How to: firing rockets with the K-14C Gyro sight

[LukeFF]

A new feature of the K-14C gyro sight, available on the F-80 and as a mod on the F-51, lets you accurately aim and fire rockets with the sight set to gyro mode. This is made possible by a new command that lets you manually cage and uncage the sight. The basic steps are as follows:

• Set the sight to gyro mode
• Set the sight to the minimum range. This effectively cages the sight.
• Tilt the sight according to your dive angle and the aircraft you are flying
• Begin a stable approach to the target, with your sight on the target
• Uncage the sight
• Track the target for at least 4 seconds
• Press the rocket firing button

[Avimimus]

Is the procedure similar for the "A-1" gunsight on the F-84E? I gather it had a ground attack mode... I just haven't figured out how to use it yet!

[LukeFF]

I'm not totally up to speed on the F-84, so maybe some experimentation is needed. 😄

[Huetz]

Here's the section from the flight manual of the F84G. Do we know if this is modeled (there is also a very interesting auto-bombing mode mentioned in the section before that)? 

 

Edited June 30 by Huetz

[Plurp]

27 minutes ago, Leifr said:

Unfortunately this isn't modelled yet.

In the meantime I am using speed brakes in the dive which will alow you to use the bottom ring on the gunsight.  If firing the inboard rockets, either side it is at about 6 o'clock.  Use 7 to 8 and 4 to 5 o'clock for outboard rockts. 

Edited June 30 by Plurp

[LukeFF]

1 hour ago, Plurp said:

In the meantime I am using speed brakes in the dive which will alow you to use the bottom ring on the gunsight.  If firing the inboard rockets, either side it is at about 6 o'clock.  Use 7 to 8 and 4 to 5 o'clock for outboard rockts. 

The response given above by Leifr is not entirely correct - there is a cage/unage feature with the F-84 that can be used when firing rockets, and the sight is set to "rocket-gun" by default. The auto-bombing features are not yet modeled.

EDIT: I just flew the F-84 with the rocket firing methods described in the right-hand column, and they work pretty much the same as described here. Thanks for sharing that. 👍

[LukeFF]

Also, I've updated the information above in the first post - I missed a critical point. 😬

[Leifr]

17 hours ago, LukeFF said:

The response given above by Leifr is not entirely correct - there is a cage/unage feature with the F-84 that can be used when firing rockets, and the sight is set to "rocket-gun" by default. The auto-bombing features are not yet modeled.

EDIT: I just flew the F-84 with the rocket firing methods described in the right-hand column, and they work pretty much the same as described here. Thanks for sharing that. 👍

Hi Luke! 

Fair, but I was more responding to the ordnance selector and rocket dive angle rotaries in the F84. They're big and obnoxious on the dash, and I think folk would expect to be able to interact with them in the correct manner when using ground-attack options - more so when original manuals refer to them with illustrations. I look forward to them being modelled in the near future.

Edited July 1 by Leifr

[LukeFF]

8 hours ago, Leifr said:

Hi Luke! 

Fair, but I was more responding to the ordnance selector and rocket dive angle rotaries in the F84. They're big and obnoxious on the dash, and I think folk would expect to be able to interact with them in the correct manner when using ground-attack options - more so when original manuals refer to them with illustrations. I look forward to them being modelled in the near future.

Yes, these functions are planned to be modeled later, that is fair enough. 🙂 

[Freddie]

As for the original post. The sight depression settings quoted are excessive in the simulation. For me, 17-18 mils for HVARs seem to be the sweet spot in F-80 in a shallow dive about 15-20 degrees.

[Avimimus]

On 6/30/2026 at 10:50 AM, Huetz said:

Here's the section from the flight manual of the F84G. Do we know if this is modeled (there is also a very interesting auto-bombing mode mentioned in the section before that)? 

From what I've understood the F-84G had a number of upgrades to make it into a nuclear strike aircraft and the LABS system was one of those upgrades. So, it would require adding a new variant to the sim (as the F-84 we have is the F-84E).

I'm also not sure the F-84G would add much. It arrived in 1952 and the upgrades were mainly focussed on increasing range and adding a nuclear strike capability. While it had a more powerful engine it also had a higher take-off weight and its speed was limited by aerodynamics (hence why the swept wing F-84 was eventually introduced after Korea). So it is very interesting, but we're unlikely to see it. I'd personally prefer having them put effort into an SCR-720 than having LABS.

