BMS Other Fighters Mafia (BMSOFM) Journal
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drtbkj, what you should do is reply, go Advanced, then press the paperclip symbol. “add files” will then give you the option to browse your PC for the pdf file you want to attach. Select it and you should choose Done in the lower right corner. Let me see if I can attach a screenshot of what you should do:
Jayb, you da’ man. Checklist should be landing here this weekend.
Meanwhile , here’s another HOTAS option. Using Voice Attack, I moved the CMS functions to the throttle POV. Down is CMS forward, up is CMS back (programmed as before with one chaff/flare each), left is Slap, and right is jammer toggle (J). This option would also be good for some who wants the regular Viper CMS 4 way function. The reason I did it as described was I wanted the Slap button there.
Boat switch forward is Cursor Enable(with Cursor Zero as shifted), and Uncage is aft. -
Good Day, All.
Here is the pdf with a fairly polished Main Checklist for the Hornet. It has been tested in Hornet and Viper. Your opinions and advice are most welcome.
UPDATE:12/15/20- Change item 34, and add 35
34) Request QNH, set altimeter, confirm radar altimeter to STBY35a) Mission data – enter.
Select WPT 1 and Auto STRP (List 4,DCS switch right for AUTO)
Weapons/sensors - AS REQUIRED (TGP modes for AA and AG Master modes)
STORES page - VERIFY PROPER STORE INVENTORY AND STATION STATUS -
Hi, I managed to get airborne, but have not yet managed to land (0/2 attempts), although that will be the next step. RTN and SEQ were what I was missing, I think I realised there was 4 way switch only after the last flights.
Carrier Ops are really interesting for a change of scene!
Taxiing on the carrier was interesting in the small spaces. Does the F-18 steer more than the F-16, or am I just used to higher speeds on a runway and more gentle turns. My pedal setup has never been ideal, but that is now magnified on the small deck.
I am happy to have the F-16’s control scheme (like NWS) while I learn the basics, but eventually I would want a distinct control mapping, so I’m watching what you all develop.
Hands off HOTAS when launching and break to the right.
I will be ramp starting the F-18 for the time being, but will check that part of the checklist - it looks good!
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Hi, I managed to get airborne, but have not yet managed to land (0/2 attempts), although that will be the next step. RTN and SEQ were what I was missing, I think I realised there was 4 way switch only after the last flights.
Carrier Ops are really interesting for a change of scene!
Taxiing on the carrier was interesting in the small spaces. Does the F-18 steer more than the F-16, or am I just used to higher speeds on a runway and more gentle turns. My pedal setup has never been ideal, but that is now magnified on the small deck.
I am happy to have the F-16’s control scheme (like NWS) while I learn the basics, but eventually I would want a distinct control mapping, so I’m watching what you all develop.
Hands off HOTAS when launching and break to the right.
I will be ramp starting the F-18 for the time being, but will check that part of the checklist - it looks good!
Hi, Mypc, I’m glad you’re enjoying BMS’s Bug.
Yes, landing on the Boat IS different, and the main reason I like the Hornet. I believe it was Brother Mower who told us “flare to land, squat to pee”. You can actually Google that reference.
I don’t know if our Bug is modeled with more sensitive NWS or not. The RL Bug has a low and High settings. To me , if you give it a little throttle and full rudder it feels like NWS HI. I also think you’re right in that in the Viper you’re not making these tight turns. My BMS install usually spawns me on Elevator 1(starboard forward) , so I taxi to my 10 o’clock to the Foul Line( border of the landing area) and do a starboard “Bat Turn”. That lines me up nicely with Cat 2.
IMHO, the really cool thing about BMS is you can enjoy the Hornet with completely Viper control scheme. I fly the Viper like the Hornet, but I fully realize that most of us probably do it the other way. To me the “weapon selector switch” where the CMS was has been a big “immersion thing”, as has been the “undesignate” instead of pinky/FOV. For that matter, the same is true with the checklist. I’m having a lot of fun doing the PB checklist based on NATOPS, but works for Hornet and Viper, but fully realize it may well be a bit much for those more Viper-oriented. In fact, I think it will be fun to take the BMS Viper checklist and just “Hornetize it” a bit.
I’m glad I had found the post launch procedure. It’s something I had wondered about. But, fortunately, based on the way the AI wingman launches, I think the Dev’s knew it.
