DCS A-10C Expanded HOTAS Function Listing by Topgun505

So, why the need for this guide? The reason is simple this is not a simple sim. In WWII aircraft, any given control had one function and one function only. While this resulted in a lot of controls, once you learned where everything was it was fairly easy to operate. The A-10C is exactly the opposite. You have a large volume of commands which are accessed by only a few controls. The Good: This makes it possible to mount those functions on the stick and throttle where the pilot has easy access to everything critical he needs in combat without having to take his hands off the controls. The Bad: The downside is that there is a LOT of multi-tasking with the controls at his fingertips. Some controls, like the weapon release for example, only perform one command regardless of which sensor is currently active. Other controls like the TMS, however, can literally control around 3 DOZEN functions on that single 4-way switch. The danger here is that it is easy for the pilot to lose his situational awareness in regards to what sensor and mode are active and thus which functions are currently active on his controls. In the DCS A-10C manual the HOTAS controls are covered on pages 85-93. While the charts and diagrams are a good summary, they do not graphically depict the setup of each sensor mode. This guide will strive to do exactly that. Below you will find examples of each mode indicator, and what every switch on the stick and throttle do for each given mode. Note that not all controls on the HOTAS are multi-function controls. In fact only 5 vary by your active Sensor of Interest (SOI). Those are: DMS, TMS, Boat switch, slew, and China Hat Along with a graphical depiction of the screens and stick & throttle layouts I have also included the chart summary for those specific controls (taken from the manual) at the end of this document so you can view the same info as a cheat sheet. Obviously for users with the Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS this guide will show you an exact how-to for each control. For users who are using other controllers such as Saitek and CH Gear, this guide will help show you which controls are most critical for combat operations and thus which ones are the highest priority for you to map to the controls on your stick and throttle.

A-10C HOTAS Stick

To start with, you need to know where each switch is located on the HOTAS itself. Here are the locations of each switch (*note the Pinky switch on the throttle cannot be seen in this view).

A-10C HOTAS Throttle

Sensor of Interest
In the A-10C you have 3 main sensors of Interest and 2 weapons which can also act as their own sensor. The main sensors of interest are: 1. TAD Map Display 2. TGP Targeting pod 3. HUD Heads up display The weapons that act as a sensor of interest 4. AIM-9 Sidewinder air to air missile 5. MAV Maverick missile One of these sensors will always be active at any given time. In order to effectively employ the A-10C you will need to recognize which sensor is active and what function each control performs according to the sensor. In this section you will see a screenshot of the sensor and its tell followed by a graphical layout of the stick and throttle.

TAD
A screenshot of the TAD when not the Sensor of Interest:

Note the Not SOI message and lack of border ring.

A screenshot of the TAD when it is the Sensor of Interest:

Note the Not SOI message is gone and there is a border ring.

With TAD as the Sensor of Interest - Stick

Trim down forward Trim left left Trim up back Broadcast SPI long n/a short Trim right right n/a long

TAD scale increase short Center/Depressed short TAD scale decrease short n/a long

Weapon Release

Make SPI long

n/a long

Hook short n/a long Reset short Unhook short SPI to SteerPt long HUD Mode short Fire Cannon Second stage PAC1 First stage Air to air mode long Mark Point short n/a long

Start Program forward Prev Program left Activate ECM press End Program back In air Lase on-off/ Air refueling disconnect On ground Nose Wheel Steering Next Program right

With TAD as the Sensor of Interest - Throttle

n/a up Radio FM back Radio UHF down Radio AM forward

Lights according to panel aft

Extinguish all exterior lights center

Default external lights forward Toggle autopilot

Not shown

Slew TAD up Slew TAD left Slew TAD down Slew TAD right

up n/a long

Extend speed brakes aft

Hold brake position center

Retract speed brakes forward

HUD as SOI short left Left MFCD as SOI long Cycle left MFCD short Swap MFCD content short DSMS quick look long down Cycle right MFCD short

right Right MFCD as SOI long

n/a aft

n/a center aft Reset cursor short short

n/a forward Forward FOV Exp toggle short short

Slave TGP to Steerpoint long

Slave all to SPI long

TGP
A screenshot of the TGP when not the Sensor of Interest:

Note the Not SOI message and lack of border ring.

A screenshot of the TGP when it is the Sensor of Interest:

Note the Not SOI message is gone and there is a border ring.

With TGP as the Sensor of Interest - Stick

Trim down forward Trim left left Trim up back Broadcast SPI long Trim right right n/a long

Zoom increase short FLIR auto focus short Zoom decrease short Laser toggle short LSS toggle long

Weapon Release

Make SPI long

n/a long

Track toggle short n/a long Reset short INR track short SPI to SteerPt long HUD Mode Short Fire Cannon Second stage PAC1 First stage Air to air mode long Mark Point short n/a long

Start Program forward Prev Program left Activate ECM press End Program back In air Lase on-off/ Air refueling disconnect On ground Nose Wheel Steering Next Program right

