DH.98 Mosquito Guide Progress Report

Hi folks!

The draft for the Mosquito guide has progressed a lot since the last few weeks. While most sections are not fully completed yet (pretty much impossible without the module being released in DCS), I do have a decent amount of pages "pre-written". I'm starting to reach the limits of what I can do prior to the long-awaited release day. Overall, I think this will be an immensely interesting aircraft to fly. 

The engine section was a real blast to write. The Merlin 25 is pretty simple to operate all things considered (very similar to the Spitfire), but there are a few questions that still remain and depend on how Eagle Dynamics simulates some systems. I will also include a few emergency procedures in case of engine failure or landing gear or flap issues. Being a twin-engine fighter-bomber, the Mosquito brings interesting challenges since losing an engine generally means you still have a decent chance to bring the aircraft home. According to last week's Eagle Dynamics newsletter, propeller feathering is also simulated, which has a noticeable effect on the drag created by the propeller. There's a lot of cool stuff in there.

There is a decent amount of information on aircraft limitations. Interestingly, all speeds given in the pilot notes I had were in knots, while the gauge in our Mosquito is in mph. Imagine how happy I was when I realized I had to convert all these one by one. 

There isn't a lot of information on bombing profiles in the Mosquito... so I'll have to dig a bit more for that one. Most operation by the FB (Fighter Bomber) variants were done at low level using delayed fuzes, but I imagine there were also cases where dive bombing was preferable. The Mossie variant we have will come equipped with 4 x .303 machineguns, 4 x 20 mm cannons, two bombs in the bomb bay door and two bombs under the wings. Later in Early Access we'll have access to 8 x RP-3 Rocket Projectiles.

Sadly, it appears that the T1154 Radio Transmitter Set and the R1155 Radio Receiver Set will only come later during early access, but I'll try to include at least some descriptions to give you guys a glimpse of what they are and what they are used for. The procedures themselves will require more research since I have never seen any of these systems simulated before in any flight sim. There are technical manuals laying around but they are mostly electric wiring diagrams more than checklists. The directional finder (D/F) system will be quite unique within DCS since the closest thing we have is ADF (Automatic Directional Finding) beacons. D/F requires you to manually turn a D/F loop antenna to find the bearing of a signal emitted from a radio station. This is as old school as it can get, and I hope Eagle Dynamics gives it the love it rightfully deserves.

If possible, I'll try to include a few pages on the famous "Oboe" system, which was used by Mosquito pathfinders equipped with transponders. It is unlikely that such a system will ever be simulated, but we can have a pretty good guess about how it would look like.

So... I guess I did most of what I could do to prepare for the Mossie for now. There is still a lot of work to do, but I've come to a point where I'm familiar with many aspects of the plane.