So here is the thing. I have been in and out of sims since the early commodore 64 days. I have "flown" basically everything since then and up till the end of the 90's. Mostly combat sims.

Last year I got back into siming and I love it more then ever. A few things has changed though. Back then I felt there was more focus on the story, the plot, the campaign. New sims of today seems much more focused on procedures, flight models and realism.

So I guess I have to create my own story. So here is my plan!

I have done a lot of different flight sims things over the years.... Killed more t-72's with a Longbow Apache than I have eaten M&M's (and I love M&M). Landed a-10's with a missing engine in bad weather with crosswind. Done crazy flying under bridges stuff, become an Ace in most wars since WW1. But I am actually clueless about the most basic flight procedures...... So here my new plan to ensure gameplay for many flight sessions to come....

I want to learn flying a combat jet the right way. Learning the basics in a prop trainer and then move on ward. Be able to follow faa procedures, do landing a correct landing pattern etc. The move up to a trainer jet a begin doing more millitary stuff, maybe even carrier ops.

So this is where I need help.

What books could I read to find out what a pilot train in flight school or just general books about the live of a pilot in lets say more modern scenarios post ww2. What movies/documentaries should I watch (does not have to be modern flight school stuff only). What web sides and ressources should I follow? Any other ideas where to start?

Regarding correct procedures a good place to start is the BFT campaign and the AAT campaign for DCS A-10C as that covers a lot of RL procedures etc. You learn for example to ramp start and shut down after each mission, proper circuits and more:

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=62992

So check that out, its $5 for the BFT campaign and the AAT campaign and it covers a lot of stuff. There is other missions that are freeware but IMO Sabres missions are actually the best I've seen.

Contact Stage (VFR):
1. Perform Ground Handling
2. Perform Take-Off and EFATO
3. Fly Traffic Pattern
4. Perform Approach and Landing
5. Perform Basic Maneuvers
6. Perform Advanced Handling
7. Perform Aerobatics
8. Respond to Emergencies

Instrument / Navigation Stage (IFR):
9. Instrument Approach (Landing)
10. Instrument Flight Plan Navigation

Formation Stage:
11. Fly 2 Ship as Wingman

Low-Level Stage
12. Fly Low-Level Flight Plan
And AAT covers

Advanced Flight Training Stage

AFT01 - Air to Air Refueling Day
AFT02 - Air to Air Refueling Night
AFT03 - Countermeasures and Threat Avoidance
AFT04 - Target Area Ingress Preparation
AFT05 - Illumination Flare Employment

Air to Air Combat Stage:

AAT06 - AA Gun and Missile Employment

Surface Attack Stage:

AAT07 - Gun & Rocket Employment
AAT08 - Unguided Bomb Employment
AAT09 - Guided Bomb Employment
AAT10 - Missile Employment

Thanks for the inputs, will check out the missions.

But first I will focus a little more on basic flying skills/rules to get the right foundation.

I have bought this book on kindle that I will read through in my vacation:

Microsoft Flight Simulator X for pilots: Real World Training

It seems to cover a lot of basic maneuvers and procedures.

I am now also looking for one or two good biographies covering pilots from flight school to combat….

By the way I love your quote, Sledge Hammer was a very fun TV series, liked it a lot. Had almost forgotten about it, think I need to check it out again 

Check out 'See how it flies' a free on-line 'book' it covers most topics with fewer mistakes than many manuals:
See How It Flies

Also in FSX is the Learning centre which covers a lot of stuff on flying.



Yeah Sledge Hammer is very funny they should do a movie or TV series again.

I'd also definitely do the flight school missions in FSX. Most people seem to regard them pretty highly and you will learn both basic VFR and IFR flying.

After you complete that, you can honestly go straight into the A-10 and run the missions suggested above. In RL, you would go through one or several intermediate level planes, but there's no real need of that in the sim world. The things you would learn in a T-45 or a T-38 are the same things you can learn in the A-10 and the purpose for going through different levels of trainers is as much to decide which jet (or prop, or helo) you will wind up in as it is for any practical instructional reason.

Plus, since the A-10 is the jet you want to fly eventually, it will spare you the learning curve of learning several different aircraft systems rather than just one.

Deacon

Thanks for all the inputs so fare. I think I need to use some time with fsx missions I guess

I have no idea if Captain Sim still sells it, but they used to have a product that allowed you to follow along with the old Soviet Mig-21 training syllabus. I've used it several times to get comfortable with the flight ops and weapon employment for a variety of different sims (F4, DCS, etc.) Additionally if you look around the USAF basic flight manual/syllabus for the T-6a Texan II is around. Iris actually has a FSX T-6a freeware that is designed specifically for usage to help USAF UPT students get through this phase of their training. It's another great tool to get you up to speed on some areas of flight simming that we aren't usually as confident or practiced in.

-Jenrick

Nice tip with the T-6a, will download that also and see what I can find a manual for it.

With all this inputs and also a plan to start working on a simpit I guess I will be pretty bussy for some time. Very good!

If you have trouble finding it, shoot me a PM.

-Jenrick

Viper Pilot, by Dan Brown. This book brought me back to simming. Excellent read.

Viper pilot by dan hampton right? At least that is the only one I found on Amazon.

Interesting thread!

While searching for the USAF T-6A Texan II flight manual mentioned by jenrick I found this site:

http://www.e-publishing.af.mil/

From there you can download a lot of USAF documents: e.g.

AFMAN11-248 "T6 Primary Flying" (the document mentioned above)
AFMAN11-217V1 "Instrument Flight Procedures"
AFMAN11-217V2 "Visual Flight Procedures"

Uh, copy that...Don't know where I got Brown. Hampton is correct.

The book is all about Wild Weasel missions (after flight school, of course!) using bombs, mavs, and the gun. Nothing boring like launching HARMS from 30 miles out!

I read the book during my holidays. Good book. Thx for the advise.