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Thread: AAR Tricky as Hell !!

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    Member Gunfighter's Avatar
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    Question AAR Tricky as Hell !!

    Has anyone got any good tips for AAR? I'm having real trouble getting hooked up and if I do, I don't stay attached for very long. Any advice would be welcome as its doing my head in!!

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    Senior Member WarthogSmurf's Avatar
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    practice pratice practice oh and more practice. It takes little input at AAR to move the aircraft
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

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    AWOL Founder Joyride's Avatar
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    Yep- you'll get all sorts of advice but the only one I've seen work every time is practice! Might take 20+ attempts but soon enough it'll start getting easier...then before you know it you'll wonder why you ever had issues ;-) we all went through it...just stick with it and it'll feel awesome when you master it!

    Though for my two cents, I like to trim down a little before connecting...find it easier to fly close formation if I am constantly having to pull back a little on the stick.

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    Member Hammer's Avatar
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    Well, on the beginning I thought that I'll never be able to do AAR. If I look now back to that period I get a smile on my face ... I love AAR now and I don't do a flight without AAR.

    Here are the tips from me: ... be patient, practice, practice and practice again. Do it step by step... fly first a couple of days (not just hours) only formation with the tanker. Switch from Observation to Pre-contact position and then further to Reform position. Fly below the tanker and stay there for hours, until you have 2000 lbs fuel left, return to the base and go back and find that bloody tanker again . You know... tanker is your friend.
    Beside above tips the good TRIM is the magic word.

    One more thing ... I said to myself "when I will stop squeezing my butt and stop biting my lips while refueling then I will know that I am ready"...
    Last edited by Hammer; 21Apr12 at 14:49.

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    Senior Member Baxter's Avatar
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    This is all good advice, I'd like to add stability. I find AAR is far easier if I get into formation with tanker and get a feel for the tankers speed trimming out as I go. Then throttling back a bit and sliding in to pre-contact. If done correctly you just need to get the throttle back up to where it was and the aircraft is already trimmed for the speed previously, then its just throttle and pitch control. I also found using the depressible pipper (the circle with dashed lines around it) as a point to aim at the boom works very well. Aim the pipper at the green segment of the boom as your coming in from pre-contact. Gives you something to focus on coming into the contact position. Once in the contact position just keep your eyes on the tanker. That was the hardest thing I had problems with at first was just flying the tanker, I would always end up flying the boom. Find a reference for where the tankers wings should be on your forward windshield and just try and keep them there, as long as you can keep that reference picture its all throttle adjustments, and its a lot of throttle adjustments. A good throttle is a lifesaver, I went from a thrustmaster cougar throttle to the warthog throttle and the precise movement of the warthog is night and day difference in the ease of AAR. Practice, Practice, Practice and good luck!

  6. #6
    Keep in mind that in the end aar is just formation flying, so all kinds of it is good practice.
    In the beginning trying to connect to the boom and staying there is quite exhausting, so plain formation flying with a friend is much easier and less frustrating but still good training

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    476 vFG Founder Snoopy's Avatar
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    Basically the same as our Refueling OI but the guide for the public is available at:

    https://www.476vfightergroup.com/dow...?do=file&id=55

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    My 2 cents:
    Practise is the magic word indeed, but you will need to get a 'reference picture' in your head before you should practise on staying connected.
    Like Baxter pointed out, try to position yourself in relation to the tanker and avoid chasing the boom.
    Try to connect to the boom and then try to remember the picture you see of the tanker in relation to your aircraft. Judge its engine nacelles in relation to your canopy or other feature. Practise this first without trying to stay connected. Just get this picture right. Then you will have a reference to work with.
    Be careful not wanting to be too quickly. Approach the tanker steadily with about 1 knot overspeed. The closer you get the more pronounced the effect over over- or underspeed becomes and you want to keep things smooth.

    Then comes the part where you will have a 'click' as far as your position goes, but need to work on staying connected.
    Fly the tanker. Like said above, its pure formation flying, but with a very narrow field of view.
    Focus on your flight path marker. It's what your aircraft does. And then try to look 'through' toward the tanker and the boom.
    I gauge altitude by referencing the tanker and horizontal distance by the extension or retraction of the boom.
    Make small power adjustments and try to stay one step ahead to prevent chasing your speed resulting in retracting and extending the boom continuously. These occilations will usually result in a disconnect after a while.

    Hammers advise is sound too; relax! Very important! Good luck!

    NOTE: I thought I would never learn this! Probably we all did. So do not give up.
    Some people like to fly with a curve setting. I started with a tiny deadzone of 2 (which I still have) to prevent stick input from just resting my hand on it and a curve of 10. This curve makes the first range of input on the axis less agressive, but speeds up the middle section and slows down the last range again, whereas a linear curve (straight diagonal line) keeps the input feedback the same over the whole range.
    With AAR a curve might help you in controlling your stick input in the low (precision) range at first. However, I tend to overcontrol with larger corrections due to the increased feedback in the middle range due to the curve.
    This often resulted in a steady approach and connect, but rather large occilations once I was connected to the boom.
    I deleted the curves (but kept the deadzone) and staying connected actually got easier rather than more difficult, because you have a more precise input again.
    So in my opinion, curves are a good way to get used to position flying at the tanker, but not so much for staying connected. But YMMV.
    Last edited by Yassy; 22Apr12 at 10:50.

    AWACS/ATC Controller - A-10C Pilot

  9. #9

    Da FAC?


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    The most important tip is already given several times: practice, pracrice, practice,.....
    At a certain point you'll have a "click" and everything starts working like you want it.

    I did no changes to curves and such, but I do like to trim down like Joyride already said.

    Providing CAS when you're all out of HUA!

  10. #10
    Member Gunfighter's Avatar
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    Thanks all for your advice, still going at it hard and going on my progress it may take a while!! I'm not giving up though, still having a little trouble not focusing on the boom, but with time.... It may all seem gloom and doom, but don't worry, I'm still having a cracking time. One day.......I hope....

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