Navigation in WW2 US Fighters and in DCS

Let's go over the basics of the key two types of Navigation used in US WW2 fighters. Pilotage, and Dead Reckoning. Then let's put it into practice and show how it works on a DCS multiplayer server.
Please support this channel: / gregsairplanesandautom...
Paypal: [e-mail]

[@RogerAlan]

Has anyone else noticed other content creators making videos about aircraft featured on this channel? It’s gotten to the point where if Greg makes a video, others use our guy as if it’s a primary source, usually without credit. Keep it up, Greg. History will prove that you’re a great credit to our wealth of knowledge.

[@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles]

Thanks, I have noticed that. I'll make a 45 min video, then one of the big channels will reduce and simplify it down to 12 mins and get 10x as many views. I actually don't have a problem with that. One of the reasons I started this channel was because I felt like a lot of WW2 technology was being forgotten about, or even lost, so if someone else helps to spread the word, overall I'm happy about it. That doesn't mean I don't want all those views too, but I'm not going to change or water down my content to do it. cont: Also, I think those shorter watered down videos on other channels get people into these types of planes who might not otherwise be so inclined. Thanks largely to youtube content creators and sims, even the lighter sims like War Thunder, young people today, not all of course, but some, have an interest in these topics. That makes me happy.

[@kyle857]

@Greg's Airplanes and Automobiles Doing a series of short videos (10 minutes) would get you a lot more subs. Never stop the in-depth stuff, though. It's very unique for this platform.

[@jebise1126]

they often copy topic one from another or sometimes it just happens... there are also channels that do way more different aircraft too. so hard to say they do exactly that

[@FailureAirlines]

I've seen some channels use the actual wording of the better channel, purely out of laziness. Thanks for getting me back into DCS Greg, it's really improved over a few years ago and I love it. Best wishes from Ireland.

[@thedeathwobblechannel6539]

Greg I don't think all of us together could thank you enough for the stuff you do we really really appreciate it

Planning, briefing and leading a flight of like minded-players on treetop strike missions with dead reckoning, simulating authentic ops from the war is total focus for the hours it lasts and very immersive. A nav plan, a compass and a stopwatch - hit the target, get out and come back home alive and the whole flight of other players also alive and well, is a great feeling of having done a good job for the day. Performing as authentic as possible is really rewarding at the end of a mission and shutting down, having a debrief and off to the pub (virtually, too expensive these days!). Thanks, Greg! Great to see you demonstrate these methods and explaining.

[@kalui96]

I feel incredibly privileged to be able to play these games and get training aids for free like this. Amazing stuff, see you all out there

[@alancrowley7991]

Hi Greg great video, on my RAF MDR course ( Mental dead reckoning) we were encouraged to pick specific features on each leg and refer to the map as much as need be. MDR certainly kept me on my toes and lets face it a map never runs out of battery power like a gps unit can!! keep em comin

[@gort8203]

Yeah, you can't plan a route without a map, and of course you bring it with you for reference during flight. Greg did use the F-10 map to plan, but he couldn't bring that plan with the real time F10 view, but he still used that view to check for references a few times. I just don't understand why he then said not to do what he was doing, which is standard practice in my experience.

[@GeneralJackRipper]

@@gort8203 sometimes you can be so busy staring at the map you CFIT. _"Look up, look out!"_

[@gort8203]

@@GeneralJackRipper That would be dumb mistake, but at least you can only make it once. The proper technique of looking from clock to map to ground helps guard against that well-known pitfall.

[@josephmarciano4761]

It's DED Reckoning, as in "Deductive," not Dead.

[@alancrowley7991]

Of course it is, oop's silly me......@@josephmarciano4761

[@sosogo4real]

Still watching but this is great. It explains these topics in a way even a layman can understand.

[@goingtoscotland]

If you're in the F10 map on the mission, you can select the measuring function and right click on a known point on the map, drag the cursor to your desired waypoint and it will give you distance and headings. No need to eyeball or screen shot. Love the videos as always, Greg!

[@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles]

Oh, good trick, I didn't know that, which is why I used the mission editor.

[@goingtoscotland]

@@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles yeah it's a life saver most of the time. It's on the top tool bar. I believe it's the rightmost selection. Two vertical lines with a left and right arrow on the outside on their respective sides. I believe it might even tell you magnetic and true headings without having to convert from true to magnetic but don't take that bit for rote

[@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles]

I'll take a look at that later today. As long as you have the magnetic heading, you're good to go. It probably actually gives you magnetic course, but as explained in the video, that's good enough for what I was doing here as the difference between course and heading will be quite small at the speeds and wind velocities we have down low.

[@frederf3227]

@@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles Due to the flat DCS landscape true north and lines of longitude are not parallel (except one). "Ruler north" is "up" on the X,Z coordinate grid. DCS uses "ruler heading" as "true heading".

