y key) Two-way radio communication is possible with any of these entities.
RADIO COMMANDS Request help is used when you or your flight is in trouble, most often when you are being overwhelmed by enemy aircraft. When you request help, AWACS will try to vector nearby aircraft to aid you if possible. C H A P T E R 23 Wilco (short for “Will comply”) tells AWACS that you can comply or perform the task that is being asked. For example, if AWACS asks if you can divert to help another flight that is in trouble, respond with “Wilco” to inform them that you will go help.
Package is the group of flights that are all flying the same route to the same target area. Normally you are part of a large package or group of flights. You can get vectors back to this group or package by asking AWACS for vectors. Tanker refers to the orbiting airborne tanker, which is airborne most of the time in Falcon 4.0. Ask AWACS for vectors to the tanker to get a bearing and range to it. Divert field is the airfield you use when you can’t land at your primary or “home” airbase.
RADIO COMMANDS COMBAT MANAGEMENT PAGE C H A P T E R 23 Attack my target directs flight members to attack a specific target. The key is to know how to determine what target is “my” target. The position of the radar cursors is used to determine what target you want your wingman (or element or flight) to attack. Another way to determine the target is to have a radar lock-on. If the radar is locked on and you say, “Attack my target,” the directed flight member will attack the locked target.
Rejoin requests the selected flight member to return to the formation. It is most often used after giving a call to a flight member to attack or clear your 6 o’clock. Run single-side offset is a stern conversion air-to-air attack. The purpose of this attack is to get the designated flight member to run an intercept and get to the enemy aircraft’s 6 o’clock.. Single side offset attack Pince attack Pince is an attack command used to get your wingman, element or flight to pince or bracket the target.
RADIO COMMANDS Chainsaw attack C H A P T E R 23 Chainsaw is a specific attack using the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile. This attack will be run on whatever target is locked up on the radar or is under your cursors. On this attack, your flight members will fly towards the designated target and fire an AMRAAM missile. When the missile goes active or can guide to the target using its own radar, the flight members will turn away from the target and rejoin with your flight.
Say position asks a flight member to tell you where he is in relation to your aircraft or bullseye. The format will depend on what you have selected in the Simulation setup. If you do not have bullseye selected, the computer-controlled flight member will answer this call by giving you a magnetic bearing and range. Say damage asks a computer-controlled wingman to report the extent and nature of his battle damage. Say status requests your flight members to report what they are currently doing.
RADIO COMMANDS Arrowhead formation Falcon 11 C H A P T E R 23 Go arrowhead moves the flight into the arrowhead formation, which is a variation on the box formation. (A legendary F-4/F-16 pilot whose callsign was “Joe Bob” developed this formation, so for a time it was called the “Joe Bob” box.) The arrowhead is an excellent formation to fly in multiplayer with a real wingman because the trailing digital element can clear your 6 o’clock while your real wingman can stay in close to your jet.
Go wedge moves the flight into the wedge formation as shown below. Use the wedge formation when you anticipate a lot of highG maneuvering. This formation will keep the flight members from coming into conflict with each other. The wedge formation is also very good for air-to-air attacks when you are planning to split up a four-ship flight.
RADIO COMMANDS Stack formation 2000' 2000' C H A P T E R 23 2000' Go stack moves the flight into the stack formation shown below. A stack formation makes it difficult for enemy fighters to sort and attack your formation. The disadvantage of this formation, however, is that it is very difficult to maneuver. In addition, it is hard for fighters in a stack formation to provide mutual support to each other because of the altitude difference.
TANKER radio COMMANDS The tanker calls are used to help you get fuel. Press Y to display the Tanker radio commands. Request fuel tells the tanker that there is an aircraft that wants to refuel. The tanker will set a steady speed, limit its maneuvering and enter a wide racetrack pattern. All attempts to refuel should start with this call. The tanker will acknowledge your call and tell you are cleared into the “precontact” position which is a few ship widths back from the air refueling boom.
CHAPTER 24 AIRPORT OPERATIONS
If you think the mission’s over once you’ve dropped your bombs and headed for home, think again. As a fighter pilot, you are merely one small part of a huge theater of operations. That means getting airplanes in the air and back on the ground must happen efficiently.
AIRPORT OPERATIONS your position for takeoff. Someone else probably hasn’t cleared the runway yet. As soon as you are “cleared for takeoff,” you are expected to get on your way to do your part in pounding your enemy into the dirt. Don’t waste any time getting in the air, especially if the tower tells you to “expedite” your departure. You do need to get your flight rejoined for the mission.
Even with everything flowing smoothly, things can get busy as you’re returning to the field, so here are the procedures to follow to help ATC manage the flow of aircraft during the recovery. Contact Approach for landing about 30 nm from the base. If your flight is returning to the base together, then Approach Control knows that the flight lead’s “inbound to land” call applies to the whole flight. (Each member of the flight can still make the same request, but it isn’t necessary.
AIRPORT OPERATIONS the traffic flow. In this case you’ll want to get out of the way of other traffic, so make a turn away from the airfield and set up an orbit to hold while you wait for Approach to resequence you back in for landing. Do this by making 360° turns at 250 knots with about 30° of bank and continuing the orbit until Approach Control gives you new vectors for the approach. Once it does, just continue your present turn until you can roll out onto the assigned heading.
Landing If you have followed Approach Control’s vectors, you should be lined up with the final approach course. As you make the turn to final is a good time to lower your gear and begin slowing down. Then at 6 nm from the field, begin your descent down final as you intercept the 3° glide slope. Make sure your speed brakes are out. Pull your power back to reduce your airspeed until you are flying at an 11° AOA approach speed.
CHAPTER 25 AERODYNAMICS AND G FORCES
Before jumping right into this discussion, I want to tell you a story that demonstrates what a fighter pilot needs to know about aerodynamics. I was flying F-16s out of Kunsan, South Korea, and one day I was riding out to the jets in the crew van with my operations officer. We called him “Wolfman” because he was powerful ugly, even by fighter pilot standards. As I glanced over at Wolfman, I noticed he had little arrows drawn on his flight gloves with words written next to them.
