The exercise, one decision at a time.
Direct the pilot with heading, speed, altitude and vertical-rate commands. Start or pause freely; instructor mode pauses at major decision gates and resumes automatically once you complete the required action. Manual pauses remain paused until you click Resume. Radio calls and configuration are your responsibility.
Exercise card
What is a radial?
A radial is a magnetic bearing FROM a navigation station—in this exercise, Mother’s TACAN at the carrier. Picture the carrier at the centre of the chart: 000° runs north, 090° east, 180° south and 270° west. The radial identifies a line extending outward from Mother; it does not tell you which way your aircraft is pointing.
Radial + DME = a position. DME gives your distance from Mother in nautical miles. Your assigned marshal fix is where the assigned radial meets the 21 DME range ring. Being at 21 DME on another radial puts you somewhere else on that ring.
How to approach the marshal fix
- Read back the clearance. Note the assigned radial, 21 DME, 6,000 ft and EAT. The assigned clearance stays visible in the Radio panel.
- Find the fix on the tactical plot. Locate its diamond on the assigned radial at 21 DME. Your jet starts generally toward Mother; you must command a turn toward the fix.
- Choose a heading using TACAN. Read your present radial from the bearing pointer’s tail, and your range from DME. Compare these with the assigned fix. In PTP sketch mode, Mother is at the centre of a scaled compass card; YOU and FIX mark your current and desired radial/DME positions. Estimate the direction of the line from YOU to FIX, then command an initial heading. Monitor both radial and DME and refine your heading. Reveal heading is optional computed training help.
- Check both radial and range. The RADIAL and MOTHER DME instruments describe your current position relative to Mother. At the assigned fix they should match the clearance. The optional Reveal heading help also shows distance TO THE FIX; that is computed training help and is different from MOTHER DME.
- Enter the hold at the fix. Within 0.7 NM of it, at approximately 6,000 ft and 250 KIAS, select Enter marshal hold. Then report Established on Marshal. This game handles the hold entry automatically; it does not teach real direct, parallel or teardrop entry manoeuvres.
- Use the inbound course when commencing. The hold’s inbound course points from the fix back toward Mother. It is the reciprocal of the assigned radial: add or subtract 180° and wrap into 000–359°. That course is separate from your heading to reach the fix from your initial position. Leave the fix inbound at EAT before starting the penetration descent.
The marshal fix is placed behind the carrier in this trainer, so its inbound course equals BRC. In DCS, use the actual clearance you receive.
Marshal timing
The draft cites historical CV NATOPS (NAVAIR 00-80T-105, 31 July 2009), §§6.4.1.1 and 6.4.4, as source leads for a six-minute racetrack and EAT adjustment. The cited passages and current applicability were not verified for this revision. This trainer uses two-minute 180° turns and one-minute straight legs as synthetic exercise parameters: 2 + 1 + 2 + 1 = 6 minutes and 180°/120 seconds = 1.5° per second. These values describe this model only, not verified carrier procedure.
Automatic pauses and approach view
Instructor pauses wait for the required step: enter the hold and report Established; confirm the exit when you return to the fix; commence, apply descent commands and check in; report Platform and apply the lower descent rate; select final tracking; command the slower speed; complete landing configuration; select glidepath tracking; then call the ball. The simulation resumes automatically at 1× time when that step is complete. Editing a draft number does not count until you click Command pilot. The arrow buttons select 1×, 4× or 16× time. Every automatic resume returns to 1×. Your own Pause button always holds the simulation until you click Resume. The chart switches to Approach view when you commence, then Final view inside 1.5 NM. Final view brings the stylised carrier deck, angled landing area and wires into view as you close. The view button cycles Overview, Approach and Final; you can change it manually. Overview focuses on navigation and marshal; Approach shows the final course and upcoming gates; Final shows the deck and wires. North and scale remain visible. The vertical profile zooms with each view, tightening its distance and altitude scales as you close in.
Radio dialogue and time
This exercise uses inherited prototype dialogue; it has not been verified as Navy phraseology or a version-specific DCS exchange. The speech renderer spells out numbers (for example, 102 as “one zero two” and 9 as “niner”); these are text-to-speech choices, not a communications standard.
The exercise clock starts at 16:00Z and displays this scenario’s EAT as a UTC time rounded to a whole minute; MM:SS shows elapsed exercise time. These are trainer mechanics, not verified operational timing guidance. Brief side-number acknowledgements are sent automatically after controller handoffs and instructions. “Fly bullseye” is transmitted on actual final-bearing intercept. Instructor and cockpit task explanations are coaching, not controller radio calls. Approach button 2 is an exercise preset; real presets depend on the mission. The simplified CLARA branch commands a waveoff rather than simulating a talkdown. Wind-over-deck and optional ACLS exchanges are not simulated.
Radio voices
Enable Radio voice to hear the pilot, instructor, Marshal, Approach and LSO. Open Voices to choose each role’s voice and preview it. Voices use your browser’s speech service and play in transmission order. An animated signal appears on the card currently speaking. Your role choices are remembered on this browser when storage is available.
Using the mouse controls
Grab a heading, speed, altitude or vertical-rate value and drag up to increase it or down to decrease it. Hold Shift for larger steps. You can also use the +/− buttons or click a value to type it. Heading wraps through 000°. Click Command pilot to apply your selected values; dragging alone does not change the aircraft’s active command.
Recovery flow
- Call inbound on Marshal. Read back your assigned fix, altitude and expected approach time (EAT).
