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Thread: AIM-9 seeker cooling

  1. #11
    Member JayPee's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Grunt View Post
    Joule-Thomson Cooling?
    I wonder.. Because if memory serves me well there are gases that are more effective for this purpose in that they cool more when expanding.

  2. #12
    Senior Member Baxter's Avatar
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    Ok...sorry to rehash this, so when are the missiles cooled on the A-10? Is there a fence in check in RL that you set them to cool or is the A-10C like the F-16 where the AIM9s (Only the L/M not the X) begin cooling as soon as the Master ARM is set to ARM at which point the 2-3 hours begins and hopefully your back on the ground by then.

  3. #13
    Member JayPee's Avatar
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    I don't think you have to be back on the ground by then. If you turn the sensor off, you don't have to keep cooling it.

  4. #14
    Senior Member Baxter's Avatar
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    I meant back on the ground as in out of the fight because you AIM9s are useless outside of that time frame in the F16. Of course in a 16 your out of fuel well before you hit the end of that time frame.

  5. #15
    GOMER 2 Noodle's Avatar
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    Setting the AIM-9 mode to COOL is a step that would be accomplished when performing an air-to-air FENCE check.

    FENCE checks are particularized to the phase of flight and anticipated action. For air-to-ground alone, there is the generic FENCE check, the amplified CWLITTER/SPADES/APES checks, and for PGM deliveries there's the STAIR check.

    I don't know of an air-to-air specific mnemonic, but the radio call would be "HAWG 69, FENCE-IN AIR-TO-AIR".

  6. #16
    Senior Member Howie's Avatar
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    What I don't understand is if the seeker is cooled as soon as the missile is selected anyway, what is the point of setting it to cool at the FENCE check? Especially if, as Snoopy said:

    "COOL means the missiles are cooling and the aim-9 is not available to launch and HOTAS controls are not available."

    Is it simply a test of the cooling mechanism? So you would switch the missile to COOL and then back to OFF again?

    Or, does the missile revert to the OFF state by itself once cooled to the appropriate temperature?
    Last edited by Howie; 27Oct14 at 09:23.

  7. #17
    GOMER 2 Noodle's Avatar
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    You cool the Sidewinder in advance of employment using the AIM-9 Mode selection in the same way that you spin up the gyros on the Maverick using the EO Power selection.

    If you wait until you're ready to shoot a Maverick to switch the EO power on, the missile won't work because you have to wait 3 minutes for the gyros to spin up (all models), or the IR seeker to cool down (D/G/G2).

    Similarly, if you wait until you squeeze the MMCB into Air-to-Air mode, the AIM-9 won't work because you have to wait for 1 minute for the IR seeker to cool down.

    So unless you're in the habit of flying around in Air-to-Air mode with an AIM-9 station selected, you'll want to cool the missiles down in advance...hence the FENCE check.

    EDIT: No, it doesn't revert to OFF once cooled. It reverts to OFF after landing, after all missiles have been shot, after all missiles have been rejected, or after all missiles have been removed from the DSMS Inventory. Otherwise, when deselecting the Air-to-Air profile, or deselecting all Sidewinder stations, the AIM-9 Mode will revert to what it was immediately before selecting the Sidewinder station or Air-to-Air profile.

    EDIT2: Its been a good long while since I've tested or employed the AIM-9 in DCS, so I have no idea what is or isn't modeled in the current build. So, file this info accordingly.
    Last edited by Noodle; 27Oct14 at 09:37.

  8. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Noodle For This Useful Post:

    Baxter (28Oct14), Howie (27Oct14), Trigger (27Oct14)

  9. #18
    Senior Member Howie's Avatar
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    Thanks for the clarification. As far as I know, cooling isn't modelled in DCS. You can squeeze the MMCB into Air-to-Air mode and fire off an AIM-9 instantly without pre-cooling anything. You'll get tone and it will track as well.

  10. #19
    GOMER 2 Noodle's Avatar
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    I think that might be because the AIM-9 Mode defaults to COOL in DCS. I wonder if you purposely select OFF prior to taxi, if the seeker would then require cooling? I'll take a look when I get some time.

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