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10. Autopilot

Autopilot - Systems

The A-4E-C has several autopilot measures 
available to the pilot, these are contained within the 
AFCS - the Automatic Flight Control System.

Summary of Contents for A-4E Skyhawk

Page 1: ...DCS Community A 4E C By Ali...

Page 2: ...Contents 1 Introduction 2 COntrols 3 Cockpit Gauges 4 Startup 5 Takeoff 6 Landing 7 Sensors 8 Weapons armament 9 Countermeasures 10 Autopilot 11 Navigation 12 Thanks and other resources...

Page 3: ...pable of operating either from a carrier of from a shore base The Navy Model A 4E Skyhawk is a single place monoplane with a modi ed delta planform wing manufactured by the McDonnell Douglas Aircraft...

Page 4: ...2 controls Control Setup To see this menu select this option To assign axis click on axis assign...

Page 5: ...G Tailhook LAlt G Weapon Fire Space Weapon Release LAlt Space Release Countermeasures Q Wheelbrake W Trim RCtrl Speed Hold Increase LShift 0 Speed Hold Decrease LShift 9 Speed Hold Toggle LShift 8 Ra...

Page 6: ...3 Cockpit and Gauges...

Page 7: ...3 Cockpit and Gauges...

Page 8: ...3 Cockpit and Gauges...

Page 9: ...Warning 4 Low Altitude Bombing System 5 Low Altitude Warning System 6 Obstacle Warning 7 Identify Friend Foe System 8 Low Oil Warning 9 Fire Warning 10 Radar Altitude Low Limit Warning 11 CP 741 A co...

Page 10: ...3 Cockpit and Gauges...

Page 11: ...3 Cockpit and Gauges...

Page 12: ...3 Cockpit and Gauges...

Page 13: ...3 Cockpit and Gauges...

Page 14: ...3 Cockpit and Gauges...

Page 15: ...3 Cockpit and Gauges...

Page 16: ...rottle RPM reaches 5 move throttle to start right click 4 When throttle RPM reaches 15 move throttle to idle right click again 5 When Throttle RPM reaches 40 turn off ground power F8 F2 F2 Ready To Ta...

Page 17: ...Throttle RPM reaches 5 move throttle to start right click 4 When throttle RPM reaches 15 move throttle to idle right click again 5 When Throttle RPM reaches 40 turn off ground power F8 F2 F2 Ready To...

Page 18: ...12 E for NTTR 8 E for Normandy 1 6 E for Persian Gulf To save waypoints 3 Set waypoint selector to D2 present position will be set and set as D1 and D2 when dial moved off STBY 4 Set waypoint coordina...

Page 19: ...ely 30 seconds after aircraft has reached 150 kts and 40 ft of altitude the memory light should extinguish 6 After cruise altitude is attained ground speed and drift should read within 50 kts and 10 d...

Page 20: ...10 miles tilt control should zero 6 Turn Gain Control Knob clockwise until targets appear to be 5 degrees in vertical dimension 7 Turn Detail Knob clockwise until targets are reduced to 1 degree in v...

Page 21: ...es 10 miles tilt control should zero 6 Turn Gain Control Knob clockwise until targets appear to be 5 degrees in vertical dimension 7 Turn Detail Knob clockwise until targets are reduced to 1 degree in...

Page 22: ...s 10 miles tilt control should zero 6 Turn Gain Control Knob clockwise until targets appear to be 5 degrees in vertical dimension 7 Turn Detail Knob clockwise until targets are reduced to 1 degree in...

Page 23: ...s 10 miles tilt control should zero 6 Turn Gain Control Knob clockwise until targets appear to be 5 degrees in vertical dimension 7 Turn Detail Knob clockwise until targets are reduced to 1 degree in...

Page 24: ...10 miles tilt control should zero 6 Turn Gain Control Knob clockwise until targets appear to be 5 degrees in vertical dimension 7 Turn Detail Knob clockwise until targets are reduced to 1 degree in v...

Page 25: ...ntered Tab Faired 1 5in Rudder 0 degrees Elevator field 8 Degrees Up 2 Harness 3 Canopy 4 Flaps Set at 5 Speedbrakes Closed 6 Armament All Switches off Emergency selector switch appropriate setting 7...

Page 26: ...ration is within acceptable limits and engine accelerates smoothly 4 Lift nose wheel at 123 KIAS 5 Takeoff at 133 KIAS 6 Gear up at 40ft 7 Flaps up at 170 KIAS at safe altitude 8 Once climb speed reac...

