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F-16
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Aerosoft F-16 User Manual

Aerosoft F-16 Fighting Falcon 1.10 Manual
CON TENTS
INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................................................... 5
CREDITS.................................................................................................................................................................................. 5
COPYRIGHTS .......................................................................................................................................................................... 6
F-16 FIGHTING FALCON HISTORY ........................................................................................................................................ 6
SPECIFICATIONS .................................................................................................................................................................... 9
FLIGHT SYSTEMS ................................................................................................................................................................. 11
VIEWS AND PANEL NAVIGATION ....................................................................................................................................... 14
CONSOLES, PANELS AND CONTROLS................................................................................................................................. 15
LEFT MFD (RADAR) .................................................................................................................................................... 16
RIGHT MFD (NAVIGATION) ....................................................................................................................................... 17
STANDARD HUD ......................................................................................................................................................... 18
INTERCEPT HUD ......................................................................................................................................................... 19
THREAT WARNING AUXILIARY PANEL ...................................................................................................................... 20
CHAFF/ FLARE PANEL ................................................................................................................................................ 20
HELM MOUNT DISPLAY PANEL ................................................................................................................................. 20
ALTERNATE GEAR DOWN CONTROL ........................................................................................................................ 20
LANDING GEAR PANEL .............................................................................................................................................. 21
ACES-II EJECTION SEAT CONTROL............................................................................................................................. 21
SPEED BRAKE INDICATOR.......................................................................................................................................... 21
EPU FUEL .................................................................................................................................................................... 22
PFD.............................................................................................................................................................................. 22
LIQUID OXYGEN ......................................................................................................................................................... 22
CLOCK ......................................................................................................................................................................... 22
COMPASS ................................................................................................................................................................... 22
FUEL QUANTITY ......................................................................................................................................................... 23
CAUTION PANEL......................................................................................................................................................... 23
HYDRAULIC PRESSURE............................................................................................................................................... 24
ANTI G PANEL............................................................................................................................................................. 25
AUDIO ......................................................................................................................................................................... 25
ELECTRONIC COUNTER MEASURE PANEL ................................................................................................................ 25
EPU.............................................................................................................................................................................. 25
RECORDER PANEL ...................................................................................................................................................... 25
AUX COMS PANEL ...................................................................................................................................................... 25
CANOPY CONTROLS ................................................................................................................................................... 25
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ELECTRONIC ............................................................................................................................................................... 26
ENG START PANEL ..................................................................................................................................................... 26
EXT LIGHTS PANEL ..................................................................................................................................................... 26
FLT CONTROL PANEL ................................................................................................................................................. 27
FUEL PANEL ................................................................................................................................................................ 27
MANUAL TRIM PANEL ............................................................................................................................................... 28
TEST PANEL ................................................................................................................................................................ 28
UHF COMS PANEL .................................................................................................................................................... 28
AIRSPEED INDICATOR ................................................................................................................................................ 29
ALTIMETER ................................................................................................................................................................. 29
ANGLE OF ATTACK INDICATOR ................................................................................................................................. 29
ATTITUDE DIRECTION INDICATOR ............................................................................................................................ 29
AOA INDEXER LIGHTS ................................................................................................................................................ 30
