F/A-18C Hornet Flight Manual (chapter_1) (kneeboard version)
REV 01082021
Hey everyone!
I started out working on this manual about 1 ½ years ago.
My first idea was creating an as thorough checklist, which you can convert into a kneeboard, and going through all the checklist step by step, so nothing is left out.
It takes you from a “cold & dark” hornet, to starting up, loading weapons, taking off etc…
But soon this project got bigger and bigger. So, I ended up with a 300+ pages manual which was truly not practical for kneeboard use.
So, I picked all necessary items and put them into another manual.
If you are looking for the “pdf” version, it can be found here…
F/A-18C Hornet Checklist (digitalcombatsimulator.com)
The pdf is formatted like this…
As pdf, it is best read with two pages side by side.
The “index” page lets you jump directly to the according chapters, by clicking on the applicable chapter.
The “F/A-18C Checklist” title on the bottom of every page brings you back to the “index” page.
Throughout the manual, there are certain things underlined (hyperlinks). These are referenced to Wikipedia, in case you want to learn more about the system involved.
F/A-18C Hornet Checklist (kneeboard):
For those who are still unfimiliar with the kneeboard: the .png files are being copied into the following folder:
user/savedgames/dcsopenbeta/kneeboard/FA-18C_hornet
Simply copy the pics you want and need during flight into the folder, and delete those which you do not need.
You will need to setup key commands for
1. kneeboard on/off
2. kneeboard next page
3. kneeboard previous page
during flight.
Personally, I did set this up on my xbox controller, which is easy to reach and identified in VR. (see screenshot)
I picked the font size as such, that the readability is given using VR (in my case the G2).
The “stores” weapon pages (created by “Pokeraccio”, again many thanks that he approves me to use his tables in this manual, being available for the DCS fellows) has all the different weapons sorted by the available stations on the hornet. All of those are also “clickable”, making it possible to jump to the chosen weapons, without tedious jumping from page to page.
Another mention and a “big THANK YOU” is for “Minsky”, as I used his great threats table on page 69.
Last sidenote:
While creating this manual, I tried to be as thorough as possible, but surely there will be mistakes burrowed in the pages. Hope there won’t be many, but if you stumble across anything that is wrong just write a PM.
So, hope it helps!
Greets...
cruizzzzer
REVISION RECORD: (as shown on the pdf on the lower left corner of each page)
REV 01082021
GENERAL
Formatting issues
SPECIFIC
Page 4 added evasive action / countermeasures to table
Page 13 added SWITCHES table
Page 35 added HMD alignment
Page 37 changed right DDi setup to “CHECKLIST” iso “FCS”
Added “BOXED” for TACAN
Added “BOXED” for ICLS
Page 38 LDG Checklist - right DDI changed to “CHECKLIST”
Page 50 added restriction for ALT change “within 50NM” according to control zone of the carrier
Page 54 LDG Checklist - right DDI changed to “CHECKLIST”
Page 68 added lethal and critical coloured circles
Page 69 added “TIN SHIELD” / “NASAMS” / “CVN-75 TRUMAN” to table
changed many hyperlinks from german to english
Page 70 added evasive action / countermeasures to table
added lethal and critical coloured circles
Page 72 added “NASAMS”
Page 73 added “CVN-75 TRUMAN”
Page 74 changed many hyperlinks from german to english
REV 23062021
Page 3 & 4 changed “caution / warning /advisory panels” to ones with higher resolution
Page 5 – 8 changed “advisory lights panels” to ones with higher resolution
NOTES on RA added
Page 13 added table for external electric
Page 20 SLAM-ER = AGM-84H corrected
Page 33 header color code changed to match font color code
Page 40 deleted “ejection seat … safe” after LDG (not sure if this is correct, but as it is listed in the shutdown
procedure, deleted it for the after LDG procedure) … this makes more sense
Page 52ff reformatted “vfr ldg pattern”
Page 56 abeam distance changed to match F/A-18C on-speed
Page 74 A / B / F / T font colors changed to match the ones on Page 69
Page 81ff changed some colorcoding for better distinguishibility
Page 90 sent “button list” to the back of manual to keep the side by side view of necessary pages
Page 90 added links to the pdf/kneeboard downloads. To easy check whether there are updates available.
Just check the “REV_date” (lower left corner on the pdf) vs published REV
REV01062021
GENERAL:
Reformatting issues…
OTHER:
Page 5ff highlighted advisories
Page 13 added timing for “apu start”
“timing” deleted on “throttle idle”; added “timing” on “crank” to observe “starter lim it” timing
Page 30 entry of coords procedure revised
Page 54 changed format of “ldg checklist” to match rest of the manuals format
Page 54ff changed headline color during vfr landing pattern for better distinction
Page 78 “aoa lim it due to mach” headline revised
Page 88ff rules of thumb added
REV 31052021
GENERAL:
Reformatting issues…
OTHER:
Reversed colors of headlines for better recognition (thanks to “thrustvector” for input)
Page 36: clarification of NOTE for „external lights MASTER SWITCH”
REV 30052021
1. front page
2. index page reformatted
3. deck personnel added
4. page 50; HSI radial errors corrected; DOL = "Distance of Lead" added to clarify abbreviation
5. ENG START: notes added (page 13)
