DCS F-4E Phantom II for DUMMIES Chapter 1: Pilot and WSO Cold Start Procedure

[@StingrayMK1987]

Finally someone who covers the WSO startup. Thank you :)

[@PrezDCS]

You’re very welcome

[@swedihgame]

Agreed

[@Сталкер-ь2х]

finally someone, who explains wso cold start properly so many people overlook wso/rio seat yet never understand how much backseater does for comfort flight

[@PrezDCS]

Absolutely true.

[@fean2712]

From us weird people who are more excited about WSO than pilot, thank you. You're only the second person who I've seen even touch WSO cold-start, and the other person did the full cold-start procedure, but then only covered the Mem HDG INS alignment. You even mentioned how to tell if Mem HDG is enabled on plane spawn. Which I'm sure nearly all servers will enable, but there is exactly 0 downside knowing how to do the full gyrocompass alignment.

[@PrezDCS]

You’re very welcome! While I personally haven’t put much time back there myself, even being a closer beta tester, most of my time in the Tomcat was as a RIO so I gotta show the WSO some love of course :)

[@Batmack]

I'm glad for you, but wanting to sit on the back that much, to me, sounds...unPhanthomable

[@PrezDCS]

@@Batmack Lol

[@MemphisBelle291]

hey there, that looks like you´re kicking off a Series of Tutorials? Thats great to see, keep them coming :)

[@PrezDCS]

That's the plan :)

[@thomaspalasciano146]

The GOAT returns with more tutorials!

[@PrezDCS]

More soon to follow :D

[@paulpark451]

This will be a go-to guide along with Chuck's guide. Thanks! Could you also cover the check lists (pilot and wso, pre-start, pre-taxi and pre-TO)?

[@PrezDCS]

You're welcome! Also, covering checklists isn't in the spirit of this series. The idea is to make things as simple as possible, so whatever checklists I do will be made-up by me for the simplest experience possible. If people want to cover the full, real checklists then those are always available in the manual.

[@rudelchw]

Hi, great tutorial ... in a concise way it covers a lot of options for the cold start, including the WSO and the INS alignment. To have the ground crew respond, you need to first connect the battery so that the Intercom has power, this is done via seting either Engine Master switch to ON, you can tell the battery is on because the landing gear, slats & flaps indicator will work (the barberpole is not present). After having the Battery connected, the Ground Crew will respond normally when you ask for the cartridges. Looking forward to your next tutorials, so you got a new subscriptor :) cheers!

[@PrezDCS]

Yeah, I found out that the engine master switches also function as the battery switches until after when I asked a few guys more knowledgeable on the F-4, and this was after I already made the video. And thank you for subscribing :D

[@Jakes_1-1]

This is brilliant...Almost time to put it into practice! Thank you!

[@georgetaylor8654]

Do you know what time it’s releasing?

[@Jakes_1-1]

​@@georgetaylor8654Patch should be available any minute now...and with it, the F4E

[@dcsheinlein]

This was great! Please make more!

[@PrezDCS]

Thanks! Will do o7

[@Scoobydcs]

this is great, its actually pretty simple to get going

[@PrezDCS]

Thank you!

[@vzfhv3c516]

Best start up vid yet, thx

[@PrezDCS]

Thank you! I was a little upset that everyone else was getting to post one before me :P

[@jamesrothwell8693]

How fast can you pump these out - Need more!

[@PrezDCS]

If I cut my sleep to 4 hours a night then maybe a video every 3 days or so :)

[@jamesrothwell8693]

@@PrezDCS 4 hours is a little excessive, you can perhaps get by with two 60 minute power naps.

[@PrezDCS]

@@jamesrothwell8693 Now that I think about it, you're so right. Maybe I could even cut it down to 26 minute pilot naps to larp and really save time

[@EvMstein]

*Hey man thank you so much!*

[@PrezDCS]

Always happy to help :)

[@Nsane211]

brilliant, thank you

[@PrezDCS]

You're welcome!