AERODYNAMICS AND G FORCES Lift is a force produced by the aircraft wings (and possibly the body of the aircraft), which acts perpendicular to your flight path, pushing up on the bottom of the aircraft straight out the top of the plane. Modern fighters such as the F-16 use blended wing-bodies to produce a great deal of lift. This allows the wings to be smaller and saves weight. Drag acts the opposite of thrust. Drag slows your plane and is mainly created in two ways.
You may wonder why a hard turn causes airspeed to bleed off in Falcon 4.0. Under G (acceleration caused by turning the aircraft), the effective aircraft weight increases and lift must go up in order to counter the increase. With more lift comes more induced drag, which causes airspeed to bleed off. To counter this, you need more thrust. Unfortunately, aircraft thrust is always limited, which limits the G available and thus maneuverability.
AERODYNAMICS AND G FORCES Falcon 4.0 uses a model developed by the Air Force to trigger the G force tunnel effect. This model was built using actual test data to model the effect of Gs on the pilot. Once the “tunnel vision” effect goes away, the G effect is reset back to the beginning. In other words, we only model pilot fatigue while the G effect is being displayed on your screen.
The figure below shows the aircraft’s lift vector coming straight up out of the top of the plane. This lift vector is produced by aircraft G and is controlled by the pilot. When the pilot pulls back on the control stick, he or she is commanding more G and a bigger lift vector. Since the aircraft moves in the direction of this vector, the more G the faster the turn. Or said another way, the higher the turn rate. Li Lift Vector ft Ve c to r The figure below shows a very important lift vector concept.
AERODYNAMICS AND G FORCES The fuselage reference line is a line that extends straight out of the body of the aircraft. This line is also the path that the bullets take out of the gun. The gun cross in the HUD shows the path of the bullets along with the fuselage reference line. GUN CROSS FLIGHT PATH MARKER C H A P T E R 25 The difference between that gun cross and the flight path marker is the AOA. (These concepts are discussed in Chapter 1: Learning How to Fly.
As you increase AOA on the horizontal axis of the graph, the coefficient of lift on the vertical axis goes up. (For our discussion, think of the coefficient of lift as just lift.) As AOA increases past the stall point, lift decreases. The word “stall” brings up images of the nose of the aircraft going straight down and the jet falling out of the sky. Fortunately, F-16s do not stall that way.
PART 4: ADVANCED TACTICS Chapter 26: Enemy Tactics CHAPTER 27: MISSION PLANNING AND EXECUTION CHAPTER 26 ENEMY TACTICS
Falcon 4.0 features a sophisticated enemy IADS (Integrated Air Defense System). This threat system has many layers that start with C3 (Command, Control and Communication) at the top and end with individual threat systems. In this chapter, we will cover the tactics of the individual threat systems, such as SAMs and MiGs, but first we will take a top-level look at the IADS architecture. Falcon 4.
ENEMY TACTICS SYNCHRONIZATION Synchronization is the coordination of threat systems to accomplish the mission. Their mission, of course, is to defend their airspace. Another simple example of synchronization is the use of SAMs and AAA together. Some SAMs, such as the SA-2, are only effective against medium- and highaltitude targets.
Ambush tactics A SAMs are silent B SAMs all fire SAMs employ two basic guidance techniques: radar and IR. Since IR SAMs rarely use radar, you may get little or no warning from an IR missile launch. IR missiles are generally smaller and have shorter ranges than radar SAMs and so tend to be more autonomous and not as tightly controlled by enemy C3. Expect to see IR SAMs near concentrations of enemy ground forces, especially maneuvering armor units.
ENEMY TACTICS Buddy launch Buddy launching is similar to blinking, except that a SAM tracks the target continuously and feeds the information to one or more SAMs that will actually fire at the target aircraft. This tactic draws the attention of the targeted aircraft toward the SAM site that is not going to launch. The SAM sites that do fire can stay quiet (with their radars off) right up until the time that they put their missiles in the air. The buddy launch has two primary advantages.
ENEMY FIGHTER TACTICS Enemy fighters are the most deadly component of the enemy IADS. Fighters have all the lethality of a SAM site but possess a mobility that makes them hard to detect and harder still to defeat. The enemy aircraft in Falcon 4.0 will use a wide variety of tactics that are driven by three major variables: aircraft type, weapons load and range from the target. Each enemy fighter has unique strengths and will strive to fight on its own terms to maximize these strengths.
ENEMY TACTICS engage the enemy. There is one slight variation to the CAP mission called the Ambush CAP, a tactic used by older, less-capable aircraft such MiG-19s and MiG-21s. On occasion, these aircraft will set up a CAP behind a mountain, down at low altitude. This position masks them from both AWACS and fighter radars. The resulting engagements usually start at very close range when an enemy fighter crosses the mountain and suddenly blunders into the CAP.
Single side offset SINGLE SIDE OFFSET In the single side offset, one or more enemy fighters will try to offset the target to one side and then swing around to the target’s 6 o’clock position. This does not mean that enemy fighters flying a single side offset will wait to shoot until they get to the target’s 6 o’clock position. Enemy fighters can fire long-range missiles at any time during the intercept. BRACKET A bracket is two single side offsets being flown in a mirror image.
ENEMY TACTICS The champagne gets its name because if you look at an overhead view of the tactic, it looks like a champagne glass. OK, maybe it doesn’t, but it’s a cool name anyway. The champagne is used to place three fighters or groups of fighters on the target from three different attack axes. Trail intercept C H A P T E R 26 A trail intercept consists of putting aircraft at various ranges in trail with one another.
of the bracket. As soon as you drop lock on the dragging aircraft, the enemy fighter can turn back toward the fight and re-engage you. Drag with bracket All of these BVR tactics can be used together. Enemy fighters will seldom drive straight into your missiles. In the Falcon 4.0 air battle, expect to see drags and beams when you lock your radar onto an enemy formation. DOGFIGHT TACTICS Enemy fighters use a wide range of offensive, defensive and head-on maneuvers in visual fights.