[@stephensanford5273]

@@frederf3227 since 2.8 update you get both magnetic and true. Magnetic is in blue if you're using the ruler.

[@nomar5spaulding]

I went to Maine Maritime Academy and trained as a professional maritime officer, including in navigation, both coastal piloting, celestial navigation, various mathmatical things like computing great circles etc (as a sophomore student on my cadet shipping, I unintentionally puzzled out how to do a Mercator Sailing before we learned how to do it in class, and then had my world rocked the next semester in T-Nav 2 when Captain Parrot explained how to do something I thought I invented - turned out I was only beaten to the punch by like 200 years). Anyway, all this compass correction was certainly stuff we covered. One thing I always really found interesting was the "nautical" publication H.O. 249 - the air navigation table. For celestial navigation at sea, sailors use publication H.O. 229 extensively, but H.O. 249 was created either in the 30s or during WWII, I honestly don't know, and it was designed to facilitate celestrial navigation on long range flights where the navigator needed to be able to take multiple sights very, very fast, because the standard method was just too slow. Pub 249 was super useful for cel nav on a ship, because it allowed us to pre-compute for essentially every 4 minutes exactly where 7 navigation stars would be, and this pre-computation only took like 5 minutes once you learned how to do it, and then you could go out and nail a 7 star fix in like 10 minutes, which is really, really fast, and you could do it without even using a computer program like Sky Mate, which was really only a few minutes faster. Using the Air Navigation Tables was so much more easy and slick than using the more traditional method for ships. The other bit I wanted to toss out is related to the whole "True Virgins Make Dull Company" bit. I've heard 3 different versions for that. If you want to convert from True bearings to Compass* bearings we would use the True VIrgins Make Dull Company At Weddings. That was the sort of Kid Friendly version. One of the most straight laced proffessors I had whispered to the class, "I usually like to say 'Add Whiskey instead hehehe.' " If you wanted to go from a Compass bearings to True bearings, the saying was Can Dead Men Vote Twice At Elections**. Well... one day in Celestial Nav 2 class, Captain Cole is writing the TVMDC+W on the board and muttering out "True - Virgins-Make..." and this kid piped up, "Hey Captain Cole, you want to hear how Joe Conlon told me he remembers that? It's pretty funny." Captain Cole says sure. Apparently, Joe Conlon came up with the phrase, "TransVestite Men Did Conte At Whorehouse" after another of my classmates had a well publicized trip ashore in Santa Cruz de Tenerife to a brothel. It was pretty great. So now, to this day, if I have to do a compass correction (which I don't anymore since I stopped working as a merchant marine officer in 2016), I think about that time my friend Nick went ashore and found himself a lady friend. *"Compass" bearings and "Magnetic" bearings are different - for the casuals out there, that's why we go from TVMDC, rather than ending on an M for "Magnetic" your magnetic compass bears are actually called a "compass bearings." A gyro compass bearing is usually just called a "Gryo bearing" and the magnetic bearing isn't what you read on your compass, it is where the earth's magnetic field points with no distortions from the gigantic steel ship we were riding on, so that's the different between a "Magnetic" bearing and a "Compass" bearing" **Don't start in on my with that elections crap.

[@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles]

That's a good post. I haven't ever done celestial navigation. That was gone from commercial aviation by the time I got in. As for TVMDC+W, I'm sticking with the way I learned it. I imagine today there is some cleaned up version, but it was interesting to hear the maritime versions you heard. In regards to elections, I know, in fact I have the entire senior administrators manual for a well known voting machine in my Patreon section. There is indeed a section in the manual on how to "adjudicate" votes, which is a nice word for change. This manual has been largely purged from the internet.

[@jangraham7424]

Great video Greg. I know I lack the self-control to actually own and run DCS and real life together: I'd be unemployed and divorced in 6 months. Watching you and one or two of the other content creators seems to be enough for the moment. Thank you so much. I love the way DCS players drag opponents across friendly flak, which seems always to avoid blue-on-blue while never failing to at least target the opfor aircraft. Whereas every memoire I've ever read written by a pilot on any side in WW2 said to the effect of 'avoid flak, flak is bad, but especially avoid your own flak - 'friendly' flak batteries unerringly target you without regard for ammunition and other aircraft in the sky'. And if there are allied flak batteries (e.g. US flak for DUKE pilots, German flak for Italian pilots, etc.) well, watch out but more so. Thanks again Greg.

[@GeneralJackRipper]

_"Friendly fire, isn't"_ - Murphy

[@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles]

That's true, the danger from "friendly fire" flak was huge in WW2, for all participants. However when fighting in DCS it's just not, and as it's a "game" people play to win, and that means exploiting every edge.