[@aerohubentertainment9552]

Awesomeness

[@PrezDCS]

:D

[@btaylo24]

Can you do essential joystick/throttle mappings?

[@PrezDCS]

Since you're the second person to ask, I just might do it. I just shy away from it because everyone has different setups and I say "bind this" someone will ask "why not that" or "I can't bind that" and it just becomes a hassle. I trust my community to figure out what binds work for them :)

[@btaylo24]

@@PrezDCS Hey, I think regardless of peoples config it would be interesting to see at a high level what mapping we need.

[@PrezDCS]

@@btaylo24 I'll start working on something then as a supplement to this series. Stay tuned!

[@brianmurphy9]

If you have a Warthog HOTAS profile set up, can you post it?? I for one am not very good at setting up profiles. 😆

[@Serene_Sky]

Спасибо

[@PrezDCS]

Пожалуйста!

[@Squawk26]

Wahoo!

[@YlmazDALKIRANscallion]

Thanks

[@PrezDCS]

You’re welcome :)

[@YlmazDALKIRANscallion]

@@PrezDCS You should active your KZbin Thank button. I couldn't send you KZbin Thank.

[@PrezDCS]

@@YlmazDALKIRANscallion I'm actually planning on activating channel memberships and all that in the very near future. For now, the sentiment means a lot to me. Thank you so much :D

[@YlmazDALKIRANscallion]

@@PrezDCS Your welcome buddy.

[@mateipopescu4338]

Alamo transition to F-4 when?

[@PrezDCS]

Tomorrow :P

[@SuperCheater7]

PREZ!?

[@PrezDCS]

YES????!!?

[@tridan2448]

This is the best startup tutorial I've seen so far. Clear with key commands and directions so for that reason we're gonna need you to cover "EVERYTHING" from here on... excellent work.

[@PrezDCS]

Thank you! Very happy with how it turned out. I’ll be sure to try and cover as much as possible in the coming weeks :D

[@timtappert1218]

For me as a former F-4F Maintenance crew chief with engine run license, it was a simple walk through. But.. Avionics... Omg 😂 This small cartridge start video was at pharewell event in Germany 2013. It was a mess with cartridges

[@ToiletBrush16]

was waiting for one of these because I can confirm I am a dummy. Thanks mate good bloody work.

[@PrezDCS]

Thank you, and you're very welcome :D

[@Machinegun417]

Best startup video. I like the plan and simple. The visual added also help. Waiting for the next one.

[@PrezDCS]

Thank you, and more are on the way :)

[@joespeed1952]

Phantom Phlyers, don’t forget to cycle the right generator after engine start before alignment!

[@kannagi5070]

Very straightfoward and good details on INS alingment. Thanks!

[@PrezDCS]

You’re very welcome :)

[@petergengePTRproductions]

Great video. What’s the keybinding for the throttle detent as I can only find one which moves the throttle fully forward and I have only a single throttle so I have mapped the throttle levers to that but doesn’t do anything

[@PrezDCS]

You can just click on the flat part at the bottom of the throttle handle to detent each one. That’s what I typically did until I discovered my actually off detent on my TM Warthog worked to operate them. I’m unsure if there’s a proper way to detent the throttles with a keybind like that

[@somecallmetim42]

Best start up tutorial so far, very clear and concise, keep up the good work :-)

[@PrezDCS]

Thank you, I’ll try :)

[@Taipan303]

Great stuff, always love a directional flow to start. I only have one complaint - I looked for your taxi, take off, and landing videos and they're not done yet. Get to work mate! 😂 Joking, I'm still binding all my hardware

[@PrezDCS]

Haha yea more videos are on the way, and thank you!

[@dogeycj6189]

Thanks for this video! Very informative. I have noticed that as the pilot, i cannot get jester to do a stored heading alignment after i have landed, shutdown, refueled and rearmed. Any ideas?

[@PrezDCS]

I recommend just not shutting down the jet. there may be an issue with jester context where he doesn't really know that the jet has been restarted. Either leave the jet on or just respawn. You can also just hop into the back seat to do the alignment yourself.

