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First, look for a "Preferences" or "Options" menu, and turn on settings for "No Damage" or "Invincible" or "No Crashes", so you won't have to worry about making mistakes. If you're already an experienced sim pilot, you may want to enable all the other realism options to get the best feel for the simulation; but if you're kind of new at this, don't be embarrassed to start out with the simplest settings. There will be plenty of time to turn up the difficulty level as you get comfortable with the basics - the goal is to minimize frustration and maximize enjoyment. Also, get the configuration correct for your controls, or at least make sure your joystick is properly calibrated.
Second, scan the documentation for the basic keyboard controls necessary for a test flight. In particular, note the throttle control keys, view selection keys, and the all-important Pause or Suspend key. Pause any time you need to refer to the manual, or this book, or your notes, to avoid missing an opportunity. An alternative to a Pause key is an Autopilot control, which should at least prevent you from crashing while you're looking something up or scrutinizing a cockpit instrument.
If the simulation has such a thing, choose a "test flight" or "free flight" mode where you can concentrate on getting to know your aircraft without being bothered by enemies. Or you might find some training missions where you can ignore the instructor and just experiment. Or, if there's a mission editor, you can create your own simple solo flight missions for practice.
| It's time to "kick the tires and light the fires!" (U.S. Air Force photo) |
 | Many simulations will show the aircraft's control surfaces moving as you deflect the joystick and rudders, which will let you confirm that your control devices are configured properly before taking off. (U.S. Air Force photo) |
Now climb into the cockpit (switch to an internal view), and check over the instrument panel. For now, the important indicators are airspeed and altitude.
 | If you have a Head-Up Display (HUD) screen, airspeed is displayed on the left side and altitude on the right. Here, speed is 402 knots, and altitude is 3480 feet. Chapter 4 will go into more detail on displays. |
Depending on the simulation, you may need to find keys to start the engine(s) and release wheel brakes, and you may need to taxi out to a runway. Be very gentle with your throttle as you taxi around, as your engines aren't designed for convenient control at really low speed. If you have rudder pedals, see if they can be used to for steering on the ground. Otherwise, just use the stick.
Taking off is pretty easy as long as you're paying attention. You just need to build up speed until the airflow over the wings generates enough lift. Smoothly run the throttle up to full power (afterburners if you have them), and hold steady with the stick until reaching takeoff speed - around 100 knots for prop aircraft, 140 to 150 for jets. (A knot is a nautical mile per hour, and a nautical mile is pretty close to a standard mile.) The flight path indicator should rise up to the center of the HUD.
 | Then gently pull back to point the nose up 5 to 10 degrees from level. (U.S. Air Force photo) |
 | You should see the altitude reading start to move as the aircraft climbs, and the airspeed should continue to increase. |
If you're carrying a full load of fuel and weapons, as you often will be on a combat mission, remember that the extra weight and drag (air resistance) make it that much harder to get off the ground - meaning that you'll need much more care in maintaining airspeed, pitch angle, and steady attitude.
Before you relax, raise your landing gear (they can be damaged if left out at high speeds, and in any case they're slowing you down when airspeed is critical), and retract wing flaps if they're extended. Flaps increase lift at low speed, but also increase drag, so they're great for landing. But, depending on the aircraft and the simulation, you may find takeoff easier without using flaps.
 | Since the view over the nose at this point is probably mostly empty sky, this is a good time to look out the left and right sides. These views will give you a sense of your climb angle, as well as a look at the scenery around your airbase. |
 | A rear view is also usually pretty dramatic during climb-out. (U.S. Air Force photo) |
Keep climbing to 5000 feet or so, then level off and reduce throttle to around 75%. If you've been holding your breath up to now, here is a reminder to take a deep one and relax. Try out some of the other view keys, especially external "chase" and "flyby" views, and observe the effect on the aircraft as you make small and gentle adjustments with the joystick.