AUTO PILOT ................................................................................................................................................................ 30
BACKUP ATTITUDE DIRECTION INDICATOR ............................................................................................................. 30
FUEL FLOW INDICATOR ............................................................................................................................................. 30
FUEL QUANTITY PANEL ............................................................................................................................................. 30
HORIZONTAL SITUATION INDICATOR....................................................................................................................... 31
INSTRUMENT MODE PANEL...................................................................................................................................... 31
MARKER BEACONS .................................................................................................................................................... 31
MASTER CAUTION ..................................................................................................................................................... 31
MISC ARMAMENT PANEL .......................................................................................................................................... 31
NOSEWHEEL INDEXER LIGHTS .................................................................................................................................. 32
PEDAL ADJUST............................................................................................................................................................ 32
VERTICAL SPEED INDICATOR..................................................................................................................................... 32
OXYGEN REGULATOR ................................................................................................................................................ 32
DATA TRANSFER UNIT ............................................................................................................................................... 32
ANTI ICE / ANTENNA SELECTOR panel ..................................................................................................................... 33
NUCLEAR CONSENT ................................................................................................................................................... 33
AIR CONDITIONING.................................................................................................................................................... 33
AVIONICS POWER panel............................................................................................................................................ 33
HUD REMOTE CONTROL PANEL................................................................................................................................ 34
LIGHTING panel.......................................................................................................................................................... 35
SENSOR POWER MANAGEMENT PANEL .................................................................................................................. 35
ENTERING DATA......................................................................................................................................................... 36
CAGE FLIGHT PATH MARKER .................................................................................................................................... 36
OVERRIDE BUTTONS .................................................................................................................................................. 37
LIST PAGE ................................................................................................................................................................... 37
HOW TO SHOW ILS BARS ON THE HUD ................................................................................................................... 37
SIDE STICK CONTROLLER, THROTTLE QUADRANT SYSTEM AND ANIMATIONS.............................................................. 38
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CONFIGURATOR .................................................................................................................................................................. 41
MISSIONS ............................................................................................................................................................................. 41
IN-FLIGHT REFUELING......................................................................................................................................................... 42
TWEAKING ........................................................................................................................................................................... 44
FAQ ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 48
F-16 PROCEDURES / CHECKLIST ......................................................................................................................................... 49
Dedicated to Caitlin. Life is short, don’t waste it all on computer games, people are far more important.
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Aerosoft F-16 Fighting Falcon 1.10 Manual
INTRODUCTION
It took a long time to finish this project and during development we met some serious problems. But the F-16 had
to be done. It’s the best known fighter after all. But soon after the project started it grew into a multi headed
monster that was being pulled by many people into many directions, everybody wanted their ideal F-16 and the project nearly spun out of control because of that. But about halfway through, we made an important decision to focus PURELY on the flying and on nothing else. So we spend all effort on the aircraft itself and nothing on the things that are seen for some other aircraft. Things like ground objects when the aircraft has the parking brakes set. Also we decided not to do any offensive or defensive stuff, FSX is not a military simulator and it will at best be some nice effects. Not good enough in our mind. So no bombs that fall or missiles that track helpless B747s.
So what you get here is an aircraft, nothing more and nothing less. It is most likely as complex as any aircraft for FSX has ever been, most certainly it is about 6 times more complex than FS2004 could show. It’s so good that several parts of this project are now used to train actual F-16 pilots.
CREDITS
Concept Mathijs Kok (Aerosoft) Modeling/Texturing Tim Taylor (Aerosoft) , Stefan Hoffmann (TinyUniverses) Liveries Dag Roger Stangeland, Vincent Van Yperen, Raymond Rotmans Flight Models John Cagle System/Animations Hubertus Fuest (Aerosoft), Raphael Jakob (Aerosoft), Finn Jacobsen Flaps DLL Hans Hartmann MFD’S & HUD Scott Printz Project Management Mathijs Kok (Aerosoft) Manuals Mathijs Kok (Aerosoft) Manual Corrections Christoph Beck Installer Andreas Muegge (Aerosoft)
Above anything else we should credit Finn, Vin, Dag and Raymond, they were of incredible help to this project and we can honestly say they were the ones who saved it on at least two occasions.
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Aerosoft F-16 Fighting Falcon 1.10 Manual
COPYRIGHTS
The manual, documentation, video images, software, and all the related materials are copyrighted and cannot be copied, photocopied, translated or reduced to any electronic medium or machine legible form, neither completely nor in part, without the previous written consent of AEROSOFT. THE SOFTWARE IS FURNISHED «AS IS» AND IT DOES NOT COME FURNISHED WITH ANY GUARANTEE IMPLICIT OR EXPRESS. THE AUTHOR DECLINES EVERY RESPONSIBILITY FOR CONTINGENT MALFUNCTIONS, DECELERATION, AND ANY DRAWBACK THAT SHOULD ARISE, USING THIS SOFTWARE.