Once you get to ramp starting the Hornet, keep in mind you can do so using the Viper Main Checklist. For example, the BMS Bug starts just fine without the APU. -
Here is a diagram of Flight Deck layout…
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Here’s a couple of Case 1 landing diagrams. One thing I like about “Case 1” vs. “NATOPS …” is the reminder of what a friend once told me- Turn to the 90 as soon as you see the back of the Boat.
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hi drtbkj, congratulations on your first release of the guide, well done! I have some experience with landing the F-18 on the carrier that I found hard to find in any of the manuals, so perhaps useful to your collection. Also, let me know if I am doing stuff wrong, this is just what has worked for me:
When in the downwind:
- Drop gear at below 250 knots, the F-18 will then trim itself to your AoA at that point. So I usually fly an alpha of 8.0 and then drop gear. The 8.0 is the middle of the Hornet bracket.
- With a dirty jet (gear+hook) and not too much speed in the downwind, 200-230, apply full flaps. Keep rpm at around 80-82. Note that the flaps will send you upwards, fight that with the stick
- Now start the turn onto final. One thing I have had issues with is how easy it stalls at that configuration. It is very hard to bank anymore than 30 degrees dirty like that, it drops like a rock in my experience. I found it strange that it would stall that easily making the final turn complicated.
- Also I come onto final a bit higher and a bit further back, around 1-2nm/1000ft from the carrier. So I start my turn past the abeam position. I can not see the deck properly at the landing AoA if I am only at 600 ft
- My glide slope is also more 4 degrees than 2.5, that does not seem to be an issue with navy gear
- Maybe obvious, but aim the fpm at the end of the flight deck while approaching, then let it float to a middle deck position, in front of all 4 wires
I would certainly not mind being corrected in some of this, I may have grown into some bad habits that may work for me but may also be a lot harder than it has to.
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hi drtbkj, congratulations on your first release of the guide, well done! I have some experience with landing the F-18 on the carrier that I found hard to find in any of the manuals, so perhaps useful to your collection. Also, let me know if I am doing stuff wrong, this is just what has worked for me:
When in the downwind:
- Drop gear at below 250 knots, the F-18 will then trim itself to your AoA at that point. So I usually fly an alpha of 8.0 and then drop gear. The 8.0 is the middle of the Hornet bracket.
- With a dirty jet (gear+hook) and not too much speed in the downwind, 200-230, apply full flaps. Keep rpm at around 80-82. Note that the flaps will send you upwards, fight that with the stick
- Now start the turn onto final. One thing I have had issues with is how easy it stalls at that configuration. It is very hard to bank anymore than 30 degrees dirty like that, it drops like a rock in my experience. I found it strange that it would stall that easily making the final turn complicated.
- Also I come onto final a bit higher and a bit further back, around 1-2nm/1000ft from the carrier. So I start my turn past the abeam position. I can not see the deck properly at the landing AoA if I am only at 600 ft
- My glide slope is also more 4 degrees than 2.5, that does not seem to be an issue with navy gear
- Maybe obvious, but aim the fpm at the end of the flight deck while approaching, then let it float to a middle deck position, in front of all 4 wires
I would certainly not mind being corrected in some of this, I may have grown into some bad habits that may work for me but may also be a lot harder than it has to.
Hi, Jayb. I concur with pretty much all of this. I’m not sure how good my habits are, but I’ve found…
2) If you apply full flaps as you’re turning into the downwind, the upward surge actually helps
3) True. Something I’m practicing is using the speedbrake and carrying more rpm. I’ve always noted that the Navy describes power settings and AOA and not air speed. I believe the RL SOP is to land with speed brake in on Final (I’d have to double check that). But, there’s time to retract it once settled on Final
4) Me, too. Sometimes I’ll line up the trailing edge of the wing with the Carrier’s stern, and then turn into the 90. It’s been tough from me to go from the Downwind and on to Final and be lined up right when I start in close. And, if you get sucked in tight, or more usually in my case, overshoot, the whole pass is botched.
6) Even the Navy describes it as aiming for the crotch. -
Good Day, All. While celebrating the inbound 4.35, I thought I’d finish up the checklist . Hopefully, .35 won’t make it obsolete
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Good Day, All. I’ve been posting a few 4.35 issues elsewhere, and it seemed logical to put them here, too.