While we're discussing takeoffs, here is a checklist for getting up safely on those nerve-wracking occasions when you've got a short runway, a heavily loaded or low-power aircraft, or even some combination of such problems.
Try another turn, this time concentrating on holding your altitude and bank angle steady during the turn. In combat, you won't be scored on precision flying, but the more accurate your control of the aircraft, the better success you'll have.
 | Also, try out the "up" or "forward/up" view while turning, to get a better view in the direction you're headed. |
Be sure to practice both left and right turns. On prop aircraft, engine torque affects handling a bit differently in each direction.
Now it's time to show off a bit. Air combat is not really about aerobatic maneuvers, but then again the more control you have, the better off you'll be in the heat of battle.
Air Combat Maneuver Visualization
To illustrate aerobatic and combat maneuvers, a unique visualization program is included with this book. Each maneuver is stored in a file with the extension ".ACM". (The program can also display ACMI recordings - "VHS" files - created by Microprose's Falcon 4.0 simulator.) If you haven't installed the viewer yet, run the "ACMVIZ/ACMINST.EXE" file on the CD-ROM to install it to your hard drive and configure Windows to recognize the ".ACM" files and run the viewer program when appropriate, You can try running it directly from the CD-ROM first, if you prefer. If you're reading the web preview of this book instead of the CD-ROM, or you want to get the latest version of ACMVIZ, shift-click here to download the self-extracting archive. Whenever a maneuver file is associated with the text, you'll see this icon:
Click on the icon to view the maneuver Try it now and experiment with the viewer application. If you get a warning dialog, select the "Open it" option and click to remove the checkmark for "Always ask before opening this type of file." If you see a bunch of text, ACMVIZ.EXE hasn't been fully installed. If you have trouble running the viewer from your browser, you can run ACMVIZ.EXE directly, and use the "File/Open" menu selection to load specific ACM files.
ACMVIZ shows a 3D view of up to four aircraft, with optional color-coded "smoke trails." The "Play" button starts or pauses the animation, or you can use the slider to change the view time directly. The bottom slider controls the playback speed. Within the view area, you can drag with the left mouse button to rotate the view, and drag with the right mouse button to zoom in and out. The "View" menu provides access to a text description of the maneuver, and a choice of viewpoints:
The "Ride" and "Target" menus select which aircraft you're riding in and which aircraft you're looking towards.
- Cockpit view - from inside the cockpit of your aircraft, with user-controlled direction
- Padlock view - from inside the cockpit, always pointed toward your target
- Chase view - from behind your aircraft, in an imaginary aircraft performing the same maneuvers
- External - from outside your aircraft and following along with it, with user-controlled direction
- Fly-by - from a stationary viewing position, pointed toward your aircraft
- To Target - external view of your aircraft, pointed toward your target
- From Target - external view of your target, pointed toward your aircraft
- Dogfight Track - external view centered between your aircraft and your target
- Satellite view - external view from directly above your aircraft.
There are keyboard shortcuts for most actions, described in the "Help" menu under "Keys," and also shown in the menus.
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| Click on the icon to view a roll maneuver |
Flying inverted is always good for a cheap thrill. Start with plenty of speed, do a half roll, then push forward to keep the nose level. An "up" view at this point should get you a nice look at the terrain. By the way, some aircraft are not very happy flying upside-down, and your engine might cut out on you after a while.
For some reason, the good old loop is always a temptation. Hey, it's your simulated world - go for it!
|
| Click on the icon to view a loop |
While you're fooling around, try out a couple of maneuvers that are a little more relevant to combat tactics. An Immelman is the first (upward) half of a loop, giving you a 180-degree change in heading, followed by a half roll from inverted back to normal.
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| Click on the icon to view an Immelman |
A Split-S is sort of the opposite of an Immelman: a roll to inverted, followed by the second (downward) half of a loop.
