How to Fire sparrows?

[mykey34 0]

I was flying a quick mission last night in an F-4D i believe. I was trying to fire a n AIM7 but could not get a tone. I had the radar in search mode, locked on to the MIG but got no lock box in the hud or tone. I also could not pickle the sparrow no matter what keys i pressed. Usually button 2 on my stick releases weapons, and it does so for the aim 9 but not for this weapon. Am i doing something wrong? I was about 3 miles away when trying to shoot. The mig was directly in front of me as well. I also tried to pickle the sparrow from the f-104 but again got no response. Any help would be appreciated! :roll:

[Dagger 21]

The problem was you had the mig as your primary target in teh target box but you had no radar lock...to have a radar lock there will be a tellow box around your target...what range were you at when attempting to lock them up? The radar at the time this sim is based on radar wasn't as good as say in a F=16 or other modern fighter,so you have to be close.might read the radar tutorial that might help.

[CrazyAggie05 0]

i seem to have this problem too....i cant seem to get a target box in my hud around the target. ill have the radar in search mode, then press home to select a target, then insert to acquire it. the radar does its thing, and the line on the radar crosses the target, but no box in the hud, and that missles dont guide........what gives? bug? or am i doin something wrong?

[Dagger 21]

if the mig is off your nose try the boresight mode..this works most of the time.

[+pcpilot 181]

Dont forget two things on your missles...

1.) If you are using your radar guided sparrows, keep your target in the radar "envelope" once you fire the missle. the missle "follows" the beam to the target. If you turn away, the missle will miss.

2.) If you fire a sidewinder, dont fire it in a high "G" turn because the missle cant follow the turn. Its manueverability generally was poor. Make sure you only fire it at the aft aspect of the aircraft as it is a heatseeker and only locks onto the heat of the exhaust. It is a "fire and forget" weopen unlike the sparrow but can still be fooled by tight turns by the intended target before impact or by flares or even the sun by a plane flying into the sun, then turning off sharply.

 

 

I wonder how well the game models all this?

 

Just thought I would amaze you with all my brilliance...if that dont work, let me know, I have another tactic...

[Dagger 21]

this is modelled well apparently as missiles won't come off the rails at high-Gs. I've been experimenting with different modes in a dogfight and what I've started doing is to start the fight in search mode then switch to boresight after I get the mig off my nose..I then bracket the mig.This seems to work more often then not.

[SDirickson 0]

Well, when you say the AIM-9 is un-manueverable, thats not exactly true. If I remember correctly, it is much more agile than an aircraft, and can pull much greater than 10 G's. Therefore, as long as you don't fire it from an angle that would require it to pull more than 10 G's in order to keep the target in it's seeker, its pretty darn agile indeed.

 

I heard someone mention somewhere how the 600 pg Falcon 4.0 manual was a bit excessive, yet I have to say it explained Sidewinder launch profiles very well. Graphs and diagrams and such.

[Dagger 21]

agreed the f4 manual is great...no kidding I had a lock in a high-G turn(just starting to get the black-out effect) and missile wouldn't launch..even with a lock and target was bracketed.came off the stick and unloaded and it fired fine(I got thte kill also) :D

[SDirickson 0]

Well, doesn't it say in the manual that the AIM-9 must be launched at or under 2 G's?

[CrazyAggie05 0]

i know you gotta keep the target in the hud etc, i have to problem with that. i get a good lock as well. the brackets go over the target on the scope. then i press insert, and it draws the line to the blip on the scope, and the little dot travels up to the blip. once it gets there means i have a lock right? if thats the case then what the hell is wring with this stupid thing cause i still dont get any diamonds over the target on the hud, and i cant use the sparrows!

[+TK_ThirdWire 0]

CrazyAggie05,

 

Yellow diamond will only come up if you have HUD option on Normal or Easy (I think). Once you have a radar lock, you have to maneuever to get within Sparrow range. On the radar display, there should be two tick marks to the right of the dithered sweep (the bar that goes through the target). That's the min and max range of the Sparrow you're carrying, just make sure the target is between the two.

 

TK

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[+pcpilot 181]

You are correct SD, it does say in the manual that the sidewinder shouldnt pull more than 2g. I also read later on an article online that said something very similar. I wish I could find it again. But the pilots had a derisive name for the missle. It wasnt till later versions that its manueverability was improved. Ill try to find that article for our info.

[Dagger 21]

Guess I'm going to have to actually read the manual....it's like instructions for putting things to gether I hate to use them until I'm in big trouble,ask my wife she has put up with it for many years,and little comments like"That doesn't like anything like whats on the box"doesn't help! :D

[SDirickson 0]

Aggie, one way to be absolutely sure that you're radar is locked on, that you have a working Sparrow, and that you are definately withing the minimum range requirement is if you see a gigantic X in the radar screen.

[Dagger 21]

Just remember that the radar doesn't have a IFF interigator(found that out when I shot my wingman down) so it will lock and track friendlies.I've started using the boresight mode more and more.Also the IRs will track ANY heat signature in it's seeker cone...I saw an F-4 fly in from my 2 o'clock and went in a nice stright line the missile just turned alittle and boom I killed a friendly.leason learned....