Long Range Iron Bomb Toss (45° delivery)
Set a single waypoint on a some target visible on the mission map. Or, if you'd like to target a building or anything not shown on the map, fly over it and PAUSE, then on the mission map zoom in as far as you can (mag 4:1) and place a waypoint right over where your Hog is. It has to be a numbered waypoint: the "IN" waypoint won't work. (As indicated in the Read Me, the city roads on the mission maps don't correspond well to the roads in the game, but you'll notice that some buildings do seem to be placed at or very near intersections of the red roads on the mission maps. This is helpful when placing target waypoints.) I like bombing the crap out of the race track in Yuma, because a) it's big, and b) it's close to MCAS Yuma.
Either way, find a target on which you can place a waypoint. Load up with a iron bombs. (82s inhibit plane performance less, but 84's are usually too much fun to pass up.)
Keep TACAN displayed (but not activated) and fly straight to your target/waypoint. Fly low, 100 AGL, and keep speed up over 400kts. When the HUD says you're 23 seconds away from the waypoint/target, smoothly but quickly pull up into as tight a loop as you can stand. Time your pickle (bomb release) so it occurs the instant the flight vector (TVV) passes through the 45° "rung" on the pitch ladder: 45° release trajectory ensures greatest distance. NOTE: Always use TVV to judge pitch angle and bomb release. If you use the pipper for this, especially during a high-g pull-up, you will likely release the weapon a shade early and undershoot the target. When the plane is inverted, return to level flight, turn off TACAN, engage autopilot, and pop the '7' key to "ride 'em in."
Essentially what you are doing is throwing the weapon straight up in the air during a high speed Immelman (or perhaps more accurately, the front half of a high speed Cuban-8.) While the bomb continues climbing, slows, and begins falling, you are high-tailing it away as quickly as possible.
I usually practice this maneuver with a single waypoint centered in the oval track out at the practice range - the one with the white car driving in circles. It's the biggest definable target that appears on the mission map so it's easy to put a waypoint there, but using the method described above you can place a waypoint on any target of course.
I approach the target at 400+ kts at 14000'. When the TACAN says "20 sec" to waypoint, I begin the dive (15 - 20° dive angle). When the TACAN says "8 sec" to waypoint, I pull up to begin the maneuver, releasing when the flight vector (TVV) passes through 90 on the pitch ladder. (Using the pipper to pickle during this high-g loop will, as in the preceding exercises, result in a miss...only here it will be a slight overshoot rather than an undershoot.) Continue back pressure on the stick, remain inverted and head back for the ground. When you get to about 40° below horizontal (220° of pitch), roll back to wings level, and continue your descent/egress.
So how do you find out how you did? If you plan not to miss by much :-) pop '7'. Failing that, slew to the target site before you start and set up a good view of the target area. Then get back into your plane. After releasing the weapon and departing, engage the autopilot, then Command-S to see what happened.
There are two ways to play this game.
1. For accuracy, which is difficult but fun as you get better at it, and
2. More realistically, for distance, where the focus is on a smooth and rapid egress. (Keep checking Weapon View every few seconds, and the instant the bombs detonate, hit PAUSE (command-P) and check the TACAN distance in the HUD to see just how far away you got. You can double check it by measuring distance on the mission map while you're paused.)
- Slew to a place near the plane you're commanding. Get back in the plane and push Return. Sometimes the slew missiles will fire, appearing from your plane to be coming out of thin air.