[@JDMc2.0]

New subscriber here! My grandfather was a WW1 aircraft mechanic and my dad built sprint car engines back in the 50's as well as welding up NASCAR legal roll cages for whoever wanted one in the late 60's at the local dirt track. Your channel has got me thinking, (something a man should never do) about these two men again and now I've got the jones to find out where my grandfather was stationed in France in 1917-18. Thanks Greg!

[@SVgamer72]

IL-2 Great Battles on a winter map is crazy hard to navigate (rivers and streams blend in). Appreciate the content and education. Time to learn how to do it like the real deal.

[@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles]

These same methods should work in IL2. It's hard to find a group of trucks and tanks on a map in real life, IL2, or DCS.

[@avipatable]

This was really interesting, thank you Greg. I've read so many WW2 autobiographies, but very few go into the routine aspects of their lives... just the odd nuggets places here and there. Most likely the publishers said it was too specialised or the pilots thought it cluttered the narrative. But I love it! It looks like an amazing simulator, but I dare not get it or it will take over my life!

[@What_If_We_Tried]

Just DL'd DCS a few days ago, bought the P-51D, but have always been fascinated by 'the Jug'. After I can fly that NA bird well enough, will have to circle around and get the P-47D. Thanks so much for this clear and concise tutorial. * subscribed *

[@4shink]

As a private pilot SEL in the 1970 -90 period I was taught pilotage techniques first and VOR/DME as an upgrade of necessary pilot skills. I never did loose my affection for sectional maps and plotter. Prior to my first solo cross country flight my instructor pointedly explained that my triangular round robin course was bounded by 3 interstate highways; his parting remarks were "...if you get lost just follow the concrete compass"...over some 850 hours I never did get truly lost although I surely was disoriented from time to time.

[@andreperrault5393]

Perfect, you reminded me of the saying from USAF in the 80’s: “I’m not lost! Just momentarily disoriented.”

[@GeneralJackRipper]

I am reminded of the old adage: _"I know exactly where I am, I just don't know where YOU are!"_

[@thomaslubben8559]

Great overview of basic navigation, just like I do in my ragwing Piper, and like I learned 30 years ago.

[@gato2]

Oh no way Greg finally got a watermark. Thats awsome!

[@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles]

Thanks for noticing. My son in law and grandson did that, and changed the home page.

[@Silverhks]

I was going to mention it as well. Looks good

[@mickvonbornemann3824]

During WWII a USAAC Liberator got lost as the crew were flying north along the northeast coast of Queensland & the crew didn't notice they reached the northeast corner of the Australia (the tip of the Cape York Peninsula) & continued along the coast going in a south south west direction along the coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria, when they should've been crossing the Torress Straight to New Guinea. Eventually they ran out of fuel in the desert. They ended up having to survive in the desert till they were rescued by aboriginals. There's now a corroberri dance by the tribe to remember the event by their verbal memory & a doco was made which I saw ages ago. I can't remember how many of the crew died, that is if any died, but I do remember they had a horrible time in the desert. Well done again Greg. Your videos get consecutively better & better

[@marckyle5895]

Sounds like the Lady B Good story. Makes you wonder if there was something wrong with the navigational equipment on the B-24..

[@IncogNito-gg6uh]

@@marckyle5895 I think it was just 20-year olds flying in conditions unimaginable just a few years earlier.

[@johnspizziri1919]

believe it or not, until now, I never gave this a thought. Great job!

[@GeneralJackRipper]

I was taught both GUMPS and FLAPS in flight school, as well as several other acronyms which now escape me along with the litany, "Mixture Props Throttles Props Mixture, Hooray!"

[@sloppydog4831]

If you didn't test it already, the new ammo that was introduced last patch really makes a world of difference. Lights everything on fire. So satisfying now.

[@ziggyinc]

I will just set these tracks on fire, so I can maintain target acquisition later!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BRILLIANT! It is so fun to watch intelligent people doing what they do. P.S. Love these DCS play videos, More please!

[@ArtietheArchon]

the battle damage that jug took in this mission is a great example of why they had the lowest loss rate among US fighters, I don't think a Mustang would have made it very far after that while the T-bolt was trying to tell ask "there's still fuel and ammo left, where we going?" As far as ground target selection it's easier to remember what you can't kill with eight 50s, than what you can. Nearly anything except tanks and buildings are a valid target for the guns, and even then there are exceptions

[@Gronicle1]

Another good video. Thanks. As an old navigator in the USAF I can relate to this one quite a bit. I still have "tools" in a bag stored away. FYI, when the heavies flew in daylight they used the primitive radio direction finder equipment/beams and shot Most Probable Position lines from sun shots only with sextant when over water. Inertial systems came into play and things were better. GPS (originally Magellan) was like a promise coming someday when we flew polar routes in grid navigation mode with just the inertial. B52s with SRAMs that had the own inertial systems were kind of envied as they could tap the inertial systems in each SRAM and kind of average the results. As second seat in F4s it was a good knee board and plenty of DR calculation before you went out to the flight line. If you got in a tangle during the mission you had enough radio aides to get into proximity for someone to give you vectors to final approach. I expect this was a lot crappier in WWII around England, as I did a turn at RAF Bentwaters and noticed that some nights I couldn't get home from London due to ground fog.