CHAPTER 27 MISSION PLANNING AND EXECUTION
The principles explained in this chapter apply to all Falcon 4.0 (and real F-16) missions. This chapter will cover planning and flying a typical single mission in the campaign, not campaign strategy. GENERAL MISSION PLANNING BY PETE “BOOMER” BONANNI A successful mission starts in the planning phase. For this sample mission, I have selected an OCA Strike mission against an airbase in the Iron Fortress campaign. The purpose of OCA (Offensive Counter Air) is to gain air superiority.
mission planning and execution Before continuing, I’d better explain a modern air combat tactic called “packaging.” Packaging is a real-world fighter tactic that groups several flights together to perform a specific task. This means that in a campaign mission, your flight will often be one of a number of flights in a specific group of aircraft. In your package, you may have air-to-air or SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) support, as well other flights also bombing your target or one close by.
CHANGING YOUR FLIGHT PLAN The planning map is a powerful tool for changing your mission parameters. Before we talk about changing your route, let’s talk about what the Campaign mission planner does for you. The Campaign mission planner strives to provide a flight route that will minimize the package’s exposure to known threats. This route consists of steerpoints, airspeeds, altitudes and timing.
mission planning and execution Place the mouse over a steerpoint you want to move. When the cursor changes from to , click to display the Flight Planner. Keep the circular arrow icon over the steerpoint and you can now drag the steerpoint to a new location on the Map. Notice that when you drag the steerpoint, either the airspeed parameter or the TOS will change. Any time you move a steerpoint, either the time or the airspeed has to change. It’s like when grandma moves to a house further away.
When you change the route for your flight, you change only your specific flight. If your goal is to keep the package together, you must step through each flight and make identical changes to all of their routes. Now you know how to change your route, but you may still be wondering why you should change the position of your steerpoints. The two main reasons for changing your steerpoints are to avoid threats and to alter your attack on the target.
mission planning and execution In the example, I have two flights dropping bombs (Cowboy 1 and Falcon 1), one flight on SEAD escort (Fury 1) and one flight doing battle damage assessment (Vapor 1). I would leave my SEAD escort (Fury flight) at the 1027:27 TOT, but move Cowboy (a bomber) 1 minute back to 1028:27. The Falcon flight should be 30 seconds behind Cowboy (1028:57). Thirty seconds equates to about 4 miles of spacing.
TARGET PLANNING The next step in this process is to plan your attack. All planning starts at the target. Use the expanded Planning Map to bring up the route of flight. TARGET Remember that the circles are the steerpoints or turn points along your route. The blue square is the IP, which is where we start to get serious about sending somebody to the meat locker. The next route symbol is a blue triangle overlaid on the target itself.
mission planning and execution Use the top button to change the viewing angle. Click the next control to rotate the view to any heading. Zoom in and out with the arrow icons. The bottom of the Recon window lists the slant range to the target from the view that is showing. Using these view controls, you can get an idea of what your target will look like during an attack. Attack planning should consist of the following steps: Study the target from a specific attack heading.
THE ENEMY When you line up your attack axis, you should also check the threats in the target area. Right-click on the Planning Map to bring up the Map Options menu. From this pop-up menu, select Threat Circles. Since the weapon we are using forces us to attack from low altitude, select Radar – Low altitude from the Threat Circles submenu. The Planning Map now shows the territory covered by enemy radars that scan below 5,000 feet.
mission planning and execution Once you have studied the enemy and made whatever modifications to your attack plan that are necessary, it’s time to get into your jet. Close the Planning Map by clicking the Minimize button in the upper right-hand corner. GROUND OPERATIONS Start the mission by clicking the Fly icon in the bottom right corner. If you are playing in single-player mode, the clock will “fast advance” to your takeoff time.
These weapon settings will give you 6 runway craters with 175-foot spacing between them. To drop this load, you only need to push the pickle button one time. You will, however, need to hold down the pickle button until all the bombs drop off the jet. Now that your weapon is configured, bring up the HSD (Horizontal Situation Display) by pressing ] until you see “HSD” on the MFD. Once the HSD appears, press - or = to change the range scale until you can see Steerpoint 2 on the display.
mission planning and execution On this OCA mission, Steerpoint 2 is the package push point. This is the point where all of your package flights will go to push, or fly out, toward the target. Remember that in this plan I have spaced everybody out so that we will all arrive at the target at slightly different times. For the plan to work, however, you must fly at the proper airspeed.
The FLOT is an area of intense ground combat. Ground combat involves a large number of soldiers with weapons and bad attitudes, so it’s not a good place to hold an air show. When you get within 10 miles of the FLOT, take your attention off the radar and start focusing your attention on the FLOT. There is one exception to this rule: if you have a confirmed hostile target inside 20 miles, you must focus your attention on that target. My rule of thumb is to always focus on the most immediate threat.
mission planning and execution Notice that I have broken down the ingress into specific areas of concern. On the friendly side of the FLOT, enemy aircraft are your principal concern. In the FLOT area, enemy ground-to-air threats (such as AAA and SAMs) are the biggest threat. On the enemy side of the FLOT, you may have the full spectrum of threats, but most of the time your route should keep you away from SAMs and AAA. Threat aircraft are therefore your biggest concern on the enemy side.
DEALING WITH ENEMY AIRCRAFT Let’s say that just as our flight enters enemy airspace, AWACS gives us a hostile declaration on targets that are 20 miles out and heading our way, as shown to the right. At this point, I would target the other element in my flight (planes #3 and #4) on the incoming enemy threat. This would be a way of disrupting an enemy attack. To target the enemy: Put your radar cursors on the target. Press E to bring up the Element radio command menu. Select “Attack my target.
mission planning and execution Return to course after your element gets 10 miles away from your jet. The key here is to open some separation with your element so that they can fight the enemy while you and your #2 man fly on to the target. Here is a list of actions to take if you are being targeted by BVR (Beyond Visual Range) enemy aircraft: Query AWACS to “Declare.” This will help you get AIM-120s or AIM-7s in the air as soon as possible to avoid a turning fight.
