Detailed instructions for use are in the User's Guide.
[. . . ] Chapter 1
FLIGHT PREPARATIONS
Air combat is the excitement fighter pilots live for. But behind every white-knuckle second in the cockpit are hours of careful preparation.
Choose Activity Screen
The Choose Activity Screen acts as a "main menu" for the rest of the game. Each of the options on the Choose Activity Screen are discussed below.
Choose Activity Menu Bar
The Choose Activity Menu Bar gives you access to the Graphics Prefs and Sound/Music Prefs control panels. Options on these control panels are described in the Install Guide.
Selecting Onscreen Options
You can select items on the screen using your mouse. [. . . ] Notice that airspeed drops quickly, followed by a loss of altitude.
Before airspeed drops below 140 kts, increase power to full afterburner by pressing 6. Note that your speed stabilizes and your altitude decreases at a slower rate. Eventually, speed goes above 200 kts and the airplane begins to climb.
Before the aircraft exceeds 300 kts, level the nose, reduce power to 50%, and extend the speed brake until speed drops to 225 kts. As mentioned earlier, an aircraft typically maintains 13 to 15 degrees AOA during a landing. You will now use performance information you just learned to maintain a 15 degree AOA during a descent. During this exercise, keep speed above 150 kts at all
times to avoid stalling. If at any point the airspeed drops to 150, lower the nose immediately. Continue to work the nose up and down to maintain a speed between 150 and 180kts until you reach the hard deck at 5, 000 feet. The wings do not produce enough lift at that speed to keep the aircraft aloft. If you stall or spin the aircraft, add power, climb back to 10, 000 feet, and repeat the exercise, being very careful to lower the nose before speed drops too low. If the aircraft tends to climb instead of descend, work the nose higher to control airspeed. Raising the nose slows the aircraft more, increasing its descent rate even more. While keeping the nose at 15 degrees, continue working the throttle until you can maintain a steady altitude. When you can consistently control airspeed with pitch and altitude with throttle, you're ready to try a real landing. Descend to 6, 000 feet, increase speed to 400 kts, and head directly for the waypoint. After passing the waypoint, turn to a heading of 000, due North.
Approach Profile
The approach typically begins around 20 nm behind the carrier at the marshal point, a point behind the carrier designed to align returning aircraft with the carrier. Your aircraft always receives first landing clearance; all other aircraft hold marshal while you land. In this exercise, the waypoint represents the marshal point.
Departing Marshal
Turn toward the carrier (in this case, heading 000), set speed to 250 kts, and slowly descend. At 3nm you will enter the traffic pattern.
Final Approach
When you reach heading 350, you should be approximately 2 - 3 nm from the carrier at 180 kts. Because the flight deck is angled 10 degrees, your final approach heading should always be 10 degrees left of the carrier. Since the carrier is currently heading 0 degrees, your final approach heading is 350 degrees. At this point, there are four systems which guide your aircraft down: the Landing Systems Officer (LSO), the ILS, and the HUD's flight path indicator. [. . . ] For example, denying access to the Select Plane screen forces the player to fly the mission with the aircraft you specified. Granting access to the Arm Plane screen allows the user to arm the plane according to their tastes rather than using the default weapon load. Specify the default skill level for friendly pilots by selecting from the sub-menu. Specify the default skill level for friendly air defenses by selecting from the sub-menu. [. . . ]