Did You Read The 600 Page Manual For The A-10c?

[Jerry]

So I am fairly new to the game and I recently bought the A-10c after using the f-15c and found out there is a 600 page manual for the plane. So I was just wondering for you experienced players who fly the A-10c, did you read the entire manual, am I going to need to?

[Maki Nishikino]

Chuck's guide is enough...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-uSpZROuEd3NHp0SHZoTGpnUDA/view

[startrekmike]

I am going to contradict the first poster above and say that while Chuck's guides for various DCS modules make great supplements, they were (at least according to their author) never really meant to REPLACE the manuals. They are quick references that can help reinforce the manuals but don't really offer the substance required to outright replace them.

Now we get to the main question. Do you need to read the entire manual? The answer is both no and yes. On one hand, the manuals are not really designed to be read from cover to cover like a book. If you try to do that, you will learn nothing and just burn yourself out. On the other hand, the manual (especially for the A-10C) is VERY well organized and is set up in a way that allows you to go section by section pretty quickly. It is not supposed to be absorbed as a whole document. Instead, you treat it more like a textbook or a reference as you go along.

Now, don't get me wrong. Around eight or nine years ago when I first started playing DCS A-10C, I also kinda rejected the manual. I had told myself that I was "better at learning hands-on" and spent a lot of time watching abbreviated youtube tutorials (because "I could learn better by seeing it done") and pestering experienced players in the community for help (because I thought that it would be easier to simply ask for answers as "I would learn quicker"). After a good while of doing that, I found that I could do a bunch of basic things on a very, very basic level. I could release some weapons and knew the basics of the sensor systems but I had no real idea how anything actually worked. Eventually, I got to a point where it was obvious that I had kinda stopped learning because I lacked the context required to really go forward. I could function on a very basic level but that gets boring VERY quickly.

At that point, I kinda stepped back from the community, turned away from youtube, and put away all the "quick guides". instead, I resolved to use the manual and redo the learning process. I was intimidated by that 600 page manual at first. The hardest part of the whole thing was getting over that mental "hump" where I would let myself get overwhelmed instead of just taking it one step at a time. After a while, I actually got into a good flow and it was not long after that I realized that I had learned quite a bit and it was not NEARLY as difficult as I initially made it for myself.

It was a mindset thing. I saw the learning process as a hurdle that got in my way of having fun but in the end, I realized that when talking about DCS, the learning process IS the fun. If you embrace it and really jump in, you will find that you will be generally better than a great many players around you in online servers. Moreover, you will be able to learn modules VERY QUICKLY while other players are still waiting for others to do the learning for them.

Once you learn the A-10C, you will be able to learn any other DCS module a lot more efficiently because you will have built up the mental tools required to really pick the stuff up quick. You will have a system that makes learning other aircraft not only easy but MORE ENJOYABLE.

So, no. As much as I like Chuck's guides and even Chuck himself. The guides are not enough. The manual is the most solid foundation you will get and using it to learn will make you a faster, more versatile, more efficient, and generally better player than a good many you will encounter online. It will make the whole experience richer and will actually make doing a lot of things easier because you will understand how they work.

Don't fall into the trap that many players fall into. Don't just learn the most basic of basics and call it good as you flounder around aimlessly. DCS is a great hobby that is only made better when you really dig into it.

[ghashpl]

Twice ;)
Then read chucks manual.
Then watch a lot of youtube vids.
Then read a lot of tutorials and forum posts.
Meanwhile I was flying it.

And I can say that after 150h in air I feel comfortable in it.

Most of the manual is just pictures and CDU programming which... you wont use that much. But I think you should read it just to know whay you can do with the plane.

Don't forget - this is rather sim not just a game.

[Troll Norris]

TBH based on experiences of real pilots, noone knows the full content of manual. Maybe it is not case of A-10C. But E.G. Grippen is so complex that it is hard to learn the whole manual. It has so many functions and abilities so the every pilot focuses to different part of manual according to his role of engagement.

[Cyber_Chupacabra]

Maybe not entire manual cover to cover but fair amount of it!
A-10C was my first DCS module and pretty much first flight sim of this complexity and detail so I felt I really need to familiarize myself with the plane.

But now after flying more than few DCS planes I really dont feel I need to read most of the manuals (apart from modules that are VERY different from US Air force philosophy like for example Viggen) and just go for the things that I find too difficult to figure out for myself.
Most help I get from specific YT tutorials and of course Chuck guides.
Sometimes I like to just enter the cockpit and try if I can do certain things as a complete noob.

[ZeroReady]

Yep. I have 600 hours in the A10C, still learning things every time I fly.

[Nirvi]

I just did the interactive training missions. If i wanted to know some specific details, I looked them up in the manual.