[@breaklight7223]

Really nicely done mate! Cant wait to learn this bird and your video style shure is going to help me Plz keep these videos coming! 💪🏻🤙🏻

[@PrezDCS]

Thank you, you're welcome, and there's more to come :D

[@Itistw_in1]

I don't know about you but WSO cold start from someone with the username "prez" reminds me of something

[@PrezDCS]

I have no idea what you mean :P

[@gregorpajdlhauser2850]

Very nice stuff, one question though: Is the Full alignment from the front seat the Gyrocompass alignment?

[@PrezDCS]

Thanks, and yes. "Full alignment" in the front seat is gyrocompass. It's a bit of a mouthful to say the actual name so "Full" is all you need :)

[@Glostermeteorf3]

Thank you for making going over the Wso seat for some reason no one else seems to be doing that. Only thing I saw you miss at start is once both generators are on you should cycle the right gen off then on again to extinguish the bus tie open light.

[@PrezDCS]

It's not necessary. That's more of a full check thing than something that's actually necessary. If it's bothersome you can always just hit the warning reset to fix it. I never noticed the light when doing the start up without cycling the power

[@vandesras]

F4 for Dummy tutorial finally!!!

[@PrezDCS]

Would’ve had it out sooner, but of course the jet just had to be delayed :)

[@Christian-vk2cb]

According to the tutorial mission, you are supposed to hold the ignition in until the EEG speds up. Just wondering.

[@PrezDCS]

Yeah, technically, you just hold it until you see the gauges kick on. I just stated 3 seconds b/c the engine should for sure kick on by then and it's a simple metric to follow.

[@NikolaDavidovic2006]

Really liked tutorial! I wish you could make more tutorials about navigation, ils landings….

[@PrezDCS]

The next chapter in the series will be on Taxi, takeoff and both visual and ILS landings. Navigation will most likely be the chapter right after that

[@suecobandito8954]

nice they modeled the vernier scales.

[@commanderstud2417]

How does one do this without having a split throttle.?? Edit: I figured it out. Needed to add a modifier for the left throttle under axis.

[@PrezDCS]

You can also just bind both to one axis, there’s an option for it in the axis commands. You don’t necessarily need split throttles to do the start up since the detent is clickable and it won’t move while in the detent, and it doesn’t matter if you push the already started engine forward since the wheel chocks will hold you in place. Not too big a deal.

[@sgtSkirata]

Thanks for this man. Really helped with a lot lof the things i was missing. Go Alamo!

[@PrezDCS]

You're welcome!!

[@kubanskiloewe]

i cant trimm this shit plane to level flight ! I always have to pull the stick forward a good amount....sucks !

[@PrezDCS]

You have to trim it out for the power setting. Because the F-4's engines are slightly pointed down it's not going to trim out super stable. You have to trim it out like the tomcat but not as often. You can get it extremely stable, I promise.

[@kubanskiloewe]

@@PrezDCS ? and how ?? i cann trim it fully nose down but than again the stick moves full right with a lot of force ! When looking in F2 you can see the elevators and how they move with the stick y axis. But trimming down they do not move a bit ! On the F14 they move and i can fly her stable.

[@PrezDCS]

@@kubanskiloewe Idk, double check that you even have your trim hat bound properly. I've never heard of anyone having this issue.

[@kubanskiloewe]

@@PrezDCS i have only my ordinary good old MS FFB2 stick which is in service since 15 years now ?! And it does the job in many games and also many DCS modules but there are a few which i cant center to levelflight; Spitfire (always goes nose up) Mossie (the same) and F4 (also the same). Others fly like a dream after a bit giving a trim. F14 is a bit like F4 with trimming yes but it works because when trimming the elevators move....not on F4 , yet !

[@PrezDCS]

@@kubanskiloewe I don't know anything about force feedback sticks. You'll have to mess around with the settings in your controls or the special options. I can't help you here.

