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:

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

Note the “Not SOI”

message and lack of

border ring.

Note the “Not SOI”

message is gone

and there is a

border ring.

With TAD as the Sensor of Interest - Stick

Trim down

Trim up

Trim right Trim left

forward

back

left right

Weapon Release

Fire Cannon PAC1 First stage Second stage

TAD scale increase

TAD scale decrease

Center/Depressed n/a

short

short

short short

Start Program

End Program

Next Program Prev Program Activate ECM

forward

back

left right press

HUD Mode

Air to air mode

short

long

n/a

n/a

Broadcast SPI n/a

long

long

long long

Hook

Unhook

Mark Point Reset

short

short

short n/a n/a

Make SPI

SPI to SteerPt

long

long

short long long

Lase on-off/ Air

refueling disconnect

Nose Wheel

Steering

In air On ground

With TAD as the Sensor of Interest - Throttle

long

Radio UHF

Swap MFCD

content

Slew TAD

Slew TAD

Slew TAD Slew TAD

up

down

left right

Not shown

Lights according

to panel

Extinguish all

exterior lights

Default external

lights

aft center forward

Toggle autopilot

n/a

n/a

n/a

aft center forward

HUD as SOI

Cycle right

MFCD

Cycle left

MFCD

short

short

short

Right MFCD

as SOI

Left MFCD as

SOI

n/a

DSMS quick

look

long

long

short long

up

down

n/a

Radio AM Radio FM

up

down

back forward

short short

Reset cursor FOV Exp toggle

aft Forward

Slave all to SPI Slave TGP to

Steerpoint

long long

Extend speed

brakes

Hold brake

position

Retract speed

brakes

aft center forward

left right

short short

TGP

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

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

Note the “Not SOI”

message and lack of

border ring.

Note the “Not SOI”

message is gone

and there is a

border ring.

