Fenin

I heavily agree with this post. The lack of proper keybinds is absolutely disturbing. This seems to be a relatively common trend in recent years for DCS modules, I suppose they treat them as being low priority with the idea being that players will just use their mouse. I have a slew of peripheral usb devices specifically so I don't have to interact with the game via my mouse. Why can't we select specific weapons on the rotary using anything but the keyboard? Why am I required to click on the systems for engine start when I have totally unused cougar MFDs? It's absurd. There are other DCS modules that have been on the shelf longer that are still lacking keybind options as well, looking at you MiG-19P. It's so bad that there's people who just edit them in and pass them along to others. This is honestly embarrassing at this point to me, basic interactivity should be a higher development priority. I'd rather have unfinished 3d models than unfinished keybindings.

Front seat is the combat trash can. Petrovich curls his legs up against his chin and hopes that he never has to use his backup controls, the thought of actually using the anti-torque stubs is terrifying. Unironically, I think my actual kitchen trash can has more sq footage in it for you to sit in.

I didn't have anything on that outer pylon, tbqh. I was setup in my silly FAC loadout with all the atgms on the other wing. I barely even felt him collide, to be honest. I think that it might have holed a fuel tank on the belly, but I might not have had fuel in it to begin with. Most of the time I takeoff with about 50-60% gas at absolute maximum. Honestly I was just trying to smack him with a 30mm round, but I guess a wingtip will suffice.

I start firing from almost 3km out using just the fixed sight, if they're in a place where I can. Short burst, increased rof. 100 ish meter pop up, as fast as I can go. I forget what depression I use in mils but its not too insane. With practice you can usually tear apart soft targets on the second, maybe third burst and never get very close at all. I'm usually turning away by 1km. Too close for me. Of course that depends on what the target is equipped with/supported by. Just a bunch of infantry with M16s and a dream? Naw, I'm gonna roll up on em like an angry rhino. Even 12.7/.50cal vehicles I show little care for. Run em over like roadkill. I know the damage model is WIP but i've blatted .50 cal fire off the front windscreen enough times to show no respect for units armed with them if they don't have support to take more than a few pot shots at my rear if I mess up the run. Sort of related I'm reaching the point that I'm also tanking stingers on the chin, tho I'm sure petrovich isn't very appreciative. He never seems to die though. So much so that when I get jumped by them I just turn to face the missile and tank the hit. The firer doesn't usually like the response. Hind angy, silly stinger truck must die. https://i.gyazo.com/d81cc9454633ecd3da42c1217faa4f21.mp4 I think the other two missiles he fired may not have had time to arm properly, but I don't know anything about the stinger, so yeah. That hit did almost nothing to me, I think at worst it broke the scope and peppered the nose. Start talking 20/23/57mm tho and we're in a totally different ballpark.

I believe that I've found my tactic. Just body the guy. https://i.gyazo.com/96fc2d38cf295c4c5100c5d7a0ff89d0.mp4

I had this years ago when moving from the Mi-8 to the Huey. Hip and Hind feel like flying a bus, when you go from them to the Huey it's like suddenly driving around in an overpowered moped. Parking spots are just so much easier to find and get into, shame you can barely fit your groceries on it though.

I wanted to share this, as I'm unsure if its a bug. As such I'm putting it in general, either way it's entirely possible to spam out countermeasures to a much faster degree than the ASO-2V is limited to generally. I understand that the reality focused players will look down on doing this, but from a systems standpoint I don't see how it couldn't... work maybe? It's a pretty simple process, you just need to have your Launch Countermeasures and Set I/II/III set in such a way that you can easily press both at the same time rapidly. When taking a mixed load of countermeasures (say one set of chaff, two of flares) this allows you to more seriously saturate your area, rapidly launching from all three sets. There is still a short time in between, but it allows for much more cm output. The only thing limiting the speed is the Set I/II/III has a ghost fourth option, which is off. I'm really not sure I'd 100% call this a bug, and not just clever usage of the equipment. I'll leave that up to others to decide. CM Spam.trk

As long as its possible to build sort of 'odd' loadouts that would theoretically work, then this fine. The last thing I want is not to be able to create my goofy FAC loadout (ATGMS and smoke rockets on one side, HEAT and HE rockets on the other.) For the curious types. Burn the excess weight out letting Petro get the weapons online and you're good to go.

I gotchu fam. Casmo has quite a few good vids on the Hind.

The way I see it is that we're going to be light speed fast compared to any observer. I set up almost all my front seat keybinds on my keyboard and can reference them rapidly. The O key is pretty easy to find when you've been typing it in words since 1995. A specific switch, somewhere off to your right, that you need to get perfectly and will probably have to look to double check that you're on the right one is going to take a little longer. Nevermind nestling into that gunsight and getting your bearings, all while being jostled by the helicopter. I'd say Petros slowness is only really obvious in comparison because we, as players, don't have to deal with all that pesky reality crap. As for any words spoken by Natasha, I just kind of always assume that if she's chatting and I'm not performing a cold start then something is broken or breaking and that death is coming soon after.

I was literally thinking of this video when I typed that out. It's a perfect example of 'not proactive enough.'

Trust in the fixed sight. It is a more useful tool for 90% of all combat with the gun. The weapon fires super flat, and you can quite easily range in after a single burst. Trying to use that radalt sight in any sort of terrain that isn't as flat as my ex-wife, and in perfect dive parameters, is an exercise in futility and frustration. Understand that the radalt has no information on the terrain below you, it assumes the whole world is flat and its up to you to counter for that. It doesn't know your target is on the up/down slope of a hill. It won't work at all unless you're in a shallow dive. Where as the fixed sight works just fine for most attack runs, and at the ranges you're realistically going to be using the gun its bordering on laser accurate. Put the center pipper slightly high and to the left and let the gun walk itself onto the target.