If you get a Mud on your nose approaching the FLOT, lean (turn slightly) away to avoid it or pump. A pump is simply a 180° turn. By pumping, you can get back over friendly territory and try a different route across the FLOT. If you are already in enemy territory, don’t pump. If you can’t avoid it, get lower. I never fly lower than 100 feet on the radar altimeter. Drop chaff by pressing X and turn on your jammer by pressing J. Move your flight into a Spread Four formation if you are not already in one.
mission planning and execution This formation is useful against all radar threats, including AAA. If you get a SAM launched at you during the mission, you must immediately stop what you are doing and react. If your wingman gets shot at, stay with him unless you are in the FLOT area. In the FLOT, it’s “everybody for their own grandma’s ear.” In other words, you are on your own in the FLOT area. No need to get everybody shot down by hanging around in a bad neighborhood.
THE ATTACK PHASE The ingress phase is over when you hit the IP, which is the start of the attack phase. At the IP, perform the following tasks: Switch to the CCIP mode to drop your BLU-107s on the runway. To do this, call up the SMS page in the right MFD by pressing ]. Then press B to cycle through your air-toground weapons. Drive in toward the target and keep cross-checking your range on the HUD. When you get to within 5 miles, start a 5° fly-up to acquire the runway and line up for your attack.
mission planning and execution When the pipper gets one-third of the way down the runway, pickle and hold down the weapon release button (z or joystick button 2). PIPPER C H A P T E R 27 After holding the pipper down for at least one second, roll up to 60° of bank and turn away from the target. Press S to continue to the next steerpoint and turn to fly toward it. EGRESS PHASE You are now in the last tactical phase of the mission.
As we egress the target area, stay aware of the basic threat areas. Again, these are the target area, the enemy side, the FLOT and the friendly side. The best place to engage MiGs is obviously on the friendly side. The next best place is on the enemy side. You definitely don’t want to do a lot of turning in the target area or the FLOT. Your geographic location then changes your engagement criteria.
PART 5: APPENDICES appendix A: designer’s notes appendix b: glossary appendix c: airport maps appendix d: Lineup card APPENDIX A DESIGNER’S NOTES
A View from the Cockpit by Pete “Boomer” Bonanni As the fighter pilot involved in the creation of Falcon 4.0, I’m continually asked, “How close is Falcon 4.0 to the real thing?” I answer by simply saying that Falcon 4.0 comes remarkably close to providing the experience of flying an F-16. To explain how the MicroProse team has achieved this, I must relate a story told to me by a great fighter pilot named Phil “Hands” Handley.
DESIGNER’S NOTES Falcon if we tried to script what the player sees. Falcon is not about controlling the player. Falcon is about creating a tactical environment that makes the player look inward.” That answer got me a puzzled look. I did not elaborate then, but I will now. At some point in your Falcon 4.0 experience, you will realize that you must develop real fighter pilot skills to succeed. You will focus more on your own strengths and limitations as a fighter pilot and less on the simulation.
THE CAMPAIGN AND THE SIMULATION Ask programmers and designers who work on combat flight simulations what simulation features are critical, and most will define a great sim by how accurate the flight model and avionics are. Create a set of prescripted missions along with a few videos and voilà… you have a simulation. Unfortunately, to create a great simulation, a flight model, avionics, enemy AI and good graphics are only the start.
DESIGNER’S NOTES PILOT OVERLOAD During the Vietnam War, aircraft designers realized that pilots were being overloaded. It became impossible for them to manage all of the aircraft’s offensive and defensive systems while flying the plane. These human factors therefore became a priority in Western aircraft design. As a result, today’s planes are designed so that the human-machine interface is as seamless as possible.
BEYOND THE BUBBLE One of the greatest shortcomings of flight simulations is the limit imposed by their visual bubbles. Most games are designed to draw objects only if they are within a visual bubble (typically 5–15 miles), creating a “horizon effect.” Some flight simulators attempt to mask this problem by fogging terrain beyond that distance, but then important visual information is lost, information that a real F-16 pilot would have.
DESIGNER’S NOTES GLOC The GLOC (Gravity Induced Loss of Consciousness) model and its tunneling effect in Falcon 4.0 is representative of what happens to a real pilot. Falcon 4.0 uses real human factors data to model GLOC (blackout/redout). In high-G maneuvers, your body’s G tolerance is reduced based on the cumulative effects of how many Gs you have pulled over a period of time. While your body may initially handle high G loads, your tolerance of Gs will gradually weaken as you continue to stress your body.
The F-16 has many different variants. The air forces that employ the F-16 consistently upgrade and modernize their aircraft. Falcon 3.0 modeled one of the early F-16s, the F-16A Block 15. Falcon 4.0 models the F-16C Block 52. The Block 52’s engine generates 29,000 pounds of thrust, 22% greater than the Block 15’s turbofan engine, which translates into increased acceleration and ability to pull Gs. The F-16C radar, the APG-68, has been upgraded from the F-16A’s APG-66.
APÊNDICE B GLOSSÁRIO
A-A – Ar-Ar (Air-to-Air). AAA – Artilharia Antiaérea (Anti-Aircraft Artillery). AAM – Míssil ar-ar (Air-to-Air Missile) . AB – Pós-combustor (Afterburner). ACM – Modo de combate aéreo (Air Combat Mode). Um radar ar-ar de curto alcance que automaticamente adquire o alvo mais próximo. ACMI – Instrumentação de manobras de combate aéreo (Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation). Ela permite que você grave e posteriormente assista a uma gravação visual de seu vôo.
glossário Ataque OCA – As missões de ataque OCA são essencialmente missões ar-terra desempenhadas contra alvos dentro e ao redor de uma base aérea inimiga. Ataque SEAD – Missões ar-terra executadas contra efetivos de defesa aérea, tais como SAMs e radares de busca. Em uma missão de ataque SEAD, você deve destruir recursos de defesa aérea inimigos específicos. Atirador/atirador – Chamada de rádio que indica que tanto o líder da esquadrilha quanto o ala atacarão o alvo designado.