[@kochj0713]

Thank you for the information. I’ve been just using landmarks to figure out where the German headquarters were and also the boats in the sea although when I went to the German headquarters after a server restart, there wasn’t anything shooting at me which was odd as there should’ve been all new Germans setup there ready to get the beans poured on them.. but oh well I did have a heckuva time finding the middle target in the middle of the map so I’ll try the information you shared and I should be able to find it now.

[@Mikkall]

I've always chucked bombs 1st then do Rocs/Guns. Decades of WW2 MP air combat have taught me the advantages of losing the weight/drag are more helpful sooner than later.

[@whoprofits2661]

Greg always delivers! The TVMDCW mention is a nice touch.

[@plasmaburndeath]

I am so excited, can't wait to watch this, cause I know in War Thunder, if I try the harder sim mode, I am lost like "how the hell did real people do this without huds, without glowing "this needs to die" markers updated instantly..." Tough as nails.

[@plasmaburndeath]

Nice video, do you also play War Thunder by chance? I would love to see you go over the harder modes on that, if you happen to have time one day. Ty 🙂

[@randyhavard6084]

Thanks for another great video

[@JamesWilliams-en3os]

I really enjoyed this, Greg. I’m not a gamer, but as a P-47 fan, I think this one might be worth a try! BTW, I’m a private pilot with 1100+ hrs flight time, and today was the first time I learned the “add 2 subtract 2” for course reversal!! So I actually learned something practical today! 😂

[@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles]

Thanks James. The P-47 on DCS is a ton of fun. Well, about 7 tons.

[@stephenrickstrew7237]

Greg … Hope your surgery went well … thanks for another great Episode…!

[@whiskeytangosierra6]

Would enjoy more like this. Like all your stuff on aircraft, however, this is great for us occasional virtual fliers.

[@michaelgarrow3239]

The old E-6B! I remember learning on that. And no: Wilber and Orville were not my flight instructors.

[@GeneralJackRipper]

I still have one in my bag. My flight instructor said, "This computer will never run out of batteries."

[@SharkVsTree]

34:15 Witold "Lanny" Lanowski's paint scheme there. Polish pilot (hence the Polish flag cowl art) who joined the 61st Fighter Squadron because their commander, the legendary Francis "Gabby" Gabreski, who flew Spitfires with the RAF 315 Polish Squadron prior to the American military entering the war effort, spoke Polish and needed replacement pilots. When the other Polish pilots were ordered to return to the RAF, Lanowski and Boleslaw "Mike" Gladych resigned and took commissions as captains in the USAAF until the end of the war. A very interesting couple of guys. Gladych later became a US citizen. That paint scheme was actually used on a P-47M, however.

[@sloppydog4831]

Great video Greg. Good to know that you are in DCS. Nice tactics. Learned a lot from it. And, it brings me comfort to know that strafing and bombing WWII style is difficult. Sometimes I can't hit the broad side of a barn.

[@MegaSegawa]

Amazing video, very informative ! On a side note, as a french living around this area it's always funny to hear foreigners pronounce towns names.

[@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles]

Thanks, yup, I'm not French, but I'm doing the best I can.

[@sugarnads]

We laugh at frogs trying to speak english. It all balances out

[@iambicpentameter7177]

Interesting video, I have a map my Dad used in WW2, the map has multiple compass headings and distances pencilled in from the airfield to European coast. It appears the group possibly used landfall on the continent to confirm their actual course. As you say, one needs to be very familiar with the terrain (56th Fighter Group, 61st Sqd.)

[@IncogNito-gg6uh]

The famous "Zemke's Wolfpack!" What period did your Father fly with them?

[@iambicpentameter7177]

@@IncogNito-gg6uh He joined the group in early 1945 as a replacement pilot, flew nine or ten missions as a wing man and the war ended. Came home safely.

[@IncogNito-gg6uh]

@@iambicpentameter7177 I can only imagine what it felt like being assigned to one of the premier fighter groups of the Eighth Air Force. Thanks.

[@clipper7004]

After seeing all of this I think you would be entertained to learn the nuances and quirks of navigating in the AJS-37 Viggen that's modeled in DCS! Thanks a ton for making this video though--the Jug is my absolute favorite and everything you've made on it video-wise has been outright studied by me and a friend. You rock Greg!

[@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles]

Thanks Clipper.

[@bryangrote8781]

Can’t afford to play DCS but love watching the videos. The nav stuff was very interesting on its own. Also, that paint scheme is wicked!

