[Falcon 4 BMS] Mirage 2000-5 : Operation Standing Wave, mission 2

Mission 2 : BARCAP over Zar'it

This mission is another BARCAP in the same area. The difference is that I'm going to be the leader this time.

The briefing is not that different from the previous one,

Briefing

Lead position on threshold

The first part of the flight was really quiet so I could take some pictures :

On the radar, the patrol we will take over

Flying over the shores

Smoke on the battlefield

Landscape

Landscape under my wing

But it seems it is not that quiet on the ground :

Finally we had 4 Mig 29 coming near our patrol area.

My wing-man immediately asked permission to engage. Which I gave her. Unfortunately, she fired all her missiles without hitting any of them. But all the patrol around seemed to come and the 4 hostiles were soon shot down before I even could acquire one.

There was nothing more to report during the flight and we got back home to debrief.

Despite apparent success of the mission, further analysis revealed that 2 Mig-29 could enter my airspace and shot down friend aircraft. I wasn't aware at all of their presence.
And this is the main point of it : situational awareness. It's the critical part of a mission and I was in a total lack of it.

I'll have to find out how to improve this !

[Falcon 4 BMS] Mirage 2000-5 : Operation Standing Wave (modified)

Theater : Israel

Campaign :  Operation Standing Wave (modified)

Situation : After years of civil war, a weakened Syrian army deploys in Lebanon in order to cut off supply to opposition forces - alarmingly close to Israel's borders.

Side : NATO

Squadron : 235th at Akrotiri Airbase (Mirage 2000-5)

SItuation

Mission 1 : BARCAP over Ramat HaSharon

My first mission in this campaign was a BARCAP over Ramat HaSharon to prevent further incursions from hostile aircraft.

Briefing

Map

As it's the first time I will fly in a campaign mission, I'm going to be wing-man.

Ready for departure

During the briefing I used the previously gathered data about fuel management to calculate my Bingo (see previous article about fuel management). I know that I have 1000 lb unavailable and 1000 lb to save in case of missed approach. There is no airfield around so I can't plan an alternate landing site. Finally, the farthest point of the mission is 186 nm away and I plan to fly à 480 kt (TAS) at FL200 so I would need 186 x 14 = 2604 lb. My Bingo is then 4600 lb.

Before taking-off I could admire the 4th squadron's C-17  with whom we share the airbase.

Taxi behind a C-17

Finally we take our turn :

Runway hreshold

The flight was absolutely quiet. Mainly because of my leader who never answered to orders of the AWACS. This one ordered us a couple of time to engage bandit aircraft but he seemed to never cooperate. Fortunately no hostile came in our area and the mission was a success. But once more I come to the conclusion that I need to take the lead and never let the AI be in charge...

Note that during the final course, the ATC ordered me to execute a missed approach and I could then see that my fuel calculation were right. I landed at around 1200 lb left!

Next time I'll keep on that kind of mission but I'll endorse the flight leader role.

[Falcon 4 BMS] Mirage 2000-5 : Check-lists and procedures

I have just released that latest version of my check-lists and procedures for the Mirage 2000-5.
It is now v1.1 and can be found in the DOCUMENTATION page.

The English version can be downloaded here.
The French version can be found here.

[Falcon 4 BMS] Mirage 2000-5 : Going further with the procedures (second part)

Fuel management

This is the big part of the flight : getting familiar with the fuel management procedures. To deal with it I referred to a post on check-six forums by DeeJay which explains all the different terms in use : Bingo, Safety fuel...

The fact is that I couldn't find any value on the web about Mirage 2000-5's consumption. So had I to find them by myself. To do so, I used a fully loaded plane (2 IR missiles, 4 EM missiles and 2 external 2000 liters fuel tanks). So I will start with 13700lb of kerosene.

First measurement is carried out from the cold and dark start to the taking off, including taxi. During all this time the throttle is left on idle.

Idle throttle on the ground

  Fuel flow is 800 lb/h which means 13.3 lb/mn. As the rampstart procedure takes around 20', I know that I need 266.7 lb (rounded to 300 lb) kerosene before taking off.

 Then as I use full afterburner to take off, another 300lb are gone when I'm airborne as we can see on the picture below.

Fuel left after take off

So let's take 600 lb for the rampstart and take off.