Break – Comando de rádio que orienta uma manobra súbita de alto G em uma direção especificada. Normalmente emitido quando um míssil ou aeronave inimiga está na cauda do destinatário da mensagem. Break X (recuperar) – Um indicador que aparece no HUD como um grande “X”, que indica que você está prestes a colidir contra o solo ou contra uma aeronave acoplada no radar. Briga de Facas (Knife Fight) – Terminologia de pilotos para um combate realmente próximo.
glossário Continue conforme instrução (continue as fragged) – Chamada de rádio que indica que você deve continuar a missão de acordo com o que foi instruído. DLZ – Zona de lançamento dinâmico (Dynamic Launch Zone). O alcance entre Rmin e Rmax dentro do qual um míssil pode ser disparado de forma a ser capaz de atingir o alvo. C-P –Ponto de contato (Contact Point). Um ponto de curva no qual o FAC deve ser contatado.
Esteiras de condensação – Rastros de vapor deixados na esteira de uma aeronave gerados por curvas de alto G. ETA – Tempo estimado de chegada (Estimated Time of Arrival) ETE – Tempo estimado a caminho (Estimated Time Enroute). F-15 – O Eagle é um caça ar-ar norte-americano, também capaz de missões de ataque ao solo. F-16 – O Falcon é um caça norte-americano extremamente manobrável, capaz de realizar diversos tipos de missão.
glossário GM – Mapa do solo (Ground Map). Modo de radar é usado para localizar alvos fixos em terra. GMT – Alvo em movimento no solo (Ground Moving Target). Modo de radar usado para localizar alvos em terra em movimento. Goose eggs – Chamada de rádio que indica que todos os pilotos erraram seus alvos. Grupamento (package) – Um grupo de esquadrilhas com uma missão comum. Guinada – Movimento ao longo do eixo vertical de uma aeronave que faz com que o nariz da mesma gire para a direita e para a esquerda.
Juliet Sierra – Chamada de rádio que indica que todos os pilotos erraram seus alvos. Kansas – Chamada de rádio que indica que a aeronave esgotou seus armamentos ar-ar. KC-10 – O Extender é a maior aeronave de reabastecimento em vôo dos EUA atualmente em operação. Lawn dart – (1) Chamada de rádio que indica que uma aeronave colidiu contra o solo. (2) Um nome pejorativo para o F-16. LCOS – Mira óptica de adiantamento do computador (Lead Computing Optical Sight). Uma mira de canhão ar-ar.
glossário Movers – Veículos terrestres. MRGS – Linhas de mira de canhão de referências múltiplas (Multiple Reference Gun Sight). MRM –Míssil ar-ar de médio alcance (Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile) (AIM-120 ou AIM-7). MSL – (1) A altitude acima do nível do mar (Mean Sea level). (2) Modo de anulação para mísseis (Missile override mode). ODC – Ordem de Combate. A ODC mostra todas as unidades disponíveis na campanha. OSB –Botão de seleção de opção (Option Select Button).
Posthole (mergulho) – Uma manobra que envolve mergulhar em direção ao solo para evitar ser detectado pelo radar de um inimigo aproximando-se. Rmax – O alcance máximo dentro do qual um míssil pode ser disparado com chances de atingir o alvo. Potência Militar – 100% de empuxo, sem uso de pós-combustão. Rmin – O alcance mínimo a partir do qual um míssil pode ser disparado com chances de atingir o alvo. Print – Chamada de rádio que indica que um contato de radar foi identificado.
glossário Saída (egress) – Deixar uma área de alvo ou engajamento. Spike – Uma indicação de radar de interceptação aérea inimigo no RWR. SAM – (1) Surface-to-Air Missile (míssil terra-ar) (2) Modo de percepção da situação (Situation Awareness Mode). Um modo automático do radar RWS que lhe permite simultaneamente rastrear um único alvo e ver o que está nas proximidades. Splash One (Um derrubado) – Chamada de rádio que indica que um piloto abateu uma aeronave. SAR – Busca e resgate (Search And Rescue).
TD – Designador de alvo (Target Designator). TMS – Chave de gerenciamento de alvos (Target Management Switch). TOS – Horário sobre o ponto de curva (Time Over Steerpoint). TOT – Horário sobre o alvo (Time Over Target). Traquear (“padlocked”) – Manter os olhos “travados” no alvo corrente movendo a cabeça para seguir o movimento do alvo. Través – aeronaves inimigas voando em um ângulo reto em relação à trajetória de vôo de um piloto, numa tentativa de romper ou impedir um acoplamento de radar.
APPENDIX C AIRPORT MAPS
The maps in this appendix depict the different airports you will use in Falcon 4.0. Each map shows the taxiways, runway alignments, runway dimensions, which TACAN channel to use, terrain elevation and other details of the airport environments. How to Use the Maps If you choose to start a mission by taxiing, ATC (Air Traffic Control) will clear you to taxi to a particular runway. Look up the airport you are operating from; they are listed are in alphabetical order.
AIRPORT MAPS CHUNGJU AIRBASE South Korea 16R Elevation: Latitude: Longitude: TACAN Channel: 131 feet N56° 50 E125°16 81X 16L hangars 270 380 0X 9X 735 565 nav beacon control tower ammo dump radar tower radar building 34R 34L For use with Falcon 4.
