SimHQ.com - Air Combat Zone - Review: Falcon 4.0: Allied Force

The new "Tower Camera" tracks your aircraft from the perspective of the control tower. I take care to follow the tower controller's climb-out instructions lest I get a nasty remark in our debriefing.

The right MFD showing the data-linked symbols of my wingmen forming up after takeoff.

During climb-out and the enroute portion of the flight is the best time to start setting up the switches in your cockpit. For you new Falcon pilots you should remember that when you get into the fight you won't have time to press buttons or hit switches, so take advantage of the calm moments to think several steps ahead. I call it "house-keeping" and usually it entails setting up weapons for release, turning off navigation lights, arming the laser (if I'm going to use it), selecting the Master Arm to ON, setting up my counter-measures panel (chaff and flares program) and a few other little things.

The HUD only view is a nice feature of the Aeyes cockpit, allowing for much better visibility through the HUD glass and larger HUD symbology.

Other than not running into the ground or getting shot from the sky, fuel is the biggest concern that you should have. Even hitting the target is secondary to having fuel, since doing the first is useless if you run out of fuel on your way home. Get in the habit of checking your fuel gauge regularly and assessing where you are, where you are going, and how much fuel you are going to need to get to your ultimate destination: home base. A dogfight will consume massive amounts of fuel, so factor that into any planning you might make. A useful tool for keeping track of your fuel consumption is the CRUS RNG page displayed on the Data Entry Display (DED) which can be pulled up via the Integrated Control Panel (ICP). The CRUS RNG page will show you how much fuel you will have left at each waypoint based on the current level of consumption if all other factors remain unchanged.

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