Copyright © 2015 AEROSOFT All rights reserved. Windows® and Flight Simulator X are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All trademarks and brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective owners.
Copyrights are serious stuff. If you find any pirated copies of this software please notify us at Support@aerosoft.com we will make sure reports of copyrights violation are rewarded.
Aerosoft GmbH, Lindberghring 12, D-33142 Büren, Germany, www.aerosoft.com
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN STEAM EDITION AND AEROSOFT EDITION
This Steam edition contains less liveries than the version that is sold at Aerosoft.com and other shops. Aerosoft.com we will provide an update pack that includes all the 61 liveries that normally
belong to this product.
At
F-16 FIGHTING FALCON HISTORY
Started as a project to construct a small high manoeuvrable light fighter, and at lower costs than ever before the Tactical Fighter Requirements Division of Air Force Headquarters funded a study in the early seventies for the preliminary design and analysis of several configurations for a lightweight fighter.
Amongst other aims they wanted low wing loading and high thrust loading; knowing that this was very difficult because of the contradistinction: low wing loading means larger wings thus more weight and more drag and high thrust loading (thus more powerful engines) means higher fuel consumption and thus short range. The Air Force needed a lower-cost alternative to the F-15 in modernizing and expanding its air force and due to the political and economic situation at this time (oil crisis!!) the United States needed a low cost fighter for export to replace a large number of aging aircraft of NATO member countries.
PROGRAM
General Dynamics and Northrop were the finalists out of the ten competitors for the competition in April 1972. They received about $40 each million to create two prototypes. General Dynamics had the first one (Model 401) completed in December 1973 in Fort Worth and it was transported to Edwards AFB, California, on January 8th
1974. Phil Oestricher, the test pilot Of General Dynamics flew the YF-16 on January, 20 1974 for its maiden flight, continued by its first official flight on February 2nd. Northrop rolled out the P-600 in April 1974 at Hawthorne, California and named it YF-17. It made its first flight at Edwards Air Force Base on Mat 9th. December 1974 the competition ended and in 1975, on January the 13th the Secretary of the Air Force John McLucas assigned the YF-
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16 from General Dynamics as the winner: “The airplane with the best performance at the lowest cost.” (Secretary
of Defence James Schlesinger).
TECH NOLOGY
Compared with the YF-17 the YF-16 had a mission radius advantage of 200 nautical miles; a sustained turn rate advantage of 0.5 degree/second at Mach 1.2 at 30.000 feet, a fifteen second accelerating advantage from Mach
0.9 to Mach 1.2 at 30.000 feet and a ferry range advantage of 350 nautical miles.
The most important piece of the YF-16 is the Electronic Flight Control System. For the first time ever an aircraft was not flown by cables linking the stick to the flight control surfaces, but the complete system was electronic and used servos to control the rudder, ailerons etc. These fly-by-wire flight controls allow much more precise control of the aircraft than the heavy and more complex hydro mechanical flight control system. Not only the flying qualities improved, but safety as well, because it imposes g limits to keep the pilot from overstressing the airframe and angle of attack limits to prevent stall and departing. The aircraft will (try to) protect the pilot from dangerous commands. In this day and age of digital aircrafts (most obviously the Airbus aircraft were designed with this in mind) it is hard to imagine what a revolution fly-by wire was.
Conventional aircraft require constant downward loads on the horizontal tail to maintain their flight level. The F-16 FCS however is designed with “relaxed static stability”: high speed computers (however, compared to the machine you run your simulator on they seem incredibly slow) stabilize the aircraft at any desired cruise speed or manoeuvre condition by making quick, small adjustments to the control surfaces so controlled flight is maintained. Without the computer the aircraft cannot be flown. Even the best pilot would not be fast enough to react.
