DCS F-14 TOMCAT for DUMMIES Chapter 2: Shore and Carrier Taxi, Takeoff, & Landing Procedure

[@valuedhumanoid6574]

I was ships company for 4 years on the USS Theodore Roosevelt from 1986 when she was commissioned to 1990 and got out right before Desert Storm began. I spent a lot of time on the flight deck as an Aviation Ordnanceman (red shirt) and we had the B versions of the Tomcats. In my 4 years I have NEVER seen a Tom with 4 AIM-54C's. The only time you would see a Tomcat with 4 Phoenix's is if we were in a shooting war, DEFCON 1 and Backfires/Bears were known to be on the way. The standard, and most common loadout was 2 Phoenix, 3 Sparrow and 2 Side winders. Working as a Mag Rat (G3 Division, Weapons) we had to breakout the missiles from their shipping containers, assemble them, place them on their specialized carrier trucks and track their movements via serial numbers. So we had precise numbers of what was out and circulating. Once a missile had reached 10 sorties, we would bring it back down to the magazine it came from and inspect them. As Quality Assurance every missile had my signature on it with a grease pencil and I would get called to the bomb farm (the area behind the island where they stored ordnance) for a repair. Occasionally a control fin would get damaged, the arming wires on a bomb rack would get fouled, etc. and I would make the repair or take it out of service. Big responsibility. Right next to the bomb farm was a wide chute for getting rid of a hot weapon. I don't ever remember it getting used, but I always kept a clear path to it. lol

[@u4ia_fubar_75]

The deck crews of the US aircraft carriers work just like a Swiss watch🤟

[@Thurisazz1]

Instructions perfectly clear. Still crashed into side of carrier.

[@PrezDCS]

Smae

[@RYVENANT]

For real, I have done nothing today except repeat carrier landing attempts over and over, still can't do it as smooth. He made it look so easy lol

[@ml1754]

Man the carrier landing sequence is blah....800 then 600 on the downwind...Abeam with the gear start the turn roll out just to the right of the wake on speed on aoa...3.5 degree glide slope 600 ish fpm decent. Try it at altitude...nose controls airspeed power controls rate of descent...better late than never plenty of better videos.

[@149096]

What a perfect way to eplain/cover every single thing... THANK YOU!

[@Scott11078]

Short story on the ALCS system. I was an engineer on the Kitty Hawk from 1999-2002, VF-154 was our Tomcat Squadron. I was the number 1 attack team leader for the ships Flying Squad and was the lowest ranking person by a huge margin and the most accessible person who could sign off on your firefighting and damage control quals. So I had made several friends all throughout the ship. When I started my AirWarfare badge some friends that worked in CATCC said to let them know as soon as I had an evening free. Basically it was hey next time you're free after working hours and your watch rotation is either early morning or late at night. They knew I was someone whose job put them in a very unique position. I was always interested in the military and loved aviation I'll say this now do not try and wrap your head around why I didn't pick an aviation rating and instead chose a rate whose department put them at the polar opposite of aircraft, it will just drive you insane.. Between being an HT a rate that actually requires you to be able to hold a secret clearance level. And my stated job in the Flying Squad I could go anywhere I wanted on the ship provided the excuse was good enough. So for people wondering what's the best rate is that would allow them to fully embellish their military curiosity Hull Technician AND holding a critical flying squad position is tough to beat. And on the whole secret clearance thing there's like two levels of secret, light and regular and we held the light clearance. So back to ALCS they wanted to pay me back for all the hookups I had done and knew I would enjoy learning what it was they did and get to do some work myself. It was them that suggested I might as well use my curiosity to it's full advantage and start working on both my warfare pins. Okay this paragraph is the ALCS story I promise. So after an hour or so watching them do their thing they start cycling me through the different stations. Then she asks wants to land a Tomcat?? Ummm how would I be doing that?? Then they explained it all and I watched her fulfill various roles in getting the aircraft on deck. Apparently Tomcats were randomly chosen to be landed. You could hear in their voice it wasn't an experience they enjoyed and sometimes you'd hear from the RIO something along the lines of "OH REALLY, YOU DON'T LIKE THE FEELING OF BEING IN AN AIRCRAFT YOU HAVE NO CONTROL OVER.. . HMMM NOW LET ME THINK WHAT OTHER PROFESSION GETS THE SAME FEELING HMM OH YEAH IT STARTS WITH AN R AND ENDS WITH AN O...." So halfway through the cruise they all know each other's voices so when the lucky Tomcat they chose for me hears my voice they are a bit suspicious.... umm your voice is unfamiliar did you just get here?? Negative.. a few moments of silence I call out whatever it was I was supposed to then hey wait you do sound familiar.... Dude wait are you the firedude that did the mass PQS signing in our ready room last week??? Yup that's me, signed off some stuff in here they wanted to go smoke and asked me to fill in. Whaaaaat...... wait whaaaat? Noooooo, no,no,noooo, and you could hear nervous laughter from the RIO like he couldn't tell if I was messing with him or not. That was about when she decided I had enough fun messing with someone entering final approach so she comes on the air says no we're all right here, he hasn't crashed anyone yet... That ended up being a fun four hours and the system in CATCC atleast is pretty simple. Another fyi for folks that didn't know the operators in the Hawkeyes could also take control of not just one but lots of F-14's at the same time. They apparently got there kicks setting 2 Tomcats up to make full speed head on passes at eachother....

