Completed my first ramp start last night. I did it in a campaign, which added so much to the immersion. I was like "what the heck was that?" When i look out and see two F-15's taking off. The sounds, the radio chatter, etc. It was amazing. I did it like 5 times so after tonight i should be able to do it by memory.

BTW, I highly recommend ramp start for every flight. It gets you into it. It's that feeling of preparing for war.

Yep, ramp start is completely unnecessary but adds a lot to the immersion. I don't fly campaign missions any other way.

Ramp start is very much necessary IMO, because you set your systems, weapons, lasers, steerpoints, radios,... without a rush and you know where each button is. You can quickly miss some detail, if you begin mid-flight or at take-off, because you didn't go over the startup flow.

I know what you mean WC, as you can get away withut it. But I think CTR69 is dead on that it helps you understand where things are, and what they do. And it does add a SH!TLOAD to the immersion factor.

The fun part is now setting up my x52 pro correctly, which should take a while. Using Scuby's profile from the BMS forums, but not easy to learn.

They don't call this a STUDY sim for nothing.

I always rampstart, just for the fun of it
And, as CTR pointed out, if I dont I feel "out of the loop" on whats going on and how everything is setup.
I also always land and at the very least taxi back to the parking area before exiting a mission, not because its needed but because I want the fullblown realistic experience.

BUT, I wouldnt mind if there was some ingame incentive to do these things. Or an option to force it.
Just knowing that I cant exit midflight would add to the excitement since I really DO need to make that landing if I want the mission success to count.

The group I was flying with always did a ramp start and shutdown.

The ramp start is great because it allows me to set up the data cartridge in the 2D screen and verify my settings on the 3D screen. I also use this time to setup my bomb profiles and so on.

The first few times, the ramp start is a big deal. Eventually, it's just part of the experience, like taking off or following your steerpoints.

There is always preparation to do while on the ground. The list of things to do that can't be DTC'd for that extra 1% preparation is quite long:

B/U TACAN for emergencies
Package D/L
FCR parameters for all master modes
S-JETT for tanks
Select/deselect PPT rings
HSD options
Laser options
Instrument brightness

I'm sure I'm missing a ton. But surely the greatest gift is that 2 minutes before takeoff where nothing is happening. Walking the dog, baby crying, dry cleaning can all melt from your mind; your shoulders come down; and your brain can climb into your head and close the skull canopy.

I don't know how it works today because as I said, I always ramp start, but there was a time when loading your "cockpit" (I think it was Alt-L?) loaded everything. And even in BMS, IIRC, you loaded your DTC and some switches would get set. I remember one of them... some of the HUD related ones on your right panel, always moved to the wrong position after loading the DTC because I saved the state of the "cockpit" with the switch in that position. Might have changed by now.

Ramp start adds a lot really, it common for me to forget to set the radio switch from backup to UFC, and "be reminded" of that when I go set my channels. It's nice that most of those switches work and do what they're supposed to.



Me too, except those times when the ATC screws with you, then I just quit.

For me, one of the issues with Ramp-start is simply time. Ramp starts and shut downs take valuable real-world time.

Of course, watching Avionics run through their BITs and that awesome sound of a turbine spooling up does kind of draw one in, doesn't it

That said, for those that RS, do you do the full procedure, including testing everything (eg. warning lights)? I ask because a lot of pre-start checks seems to be checking things that will never be broken/wrong in the sim.

I imagine a decent amount of time could be saved running through an abridged procedure that assumes nothing on the aircraft is broken.

I pretty much ignore the testing. I know it isn't complete, but it is due to time constraints. I just do the things that are necessary, minus all the additional tests.

Not saying it's right.

I ignore them too. IRL time limitations and the fact that it will never fail.

There was an option in the launcher to add random faults I believe, but they advised not to use it because it wasn't really working, but that would be cool (as long as the faults happen once in a while), then you would really need to test. You'd hate it for not being able to take off, but once in a while... yeah

It's funny how I harp about rampstarting for immersion but I always ignore ATC when landing and always get told off to "wait your turn!!"

I hear you Ice. The wife is calling. I need to land NOW. lol

But the ramp starts really can be done pretty quickly with practice, and it just feels good doing it!

I just call the ATC and declare an emergency. What emergency they may ask? I want a cuppa after a long flight!

Although in all fairness I usually end up getting back to the carrier with about 500lbs of fuel so I don't feel too guilty about it.

You don't have to declare an emergency. You can now request "autonomous" landing and fly straight in. Hmm, I haven't tried this in the campaign though where several flights are trying to land at the same time.

Is that so?!!?? SWEET!!!

Yep. Requesting autonomous approach means you really have to watch our for other traffic. The other day I wasn't paying attention and almost ran into a pair of F-16s taxiing onto the runway.