Avimimus

I think it tended to happen when I was going >100km/h in one direction but managed to get the helicopter's nose facing more than 100 degrees for the direction of travel... sometimes I'd succeed in slowing down and turning around - but would then end up spinning two or three full circles. It could be some form of exotic VRS in level flight leading to a loss of tail rotor effectiveness or it could be that I've somehow confused the flight control system... or I wasn't leaving enough power for the tailrotor... the thing which is most odd about this behaviour is that it'd fix itself if I let the helicopter pirouette enough times. That seemed much more curious than the fact that I'd somehow broken the helicopter. I have found that the double-tap of the trim reset seems to help... but it might also be just that I've found other ways to fly the helicopter like an idiot which allow me to do even more reckless turns without losing control.

On what was essentially my first attempt - I took out 9 vehicles with just two pods... so I should be able to get above 20 vehicles if I carried all four... and that is without practice. I think the trick is to avoid any side-slip and fire at the correct range.

I'd go with the Mi-8 or the Mi-24 as they are a bit less sensitive than the Sa-342 (which is fast and manoeuvrable - but a bit of a handful) and the Mil helicopters lack the extensive automation of the Ka-50... so they prepare one for flying normal helicopters in a way the Ka-50 doesn't. The Ka-50 is the easiest to fly though.

Add an independent control for the Canard flaps... (even as an easter egg)! It isn't flying correctly 'by the book'. But it is possible in real life. Pilots have done it. I'm really curious to the experience it.

For the S-13 and S-24 (which were incompatible with the automatic ranging sight)... sort of. The ballistics aren't similar enough to just use the sight from the cannon. What I'm actually doing is comparing the automatic ranging sight and the fixed sight... and selecting a point in between. It helps me intuit what to do - but firing is still largely instinctual... I have a feeling that doing this - and using the Mi-24 generally - will make me much better with rockets in the Mi-8... one just has to learn how to gauge range and side-slip instinctively!!

Hmm... one can develop intuitions. I've actually found that switching between the 30mm and the rockets can make it easier to aim the rockets which don't use the automatic ranging sight (since the 30mm cannon has it and one can gauge side-slip etc. quickly with it).

Well... I prefer the gun pods to the rocket pods... and I have a Mi-24P with a GSh-2-30 as well (rather than being stuck with the Yak-b turret)...!

Quick question: What is the command to order the AI operator to shut down the sight? If I give an order to stop targeting anything it is still left on and my manoeuvres damage the system!

Well... thanks to the dismissive attitude in this thread (overall) I'll now have to be contrarian and get really good with the grenade launchers

They seem able to take out infantry, light vehicles, and even armoured cars. You get a lot more ammunition compare to a rocket pod... but it is even harder to use, more vulnerable to side-slip, and shorter ranged.

Hello, I keep entering a state where the helicopter yaws uncontrollably (or almost uncontrollably) to the left... after a few rotations I'm able to arrest the rotation and keep flying as usual. What causes this?

Is there a way to tune the axis for the operator mode (missile guidance) separately from the cyclic? My X-52 is too sensitive to use for guiding missiles. However, I can't find any separate axis bindings in the control settings - and I don't want to reduce sensitivity on my cyclic!!

Interesting. Are you sure this works? I found that loading KOM on the inner hardpoints and OFP on the outer hardpoints allowed firing all four rocket pods at once. However, loading KOM on the left hardpoint, and OFP on the matching right hardpoint meant that they wouldn't fire. Selecting just the left or right rocket pods didn't help. I think this is actually an attempt to model the limitations of the real aircraft. It appears that the S-24 and S-13 can't be used with anything else (except maybe drop tanks). There are a few other mixtures which aren't shown though. It seems that S-5, S-8, bombs, and gunpods can usually be mixed - albeit with some limitations (e.g. I haven't gotten S-8OFP and S-8KOM to fire from opposite hardpoints, however both can be carried if they are on inner vs. outer hardpoints). The GUV pods can also be mounted asymmetrically (e.g. with a drop tank on the other hardpoint).

I've managed to get Petrovich into VRS many many different ways... I think someone will have to write a manual about what constitutes the few sets of save orders you can give without entering VRS!

I'm bookmarking this thread!!

It would be nice if they implemented a small probability of a larger fragment doing more damage further away (even if not fully modelled, but just using an RNG check). If one looks at actual manuals for explosives one sees that they can generally still be lethal at larger ranges... but there are just fewer high-energy fragments (so the probability of being hit is lower).

The nice thing is that we'll have the R-60 for the Mi-24 and the Igla for the Ka-50 (hypothetical production version)... I'm not sure we need the Igla for the Mi-24 as well.

Thank you both! I've gone from zero solutions to having two solutions!!

Thanks!

I'm actually finding the GUV pods to be quite effective (including against light armour)... so it is making me suddenly want an Mi-24V to be modelled someday... even with the issues related to the gun jamming... it'd be great for taking out more vehicles in a single pass or suppressing infantry without having to turn the helicopter.

They are very low velocity - which makes them vulnerable to side-slip and also gives them a long travel time. The launchers are also angled up in the pods to give them an increased range. However this means that they are initially flying out above the gunsight... it'd be nice to know how far away the grenades would pass through the cross-hairs (if they were fired from a level hover. Maybe I'll see if I can fire them from the tarmac? Gather info? In any case - I'd recommend firing them only in short bursts... and waiting to see the fall of shot before firing the next burst. It'd be very easy to get confused regarding which burst one is observing impacting (as it is quite possible to have multiple salves in the air at once)! Thanks for checking!

Thank you!! Is there any information on correct way to deploy the grenade launcher (GUV with AGS-17/AGS-30)?? I've often wondered if there is a correct way to use it (e.g. an appropriate range or technique).

Hello, I've generally kept Petrovich flying forward. The AI pilot seems to sometimes start oscillating in pitch at 60km/h, furthermore it is easy to order the pilot to put the helicopter into a vortex ring state (i.e. it isn't safe to tell the AI to descend when in a hover - it'll descend fast enough it loses control). I've tried running in on targets at 120 km/h, however the attitude of the helicopter is such that Petrovich never brings the gunsight low enough to allow firing in the missile. This makes me think that I need to order him to fly fast enough towards the target that the gunsight will start depressed below the target (giving me a window to fire as the gunsight passes over the target). Am I doing something wrong? Is it possible to fire from a hover? Is it possible to get the Petrovich pilot AI to depress the gunsight enough to fire the Shturm? Thanks!

Yes... it just seems to allow adding a fixed range marker. But I'm not sure if that adds anything. My hope was to find a way to get the ballistic computer to calculate the approximate range of the CCIP point. Once I knew the range for a point on the ground near the target I could easily work out the corrections required. I could then use the fixed sight and manually adjust the number of degrees correction for the weapon in use.