[@icedstar]

If only I had a F4 to apply all this knowledge 😢

[@PrezDCS]

It’ll always be here when you do ;)

[@WaterComputer]

for some reason, I never get any missile/lock warnings from the RWR in this thing Ex: enemy f4 on the nose, locks me and shoots a sparrow and it never makes a sound other than the unknown contact constant beeping seems to do (I also never get Sam warnings) (that's how I know my sound is on 2 btw) is anyone else having this problem?

[@PrezDCS]

Feature, not a bug. The RWR is very old. It will tell you if you’re being shot at by radar guided weapons on the RWR control panel itself. Something I’ll cover in a video later.

[@WaterComputer]

@@PrezDCS well at least I know it’s not just me forgetting something now lol, thanks

[@Airsniper1]

FANTASTIC Vid!!!

[@maximumvibe9355]

good tutorial prez im assuming ur gonna release more of these

[@PrezDCS]

Yes, more will be coming within the next few days and weeks. Perfection takes time!

[@PhantomSh1967]

Hi, the video was very useful thank you.

[@PrezDCS]

You’re welcome!

[@VonHoffnung]

Keep em coming! Great stuff.

[@PrezDCS]

As you wish o7

[@tmac2797]

Thank ypu for the wso start up!! Back seat always gets neglected in startups

[@PrezDCS]

As per usual with these kinds of videos :) You're very welcome!

[@ultimatum1895]

Can the WSO put the alignment gyro pre-heat into standby before the engines are powered?

[@PrezDCS]

I tested that to be sure before making the tutorial, and no. The WSO cannot. The warmup process requires engine heat to apply heat to the gyroscopes.

[@ultimatum1895]

@@PrezDCS jeez. So, if I'm understanding this right, you are looking at nearly 12 minutes MINIMUM for a full gyro align?

[@PrezDCS]

@@ultimatum1895 well, if it’s really hot out it might take less time. If your pilot is spooling up one engine at a time you might be able to warmup with only one engine, but the real issue now is switching from external to internal power might kill the gyros. I’m not entirely sure but I believe this to be the case. That’s just how these things work. It’s old stuff, very esoteric technology lol

[@chadvader974]

I keep getting repeated long form adverts on your content....

[@PrezDCS]

Use adblock :)

[@chadvader974]

@@PrezDCS you tube detects im using adblock and wtfpwns me

[@joejoe2658]

lose the little segments with music and text. we aint got time fo that. otherwise a good video.

[@PrezDCS]

Lol duly noted

[@seapickles5762]

@@PrezDCS I like them, for what it's worth.

[@PrezDCS]

@@seapickles5762And you're a hero for that :)

[@th4realkrong479]

More of that please! 🙂

[@PrezDCS]

I'm on it o7

[@mayykara]

f-4e startup %any

[@PrezDCS]

Real xD

[@dienkhungtung]

Dumb question, would you mind do recommended key binding?

[@PrezDCS]

Frankly, I can’t do that. At least not a dedicated video b/c everyone’s setup is gonna be different. My personal recommendation to get started is to just go into the manual, look at the controls (stick and throttle) and bind everything on them. Once that’s done, then bind anything not on the in-jet HOTAS to whatever you want and is convenient. That’s how I do things. Also be sure to try and bind things as similarly across jets as possible to make sure you’re not fumbling all the time :)

[@dienkhungtung]

@@PrezDCS Yea, sorry for the request. Thank you. a side question, does flying this, absolutely needed rudder and trackir?

[@PrezDCS]

@@dienkhungtung No need to apologize, man. It’s all good. As for whether you need rudder and trackIR, no. Jets don’t need rudder inputs to fly really since there’s no torque like a prop. You only really need rudder for things like dogfighting or crosswind landings. I recommend getting some form of head tracking tho. There’s many options out there that are much cheaper than TrackIR. I use a DeLan clip myself which is basically a DIY TrackIR made by a small company. It’s not totally necessary, but it will enhance your experience :)

[@dienkhungtung]

@@PrezDCS Ah thank you for the reply

[@YshaHarpy]

Thanks for making a simple but comprehensive guide for Cold Start on WSO seat, had a really rough try yesterday, you video will save me a lot of learning time !

