Myeah, the start-up training mission. Wasn't exactly planning on flying, so I didn't
have even the joystick plugged in. But hey, I flew with the keyboard and survived,
that's not too bad. :)

Impressive! I usually manage to land on the skids but lacking the tail rotor, or main rotor.

What this game now needs is a jungle map (and a lot of practice).

And some Hendrix :yep:

Bit of a different beast than the Ka-50, eh?

Managed to land it (narrowly avoiding a fence and with more luck than skill overall) on an airfield. The rather sizeable parking of an airfield. Gonna take a while until I can land this thing on a pad (if ever). :hmmm:

I've probably done a dozen landings so far (about half of them with no damage - go me!) but they've all had forward speed. As soon as I decend vertically and apply a slight bit of collective to reduce that speed it goes all - BEEEEEP, BEEEEEP, BEEEEEP - on me.

Back to the tutorials.

Aye, hover without a fancy auto-pilot like in the Ka-50 is challenging, to say the least.

I tend to kill the speed before touching down, but it's really that end of the approach that things become really wobbly and twitchy.

You have to decrease your speed SLOWLY. Don't try to get abruptly to a standstill in mid air or your chopper will drop like a stone. While you are decreasing your speed you have to constantly check your vertical speed indicator. Once you get in to the "shaker zone" you must be ready to correct your dive speed with the collective (was it the collective? The lever that adjusts your rotor pitch...:oops:). You have to react even to the slightest increase in drop speed or it will be too late.
Usually helicopter landings are not like in the movies where they approach a landing zone at full speed, decelerate hard and set down within 5 seconds. It's more like the final approach of an aircraft where you steadily fly towards your target, constantly bleeding speed and altitude. It can take several minutes from seeing your landing zone till touching down.

I know that, Schroeder, it still doesn't mean I do it right. :D

In response to Dowly's post below - yes, it is a PITA to fly - constant trim resets required and something soft to land on. I'm currently venturing into the village/town to the NW - only crashed once and never hit a building :woot:

I took a load of screenies but afterwards I'd realised I'd remapped the FRAPS key so that was a failing waste of time. :/\\!!

Jebus that thing is a PITA to fly. :huh:

Look, you get what you pay for. :O:

But I didn't.. you.. uh.. I'm confused.. :dead:

Just keep taking screenshots (successfully!) and posting them.

I call that a success. :hmmm:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udphrYGcygA

Definitely. That also saves the groundcrew from having to tow it in to the hangar to repair it, well done you. :yeah:

Btw, a good way to land, if you are in a situation where you need to go down
(safely) asap is to make a hard right-hand turn and put the nose up slightly.

That does two things: 1) it kills your speed quickly and 2) as your
speed drops to the area when the shaking starts, the right-hand turn eliminates
the need for left rudder.

Also, play with the collective right and you can drop quite a bit of altitude too. :yep:

If done correctly, you should be almost hovering stationary.

Important to pile on collective before VRS kicks in. I've not managed a proper hover yet, but landings are...getting there.

I have most fun zipping between the buildings at fifty feet.

Here's a cockpit view /w input indicator of me doing the turn and landing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOpW6SrxWm0

NOTE: That was just after take off, so my speed wasn't very high. But you just
need to bleed some out on your way to the turn point if you have high speed.
Don't do the slow, shallow bleed, but once or twice a steeper pitch up.
Imagine if you'd be under fire, you don't want to be a slow*, easy target.

This maneuver applies quite universally, you can practice this even in the Armed Assault
series (done it in ArmA 2 and 3 (Little Bird)) and in DCS: Black Shark.

The aim stays the same no matter the game/sim: 1) bleed airspeed and
2) get to almost stationary hover. In other helos, you can make a left-hand
turn if you want of course.

Hope it helps!


:salute:

EDIT: * I mean't to say predictable. I remember seeing a Vietnam War documentary years ago,
talking of how the VC and NVA took out US helos. They had charts that would show where to
aim if a US helo was doing a shallow landing, it was pretty accurate by the looks of it and they
had these attached to trees around their lines, so they could check them quickly.

1. Really low level from Sochi-Adler to the viaduct just up the coast at Kudepsta. Once there I tried to coerce my wingmen to follow me through the arches but they were all chicken. In fact two were still playing catch-up, so . . .

2. & 3. I went to go head to head with them, the first one I cut quite fine - it's all practice, the second . . .

4. I really thought I missed him by quite a margin, even though I was turning toward him. It's all his fault for killing all his speed. First I knew was just a big bang.

5. Then I realised I couldn't see my rotors. :cry:


http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/7929/wt44.jpg

I'd watched Dowly's video prior to loading which reminded me to use TIR (d'oh! to every flight previous), which help immensly with the low stuff. :yeah:

On the ground, all bits intact, smoke that isn't from a fire? I'm confused, what's going on? :doh: