MDI/UFC
 Basic MDI Pages

The Multi-Purpose Display indicators (MDI) along whit HUD are your primary sources of information. They display information on a series screens called "pages". From MDI Main menu, you can click on eny of series of 20 buttons (called pushbuttons) surrounding the MDI to display the different pages.
Some pages are only available under certain circumstances. Unavailable pages have their labels removed from the to -level menu page. The format of a page may also change based on selected Master Mode (radar is a good example for this). The center MPCD is simply a full color MDI that is slightly larger than normal MDI. It's otherwise identical to MDI. The only Page that uses its full color is HSI.

Here you will get to know the most important MDI Modes/Pages that are significant to your Situation Awareness and navigation. Get familiar whit them since they can be your life rescuer.

HSI MDI Page

The Horizontal Situation Indicator (HSI) MDI page is top-down view of the current navigation situation whit your aircraft located in the center of a compass rose. Your plane remains fixed in the display always facing the top of the page. The compass rose rotates around your aircraft. The HSI symbology can overly a moving map. You may display it either of the MDIs or on the MPCD. The map is monochrome in MDI's and full color in MPCD. This complex where a lot of informations is being provided to you, but once you get the hang of it you'll find it invaluable navigational tool.
EW MDI Page

The Electronic Ware fare (EW) Page is used to control the aircraft's integrated defensive Electronic countermeasures system (IDECM). The IDCM is comprised of the ALR-67(v)2 radar Warning Receiver (RWR), the ALE-47 countermeasures Dispensing system (CMDS), the ALE-50 countermeasure Decoy Dispensing system (CMDDS) and the ALQ-165 Airborne Self Protection Jammer (ASPJ).
The ALE-47 dispenses chaff and flares either singly or in predefined sequence. This sequence is known as the CMDS program. The ALE-50 controls the deployment and operation of the radar decoy that is towed behind your aircraft. The ASPJ is your internal radar jammer system. The EW MDI also display the current status for each of these systems.
The EW displays "emitters " in a top-down view whit your aircraft in the center of the display. Emitters are positioned on the display based on how lethal that emitter is judged by the ALR-67.
Critical Threat icons

SA MDI Page

SA or Situation Awareness is a data feed from the near by AWACS. It puts it in this page giving you a birds eye view of a 160 nm area around your airframe. This is a very useful mode. Also you can add contacts from your radar and FLIR on it. and good for seeing if aircraft are hot flanking or cold. Also is good for planing and conducting A-A attacks.

There are many ways to find the bad guys. One way is radar. But they can see your radar if it hits their jet. Then they can see you. Some times that is not the best way but you can turn off radar and jammer and use "ECOM" and that will turn off radar and all emitters so they can not see you on EW' and using this you can use a tact that we call "back training". That is fly over them even then you don't know where they are. Come around and fine them then put aim-9 on them with out them seeing you but they may see you on radar if your at the right alt and get you unready and your never sure where they are so one of the best ways is what we call "hunting" and it is a pop up six tact and just turn off radar and use SA come around them get on six and take them out one by one sounds OK and works very well but you need to keep track of your people and stay tougher and seeing with out being seen it is a find and track and uses MSI radar setting and ECOM what you do is lock on the tgt and track them until with in range then get a good anger and fire your missiles it is very good with aim-120 and other fire and forget missiles but using Aim-9s you may be seen some time soon and making you fight in a battle or even dogfight the last thing you want to do you want a easy fight with no one fighting back makes easier wins and is what real pilots do using tact over raw fight leads to easier and better wins.
ACL MDI Page

The Automatic Carrier Landing (ACL) page uses a variation of the SA MDI page available only in NAV Master Mode. You select it when inbound to carrier. It provided speed , altitude and bearing cues. When ACL steering is selected on the HSI, the autopilot my be coupled to this system to provide a totally hands off landing capability. ACL has to mode of operations, mode 1 and mode 2. The difference between these modes is weather or not the autopilot is coupled to the ACL system. The ACL mode 1 is the coupled, automatic landing mode, while ACL mode 2 is manually landing following the ACL command messages.
UFC Panel

The Up-front Control (UFC) is located below the HUD in the center of the cockpit has four possible formats: the top level (default) Communications, Navigation and IFF (CNI) format, the Auto pilot Sub-page format, the TACAN sub-page and the MDI sub-page format.
Here are two most used UFC pages:
Main UFC page
Here you can select what page you want to be shown on it.
EW UFC page
The Electronic Ware fare (EW) Page is used to control the aircraft's integrated defensive Electronic countermeasures system (IDECM).
For learning more about MDI pages please look at Jane's F/A-18 Flight manual.