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MODELS AND PRODUCTION
In 1975 when the U.S. Air Force started its production, Belgium, The Netherlands Denmark and Norway followed with their orders a few months later, bringing the initial program to 998 aircraft. Ten years later, 17 air forces in 16 nations had ordered more than 3,000 F-16s. In 1983 the 1000th aircraft was delivered, the 2,000th in 1988, the 3000th in 1991 and the 4000th in 2000. During its production time the F-16 had of course extensive changes, i.e. choice of engines, night attack capabilities etc. The MLU (Mid-Life Update) started in 1991, modernizing the avionics with the latest technologies, cockpit and the latest weapons and added ‘over the horizon’ capability. Nowadays more than 4,200 F-16’s have been delivered to 19 countries. F-16s are notoriously difficult to divide into models and variants. ‘Blocks’ and ‘models’ are intertwined into a bewildering list. But here are the most important variations.
Block 1,Block 5 and Block 10 for USAF and the first European countries. Block 15 two hardpoints added to the chin of the inlet, larger horizontal tails, wide-angle Head-Up-
Display, system for ‘over the horizon’ weapons.
Block 20 increased maximum weight for 9 g manoeuvres, MLU cockpit, avionics and other provisions Block 25 First F-16C/D models, increased multi role capacity. Block 30/32 two new engines: F110-GE-100 and F100-PW-220. computer memory expansion and seal-
bonded fuselage fuel tanks
Block 40/42 Various modifications/product improvements include the chaff/flare dispenser and the
advanced radar warning receiver.
Block 50/52 Capable of using the Lockheed Martin low-altitude navigation and targeting for night
(LANTIRN) system.
Block 60 larger fuel tanks for greater range, new cockpit displays, an internal sensor suite, a new mission
computer and other advanced features including a new agile beam radar. Block 60/62 Projected development, subject to customer demand. No firm configuration, specifically designed for the United Arab Emirates.
F-16A Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-200 turbofan, rated at 12,240 lb.s.t. dry, 14,670 lb.s.t. full military, and
23,830 lb.s.t. with afterburning.
Maximum speed: Mach 2.05 at 40,000 feet. Service ceiling 55,000 feet. Maximum range 2400 miles. Initial
climb rate 62,000 feet per minute.
Dimensions: wingspan 32 feet 9 1/2 inches, length 49 feet 3 1/2 inches, height 16 feet 8 1/2 inches, wing
area 300 square feet.
F-16B Standard tandem two-seat version of F-16A; fully operational both cockpits; fuselage length
unaltered; reduced fuel.
F-16C Current production version, capable of all-weather operations and compatible with Beyond Visible
Range (BVR) missiles.
F-16D Standard tandem two-seat version of F-16C. F-16 Mid-Life Update (MLU) provides the A and B models with new radar, cockpit and computer, which
makes it possible to fly night and day missions and in all weather conditions.
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In its complete development the external model hardly changed at all. Because of the excellent aerodynamic and structural design of the original F-16, the external lines never needed serious change. The F-16’s growth potential, however, has been fully utilized. The aircraft has undergone six major block changes incorporating four generations of core avionics, five engine versions, five radar versions, five electronic warfare suites and two generations of most other subsystems.
FUTURE PLANS
As there are already unmanned aircraft, the so-called Uninhabited Combat Air Vehicles (UCAV), Lockheed Martin is researching a demonstration type of an unmanned F-16 to prove autonomous vehicle control, up-link command technologies, and to develop operational requirements. But also there are also studies to modify the F-16 into a remotely piloted drone: the aircraft could be piloted from the ground.
Another idea, the F16 UCAV has a sixty-foot wingspan and 22,100 pounds of internal fuel capacity. The configuration could maintain an un-refuelled, eight-hour presence on a nominal combat air patrol mission. A prototype could be built and flying in less than two years.
The Joint Strike Fighter of Lockheed-Martin and the Eurofighter, built by a consortium from Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, is chosen by most NATO countries to take over from the F-16 in the next decade. Many feel these aircraft will be last manned fighter aircraft. In that whole history the F-16 holds a very special place, since it’s the only aircraft that has NEVER been beaten when opposing similar numbers. It never lost a head to head combat situation.