Next step was to measure the fuel flows at 360 kts, 450 kts and full afterburner at altitudes of 1500 ft and 20,000 ft

Here are a couple of pictures taken during the test :

Full afterburner, 1500 ft and 52,300 lb/h

Full afterburner, 20,000 ft and 34,900 lb/h

450 kts, 1500 ft and 9,300 lb/h

Here are the results in a nutshell (all speed are CAS) :

at 1500 ft :

• 360 kts (mach 0,56) : 7,000 lb/h
• 450 kts (mach 0,7) : 9,300 lb/h
• full afterburner : 52,300 lb/h

at 20,000 ft :

• 360 kts : 6,000 lb/h
• 450 kts : 10,600 lb/h (!)
• full afterburner : 34,900 lb/h

Almost all theses values seems consistent except at 20,000 ft with a speed of 450 kts, the value should be lower than the one at 1,500 ft... I may have tried twice, I had the same result and I can't explain why.

But the fuel is now running low and it's time to go back home to land and ask for more advice on the Check-six forum.

In the discussion, I got an answer by Topolo who worked a lot on simulated flight models of the Mirage 2000. He sent me a link to its performance charts which where used to develop the simulated plane. I could then compare with my results and I was pleased to notice that my values are credibles (all except one of course). In these charts, the speed is measured in mach not in kts, so I'm gonna work with mach from now.
I would recommend everybody to check these charts out. Beyond fuel flows one can find best autonomy or endurance speed at each altitude... It's gonna be really useful for the following of the fuel management process !

In the next flight I will carry out further more measurements to fulfill my documentation. I need the fuel required to ascend to FL350 (standard departure and interception) and in case of aborted landing.

[Falcon 4 BMS] Mirage 2000-5 : Going further with the procedures (first part)

As mentioned in the previous article, today's flight will focus on three different points :

• Using the TEST page on the MFD
• Activating the autopilot and its different modes 
• Managing the fuel consumption.

Ready for a test flight

TEST page

This page records all the system faults that occurred during the flight. These faults are divided into two built-in pages BIT1 and BIT2. The trick is that during the rampstart many faults are recorded which is normal. But we need to clear them) using the CLR button.
This action will be included in the next version of my check-lists (v1.01)...

TEST page BIT1 with rampstart faults

TEST page BIT2 with rampstart faults

TEST page clear

 Note that the MASTER CAUTION is now off

Autopilot

In Falcon, the autopilot system is based on the F16's one except that the two 3-positions switches are replaced by 5 buttons. ATT, ALT, HDG, AP RESET and H NAV.

ATT : is the attitude hold button that commands the aircraft to maintain the current pitch.
ALT : is the altitude hold button that commands the aircraft to maintain the current altitude (when engaged).

HDG : turns the plane towards the selected heading on the HSI.
AP RESET : resets the AP
H NAV : make the autopilot to fly to the designated steer-point. Note that if auto steer-point is selected in the UFC the autopilot will automatically fly to the next way-point. If the manual mode is selected it will circle around it with a 30° bank angle

To engage HDG or H NAV autopilot, you need to engage ATT HOLD or ALT HOLD

ALT HOLD engaged

H NAV mode engaged with ALT HOLD

 In this mode, the plane will hold current altitude and fly to the next waypoint.

H NAV mode engaged with ATT HOLD

 Like the previous one except that it will keep the current pitch.

HDG mode engaged with ATT HOLD

 In this mode the plane will fly following the designated course (see on the HSI on the right MFD) holding the current pitch.

H NAV engaged with ALT HOLD and manual steer-point

In this mode, the plane will fly to the selected steer-point and circle around it with a 30° bank angle.

Now that I can deal with the autopilot, I'll be able to start monitoring fuel flows at different speed and altitude. This will be the subject of the second part of this article...

[Falcon 4 BMS] Mirage 2000-5 : Operation Dragon Shield

Now it's time to go...

I get in my plane and carry out the rampstart procedure following the brand new version of my check-lists (refer to DOCUMENTATION page).

Once the engine is running and all the systems are operationals and tested I start rolling behind my team leader. During the taxi, I carry out the last tests and then we wait at runway threshold for the take-off clearance.

Waiting for the clearance

Due to the emergency we are taking off in formation

Taking off

I quickly regroup on my leader and we start the navigation to be on time over the target

Regrouping

Then it's time to do the fence-in and we dive to 300 ft to avoid this SA-2 threat on the coast. And soon the shores of Syria appear in the mist

Shores of Syria

We are quickly over the land where we try not to be spotted by the SAM.

Over the land

Unfortunately we are finally detected and my leader engage defensive measures as I dive lower over the ground to get through safely.
My leader couldn't escape it and despite its counter measures he finally gets hit by a missile leaving a black trail of smoke behind.

Leader is hit

He ends its course hitting hard the ground.

Leader is down

Now I'm on my own...