With TGP as the Sensor of Interest - Throttle

n/a up Radio FM back Radio UHF down Radio AM forward

Lights according to panel aft

Extinguish all exterior lights center

Default external lights forward Toggle autopilot

Not shown

Slew TGP up Slew TGP left Slew TGP down Slew TGP right

up n/a long

Extend speed brakes aft

Hold brake position center

Retract speed brakes forward

left Left MFCD as SOI long Cycle left MFCD short

HUD as SOI short Cycle right MFCD short Swap MFCD content short DSMS quick look long down

right Right MFCD as SOI long

FLIR white hot aft

CCD center aft Boresight TGP short

FLIR black hot forward Forward FOV Wide/Narrow toggle short

Slave TGP to Steerpoint long

Slave all to SPI long

HUD
A screenshot of the HUD when it is the Sensor of Interest:

Note the SOI pip. When the HUD is not the SOI this dot is missing on the HUD

With HUD as the Sensor of Interest - Stick

Trim down forward Trim left left Trim up back Broadcast SPI long Trim right right n/a long

Steerpoint increment short Gunsight cycle short Gunsight cycle short n/a long

Weapon Release

Steerpoint decrement short Make SPI long n/a long

Ground stabilize short n/a long Reset short Set SPI submode short SPI to SteerPt long HUD Mode Short Fire Cannon Second stage PAC1 First stage Air to air mode long Mark Point short n/a long

Start Program forward Prev Program left Activate ECM press End Program back In air Lase on-off/ Air refueling disconnect On ground Nose Wheel Steering Next Program right

With HUD as the Sensor of Interest - Throttle

n/a up Radio FM back Radio UHF down Radio AM forward

Lights according to panel aft

Extinguish all exterior lights center

Default external lights forward Toggle autopilot

Not shown

Slew TDC up Slew TDC left Slew TDC down Slew TDC right

up n/a long

Extend speed brakes aft

Hold brake position center

Retract speed brakes forward

left Left MFCD as SOI long Cycle left MFCD short

HUD as SOI short Cycle right MFCD short Swap MFCD content short DSMS quick look long down

right Right MFCD as SOI long

n/a aft

n/a center aft Cage TDC to VVV short

n/a forward Forward Set MAV as SOI short

Slave TGP to Steerpoint long

Slave all to SPI long

AIM9
A screenshot of the AIM9 when the AIM9 is active:

Note the AIM9 sensor indicator. When AIM9 is active and uncaged the slew command will move the missile seeker head.

With AIM-9 as the Sensor of Interest - Stick

Trim down forward Trim left left Trim up back Broadcast SPI long A-A target toggle short n/a short Make SPI long n/a long Trim right right n/a long

n/a short A-A target toggle short n/a long

Weapon Release

Scan short n/a Reset short Break lock short SPI to SteerPt long HUD Mode Short Fire Cannon Second stage PAC1 First stage Air to air mode long Mark Point short n/a long

Start Program forward Prev Program left Activate ECM press End Program back In air Lase on-off/ Air refueling disconnect On ground Nose Wheel Steering Next Program right

With AIM-9 as the Sensor of Interest - Throttle

n/a up Radio FM back Radio UHF down Radio AM forward

Lights according to panel aft

Extinguish all exterior lights center

Default external lights forward Toggle autopilot

Not shown

Slew AIM9 up Slew AIM9 left Slew AIM9 down Slew AIM9 right

up n/a long

Extend speed brakes aft

Hold brake position center

Retract speed brakes forward

HUD as SOI short Left MFCD as SOI long Cycle left MFCD short Swap MFCD content short DSMS quick look long down short Cycle right MFCD short Right MFCD as SOI long

n/a aft

n/a center aft Missile step short

n/a forward Forward Uncage

Slave TGP to Steerpoint long

Slave AIM9 to TGP long

MAV
A screenshot of the MAV when not the Sensor of Interest:

Note the Not SOI message and lack of border ring.

A screenshot of the MAV when it is the Sensor of Interest:

Note the Not SOI message is gone and there is a border ring.

With MAV as the Sensor of Interest Stick

Trim down forward Trim left left Trim up back Broadcast SPI long Reticule left short Trim right right n/a long

Reticule up short Reticule right short Reticule down short n/a long

Weapon Release

Make SPI long

n/a long

Track short Space stabilize Reset WCN short Ground stabilize short SPI to SteerPt long HUD Mode Short Fire Cannon Second stage PAC1 First stage Air to air mode long Mark Point short n/a long

Start Program forward Prev Program left Activate ECM press End Program back In air Lase on-off/ Air refueling disconnect On ground Nose Wheel Steering Next Program right

With MAV as the Sensor of Interest Throttle

n/a up Radio FM back Radio UHF down Radio AM forward

Lights according to panel aft

Extinguish all exterior lights center

Default external lights forward Toggle autopilot

Not shown

Slew MAV up Slew MAV left Slew MAV down Slew MAV right

up n/a long

Extend speed brakes aft

Hold brake position center

Retract speed brakes forward

HUD as SOI short Left MFCD as SOI long Cycle left MFCD short Swap MFCD content short DSMS quick look long down short Cycle right MFCD short Right MFCD as SOI long

White symbols aft

Force Correlate / Auto center aft Missile step short

Black symbols forward Forward FOV toggle

Slave TGP to Steerpoint long

Slave all to SPI long

Stick Controls that vary by SOI - Summary

Throttle Controls that vary by SOI - Summary