SPECIFICATI ON S
Manufacturer: Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems Fort Worth, Texas Wingspan: 31 feet 0 inches without tip-mounted AAMs 32 feet 9.75 inches with tip-mounted AAMs Wing Aspect Ratio: 3.20 : 1 Fuselage Length: 49 feet 4 inches Overall Height: 16 feet 8.5 inches Tail plane Span: 18 feet 3.75 inches Wheel Track: 7 feet 9 inches Wheel Base: 13 feet 1.5 inches Wing Gross Area: 300.0 sq feet Flaperons (total): 31.32 sq feet Leading Edge Flaps : 36.72 sq feet Fin: 43.10 sq feet Rudder: 11.65 sq feet Tail Surfaces: 63.70 sq feet (GE Variant) No. Engines: One Engine Manufacturer: General Electric Engine Designation: F110-GE-100 turbofan Engine Power: 27,600-lbs with afterburning (P&W Variant) Engine Manufacturer: Pratt & Whitney Engine Designation: F100-P-220 turbofan Engine Power: 23,450-lbs with afterburning
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Aerosoft F-16 Fighting Falcon 1.10 Manual
Empty Weight: 18,238-lbs with F100-PW-200 turbofan 19,020-lbs with F110-GE-100 turbofan Max External Load: 12,000-lbs Max Comb Takeoff Wght: 23,765-lbs with the F110-GE-100 turbofan Maximum Takeoff Wght: 27,185-lbs ( F-16C with a F110-GE-100 ) for an air-to-air mission without drop tanks 37,500-lbs ( F-16C Block 30/32 ) with maximum external load 42,300-lbs ( F-16C Block 40/42 ) with maximum external load Wing Loading: 95.0-lb/sq ft at 28,500-lbs AUW 141.0-lb/sq ft at 42,300-lbs AUW Thrust/Weight Ratio: 1.1 to 1 Combat Takeoff Weight: 23,765-lbs with the F110-GE-100 turbofan Maximum Internal Fuel: 6,846-lbs Maximum External Fuel: 6,760-lbs Maximum Ordnance: 20,450-lbs for a 5-g manoeuvre 11,950-lbs for a 9-g manoeuvre Maximum Level Speed: Above Mach 2.0 at 40,000 feet Service Ceiling: More than 50,000 feet Radius of Action: 852-miles on a hi-lo-lo-hi mission with two 2,000-lb bombs, two Sidewinders, 1,040 US gallons fuel, tanks dropped when empty 392-miles on a hi-lo-lo-hi mission with four 2,000-lb bombs, two Sidewinders, 300 US gallons of external fuel, tanks retained 230-miles on 2 hour 10 min CAP mission with two Sparrows and two Sidewinders, 1,040 US gallons of external fuel 818-miles on a point intercept mission with two Sparrows and two Sidewinders, 1,040 US gallons of external fuel Ferry Range: 2,417 miles with drop tanks Symmetrical g-Limits: +9 with full internal fuel Maximum Climb Rate: 50,000 feet per minute at sea level Typical Take-Off Run: 2,500 feet at MTOW Typical Landing Run: 2,500 feet at normal landing weight Cannon: One internal 20-mm M61A1 Vulcan cannon with 511 rounds AAMs: Wingtip launch rails for AIM-9L/M/P Sidewinder missiles Alternatives to Sidewinder are MATRA Magic 2 or Rafael Python 3 Pylons: Centreline pylon stressed for 2,200-lbs at 5.5-g load; 1,200-lbs at 9-g Inboard wing pylons stressed to 4,500-lbs at 5.5-g load; 2,500-lbs at 9-g Centre wing pylons stressed to 3,500-lbs at 5.5-g load; 2,000-lbs at 9-g l Outboard wing pylons, usually used for additional AIM-9 carriage, stressed to 700-lbs at 5.5-g load; 450-lbs at 9-g load Unguided Bombs: Most unguided weaponry is authorized for carriage, including Mk 82 bombs and cluster munitions on triple-ejector racks, or Mk 84 bombs carried singly on wing pylons. Guided Bombs: AGM-65 Maverick anti-armour missile and Penguin anti-ship missile (Norway). Pakistani aircraft equipped with ATLIS laser-designator and Paveway LGBs One internal 20-mm M61A1 Vulcan cannon with 511 rounds Smart Weapons: The F-16C/D is basically similar to the F-16A/B, but with greater accent on "smart" weapons. Block 50/52 aircraft have full AGM-88 HJARM capability, while LANTIRN-equipped aircraft can autonomously launch GBU-10 and GBU-12 laser-guided bombs.
