In addition to some
interesting formation flying, we got a little experimentation in DCS World today.
Some radio navigation in the Ka-50! Chief and I teamed up in the Shark and performed a little cross-country trip from Senaki-Kolchi to Tbilisi - about an hour's flight - hopping from NDB to NDB using the ADF and a modified ARK.lua file in the mission.
Here's an NDB station up close (not one that Chief and I flew over, but same building type). These little guys spew out an RF carrier wave that a radio (called the
Automatic
Direction
Finder) picks up and indicates the relative bearing.
Two aircraft in close proximity independently navigating to radio aids is a bad idea, mkay. Chief leads while I fly close. DCS scenery may not be ORBX quality, but it makes for a fun stroll through the country-side.
Another shot from my cockpit of Chief and I scooting along the Georgian terrain.
On the return trip back from Tbilisi we spontaneously decide to declare one of the NDB locations a hostile entity and take defensive measures against it. Chief and tempus attack it with rockets while I lure it into complacency by unintentionally entering a vortex ring stall well below a recoverable altitude. A near catastrophe, I smashed my copter into the ground, tore off the tail section, chopped the rotor blades, lost all hydraulics, obliterated the Shkval, and suffered a slew of other minor damages, but I didn't spill one drop of my drink. Here's a shot of me finishing off my beverage while Chief scoots in for a closer inspection and some chuckles. That tail section in the foreground is from my own helicopter.
After I eject (where's the "Just get out of the cockpit sanely" button?) Chief strafes what's left of my wreckage to prevent the newly hostile NDB building from gleaning any useful information (like what Ka-50 pilots drink when flying) from it.
Chief lands in close for the dust-off and I have to cover my mouth to keep from breathing in the dust (I reflexively started squinting and leaning away from the monitor when I saw this view in the game!).
Awkwardly, Chief remembers that the Ka-50 is only a single-seat aircraft. My subtle hints about there being plenty of room in his lap were either missed or deftly deflected.
Oh, the places we shall go, the damage we will do! The column of black smoke is what was left of the vicious NDB building. The official report and HUD video will show that the NDB, like Han Solo, did, in fact, shoot first. Just as soon as I get my Sony Vegas update installed.