ARM505

Ok, I've seen this kind of comment again and again, and also the one above this post - once again I speak only as a fixed wing airliner pilot (B737-2/3/4/500) but autopilots are AIDS and nothing more (I'm speaking about general flight, not specifics such as CAT III approaches etc). But ok, I'm not a helo pilot, despite having flown them once or twice. Can somebody show me in the manual where it says the heading hold AP is REQUIRED to be ON for all phases of flight, or something dangerous might happen? I'd love to see that pointed out. To me, it is an AID to flight, and nothing more. If it hinders you, turn it off. I am in control of what systems are engaged on my aircraft, not the manual, when push comes to shove. They help me, not the other way around. Since the heading AP CONSISTENTLY interferes with new pilots learning to fly this aircraft (judging by the number of posts here), I recommend turning it off, at least until they fully understand what it will do, and how it can VERY easily interfere with trimming the aircraft correctly. So, that is my advice, and most importantly WHY I give it. Disagree if you must, but the reason should be explained as well, and more than 'the manual says so' (why does the manual say so, if indeed it does?) You'll also note I didn't tell him to simply leave it off forever. Once basic flight is mastered, THEN he can progress to using it as the AID it is designed as, for example, keeping straight on long nav sectors, using it in the hover hold mode, turn to target etc. But for basic flight, I maintain (and it is indeed player preference) that it is more a hinderance than aid, at least initially. And even when you're more advanced, just for doing basic flight, I personally find it tends to get in the way. IMHO. And I really mean that, mine is just an opinion. A reasoned one, I believe, but my own nonetheless.

Just turm the heading autopilot off (one of the five blue buttons next to your right knee), then see if the problem is still there. If it goes away, read the manual again regarding the heading AP before re-engaging it. You don't need it to fly effectively though.

Hmmm...this must be a helicopter specific thing then. In all my flying career (fixed wing), I've NEVER seen this occur on ANY surface of my aircraft (that I could see :) ), with one notable exception - carb icing (but that's a very specific case, given the other factors involved there). Nor is something like this described as a threat in textbooks, but perhaps I've just forgotten about reading it. Sorry to appear sceptical, I'm aware of the theoretical possibility and indeed the theory behind it, but since I've never ever seen or heard of it from my own personal experience or that of colleagues IRL, I find it slightly off-putting that it seems to occur 100% of the time based solely on temperature alone - or does BS somehow consider humidity too? I grant that 'trace' icing (EXTREMELY light coatings of icing) could have occured from this, but enough to literally shut down an engine?

Sorry, carrying on my question from above: Yeah, I know WHY I need anti-ice IRL, but perhaps I should rephrase my question: If you do NOT have anti-ice ON (rotor, engine, pitot, etc), and the temperature drops below 0 deg C (or whatever the modelled limit is) WHILST CLEAR OF CLOUD, will you get icing buildup? IRL, I've never, ever seen that (icing buildup in clear skies). Put the other way, do you need both the following conditions to be TRUE for ice formation/engine performance degradation: - temp below critical level (0 deg C is the obvious one, excluding compressability effects) - be IN visible moisture (cloud, fog, mist, rain, etc) I ask because I seem to recall losing an engine after the 'watch EKRAN' message myself, despite being clear of cloud, and a lot of the discussions here on this topic always end with the advice 'turn everything on when this message appears'. The thing is, I DON'T want to turn everything on - I'll have almost everything on as a matter of course, but the engine anti-ice I only want on if I really need it on, due to the performance loss incurred.

