Aerial refueling possible in the Bug?
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Sting, truly excellent demonstration of Air to Air Refueling in the BMS Hornet!!!
Burner, my brother, excellent videos on the 4.33 Bug! I am finding them very helpful.
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If only we had a basket to plug into…… maybe one day.
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…mmmmmnnn…basket…
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Yes a refueling drogue would be pretty nice. I installed and removed hundreds of these in my days working KC-135’s. I had one fall on my foot from a B-5 stand. It broke my big toe
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I’ve seen the aftermath of hitting the basket too hard and setting up a standing wave in the hose…rips the probe right out of the nose of the jet. I’d like to see that included in the modelling…
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I’ll tell you all the same thing I’ve been telling the dev team on this topic for, well, literally years now… Absent a hose model that is animatable from code (without excessive CPU consumption naturally) there is no play to add drogue support. If such a model were to be possible, then we might talk about doing something. But. It took more than a year elapsed of spare time work to get the boom working more correctly and that’s child’s play compared to building code for boom-streamed-drogue or better yet drogue/hose pod set ups. Adjust expectations accordingly
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Understood, Boxer. The basket is a major PITA to plug anyhow.
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…so…4 to 6 weeks then?
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Understood, Boxer. The basket is a major PITA to plug anyhow.
I tried hitting the basket in a trainer not long ago and was very surprised how well I did at it for a first time (so was my back seater)…even though the frame rates were screwed and had the tanker (a KC-135 with a basket, BTW…) jumping all over the sky on me every time I was near to plugged. Just based on that I think hitting the basket is WAY easier than my feeble attempts at the boom in BMS.
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Shameless confession - In the sim, I’ve shot down more tankers than I’ve connected with. :rolleyes:
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+1…
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Absent a hose model that is animatable from code (without excessive CPU consumption naturally) there is no play to add drogue support.
Done. Next.
Just kidding Boxer. I know it’s a bit more involved than that.
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lol
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…still, nice work PumpyHead!
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Dude, any advice for this versus in the F16? I am very good at AAR in the Viper but cant get a poke in the Bug.
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Dude, any advice for this versus in the F16? I am very good at AAR in the Viper but cant get a poke in the Bug.
AAR in bms f-16 is tough nut to crack. Was watching a video on a real F16 doing Air to air refueling, looked so easy.
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You can use the cross in the upper right of the HUD as a guide. Put that/keep that on the boom during pre-contact. Drive forward slowly until cleared. Default tanker speeds for the F/A-18 seems to a little faster than for the F16, about 309/310 knots indicated.
Hard part is finding the right spot to connect after clearance. I can’t find a comfortable POV to see the director lights with the canopy rail. With practice I’m learning what the ‘right’ sight-picture looks like. It’s farther forward that what it feels it should be (for me).
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i dont have any advice sorry. i just do the same thing i do on the f16. totally focus on maintianing a consistent reference picture. the lights do make it easier but you dont really need them. ohh i never look at the boom. its totally distracting.
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You can use the cross in the upper right of the HUD as a guide. Put that/keep that on the boom during pre-contact. Drive forward slowly until cleared. Default tanker speeds for the F/A-18 seems to a little faster than for the F16, about 309/310 knots indicated.
Hard part is finding the right spot to connect after clearance. I can’t find a comfortable POV to see the director lights with the canopy rail. With practice I’m learning what the ‘right’ sight-picture looks like. It’s farther forward that what it feels it should be (for me).
If you’re looking at the director lights in a Hornet, you’re doing it wrong. Given you can see both the probe and the boom/basket your job is to fly form on the basket…so don’t take your eyes off of it once close and/or plugged.
Using the “iron cross” in the HUD (which is to the Hornet what the Gun Cross is to the Viper) is a fair way to begin the approach to the plug…after that match speed and use slip to get there, maintain until topped.