HAEMI AIRBASE South Korea 20R 20L hangars 565 9X3 80 control tower 735 0X2 70 nav beacon ammo dump radar tower radar building 02L 02R 26 feet N36°38 E123°27 78X Elevation: Latitude: Longitude: TACAN Channel: For use with Falcon 4.0 only JEOMCHEON AIRBASE South Korea radar tower R 26 feet N36°36 E125°29 74X 2 23 3L Elevation: Latitude: Longitude: TACAN Channel: 0 9 65 X 38 radar building 5 70 50 X 2 73 ammo dump control tower L 05 R 05 For use with Falcon 4.
AIRPORT MAPS KADENA AIRBASE Japan 16 ammo dump tanks 20 radar tower 00 81 control tower nav beacon 7900 X 270 70 X2 hangars 34 radar tower Elevation: Latitude: Longitude: TACAN Channel: 24 feet N34°35 E129°01 70X 02 For use with Falcon 4.
KIMPO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT South Korea L 14 hangars R 14 nav beacon control tower 59 56 hangars X 73 38 X 0 50 0 27 Elevation: Latitude: Longitude: TACAN Channel: 26 feet N37°30 E123°49 106X L 32 R 32 For use with Falcon 4.0 only KUNSAN AIRBASE South Korea 16R Elevation: Latitude: Longitude: TACAN Channel: 26 feet N35°53 E123°32 101X 16L hangars 270 380 0X 9X 565 735 nav beacon control tower ammo dump radar tower radar building 34R 34L For use with Falcon 4.
AIRPORT MAPS KWANGJU AIRBASE South Korea 20 radar building nav beacon control tower ammo dump 735 0X 270 hangars tanks radar tower 02 Elevation: Latitude: Longitude: TACAN Channel: 52 feet N35°08 E123°46 100X For use with Falcon 4.0 only MANDUMI AIRBASE South Korea 20 radar building nav beacon control tower APPENDIX C ammo dump 735 0X 270 hangars tanks radar tower 02 Elevation: Latitude: Longitude: TACAN Channel: 26 feet N38°00 E124°04 73X For use with Falcon 4.
OSAN AIRBASE South Korea Elevation: Latitude: Longitude: TACAN Channel: 26 feet N37°00 E124°08 109X control tower ammo dump 26 nav beacon 0 10400 X 38 08 barracks hangars water tower For use with Falcon 4.0 only POHANG AIRBASE South Korea Elevation: Latitude: Longitude: TACAN Channel: 26 feet N35°58 E126°55 113X radar tower 26 ammo dump 7350 X 270 08 tanks radar building hangars nav beacon control tower For use with Falcon 4.
AIRPORT MAPS PUSAN AIRBASE South Korea 14 radar building Elevation: Latitude: Longitude: TACAN Channel: 52 feet N35°10 E126°36 75X ammo dump nav beacon 50 73 X 0 27 control tower radar tower hangars tanks 32 For use with Falcon 4.0 only PYEONGTAEG AIRBASE South Korea 16 radar building Elevation: Latitude: Longitude: TACAN Channel: 26 feet N 36°53 E 124°10 79X APPENDIX C ammo dump nav beacon hangars 70 0x2 735 control tower radar tower tanks 34 For use with Falcon 4.
R 23 SAMCHEONPO AIRBASE South Korea hangars 23 L nav beacon control tower ammo dump 0 0 35 X 27 7 0 radar building 9 65 X 38 5 radio tower R 05 L 05 Elevation: Latitude: Longitude: TACAN Channel: 26 feet N35°03 E125°16 115X For use with Falcon 4.0 only SEOUL AIRBASE South Korea nav beacon 36 01 hangars Elevation: Latitude: Longitude: TACAN Channel: 105 feet N37°22 E124°13 105X control tower ammo dump 8000 X 270 7000 X 270 19 For use with Falcon 4.
AIRPORT MAPS SUWEON AIRBASE South Korea radar building 26 feet N37°11 E 124°04 108X Elevation: Latitude: Longitude: TACAN Channel: L 16 R 16 ammo dump Control tower 73 nav beacon 50 radio tower X2 70 59 56 80 X3 hangars L 34 L 34 For use with Falcon 4.
YECHEON AIRBASE South Korea Elevation: Latitude: Longitude: TACAN Channel: 210 feet N36°37 E125°47 80X radar tower 26 ammo dump 7350 X 270 08 tanks radar building hangars nav beacon control tower For use with Falcon 4.
APPENDIX D LINEUP CARD
Pkg# Callsign Type Msn.
lineup card Pkg# Callsign 120 Falcon 1 Target: Type Msn.
A A-A Master Mode button, 20-3 A-G Master Mode button, 20-3 AAA (Anti-Aircraft Artillery), dealing with, 26-5, 27-19 AAM page in MFD, 19-7–19-8 AAMs (Air-to-Air Missiles).
index reacquisition elevation symbol, 21-13 Realistic option for, 21-9–21-24 RWS master mode, 4-7–4-11, 21-17– 21-19 RWS-SAM mode, 21-19–21-20 SAM mode, 21-18 Simplified option for, 21-6–21-8 Slewable mode, 4-6, 21-23–21-24 steerpoint symbol, 21-12 STT mode, 21-18, 21-24 training mission using, 4-12–4-14 TWS master mode, 4-11, 21-17, 21-20–21-21 Vertical Scan mode (10X60), 4-4–4-5, 21-23 VS master mode, 4-12, 21-17, 21-21–21-22 air-to-air refueling.
air-to-ground radar modes.