With TGP as the Sensor of Interest - Stick

Trim down

Trim up

Trim right Trim left

forward

back

left right

Weapon Release

Fire Cannon PAC1 First stage Second stage

Zoom increase

Zoom decrease

Laser toggle FLIR auto focus

short

short

short short

Start Program

End Program

Next Program Prev Program Activate ECM

forward

back

left right press

HUD Mode

Air to air mode

Short

long

n/a

n/a

Broadcast SPI LSS toggle

long

long

long long

Track toggle

INR track

Mark Point Reset

short

short

short n/a n/a

Make SPI

SPI to SteerPt

long

long

short long long

Lase on-off/ Air

refueling disconnect

Nose Wheel

Steering

In air On ground

With TGP as the Sensor of Interest - Throttle

Boresight TGP FOV Wide/Narrow

toggle

Slave all to SPI

Not shown

Swap MFCD

content

HUD as SOI

Cycle right

MFCD

Cycle left

MFCD

short

short

short

Right MFCD

as SOI

Left MFCD as

SOI

n/a

DSMS quick

look

long

long

short long long

up

down

Lights according

to panel

Extinguish all

exterior lights

Default external

lights

aft center forward

Toggle autopilot

Slew TGP

Slew TGP

Slew TGP

down

left

up

Slew TGP

right

Radio UHF

n/a

Radio AM Radio FM

down

back forward

up

Retract speed

brakes

aft center forward

Hold brake

position

Extend speed

brakes

FLIR white hot

CCD

FLIR black hot

aft center forward

short short

aft Forward

Slave TGP to

Steerpoint

long long

left right

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

Trim up

Trim right Trim left

forward

back

left right

Weapon Release

Fire Cannon PAC1 First stage Second stage

Steerpoint increment

Steerpoint decrement

Gunsight cycle Gunsight cycle

short

short

short short

Start Program

End Program

Next Program Prev Program Activate ECM

forward

back

left right press

HUD Mode

Air to air mode

Short

long

n/a

n/a

Broadcast SPI n/a

long

long

long long

Lase on-off/ Air

refueling disconnect

Nose Wheel

Steering

In air On ground

Ground stabilize

Set SPI submode

Mark Point Reset

short

short

short n/a n/a

Make SPI

SPI to SteerPt

long

long

short long long

With HUD as the Sensor of Interest - Throttle

Cage TDC to VVV Set MAV as SOI

Slave all to SPI

Not shown

Swap MFCD

content

HUD as SOI

Cycle right

MFCD

Cycle left

MFCD

short

short

short

Right MFCD

as SOI

Left MFCD as

SOI

n/a

DSMS quick

look

long

long

short long long

up

down

Lights according

to panel

Extinguish all

exterior lights

Default external

lights

aft center forward

Toggle autopilot

Slew TDC

Slew TDC

Slew TDC

down

left

up

Slew TDC

right

Radio UHF

n/a

Radio AM Radio FM

down

back forward

up

Retract speed

brakes

aft center forward

Hold brake

position

Extend speed

brakes

n/a

n/a

n/a

aft center forward

short short

aft Forward

Slave TGP to

Steerpoint

long long

left right

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

Trim up

Trim right Trim left

forward

back

left right

Weapon Release

Fire Cannon PAC1 First stage Second stage

n/a

n/a

A-A target toggle A-A target toggle

short

short

short short

Start Program

End Program

Next Program Prev Program Activate ECM

forward

back

left right press

HUD Mode

Air to air mode

Short

long

n/a

n/a

Broadcast SPI n/a

long

long

long long

Lase on-off/ Air

refueling disconnect

Nose Wheel

Steering

In air On ground

Scan

Break lock

Mark Point Reset

short

short

short n/a n/a

Make SPI

SPI to SteerPt

long

long

short long

With AIM-9 as the Sensor of Interest - Throttle

Missile step Uncage

Slave AIM9 to TGP

Not shown

Swap MFCD

content

HUD as SOI

Cycle right

MFCD

Cycle left

MFCD

short

short

short

Right MFCD

as SOI

Left MFCD as

SOI

n/a

DSMS quick

look

long

long

short long long

up

down

Lights according

to panel

Extinguish all

exterior lights

Default external

lights

aft center forward

Toggle autopilot

Slew AIM9

Slew AIM9

Slew AIM9

down

left

up

Slew AIM9

right

Radio UHF

n/a

Radio AM Radio FM

down

back forward

up

Retract speed

brakes

aft center forward

Hold brake

position

Extend speed

brakes

n/a

n/a

n/a

aft center forward

short short

aft Forward

Slave TGP to

Steerpoint

long long

MAV

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

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

Note the “Not SOI”

message and lack of

border ring.

Note the “Not SOI”

message is gone

and there is a

border ring.

With MAV as the Sensor of Interest – Stick

Trim down

Trim up

Trim right Trim left

forward

back

left right

Weapon Release

Fire Cannon PAC1 First stage Second stage

Reticule up

Reticule down

Reticule right Reticule left

short

short

short short

Start Program

End Program

Next Program Prev Program Activate ECM

forward

back

left right press

HUD Mode

Air to air mode

Short

long

n/a

n/a

Broadcast SPI n/a

long

long

long long

Lase on-off/ Air

refueling disconnect

Nose Wheel

Steering

In air On ground

Track

Ground stabilize

Mark Point Reset WCN

short

short

short n/a Space stabilize

Make SPI

SPI to SteerPt

long

long

short long

With MAV as the Sensor of Interest – Throttle

Missile step FOV toggle

Slave all to SPI

Not shown

Swap MFCD

content

HUD as SOI

Cycle right

MFCD

Cycle left

MFCD

short

short

short

Right MFCD

as SOI

Left MFCD as

SOI

n/a

DSMS quick

look

long

long

short long long

up

down

Lights according

to panel

Extinguish all

exterior lights

Default external

lights

aft center forward

Toggle autopilot

Slew MAV

Slew MAV

Slew MAV

down

left

up

Slew MAV

right

Radio UHF

n/a

Radio AM Radio FM

down

back forward

up

Retract speed

brakes

aft center forward

Hold brake

position

Extend speed

brakes

White symbols

Force Correlate /

Auto

Black symbols

aft center forward

short short

aft Forward

Slave TGP to

Steerpoint

long long

Stick Controls that vary by SOI - Summary

Throttle Controls that vary by SOI - Summary