[LukeFF]

5 hours ago, Avimimus said:

From what I've understood the F-84G had a number of upgrades to make it into a nuclear strike aircraft and the LABS system was one of those upgrades. So, it would require adding a new variant to the sim (as the F-84 we have is the F-84E).

I'm also not sure the F-84G would add much. It arrived in 1952 and the upgrades were mainly focussed on increasing range and adding a nuclear strike capability. While it had a more powerful engine it also had a higher take-off weight and its speed was limited by aerodynamics (hence why the swept wing F-84 was eventually introduced after Korea). So it is very interesting, but we're unlikely to see it. I'd personally prefer having them put effort into an SCR-720 than having LABS.

Well, that said, the rocket firing procedure and controls are essentially the same as in the E model; they've just not been modeled yet.

[Avimimus]

2 hours ago, LukeFF said:

Well, that said, the rocket firing procedure and controls are essentially the same as in the E model; they've just not been modeled yet.

Yes, that is what I thought you meant! I'll look forward to it!

[LukeFF]

👍

In the meantime, rocket firing with the F-84 is reasonably accurate when one uses the fixed reticle and the little gap at the bottom of the circle as the aiming point. 

[Uther]

6 hours ago, LukeFF said:

👍

In the meantime, rocket firing with the F-84 is reasonably accurate when one uses the fixed reticle and the little gap at the bottom of the circle as the aiming 

Thanks Luke. The F-84 is the plane I've decided to put my time in to for now, Really enjoying it. Think I've finally got my flight sim mojo back with Korea!

[FuriousMeow]

I've tried a couple times but must be missing something. 

F51 with the k14c.

Set to gyro (i think, its the only label I can't see), Set the target range to min distance - cage, set the tilt to 42 mils, shallow approach, line up in stationary vehicle, increase distance a bit - uncage I assumed, count to 4 or so seconds, fire, rocket goes high. 

Also, why am I setting range to cage/uncage when there's a cage button for the gunsight?

[LukeFF]

1 hour ago, FuriousMeow said:

I've tried a couple times but must be missing something. 

F51 with the k14c.

Set to gyro (i think, its the only label I can't see), Set the target range to min distance - cage, set the tilt to 42 mils, shallow approach, line up in stationary vehicle, increase distance a bit - uncage I assumed, count to 4 or so seconds, fire, rocket goes high. 

Also, why am I setting range to cage/uncage when there's a cage button for the gunsight?

You're using the cage/uncage button one too many times. Setting the sight to the minimum range effectively caged the gyros. It was standard procedure, whether you were firing rockets or not, to keep the gyros from tumbling around and taking longer to settle. Pressing the throttle button uncaged the gyros and sent a range-computation signal to the sight indicating 1600 yards. 

In the next update, you'll have the option to assign the cage/uncage button for all US planes to a command where the cage/uncage feature is active only as long as you hold down the button, like in reality.

[FuriousMeow]

33 minutes ago, LukeFF said:

You're using the cage/uncage button one too many times. Setting the sight to the minimum range effectively caged the gyros. It was standard procedure, whether you were firing rockets or not, to keep the gyros from tumbling around and taking longer to settle. Pressing the throttle button commanded the gyros to uncage and sent a range-computation signal to the sight indicating 1600 yards. 

So I set to min to cage, then set distance further to uncage, is that not right?

EDIT: I'm supposed to hit the throttle control button to uncage? Just not sure what that is. Initially I thought to uncage after setting distance to minimum I'd just have to set the distance out a bit to uncage? Or do I hit the cage button? I don't see a throttle control button to uncage, just throttle control itself

Edited September 15 by FuriousMeow

[Bert_Foster]

K14 sights
The following relates to the K14 sights. Its  a whole lot simpler to just use the fixed references.....thats why they are there!  Either way you are using a depressed sight line with a pilot set depression, which strictly speaking is only valid for a specific airspeed (AOA) at a specific slant range. Depending on the value required you may be able to simply use the fixed portion of the sights. If more depression is required dial in what you need and still use the fixed portion of the sight. No Elec cage or throttle twisting required. 

