DCS Fuel School | AAR Tutorial | Episode 2 - F-15C

A detailed look at how to air to air refuel in the F-15C Eagle using the KC-135 Pilot Director Light (PDL) System.

What is DCS?

Music:
ODESZA - All We Need (Autograf Remix)

[steelpanther]

some tips that worked for me in refueling F-15. 1.) rendezvous with tanker, lock him up on radar becasue DCS does not model correctly TACAN for F-15 eagle. 2.) for speed control its useful to think of throttle control like 3 steps forward 2 steps back and observe. 3.) when entering and staying in the green lights control zone in the middle and taking fuel, keep your points of referecence on the tankers bottom fuselage yellow line, and the lights themselves, and the engines for horizontal level, scan all three areas one after the other constantly. For additional visual cue, you can try to line up the top of your HUD glass so that you can look at the tankers lights above the HUD glass edge when using trackir 4.) when the lights tell you UP PITCH, you can also immediately at the same time increase thrust, because pitch up will slow you down immediately, when lights tell you DOWN PITCH, you can slightly decrease throttle or keep it at same. 5.) practice controlling the throttle and stick at the same time, when in the green lights control zone, so youre able to adjust both throttle and stick at the same time. F-15 doesnt seem to have special control laws for air to air refueling like F-16 does so i think being able to control both throttle and stikc at the same time is valuable skill. 6.) you can try small deadzone like 2-3% if it helps, I feel like it definitely helped me in refueling

[snotcycle]

Nice vid mav.
One thing i might add to the section about throttle control is this: Modern jets have a digital engine control system called a FADEC, this means the "throttle" lever is not truly a throttle but a thrust lever that the computer is constantly interpreting the position of to adjust the engines. This combined with the nature of jet engines to have a lot of rotational inertia and the inability to instantly change power settings means that the engine setting is always slightly lagging behind the throttle position. This is one of the major reasons why activities like tanking and approaches require constant throttle adjustment.
I hope that makes sense.
On relaxing: wiggle fingers and toes....you can't have a death grip and wiggle your fingers at the same time

[skydayang]

I bought a joystick because of your vids maverick, next step is a throttle and im thinking about building a switch panel. Thanks for the great vids.

[alwayslevitated]

Yes'Zirrr.. !! 💂‍♂️ I finally Phucking Got It..!! I didn't "Nail It..!!" But I just brought my F-15C back to full tank from roughly the half empty mark..!! ✊ YES...!! 🕹..✈..🤘 Most consequential is that I now grasp the logic involved in the "PDL System, " meaning I will get more precise and better at this moving forward..!! The fundamentals are now understood...!! I just added this video to my playlist for my F-15 fundamentals earlier this week...!! I had to revisit it a few times, however I do feel this is the most complete and comprehensive explanation I have found out there as this tutorial is a "Godsend" for New DCS and "Flaming Cliffs 3" patrons like myself..!! There essentially, is no default training for the F-15C across the board in DCS ...!!! All of the "baby step" tutorials are geared towards the Su-27 Flanker...!! I have been successful with Air to Air Refueling in the past on VTOL VR in their F/A-26B which did actually familiarize me somewhat here..!! (Fuel port is on the nose in that plane 😉)Very Good game over there..!! Not to be slept on..!! 🤔 "Use The Phucking PDL System..!!" 😲 PERIODT...!! ✋ The Big Phucking Take Away Here...!!💪 Thanx...!! 🙌 Now it is time to learn how to make 💩 blow up...!! 🚀..🎯..🔥🔥🔥 ..✈🤘..😎

[anthonymoloney]

Great tutorial Mav. Thanks for putting in the time to share your knowledge. After thinking I'd never get the hang of AAR, I'm finally starting to receive a full tank in one or two connections. If anyone finds themselves struggling, keep practicing and persist. And great advice from your first vid, get used to making very subtle stick movements and remember the plane has inertia!

[yeruschmift]

Can't tell whether it's me or my low quality stick, but this is easilly one of the most frustrating things I've tried in a long while.

[KeViN-wgxs]

First week at flying, ty for the help.now on to radar school.ty again!!!!

[RikaRikaItsumika]

How the heck do you see the PDL xD it's so far away
Couldn't they put it closer to the tail of the tanker :/

[mayurshinde]

I searched tons of material and cudnt gain any knowledge... and your vid taught me everything that i needed to know...all the small details...thanks a lot mav :)

[deltaxraybravo]

Great Video Maverick! Really helped out as I've been trying to learn how to refuel in F-15C. I figured out the hornet after watching one of your videos and sitting on an Aerobatics Server for hours. Thank you and see you soon in the Tomcat! -Delta out

[simonliin]

Another well considered instructional video from you Mav. Thx!

[kqbaxtr]

Excellent video! Finally a clear and concise explanation of proper procedure and common errors! Thank you!

[bazej]

I wish we don't have full fidelity F-15A or C. Only FC version, my fav plane. RAZBAM will model bomber variant also. Usefull tips in the video.

[Alien]

Excellent vid / tutorial mucker, nice one

[MSFerrariF]

How can I keep the plane steady after making contact? I find myself drifting up/down or left/right. I have a Warthog Hotas with curves set to 30 on both pitch and roll axis. please help

[PewDiePieTooie]

I love the music, Odesza for Win! Train well Pilots, be safe!

[colombanoalessandro]

Brilliant video and cracking Scottish accent!! Greetings from Aberdeen!!

[DVpilot]

Please explain me hot to call a boom, not a two parachutes refueling tubes. Is that possible to do that in mission editor, I mean setup a boom option?

[Ginuwine-kxiv]

How do you bring up the control position indicators on the right of your video?

[SsgtHolland]

I always freak out and oscillate upon contact. It's very hard. My mantra's don't work.