[@PrezDCS]

You're very welcome :D

[@josefwitt9772]

Good tutorial!

[@PrezDCS]

Thanks!

[@MnemonicFliesDCS]

This is great, short but to the point and covering all the necessary stuff, thank you!

[@PrezDCS]

You’re very welcome! Thank you for the feedback :)

[@Matt-tf1wz]

Question: Are you playing in VR? I only ask because when I play in VR, I only get half of the jester menu. I submitted the bug to DCS, so we'll see what happens.

[@PrezDCS]

I’ve never played DCS in VR. Hopefully they fix that soon

[@Matt-tf1wz]

Yeah me to because as of right now my f4 is grounded.

[@PrezDCS]

@@Matt-tf1wz I’ll ask the devs about it and see if we can’t get that fix done sooner

[@PrezDCS]

@@Matt-tf1wz here’s a possible fix for now: “For those of you having issues with the cutoff HBUI in VR: It is an issue with the DCS VR implementation and an unfortunate combination of graphic settings. You can fix it either by selecting "use dcs internal resolution" in your VR settings or using our special options if u dont want to do that.”

[@Matt-tf1wz]

Thanks ill have ti try that out today see if that helps,ill let ya knkw if ot does.

[@Crazy-Bear-Gamer-Channel]

Nice! 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@PrezDCS]

Thank you

[@deividdi5779]

Hi, what's your blur amount? thanks!

[@PrezDCS]

It's currently set to low at the time I am replying to you

[@deividdi5779]

@@PrezDCS thanks prez, fly high fly safe

[@PrezDCS]

@@deividdi5779 you’re welcome, and you too

[@amirhosseindoostali1222]

It was incredibly helpful for me. Keep up the excellent work. Thank you sir.

[@PrezDCS]

You’re welcome!

[@karlbolt1930]

Very well thought out and complete tutorial on the topic. I hope chapter 2 will be released soon. 🙂👍

[@PrezDCS]

Thank you, and it's on it's way. Taking longer than expected, but it'll be out when it's out

[@jojo_frost]

Very good quality video tutorial! This will help a lot of people, keep up the good work!

[@PrezDCS]

Thank you and will do o7

[@bluethewhale9369]

Amazing tutorial, Looking forward to the next content :)

[@PrezDCS]

Thank you and stay tuned :)

[@ghostdog688]

Great work! Looking forward to more of the series.

[@PrezDCS]

Thank you! I'll be trying to grind these tutorials out the next few weeks, so sit tight :)

[@TazziedoesWT]

HI, i keep getting a "Static Corr Off" light when i start up. Does anyone know what this relates to? thanks!

[@PrezDCS]

I stated in the tutorial at exactly 4:50 how to fix that.

[@TazziedoesWT]

@@PrezDCS yeah i was moving around to cockpit and was like, waaaaait does that mean the cadc flow switch? Its strange it has such a weird name on the light board

[@BenjaminJannedy]

Can someone help me to find the accelerometer in the pilot cockpit to read the g-force? I can't find it somehow...

[@PrezDCS]

It's at the very bottom of the center console behind the flight stick

[@BenjaminJannedy]

@@PrezDCS Ah, thanks! Found it!

[@pugloverg6671]

Here we s an auto sync,relay synch compass when switching primary to standby……no need to synch compass….

[@PrezDCS]

@@pugloverg6671 I’ve had sync issues sometimes when not using the sync switch after switching to primary, so I added it in case there were any issues.

[@joespeed1952]

I always make sure to hold that spring loaded switch after primary sync.

[@Hustler9g]

Life saver for the wso cold start

[@PrezDCS]

You’re welcome :D

[@ikapustiv]

No WSO-Pilot comm check?

[@PrezDCS]

An unnecessary step. There's no comms check step like in the F-14. Also, the intercom is set to hotmic by default as of right now, so if you're using SRS then it shouldn't matter. Also, most people would probably use discord or some other voice chat to communicate depending on the situation.