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Aerosoft F-16 Fighting Falcon 1.10 Manual
FLIGHT SYSTEMS
To fully understand the flying capabilities of the F-16 it is important to understand some of the main systems and principles that make it the manoeuvrable fighter it is. Translated from RNoAF F-16AM technical training documents to a very basic technical English by Dag R. Stangeland.
F-16AM FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM (FLCS)
The Flight Control System in the F-16 is a computer controlled system. The main 3 components of this system are as follows:
Primary FLCS: Controls the aircraft in the PITCH, ROLL and YAW axis via the primary control surfaces.
o Horizontal stabilizers (Pitch) o Flaperon (Roll) o Rudder (Yaw)
Secondary FLCS: The purpose of this system is to increase/optimize lift, aerodynamic braking and enhance
manoeuvrability. To do this the secondary control surfaces are used.
o Leading Edge Flap (LEF) o Trailing Edge Flap (TEF) o Speed brakes
The Air Data System (ADS):
o The ADS transmits signals to the FLCS via a pneumatic origin, such as AOA, Airspeed, Altitude,
Mach-number, Temperature and Sideslip.
The pilot induces steering commands to the FLCS via the Side Stick Controller (SSC) and rudder pedals. Then the signals are generated electrically and sent to the FLCS, where they are processed together with inputs from the air data system and feedback from gyros and accelometers. Based on these inputs, the final rudder deflection/input is generated and will determine what position the rudder should be in. The signal from the FLCS out to the Integrated Servo Actuator (ISA) is electrically driven but the main ISA that moves the rudder/control surface is hydraulically powered from hyd. system A and B. In addition to SSC and rudder pedals the pilot can give inputs to the FLCS via Manual Trim Panel (MTP). The MTP can trim the aircraft in all 3 axes. The FLCS is also equipped with an Autopilot (AP) function that can maintain attitude, altitude and heading based on the pilot’s choice. The Horizontal Stabilizers moves the aircraft in the pitch axis and assists during roll. They operate symmetrically in pitch manoeuvring and asymmetric during roll manoeuvring. They can move 25° up and 25° down from streamline.
The Flaperons move the aircraft around the roll axis. They can deflect 23° up to 20° down from streamline position. When the Landing Gear Handle is set to the down position, both flaperons will automatically go down to 20° and work as Trailing Edge Flaps. If flaperon is in the TEF mode and you maintain airspeed in excess of 240 kts the down deflection will decrease gradually from 20° and be fully streamline when reaching 370 kts. TEF mode will then be unavailable. Rudder pedals send inputs to the aircraft in the yaw axis. The rudder can deflect 30° to each side from the centre position.
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Aerosoft F-16 Fighting Falcon 1.10 Manual
RELAXED STATIC STABILITY
As opposed to many other aircraft the F-16 is built for an unstable mode, so called Relaxed Static Stability (RSS). RSS means that aerodynamically the F-16’s point of lift is forward of the aircraft’s Centre of Gravity (CG). This means that with increased AOA the lift will increase and thereby the AOA will increase and increase lift further. In the end the aircraft will break or stall. The aircraft will, as a result, not find its stable position in flight. To control this, the FLCS is dependent continuous feedback from the gyros and accelometers. With increased airspeed the point of lift will move aft and at a speed of Mach 1.0 the lift will be at the same point as the CG. Above Mach 1.0 the lift will be behind the CG. This means that the F-16 is aerodynamically stable above Mach 1.0. Advantages with an unstable aircraft:
Reduced Drag Increased manoeuvrability Rapid response from pilot inputs Smaller control surfaces which means less weight.
SPEEDBRAKES
The speed brake is controlled by the SPD BRK switch on the throttle grip. The switch has 3 positions:
Aft position is spring-loaded to mid position. With the switch in aft pos. the speed brake is opened
gradually.