For those interested here are the geometric values of the two different reticles in game:

So if you want say 48mills depression on the sight on the right, Fire as the target is just before the 50 mill ring. In other words pick a sight reference close to the required depression and use that. (of course you are tracking the aim off point with the aircraft's flight path arnt you 🙂

If you want say 60mills depression on the sight on the right, dial in 10mills and then use the lower semi circle because that will now be 60mills (50+10)

A1 sight
the A1 sight is  slightly different. Even so the radar range is NOT used in the rocketry calculation. The sight uses a fixed range of around 4500' with a fixed gravity drop correction suitable for the rocket type being used at the 4500' range. In addition Rocket mode needs to be selected to feed the sight the correct gravity drop value and position  the reticle accordingly.

The purpose of using elec cage is simply to stiffen the sight during manoeuvering on to the target, and prevent the distraction of the reticle size continuously  changing and the range drum spinning as the radar locks on to random ground stuff. (Thats why its suggested to wind the throttle clockwise to the min stop ... as it disables radar ranging so reticle size will be fixed*) This can  be very distracting and pointless as the radar range is not even used in rocketry anyway.  Releasing the elec cage button allows the sight to then apply its fixed range corrections and start the computation process. This  takes up to 5 secs to occur. The only correction applied is the lead angle determined by the pilot tracking the target  for at least 3 secs ... so thats a valid solution 8 secs after releasing elec cage ... an eternity in the dive where you are very predictable. If its a stationary target there is little point in doing this, other than wind. 
AFM 335-25 describes all of this in great detail.

*(As posted elsewhere in the Bug forum the current mechanization of the Throttle twist set up, elec cage is incorrect anyway , once fixed then serious discussion of its use can continue).

Edited September 15 by Bert_Foster

[LukeFF]

15 hours ago, FuriousMeow said:

So I set to min to cage, then set distance further to uncage, is that not right?

EDIT: I'm supposed to hit the throttle control button to uncage? Just not sure what that is. Initially I thought to uncage after setting distance to minimum I'd just have to set the distance out a bit to uncage? Or do I hit the cage button? I don't see a throttle control button to uncage, just throttle control itself

No, set the range on the gunsight with the twist grip to minimum. This effectively cages the gyros (it's explained in the image at top 🙂). Then, after setting the tilt, press the button on the throttle body (it's there; you just have to look for it) to uncage the sight and allow the internal mechanism to calculate the 1600-yard range. 

The F-80 sight works the same way, except it's a ring on the throttle handle, not a button.

[LukeFF]

10 hours ago, Bert_Foster said:

Its  a whole lot simpler to just use the fixed references.....thats why they are there!

Well, sure, yes, if you don't have enough time to set up a proper firing solution or, in many cases with Mustangs, if you don't have a K-14C sight fitted (or the gyros have malfunctioned).

That said, the K-14C sight is more accurate when using the gyro sight, as besides range it's also compensating for wind and target motion. Otherwise, why go through all the trouble to upgrade from the K-14B to C?

[FuriousMeow]

1 hour ago, LukeFF said:

No, set the range on the gunsight with the twist grip to minimum. This effectively cages the gyros (it's explained in the image at top 🙂). Then, after setting the tilt, press the button on the throttle body (it's there; you just have to look for it) to uncage the sight and allow the internal mechanism to calculate the 1600-yard range. 

The F-80 sight works the same way, except it's a ring on the throttle handle, not a button.

But what's the key assignment for the throttle body button/ring? Is it the "gunsight: cage" in the key assignment?

Edited September 15 by FuriousMeow

[LukeFF]

2 hours ago, FuriousMeow said:

Is it the "gunsight: cage" in the key assignment?

Yes

[Bert_Foster]

4 hours ago, LukeFF said:

That said, the K-14C sight is more accurate when using the gyro sight, as besides range it's also compensating for wind and target motion. Otherwise, why go through all the trouble to upgrade from the K-14B to C?

 

How does the K14 compute for range in the rocket mode ? It uses a fixed range as I understand it.

what is the source document for your jpg ... be interested to read the entire thing.

Edited September 15 by Bert_Foster

[FuriousMeow]

55 minutes ago, LukeFF said:

Yes

Thanks, that was where I was confused. Caging is setting distance to min, but uncaging is pressing the cage button.