DCS F-4E Sparrow Quick Tutorial

The DCS F-4E Phantom by Heatblur is a faithful recreation of an iconic fighter jet. That's both a good and bad thing. Good because it's accurate but bad because some of the real life procedures are confusing.
One of those procedures is the use of the AIM-7 Sparrow. In this video I'll try to make that process a little easier for you.
Obligatory disclaimers:
The presence of DOD Visual Information in this video does not constitute endorsement by the DOD or any of its departments. Any views expressed by the presenter are those of the presenter and do not represent the views of the DOD or any of its components.

[@PhantomSh1967]

Hello, unfortunately, there are no good educational videos about this Module on KZbin , but your video is simple, informative and useful. I hope you will post an educational video like this about Phantom as soon as possible, thank you.

[@lunai0076]

Sir you take out the words of my fingers.

[@Mageer82]

Great video! I had no idea about the boresight mode scan ranges. You can double tap the jester context button to go back to normal scan from boresight instead of selecting "B" from the weapons selector knob. I find that easier. Cheers!

[@matswane]

Finally! A short and concise video about this. Thank you sir!

[@ReflectedSimulations]

Very informative and helpful video, thanks for posting it! Just one side note: when in cage, there is another way to lock targets ahead of you other than the NWS/CAA mode. If you press the Jester context action button once, Jester will try to lock whatever target he can find within the boresight line where the radar is focused. Less time wasted on automatic radar sweeps, but it depends more on whether or not Jester is having a bad hair day :)

[@TheOpsCenterByMikeSolyom]

Yeah, I really like the context action button for things like that. It was a good move by Heatblur to add it.

[@Baerinho]

that was a godo one, nice and very informative video. You can also go back from cage via double jester context click, saves turning the knob

[@JiveDilletante]

I really enjoy your clarity on brevity here. Really helpful video, thanks.

[@kilerbeez]

My man you are getting a subscribe for explaining the pinky switch behaviour after popping CAA, Great video

[@Cessna152ful]

this was a fantastic tutorial for the F4! Thanks a bunch! you've done so much more with this than some of the longer form tutorials

[@74GreyCat]

Great channel! Now I understand everything about the pinky switch on the F-4! Thank you very much!

[@alanf3814]

Thanks for making this video as I was so confused about Sparrow employment on the Phantom and your video has explained it to me. Hopefully you will be making other videos on the Phantom as your style of video is excellent 👍

[@kojakgaming3519]

Great video and delivery! Really appreciate the professional system walkthrough: This is what it does. This is how you use it. Spot On.

[@AdmiralQuality]

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! FINALLY someone who knows how to present his thoughts concisely and clearly! You cleared up so much mud here!

[@TheFlowersOfNaivety]

Wow! The nuances of the weapon system are fascinating. I had no clue the HUD/Pinky modes changed the aspect of the radar lock-on ability in CAA. I will give this a try today! Thank you so much! Wow. It worked beautifully.

[@XCougar85X]

Thanks for the viceo. Btw you can also exit CAA by clicking the Jester button twice iirc.

[@RicheUK]

One of the best tutorials so far, clear and precise Please....more. New Subscriber because of this :)

[@WilliamBrothers]

Thanks. This is a perfect explanation as a visual and demonstration

[@S3NTRY]

Great video, thanks Mike! I'll be revisiting this when I hit the F4.

[@richskinns]

You nailed this many thanks indeed. I really didn't get the pinky switch acting as a radar scan option in CAA mode- so thanks for clearing that up cheers

[@30K_ACTUAL]

Excellent tutorial on how to use the CAA mode, thank you!

[@airline3hum]

SO easy to understand and nice and concise. Thank you and keep these videos coming!

[@joespeed1952]

Simple and easy to understand with the graphics and voiceover. Subscribed!