I climb to 4000 ft to acquire my target which should be in the air by now. As expected I can find him immediately. I engage full PC to attack before he tries to escape.

Target locked

As soon as he enters my no-escape zone I shoot a EM missile : "Fox-3 medium !" immediately followed by "Pitbull!".

And it's a kill!!!

Target crashes

Kill confirmed

Mission complete, now it's time to go back home... But the two MIG-23 patrolling the area are now on my back. No way I can go across the SA-2 threat zone with them in my six. I'll have to shoot them.

My plan is to engage the first one with my last EM missile and then enter a dogfight with the second to get rid of him with my two IR missiles. Again I engage full PC and take as much altitude as I can.

MIG-23 in front of me

Quickly I get in range to shoot the first MIG : "Fox-3 medium !", "Pitbull !" and it's another kill!!!

Another kill !

Unfortunately, the time I shoot and kill the first, the second one is close enough to me to launch an AA-7 which will hit me. I only have a couple of seconds to eject before my plane explodes in the air...

Eject! Eject! Eject!

So this is how my first mission ends. Quite not a success but I proud I could get up there and validate all my procedures...

See you soon for the debriefing...

[Falcon 4 BMS] Mirage 2000-5 : Operation Dragon Shield (Briefing)

This is going to be my first operational report of a tactical engagement on this Blog. The operation is called Dragon Shield

GENERAL SITUATION

Unrest in Syria escalated to an multi-sided armed conflict. Various rebel groups are fighting Bashar al-Assad's government while ISIS is spreading all across the country.
International organizations are reporting many severe human-rights violations : civilian massacres, use of chemical agents...

To prevent further escalation, NATO sent in the area a multinational coalition. It was tasked to prevent war crimes from any belligerent and to strike ISIS terrorists.

PARTICULAR SITUATION

An ISIS fighters group was reported in a small town West of HOMS named SHIN. The government claims that rebels are helping them to hide among the citizen. Authorities are planning a strike against ISIS fighters regardless of collateral damages.

Intelligence reports revealed that a chemical strike is scheduled today at 06:30 am on this town. A Su-22 is now loading two bombs filled with Sarin gas and is about to take off from SHAYRAT airbase. SHIN is 5' far from the airbase, you must scramble now and intercept this bomber before it strikes the town.

ENEMIES

1 Su-22 performing a strike on the target at 06:30 am
2 MIG-23 are patrolling south-east of the target and may be redirected to intercept our flight

1 Sa-2 owned by the syrian government is located on the shores of the Mediterranean sea

AAA on AL QUSAYR airbase South-East of target

ALLIES

1 E2-C AWACS "Chalis-1"
1 KC-10 TANKER "Camel-1"

WEATHER

refer to Weather Briefing

MISSION

Your task is to intercept the Su-22 before it drops its bombs on SHIN.

EXECUTION

PACKAGE

2 Mirage 2000-5 : Intercept the Su-22

WAYPOINTS

1- Take off at 05:50 from AKROTIRI Airbase
2- Nav
3- Fence-In
4- Dive bellow radar
5- Start patrol at 06:25
6- End patrol at 06:30 (dead line)
7- Out of SA-2 threat
8- Fence-Out
7- Land at AKROTIRI Airbase

[Falcon 4 BMS] Mirage 2000-5 : Akrotiri airfield familiarization 2

This is my second familiarization flight on Akrotiri airfield. This one is dedicated to SID and ILS landing.

For this training, I will take off and leave the airfield via EAST SID 3 until EAST POINT which is 30 miles away on the 106° course.
Then I will return to the airfield and land on runway 28 to use the ILS.
Akrotiri's runway 28 is equipped with an ILS which frequency is 109.7. The TACAN channel is 107X.
So did I enter these values in my DED so that I will only have to turn ILS on when approaching the runway.

Setting up ILS

 Then I took off from runway 11 which is in use due to the wind. I followed the 106° bearing until EAST POINT and then came back to the airfield.

Entering the downwind I turned on the ILS and started to align with the glide slope.

Trying to align with the slope

Finally I could easily get exactly on the slope

On the slope

Landing was then just a piece of cake.

[Falcon 4 BMS] Mirage 2000-5 : Akrotiri airfield familiarization 1

Now that I am based in the RAF base at Akrotiri LCRA, I will have to familiarize with it. First exercise is, of course, circuit pattern training.

This airbase has only one runway 11/29 (10/28 in reality).  Today the 11 is in use. The circuit has to be carried out right hand at 1200 ft QFE.

Parking

Runway 11 threshold

Rotating

Downwind leg

Short final leg