I'm still at a bit of a loss here - does BS want all the anti-ice on based purely on temperature or does the real world condition of 'visible moisture' AND temperature also apply? (er, and of course the helo must actually be IN that visible moisture)

My specs: Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit Core 2 Duo E6850 OC'd to 3.3GHz 2GB RAM (forgot the brand, but it was good when I bought it!) ATI Radeon 4890 1GB (Stock speeds) Using Track IR4, with Version 5 software Primary Monitor at 1680X1050 Second monitor at 1280X1024 BSVP running on a maximised window on the second monitor (not full screen, because then it jumps back onto the main monitor) The CPU is no doubt the weakest link - it's getting a bit long in the tooth, but I get good fps with almost all settings maxed (except water, which halves the frame rate on max). I got about 45-65 fps on the free flight mission I used to test BSVP. Once again, great work.

This is excellent, and it worked as advertised on a secondary monitor. Just one question - occasionally the gauges seem to 'jump' or twitch to extreme values - is there any way to stop this, or is it a problem with DCS:BS itself? Once again, very well done, really simple to set up, and a brilliant addition to Black Shark.

Actually, a helicopter benefits from lateral velocity not due to pure velocity squared (as per fixed wing lift formulae), but because of 'translational lift', ie the rotor disk is getting a steady supply of smooth air that it doesn't have to do as much work for, ie suck all that air into and through the disk. Hence, 130 kph as best climb speed. Any more and you're doing too much work fighting drag, any less and you're not getting the best effect from translational lift. Something like that.

This is an argument about a never-to-happen rumour. In fact, even calling it a rumour is paying it a compliment. Why don't we all just chill? Whilst I would love a DCS:BS, ARMA II, and Steel Beasts combo, the resources, and return on investment (this is a capitalist society, remember) just makes the idea utterly unfeasible. It won't happen.

For the civilian world (airliner ops at least) here's a rough guide: - Nav lights (the red, green and white) are always on when the aircraft has power. - Anti-col (the red flashing light) is on when you're about to start doing something dangerous (ie moving, starting engines) - Strobes (bright white flashing lights) go on when you enter a runway, and remain on until leaving the runway after landing. - Taxi light goes on prior to taxi, and normally off when lined up on the runway, back on when you leave the runway on landing, then off again prior to parking so you don't blind the dark knight (Batman) who is guiding you in. - Landing lights go on during take off and landing. Something like that. In combat (normally at 'Fence in' type of point), all lights except low intensity formation strips/IR marker lights should of course be checked off. That's my guess.

Like it or not, and view it purely from a 'current technology' point of view, but IMHO ARMA II is the closest to the 'combined' genre we have at the moment - if you want to see what is currently technically possible when blending FPS and Flight sim (well, 'flight' at least :) ) then take a look there. Bring your supercomputer with you, but it's well worth it!

In Soviet Russia, you get two rockets with one click.

You steer your car ever so gently in case all four of it's wheels suddenly collide with each other.

Statistically, why isn't there at least one sim-obsessed gazillionaire?! Odds are there should be at least one...come on you, I know you're out there...stop being such a cheapskate! :)

Was the Rooivalk cleared for those operationally? (just saw one land the other day across from the main terminal at Joburg, at the Denel hangars)

Not at all :) - I'm impressed you got it to go so fast. I'm just saying that I think you caught ED a little unawares, in a way - I bet they didn't expect to see anyone do that in a hurry, and thus didn't model that quite as brilliantly as the rest! Or, to put it another way, I don't think ED modelled compressability effects across the blades (this is taking a wild guess). Basically, they've probably just created a zone of conditions that create 'overspeed' symptoms. Almost a 'canned' effect. This isn't a dig at the modelling - the chopper is supposed to be flown low and slow, where high mach numbers normally don't feature. A perfectly placed use of a 'canned' effect IMHO, instead of doing pointless calculations for something normally irrelevant. It's a guess, but hey!

I'm sure there would be some kind of structurally damaging vibrations as the blades approached the sound barrier (at Mcdr, critical drag rise mach no.), and this rapid (very rapid) rise in drag, with the corresponding changes in dynamics across the disk of the rotor (regardless of the fact that it isn't needing to generate lift in a vertical dive)....well, I don't think it would survive that, given what I've seen of a fling-wings propensity to disintegrate at the slightest hint of anything out of the ordinary. And that's not even mentioning bits (antennae, panels, pylons etc) being ripped of the chopper just due to dynamic pressue at those airspeeds, way beyond design limits. If they could do it, they would have (by strapping jets to a chopper, and they never managed to get that right, even though they tried).