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| Click on the icon to view a Split-S |
 | Fighter planes and true aerobatic aircraft share some common traits (structural strength to withstand high G-forces, and large power-to-weight ratios), but their true purposes are very different, so don't expect a combat plane to be the perfect stunt vehicle. And some military aircraft, especially bombers, may not be able to perform even the simplest maneuvers. But then, in a simulation, at least no one will court-martial you for trying it! |
One more technique you might want to practice before moving on is accomplishing rapid changes in speed (without changing altitude) and altitude (while controlling speed). Coordination of stick and throttle is an important skill. Formation flying is a good test of this skill - try setting up a mission where another aircraft goes through a long series of waypoints at various altitudes, speeds, and headings, then try and stick close to him. Even better, link up a mulitplayer sim with a friend and take turns being leader and wingman. Make sure mid-air collisions are enabled for the pucker factor, then try and stay within 50 feet of the leader.
Although a discussion of weapons won't appear until later in this book, I know perfectly well you're going to want to squeeze off a few gun rounds during the test flight. Hopefully there's a cooperating target near by. Friendly or not doesn't matter - it's only a simulation, and I'm sure you can come up with a good excuse. Just be careful to avoid CFIT (controlled flight into terrain) while attacking a ground target. If you're carrying missiles, you may be able to launch one just to watch it fly away, but don't worry about hitting anything until you've had a chance to figure out the targeting procedure and weapon constraints.
When practicing landings, use the "invincible" cheat options to save time in case of a mistake. Start with easy flight models and work up to full realism. Give yourself lots of room to get into proper approach parameters (position, speed, altitude, and heading) so that you don't need to take drastic measures at the last minute when things get busy. I mean lots of room - 10 miles from the runway, even farther if you're starting from high altitude.
At first, focus on one parameter at a time. Start by getting lined up with the runway.
 | Note that you do not want to just point at the runway, like the guy on the left here. Instead, you want to fly toward an imaginary line extending out from the runway centerline. Only when you're over this line can you turn toward the runway and be correctly lined up. |
If you have a map or radar display showing where the landing strip is relative to your position, and you know the orientation of the runway, you can approximately determine the direction and distance to the approach line. For example, many sims have all runways pointing north, so you just need to fly to a point a few miles south of the airbase.
 | When the base is coming up to being directly north of you, you've reached the approach line and can turn north to head home. |
If your aircraft is equipped with an Instrument Landing System, the ILS display will guide you onto the correct path. You may need to find a control to turn on the ILS receiver, or at least configure the HUD into the proper mode. The ILS detects a beam transmitted from the runway and displays your offset from the correct approach line. However, it can be confusing if you don't already have a rough idea where the runway and the correct approach path is. The position of the vertical line of the ILS (the localizer deviation bar) indicates which side of the approach line you're on:
 | if it's to the left of center as shown here, you need to travel left to meet the path. |
 | For example, both of these aircraft will see the ILS centered at this point in time, |
 | like this, even though one is flying perpendicular to the proper approach. The ILS marker in the aircraft that's lined up would be holding steady, while the other guy's marker would be moving right-to-left. What he should have done, assuming he knew he was flying perpendicular to the approach path, was to start a left turn a little earlier, as soon as the ILS started drifting leftward away from the right edge. |
 | On the other hand, if you are pointed at the runway, but the ILS says you're off the glide path, turn up to 45 degrees away from the runway but toward the glide path - to the left in this case. The more offset the ILS indicator is, the more you should turn. Now, fly until the ILS approaches center, and then turn back to the runway. |
We'll get to approach altitudes in a minute, but you want to be in the right ballpark - 2000 to 3000 feet - while lining up.
If you're already within a few miles of the runway by the time you've got the lineup figured out, you'll need more room to solve the rest of the approach, so overfly the strip and make a gentle 180-degree turn back out to your approach point. You've got the first step figured out, so move on to airspeed. Proper landing speed varies by aircraft, but your approach speed should be somewhere around 200 knots - slow enough to be able to extend gear and flaps, and to slow the rest of the way down, but fast enough to stay airborne and in control. If you're going way too fast, reduce throttle to idle and deploy airbrakes. Watch the airspeed indicator and anticipate when you're going to reach the desired approach speed, retracting brakes and throttling back up as necessary before getting too slow. You don't want to be "chasing the gauges" back and forth; inertia and engine response times cause some delay between control inputs and results. It's generally easier to slow down than to speed up, and dangerous to be going too slow, so keep on the high side until you have good control over airspeed.
