The tutorials and training missions for the F-15 in BVR fighting are great, and I can get kills about 50-60% of the time in these engagements.
WVR is a mystery to me.
What makes most sense to me are the Auto-Acquisition modes (Boresight = 4). I usually fire a slammer or two at long range, then go into Auto-Aquisition mode and try to get Tom Cruise/Top Gun style lock-up.
Have I oversimplified this?
Are there tips/rules of thumb that I should be considering? Maybe a progression like "first try BVR TWS mode, then try..., then try...")?
I have seen some good tutorials that describe how to get into and out of the various WVR missile modes (correcting some confusing info in the manual) - but I have yet to see any tutorials that say "these are the best modes to use when ...".
If your going to Auto-Acq mode after you fire your "radar guided" missiles, you will lose your lock and the Aim-7 will fly dumb, the -120 will go maddog. Try keeping a lock until your sure the missiles hit or missed, then go to a WVR mode.
R.I.P George Carlin: You knew how to make me laugh
I never use boresight I always use the "3" key (I forgot what mode that was). I almost never use the 120 at WVR but I do if the target is to far for a 'winder shot.
__________________________ "Life is meaningless and absent of thorough enjoyment unless there is a scale by which to measure its worth. To some people death is the lowest mark on this scale, and everything else is priceless." - Joe Satrapa
VS-Vertical Scan. It auto locks when in a turning fight or when the targets come closer than 8nm. Yes it is pointless NOT to have the radar on in ANY kind of engagement unless you are setting up for a heater or a maddog shot. I prefer maddogging myself, but #1, you better be quick and quiet so they dont know where you are at when you launch, and #2, you better check fire before you shoot down your wingman. I suck at a2a, but Im straight up lethal if you dont know where Im at and I know exactly where your at.
Many a contrailing 'tard has fallen to my -9's from my A-10 in the dirt.
R.I.P George Carlin: You knew how to make me laugh
Heater means that you use the AIM-9 Sidewinder. You get the missilie to track its target without your own onboard radar "guiding" the seeker head to your desired target. Maddog is the same prinicible were you again bypass the radar to gain a target lock. You get the AIM-120's radar to track and lock by itself. Does that clarify it for you? And yes, Vertical scan is far more effiecient and reliable than bore sight in close combat.
