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Time and Date Keeping:
With members all over the world one of the main requirements for game coordination is proper understanding of time and date, how to say it, its recording and indication. As is the case in the rest of the military and aviation world, the RAAF uses Universal Coordinated Time (the old Greeenwich Mean Time) which is called Zulu for brevity and is standard for all Squad purposes. There are plenty of converters available on the net. The World Time Server is a good one. We recommend that you buy a cheap 24 hour clock and set it to Zulu to ensure coordination with the rest of the squad. Initially it sometimes appears confusing but becomes second nature with a little practice. If you remember that each code group is ALWAYS in the same sequence then it is easy. The order is: 2 numbers for YEAR/2 numbers for MONTH/then 2 numbers for DATE/ and 4 numbers for HOURSMINUTES/. Say Tiger and I want to hook up for a game at 1pm (1300 hrs in the 24hr clock) on the 10th of August 2002 London time then I would write 0208101200Z. The reason for the 1200 is that London is currently 1 hour in front of UTC when the UK is using Summer Time

Navigation
The Map in IL2 has only 2 scales. At max zoom it is 1KM Grid squares and at minimum zoom it is 10 KM Grid Squares. It should be obvious from teh map just which scale is currently displayed. Teh IL2 Map is steeped through teh zoom levels by right clicking on it. It can be dragged with a 'left click and hold'

It is not always easy to understand which way is where and how to communicate flight variables. In order to preserve communications integrity in our games we have listed all the terms required in the Standard Operational Brevity Phrases listed in the RAAF Comms Training Page These are a result of the limitation of using text chat in some sims and are aimed at keeping normal comms clear, concise and to a minimum. To call and Heading ,Speed and Altitude use the following format. H230 S400 A5000. Thrust setting will be prefixed with a T and is what should be used for formation flying rather than Speed S. The actual units used are irrelevant and are simply those read from the cockpit instruments or HUD in the sim you are flying at the time. For example Il2 uses SI (metric) units as was done IRL in these Russian and German aircraft and so this transmission would mean Heading 230 degrees, Speed 400 kmh IAS, Altitude 5000M. In other sims (Falcon 4 for example) using normal measurements it would mean H230 degrees, Speed 400 knots IAS, Altitude 5000 feet. Simple enough?

BULLSEYE and how does it work?
The Bullseye is an preset reference point used to indicate either own or a contacts position. In IL2 it is best for the Mission Commander to nominate either a red or blue airfield as the BULLSEYE and then all calls of position be it of own or a bogie will be in reference to that BULLSEYE. So if you are NE of Bullseye and spot a pair of bogies your call might be "Red 1, Tally 2 bogies, Bullseye 045, 5KM, H150, HI, ENGAGING!" The most important thing is to always give a BRA Call (BEARING/RANGE/ALTITUDE) from the Bullseye. This allows you to reply if it is you or to quickly vector towards or intercept the bandits, lend support, cover a friendly or just acknowledge that it is you that has been spotted and not to waste time chasing you :) For an excellent tutorial go to 185th Resevoir Dogs Bullseye made easy