If you have ever listened to a well drilled formation aerobatic team on the radio you will hear hardly a peep. The Lead will say things like "Loop, Loop, GO!" and the rest just do it. Many commands do NOT require acknowledgement so use your judgement and SOP. However an instruction that does require acknowledgment is a frequency change eg If he says " Buckshot go STUD1!" all he should hear is "Shark!" then "Sparrow!" then "Dive!". On hearing the last man acknowledge the command ALL aircraft will immediately switch to STUD1. Lead will wait a couple of seconds on the new frequency and say "Buckshot Check!" and again all you will hear is "Shark!" then "Sparrow!" then "Dive!". Keep this example in mind.
Good coordination only comes with thorough prebriefing, intimate knowledge of SOP and good flying and radio discipline but it is essential for smooth cohesive flight ops. As a general guide if the Lead requires an answer from you he will add the word "acknowledge" at the end of his instruction and you will always do this in the usual formation order. A Section Leader may issue commands such as "Trojan start engines!" and you just do it, no need to answer. Same for when you takeoff, you can see the guy in front is clear, no need to say "rolling" "airborne" or anything else. If you need Lead to pop smoke (and you shouldn't really) then just say "Assman pop smoke" and he will do so for a second or two, again no answer required. Circuit area calls should be limited to ONE single call when you turn base ie. "Dive, BASE!", 5 seconds later, if you are spaced correctly, "Stoli, BASE!" and so on.
There is a section on the Comm SOP about how to call a contact, say your position, status and so on. The most important thing to remember when using voice comms is to keep your transmissions exactly standard, speak only when absolutely necessary, use Operational Brevity Phrases and even then think BEFORE you speak. As a guide to just how much info can be relayed with a few words try this example extracted from a text written by the RAAF Comms Officer, Flg Off Cornay:
Far better next time for the flight leader to call 'AGGRO BUGOUT RV Angels 2 Buster!'.....decipher this as " all the remaining fellas of AGGRO flight must now disengage whatever they are doing and nick off to the pre-briefed rendezvous point immediately and meet there at a height of 2000 metres".
RAAF Voice Comms
The latest, real time voice chat client is Teamspeak 2 and is the RAAF standard. When downloading it you need only obtain the TS2 Client, not the Server.
Get the Client at Teamspeak 2 Client.
File Description: The Teamspeak 2 client v 2.0.26.27
Version: 2.0.26.27 Filesize: 5.12 MB
At the bottom of this page there is a burst on Radio Procedures and Brevity with which you should be intimately familiar. The main reference is at the SOP Comms Page
Setup
TS offers a number of advantages. It is a local server based program so that one person hosts and everyone else does a simple TCP/IP connect with passwording control if required. It runs easily under Windows ands uses little resources. It offers the ability to run multiple channels simultaneously on a single server between which you can switch with a single keypress as well as the ability to 'whisper' to an individual(s) a group or another entire channel in private. This means that you can have private or clutter free chat with an individual or a group at a time whilst maintaining a listening watch on a selected multi-user channel. So far it does not have the ability to monitor transmissions on more than one general channel at once but you can whisper to multiple users or channels and also recieve whispered transmissions at any time. Teamspeak takes a little bit of setting up but both RAAF Servers use identical configurations. The IPs and so on are listed below. It is very stable and does not have any of the problems with users being occassionally kicked, seemingly at random as happens with RW. TS does not have quite the same sound quality as RW but it is perfectly servicable and in some way even more realistic (just try talking to Mumbai Radio on HF over the Indian Ocean or Seville RADAR on descent in to Malaga in southern Spain and you will know what I mean). So, first you need to run the installer, it is self-explanatory. The setup and Key Associations are fairly basic (see below for a guide). Please note that TS is not as clear at times as RW but is perfectly readable. When you select "Connect" you fill in your user name ie. Zapper, enter the IP and password of the TS Server and Bobs Your Uncle!
Teamspeak Servers
The primary server is at 203.123.71.133 and the backup server is at trimotorsports.pointclark.net. Passwords are our usual ones
So how do we use it
It is assumed that you have already used something like RogerWilco and have the ability to send and receive voice with your microphone and speaker volume already adjusted. All comms will be on standard channels. They will be COMMON STUD1 STUD2 STUD3 STUD4. A particular frequency will be assigned to your Section during mission briefing. COMMON will be monitored by all pilots at all times. It is also used for meeting up with other RAAF-IL2 members, general chat, prebriefing and for those with tech problems outside of Mission Time. Buckshot will always use STUD1, Striker will use STUD2, Aggro will use STUD3, STUD4 is reserved for general use by those not flying or listening in to a mission.
COMMS FAILURE If you lose voice contact with your SECTION or SECTION LEADER (and you shouldn't) then you are out of action and really should RTB. IRL a Comms Failure is a definite GO HOME job. We are playing a game only, so attempt to restablish contact trying various STUDS. ALT TAB out of IL2 and check your comms are still working.. if all else fails then try COMMON. Even if there are only 2 members of a SECTION make your relevant calls on Whisper. If, due to attrition, you are reduced to singleton status then go to COMMON and report to the MC.