Mid position. Speed brake will remain in last position used. Fwd position. Speed brake closes to fully closed position.
The speed brake can deflect to 60° in the fully open position. With Landing Gear Handle Down and Main Landing Gear Down and Locked the operation of speed brakes will be limited to 43° deflection to prevent it from scraping the ground during landing. This limit can be overridden by holding the SPB BRK switch in the aft position. If the switch is released the speed brake will go back to 43° open. When the aircraft has Nose Landing Gear Weight On Wheel, the speed brake can be fully opened to 60° and again function as a brake. The purpose of speed brakes is as follows:
Aerodynamic braking of the aircraft Increase of manoeuvrability Easier to control landing speed.
LEADING EDGE FLAPS
While most people are familiar with trailing edge flaps (the control surfaces at the rear of the wing that deploy to increase lift at the expense of additional drag, the F-16 also has Leading Edge Flaps. They increase lift during take­off and landing and automatically change the curvature of the wing in various flying conditions. This gives better take off/landing performance, lift-to-drag ratio resulting in better manoeuvrability and a more efficient vertical tail during high AoA. The LEF is mechanically driven by a Power Drive Unit dependent on steering input from Electronic Component Assembly (ECA). The input signals to the ECA are calculated from Mach-number, AoA and Altitude, during flight. The LEF can deflect from 2° to 25° dependent on what the ECA tells it to do. On landing the LEF will automatically go to 2° UP position when the aircraft has Weight On Wheels and the speed on wheels is 60 kts. The
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LEF is controlled by the LE Flaps switch. This has two positions; AUTO or LOCK. It remains in AUTO during normal flight. If put in LOCK it will remain in the position it is set, independent on what the ECA says.
FLIGHT MODELS IN FSX
The described systems all have been faithfully reproduced in the FSX version of the F-16 and result in an aircraft that is easy to fly. Very easy to fly in fact as it tends to go where the nose is pointed. As long as you follow the checklists and the data note in there you should find no great difficulties in handling the F-16.
There are two aspects though, that have proven difficult to our testers. The first is that landing. Most people who fly the aircraft for the first time tend to have problems reducing speed enough and crash on landing. Both these problems can be solved with Aerodynamic Braking. During your approach you keep a high AoA (so your nose is not pointed where you are going but much higher) and after touchdown you keep the nose up and let the drag slow you down until you get to 80 knots and you can start to use your wheel brakes.
The second issue the testers found hard to understand how the configuration of the aircraft affects the handling. The F-16 can carry seriously large loads and most of it is external. So apart from the extra weight you also have to handle the extra drag. While a fully loaded Cessna still flies very similar to an empty one, the difference between an F-16 configured for a demo flight and one that is ready for a long range bombing mission is immense.
All the models in this product have separate flight models that are linked to the type of engine, F-16 model and above all the external stores. The more pods, missiles, tanks or bombs below your aircraft the heavier it is and the more drag it has. More important, the aircraft performance will be affected and limited. Depending on the external stores the maximum G-load the aircraft can handle will differ.
On the Store screens you can see the stores on your aircraft. It also shows if you are in CAT III or CAT I condition. CAT III has limitations such as limited turn performance below Mach 0.7 and pitch damping to counter excessive AoA (18 degrees at CAT III and 25 degrees at CAT I). On the same screen you will find the max G the aircraft can handle. Do not be surprised to break things when you exceed this value. Contrary to general belief the flight systems do not fully prevent the pilot from exceeding these values! Knowing the aircraft you fly is vital.
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VIEWS AND PANEL NAVIGATION
The cockpit of the F-16 is rather special as there are very few aircraft that give that much external visibility. The whole cockpit is very low and when you sit in it you really feel like you are sitting on top of the aircraft. For flight simmers this brings a new problem as many of the controls are not visible in the default views.
TRACKIR AND M OVING V IEWPOINTS
By far the best solution is to use a view system like TrackIR that adds huge realism to this product by panning your view as you move your head and even moving your viewpoint. If you move your head sideways and forwards, it allows you to look UNDER some of our panels. There is nothing that comes close
to this and we can’t advise this
enough. See below to see a view that is only possible with one of these devices.