- Reach the marshal fix at 6,000 ft and 250 KIAS. Select “Enter marshal hold”; the pilot flies a left-hand six-minute racetrack. Report established.
- Arrange to leave the fix inbound at EAT. “Exit hold inbound” arms an exit after the current circuit. Instructor mode pauses when the aircraft returns to the fix; click Confirm exit inbound to continue the countdown to EAT. The aircraft waits at the fix if necessary in this simplified trainer. Keep 6,000 ft and 250 KIAS while waiting. If paused, click Resume to EAT. Instructor mode pauses automatically at EAT. Select Marshal and click Commencing, then command the assigned inbound course (the reciprocal of your marshal radial), 250 KIAS, target 1,200 ft at 4,000 ft/min. Select Approach and check in. The simulation resumes automatically after you apply the correct descent commands and check in.
- Switch Approach and check in. Passing 5,000 ft, report platform and reduce descent to 2,000 ft/min. Level at 1,200 ft.
- Intercept the assigned final bearing (BRC minus 9° in this trainer). “Track final bearing” directs the pilot to intercept and maintain the angled-deck centreline; it does not capture a glidepath.
- This trainer asks you to begin slowing at 10 DME and configure by 8 DME; these are unverified exercise setpoints, not approved procedures. Select gear, full flaps and hook down; engage on-speed and DLC. The trainer uses 135 KIAS as a synthetic on-speed gate; it is not a verified aircraft speed or AoA value.
- Level at 1,200 ft until the glidepath intercept (about 3 NM for this exercise). Select “Follow glidepath” to tell your pilot to fly the needles. This is a game pilot task, not an F-14 autopilot/ACLS mode.
- At ¾ NM switch LSO and call the ball: side number, aircraft type, ball, fuel state. Stay on-speed, on line and on glidepath to trap.
Reading the TACAN
The representative heading-up HSI shows your aircraft at centre, its heading at the top index, a solid bearing pointer with its head toward Mother and tail on your current radial, and an outlined selected-course arrow. Turn COURSE to practise selecting a course through Mother; this knob does not command the pilot. The deviation bar shows the side of that selected course (±10° full scale in this simplified display). TO/FROM says whether the selected course points generally toward or away from Mother. DME is distance to Mother, not to the marshal fix. The display is a teaching instrument, not an F-14 cockpit replica.
PTP sketch deliberately changes the interpretation: the compass centre represents Mother. The larger of present and target DME sets the outer-ring scale, with the other point placed proportionally along its radial. YOU → FIX is the direct track; the dashed parallel through Mother helps estimate its compass direction. This overlay is a mental plotting aid, not a TACAN-generated waypoint needle. No precise heading appears unless you choose Reveal heading. The normal pointer continues to indicate Mother, not the fix. At the fix, the assigned radial and DME must agree together. Hold entry remains simplified.
Action cues and groove calls
In instructor mode, the controls needed next have a black boxed border that flashes three times at an even pace, then stays outlined until the action is complete. Reduced-motion settings keep a static border. Inside the groove, the pilot actively corrects toward the centreline; LSO calls describe measured left/right and glidepath deviations after the ball call. Calls are spaced to keep the radio clear.
The guided commencing gate pauses one second before EAT and holds there until Commencing. If selecting another hold circuit would miss EAT, the trainer requests and reads back an amended time from Marshal.
Learning tools
Instructor off hides coaching, action cues, procedural map/profile overlays, navigation reveals and the PTP teaching sketch. Instructor speech is silenced, while controller and LSO calls remain active. All radio choices remain available. In guided mode, wrong calls explain the error; in instructor-off mode, corrections are recorded quietly for the debrief. Manual arrival, final interception and a stable manually flown touchdown do not require selecting the pilot task helpers. Selections take effect immediately: actuator travel times are not simulated. Trainer-only gear/flap gates are 280/225 KIAS; they are not verified F-14B limitations. Each button shows its current requirement. If you select a blocked control, the nearby status explains why; while slowing, a progress bar tracks airspeed reduction, not mechanical actuation. A blocked selection is not queued: select it again once available. On-speed requires gear and flaps down. Configuration above the exercise extension gates is rejected. Reset the sortie to try again. Your latest debrief is saved on this browser when storage is available.
Scope & sources
CV NATOPS, 31 July 2009 — §§6.4.1.1 and 6.4.4, pages 6-6 and 6-8
This is an unvalidated DCS-oriented educational exercise, not an approved operating procedure or a proficiency assessment, full NATOPS or an aircraft systems simulator. Hold entry is simplified; hold path uses idealised geometry. Controller acknowledgements are abbreviated. The displayed KIAS number is also used as NM/hour for position outside the hold; that is not groundspeed. Hold geometry uses fixed 250 NM/hour. Fuel, AoA, glidepath capture and arrestment are synthetic. No ACLS lock / “say needles” exchange is simulated: this exercise follows an ICLS-style approach. Case II, cockpit radio tuning, emergencies and multi-aircraft separation are outside this first exercise.
The draft cites pp. 75–81 of the DCS Supercarrier Guide as a possible dialogue/sequence source, but the pages and module-version mapping were not verified. The 10/8 DME actions and training tolerances are exercise setpoints, not source-backed procedures.
Eagle Dynamics — Supercarrier Operations Guide, pp. 75–81
Heatblur — DCS F-14 manual
DCS — official documentation downloads