DCS AV-8B Harrier Basic Weapons tutorial

[@RedKiteRender]

What would you like to see covered next? I'm currently working on a Tarrawa guide and plan a startup tutorial with downloadable kneeboards, bear in mind a lot of things like manual waypoints and the Tpod are not currently functional, and will be covered as and when they're added.

[@neo2264]

All your videos are excellent man, very intelligent and efficient. I've put them to good use myself. As far as what to be covered next, I have a suggestion, although it might be a tad niche or perhaps for the more technically serious folks: I want to be able to determine whether or not I can safely (by the book) do a vertical landing when returning from a mission, to for example land on the Tarawa; to be able to make an assessment and decide if I'm too heavy, if I need to dump fuel, etc. etc. Of course mission planning should help prevent that, i.e. taking off with only the needed fuel plus a safety margin, but still. I know that one of the check list items is to wave off if I've got more than two legs of hexagon in rpms showing in the HUD, but wave off procedures or "oh shit this isn't going to work" procedures that go beyond just waving off are something I'd like to train on. I'm sure the information is out there somewhere buried in the manuals, but I haven't troubled myself to hunt the knowledge down yet on thought maybe you could do a great job consolidating that information. So yeah to clarify, I want to be able to decide on the fly whether or not I'm vertical-land safe based on total fuel levels, stores, and whatever other factors the books mention as being relevant. Thanks :)

[@RedKiteRender]

There is a page by the name of VREST on the mpcd which covers the statistics for Fuel VSTOL and some others, however it's not currently implemented :( I'm working on a Tarawa guide that will include some kneeboards to help you manually calculate your weight prior to landing :)

[@TinCup73]

As a rookie AV pilot I can’t tell you how helpful your videos are. 👌🏻

[@barcodesphilippines]

Maurice Moss from the IT Crowd is a DCS player. Awesome. Seriously though, great videos.

[@9duckman9]

♪ ♪ ♪ 0118 999 881 999 119 725 ..

[@afhostie]

@@9duckman9 ...3

[@mikeekim2532]

Superb. Thank you. Short, worth every minute.

[@Wikkus]

Bought the Harrier module today, found this super useful, thank you!

[@Ha11yw00d]

Another good Harrier video, RedKite. Clear and concise.

[@boomerdiorama]

This is a beautiful, yet underrated module.

[@kemalsahin7502]

What a effective striker

[@HMSDaring1]

Love the fact that mosts Brits use British liveries, myself included! Good ol' RAF roundel makes everything better

[@RedKiteRender]

Haha well it's always nice to be able to fly your country's colours.

[@Parabueto]

What would be amazing is if you could slightly mod the plane to have the functionality of the Sea Harrier. Running escort with a couple AMRAMS would be amazing, especially if you could pop up over a mountain range and ambush someone.

[@Dave_ess]

Another great tutorial. Can’t wait for the in depth systems to get implemented so I can watch your stuff for em! As for stuff to do now, I dunno maybe night-time considerations? You’ve bout run the well dry!

[@RedKiteRender]

I'm looking forward to the TPOD but i hope they release the altitude hold autopilot along with it!

[@anttikinnunen5958]

Thank you.

[@AkiicToDaHead]

Nice info as always RedKite!

[@stewsaquarium1397]

Excellent tutorial thanks

[@rehil123]

very good thanks

[@-knight-7008]

Great video man..I learnt alot

[@nosebluntbob7124]

which start point for the downloadable mission should i use and how do i get to the interface that shows rockets on the left screen before selecting rockets or is there a better video to watch first that will explain the menus and radios better etc thanks

[@GoodGuysGaming]

Another amazing video. I am really enjoying this series on the Harrier. I was going to purchase it until you mentioned it is best to avoid air to air combat in the aircraft? Or did you specifically mean close range dogfights with the gun? What is you opinion on the current state of the F/A-18? Is it usable enough to learn and be effective in? Thanks as always!