index altitude AL (altitude low) indicator, 18-3 ALT warning light, 17-6 Altitude Poles option, 14-7 “ALTITUDE–ALTITUDE” voice message, 17-14 options switch, 17-17 scales on HUD, 1-6–1-7, 18-3 Ambush CAP missions, 11-32, 26-7 ambush tactics of enemies, 26-4, 26-7 angle-off, 8-3 Anti-Ship missions, 11-33 AOA (Angle of Attack) indexer, 17-4 indicator on front console, 1-8, 17-10 AR Status/NWS indicator, 17-5 Art of the Kill (Bonanni), 1-2 artificial horizon, 21-8, 21-11, 21-26 ascents, 1-11 aspect angle, 8-3,
Auto Save feature, 12-25 Briefing window, 12-16 Campaign Priorities button, 12-14 creating campaigns, 12-7–12-20 Debriefing window, 12-26 dying in campaigns, 12-26 ending missions, 12-26 entering missions, 12-24–12-25 Event Map, 12-11, 12-12 Fit Flight Plan button, 12-15 Flight Plan window, 12-21–12-22 Force Levels window, 12-19 Help button, 12-14 Intel screen, 12-17–12-20 JSTARS Replay window, 12-19 jumping into, 12-3–12-7 loading saved campaigns, 12-9 Maximize button, 12-14 mission planning tools, 12-20–1
index Threat Warning System and, 17-6–17-8, 17-18 velocity switch, 17-17 Voice Message System and, 17-13 VVI indicator, 17-11 Controllers setup screen, 16-11–16-14 corner airspeed, 2-3, 8-4 Course Deviation Indicator (CDI), 3-8 CRM (Combined Radar Mode), 21-17–21-18 CRS (Course) set knob, 3-8 CRUS button, 20-11 cursors A-A and A-G ghost cursors, 19-5 radar cursors, 21-12, 21-26 CZ (Cursor Zero) radar mode, 5-6, 21-28 D DBS1 and DBS2 radar modes, 5-6, 5-9–5-10, 21-28 DCA missions, 11-32 DCLT (Declutter) rad
departures, 2-20 descents, 1-11 Disable Clouds option, 16-5 Distinguished Flying Cross medal, 13-7–13-8 Dive Toss.
index enemy threats. See also missile threats; TWS checking target area for, 27-10–27-11 dealing with AAA, 27-19 dealing with enemy planes, 27-16–27-17 reaction techniques for, 27-15 Enemy view, 22-8 engagement criteria, 27-22 engagements, 11-16, 11-38.
BM-9 “flying the caret,” 13 Force Levels window, 12-19 form drag, 25-3 Formation Management commands, 23-8 FPM (Flight Path Marker), 1-5–1-6, 17-17, 18-3–18-4 Free view, 14-5 Freeze (the game) mode, 1-4 Freeze (FZ) radar mode, 5-6, 21-28 Friendly Ground Unit view, 22-9 Friendly view, 22-9 fuel.
index airspeed indicator, 1-6, 18-2 altitude indicators, 1-6–1-7, 18-3 Break-X indicator, 18-6 BSGT submode, 18-27–18-30 CCIP mode, 5-18–5-19, 18-22–18-23 CCRP submode, 5-13–5-14, 5-47, 18-19–18-21 control options, 1-7, 18-36 control panel, 17-16–17-17 DGFT mode, 18-17–18-18 DTOS mode, 5-24–5-25, 18-21–18-22 EEGS mode, 18-14–18-15 flight path marker, 1-5–1-6, 18-3–18-4 fuel low messages, 18-6 G force indicator, 1-6, 18-4 for guided bombs, 18-29–18-31 gun cross, 1-6, 18-6 for HARM missiles, 5-56–5-57 heading
HUD Scan radar mode, 4-5, 21-22–21-23 HYD/OIL warning light, 17-8 I ICP (Integrated Control Panel) A-A button, 20-3 A-G button, 20-3 ALOW button, 20-5 COM Override buttons, 20-3–20-4 CRUS button, 20-11 DED and, 17-8, 20-2 ENTR button, 20-12 F-ACK button, 20-5–20-10 increment and decrement buttons, 20-2 LINK button, 20-11–20-12 Master Mode buttons, 20-2–20-3 MRK button, 20-12 NAV button, 20-3 overview of, 17-8 Priority Function buttons, 20-4–20-12 radio communication channels, 20-3–20-4 steerpoints and, 3-1
index M Mach indicator, 18-5 magnetic compass, 17-21 magnification options, 14-8 MAN (Manual) radar mode, 5-5 maps. See also Planning Map Event Map, 12-11, 12-12 Mission Builder map, 11-17–11-21 of airports, C-2 setting start time and place on, 9-3 Theater Map, 11-2, 12-9 zooming in and out of, 11-19, 12-14 Master Caution light, 17-5 Match Play dogfights, 10-4–10-5 Mavericks.
Missile Override HUD/radar mode, 18-18, 21-18 missile threats. See also enemy threats; TWS countermeasures for, 7-6–7-7 dealing with SAMs, 17–19 defensive BFM against, 8-13–8-14 from IR-guided missiles, 7-2, 7-5 missile flight paths, 7-4–7-5 practicing reactions to, 7-7–7-9 from radar-guided missiles, 7-3–7-4, 7-6 Threat Warning System and, 7-5–7-6 missiles.
index overview of, 8-2–8-3, 8-5 training mission using, 8-6–8-8 turn rate and radius and, 8-4 oil pressure indicator, 17-9 On-Call CAS missions, 11-33 OOB (Order of Battle) window, 11-23, 12-18 Options area in Instant Action, 9-2–9-3 orbiting before landing, 24-4–24-5 Orbit Vehicle rotation control, 14-6–14-7 Orbit view, 14-4, 22-9 OSBs (Option Select Buttons), 19-2–19-3 OVERHEAT caution light, 17-22 OVRD (Override) radar mode, 5-6, 21-28 ownship indicator in HSD, 19-4 P R radar.