[@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles]

I hear you, it's not a cheap flight sim because of the hardware requirements. Then just to get started in WW2 stuff you really need a Plane, the Normandy Map and WW2 assets pack.

[@grooveclubhouse]

Awesome use of DCS to demonstrate a navigation methods.

[@kalynstalinski8375]

As far as the GUMP check… even though I’ve only logged 2 hours so far in a fixed gear Piper warrior, my 20 something instructor is still teaching it. For undercarriage we say “down and welded” 😜

[@GeneralJackRipper]

My very first flight ever in a 172, right as we turned final my instructor asked me, "Did you put the gear down?" For about a millisecond I was the most panicked I ever was in my life, then I pointedly replied, "Ha. Ha. Ha."

[@hydrolox8324]

God this is a gem, I've never heard of using celestial navigation for aviation prior to this.

[@sugarnads]

Night bombers in the RAF used it

[@PappyGunn]

They stopped teaching it. It might come back though, because GPS system can be messed with. Early ICBMs used to get their initial bearing using stars.

[@andreperrault5393]

Heard about putting the airborne periscope sextant through a hole in the aircraft roof in the 80’s

[@GeneralJackRipper]

There are so many lights on the ground now we use city and town lights as well as road lights to navigate. Modern sectionals even show yellow zones where lit up areas appear at night.

[@AdmiralQuality]

You can put a line on the DCS map in DCS, Greg. No need to get out the paint box software. It's the icon at the top with the two lines with arrows on each side (representing distance measurement but it also reads back the true heading) immediately left of the zoom-in magnifying glass. It's not just in the Mission Editor, you can access it while in any mission too. You can also drag that compass rose wherever you like on the map, grab it by the title bar. Great to see you using DCS more! I'd love to see you evaluate the engine management in the P-47. I think there's a few things they don't have quite right yet re: boost.

[@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles]

Thanks Admiral. You are correct of course. I learned about dragging the compass and the draw feature after I made this video. So that's good to know. I'll mention it in my next P-47 DCS video, which will be the last one for a while.

[@marcbell4226]

As always, awesome vid Greg. Thanks again!

[@dsdy1205]

The really ironic part about the breakdown of aerial _navigation_ into Pilotage and Dead Reckoning is that historically speaking, Pilotage and Navigation are nautical terms relating to steering a ship in relation to landmarks, and steering a ship via dead-reckoning and/or stellar sighting.

[@gunarskonrads]

Great job, as usual Greg!

[@rustyshackleford2841]

DCS P47, such a delight to fly in this sim. Has become my favorite.

[@SoloRenegade]

Pilotage can be used in unfamiliar territory as well, but it requires a little forethought. For example, I teach lost procedures to pilots using the pilotage methods I developed on my own. Using logical reasoning and looking outside to fly somewhere until you know where you are. I also use a pilotage trick to skip wind correction computations when using dead reckoning (a trick i learned from an older pilot), and can fly long legs very accurately. Problem with computed wind corrections are many. Lack of reporting along your route/altitude, most wind reports are actually forecasted guesses, etc.

[@PappyGunn]

Low level nav we would start on a course we had calculated taking into account wind. We would pick landmarks on the map we should overfly. In flight, we would adjust from that base course to overfly these landmarks, usually within 5 to 10 degrees of our originally computed course. That gave us the heading we should actually fly. We could easily compute our actual speed by those landmark, or just go roughly by so many miles per minute depending on aircraft type. Worked well enough, but you have to see the ground. This was over Northern Canada, no shortage of lakes or mountains to help out. You have to know how to read a map and pay attention the whole way. With practice you didn't need a protractor, you could look at a map and figure approx heading, using landmarks to refine. To calculate time, you had a pencil with notches every 10 miles. You figured about 2 miles a minute, so x miles gave you y minutes to fly to reach whatever. Or vice-versa. I don't advocate this, nothing beats doing your homework and plan properly. But it was fun to practice this low level navigation and get good at it. Slow prop aircraft can get boring, so you spice it up any way you can. This method works in DCS although it’s not necessary. You know you reached the target when the flak opens up.

[@DonHuff]

Thank you for sharing! This is great fun. Inspiring to “skill up” on warbirds and give it a try!

[@Whykikamoocow]

Ahh the old whiz wheel, brings back a lot of memories as a student pilot…we would usually make a climbing left hand turn to 1500’ and set heading over the airfield? Keep that aircraft as close to the airfield as possible in the event of an emergency during the climb. Is your departure track a mission requirement? This is a great channel…thanks for your work

[@PaddyPatrone]

It took me a while but I can now navigate on the Normandy map by identifying certain landmarks. I can imagine quite a few pilots got lost in ww2.

[@kyle857]

Normandy is easy. Russia... that's hard.

[@leighjones5551]

Nice change to your other great stuff. Good to see you working the cockpit and the reciprocal tip thanks

[@pbr2805]

Canopy open before landing and after landing do S turns when taxing to see what is in front of you.