[@RedKiteRender]

The harrier in a modern combat environment is badly outmatched, lacking a radar and radar missiles, this means you'l probably be put on the defensive all the way into the merge. If you manage to get the jump on them then, the harrier is a great opportunist dogfighter, viffing (nozzles used to speed up the turn rate) can allow one or two very quick turns before you run out of energy) Vs F-5's or Mig-21's however you're in a very strong position, with the best visibility, turn rate and climb rate (not top speed though) The aircraft is designed with ground attack in mind rather than dogfighting, so pick your fights carefully, you generally dont want to be looking for trouble. As for the hornet, it's getting there. It's lacking any guided weapons beyond aim-9 and 7's the radar is a little wonky, works most of the time though. its biggest strength is learning carrier ops and it's incredible flight model, i've really enjoyed it but i am left wishing we had some of it's special weapons.

[@GoodGuysGaming]

RedKite thank you very much for the detailed answer, as always. If one was interested in an English language cockpit as a step up from the F-15 it seems there are not many options? I like the Mirage but don't want to have to deal with language issues while also learning advanced avionics.

[@RedKiteRender]

Depends what you're after, For modern air combat your only full fidelity modules are the mirage and Hornet, unless you want to go back to the 60s-70s in which case the f-5 or mig-21. The language barrier isnt a major issue in the mirage, you can get English cockpits if you need it, but i've found it okay even in french. For ground attack i highly recommend the A-10c or Harrier. The hornet will evolve into a do anything aircraft as it develops so that's worth noting it'l become a good anti-ship, sead and ground attack aircraft as well as being decent at air to air when it's more complete. Theres also the tomcat, but that's months away from release i suspect.

[@GoodGuysGaming]

RedKite thanks for all the help and advice. I have worked my way through the AV8 and FA18 tutorials, now looking at the F15 as I figure I should master this before trying another.

[@childs4sale336]

Finally my stupid ass friend can fight as well, thanks so much man!

[@giuseppeloggia6412]

Hi RedKite, I think so instructive your tutorial. For example never thought to apply brakes in take off or the trick with the "stop wheel". But I'm not able to use weapons. I Watched three times the way you di but if I apply the button to select weapons, swith master arm on nothing happen on my hud... I can't believe. Even shot guns...

[@RedKiteRender]

00:10 you're probably not putting the hud into a/g master mode

[@giuseppeloggia6412]

I'll check it. But it looks funny. A/g mode for a/a function? nice...

[@RedKiteRender]

You didn't specify you want to use a/a weapons, air to air weapons are not selected on the armament panel. and mentioning the hud not changing when selecting weapons (only possible with the armament control panel, not the dogfight switch) so i assumed you meant a/g. a/a are enabled via the dogfight switch located on the thumb position of the stick as shown 04:00

[@giuseppeloggia6412]

Now everything is clear. Never heard about Thumb switch. And yes, I was talking about the use of sidewinders...

[@Tridan24]

Awesome tutorials bud much appreciated n keep em coming. Just a quick question, how do you setup your target ranges and the bullseye target that you fired guns at. Just new to this and haven't figured it out yet so could you please... thx you.

[@RedKiteRender]

They're part of a mod listed in the description.

[@Tridan24]

Oh ok thx heaps

[@SnowTiger45]

What is the optimum dive angle for rockets (FFAR and Zuni) ? It appears you were diving at 30 degrees nose down angle. Is it any more or less accurate at 20 degrees dive ? PS> Is that a Weapons Training Mission that is available for download anywhere ? OR is it a MOD that must be installed and incorporated into a custom mission ? Thanks in Advance.

[@RedKiteRender]

The steeper your dive the less dispersion you'l see, anywhere from 15 to 30 degrees is typical. The practice mission is in the description, it should work fine with the current version of DCS, it does not need any mods, it's on the free Caucasus map.

[@tygermx8931]

Great vid man! Do you have the training mission for DCS 2.2.0? Great layout for the strafe pits and bombing circles.

[@RedKiteRender]

The pits/targets are a mod, rather than part of the base game ( link in description) since its pretty scatted who owns what map i opted for just doing 1.5.8 since everyone has access to that. Il update it to the new version of the caucuses when it releases in 2.5

[@ghostdiv7sion194]

Cant seem to fire Zunis to fire individually, only 4 at a time from the same pod. I have the same settings on MULT and QTY. Help, anyone?

[@lucaswoods1155]

If they Added the BVR capability to the Harrier it would probably be my favorite plane until the Hornet is complete

[@welsh2266]

Hi Red, could you do an update of carrier ops please mate? Including how the harrier would operate in real life. I mean if the carrier is based about 100miles from the shore and the harrier is heavy with weapons what is a typical sortie? How does it land on the ship in bad weather and so on? What about an insight into the new rolling landings that the UK is doing now?