[@Spooky_32]

Thank you for creating this guide. You clearly explained everything and even mentioned some extra useful things to consider when using CAA mode. Cheers 🍻

[@nateweter4012]

Wow. I have struggled so much with the sparrow on this bird, specifically with the WVR/CAA mode. It’s been very frustrating. This video does a great job with the ‘just, tell me what I need to do’ style of tutorials. I love it. I was resorting to button mashing, cage, context, pinky, etc. Jester would say “Lock” but only at certain times would the range indicator and “shoot” signs illuminate and it was…chaos. Thanks again!

[@yappydawg8985]

Very well done. Thanks. There truly is some weirdness in the system.

[@dogsbd]

That clears up some issues I was having, thanks.

[@JNelson_]

You can also exit CAA with the CAGE button, provided the pinky is not in Guns. As you say very confusing.

[@PhantomSh1967]

Thanks 👍👍👍👍👍

[@sp00f64]

I have like 100% hit rate w heaters at longer ranges and like 5% hit rate for the sparrows at shorter ranges! ;-) Trying it again after seeing this. More often than not, ya really do miss some little thing that makes the difference. Thanks for the tips!

[@TheOpsCenterByMikeSolyom]

My experience has been exactly the same. Sidewinders are way more reliable in the Phantom. In Real Life the Sparrows of this era were designed for intercepting big bombers. This seems to be reflected in DCS where they are much more reliable against larger targets. It wasn't until much later that their performance against fighter sized targets improved.

[@thunderace4588]

Thank you Mike.

[@The_Original_Truebrit]

Excellent tutorial, subbed.

[@JuanRamirez-gr1jc]

Very helpful. Thank you.

[@nathanielvirgil328]

Great video, what a help this video is.

[@billdewahl7007]

Excellent video. Can you make one on the Shrike perchance? I'm having so much trouble with it in direct.

[@xdiver01]

It was helpful, thanks for the video. 👍

[@christophermcsherry2655]

This how a tutorial should be.

[@Ares200A]

Short and snappy, but imho not comprehensive enough for Aim7 employment, sry. Not saying im a pro at this! But i would at least have mentioned: - AA sight when radar locked in "BVR" with missile selected (ranges: 20k ft top, 12k ft right, 3k ft bottom) - AA sight in ACM -> CAA (locked or no lock) - ACM = radar boresight, 5nm, short pulse, high G, lock only inside +45°up and -9° down from horizontal line - Aim7 missile performance differents (see table from HB) And maybe even a short look on tactics for employment bc "head-on" often leads to misses -> Intercepts (see kneebord pages). But yeah that might be more of a topic for a seperate video 😅 No criticism, only my opinion 🤗

[@ignaciobuhadla9342]

Amazing sr ! thx !

[@Ravn_Wingman52]

Did the GUN/HEAT/RADAR ranges selection work like this in the real Phantoms or is this a DCS workaround? It seems very confusing

[@geonerd]

Excellent! :)

[@dang6369]

3:56 Dude THANK YOU!! I've been wondering why I couldn't launch my final 2 sparrows on the chin!! Lol rookie error. You get a like and a subscribe sir!

[@slickbomb]

Great video! Subbed !!!!

[@GabryelHdPerformance]

Thanks really usefull!

[@valuedhumanoid6574]

I have found that the procedures are pretty straight forward, but the missiles themselves just suck! lol Even when I "cheat" and use the -7M models, they don't perform much better. And sometimes Jester is just pissy and will not lock shit. But as bad as BVR combat is, dropping bombs is even harder. I appreciate CCRP and CCIP now more than ever! And the Paveways seem like I have a cheat code activated on the Viper. lol But, that's the fun I suppose. It's what makes the F-5 Tiger II so challenging. Almost like a jet powered warbird. And yes, using the Sparrow almost like a Super Sidewinder. Get withing 3-4 miles and let 'er rip. Much better PK. Overall is still a fabulous plane to fly and I learn something every time I go up

[@flyincosmo9356]

🤍

[@oscarmike3028]

Great video I have scored 300+ kills on ECW within a week using your tutorial.

[@oscarmike3028]

Jking. I have had a few

[@tomf5450]

My man, you need to do all the training videos for all DCS aircraft. Great video... most informative!