Basic Qualification

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Wings

The basic qualification marks the completion of the syllabus for a particular aircraft type, and should generally be the first goal for all our rookies. It focuses on learning the most basic procedures, systems, weapons and tactics for the aircraft. After the qualification, you are officially "winged".

How to train

• Work your way through the Basic Section of the syllabus for your main aircraft.
• Don't be afraid to ask for help or even private training in Discord if you struggle with something.

How to qualify

• Carefully go through the syllabus list Basic Section and ask yourself for every item "Do I know how to do this thing, at least to a fair level?". You will be your own judge and examiner here. This is the most important step, and we trust you to be fair to yourself. Be disciplined, but don't be overly self-critical.
• Ask somebody to act as your examinating instructor. It can be anyone who has completed the Basic Qualification themselves in the aircraft type in question.
• The instructor prepares a short sortie, called a basic qual checkride, covering a very small sample of the syllabus content. Typically some navigation, some weapon employment, and an overhead break.
• The instructor will ask you a couple of control questions to make sure you're comfortable with the syllabus contents. You're expected to be able to answer correctly with minimal help/hints.
• The instructor will lead and you will be the wingman. (For F-14B and AH-64D you will fly as a single-ship crew with the instructor in the other seat. (Pilot, CPG or RIO)
• You are expected to have all your technical stuff working (SRS and such), be able to follow your lead, switch radio channels as instructed, perform the tasks he/she has briefed, and return home together safely, landing with an overhead break.
• If you did okay, you will qualify and your instructor will let us know on Discord.
• If you did not pass (meaning something went really bad, like you crashed, or cleary didn't know how to employ a weapon), you are free to try again, as many times as you like, as long as you take responsibility for reading up on the stuff that didn't go so well.

If you qualify

• Your callsign will be added to the list in the Discord #basic-quals channel.
• You will get the "Basic Qualified" role in Discord, instead of "Rookie".

Remarks

• The basic qual checkride is primarily a formality and will only test you on a very small fragment of the syllabus content. Its main purpose is that it feels better with somebody else officially examinating you than doing it yourself. But the "real" qualification is your own responsibility, by testing yourself in the syllabus content, before the checkride.

Instructor Guidelines (Fixed Wing)

• Schedule the checkride with the student.
• Ask the student some sample questions (3-4 is usually enough) to make sure they have grasped the syllabus contents. Some example questions (for the Hornet/Viper):
  • "What's the altitude and speed for the overhead break?"
  • "What steps do you need to perform to launch a HARM missile?"
  • "Where can you see your own bullseye location?"
  • "How is a standard climb performed?"
• Pick any one or two (1 or 2) of the available standard Basic Qualification sorties below.
• When on the server, use the comms menu to spawn a target group.
• You will get the coordinates through an on-screen message. You and the student will have to create a waypoint manually.
• Fly the mission, using all the normal comms you'd normally do (even though you might not have actual human controllers on the radio), RTB and land with an overhead break.
• To pass, the sortie doesn't need to be perfect by any stretch, and it's fine if you have to help the student a little, but it has to be a somewhat smooth ride. Example of things that should result in a failed checkride (which is not a big deal, they can just do it again later):
  • The student crashes or otherwise damages the aircraft at any point (takeoff, landing, taxiing, flying).
  • The student cannot drop/launch a weapon.
  • The student drops the weapon, but it's not even close to hitting the target, clearly indicating they are not using the systems correctly.
  • The student cannot follow you, even with some pointers to help them out.
  • The overhead break doesn't look like an overhead break at all (overtaking you, getting dangerously close to the ground on downwind and such).
• If most things work well, the student passes, and you should write a confirmation/congratulation in the #qual-reports channel on Discord to let our administrators know.

Basic Qualification Sorties

The instructor chooses any one or two (1 or 2) of these missions. On the training server, use the comms commands under Other/Master Arms Range/Basic Qualificaton Targets to create corresponding targets (vehicles, SA-2 or enemy MiG-21 fighter). You can spawn these targets during startup. When creating a target you will get coordinates to the target (visible for 45 seconds), so that you can create a waypoint for it. Warthog and Viggen may use "Other/Intro Flight/.." to deploy targets for ground attack (in order to reducing flight time/fuel consumption.) Viggen should use "Other/Master Arms Range/Activate Cargo Ship" for anti-ship strike.

For 1-6, for aircraft that carry an internal gun, tasks should be followed up with one high angle (20-45 deg) strafing run on any remaining (or already destroyed) target. The attack does not need to hit the target, but at least hit in the vicinity of it. The attack should be performed in a safe manner with a short controlled burst from altitude, with the pilot not getting target fixated and straying low.

1. CCIP attack with dumb bombs on stationary vehicle group.

2. High altitude JDAM attack on stationary vehicle group.

3. High/medium altitude LGB attack on stationary vehicle group.

4. Maverick attack on stationary vehicle group. (Hornet: AGM-65E only, Warthog: Any Maverick version)

5. Rocket attack on stationary vehicle group. (Viggen/Warthog only)

6. HARM attack on SA-2.

7. Anti-ship strike with Rb-04E (Viggen only)

8. Engage enemy figher at waypoint.

Instructor Guidelines (Rotary Wing)

WIP! Not available yet. (#2weeks)

• Schedule the checkride with the student.
• Ask the student some sample questions (3-4 is usually enough) to make sure they have grasped the syllabus contents. Some example questions:

- "What is VRS? How do you avoid VRS? How do you recover from VRS?"

- "Give an example of how wind affects your flight"

- "Where can you read your current speed and altitude?"

• Fly the mission, using all the normal comms you'd normally do (even though you might not have actual human controllers on the radio)

• To pass, the sortie doesn't need to be perfect by any stretch, and it's fine if you have to help the student a little, but it has to be a somewhat smooth ride. Example of things that should result in a failed checkride (which is not a big deal, they can just do it again later):

- The student crashes or otherwise damages the aircraft at any point (takeoff, landing, taxiing, flying).

- The student enters VRS multiple times. (clearly indicating they do not understand VRS)

- The student cannot drop/launch a weapon.

- The student drops the weapon, but it's not even close to hitting the target, clearly indicating they are not using the systems correctly.

- The student cannot follow lead, even with some pointers to help them out.

• Example of something that the instructor should look at extra carefully which might not be a reason for failure but should be pointed out to prevent incorrect behavior.

- The student does not think about the effect of the wind on the helicopter, especially when landing or entering a hover.

- The student does not go into a hover before setting down on the FARP

• If most things work well, the student passes, and you should write a confirmation/congratulation in the #qual-reports channel on Discord to let our administrators know.

Basic Qualification Sortie

The sortie will consist of several stages* that are carried out during the flight. Stages included are listed below though there may be more elements added to the sortie depending on each module as long as it's in the BASIC section of the syllabus.

For Pilots:

- Startup

- Takeoff (Airfield)

- VRS Recovery (Fly at ~1000ft with tailwind and same speed as current windspeed -> reduce collective)

- Hover

- NOE flight

- Formation flight

- Navigation (visually and using ADF)

- Weapon deployment** (Use existing targets in R114)

- Landing (FARP)

For Co-Pilot/Gunner's (AH-64D, Mi-24P etc)

- Startup

- Comms (Towards Tower, Control etc.)

- Visual navigation (as well as being able to guide the pilot)

- Hovering (Take control of helicopter when hovering and keep a stable hover)

- Weapon deployment** (Use existing targets in R114)

* Be sure to adapt all stages according to the respective module syllabus basic section. (Method used for takeoff, type of weapons used, etc.)
** Skip if weapon deployment are not included in the BASIC-section of the syllabus)