So, now you have a good lineup and approach speed. Again, if you're close to the runway by now (or on any landing approach if you're near the runway and too far off on any parameters), go around and start again. Hopefully you still have plenty of fuel on board, and no-one behind you waiting for landing clearance!
Extend landing gear and flaps. The gear I don't need to explain (check the cockpit indicator to verify that they're properly down and locked); the flaps give you more lift and control at low speed, and also help slow you down. The aircraft will probably handle a little differently in this configuration, so be ready to adjust stick and throttle to compensate.
All that's left is the descent part. Remember the imaginary line along the ground indicating your approach path? Tilt it up from the landing threshold (the white lines across the beginning of the runway), and you have your glide slope. As you fly toward the runway at a fixed approach altitude, your level path will intersect this glide slope a few miles from the runway. The angle at which this glide slope line is rotated above horizontal corresponds to your safest descent rate down to the ground. Too steep, and you'll hit the ground too hard; too shallow, and you'll be too low along the approach (and in a bad way should you have any sort of engine trouble). Your ILS, and/or runway lights, are there to guide you onto the correct glide slope.
 | The position of the horizontal line of the ILS (the glide slope deviation bar) indicates where the slope is relative to your current altitude. If you're a long way out from the runway, the glide slope will be higher up than you want to be flying - just stay level until the ILS shows that you're meeting up with it, then start your descent. |
If you don't have a working ILS, or runway glide slope lights (which appear green for a correct approach, yellow if you're too high, and red if you're too low), see if your manual has recommended descent parameters. A typical glide slope is around 3 degrees, or 300 feet of altitude per mile, with a vertical velocity under 5 feet per second at touchdown.
Up to this point, the landing procedure is pretty obvious. But for the final descent, you need to think a bit differently. You do not want to point the nose at the runway and fly down at it. Why not? First, doing so will increase your speed just when you need to be slowing down instead. Your tires won't last long if they have to go from 0 to 300 knots in an instant. And you won't last long in the military if you keep cracking up planes by rolling off the end of the runway. Second, landing on the nose gear (or on the propeller) is a good way to break an airplane. Instead, you want to slow down in a controlled manner, so that your wings generate less lift and let you gently down. In a perfect landing, you actually stall the aircraft a few inches above the end of the runway. The way to accomplish this descent is to use the throttle to control vertical descent, and the stick to control speed. Yes, this is opposite of the way you normally think of the controls.
It's best to practice this on a mock approach while still up at a comfortable altitude. Starting above 3000 feet and around 250 knots, with gear and flaps out, gradually reduce throttle while holding the nose level or slightly above the horizon. Be careful not to get so slow that you begin to stall. Your instruments - vertical speed indicator and altimeter - should show that you start descending. You can also watch the flight path indicator or FPI, usually a small circle in the HUD that shows the direction the aircraft is moving.
 | This symbol is also referred to as a velocity vector - think of it as looking down an arrow from behind. At higher speeds, it generally stays at the center of the HUD, where the nose is pointed. (Your HUD may have a fixed center "W" symbol or waterline marker as shown above, or some other "HUD Center Point" symbol.) As you slow down to around 140 to 180 knots, the flight path indicator should "separate" and start to drop, indicating that you're losing altitude even though the nose is still level with, or even above, the horizon. This is why you need to think of throttle as altitude control and stick as speed control - the aircraft is not going where the nose is pointing, so pitching down doesn't so much reduce altitude as pick up speed to the point where the nose comes back down to the FPI. Likewise, adjusting throttle dramatically affects lift and thus altitude. |
Now increase the throttle a bit until you return to a constant altitude (the FPI climbs back up to the center of the HUD). With small throttle adjustments, you can balance the FPI just where you want. During final approach, "where you want" is at the runway threshold, because it's indicating exactly where the aircraft is going. Now, adjust throttle back to the point where the FPI just separates, and then try small changes in pitch. As you pull the nose up at this speed, the primary effect is not to put you into a climb, but to slow you down. Pitching the nose down below level will speed you up. Careful control of throttle and stick together lets you set your aircraft right on the glide slope and keep it there in a gentle descent all the way down to the runway.