[@USN308]

I got ya beat on that access everywhere bit; I was an IC. ("Fresh Air Snipe") Never climbed so many ladders in one day ever in my life! (USS Oriskany CVA-34)

[@Scott11078]

@Franz Miller Yeah all 3 rates in my division plus you guys and I think EM rounds out the Freash Air snipes. Poor hole snipes had to wear a welders hood if they wanted to go smoke since they seemingly lost all ability to handle the sun..

[@Scott11078]

@Franz Miller Also I loved going up to the top of the island to watch flight ops. There was something I didn't give a lot of thought too, I really should have but didn't. I was the number one attack team leader for the Flying Squad. One day "Fire, Fire, Fire!! Class ........... Flying Squad equip out of repair 4." The top of the island is pretty far up, repair 4 was second deck. "Shit, it's gonna be a long run down.." I think it's a safe bet that a Kitty Hawk class ship is just a tad larger than an Essex class..

[@radarcontact1974]

This is the type of content I like to see: informative, well planned, clear and concise! Great job!

[@Bushwookie_18]

Enjoying these vids! BRC is the ships heading, so the landing strip is 10° offset left. They give you BRC when contacting tower so you can enter the stack inline with carrier any any other planes coming in, since they don’t want people coming into the stack at odd angles.

[@BamaArcher]

I am working my way through the F-14 videos and find them very helpful. Thank you for taking the time to make them.

[@nicksmith2361]

I know these are old videos but just started to learn the Tomcat again, these are a great source to refer to, thanks for the Dummies series Prez.

[@cwhitty05]

There is a carrier/field switch on the right hand side to tell the jet you’re landing on a runway vs carrier. It doesn’t do much, but that’s the reason your on-speed indicator to the right of the HUD was flashing. It was trying to tell you to drop your tailhook because it thought you were landing on a carrier.

[@hotelroyal334]

Your videos are so helpful a true gift to the noob 🎁

[@cwooddcsmedia7528]

Nice tutorials! I'm trying to wrap my head around the Tomcat and discovered your content. Excellent job! Small correction I might suggest, you mention the BRC is the heading of the landing strip, when actually the Base Recovery Course is the direction the ship is traveling. Keep up the awesome work!

[@PrezDCS]

Yeah, I know now that I made a few mistakes with the first couple vids on my tutorial series. I wasn't all too familier with procedure, but now I'm pretty well studied on real procedure at this point. I would like to maybe remake them, but at this point I don't believe it's worth the trouble. Thank you tho!

[@jmak40gang]

@@PrezDCS as someone who is learning the tomcat a little late it seems that theres not nearly the same amount of tutproa;/training type content

[@dboy4794]

dude this guys explain stuff better then my teacher

[@MYNYDD-MOTO]

Awesome video, very very well explained, I’ve been struggling with landing the f14 recently especially on the carrier, I now have a much better understanding of specially on how to use the dlc properly, very helpful video 👍👍

[@joelmulder]

One thing to note, the no afterburner on takeoff only applies to the F-14B. The F-14A had significantly less powerful engines, and would take off with full afterburner both from land and sea. Fun fact: the F-14B’s afterburner was so powerful it wasn’t just a hazard if it failed asymmetrically (made even more dangerous the engine’s large lateral offset), but it also damaged the runway surface!

[@PrezDCS]

The F-14A hadn’t come out yet when I made the tutorial so I just didn’t make any comments on it. Also, didn’t know it would damage the surface that’s pretty cool lol

[@justinb3882]

That carrier approach and landing was completely outside of limits. 350kts 800ft at initial. Level break turn. 600ft on speed on downwind. And you didn’t fly ball.