- There are now a few missing hotspots in cockpit
They are-JFS
-Parking Brake
Landing Lights
take off trim
Antiskid
However, not to worry. I was going nuts trying to get the UI to cooperate, but thanks to the 4.35 Alternate Launcher,( now available) you can assign them to either keyboard or HOTAS.
https://www.benchmarksims.org/forum/showthread.php?31774-Falcon-BMS-Alternative-Launcher-(Easy-Setup-Keep-Joystick-Assignments)/page64&highlight=alternate+launcher
will get you there, and many thanks, Chihiro!
BTW,Chihiro mentions copying all the files in Config. ending in Setup. It did work in carrying over 4.34 AL assignments, but you should do a quick once over over your HOTAS. AL didn’t pick up a few things like the parking brake, etc. It almost seemed like AL wanted to give a new DX assignment to them.
- There are now a few missing hotspots in cockpit
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Good Day, All. I got as far as taking off in the Hornet last night, and the only issue was JFS. I had mapped Start 1 at first, but I had 2 failed start attempts in a row. I ending up going with a taxiway launch.Upon RTFM’ing, I read that JFS 2 gives a better chance to start. I’ve remapped my HOTAS to JFS 2 and will test later.
BTW, there is one more potential addition to the bug report. I’ve mapped parking brake on and off to my HOTAS as a workaround to the lack of hotspot. It works , but the antiskid switch activates at the same time, even if I don’t want it to. -
Good Day, All. I got as far as taking off in the Hornet last night, and the only issue was JFS. I had mapped Start 1 at first, but I had 2 failed start attempts in a row. I ending up going with a taxiway launch.Upon RTFM’ing, I read that JFS 2 gives a better chance to start. I’ve remapped my HOTAS to JFS 2 and will test later.
BTW, there is one more potential addition to the bug report. I’ve mapped parking brake on and off to my HOTAS as a workaround to the lack of hotspot. It works , but the antiskid switch activates at the same time, even if I don’t want it to.As we do our “Hotspot Workaround” (see Bug Report:Missing Hotspots…) with HOTAS or keyboard mapping, I remapped to use Eng:JFS Switch-Start 2, instead of one. I just tested and did 2 successful starts.
So, we can get back in the air. I know I’m sounding like a Alt. Launcher “Groupie” but it really has helped. Without key hotspots, we need to squeeze controls to the HOTAS or keyboard that we can usually do in pit. -
Although our previously discussed hotspot workarounds have hopefully gotten you back in the air, I’ve been working on restoring the Hornet’s JFS,landing lights, and parking brake hotspots. I’ve been told the key to this is the data>art>CkptArt>specific aircraft folder> 3dbuttons.dat
I was hoping to compare the Viper’s entry ( I used the F-16CM-50 folder) with the Hornet’s. The problem is there is no f-18c folder. There are 2 EA-18G’s, a “EF-18M”, and a bunch of numbered folders, in addition to the Viper and other jets… As a test, I copied the -50’s kneeboard listings to EF-18M, but the hotspots did not show up.
Then I had the idea to copy 4.34’s EF-18M ckptArt to 4.35, after carefully saving it to desktop. No hotspots.Then I copied the entire 4.34 ckptArt to 4.35(after carefully saving 4.35’s) I realized that would effect the Viper, as well, but I just wanted to see if I was on the right track. That didn’t work either, the hotspots are still not there…
Any ideas or tips will be most appreciated.
Merry Christmas to All,
Joe -
F-18C folder inside CkptArt is the 1799.
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F-18C folder inside CkptArt is the 1799.
M, that was a great Christmas present .
So, when I look in a Viper folder (f-16cm-50 is what I’m using) I see for jfs
SimJfsStartInc -0.800643 1.398373 -2.233014 30 320 1
SimJfsStartDec -0.800643 1.398373 -2.233014 30 319 2
And, in the Hornet 1799 I see
SimJfsStart -0.37953 1.481295 -2.286586 20 115 1
So, after saving the clean 1799, I replaced 1799’s JFS entry with the Viper’s. Unfortunately, the hotspot didn’t come back in’pit.
I’m about to do XMAS stuff, but later I’m going to see if I missed other entries. I would think there’s a jfs start 2, for example
The experiment continues…
Update: I thought I’d try something else, so I copied the CM-50’s kneeboard entries to 1799, not hotspots. But that may not be a good test, as I have not gotten the kneeboards to cycle with key commands, either. -
Good Day, All, and I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.
