Falcon 4.0 Allied Force

716 Pages·2005·17.62 MB·English

by  Lead Pursuit

Battlefield Operations: Falcon 4.0 Allied Force
BATTLEFIELD
OPERATIONS
FALCON 4.0
ALLIED FORCE

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Battlefield Operations: Falcon 4.0 Allied Force
Table Of Contents
THERE’S A HUGE WAR GOING ON. - 3
ABOUT THIS MANUAL - 6
CHAPTER 1: LEARNING HOW TO FLY - 7
CHAPTER 2: LEARNING TO TURN - 26
CHAPTER 3: LANDING AND NAVIGATION - 55
CHAPTER 4: AIR-TO-AIR WEAPONS - 85
CHAPTER 5: AIR-TO-GROUND WEAPONS - 117
CHAPTER 6: AIR-TO-AIR REFUELING - 173
CHAPTER 7: MISSILE THREAT REACTION - 179
CHAPTER 8: BASIC FIGHTER MANEUVERS - 187
CHAPTER 9: INSTANT ACTION - 205
CHAPTER 10: DOGFIGHT - 208
CHAPTER 11: TACTICAL ENGAGEMENT - 215
CHAPTER 12: THE CAMPAIGN - 253
CHAPTER 13: LOGBOOK - 284
CHAPTER 14: ACMI - 290
CHAPTER 15: TACTICAL REFERENCE - 295
CHAPTER 16: SETUP - 298
CHAPTER 17: THE CONSOLES - 316
CHAPTER 18: THE HUD - 352
CHAPTER 19: THE MFDS - 384
CHAPTER 20: THE ICP AND DED - 403
CHAPTER 21: THE RADAR - 418
CHAPTER 22: THE VIEWS - 441
CHAPTER 23: RADIO COMMANDS - 452
CHAPTER 24: AIRPORT OPERATIONS - 463
CHAPTER 25: AERODYNAMICS AND G FORCES - 470
CHAPTER 26: ENEMY TACTICS - 477
CHAPTER 27: MULTIPLAYER - 494
CREDITS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS - 507
GLOSSARY - 509
AIRBASE TERMINOLOGY - 519

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Battlefield Operations: Falcon 4.0 Allied Force
"THERE’S A HUGE WAR
GOING ON. SOMEONE PUT
YOU IN CHARGE OF AN F-16."
There you have it in a nutshell. The quote came from a fan of the Falcon series of simulators and it
perfectly sums up what this game is all about. We say "game" with a little caution. For hardened
followers of Falcon 4.0, the franchise has come to represent the most advanced and immersive military
flight simulator ever produced for the home PC. Battlefield Operations: Falcon 4.0 Allied Force
(FalconAF) builds upon that reputation to give the closest feeling yet of what it is like to fly one of the
most important combat aircraft of the modern era.
The F-16 Fighting Falcon, otherwise called the "Viper" by those that fly it, is the workhorse of the
United States Air Force and many of her allies around the world. To date, more than 4,000 Vipers have
rolled off the production line in various guises. The Viper's impressive combat record includes both Gulf
conflicts and the war in the Balkans.
In FalconAF, you'll learn to fly realistic air and ground attack missions and feel part of a dynamic, real-
time war environment. This manual will guide you through every aspect of operating the Viper. Not only
will you become proficient inside the cockpit, but you will also gain an understanding of the way
weapons systems operate in the war and the complexities of fighting in the high-tech battlefield.
There are four main areas of play in FalconAF.

