The F-4B/N Payload Manager is used to load weapons and countermeasures on the aircraft, manage fuel and external power. It allows for a great degree of customization and mixing giving you complete freedom to customize your weapons loadout.
The aircraft has nine weapons stations numbered from the left wing to the right.
- Stations 1 & 9 are the outboard wing stations
- Stations 2 & 8 are the inboard wing stations
- Station 5 is the fuselage centerline station
- Stations 3 & 7 are the aft fuselage sparrow stations
- Stations 4 & 6 are the forward fuselage sparrow stations
By clicking on a station you can load pylons adapters and or weapons.
Example 1: Loading an AIM-9 #
To load an AIM-9 on station 2 you need to
- click on LAU-17A to add a pylon
- click on either of the LAU-7 icons to add an AIM-9 pylon
- click on AIM-9 to add the missile
Note: clicking on the AIM-9 immediately after the LAU-17A step will automatically load the pylon and missile.
Example 2: Loading an MER #
To load a multiple ejector rack (MER) and Mk.82 bombs in station 5 the process is similar:
- click on BRU-41 to add the MER. A graphic will appear indicating six circles below the aircraft center
- click on Mk.82 at the bombs and rockets list
- click on the circles where you want the mk.82 to be loaded. Loaded positions should be filled circles.
Example 3: Loading external fuel #
- click on the tank option under stations 1,9 or 5. If you click on a wing tank position it will load tanks on both sides to keep the load symmetrical
- a graphic will appear showing four stacked slices in black. click on a “slice” to load fuel up to that level. Click on it again to remove it. The options provided are 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%.
Loading internal fuel #
An internal fuel loading option is provided at the bottom left. It indicates the percentage of internal fuel loaded on the aircraft. The way it is set up to work is that each time you click on the plus symbol the next empty internal tank is filled. If you click on the minus sign the currently used internal tank is emptied. Therefore, from an empty aircraft the sequence of fuelling would be
- cell 1
- cell 2
- cell 4
- cell 3
- cell 6
- cell 5
- internal wing tanks at 50%
- internal wing tanks at 100%
Countermeasures #
On aircraft that are equipped with the AN/ALE-29A, a countermeasures loading option will be present at the bottom and center of the payload manager. By clicking on the +/- symbols of chaff and or flares you can load and unload countermeasure cartridges. The countermeasures are grouped a first-in-first-out order (FIFO). Therefore if you load up 10 flares first, followed by 20 chaff the flares will need to be expended before chaff is fired.
Mixing of countermeasures is not supported. For example loading chaff-flare-chaff-flare will not fire in that sequence. Instead it will fire chaff-chaff followed by flare-flare. Total chaff and flares combined on each side cannot be more than 30 cartridges.
Chaff can also be loaded in the speed brake well by clicking on the appropriate button. When the speed brakes are deployed the chaff will be released.
Start cart #
A start cart can be shown when on the ground and stopped. The start cart is used to provide external power and air to be able to start the aircraft on the ground. More on that in the checklists chapter.
Other options #
The user can choose whether to show or hide the crew by clicking the appropriate buttons at the bottom left.