Realism Ratings, 16-3 Realistic radar. See also air-to-air radar modes; air-to-ground radar modes; radar air-to-air modes in, 21-9–21-24 air-to-ground modes in, 21-25–21-32 overview of, 21-9 selecting modes on FCR page, 21-9 Recon missions, 11-33 Reconnaissance Pod HUD mode, 18-34 recording flight data. See ACMI redouts, 22-10, 25-5 Reference, Tactical, 15-2–15-4 Reflection option, 16-8 refueling.
index Specifications of objects, 15-2–15-4 speed brakes position indicator, 17-16 “Spikes,” 27-17 split plane maneuvering, 26-10 Squadron Status window, 11-35 Squadron window, 12-19–12-20 SRCH button, 17-18 SRM HUD mode, 18-11–18-13 stalls defined, 2-20 overview of, 25-6–25-8 recovering from, 2-23–2-24 start time, setting, 11-38 starting Instant action, 9-2 steerpoints.
Tactical Engagement. See also Campaign; mission planning Add Battalion window, 11-18, 11-35– 11-36 Add Flight window, 11-18, 11-31–11-32 Add Package window, 11-18, 11-34–11-35 Add Squadron window, 11-19, 11-35 adding ground strikes, 11-5–11-8 adding opposition, 11-9–11-10 adding victory conditions, 11-11–11-14 ATO (Air Tasking Order) tool, 11-22–11-23 Battalion Status window, 11-36 building simple missions, 11-5–11-15 building complex missions, 11-15–11-40 vs.
index modes, 5-2–5-11 Training Mission 19: CCRP with unguided bombs, 5-12–5-17 Training Mission 20: CCIP bombing, 5-17–5-23 Training Mission 21: Dive Toss with unguided bombs, 5-23–5-27 Training Mission 22: 20mm cannon (air-toground), 5-28–5-30 Training Mission 23: Rockets, 5-30–5-31 Training Mission 24: AGM-65 Maverick missile, 5-32–5-42 Training Mission 25: Laser-guided bombs, 5-42–5-52 Training Mission 26: HARM air-to-ground missile, 5-52–5-58 Training Mission 27: Air-to-air refueling, 6-2–6-8 Training M
overview of, 1-10, 1-11 pirouette turns, 2-18, 2-22–2-23 recovering from deep stalls, 2-23–2-24 turn rate and radius, 2-2–2-4, 8-4 in vertical plane, 2-12–2-24 20mm cannon (air-to-air). See also gun sights EEGS gun sight for, 4-18–4-19, 18-14–18-15 gun sight theory and, 4-15–4-17 LCOS gun sight for, 4-17–4-18, 18-15–18-17 Snapshoot line gunsight for, 4-19, 18-17 training mission using, 4-19–4-21 20mm cannon (air-to-ground), 5-28–5-30 2-D Cockpit view, 22-2–22-3 TWS (Threat Warning System).
index W warning lights. See also caution lights Break-X indicator, 18-6 vs. caution lights, 17-6 on front console, 17-7–17-8 in Threat Warning System, 7-5–7-6, 17-7–17-8, 17-18 on left console, 17-18 left eyebrow warning lights, 17-6 for low fuel, 18-6 right eyebrow warning lights, 17-8–17-9 warning messages. See VMS warning sounds. See sound features Wave options in Instant Action, 9-3 Weapon view, 22-8 weapons.
Producers Gilman “Chopstick” Louie Steve “Grout” Blankenship Engineering Vincent “The Blade” Finley Ed “Hollywood” Goldman Robin “Goliath” Heydon Kevin “Waffen” Klemmick Dave “Gremlin” Power Scott “Curiosity” Randolph Leon “ Super Fly” Rosenshein Joe “Smokin’” Ward Peter “Bandit” Ward Art Dave Adams Jimmy “Zorro” Gutierrez Christian Ingle Greg Smith Christopher “Slasher” Wren Contributing Art Bill Ferguson Eddie Edwards John Edwards Josh Ferguson Wella “Screamer” Lasola Jason Rossilli Stewart Stanyard “T
credits Marketing Pete “Boomer” Bonanni Jamie “Linus” Reiner Craig “Soup” Campbell Dave “Omar” Bradley Charlie “Gorilla” Smith Willis “Ghost” Emery Wolf “Whisper” Griffey Col. Phil “Hands” Handley, USAF (Ret.
Dan McJilton Bob Sadacca Eric “Slush” Scheman Ian “Gilligan” Giffen Mark Huggins Tracy Kureta Voice Actors Beta Test Group Jeffery “Rhino” Babineau Dan “Crash” Crenshaw Robert “Tango” Fakes Jr.
credits Photos back matter U.S. Air Force Michael Klauer American MPC Maris Multimedia Gilman Louie Greg Smith Special Thanks Bill Burns Bing Crowell Joseph Colligan Jim Dizoglio Dave King Guymond “Smiley” Louie Dan “Danbert” Moen Steve Race Robin Scheer Pat Schmidt Joe Scirica Kip Welch Absolute Quality, Inc.
If you have any questions about Falcon 4.0, please contact MicroProse Customer Support at: Microprose/Hasbro Interactive (Europe) Customer Services, The Ridge Chipping Sodbury, S Gloucestershire BS37 6BN Telephone: 01454 893900 Fax: 01454 894296 Hours of Operation: 9am - 5.30pm GMT, Monday to Friday World Wide Web www.microprose.com Email: uksupport@hiuk.com WWW.FALCON4.COM Falcon 4.0 has an exciting Web site dedicated to ensuring you get the most out of your new game. Visit us at www.falcon4.
customer support HOW TO GET HELP: If you are having problems with Falcon 4.0, we can best help you if (1) you are at your computer when you call and (2) you have the following information handy: Version number of Falcon 4.
MICROPROSE SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT THE ENCLOSED SOFTWARE PROGRAM IS LICENSED BY MICROPROSE TO CUSTOMERS FOR THEIR USE ONLY ON THE TERMS SET FORTH BELOW. OPENING THIS PACKAGE OR USING THE ENCLOSED DISC INDICATES YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THESE TERMS. MicroProse hereby grants you a non-exclusive license to use the enclosed software and manual subject to the terms and restrictions set forth in this Software License Agreement. This manual and the software accompanying it are copyrighted, with all rights reserved.