Instant Action
This is your first port of call if you are looking for an adrenaline rush. Jump straight into a jet that's
already in the air and shoot down as many enemy aircraft as you can. You can also attack ground
targets in the same arena. It’s no place for the faint hearted...the enemy will just keep on coming.
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Battlefield Operations: Falcon 4.0 Allied Force
Dogfight
Battle it out head-to-head against computer-controlled aircraft or your friends over the Internet or on a
Local Area Network (LAN). Fly in teams to practice in-flight coordination and maneuvers against the
enemy. There are a number of easily selected parameters so you can focus on the skills, alone or in
team play, that you want to hone.
Training
A number of training missions are here to help get you up to speed with the complexities and
challenges of flying the F-16. From takeoff to missile threat avoidance, these missions will help prepare
you for combat in the virtual battlefield.
Tactical Engagement
Create your own missions or fly missions created by others. FalconAF comes with a complete and
easy to use mission editor. Let your imagination wander to design and fly any type of missions, be it
Close Air Support, Intercept, or a dozen other mission types, then engage any type of enemy you want.
You are the one in control. You can import custom made missions from your friends, fly or modify
them.
Campaign
This is the most demanding yet rewarding challenge. You assume the role of a veteran F-16 pilot
assigned to a squadron taking part in a conflict in either the Balkans or Korea. Your success or failure
to accomplish your missions plays a direct part in the progress of the war. Watch how the campaign
evolves dynamically and in real-time. No two missions are ever the same. The campaign is unscripted,
unpredictable and unmatched in its realistic depiction of a dynamic battlefield environment.
FalconAF accurately recreates the experience of operating an F-16 fighter. The principal version
modeled in FalconAF is the Block 50/52. You will soon realize the immense depth of this simulation.
The more you learn the more you begin to appreciate the amount of training and skill required by those
pilots who do it "for real".
There are several "tools" in the simulation that can help you assess your progress and debrief your
missions.
Logbook
Details about your pilot character, such as callsign, are contained in this section. Here you can keep
track of the number of aircraft you have shot down and the number of enemy units destroyed. Medals
and ranks are awarded according to a points system. You can simultaneously keep track of multiple
pilots in your logbook.
ACMI
Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation. Probably the most useful tool for the fighter pilot. The ACMI
lets you review every aspect of your completed mission. Use simple movie style controls to move back
and forth along to any time in your mission, to whatever event you want to see, or watch the mission in
its entirety from a variety of viewpoints. You can analyze the way you successfully evaded an SA-2 or
see how those two SU-27 Flankers got onto your tail.
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Battlefield Operations: Falcon 4.0 Allied Force
Tactical Reference
The comprehensive reference guide for every aircraft, weapon and unit in the game. Here you can find
out the radar warning signature of a Mig 21 for example, or the approximate range of a surface-to-air
missile. A must for the discerning pilot.

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Battlefield Operations: Falcon 4.0 Allied Force
ABOUT THIS MANUAL
This is some basic information about the styles used within this manual.
Keyboard input is labelled like THIS. In this manual, the keystrokes relate to the US/UK keyboard
layout. Note that keyboard layouts from other countries are different, so you might need to press a
different key than specified in the manual. If available, check the keystrokes chart of your country,
which you can find in the DOCS folder of your FalconAF installation. The chart contains all standard
keystrokes and key combinations.
Text that appears on the screen is labelled like this
Audio responses are labelled like this
For up to date information, you can visit Lead Pursuit at http://www.lead-pursuit.com/.
Copyright © 2005, Lead Pursuit. All rights reserved.

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Battlefield Operations: Falcon 4.0 Allied Force

CHAPTER 1: LEARNING HOW
TO FLY
Part 1 of this Flight Handbook consists of a number of training missions. The missions themselves are
located in the Training section of the game, and the mission descriptions and instructions are contained
here in the manual. The missions are task-oriented and teach very specific skills. They provide all the
instruction you will need to complete each learning objective, but there is one caveat. The training
missions use a building block approach. If you try to fly one of the advanced missions without first
learning the skill sets from the earlier missions, you may have difficulty.
Overview
These training missions are designed to teach you how to fly the F-16 in the same way as a real F-16
pilot learns to fly his jet. FalconAF is the most realistic flight simulation ever built, and features scalable
levels of difficulty to aid new pilots. The skills and knowledge required to use the F-16's systems are
not easy to learn, and will take time and effort to master. For this reason, it's suggested you follow this
step by step training regimen.
Training Mission Setup
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Battlefield Operations: Falcon 4.0 Allied Force

All of these training missions assume a specific setup. Please follow these instructions for all of the 30
training missions:
1. Select Setup from the main menu.
2. Click the Simulation tab at the top of the window.
3. Select "Ace" from the Skill Level option. This will set the Flight Model, Avionics, Weapons
Effects, Autopilot, Air Refueling and Padlocking to the proper options.
4. On the right-hand side of the window, turn Labels on by clicking in the box. Note that the Skill
Level changes to Veteran.
5. Click the Graphics tab at the top of the window.
6. Make your Graphics selections based on your processor, video card, available RAM, etc. See
Chapter 16: Setup for recommended settings.
How To Load A Training Mission
To load a training mission, first click Training from the main menu. The list of training missions will then
appear. Click on the training mission you want to start and click the Commit button in the bottom right-
hand corner. Under Mission Schedule on the next screen, the training mission will be selected and you
will see the default name ("2nd Lt. Joe Pilot") next to an aircraft icon. If you have previously created a
pilot in the Logbook, you will see the name you created instead. Click the Fly icon in the bottom right-
hand corner to start the training mission.
Freeze Mode
You can always press SHIFT-P at any time during the training mission to "freeze" the game. Unlike
the regular pause mode (P key), freezing the game lets you operate all the F-16 avionics and
instruments, most notably the radar. Note that the mission clock keeps ticking in Freeze mode. If you
are supposed to be at a specific location at a specific time, the time you spend in Freeze mode counts
against you.

