16 October 2012

The Excitement Of The Merge!


Just under 500 knots indicated, 12,650' MSL and climbing at 3,800 feet per minute; ESE.  Just about 100 knots closure at around 17 miles on the nose, centered steering; AIM-9M selected with about 7 miles to go until I'm inside the max published range of the missile.

It's all very clear!

The important display is the radar in the center of the panel.  It's set to 25 miles so each of the horizontal lines is 5 miles of range.  25 miles at the top of the screen, 0 at the bottom.  The large circle with the gap in it at close to noon is the closure indicator, every 10˚ is 100 knots of closure from 12-9.  If it's counter-clockwise from noon (12-10:30) then it's showing increasing distance to the target.  The angled line with the gap in the center is a repeat of the artificial horizon.  The fuzzy vertical line with the blob on it is the target.

There are two small circles and a dot in the center.  The larger one will expand as the computer decides you have a better chance of scoring a hit.  The small one is just a center indicator.  The dot is a steering indicator, you center that dot in the center of the screen and you're pointing the nose to give the correct lead for the missile shot.

Notice that we do not see the target in the windscreen yet?  Seventeen miles is a long way!  Since this is an F-4N Phantom II, he can probably see the smoke from my engines.

He's not using radar, you can tell that because the little box with the round display to the right has no lines radiating out from the center.


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