Page 27: ...st 1 Armament All switches off Emergency selector switch appropriate setting 2 Spoilers Off 3 Harness 4 Hook Up field landing 5 Wheels Down 6 Flaps Full 7 Brakes Pump before landing gentle pressure up...

Page 28: ...and extend flaps full 3 As aircraft decelerates to 170 KIAS or lower adjust power to maintain desired airspeed 4 Complete Checklist 5 Crosscheck airspeed with AOA indexer indication Note at gross weig...

Page 29: ...directional control For minimum distance landing 1 Maintain optimal AOA during approach 2 Upon touchdown let nose fall through and use full forward stick 3 Leave flaps extended unless excessive cross...

Page 30: ...aintain optimum AOA airspeed at 1 miles abeam 7 Bank at approx 22 degrees 8 Maintain optimum AOA Airspeed and 600ft altitude on turn in 9 Intercept glide slope and descend 10 Upon touchdown advance th...

Page 31: ...sit time of a radar pulse which is converted directly to altitude in feet and displayed on the cockpit indicator The indicator dial face is marked in 10 foot increments up to 200 feet 50 foot incremen...

Page 32: ...earance the OFF flag will appear and the pointer will move behind the masked portion of the indicator dial The pointer will resume normal operation when the aircraft descends below 5000 feet The radar...

Page 33: ...he radar low limit warning light is located adjacent to the radar altimeter When the AN APN 141 radar altimeter indicator pointer drops below the preset low limit indexer altitude setting both warning...

Page 34: ...ol panel located on the right hand console on a small radar switch panel installed near the center of the bottom edge of the instrument panel and around the perimeter of the azimuth elevation range in...

Page 35: ...l range This gives a calibration line every 8 miles for LONG and 4 miles for SHORT In SRCH the radar antenna is programmed to sweep 60 degrees in azimuth using a 5 degree cone of radiation at the elev...

Page 36: ...d to 1 degree by means of the detail control on the scope The vertical width of the beam is determined by the setting of the detail knob With the knob fully counterclockwise beam width is approximatel...

Page 37: ...odes and will return to zero when released Available for selection are ranges of 0 to 20 or 0 to 10 nautical miles LONG or SHORT The range in use is indicated by a flag type marker in the plan view ai...

Page 38: ...7 Sensors Terrain Clearance Plan Mode...

Page 39: ...n from plus 10 degrees to minus 15 degrees using a beam width of 5 degrees and a vertical beam width effectively reduced to 1 degree by means of the detail control on the scope The elevation zero is n...

Page 40: ...ine is electronically displayed on the indicator as an aid to low level navigation This is the terrain clearance scribe line see figure 1 20 and is synchronized with the elevation sweep The zero degre...

Page 41: ...tal plane positioned 1000 feet below and parallel to the antenna zero degree reference plane The obstacle alarm consists of both the obstacle light and the pilot s headset signal warning the pilot tha...

Page 42: ...the desired schedule until the radar return intersects the 1000 foot terrain clearance scribe line at a range of 5 miles when operating on LONG range The dive angle is then continuously readjusted to...

Page 43: ...7 Sensors Terrain Clearance Profile Mode...

Page 44: ...elevation coordinate When the antenna bore sight line and the sight line are made parallel zero mil lead the range indication will show the distance to the point on the ground at which the sight is a...

Page 45: ...ot the approximate slant range in yards The total maximum range in A G mode is 15 000 yards approximately 7 1 2 nautical miles The aircraft relative position is at the bottom line on the scope minus 1...

Page 46: ...The angle of attack signal is modified by normal acceleration and elevator control stick position If the APC is engaged or operating when aircraft angles of attack are greater than or less than optimu...

Page 47: ...rs 1 Throttle friction is applied 2 Throttle pOSition is below 70 percent approximate rpm 3 Weight is applied to the main landing gear NOTE It is possible to manually hold the APC engaged and override...

Page 48: ...the power switch has been positioned in STBY for a minimum of 15 seconds and the status light located on the AOA indexer comes on the APC will function when the power switch is placed in the ENGAGE po...

Page 49: ...is indicated to the pilot by the APC status light attached to the AOA indexer above the instrument glareshield The light comes on when the system is in STBY and goes off when the APC is engaged The l...

Page 50: ...ottle Friction OFF 3 Air Temperature Switch SET 4 APC Power Switch STBY Observe APC Light ON 5 APC Power Switch ENGAGE Observe APC Light OFF 6 Throttle Observe movement 7 Angle Of Attack Airspeed Cros...