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Battlefield Operations: Falcon 4.0 Allied Force

Mission 1: Basic Aircraft
Handling
The objective of this mission is to learn how to control the F-16. When you complete this mission, you
will have a feel how the fighter responds to controls, and what it can do. There is no point taking a
multi-million dollar aircraft up against the bad guys if you can't control the jet. This mission is the first in
a series of aircraft handling training missions patterned after the Air Force's real F-16 training syllabus.
In the real syllabus, this sortie is called "TR-1" or "Transition Sortie 1." Keep in mind, however, that
when a pilot first starts to fly the F-16, he or she already knows how to fly other jets. Since you may be
an experienced real life pilot, or a 3 year old who has accidentally hit the wrong icon, we're going to
take it slow and start with the very basics. If you feel you've seen all this before, move on to the next
mission.
Controlling the plane in FalconAF and in the real F-16 is really not very difficult. Fighting in the jet,
however, is another matter. Modern fighters like the F-16 are a dream to fly but devilishly hard to fight
in. Today's fighters barrage the pilot with information which, when combined with increased speed,
creates a tempo of air combat that is close to the limits of human capability. Along with the challenge of
sensor fusion and tempo, modern fighters also feature a violent high-G environment. G force is the
force that acts on the jet when it turns. It's like the old example of swinging a bucket of water on the
end of a rope. The water stays in the bucket because of the force pressing the water towards the
outside of the arc. The G force on an aircraft is essentially the same thing except greater in magnitude.
The G forces of modern air combat would turn the fighters of old into kindling (or paper clips). The
fighter pilots of yore, of course, faced challenges of their own. Their primary challenge was the sheer
difficulty of just flying their aircraft. Older aircraft were simply a lot harder to fly than the F-16. Skills
such as flying an F-86 close to its maneuvering limit, manual bombing in the F-105 and marksmanship
in a P-51 demanded great flying skill.
The F-16, in contrast, has a flight control computer that limits Gs and other critical flight parameters to
help keep the pilot out of trouble. In addition, the F-16 Fire Control Computer puts the bombs on the
target. In general, the F-16 is just easier to fly. This doesn't mean the pilot has to sit back and just
press a button occasionally. There are challenges a plenty, and like any aircraft landing is going to
keep you busy.
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Battlefield Operations: Falcon 4.0 Allied Force
Since FalconAF flies like the real jet, it should be relatively easy to fly. Just because flying the jet is
easy, however, does not mean that it is effortless or that there is no learning curve. This mission will
help you master flying so you can go on to the more complex and demanding air combat tasks. We will
also cover a few displays and instruments that are also shown in other parts of this manual. Everything
you need to fly this mission will be presented here.
The HUD Basics
Begin the training mission by selecting 01 Basic Handling under the Training section.
Press the COMMIT button, in the next screen press FLY. Once in 3D world, press SHIFT-P to
freeze the game while you look around the cockpit.
FalconAF features several views, but we will start with the cockpit. Press 2 on the top row of the
keyboard to make sure you are in the 2-D Cockpit view. This cockpit not only looks exactly like the real
F-16 cockpit but also features the same functionality. The most obvious cockpit feature is the HUD
(Head-Up Display). The HUD is located at the top of the cockpit and is by far the most useful of all
cockpit displays. Here is a list of the parts labeled in Figure 1-1 and what they are used for in the HUD.

Figure 1-1
(cid:122) The flight path marker is the most important indicator on the HUD. This symbol shows the pilot
the jet's flight path or vector. If you use your joystick to place the flight path marker on a point
over the ground and hold it there, the jet will impact the ground on that exact spot. Hopefully,
you won't be doing that very often. The flight path marker can be used in a very similar way to fly
to a precise point on a runway. The F-16 can be flown in level flight or precise climbs and dives
using the flight path marker.
(cid:122) The gun cross is the small cross symbol at the top of the HUD. This is an important reference
since it represents where the nose of the aircraft is pointing. There is a difference in where the
aircraft is pointing and the direction in which the aircraft is moving. The Angle of Attack (AOA)
indicates the difference in vertical degrees (nose up or down) between gun cross (where the
aircraft is pointing) and the flight path marker (where the aircraft is going). The difference
between the gun cross (the nose of the aircraft) and the flight path marker is a measure of your
current AOA.
(cid:122) The pitch ladder provides a level flight reference along with a reference for climbs and
descents. The long solid horizontal line in the middle of the HUD is the 0° pitch line. It can be
easily differentiated from the other pitch ladder lines because it has no number associated with
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