Archive for the ‘Air Combat’ Category

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DCS: BlackShark English Manual now available

Thursday, November 20th, 2008

The English PDF manuals for the DCS:Blackshark combat chopper simulator is now available HERE. (It requires a free registration)
DCS blackshark manual

The flight manual is 385 pages of text, diagrams and color photos, and teaches you all the detail about the KA-50 systems, including avionics, comms and the ABRIS Moving Map/GPS system. It contains checklists for practicing those cold ramp starts, and some basic operating procedures.

The User Interface (GUI) manual is 162 pages, and teaches you about the mission editor and the new pilot logbook.

What are you waiting for?

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Posted in Air Combat, DCS: BlackShark | 2 Comments »

Top 10 Tactics for Simulated Helicopter Combat

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008
    taji 15 AUG 07 Apaches

  1. Keep your spacing – in multi-ship missions, allow space between aircraft, so as to allow all aircraft room to maneuver without risking collision or restriction of defensive weapon deployment.
  2. Share the Workload – when flying with human wingmen, the lead chopper should handle navigation, and the others should be watching for targets, or SAM launches.

    3. T-55 (Whacked), T-55 (Burned), T-62 (Smashed). I Could Go On

  3. Don’t overfly dead targets – You may think you got them all, but if you’re wrong, they will be hiding in the smoke and will get you. It’s just not worth the risk. Take the extra time to fly a wide arc around them.

    4. AH-1S

  4. Turn as you fly – whether climbing, descending or staying level, make continuous turns as this helps to avoid blind spots, where enemies could be seen, which will give you the upper hand.
  5. Lighten your load ASAP – as soon as your weapons are out, or your external tanks are empty, jettison them. This will make you more agile for making defensive maneuvers, and your engines will not have to work as hard.
  6. Get in and get out – be as quick as possible in completing your mission. Who knows when enemy fighters or attack helicopters may appear.
  7. Stay low and keep moving – sitting still makes you an easy target for tanks and other ground forces. Hovering in place also increases your chances of entering a Vortex Ring state. Keeping low can help you stay undetected because of terrain and other obstacles. Stay NOE (nap of the Earth) as much as possible and keep moving. When traveling through valleys, try to stay part-way up the valley wall, because there is shadow, and the enemy will be looking at the very bottom.

    8. Idyllic Innsbruck

  8. Avoid overflying population centers – stay away from towns, villages and cities, because enemy civilians or soldiers could have a radio/cell phone and alert enemy forces. (I assume mission builders will be scripting this with triggers in the Blackshark mission editor)

    9. 000-178-889_0022.JPG

  9. Attack from a distance – use your weapons from standoff range. Distance is your best defense. Don’t think that you have to fly right into the fray. Ignore those juicy targets, and stick to your mission goals only.

    10. iraq

  10. Plan ahead – What do we do if attacked by fighters? Where are our friendly support units? Where are our ingress and egress points? And lastly, practice you BFMs (Basic Flight Maneuvers) until they become second nature.

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Posted in Air Combat | 3 Comments »

DCS Blackshark (Russian version) goes Gold!

Wednesday, October 8th, 2008

The Russian version of DCS: Black Shark has gone Gold and is scheduled to be released by the 1C company, in both retail and digital download, for the eastern market on October 17!
details here

Unfortunately, the localization for western languages is still in process, and then the game will need to spend time being rated, so we may not see the North American version until Jan 2009. :(

Between now and then, they plan to release the ~550 page PDF manual, and a playable demo.

I believe that the Russian version will have option for English labels in the cockpit, or there will be options to add the localizations later.

Will you consider purchasing and downloading the Russian version?

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Posted in Air Combat, DCS: BlackShark | No Comments »

DCS – Producer’s Note 4 – Navigation

Monday, September 29th, 2008

Here is the fourth Producers Note for the upcoming DCS:Blackshark helicopter flight simulator.

This three part video shows how the autopilot and navigation beacons can help a KA-50 Blackshark pilot compensate for the lack of a co-pilot.

The landscape looks amazing!!

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Posted in Air Combat, DCS: BlackShark, Videos | No Comments »

EECH – weapon firing rates corrected

Saturday, September 27th, 2008

Besides adding a cockpit for the Hind, Arneh has other improvements coming for the next version of EECH. This one is fixing the firing rates of all the weapons in the sim. Previously all weapons were firing at 1 shot per frame, so assuming 30-40 fps, each weapon was firing at around 2000 rounds per minute.

One of the big winners in this change is the Russian 23mm UPK-23 gun pod, which is showcased in this video.
(4 pods x 3500 rnds/min = 14,000 rounds per min!!!)

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Posted in Air Combat, EECH, Videos | No Comments »

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