Notice to Airmen, NOTAM, are a written notification issued to pilots before flight concerning the establishment, conditions or change in any aeronautical facility, service, procedure, or any hazard, the timely knowledge of which may be essential to personnel and systems concerned with flight operations.
Why? Because in my opinion it is preferable to know your options during planning time, i.e. what works in DCS and to which extent, instead of having to find out the hard way: over the target area after 1.5 h mission tim, or through trial & error.
Is it realistic? Not only is the study of NOTAM part of any real life briefing, but in DCS World it may have the added value of preventing one from running into odd quirks during a mission. In some way, NOTAM could even make DCS quirks look like a realistic part of the simulation. The "simulation" of aircraft systems and ground facilities sometimes not working, as in real life.
How is this different from a bug list? A bug list features all things that remain to be corrected, f.ex. graphical issues, omissions etc. This is not the idea of NOTAM. Also the presentation here is more systematic than ED's bugs sections.
What should go into NOTAM? Focus should be set on operationally relevant issues. Real world NOTAM can serve as a good example (sometimes...)
How could this be done? Obviously this can only be achieved as a group effort. Github is a good starting point, because of its accessibility, but this project could move to another platform in the future.
1st line: ID
date as <yymmdd> followed by '-' + <code> + number <dd>
codes:
| AF | Afghanistan |
| CA | Caucasus |
| IR | Iraq |
| KO | Kola |
| MA | Marianas |
| NE | Nevada |
| PG | Persian Gulf |
| SA | South Atlantic |
| SI | Sinai |
| SY | Syria |
number: start every day's first entry with '01', and increment every new entry of that day and theater
2nd line: DESCRIPTION
only capital letters, prefer concise style using appropriate abbreviations, when possible. Typically start with concerned item, followed by issue. Apply bold highlighting to concerned item(s). Terminate with '.'
o theaters alphabetically
o airports alphabetically
o entries by date of entry
Hold Item List: list of specific maintenance work orders that are deferred, because a required part, piece of equipment or system is either missing or inoperable although a limitation might be associated with the HIL record. In simpler terms: DCS_HIL lets you check current status/airworthiness of your DCS aircraft, before you hop in or start planning your next mission. That's the way it's done in real life.
Why? Because in my opinion it is preferable to know your options during planning time, i.e. what works and to which extent, instead of having to find out the hard way: over the target area after 1.5 h mission time or through trial & error.
Is it realistic? Real life aircraft often have small defects that dont require immediate grounding. Flight & maintenance crews use the manufacturer's documentation to assess, if and under which conditions an aircraft can be dispatched, before flight. So in a way software bugs or broken/missing features could even be considered as realistic part of the simulation.
How is this different from a bug list? A bug list features all things that remain to be corrected, f.ex. graphical issues/missing sounds, and things that may not be in line with their real counterpart, whether or not those things are impeding basic functionality. Also the HIL presents relevant defects in a more systematic form than the bugs sections in ED's forums.
What should go into the HIL? Only items or essential features that are originally part of the module modeled, but are broken or completely missing, and would prevent a specific task to be performed as expected. Also a workaround, if available. The source should ideally provide a link to a discussion thread that allows easy tracking of the defect's current state. Reference: official game manual or Chuck's guides as a general rule. -I think there is no point in browsing through real life docs, and listing everything that's missing in the game.
How could this be done? Obviously this can only be achieved as a group effort. Github is a good starting point, because of its accessibility, but this project could move to another platform in the future.
The MISSION PROFILE / PERFORMANCE table is supposed to give the virtual pilot a quick overview of their aircraft's current capabilities (actually inabilities). Only applicable and restricted capabilities should be listed here, and the header line be labeled accordingly either/or
| unrestricted | RESTRICTED |
|---|
The REFER TO section should point to the concerned CATEGORY, further details be given therein.
CATEGORIES (Flight Control System, Weapon System, etc.) are always listed, except if not applicable to the aircraft, and labeled according to the following rule: if at least one item is either RESTRICTED or INOP, the whole CATEGORY is labelled RESTRICTED; otherwise UNRESTRICTED
| unrestricted | RESTRICTED |
|---|
ITEMS (Speedbrake, AIM-120C, etc.) are only listed, if restricted (workaround may be available) or inoperative (completely unusable or missing feature), and labeled as follows
RESTRICTED |
INOP |
|---|
- following every new ITEM entry, the consequences on MISSION PROFILE / PERFORMANCE should be assessed, the applicable CATEGORY added to the table, and the fields Entry by and Date updated
- same applies to header fields 'Last Edit' and 'Date'
[F] indicates the feature is completely missing (although it could reasonably be expected) or intended as is (although evidence indicates otherwise)
[B] indicates the feature is technically implemented, but bugged/broken
Dates:
- full year within header, i.e. 2022
- 2-digit year in subcategories, i.e. 23
Sorting:
- categories by priority, see template below (do not change)
- items alphabetically; except for weapon system: air-air weapons first, alphabetically, air-ground weapons next, also alphabetically
Use this as example or template. Listed ITEMS are exemplary only, and not comprehensive.
| A/C Type | A/C Serial No | Release Date | Company |
|---|---|---|---|
| xxx | xxx | yyyy-mm-dd | xxxx |
| Document Created by: xxx | Release Date: yyyy-mm-dd | Last Edit: xxx | Date: yyyy-mm-dd |
| Mission Profile / Performance | unrestricted | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item | Restriction | Refer to | Entry by | Date |
| Takeoff | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Landing | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| VFR | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| IFR | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| TOT | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| AA | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| AG | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Recon | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Rescue | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Transport | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Range | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Air Air Refueling | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Cold Weather Operation | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Night Operation | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Carrier Operation | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Flight Control Systems | RESTRICTED |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item | Restriction | Description / Workaround / Source | Entry by | Date |
| Fly by Wire System | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Flaps | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Trim | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Example | INOP |
very very long description and even longer workaround 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 | HILOK | 2021-11-24 |
| Powerplant | unrestricted | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item | Restriction | Description / Workaround / Source | Entry by | Date |
| APU | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Engine#4 | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Aircraft Systems | unrestricted | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item | Restriction | Description / Workaround / Source | Entry by | Date |
| Hydraulics | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Electrics | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Pneumatics | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Fuel | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Landing Gear | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Avionics / Instrumentation | unrestricted | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item | Restriction | Description / Workaround / Source | Entry by | Date |
| ADF | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DME | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| GPS | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ILS | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| INS | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| TACAN | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Terrain Following | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| VOR | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Communication | unrestricted | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item | Restriction | Description / Workaround / Source | Entry by | Date |
| Datalink | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| FM | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| HF | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| IFF | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| UHF | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| VHF | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Defensive Systems | unrestricted | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item | Restriction | Description / Workaround / Source | Entry by | Date |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Targeting / Aiming Systems | unrestricted | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item | Restriction | Description / Workaround / Source | Entry by | Date |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Weapon Systems | unrestricted | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item | Restriction | Description / Workaround / Source | Entry by | Date |
| Gun | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| AIM-7F | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| AIM-120C | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CAP-9M | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| AGM-62 | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| AGM-154C | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| BDU-33 | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CBU-99 | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| GBU-12 | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| GBU-31 | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Mk. 5 | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Mk. 151 | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Equipment | unrestricted | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item | Restriction | Description / Workaround / Source | Entry by | Date |
| De-Icing | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Fire Detection | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Position Lights | --- | --- | --- | --- |
- EOF