Changing Alternate Airfield
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Good Day, All,
I’ve RTFM’d the Manual, and looked at MC and WDP. But, I am unable to find a way to change the alternate airfield for both fragged and self-fragged(non-package) missions. Is that doable? -
Drag the steer point for the alternate base to another air base. You may have to zoom in and wiggle it around some before it will turn white and work once you put it over the new base.
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In addition to what TeeSquare already said, it also helps if you open the flight plan window. By clicking on the steerpoint, you will see its properties in that window, including when the name of the base appears. When that happens, you know you’re in the right position, and it can be slightly clearer / faster than the circle turning white.
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Thank, Guys, you were both exactly right. My first attempt went sideways as I didn’t see the Alternate waypoint on the map. My error, the field was not where I thought it was. So, once I figured that out. it was all good. Now, where I 'preflight" in WDP to update the kneeboards, my desired field is shown. I like using my chosen as Alternate as I also use it when I fly the Viper, and all the freqs,TCN, and ILS are known
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Update: On my first mission it worked just fine as described above. But, on my second of the night the UI assigned the undesired airfield as Alternate(as before and shown in Flightplan and MC) but there was no waypoint symbol at the base to drag. I zoomed the UI map all the way in and moved the cursor all over the area.It never “picked up” the waypoint.
So, I couldn’t do as Teesquare said.
Is there a way to access and adjust wherever the Alternate field is designated ? I can get into the flightplan in MC, but it doesn’t let me alter anything. -
In wdp, if you click on the alternate box, you will see a drop down menu that allows you to select any airport. It will fill up the tacan …
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Update: On my first mission it worked just fine as described above. But, on my second of the night the UI assigned the undesired airfield as Alternate(as before and shown in Flightplan and MC) but there was no waypoint symbol at the base to drag. I zoomed the UI map all the way in and moved the cursor all over the area.It never “picked up” the waypoint.
So, I couldn’t do as Teesquare said.
Is there a way to access and adjust wherever the Alternate field is designated ? I can get into the flightplan in MC, but it doesn’t let me alter anything.Hehe, welcome to the world of pain… Yeah its doable , but requires little effort.
If you did select your “plane” then it is a bit tricky - and your radio presets will not be correct - for ALT airbase… , but just follow this micro-guide … it will work
1a. After entering campaign, load , stop the clock … (actually not needed but for the first time… until you get the grip)
1b. SELECT your flight in list , BUT!!! , DON’T select your plane yet !!! - Make sure your name is not in any plane in that flight - IF the flight/plane was already selected , then you’re in trouble - then it requires few extra steps, we’ll return to that at the end
2. MOVE Alternate steerpoint to the AB/Strip of interest , CONFIRM it is WHITE , it is somewhat tricky as it requires ZOOM , it will also show BLUE circle when “glued” to something… just make sure that ALT waypoint is WHITE on Alt Airbase
3. NOW! Click on your plane in that flight - check “Briefing” if your radio channels are set for That -> Alt airbase , … also Alt airbase will be mentioned at the end of the briefing, where support planes are listed, awacs, jstar, ecm
4. That’s it
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NOW that tricky part , - If your plane in flight was already selected from the start , you’ll need to click on ANOTHER FLIGHT AND ANOTHER PLANE in that another flight - summs -> you need to move your “pilot” out of your intended flight -> then start from the beginning of the guide
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ANOTHER tricky point is IF there is just 1 (ONE) flight available , … then you can’t just move your pilot to a different flight / plane - then open ATO (Full) list and select different package temporarily , … move your pilot to some other package/flight/ ->plane … - Then … repeat the process in backwards to your flight - following the guide
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TROUBLE is if it’s like a TE with just one FLIGHT/PLANE … then … hehe, I don’t know , haven’t tried - as I fly campaign - but there must be a way … play with it a bit maybe you’ll figure out
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MAIN PROBLEM are ALT waypoints for CARRIER flights , as they “glue” with the carrier every 2 seconds WHEN THE CLOCK IS RUNNING , so they can be adjusted when the clock is stopped , but next thing after 2 seconds they’ll be back onto carrier … (I’ve had luck adjusting them , then run clock , and then IMMEDIATELY press “Fly” - that worked, but… is not quite practical…)
-of course there’s full “manual” solution , - USE PPT for ALT runway , put on map on alt airbase , write radios manually in the preset …
GOOD LUCK
Cheers
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Thanks, Guys, for the replies. When I fly tonight I’ll be checking both out.
Cobragva, I did go into WDP to check your trick out. It worked fine in WDP. I did notice in the BMS UI that it didn’t change the Alternate waypoint number. That WP# still listed to the other field in Flightplan. However, I noticed that WDP had assigned the Alt. as a PPT with a separate number. But, if when I get in’pit,if my kneeboards are right and I can select that “PPT” I’ll be good to go.
W_F, thanks for laying that all out and I’ll be trying that tonight, too. One thing I noticed at first glance was where you mentioned the blue circle as a “glued” waypoint. In my third mission last night(it was a good BMS evening) there was a circle over the Alternate but it _was_blue and I couldn’t pick up and drag it. So, it looks like tonight I’ll be experimenting with those “tricky parts” as well. -
A bit more update. I’ve done 2 missions this evening. In the first I used the “Cobragva Method”, the second White_Fang’s, and learned some interesting things.
In the first I went into WDP, after saving the DTC in the UI. On the Data Card,I clicked on the data line where the Alt was listed, and the little window popped in. I set it to my desired Alt, saved, and went back into BMS. Once I got in the cockpit I found that my kneeboards were right. I also found that the assigned PPT (see previous entry) did not have lat/long data. What I ended up doing was go to the UI assigned Alt waypoint, via the UFC, and change the lat/long to that my desired Alt. After that everything seemed to work fine, and TACAN was correct.
In the second mission I tried White_Fang’s way. In my first created mission, the Alt. WP was blue, as described before . I created another, and this time it was white. So, I moved it to where desired, then selected my place in the flight. When I went into WDP, the correct data was already on the data card, and in’pit all waypoint data/TCN/etc. seemed as desired.
W_F is right , the tricky parts are indeed…tricky.
Because of that, I’ve come up with the following procedure…
Go into the BMS UI to get your mission, and before you choose your plane see in the Alternate WP circle is white.If so, move it as desired, and save and load your DTC. Then, go into WDP to update your kneeboards, and off you go.
If however, You have the “blue circle or no circle issue” in the UI,select your plane, save and load DTC, go into WDP, do the “cobragva manuver”, and update your kneeboards. When you go back in’pit, change the lat/long for the assigned Alt. WP -
Oh yeah… I forgot to tell you to SAVE the DTC afterwards is all set, … BUt… you’re the man, figured it out. … Well . hope you won’t need an Alternate but there it is
Cheers
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Well . hope you won’t need an Alternate but there it is
Cheers
Well, not too often. It depends on how much fun I have “going in for guns”.