[[GCA] King Apo]

At some point I might have read every page, but if I have, it was a very uneffective way of learning.^^ To build on the other posts: It depends on how you learn best, personally I kind of need both, my engaging interactive tutorial or youtube video to hold my interest and see the basics of it. (You won't believe the small stuff I get stuck on otherwise^^)

And on the side (best 2nd monitor, laptop, tablet etc.) the official manual or other detailed documentation I am using. (Sometimes there is very good stuff from the community to supplement the manual)

That said, you should probably read up on a lot of things in the manual, detailed discriptions of all the instruments, CDU, emergency procedures (atleast as relevant and often needed^^). But bite all that into chunks and do it bit by bit. When reading about the CDU for example, have a hot start mission open, where you can try it out right away so it sticks!

When looking up the amazing UFC shortcuts, try em out! Read about a new exciting quality of life function? Try it! Not working? Reread manual. Still not working? Google! Got it? Nope? Is it important? Should I skip to not get frustrated? Note it, to ask somebody when you get the chance.

Big tip I can give you, is to structure your learning a bit into topics and from other modules I know manual helps with that. (When learning the A10C, as my first module, I was all over the place, in hindsight it slowed me down, but also fun)

edit: Pen & paper! You are now in the world of checklists, long winded briefings and debriefings. Writing down inflight, what annoyed you, what keybinding was badly placed, what you didn't know or would have liked to know etc. everything that comes to mind and might be relevant for the next flight.

[Troll Norris]

APO, IRL the real pilot focuses only to one aircraft. So he have enough time to study the whole manual because he does fly only one aircraft. That's very important difference between real pilot and flight sim pilot. And the most important: Real pilot can die in flight. You not.

[Juniorslothsix]

i didnt use it, chucks guide works good

[startrekmike]

Originally posted by Troll Norris:

APO, IRL the real pilot focuses only to one aircraft. So he have enough time to study the whole manual because he does fly only one aircraft. That's very important difference between real pilot and flight sim pilot. And the most important: Real pilot can die in flight. You not.

DCS (like any flight sim) offers a low-risk, low-cost (relatively), and fairly unstructured environment to learn aircraft in. There is no real reason not to learn as much as you can about the aircraft modules you purchase since you have all the time you really want to give yourself to learn. Real pilots pick one plane not because the manuals are thick and scary but because it makes practical sense considering the expensive hours that one needs to learn a given airframe.

As far as the dying part. That is no real reason not to learn all you can learn. I am not sure what that has to do with learning from the manual or not.

[[GCA] King Apo]

Also confused, how does that relate to my post? Since you quoted my name. Sorry I am maybe on the slow side today... ^^

Edit:

(When learning the A10C, as my first module, I was all over the place, in hindsight it slowed me down, but also fun)

Ah I think you misunderstood this part, I didn't mean with different modules, but jumping from topic to topic in the A10C and not really mastering any of them. Always more of a "what my mission needs from me or grabs my fancy" kind of thing... :) Very uneffective but, hey a big child with a GAU10... What can go wrong!

[CiosInflacji]

For what it's worth, in 2017 I found an issue of PC Pilot dedicated to the A-10C. It's 70 pages long and it contains a dozen or so chapters with pictures and screenshots. There also are tutorial missions to be downloaded. For me, it was pretty useful, key issues were described well and I learned quite a few things.
Disclaimer: I don't get any money from PC Pilot for recommending that issue. Unfortunately.

https://pocketmags.com/pc-pilot-magazine/dcs-a-10c-warthog

[Randy Lahey]

In my opinion, start with watching tutorial videos on youtube, then setup your controls (videos are good for this too and can save you a lot of time and hassle), then go into the free flight mission and just fly around trying things out (cold start forces you to read the startup procedure). Reading the manual first is a waste of time and will just overwhelm you...unless you spend a lot of time on the toilet and need something to read

Once you have some context and try out the controls in game a bit, use specific chapters in the manual to add detail to things. Then I added some (unarmed) targets in the editor (another video on how to use it...it's really quite intuitive to use), and then fly that mission to learn the weapon systems.

After that, navigation videos as I feel that navigation and using the CDU is the most complex part of the A10. Jumping in to missions/campaigns after that is a good idea too as that really is the point to all of this...blowing stuff up. So what if you die lots, it's a game! Read a little more, restart, have another go...

[Zero]

Originally posted by Zeallous:

So I am fairly new to the game and I recently bought the A-10c after using the f-15c and found out there is a 600 page manual for the plane. So I was just wondering for you experienced players who fly the A-10c, did you read the entire manual, am I going to need to?

Yes, but not in one sitting. the manual and some tutorial vids go a long way to learning some of the more complex systems, you start out with basics and weapons deployment, but then when you wanna customize something in the profiles or do more advanced stuff (usually related to the CDU) you crack open the manual. and if that doesnt help look up the topic for a video.