We’ve got a few interested flyers on board so here’s a break down of learning the A-10C.

About the A-10C

The A-10C was developed out of learnings gathered in during the Vietnam War era. Troops on the ground wanted Close Air Support that could linger on station ready to be called in. The aircraft needed to deal with threats at the time (tank busting) and take a lot of ground fire and still get home again.

Combining a massive 30mm cannon, high survivability and new high bypass turbines we get the A-10 Warthog. Since then the aircraft has been upgraded to the ‘C’ model which updates the sensors available, adds a new navigation system and autopilot. Now the A-10C is much less of a ground hugging tank buster and more commonly seen as a medium altitude weapons platform due to the changing nature of the theatres in which it’s used (anti insurgency).

Requirements

TIME: It’s important to note before you begin investing in DCS World: A-10C that it is a ‘study sim.’ Unlike many others on the market this module will require a serious undertaking to learn properly.

OS 64-bit Windows Vista, 7 or 8; CPU: Core i5+; RAM: 8GB; Hard disk space: 10 GB; Video: Shader 3.0 or better; NVIDIA GeForce GTX560 DirectX 9.0c or better; Sound: DirectX 9.0c – compatible; DirectX: 9.0C; requires internet activation.

Note 32-bit operating systems are not supported.

Familiarisation

Since the A-10C is a study sim it’s really unlikely that you will be able to get any short term action, instead it’s important to take pride in the little things. At first you will want to learn the lay out of the cockpit, then perfect the start up sequence, then getting into the air and back down again realistically.

Read the manual and google any questions that you have. It’s natural to be confused by the operation of many systems since the aircraft is old, retrofitted and left in a state of pretty poor (pilot) user experience.

To complete the familiarisation you should be able to identify and understand the operation of all the systems in the cockpit.

Start up

Being able to start up the aircraft is the first major hurdle you will face (unless you skip it or use the autostart feature). Being able to start up and shutdown the aircraft without missing anything or breaking is a huge step up in immersion. It is very easy to start the aircraft up but leave some systems in non-functioning state leading to frustrations and misunderstanding. Learning these systems correct operation and also how to trouble shoot them will help you greatly as you progress through A-10C training.

Procedure in short:

1. Batteries ON (fwd)
2. Inverter ON (fwd)
3. APU ON (fwd)
4. Lamp Test (Pass) (SHIFT L)
5. Fuel Qty Test (Pass)
6. Oxygen Flow Test (Pass)
7. Tune radios (ATC) / Set to Transmit Receive (TR)
8. When APU is at 100% set APU Gen to ON (fwd)
9. Enable external lights (Pinky Switch CTRL+P) & turn on NAV, Formation & Anti collision lights
10. Request ATC permission to start up ( \ )
11. Boot pumps ON (4 switches fwd)
12. Move left engine throttle from cut off to IDLE (fwd) (Right ALT + Pg Up)
13. Monitor EGT, fan speed, fuel flow (left)
14. Wait for caution light Start Cycle to extinguish
15. Move right engine throttle from cut off to IDLE (fwd) (Right CTRL + Pg Up)
16. Monitor EGT, fan speed, fuel flow (right)
17. Wait for caution light Start Cycle to extinguish
18. Turn ON the Left and Right Generators
19. Turn OFF the APU Generator
20. Turn OFF the APU
21. Turn ON the EGI and CDU, note the alignment takes approx. 4 mins. Do not move prior to full alignment.
22. Uncage the Standby Attitude Indicator (SAI)
23. Enable Anti Skid
24. Turn ON the Taxi Light
25. Turn ON the Central Interface Control Unit (CICU)
26. Turn ON the Left and Right MFD
27. Set the Integrated Flight and Fire Control Computer (IFFCC) to TEST
28. Start the IFFCC BIT Test
29. Once complete set the IFFCC to ON
30. On the left or right MFD press the Option Selector Button (OSB) next to Load-All to load the Data Transfer System (DTS) tape with all mission parameters
31. Wait until the dots next to the DTS options reappear indicating that the loading is complete. (Gain Pg Back)
32. Turn on the Left and Right Stability Augmentation System channels (SAS) for Yaw and Pitch
33. Press the T/O Trim button until the light appears to trim the aircraft for takeoff
34. Set the Steer Point dial to Flight Plan
35. Monitor the CDU until the alignment reads ‘T= 4.0 0.8’ and ‘INS NAV RDY’ is flashing. Realign procedure.
36. Press the Function Select Switch (FSK) next to NAV on the CDU to select NAV mode
37. Select EGI as the navigation source
38. Enable the Enhanced Attitude Control (EAC)
39. Enable the Ground Radar
40. Enable Nosewheel Steering (Insert)
41. Arm the ejection seat
42. Close the canopy (CTRL+C)

Coming soon:

Taxi, Take-off, and Landing

En route Navigation, Orbiting

Air to Air Refuelling

Finding targets: Sensor of Interest (SOI) & Sensor Point of Interest (SPI)

Tactical Awareness Display (TAD) and how to use it

The Targeting Pod (TGP)

The Digital Stores Management System (DSMS)

Countermeasures (CMS)

The GAU-8 30mm Cannon

AGM-65X Missile

Mk-82 Bombs

Cluster Munitions (CBUs)

GBU-12 (LGB)

GBU-38 (JDAM)

Categories: Digital Combat Simulation

Tags: a-10c training, DCS, Digital Combat Simulator, dsc world, Warthog