[@PrezDCS]

Yeah, I know it definitely sucked back then. I fly the numbers now, so I'm a lot better at it. But my excuse will be that I'm a dedicated RIO now so I don't have to trap!

[@MajorMorrozov]

@@PrezDCS Perhaps a redo of this video then? I winced irl as you came in. i seriously thought your gear was removed from the airframe by the back of the boat. You do know most of your systems and very helpful tutorials.(everyone has good and bad days too). but be nice to have tutorials as an example of a to do situation not a not to do situation.

[@PrezDCS]

@@MajorMorrozov I might make a redo. I was thinking about it because I do think these early vids were kind of embarrassing. I've got a friend who is probably the smoothest tomcat pilot in DCS I've ever seen. Lands it like a dream, and I was gonna ask him to help me with this if I planned to do it.

[@MajorMorrozov]

I tend to watch everyones videos on these. My buddies/thier friends ect pay me. (more of a buy snacks drinks ect lol) to train them on the tomcat and hornet. I dont know nearly everything and iv only been in the rio seat twice. so i cant really help them there but for systems basic tactcs statistics ect i set that all up. i try to do it the way the navy does including op four. Like in the zone 5 campaign. sometimes you have intel others you dont. including the wingtip/lead trail fights on situations. so i watch as many of these tutorials as possible. combined with declassified technical manuals pilots manuals training films ect i share with all of them to help us all get better at the same time. i took guys from not even knowing what a flap is to being compitent wingmen and a couple flight leads.

[@MajorMorrozov]

@@PrezDCS Since i realized i didnt make my main point. A redo on this video would be nice as i have shown it to a few of them more than once and idk how many times iv seen it)

[@PhoenixsRealm]

If you cannot get your wings into auto mode and is stuck in "emergency" then press the reset button under the landing gear.

[@madmanjester2533]

Great videos man, I've only had 1 issue where I set my wing sweep to auto but they don't move when at higher speeds or anything and kind of looks like flaps are active but I have the flaps up 🤔

[@PrezDCS]

The flaps on the Heatblur Tomcat jam extremely easily these days. I assume they are jamming after a carrier launch? The catapult can jam your flaps if you aren't paying attention to your airspeed. Otherwise, I'm not sure what exactly could cause the issue other than accidental flap activation while cruising, but they shouldn't come down without the wings being fully swept out

[@burtpilon1735]

Dude I’m in right off the bat 2 seconds in the video ... bam sub!

[@burtpilon1735]

Do you offer any tomcat bfm training?

[@TheSpaseDestroyeR]

Same with the sub dude

[@PeterPan-zc2hx]

this is the best tutorial for landing great detail well done

[@TheSeraphim4]

Such good content! How do only have 1.4k subs? It should be in the tens of thousand

[@geoffreywallington2930]

No burner requirement is NATOPS due to assymetric thrust problem if loss of an engine on take-off

[@PrezDCS]

I know, that's not a modeled problem in DCS tho

[@atomgaming1413]

the last landing was amazing LMAO XDDDD

[@TheSpaseDestroyeR]

Awesome tutorials!

[@atomgaming1413]

nice information thanks alot

[@chadvader974]

Awesome. Have you done a vide on ILS I dont know how to get that tuned to Batumi to get glideslope etc

[@PrezDCS]

The Tomcat doesn't have ILS capabilities. Only ICLS for carrier landings. If you want to land the F-14 in bad weather on a shorefield, I suggest pulling out some IFR charts

[@ziggelito]

good stuff homie. i find these videos very clear and calm, you thinking about making videos for other dcs aircraft?

[@PrezDCS]

Maybe when the strike eagle comes out. I'm not really too passionate about teaching the aircraft's themselves as I am teaching people how to use them

[@ziggelito]

@@PrezDCS thats what i meant, making for dummies tutorials for the other high fidelity aircraft like f16 or f18

[@PrezDCS]

@@ziggelito Maybe for the 16. I don't personally like the 18.

[@fire_phrog]

Can you make a video about re arming and refueling the tomcat on the ground? I can’t seem to figure out how or where to do it

[@PrezDCS]

It's simple. Either you press the keybind: left alt + apostrophe, or you use backslash to access the comms menu then go to ground crew and select rearm & refuel

[@fire_phrog]

@@PrezDCS can you do it on a runway? I figured it out on a carrier but can’t refuel on a runway. Also, thanks for the carrier landing tips! I’m finally comfortable doing those now

[@PrezDCS]

@@fire_phrog You should be able to do it on a runway. Idk why you wouldn't be able to. You just need to open the menu for the R&R

[@AntonHDMI]

6:03 how do you see the speed?

