Procedure — A Violation Fails You, It Doesn't Cost Points

In most games, skipping a step costs you points. F-2 MISSIONS does not work that way. A procedure violation fails the mission on the spot, with no relief on any grade.

That was a deliberate design decision. During development it was a deduction — 20 points for procedure — and playtesting showed you could take off without thinking about any of it and still walk away with 80. The trade “skip the check, pay 30 points” was on the table, which meant the mission had stopped working as a lesson in procedure.

So the two were separated: quality is the score, a procedure violation is a failure.

The takeoff sequence

(control check) → READY (automatic) → tower clears you → roll → climb (300u AGL)

The control check

Six items: pitch, roll and rudder, each run to both stops. A beep marks each one off.

Two things to know.

• It only counts while you are stopped. Doing it on the roll gets you nowhere.
• Only the first sortie of the syllabus asks for it. Later takeoff missions do not.

It sits on the first sortie because it works better as a controls tutorial than as procedure training. Players otherwise finish the whole game without noticing that the rudder is its own axis, so the first flight makes them touch it once (see Controls).

Takeoff clearance

READY comes up on its own. A moment later the controller clears you for takeoff. You get a radio call and a beep.

You do not need to suspect the jet of moving on its own. There is no parking creep, and that is measured rather than assumed: 30 seconds at idle with no brake and no throttle gives 0.000 u/s and 0.00 u of travel. The threshold was picked so it does not fire by accident.

The scoring breakdown (out of 100)

Procedure is a gate, not points. What gets scored is only how cleanly you did it.

ACE only: −15 for leaving the gear down.

Grades read SHARP / GOOD / ROUGH.

Measured — what each mistake actually costs

Centerline tolerance differs sharply by grade. NORMAL gives full marks out to 12u; ACE gives you 5u. Ten units off drops ACE to 65.

Holding the centerline — don’t hold the rudder in

Hold a constant 5% of rudder during the roll and you are off the runway in 22 seconds. Leaving the pavement is not a deduction; it is an off_runway crash.

The runway at Matsushima is 46 m wide, so the edge of the pavement sits about 24u from the centerline. The zero-point line for centerline scoring is at half of that — twice the tolerance.

Rotation speed — there is no such thing as too early

Rotating too early is physically impossible here. Pull full aft at 50 u/s and the jet still leaves the ground at 79 u/s — the speed where lift at 8° of angle of attack catches up with weight.

So only the late side is scored. Wait until 110 u/s to rotate and you drop to 84 on NORMAL, 75 on ACE. You are being marked for using up runway you did not need.

Pull when it will fly. That is the whole of it.

Gate procedure — only backwards disqualifies

Gates on the low-level courses have a direction too, but they are handled differently.

• Off the required heading → a deduction, in proportion
• Crossing from the opposite side → instant disqualification

Past 90° off, you are disqualified. Cutting across at an angle only costs points, which makes turning back for a gate you missed the most dangerous thing you can do — you take it from behind and disqualify.

Other than takeoff clearance, procedure violations generally do not fail you outright — the sequence simply does not advance. Nothing moves on until the condition is met, so check the job panel to see what is being asked for.

Summary

1. Don’t open the throttle until you hear the clearance. That alone removes the sudden deaths.
2. Do the check stopped. It does not progress while you are moving.
3. Pulse the rudder. Holding it in takes you off the runway.
4. You cannot rotate too early. Only late costs points.
5. Never turn back for a gate you missed. Backwards is instant disqualification.