[@dillank3240]

Your take off and landing were great! It is like you're a pilot or something. Lol😂

[@StrikeWyvern]

Thank you so much for the True Virgins Make dull Company add Whiskey! I've been having trouble remembering how to plot on my E6B and this is an extremely helpful nemonic I won't soon forget!

[@jamespfp]

RE: Pilotage; see also Visual Flight Rules, eh? That's been one of my number one reasons for wanting "real world" scenery for flight simulators for a long time. It is also particularly striking how much further it is possible to see from thousands of feet in the air as opposed to a few yards off the ground.

[@Jwalker21NC]

Greg! Another gem! I’d really like to get together and do some flying in the sim. The 47 is a personal favorite too so please let me know. I’ve done a fair amount of flying in it already but I know I would learn a lot more in the air. Thanks again brother!

[@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles]

I'm on the DCS Normandy Wolf Pack Server on the weekends. You can find me there quite often. We can also use voice comms via the Wolf Pack discord.

[@Jwalker21NC]

Ok perfect I will join the discord and we can link up that way! Thanks for your content also brother. I love the technical passion you have because I share that same interest and passion.

[@darrellseike3185]

Thank you so much for flying a WWII mission as a real pilot would fly, within the limits of the game, of course. I would really love it if you would produce more of these types of videos with different airplanes with different types of missions. This video was a great idea!

[@ChookyChuck]

Great video greg, in addition to your history videos with lots of engineering emphasis, i really enjoy any DCS content you make.

[@dougmasters4561]

100% of all my attempts at dead reckoning have in fact resulted in an off course curve to my destination ala 6:14

[@pbr2805]

Great video!!! Tail wheel lock at runway for T/O.

[@joejody7814]

How about a video of a wildcat finding his carrier. I'll never forget flying over corpus Christi TX at 8500ft in my Mooney looking down at the Lexington realizing it was not the width of my small finger looking out over the Gulf of Mexico and thinking how these guys ever lived thru another day. The horizon disappears over the water.

[@jonginder5494]

This is unreal. I’ve always wanted to know about this topic.

[@The_Real_Indiana_Joe]

😂 "You could ditch here and hitch a ride on a halftrack back to town." I'm new to DCS and was like....WHAT??? SO COOL! It should be a thing though. There should be resistance, farms and farmers daughters in Normandy too 😁.

[@IncogNito-gg6uh]

I just returned from a trip to Germany. Our course from Frankfurt took us across the English Channel crossing the English coast north of London. There was a solid undercast all of the way. I couldn't help but think of pilots returning from missions during WW II. I've heard the legend of just looking for the "biggest, dirtiest cloud and finding that goddamned island underneath!", but I imagine they usually saw what I did. Just a solid white layer of cloud.

[@GeneralJackRipper]

Same here. I was looking out the window and thought to myself, "Well, the U.K. is down there somewhere."

[@jmevb60]

I knew Bill Price P47 pilot. He would have mission return compass heading written on his wrist. This saved him vs.another pilot who "knew where he was going"

[@stephensanford5273]

Greg thanks for doing this. A couple pointers. As I said below since 2.8 update there is both magnetic and true on the ruler function, that clears up things nicely and it was a much needed upgrade. Second on your bombs. Yeah, the delay sucks but you can change it. When you load a bomb on a warbird in DCS there is a little yellow tab on the station, that's where you select your fuse settings. There are several fuses, with their MK number listed. I believe on the P47 I usually use the MK 243 Mod 0. i found an old US Army Air Corps manual on the different types of fuses...it was like 3 days of searching. and sadly, DCS doesn't go into much of any detail on the fuses. (there's no information in the encyclopedia) And that brings me to my next point about bombs. The way damage is modeled in DCS, the bombs DO NOT correlate to any realist bomb detonation modeling. A 500-pound bomb will have almost ZERO splash damage, where a 1000-pound bomb will splash everything out to about 100 meters from the impact. (the 1000-pound American bomb on the P51 and P47). That's why you see players loading up with only 1000 pound bombs. Furthermore the way damage is calculated in DCS for ground units and ships is a little broken. the armor of vehicles doesn't much matter, only that vehicles hit points. (Planes and helos have good damage models, ships and vehicles do not.) Currently in DCS isn't not really much use carrying anything but the 1000-pound bombs if you're going after anything with amor. Ground troops and soft skinned of course are different. But I don't know how many times myself or a squadron mate has gotten "80% damage on infantry" with .50 cals. As a soldier, from my experience a hit with a .50 is sort of a pass/ fail... It doesn't really wound, But I digress. Interestingly, should you want to get a laugh, get in a Hornet, Harrier or Tomcat and Drop a GBU12 on an infantryman. Set the Fuze to safe and lase the soldier. Though sniping soldiers with unfused GBU12's from a Tomcat is probably a very expensive way to kill a soldier, it's possible in DCS. As to your question about knocking off the tracks on tanks. Yes it should be possible, but in DCS it's not. You can only damage the hit points of the vehicle, you can't knock out a gun, or de-track it. (I've raised Cain with the developers about this, they say they have no plans as DCS isn't a ground combat simulator, despite what they say in their ads.) When you're attacking ground targets in DCS keep in mind that every ground unit is either in a group. Vehicles in a group (or soldiers) don't seem to engage multiple incoming aircraft at a time. The ground units will focus on one attacker with everything. So if you can always attack with a buddy or two. There is also a great video on FLAK on KZbin (Training video, Periscope film). But as a general rule change course, or altuitde, every 20 seconds when in range of enemy guns. I've tested this and it does hold true, just don't fly straight for more than 20 seconds. This works in Warbirds, jets and helos, when facing guns. (Missiles are a different story) The P47 can take a TON of damage (which does match up with historic accounts.) On one mission I accidently locked up my buddy's P47 with an AGM-65 (RB-75) in my Viggen. The missile hit and he flew it home, repaired it. Later a friendly Hornet shot him with an AIM-9X, and he flew that one home as well. (He was having a day.) Anyway thanks for the video.