Page 51: ...sult in excessive thrust changes Close in corrections are very critical A large attitude correction for a high close in condition produces an excessive power reduction and can easily result in a hard...

Page 52: ...oints including bombs rockets missiles and gun pods It played a key role in conflicts around the world including the Vietnam War the Yom Kippur War and the Falklands War as well as serving as a traini...

Page 53: ...8 Weapons and Armament Guns The A 4E has twin 20mm cannons built in and has the option of employing up to 3 MK4 HIPEG 20mm gunpods...

Page 54: ...8 Weapons and Armament 20mm Onboard Cannon 1 Master Arm to ON 2 Set GUNS switch to READY 3 Set gunsight range using dial to side of sight 4 Pull trigger to fire 1 2 3...

Page 55: ...0mm Cannon Pods 1 Master Arm to ON 2 Set GUNS switch to Safe So internal don t fire as well 3 Select pod pylon Left Center or Right 4 Set Pods to Charge 5 Set gunsight range using dial to side of sigh...

Page 56: ...lb Fire bomb AN M64 500lb General Purpose Mk 81 250lb General Purpose AN M65A1 1000lb General Purpose Mk 81SE Snake Eye 250lb General Purpose Retarded AN M66A2 2000lb General Purpose Mk 82 500lb Gener...

Page 57: ...eployment methods which I will cover here It is able to release bombs in single pairs or as a salvo in step or ripple mode That is it can release bombs individually as a pair or in a salvo of any numb...

Page 58: ...Arm to ON 2 Select hardpoint with desired bombs 2 and 4 in this case 3 Set desired fusing Nose Tail in this case 4 Weapon selector dial to Bombs GM Arm 5 Select delivery number in this case step pairs...

Page 59: ...elect hardpoint with desired bombs 2 and 4 in this case 3 Set desired fusing Nose Tail in this case 4 Weapon selector dial to Bombs GM Arm 5 Select delivery type in this case ripple pairs 6 Set Desire...

Page 60: ...ed bombs 2 and 4 in this case 3 Set desired fusing Nose Tail in this case 4 Weapon selector dial to Bombs GM Arm 5 Select release type salvo ripple 6 Select salvo number 7 Set Desired Interval 8 Hold...

Page 61: ...by the A 4E however it seems that a lot of the munitions behave very similarly to the Mk 82 Low Drag Bombs For which I do have depression tables I will include some indicative values below For referen...

Page 62: ...by the A 4E however it seems that a lot of the munitions behave very similarly to the MK82 Low Drag Bombs For which I do have depression tables I will include some indicative values below For referen...

Page 63: ...8 Weapons and Armament...

Page 64: ...8 Weapons and Armament...

Page 65: ...8 Weapons and Armament Bombs Depression Tables The same tables for the Mk82 SE now follow...

Page 66: ...8 Weapons and Armament...

Page 67: ...8 Weapons and Armament...

Page 68: ...8 Weapons and Armament Cluster Munitions WEAPON TYPE CBU 1 A Anti personnel cluster munition CBU 2 A Anti materiel cluster munition CBU 2B A Anti materiel cluster munition...

Page 69: ...2 Select hardpoint with desired bombs 2 and 4 in this case 3 Weapon selector dial to Bombs GM Arm 4 Select release type salvo ripple 5 Select salvo number 6 Set Desired Interval 7 Hold Pickle for dura...

Page 70: ...5in High Explosive LAU 3 19 FFAR M156 2 75in White Phosphorus LAU 3 19 FFAR Mk1 2 75in High Explosive LAU 3 19 FFAR Mk5 2 75in High Explosive Anti Tank LAU 68 7 2 75in Rockets M257 2 75in Parachute I...

Page 71: ...th desired rockets 3 in this case 3 Weapon selector dial to ROCKETS 4 Select release type step pairs 5 Pull trigger when ready Note Be sure to set GUNS to SAFE to prevent firing both rockets and guns...

Page 72: ...8 Weapons and Armament Rockets Depression Tables The depression tables for the 2 75 FFAR Rockets follow...

Page 73: ...8 Weapons and Armament...

Page 74: ...8 Weapons and Armament...

Page 75: ...8 Weapons and Armament...

Page 76: ...8 Weapons and Armament Air to Air Munitions WEAPON TYPE AIM 9p5 Short range all aspect annular blast frag missile GAR 8 Early model AIM 9 with USAF Nomenclature...