Trying to keep your head level in relation to the horizon IRL, be it in a helo or a fixed wing, is asking to get motion sickness. The forces in flight are pushing you into your seat (assuming everythings co-ordinated), so twisting your head around in the cockpit feels wierd, and if you're prone to motion sickness, that's a fast track method to speed the problem up. The previous post is a great fix, and one of the 1st changes I made to this sim.

There isn't such an option, but it would be a very welcome addition.

I think we're all being spoiled by ARMA II actually..... I can: -Walk around heli, admiring little rivets etc, then climb in. -Startup, watching nearby grass blowing in the downwash, maybe a rabbit run away into the bushes. -Hover around a more 'living' world, street signs, tables, chairs (as an example of level of detail), easily generated civilian life, a wide variety of vehicles both mil and civilian etc. -Use different positions in the heli, ie crew chief/door gunners of transport helos's. -Watch infantry running about in a plausible manner below me, taking cover, crawling etc. This of course doesn't mention the negatives (poor flight modelling, abysmal systems modelling, reduced visual range etc), but it does make the world far more 'alive' when it comes to terrain. Which perhaps causes some increased expectations.

When you're new, turn the Heading AP channel off. That will save a lot of hassles, IMHO, at least until it all makes some sense. There's no use trying to fight both the natural pedal requirement changes as you change speed, AND the heading AP channel trying to point your nose in the trimmed direction. Just turn it off, and fly naturally.

Ground moving target, yes. It's one of the blue buttons next to the pilots left knee - along with 'Turn to target', amongst others. The laser must have aquired a valid range too.

I'd wait for that upcoming Logitech, depending on how it seems to pan out. Take a look here: http://www.lockonfiles.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=447&mode=&order=0&thold=0 I have a Cougar, and have replaced the original dodgy pots with Hall effect sensors. This cures the spiking that almost all Cougar owners will have to deal with one day. The other Cougar 'issue', is that it can seem very stiff to some people, and when moving the stick in the diagonal, one has to fight both X and Y springs, which some find reduces their ability to be precise. To this end, I've also added a home made extension (about 20cm), which makes it great. The stick now sits between my legs on a little platform. I also had old CH Pro Pedals, which connect to the Cougar for rudder input, the actual Cougar does not come with any rudder. So, if you're prepared to do some modding, and spend a little more, a Cougar is ok. I can't comment on other sticks. The new Logitech does seems to cover a lot of bases though, hence my earlier comment. Force feedback, two throttles, proper pedals....I'd give that a good look.

It's awesome in ARMA (now 2), because you can chat to the people you're carrying, and they're actually doing something when you get them to where they want to go, ie you really feel like you're making a difference and achieving something - in DCS it would be a pretty dead experience. Because of ARMA's 'combined arms' nature, it can create a fairly unique playing experience. Just don't look for high fidelity though, but a lot of fun can be had nonetheless.

Random failures in real life happen - but they fail in the game world of DCS, IMHO purely because you're actually the only 'playable' person in the entire universe, ie you can't just climb into another chopper that's also busy with a mission, a la Falcon 4 (for example). Basically, the progression of the entire world hinges solely on your performance in it (kind of a 'the sun revolves around the earth' philosophy), and not as it would in reality, where you're just another tiny cog in the whole show, as it were. No matter how successfully you may deal with any emergency, in the overall picture, you've still failed - and normally very badly too. So even if you're as quick as wickedpenguin there, the game still calls you a loser. :) Hint to developers: If you can find a game mechanic that avoids this, is technically feasible, and fits into your development schedule, you'll be winners. ;)