[@PrezDCS]

The air speed gauge the the big one on the top left of the front panel

[@Gabriel.Vitalariu]

Hello! I don have the option instant action carrier taxi or take off! How can i do that?

[@noahsvensson902]

What do you use? VR or some tracker?

[@PrezDCS]

@@noahsvensson902 Delan Clip, alternative to trackIR

[@u4ia_fubar_75]

I just saw a post on Facebook about F-14 D, it said that the aircraft could takeoff and land the same way the harrier jump jet can. Is that true?

[@PrezDCS]

That is not true at all.

[@vladimirlenin2582]

Not sure if I am going to get a response but I cant seem to figure out the auto throttle. Can it be used without using the full ACLS? Does the Rio need to configure something??

[@PrezDCS]

Auto throttle works without any connection to anything. The way it works is it will attempt to apply power such that you maintain on-speed AoA. Your throttle needs to be set somewhere between 75-90% RPM for it to engage. It won't engage otherwise. Also, the auto throttle is extremely finicky overall, but can work. You would never use it though outside of Case III situations.

[@vladimirlenin2582]

@@PrezDCS Thank you!! You earned a sub!!!

[@ShreddingFinn]

soo...why is AB takeoff banned in the B? why only the B?

[@PrezDCS]

@@ShreddingFinn you can do an AB takeoff in DCS. The issue is in real life, the engines controls were mechanical and so were more prone to igniting out of sync with each other or failing to light at all which led to dangerous adverse yaw. Iran lost an F-14 to this exact issue a few years ago.

[@firatutku38]

f14 landings to runway Both Or Spoiler?

[@PrezDCS]

Both

[@schweizerluchs7146]

you got inspiriert by ralfidude?

[@PrezDCS]

Yeah kinda. I just met so many people who didnt know how to fly the tomcat that I wanted to make it easy for everyone.

[@osamapurvakruv4236]

HOW DO YOU PULL YOUR GEAR UP

[@PrezDCS]

The gear handle. Or G on the keyboard or whatever it is in the binds

[@osamapurvakruv4236]

​@@PrezDCS Ty I was doing a training mission and for some reason the gear just didn't go up turns out it could have been a glitch since after restarting the mission the gear lever and G keybind worked fine XD(took around 2 hours of life)

[@-_Nuke_-]

​@@osamapurvakruv4236Important, if you use the mouse button to raise the landing gear, use the left mouse button, not the right one because that's for emergencies

[@Dan-qp1el]

Why no burner on takeoff? why is that a no-no?

[@PrezDCS]

This is mostly a thing for the F-14B because back in the day, the engine controls were completely mechanical and so with multiple engines you can have a problem where one kicks up faster than the other inducing an averse yaw effect. Very dangerous on carriers and even airfields that can and have caused losses of aircraft. The Iranians lost an F-14A not too long ago to this exact problem.

[@Spirit986]

16:00 that's one crappy landing

[@PrezDCS]

Real.

[@nightwolf7194]

I think it was fine. Just high approach is all

[@adex2087]

nah bruh, that aint a carrier landing, idk how u managed to don't crash, u were way low

[@PrezDCS]

Pure skill bro, but yeah I was a complete noob at carrier stuff when I made these way back when lol

[@adex2087]

@@PrezDCS if u can walk away from it, it's a good landing! ahaha, btw great series i like in particular the chapter where u explain the radar, would u continue the tutorial series on the f14 by any chance?

[@PrezDCS]

@@adex2087 I've been meaning to for a long time. Been sitting on the script for the next chapter for a while. It's a new year, and I want to really put a lot of effort in making more videos for the channel since it has become more successful then I could've imagined.

[@adex2087]

@@PrezDCS oh good, good luck with it then! Hope to see the next chapter soon

[@pizzaparty-r1c]

Why you skip the controls? How did do flaps, wing sweep, landing gear, etc. Where is the DLC switch in the cockpit? This was a shite tutorial.

[@PrezDCS]

The wing sweep is covered in Ch1 of the series, DLC is covered at 7:38 in the video it's on the joystick, and the simple things like gear and flaps I don't take the time to explain because I'm tying not to insult your intelligence by assuming you've never ever mapped a jet before or can't use the control search feature.