For Simplicity: Key Assignements should be same for Teamspeak throughout the Squad to enable ease of use and troubleshooting. It also means it is easy to revert to keyboard control should you have a stick problem as it is quite possible to lose stick programming but usually the stick axes will remain responsive and continue to function so you might just be able to complete the mission. TS will now accept modified keys so the pure 'Function Keys', apart from the F12 key for PTT, can be used for other purposes, perhaps even the game defaults.
Please use the key assignments shown here as it makes it MUCH easier for myself or other people to help you. Also in event of confusion the order of channels is easily remembered as it is laid out on your keybpoard. They are LOGICAL and do not need a fancy stick either!
PTT:
A 'Press to Talk' should ALWAYS be used, never Voice Activation. Please use F12 assigned as your PTT key, note this cannot be a 'modified' or 'shifted' key in TS2. When at the 'Keys Settings' page you can also enter the password to be used for that channels access. TS will accept shifted or otherwise modified keystrokes for all other functions so I suggest you use the following:
Channel Selections:
CTRL ALT F5 Switch to STUD1 - This will be the frequency for Buckshot
CTRL ALT F6 Switch to STUD2 - This will be the frequency for Striker
CTRL ALT F7 Switch to STUD3 - This will be the frequency for Aggro
CTRL ALT F8 Switch to STUD4 - This will be the frequency for General Chat (whoever he is)
CTRL ALT F9 Whisper to 'WINGMAN'
CTRL ALT F10 Whisper to SECTION
CTRL ALT F11 Switch to COMMON
F12 Press to Talk
NB: The MC and Section Leaders will make general calls on COMMON to esnure everyone has maximum SA. All other intra-Section calls must be made using 'Whisper', either to your whole section or just your wingman. To enable this very useful feature you need to set TS2 up with a 'whisper' key to the appropriate names in the player list shown in TS2. For ease of use we will not place 'RAAF-IL2_' in front of our nicknames used in TS2 but just use our handles ie: zapper, shark, spaz, dive, strela, peterr, assman etc.
I have this set up on the Radio Switch in my TM Cougar profile and it works well. Get it at Zappers Cougar Profile
What this means is that only the Section Leaders will speak on Common. All comms within you own Section will be 'Whispered'. NOTE: When you hear any transmission on COMMON you must stop 'whispering' so that everyone hears the calls made by the SLs and MC.
As an example we will deal with a flight sim scenario using TS for explanation. This bit will touch also on SOPs. To try and keep it simple for a start a multi-ship game will be broken down by the following hierarchy: Mission, then Sections, then Elements. The entire Mission is controlled by the Mission Commander who is also a Section Leader. Normally a Section will be led by a Section Leader and consist of 4 aircraft working in concert ie 4 Fighters, 4 SEAD, 4 Ground Attack and so on. Each Section of 4 ships will be split into two elements of 2 ships each. Section Leader will always be Number 1, his wingman (generally the least experienced pilot of the Section) will be Number 2, Element Lead for the second element within a Section will be Number 3 and of course his wingman will be Number 4.
Current SOP in RAAF-IL2 dictates we use our normal callsigns in voice comms. As an example I am leading a fighter Section and Strela is MC. RAAF-IL2_Zapper will always be Zapper in the TS player list. This is so Section Leaders can easily assign a key to 'Whisper to' their Section Members. (If a Section has a nonstandard makeup then your TS setup will have to bne changed BEFORE we fly. In emergency COMMON can be used by anyone as a 'Guard' frequency and in the event of losing comms with the rest of your Section (shouldn't happen) try this channel as a last resort. If they are all shot down then you would just continue to listen out on COMMON, taking orders from the MC and he may reassign you to another Section, say if you Drifter 4 and Drifter 1,2,3 are all out of action then MC may assign you to Striker section. You will continue to use your normal callsign.
In Summary: Everyone listens out on COMMON and only 'Whispers' to his Wingman and Section. Section Leads will be responsible for coordination of each Section. Each Section Leader will follow the MC's instructions and disperse his 2 Elements to meet the MC's requirements.
A further note: The number of individuals you can 'whisper' to is limited only by your spare keys but it will be RAAF policy that ONLY Package Leads will communicate with the MC.
How to call a Bogie or Bandit to your teammates
Time is the one thing you don't normally have in battle so the quick communication of relative position of a threat, friendly or unknown is essential to good teamwork and helps avoid you or your wingman getting shot down as it allows the maximum time from 1st acquisition to engagement if there is to be one but also allows the rest of the formation to immediately acquire the target you have spotted. (You do fly with at least 1 wingman don't you?!) It is simple to do and can include a couple of additional pieces of information such as type of threat, time to intercept or intentions of the leader. Speak clearly and slowly as Voice comms are not perfect on the net and if you use the correct format then everyone will expect the information to come in the normal order and may well avoid having to repeat calls etc. The standard order of a threat call is : (Threat Type),(Left or Right of your nose),(Clock code position),(Relative Altitude),(relative movement or direction of travel) and then any additional information. So let's say you have a dot or two in the upper front right of your windshield that appears to be headed about H150 you would say: "Bogies, RIGHT, 2o'clock, HI, headed SE"
If you are Lead you might then decide to engage (not terribly smart if you are at a significant altitude or energy disadvantage but: "Engaging! turn right Heading 060, Buster (max climb at max available power), 'nose hot' (if RADAR equipped), 'bracket' or 'pince' (this is the type of attack formation to be used on the intercept)" The main thing is to KISS (Keep It Simple Stoopid)
