General Category > Unofficial F/A-18 Acceleration Pack board
Real F/A-18C Simulator
MikeB54:
Orion,
It was a stationary simulator. I don't know what software it was running but it wasn't Prepar3d. The graphics weren't anywhere near as good.
Sludge,
No PCL. I also fly the VRS Superbug and I learned the startup procedures from that.
On the cat shots, the procedure I was using in FSX was to set the trim so that on launch the W would be 10 degrees nose up and when the velocity vector matched it I would reduce power so my airspeed didn't exceed 200 kts. Now that you mention it, the W did go to 15 and the VV to 10 on the launch.
As for the meatball, I always found it difficult to see in FSX. As it turns out, that's the way it is in real life, too. When I was showing my son the video I commented on how hard it was to see the ball. He just shrugged and said "That's just the way it is." In the sim I picked up the ball just about as I was crossing the wake. I don't recall the TACAN distance at the 90. I'll see if I can get an answer to that.
I didn't notice any difference in the HUD from what I was used to in FSX. If there were any audio alerts I didn't hear them because my son was wearing the headset so he could talk to the sim operator. It was a different set up from the T-45 simulator at Meridian. In the 45 sim, the sim console was behind the cockpit and it was easy to make changes to the environment. In the 18 there was a sim operator in the next room who did all the config changes. There was a DATA indication that would show up occasionally just below the altitude readout. If I remember correctly it had to do with the INS/NAV system being updated with GPS data. Other than that I don't recall anything on it that I hadn't seen before.
Mike
Ray:
Very nice report, Mike! Thanks for sharing!
I was lucky to have a 45 min. ride in the CF-18 simulator at CFB Cold Lake, Alberta back in 1994. Obviously it was a F/A-18A sim, but also with 360 degrees view and stationary. No carrier landing trials, however, I remember most vividly the sensitive flight control system. You had to only think about turning, to get the plane rolling (or pitching for that matter). I was only used to fly gliders in RL up to that point, and although they are agile too, the Hornet is a different story, I really needed a couple of minutes to get used to the Hornets fast response for your inputs, in fact, after take-off I needed around half a minute to keep the wings just steady level, I was always "over"banking.
Again, thanks for the insight! Cheers!
Sludge:
Mike...
Ahh, OK. Good deal. One of the glaring faults of the Sludge (and default) Hornet is that it really doesnt have all the necessary "hardcore" cold/dark startup procedures.
So, for right now, I'll keep the auto-tension hold UP ELEVATOR VALUE where it is. As once you take off it shoots you up to 15 deg on the W and about 10 deg V/Vector... by then you can take the controls and make the necessary adjustments (back in the pattern [BRC then turn downwind] OR outbound vector for a mission). And I know the real-world bird uses takeoff and carrier UP TRIM but as an FSX "less XML code is MORE" work-around, I use the UP ELEVATOR and not the UP TRIM. Makes for easier programming, as there's no additional XML code required to "break free"...all one has to do is make one stick input and they are free to fly.
Yeah, just sucks that for those of us without TrackIR, we cant slew our heads to the left as easily. Plus, in FSX the field of view is a big restriction, thats why I use 2D HUD from the 45 to the wires. Good to know real-world its a problem too, probly not as bad as FSX, but still a problem.
OK, good to know... probly cant incorporate that ("data" readout) into the HUD but as always real-world info is good to have.
Thanks.
Sludge
Letourn:
Mike thank you for sharing that experience with us. Must have been one heck of a day.
Your son is flying with witch Marine Squadron?
Did he ever had time to try the Sludge or the Superbug in FSX with you?
Let
MikeB54:
Glad you liked the report. I hope people find it useful.
My son is with VMFA-323. He hasn't flown the Sludge Hornet or the Superbug yet. He may be coming home for the Holidays and I hope to get him to try them then.
Mike
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