Now we assume your joystick has at least a pan option that allows you to slew your view, but this might still hide some panels behind the throttle or the side stick. To solve this we advise you to assign some of the buttons on your joystick to moving the viewpoint itself. When you are able to move the view direction (standard on most joysticks) and the view position (as advised here) you have unlimited freedom.
Shown is the assignment of a secondary four-way switch on the joystick to the movement of the viewpoint. A fifth switch is assigned to a reset of the view because it is very easy to lose orientation. The movement is set to repeat, the reset is a single event.
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Left and right mouse buttons are used to use the control. Most of the time the left mouse button will turn the control right and the right mouse button will turn it left
Only left mouse button is used to set the control. Most of the time this is used for simple 2 mode switches
Left mouse button depressed and move the mouse up and down are used for some controls that have unlimited settings. For example the setting of the rudder pedals to suit the length of your legs.
FSX VIEWS
The third way to navigate the panels is with the built in views of FSX. With the [s] key you select the main category of view and with the [a] key you select the view inside that category. We assigned several special views to assist you. The Tower, Runway and Outside views are FSX standard.
Cockpit
o Cockpit (no obstructions) o Default view (HUD) o Centre Console o Left MFD o Left Aux Console o Left Console o ICP-DED o Right Aux Console o Right Console o Right MFD.
Aircraft
o Tail o Nose o Right Wing o Left Wing o Landing Gear o Trail o Belly
CON SOLES, PANEL S AND CONTROLS
There are 3 major cockpit layouts used in the F-16 and we included the two most used, the C-model and the MLU­model. They differ in several panels but for some less important panels we chose to use only one version. It is not always clear what mouse button to use on what control, so small graphics are added to help with this.
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MULTI FUNCTION DISPLAYS
The two large displays on both sides of the centre console are used for navigation and as the radar screen. The MFDs are activated with the Avionics Power panel on the right console.
LEFT MFD (RADAR)
The left MFD is dedicated to the radar. It will be able to track all the AI aircraft that you see in the simulator. Only targets in a 60 degree cone in front of the aircraft will be detected and when there are many targets the load on the systems computer will increase a lot. Radar range can be cycled through 5, 10, 20 (default), 40 and 80 NM. All targets will show a trail showing the history of the target hits. The active target will show red for 10 seconds and always will show the attitude in thousands of feet above the radar dot.
Using the click zone on the display allows you to cycle through the targets and selects one as the ‘Locked’ target. Information on this target will be shown on the display. Target Heading and Speed are shown, just as Aspect Angle and Overtake Speed.
One of the more complex bits of information on this screen is the Aspect Angle. It has nothing to do with the position of the target in relation to your heading but only shows the angle between the (extended) tail of the
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target and your position. If the indicated Aspect Angle is zero, you are directly behind the target (but you could be flying any, even an opposite, heading). It is important in combat as you like to get this angle as small as possible to avoid being detected and to increase your chances of hitting the target.
RIGHT MFD (NAVIGATION)
The right MFD has three main pages
HSI page - shows a large HSI that is a lot easier to use then the smaller HSI on the centre console. SMS STORES page - shows the current stores that are underneath the aircraft and the Maximum G-load of
the current configuration. Exceed this load and things could break.
MAP page - Shows a moving map. Please note that display of Traffic is not fully realistic as it also shows
traffic that is outside the normal radar capability. This kind of information however is currently being sent by other sources to many aircraft so in that aspect it is not fully impossible.
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Aerosoft F-16 Fighting Falcon 1.10 Manual
HEADS UP DISPLAY
By far the most important display for the pilot is the HUD that allows the aircraft to be flown without having to look at any other instrument. It is displayed on a thick plate of glass directly in front of the pilot. The HUD is switched on with a control on the ICP (the top left wheel) and the HUD CONTROL panel on the left console where you can select what is seen. The amount of information can be rather confusing and it is advised to slowly add more elements as you get more hours in your log book.
STANDARD HUD
The standard HUD is used for normal flight and for initiating an intercept.
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