Eh guys...

No stranger to forums but brand new in here as you can undoubtedly see from my non-existant (until now) post count. I'm brand new to the DCS community and the sim... and believe me when I say the community AND the sim have astounded me. I'm slugging through the training sessions and doing my best to do some research before asking the questions that have likely been asked a million times. I've got my TIR5 on order... and I'm hoping my portable will run the game fast enough that I can at least sit through some of the orientations while I'm away at work.

I have followed the development of a lot of the weapons employed in the sim from a distance since I was about 11 (mid-80s or so) and thought I even knew something about them.

I read the forums for about 10 minutes and realized I knew nothing at all... Zero.

I've spotted a few guys in here who know "the business" and I have an incredible amount of respect for you.

I've also seen a number of community members who excel in the realm between the reality and the sim and are extremely helpful in helping guys like me get the most out of the sim experience.

Anyway guys- one of the things I've noticed an absence of in here is that late night chat thread... That random collection of late night, game orientated scramble... Maybe that's because it isn't acceptable in which case I'm sure I'll be promptly schooled.

OR

It's a good idea and give guys a chance to come in and chat with jovial late-night banter.

For example- I keep seeing that the GAU-8 is the most powerful gun in service in the USAF. Is there a more powerful gun employed by an aircraft in another air force? Is there anything that even comes close anywhere else?

I suppose we'd need to classify it in such a way that we can eliminate the Spectre with it's 105mm and the 40mm Bofors...

Thoughts? Facts? Opinions?

Hi Eno, welcome to SimHQ and DCS A-10C. I've had it since it was in beta but only recently started getting into it since I bought a WH HOTAS and you are correct it's an amazing sim, the best I have flown. You will make it come alive when you get your TrackIR 5 though

Welcome eno. Your decision to get the TIR was a very good decision. Once you've flown with it, there is no going back.
Now that you're flying the A-10C, say goodbye to your spare time.

Welcome eno! Late night chatter approved!

The GAU-8A gets its reputation for being the biggest and baddest for couple of good reasons: it's the biggest and it's the baddest.



Large high-density rounds delivered with a tight dispersion from a solid, reliable cannon system at an incredible rate of fire is a great way to bring fire and excitement to a party (e.g., a bad guy's tank).



The history of the gun is almost as fascinating as the gun itself: very few aircraft (none other that I know of) have been specifically designed around a gun. The gun even has cool support equipment: the "Dragon" ammunition loader.



Personally, I'd rather be behind a 3,900 round per minute GAU-8 with mavericks on the wings than behind a 10 round per minute 105 mm in a modified transport plane!

(I love the AC-130A/E/H/U gunship and would feel privileged to fly in it, even in a sim: but I wouldn't be able help thinking about my Hog during the flight)

Welcome aboard Eno75!


When you are ready, pop into the SimHQ Teamspeak server in the evenings. A few nights per week will have pilots in the DCS rooms. Come on in and ask what server is being used. You will be able to ask all the questions you want to - and there is no shortage of stuff to learn.

The pilots who have been in lately are gearing toward flying together rather than just jumping in by oneself and blowing stuff up - coordinated flying is a new aspect for me and really is enjoyable.


source


Wrecking Crew

Welcome to the forums, eno!

You will find that we banter enough on the forums that we don't need a chat room... also this means that people can join in regardless of when the come online since the forums is open 24/7 rather than a chat room where things turn off when the chatters go offline. So don't worry and post away. And yes, even your "random collection of late night, game orientated scramble" is alright. We do have a few resident and and so don't worry about it, we're used to it.

If you do want to fly with us, just hop on to the TS3 server and try to catch someone online. Lately we had some SimHQ fly-ins so a lot more people are online during those events. I am online usually around 8-10pm GMT and have a few tinkers around the game, though I just pop in TS3 to see who's online and usually log back out. Maybe we should start keeping a SimHQ TS3 presence so that people can "connect" better?

Eh guys... thanks again for the welcome. Many of the names I've seen around being the most helpful have already chimed in. I'd still like to see Eddie wander through at some point but regardless- it does look like a pretty open group. I like the rambling

I have put the Hog above most others, keeping it about par with other twin tailed favourites like the Tomcat. Specialized platforms designed (and built) around specific weapon systems have always intrigued me. Now then, if only the Phoenix missle could be used as effectively on terrorist threats as it was on high speed anti-ship missles the Tomcat would likely have survived a bit longer. Sadly, the Bombcat did not last. (I prefer the F-15's original mantra- Not a POUND for air to GROUND... I guess nobody passed that on to the F-15E boys.)

ANYWAY...

I am wrestling with a few minor issues in trying to get pre-fetched profiles loaded into the program but I think I have about 9/10ths of that sorted out. Who am I kidding- that's a work in progress and probably will be FOREVER. Another minor glitch is I cheaped out and bought an X52 (not pro) on craigslist for cheap(ish) as a way of being able to figure out if I was going to be addicted to the sim enough to make a more serious investment. The Pro at least seems to have the most common HOTAS switches while the non-pro requires significant adjustment. Okay... so I figured that part out pretty quickly as I started flipping through the 650 page instruction manual. Pretty soon they're going to have to shoot an "INTERVENTION" episode on me because dropping that on me was like dropping a pound of heroine at the doorstep of the local methadone clinic.

And guess what? Thanks to you trolls dangling your glorious Warthog HOTAS systems ( ), I'm not sure I'll ever be happy with my meagre setup. Funny though, because the boss (girlfriend) is intrigued by the prospect of flight and isn't even all that upset at the prospect of me spending an additional 500 bucks on the WH HOTAS. (She thinks she'll get to use that one... but as the MAN of the house I'll ORDER her to give me permission to use the HOTAS).

I do have the Saitek pro-flight pedals and am still getting used to them since all my old days I had an integrated rudder, throttle and stick arrangement.

Anyway= back on night shift again...

Once I get my head around some of the finer aspects of flight (in THIS sim) I'll take you up on that opportunity to fly with you guys. I love the idea of simple formation / coordinated flying and think there's loads to learn in that. Like hockey players taking up figure skating... I think a TS3 channel is a great idea to figure out what's up and where everyone is. I won't be able to participate for awhile until I get back from work but if you see "Eno" log in then you'll know to expect the occasional mid-air.

I'm also hunting around about more information regarding the profile curves some of you have been reading about for refuelling and the TIR.

See you around the forums!

Point of advice: don't feel like you have to pass some proficiency check before it's ok to go online with folks. You'll find that 99.9% of the guys online don't care what skill level you're at and are only too happy to share what they know with you. The rest are all off in locked servers anyways.

Hop on SimHQ TS3 sometime and I'm sure you'll find plenty of folks to go shoot it up with.

As for your controller, I used my X52 Pro when I first got A-10C and was able to get enough buttons/switches on it to do quite well. I did plunk down the cash for a Warthog HOTAS and am extremely glad I did, but the X52 setup should do you just fine.

Eh Einstein... thanks again. It's only a matter of time!

And the Pro version of the X52 is good but I'm seeing it's a pretty long stretch from the base model. The buttons are there, they're just not as easy to follow is all.

On another note, is it just me who has so many troubles getting logged in after checking the "remember me" option? Each time I try it logs me out when I get into the forum...

This a common problem or just something I'm dealing with?

The immersion with the WH is fantastic, I had an X52Pro and couldn't get the long and short button presses to work as my pinkie switch stopped working. Never again a Saitek stick!

I stopped trying to learn the sim until recently getting a WH and it's great.