[@RedKiteRender]

I recommend 104th Maverick's harrier carrier landing for the real world procedure, its pretty much a case 1 like the hornet. As for payloads, generally the aircraft take off with reduced fuel loads or empty external tanks which they will go direct to a tanker and fill up 10 mins after take off. Allowing you to carry more weapons and reduce engine wear when flying off the boat, not uncommon to refuel again before going back home either on long ops. Even catapult launched aircraft often do the same, gives everyone a greater safety margin. The rolling landings the Royal navy are doing with f-35's are nothing new, harriers have always done the same rolling landings, just only on runways. Since HMS Queen Elizabeth is fairly large and the f-35 has an advanced flight control system its pretty safe to perform rolling landings on an open deck, i'm sure there will be instances of vertical landings if things get busy, but the rolling landing again reduces aircraft wear and allows it to land at heavier weights vs doing a vertical landing.

[@ATP-Flo]

Can you fire any weapons when hovering?

[@will9357]

Late to the party, but, No.

[@giuseppeloggia6412]

i TRYED ALL THE BUTTONS IN MASTER ARM CONTROL PANEL BUT I CAN'T USE THE A/A MODE. DO I MUST USE A BUTTON ON THE KEYBOARD? SOMEBODY TOLD ME IS THE "D" BUTTON. IS IT CORRECT? BUT EVEN IF HOW CAN I CHANGE FROM CCIP TO AUTO OR WHATELSE?

[@RedKiteRender]

04:00 dogfight switch. ccip/auto is covered in the bombing tutorial

[@giuseppeloggia6412]

Dogfight switch? Is the multifunction instrument in the central downunder cockpit forward the stick?

[@MartianV2GG]

How do i fire

[@cutlass6332]

Is this mission available online, looks great for practising?

[@RedKiteRender]

This map contains a mod for the strafe pit and targets, linked in description. because of this i've opted not to share this specific mission, i've made a training mission for 1.5.8 which is also in the description.

[@keepwalking6041]

i dont get it, for me it wont fire the gun, ..i get the reticule, i get ag mode, i get master arm on..shit happens, cant fire.. wtf.. i do get to fire in air-upward trajectory..what?

[@RedKiteRender]

The gun pod requires sufficient engine gas exhaust to fire. You need to add some throttle. This was implemented a good year or so after the video was made.

[@keepwalking6041]

@@RedKiteRender did somehing happen with bomb explosion visuals.. to me they all go dude? do i need to do somewthing with fuse? there is literally no explosion visible whatsoever..omg

[@bluedragon807]

Roughly, what kind of system are you running?

[@RedKiteRender]

kzbin.infoabout

[@uscstaylor]

Can you do a tutorial on carrier landing.please with explaining the process

[@RedKiteRender]

My next video will be on Tarawa carrier operations :)

[@Lokapix]

Hey, in case you haven't already, can you please post your settings in DCS 2.1?

[@RedKiteRender]

I'm running Textures high, water high, visb med, heat high, shadows med, msaa2x, dof off, deferred shading on, gamma 1.6, anis filter 4x, terrain obj shadows flat and cockpit global illumination on.

[@Lokapix]

Thanks for your answer! Appreciate it. Those settings are working great on my system!

[@Sneo92]

Hey man, love these tutorials, I've used almost all of yours to help me out with the Harrier so far! I have a problem with the Rockets and guns though, and I can't for the love of me find out what I'm doing wrong! Whenever I select the rockets or guns I get the pipper up, but the solid range tape isn't there. I check my master mode, check it's in CCIP and armed and everyhing but I can't make it pop up. Any idea what might be wrong, maybe there's something that should be on that I'm forgetting? I'd appreciate any help!

[@RedKiteRender]

You're missing just the range tape? Never had that, is your dmt powered up?

[@Sneo92]

I've been doing some more testing, and it sometimes pos up in mission with hot starts. It could be the DMT, that's the switch on the center console, behind the stick right? I think I might have forgotten that on some startups, but at times the tape would be gone for pre-started missions as well.

[@thebrain7441]

Am I really going to be stupid and buy another DCS trash plane?!

[@thebrain7441]

Probably