Summarizing the descent procedure, you approach leveled off at around 2000 feet, line up on the approach path so that the runway is in front of you and the vertical ILS bar is centered, reduce throttle until the FPI separates, and pitch the nose up about 5 degrees while holding the FPI at zero degrees. The horizontal ILS bar should be stuck at the top of the HUD until you intersect the glide slope, at which point it starts to drop, indicating that you should reduce throttle slightly to follow it down (possibly extending brakes briefly to respond faster), so that the FPI points at the runway and the ILS bar is centered. The nose should stay above the horizon the whole time.
 | For a perfect touchdown, the nose should be pitched up about 10 degrees above horizontal - you can either hold it there going down, or flare just before crossing the threshold. In some aircraft, this reduces your vision of the runway, but no-one promised landing would be a piece of cake. Trust me, the ground's still down there. (U.S. Air Force photo) |
An official military landing procedure involves flying a "racetrack" pattern, in which your first fly directly over the runway, turn a half-circle starting at the end of the strip, descend and slow down while heading back parallel to the runway out to an approach point, then turn back for the final descent. If you like doing things "by the book", this is the way to do it. The rest of us will continue to do the simpler straight-line approach, and even break the rules and come in opposite the correct runway heading in an emergency.
If you find yourself having to land in a strong crosswind, you'll need to make allowances. The wind causes your plane to drift sideways instead of going purely forward in the direction of its nose. But your flight path indicator is showing your motion relative to the air around you, not relative to the ground, so it's no help. There are a few ways you can compensate for a crosswind - try them and see which you like the best in a given sim.
 | One method is to point the nose into the wind just enough so that you stay on the approach path (the aircraft on the right in this figure). For example, with a wind coming from your left, point the nose left (rudder controls are the easiest way to do this) until the ILS or approach line holds steady - it will be somewhat right of the nose. Just before touchdown, you should yaw the nose back to center so that your wheels don't roll you off the runway. |
Another way to land in a crosswind is to fly the approach pointed parallel to the glide path on the upwind side, as the aircraft on the left is doing in the above figure. The wind pushes you over and, ideally, closes the gap just above the end of the runway. This can be harder to judge, although you can "do the math" if you like. For example, if you're traveling at 150 knots and there's a crosswind from the right at 15 knots, you'll slide left 1/10 mile for every mile you fly - so if you're two miles out, you should be 2/10 of a mile right of the runway and aimed parallel to it.
Yet another technique is to bank into the crosswind during the descent, using the angled part of your wings' lift to counteract the wind. Be sure to level out before touchdown.
 | To catch a high-speed jet on a small carrier deck, the aircraft is equipped with a tailhook that's deployed during descent, and four wires are stretched across the landing zone. (U.S. Navy photo) |
 | And you sure don't want to roll off the side and have to wait for the recovery crew to come pluck you out of the water! (U.S. Navy photo) |
As with any landing, proper lineup, approach, and control over speed and altitude are the key to a carrier landing, but here you have less margin for error. If the approach is looking off, don't risk a multi-million dollar aircraft, an expensive pilot training investment, an entire deck crew, or even a successful simulator mission - wave off, go around, and try it again. Constant practice makes is easier. Real Navy pilots are graded on each and every trap to keep their skills sharp. Once you've mastered carrier landings, setting down on a big airbase runway will seem like child's play.
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