[@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles]

Thanks for this excellent post. I'll look for the fuse delay and mag course on the ruler.

[@sski]

Nice work, Greg. Hope you feel better soon!

[@lwrii1912]

Cool video. You know a lot about flying those video airplanes, you should become a real pilot, lol. Always a pleasure watching your channel.

[@eiserneadler]

Great video Greg. I usually fly German aircrafts and started flying Mustangs and most recently the Jug on DCS and indeed engine management is tricky and complex. Got a lot of clues on this video and will put in practice soon in WP server as well. Cheers.

[@skyflier8955]

Great video. I've recently gotten into proper simulators, and I've noticed my pre flight navigation is pretty much out the window. I have enough practice with somewhat unfamiliar pilotage, getting lost on plenty of cross countries, so I just end up winging navigation on most flights.

[@gooraway1]

Greg, flying a Thunderbolt and destroying 3 half tracks- that's what happened to Kelly's Heroes! You almost killed Clint Eastwood.

[@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles]

Oh my god. That would have been a tragedy. That's a great movie.

[@hrench]

Drift meter well described on KZbin "WWII US Bombers" channel. Also very detailed, like Greg's.

[@Ylyrra]

Fantastic video, great job explaining everything you were doing and your reasoning behind it.

[@AlbaSkies]

Really great video, will be very useful for DCS nav. Minor point, at 17:30 just before the take off roll you mention that torque just effects roll and doesn't produce a yawing tendency on the take off roll. Just to check my understanding: it was my impression that this torque produces more weight on the left wheel thereby increasing the rolling resistance, producing a yawing effect if not compensated for. The other left yawing forces being the p-factor, gyro precession as tail rises - as you note - and the slipstream effect on the vertical stab.

[@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles]

The yaw from torque with the wheels on the ground is negligible. While it may not be technically zero, it's totally inconsequential. P-factor and Gyroscopic actions are the primary factors here, The spiraling slipstream has an effect too, but it's more of a constant during the takeoff roll compared to the other two.

[@AlbaSkies]

@@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles Thanks Greg!

[@jimsleestak8012]

I can’t wait to watch this video!

[@kellymoulton3792]

As always, great job, Greg! On weapon selection for your mission here, are you talking about 250# GP bombs? I know the 250# Fragmentation bombs were common but the GP in that weight is fuzzy to my memory. I know a lot of the P-47 work in ground support/attack was conducted using the 500# GP bombs but your mention of low altitude work & possible damage to your ship from non-delay fused 500 pounders is spot on. Once more, thanks for all the work you put into these vids! BRAVO ZULU!!!

[@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles]

Yes, those were 250s. Sometimes I take bigger stuff with a delay fuse, but I find that going up against AA, sometimes those 250s are the hot ticket.

[@jporter504]

Enjoyed that.

[@paulbrogger655]

"No bogies detected" -- Just 'cause you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get ya!

[@Knuck_Knucks]

TG . Thanks Greg.

[@Mitchell_Gant]

This was really enjoyable, I would like to see videos with every DCS aircraft you fly if possible.

[@stephendecatur189]

Thanks Greg

[@jameshodgson3656]

Nice aim on those first half-tracks. With my cheap joystick I'd be lucky to hit one, let alone two in one pass.

[@ElsinoreRacer]

The real reason I still tote an E6-B: It has the variation and deviation formula printed on it. It is my kryptonite. I can reason them in both directions. I can undo any mnemonic device. Almost 40 years. Or the E6-B is my Linus's blanket and the rest is an elaborate subconscious hoax to keep me bringing it. Plus, they are cool looking. Plus, if you are flying a Cub and doing wind triangles with a calculator, you don't deserve the Cub.