The news of the day refers to the hotspot issue. In another thread White Fang wrote…
Without Lodeditor and unpacking database - NO WAY… right? correct me if I’m wrong. (similar problems with AV-8B+ pit, also pit dials lightning) , … 4.35 has changes to all those functions , so unfortunately those changes negatively impacted other pits then F-16’s …-OH! YOU can edit hotspots coords in 3dpit.dat , but that is wiiiiiild guess for coords system … even more complicated then to do it from Lodedit , and still, you can’t assign proper switches state textures … like a pro
They can be fixed … but as I’ve said above. PITA. : unpack database , find pit to fix , “CONFIGURE” and fire up Lodeditor, load pit model , assign buttons/ switches textures for all cases - day/night dial lightning , save model , repack into database … Kinda a week day job … I have no time for that - also would need help from experienced Lodeditor “guru” , as my knowledge is very limited.
I’ve did some things before like pilot legs for F-18 with kneeboards , but that was before db was changed to >2GB format , … it was easier back then , believe me. like, piece of cake.
Assigning textures is probably the worst job as every theater has it’s own textures set , so fixing pit in one theater means probably not working in other theater - but is probably easier to fix that , just need to rename assigned .dds correctly … it would work … EVERY START IS HARD - once you get going … ah what to hell - go to finish
There are programmers expressing interest in the Hornet Mafia, and I told them I’d share it here. -
thanks for the updates, our beautiful hornet has much potential
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thanks for the updates, our beautiful hornet has much potential
I agree , Seb.
My Friend’s, please allow me to get on my Soap Box for a moment…
I’m just “Lt.Nobody” ( to quote FOTIntruder) but a couple of people in the “inner circle” have reached out to me. What I’m getting is that those of us that want to Hornet and other non-Viper jets to be what they can be in BMS need to take a “God helps those who help themselves” attitude. I’m told it’s not that the Dev’s don’t care, it’s that they’re extended in other directions. So, if we want the hotspots back or whatever, we need to step up to the plate. And, keep in mind that this is NOT just about the Hornet. Anyone that enjoys the Harrier ,Mudhen, whatever, needs to join the Mafia. In fact, from now on for me it’s not the Hornet Mafia, it’s Other Fighters Mafia.
I’ve asked this thread be made a stickee, and I will continue to report.
So, how about it? -
I agree , Seb.
My Friend’s, please allow me to get on my Soap Box for a moment…
I’m just “Lt.Nobody” ( to quote FOTIntruder) but a couple of people in the “inner circle” have reached out to me. What I’m getting is that those of us that want to Hornet and other non-Viper jets to be what they can be in BMS need to take a “God helps those who help themselves” attitude. I’m told it’s not that the Dev’s don’t care, it’s that they’re extended in other directions. So, if we want the hotspots back or whatever, we need to step up to the plate. And, keep in mind that this is NOT just about the Hornet. Anyone that enjoys the Harrier ,Mudhen, whatever, needs to join the Mafia. In fact, from now on for me it’s not the Hornet Mafia, it’s Other Fighters Mafia.
I’ve asked this thread be made a stickee, and I will continue to report.
So, how about it?+1
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…So, after saving the clean 1799, I replaced 1799’s JFS entry with the Viper’s. Unfortunately, the hotspot didn’t come back in’pit.
It is normal because now the JFS position is no more corresponding to the F-18 cockpit where the JFS button is located because you are using the values for the F-16 (speaking about pure XYZ coordinates in the screen).
You need to edit the default F-18 line :
SimJfsStart -0.37953 1.481295 -2.286586 20 115 1like this :
SimJfsStartInc -0.37953 1.481295 -2.286586 20 115 1 (where -0.37953 1.481295 -2.286586 are the XYZ values)
SimJfsStartDec -0.37xxxx 1.48xxxx -2.28xxxx 20 115 1 (here you need to slightly adjust the XYZ values to correspond to the exact location where the jfsStartDec hotspot should be)So the first 3 values are the XYZ hotspot coordinates and the last 3 values are : the size of the spot area, the sound applied (when you click on the button) and …… i don’t remember for the third one (anyway should not be in the right order here so i need Dee-Jay to recall me)
BB