Hiob

That‘s the beauty of the VP software. It creates its own effects from the DCS telemetry export. You can quickly copy and paste a set of effects from one module to another and even have some that DCS doesn’t offer natively. Granted, I have no personal experience in other FFB software. Just speaking from what I could research and am experiencing right now with VP. I think that’s my main point. When choosing a FFB device, I would take software at least as much in consideration as hardware.

Granted, if maximum force is the goal, the VP Rhino is also not the top contender. That would be the FFBeast. But in my opinion the Rhino is strong enough even with a long extension. And from the three the VP has the best software and community support in my opinion. However, you’re right of course. For helicopters, maximum force isn’t a concern anyway. Tbh, even though I like the FFB in jets like the F1 or F-4E, having realistic force trim in helicopters is the biggest plus for me.

You're right. It's much better to trim your way back to the hover position or neutral position. I have it mapped, but usually only use it on the ground when fiddling around. Airborne it can lead to an "undesired" barrel roll or worse.....

You‘re welcome. Helicopter flying is fun and very, very rewarding once it clicked. Some choppers are a bit easier to fly than others, but once you get the hang of it - all are fun. For helicopters you‘re needs in hotas setup differ a bit from fixed wing. If possible, you want a long stick with very light springs. It makes the minute control inputs so much easier. You are probably stuck with what you have right now, but keep that in mind if you consider upgrading at some point.

You need to bind two buttons that are in every chopper module. Trim and Trim reset.* When pressed, the virtual stick will keep its position and you can put your physical stick back to center. It requires a little re-wiring of your brain when you only flew fixed wing so far, but you will used to it. There are different flavors (set in the special options tab), like instant trim or „return to center“ (with the latter, the stick will only register inputs after you centered it after trimming). You need to try, which one suits you. I used „central position trimmer mode“ before I got a FFB stick. To keep track of where your cyclic position actual is at any given time it could be helpful to have the controls overlay showing. (*do not confuse with pitch and roll trim that are present in some helicopters as well)

Definitely will remember that for future discussions….

Ist definitiv anders als in anderen Helos. Ob gut oder schlecht hab ich für mich noch nicht entschieden. Scheint stark abhängig von Geschwindigkeit und AoA zu sein (also der Rotor, nicht der Fahrtwind). Ob realistisch oder nicht, vermag ich nicht zu sagen.

Yeah, it is really a mess with skids and ground friction. Sideways they feel like glued to the ground and rotational there seem to be no friction at all. Spawn in with slightly off-centered pedals and watch it dance. Not the fault of the KW though.

Honestly I just didn’t overthink it so much. My main gripe back then was the barely audible afterburner detent in the F-16. Other than the „realism-fanatics“ I think that sound is an adequate replacement for missing haptic feedback, and since my throttle doesn’t have a physical detent, that was important to me. Hear like in helmet on the other hand is a) realistic () and b) saves you from hearing damage when you play with headphones….. Then you should love the Hip! (as I do )

I‘m not seeing what you are suggesting. There are shots that shows the Chopper being completely unfazed by the launch and others that seem to introduce some instability. But you don’t know the weather/wind conditions in these shots or if the pilot is operating a switch with the other hand or whatever….. I don’t think this clip proves anything tbh. If the launch of rocket from a tube launcher would cause some notable recoil, soldiers operating MANPADS would topple over regularly.

I still think, that the Mi-8 has a equally good flight model (at least), but yes - why would a helicopter especially one so heavy (relative to its power) and equipped with a SAS be inherently unstable?

Cooler Tip, danke!

Every „switch-like“ sound is effected. Like afterburner detents in some aircraft for example. But don’t get fooled by the high „1200“ value. It doesn’t make switched sound like church bells. It just makes the clicky clicky a bit more audible over the engine and rotor noises. If I didn’t tell you, and you would just watching me playing, you probably wouldn’t even raise an eyebrow over it.

Hey, I‘d like to chime in, as I bought the Kit from Winger, even though I am capable of 3D-Printing the parts myself. The Kit is a nice way to get going, for it is complete and completely spares you the hustle to source everything yourself. The printed parts are of good quality, especially the more delicate parts like the gimbal, core and stick connector are of excellent quality. Even though, in the meantime I have tinkered so much with the Kit and design and replaced half of the parts - I don’t regret paying 500 bucks in the slightest. Building the Kit myself got me going, gave me a ton of ideas and just a lot of fun. I‘m currently in the process of building a FFB conversion for my pedals, based on the motor kit from VP and what I learned by assembling the Rhino. I also doubt, that I could have sourced everything myself for 500 bucks without spending days in researching.

That said - the switches in the KW are still quieter than in a F-16 e.g. .... but when you try them in a cold and dark AC, you can still very clearly hear them.

path is in the top of the picture

The KW is not particular fast. How could it, with all the stuff dangling from it in all directions. Compare that to a naked Gazelle or Bo-105, that all have roughly the same power. IIRC the KW is roughly 500 kg or 25% heavier than the other two.

I changed the option.lua (or similar) a long time ago to be able to push the cockpit button noises to 1200 (default max is 300). Mainly because of the Afterburner detents. But it helps with all clicky clicky noises. Has been on 1200 ever since. Love it!

Ich find ihn bombe bisher! Bin total happy. Das Cockpit ist genau die richtige Mischung aus Glass, Steam und Ease of use. Den AI-Piloten find ich auch genial bisher. Für interessierte, ich habe einen Vorschlag zur button-Belegung auf einem Warthog Grip im Englischen OH-58 Thread gepostet.

Soon, somebody will cry a lot, because there are actual ~100 bindings you can assign for the AI pilot….. Exclamation on “can”! Keep an eye on your CoP when commanding “terrain following” though…..

Okay Guys, so I just set up and tested the AI Pilot and it is glorious. Suggestion for keybindings (on a warthog grip). AI Pilot on\off - Quick disconnect lever AI HUD - NWS button Command Hover - Missile Step button Increase/Decrease Altitude - DMS up/down Drift left/right - DMS left right Speed increase/decrease - TMS up/down heading left/right - TMS left right Everything else is specific maneuvering commands that doesn’t need to be on the hotas imho.

I couldn’t log in for 20 minutes after the patch successfully downloaded. Then it suddenly worked. The KW download was like 2min then….

Working again!

1518Zulu I assume, the servers are hammered right know with patch and Kiowa downloads. Will try later again.