[@aiolos2411]

Most DCS Players do not do flight planning but its really what it takes to look and fly like a pro.

[@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles]

I suppose that for air to air, it doesn't matter much. However if trying to find a few trucks outside a small town somewhere, flight planning is really important.

[@bassplayersayer]

Nice mission. Enjoyed the video.

[@GARDENER42]

Interestingly, true north, magnetic north & grid north coincided over the UK for the first time in recorded history in early November 2022.

[@bobcfi1306]

How about naval aviation piloting board for carrier based dive bombers and fighters

[@BryanPAllen]

Loved this Greg

[@SoloRenegade]

GUMPP is still used in flight training , and it is and has always been my go-to. Gas, Undercarriage, Mixture, Pump, Prop (some aircraft have special aux fuel pump settings for landing). I've never heard anyone say it was "unprofessional", and if you think it is, please state why.

[@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles]

I do not think it's unprofessional. However if you do a GUMP check instead of using the aircraft's landing checklist examiners will not pass you on a check ride.

[@SoloRenegade]

@@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles not true. I passed all of my checkrides using GUMP and I know tens of students who have also. airline flying is not the only type of flying. airline pilot =/= all pilots. many aircraft don't even have a landing checklist. And the FAA specifically allows for the use of appropriate verbal checklists. I also have used RAMMM as my shutdown checklist on every single one of my checkrides, from airplanes to helicopters, and all my CFI ratings. I even give experienced pilots real world scenarios, where they would die if they blindly followed teh checklist rather than sizing up the situation and taking appropriate nonstandard action. this shows me how well a person truly knows and understands their aircraft systems too. Checklists do not, will not, can not, account for every possible situation or scenario. A really simple and basic example would be, what if while flying an open cockpit (airplane or helicopter with doors off), your checklist happens to fly out. What are you going to do? People who train with the sole purpose of becoming an airline pilot are some of the worst pilots/students I've ever flown with (not all, generalizing here). Flying helicopters we were required to memorize the entire checklist (normal and emergency procedures), as we wouldn't have time in an emergency to reference them, or we don't always have a free hand available.

[@gort8203]

Had a small chuckle when Greg said all pilots know how to do pilotage. As time marches on I'm afraid there are now some pilots who only know how to follow the line on their GPS moving map.

[@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles]

That could be, but I think they still have to learn pilotage to pass the private pilot written test. I could be wrong, I've been out of that side of aviation for a while.

[@gort8203]

@@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles Oh, I also would think they still have to learn it to do their cross-country experience, but I think many forget it soon after they get the private ticket. I don't even remember having to do a navigation exercise on my private pilot ride, but that was a long time ago in a galaxy far away. Maybe someone who recently got an airman certificate can tell us what they do on the private check these days.

[@kyle857]

I just look at city shapes and for lakes. Works pretty well. Only falls apart on Russia maps in winter. Even then I can usually find my target/airfield.

[@chrischiampo7647]

No Napalm Greg Just Bombs 😮😀 Thanks For This Dead Reckoning Video 😀😊 Great Explanation

[@tomwoggle9411]

Great video as always, but it begs for one question. To avoid getting bounced by enemy fighters by surprise aren't you supposed to NEVER fly in a straight line for long? So for the 'advanced lecture part 2' on this matter, so to speak, here my question hoping you might have some useful tips: How can/do you navigate with this technique, while at the same time avoiding (risky) straight flight-paths on the course in order to better check your six and increase the chances of spotting any enemies that may be approaching from behind? Also, do you have any further useful advice and tips for smart mission planning of a course towards a target, so that you attack with the sun in your back for example, or similar things which are (generally) worth keeping in mind?

[@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles]

In combat you never fly in a straight line for long, but going from one place to another and avoiding combat is another thing. Ideally I want to get through the danger zone as fast as possible.

[@PappyGunn]

DO like ships did to avoid torps: Zig zag 20 or 30 degrees on each side of a base course. Time it. It helps to use a landmark.

[@charlesinsandiego2537]

More of these, please!

[@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles]

I have another coming soon. It's much better, a mission with air to air, air to ground more advanced navigation and more.

[@ditto1958]

Good video. Sorry about your voice. Get well soon!

[@chochonubcake]

Those 19 to 20-something guys had a lot to deal with back then, just taking care of the engine, fuel and other systems - especially when you consider that they were fighting for their lives in the middle of all that. Maybe needing to think about operating the airplane would take their minds off of what they were about to do, or had just gone through, and were going to have to do again the next day, and the next...

[@Neil_]

If only my compass was that rock solid in flight lol

[@bjdiss]

Co-pilot. Lol. Another great video Greg. Thanks!

[@SkinkUA]

Greg vid!!!