Page 77: ...2 and 4 are available 3 Weapon selector dial to BOMBS GM ARM 4 Select release type In this case single 5 Pull trigger when tone changes to high pitch Note Be sure to set GUNS to SAFE to prevent firing...

Page 78: ...8 Weapons and Armament Air to Ground Missile WEAPON TYPE AGM 45A Shrike Anti Radiation Missile...

Page 79: ...al to BOMBS GM ARM 4 Select release type In this case single 5 Pull trigger to launch Note Be sure to set GUNS to SAFE to prevent firing both missile and guns simultaneously Note Single Pairs operate...

Page 80: ...9 Countermeasures Countermeasures The A 4E C comes equipped with an AN ALE Chaff Dispenser loaded with two banks of countermeasures loaded with 30 chaff flares as standard located fore and aft...

Page 81: ...9 Countermeasures Countermeasures To arm countermeasures 1 Turn power on to unit 2 Press countermeasaure release to dispense 1...

Page 82: ...10 Autopilot Autopilot Systems The A 4E C has several autopilot measures available to the pilot these are contained within the AFCS the Automatic Flight Control System...

Page 83: ...nd automatic control synchronization to prevent engage transients This switch should be in STANDBY at least 30 seconds prior to engaging the stability augmentation switch or the AFCS main engage switc...

Page 84: ...lot can further select anyone of three modes control stick steering altitude hold and or heading hold The switch may be placed in the OFF position at any time The switch should not be placed in ENGAGE...

Page 85: ...h does not move from the ENGAGE position Lateral control of the aircraft is then provided by the normal control system To re engage the lateral servo cycle the engage switch to the OFF position and th...

Page 86: ...ute toward the heading selected on the heading select indicator by use of the SET knob The heading select switch may be placed in the OFF position at any time If placed in the OFF position prior to th...

Page 87: ...be moved at any rate if the new selected heading is in the same direction as the turn and is less than 180 degrees away from the compass heading at the time of selection Selection of a heading recipro...

Page 88: ...or dive the aircraft will return to the barometric altitude existing at the time of altitude switch engagement The altitude switch cannot be engaged in climbs or descents in excess of 4000 feet per mi...

Page 89: ...ORM and EMER This switch is usually in the NORM position but may be placed in the EMER position to provide aileron trim after the AFCS is disengaged if aileron trim is not available in NORM Movement o...

Page 90: ...as in normal flight This mode is engaged regardless of other modes selected or in operation by applying a force on the control stick grip of 2 pounds or more Preselect heading and altitude hold modes...

Page 91: ...ch is 4 1 2 positive g 1 1 2 1 2 negative g and one half aileron deflection left or right If these limits are exceeded the AFCS disengages The AFCS will not switch out of CSS at bank angles exceeding...

Page 92: ...ngitudinal attitude at time of engagement of the AFCS or reversion from the CSS mode will be maintained HEADING HOLD MODE If the pitch angle is within 60 degrees nose up or nose down and the bank angl...

Page 93: ...roll out on this heading The turn will always be in the direction of the shortest route to the preselected heading The bank angle will be maintained at 27 5 degrees under all conditions NOTE The fixe...

Page 94: ...ions It is also in operation automatically during all other AFCS functions The pilot must trim the aircraft directionally while using the AFCS in the same manner as he would when on the normal flight...

Page 95: ...itude hold mode may be engaged when the rate of change of altitude is less than 4000 500 feet per minute The aircraft will maintain the altitude at engagement The aircraft automatically will pull out...

Page 96: ...s 12 E for NTTR 8 E for Normandy 1 6 E for Persian Gulf To save waypoints 3 Set waypoint selector to D2 present position will be set and set as D1 and D2 when dial moved off STBY 4 Set waypoint coordi...

Page 97: ...e AN ASN 41 system the Bearing Distance Heading Indicator BDHI can be set to NAV CMPTR Navigation Computer and the distance and bearing to the selected heading can be seen on the BDHI and manually swi...

Page 98: ...annel selector 4 Use volume control to confirm TACAN is tuned to active station 5 Set Bearing Distance Heading Indicator BDHI to TACAN The distance and bearing to the selected heading can be seen on t...

Page 99: ...ve ever seen Gospadin In Memoriam Gyrovague Plusnine Kryb Merker Jones Farlander Dr Manius Thanks to Chuck for his amazing guides and okaying my blatant rip off For more information see NATOPS A 4E F...

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