+1 Absolute requirement.

Good lord, thank you so much for finding versions with english subtitles. These are an absolute treasure. Even if half of the footage is 'get behind him where he can't see ya n give the ol' kick in the arse.'

The Observer title alone implies so much, along side the equipment that he has available up front. The most obvious job being that of acquiring and engaging targets with the ATGM system, but also really being that second set of eyes. There are many things that the observer seat could also, and maybe should, be able to do. Use the ARC-15 navigation set Be able to fly the helicopter at any given time, do not assume that you will never need to. There are controls there for a reason, and you can help to mitigate your pilots workload at times where he may have to go head down in the pit. This involves knowing what keys are used to switch, and the process of doing so. Have a basic understanding of your front seat unguided weapons controls. Though I can't see many scenarios where the observer engaging would be preferable another way to think of the front seat is almost as a training seat. It's simpler and thus easier to learn. It's a good place for a Hind pilot to start, especially if they can get someone more practiced to take the back seat and show them ins and outs. Have a full understanding of the counter measure system. Understand how to use the 9K113 as more than just a weapon reticle. While its not a Vivianne on top of the Gazelle it is still a powerful optic that can be trained where you wish to spot ground units at range with practice. I've personally spotted AAA assets at 10kms. The biggest snags I fear most starting observers will run into is communication with their pilot, this is also where Petro fails miserably for now, as basically texting your back seater to let him know whats going on is hilariously inefficient. Especially in a high stress environment where simple verbal cues would be far more effective. Be communicative, let your pilot know what you're doing. If you're opening the doors to the 9k113 make sure they know, and make sure they know when you've closed them. Flip side, they should be just as communicative back. While I'm not saying a Jester level of banter need exist, information not passed through can lead to uncertainty and a bad time. Know how to use the radio system as best you can in the front seat. While you don't have full control over the radios by any means you can still know how to use them. Be it via srs, the built in vox, teamspeak, discord, doesn't matter. When your pilot is cruising at 25ft agl and weaving around obstacles the last thing he needs is to be trying to communicate complex radio responses. This is where you can, and should come in. Be proactive about your continued existence, and the safety of the helicopter. Tell the pilot that certain things are a bad idea. Don't let him hot rod you around like his first girlfriend in his first car. Or do, I suppose, if you enjoy the start up procedure that much. Most importantly, I feel, is find a pilot you can fly with regularly and switch seats from time to time. The fact of the matter is that both of you will improve rapidly by filling the others shoes from time to time. The pilot will never understand how frustrating it is to be jostled constantly while in the gunsight, or the blind spots in the front seat, if he never ever sits up there. Just like the observer will never understand the pilots workflow, blindspots, and weaknesses (like nose low visibility) if he never sits in that seat. You will learn each others weaknesses, and strengths over time, and be able to much more easily focus on building yourself into a proper little one ship team. Which will already make you far, far more efficient than any pilot forced into using Petrovich. Of course, this is all for not if your tail desyncs and ejects itself like a confused journalist.

If I find anything solid I will certainly pass it along, as I said best I have is anecdotal. Though, I will be sure to practice it from the observer seat whether it was done or not.

Seeing as how forward and down visibility is quite poor from the pilots seat it would be quite nice to have a system in place to designate a landing area using Petrovich. I haven't put much thought into what the exact switchology would be for it, but the raw idea would be to Activate Petro Sight Point at area you want to land press the key combo to target it as a landing site At this point he would begin giving read outs for altitude, angle and distance offset. Guiding you into your landing spot from his position of better forward and low visibility.

I don't know about the Apache with her hellfires but the Mi-24V will actively attempt to fire its atgms at even fast movers that approach it. I've seen it take atgm pot shots at Mirage 2000s that were trying to make gun runs on them in the past. Alternatively, I think this is entirely possible to do with a human at the controls, especially against an unaware foe, it would likely be downright easy. As for 'wasting' a weapon, I'd hardly call it that by any means. ATGMs are how many ground units attempt to engage helos, it's an entirely usable approach. Alongside that though, I've read (admittedly anecdotal) evidence of observers using their sighting system to look for airspace intruders and if they could track them in that situation would it truly be a large stretch to do so while guiding a shturm?

Images hopefully spoiled for those with poor internet. In range for Shturm The only way to know if you're in range to use the ATGM is via the observers sight. There is a scaling imaging system built into the left side of the glass. When at full zoom you can use it to judge the range of a vehicle. It is not a precise instrument. There is no laser. There is no way for the Hind itself to 100% know it is in range as it comes closer to a target. This is a skill that is gained through repeated use of the observers periscope, and practice. If you are piloting the helicopter and Petrovich is your observer then he does give a notice in the top right of your screen with text to tell you that you are in range. Bear in mind that if you're coming into range and are sure you were outside of max range he has a +-300 meter error on the callout. So you may want to wait a moment before immediately rifling off the missile. Some considerations with the sights ranging system is that the higher you are the harder it is to judge range, its a system designed to put the target as flatly into its confines as possible. The reality of the matter though is that you will rapidly gain a sight picture after just a few uses of the system and be able to judge range fairly well without it. Alternatively, if you know a certain landmark is a certain distance from your target you can use it as a fly over point with a defined distance, but that requires good knowledge of the area and preplanning. The two lamps on the hud I can only assume you mean these two lights. I forget off the top of my head for the left one, but it has something to do with the radalt range finding system. The yellow light is a warning to you that the periscopes doors are open and the camera is uncaged. If that light is on you should limit your turning, as you can quite easily damage the gyros in the periscope. Remaining ATGMs Keep count. As a pilot with Petrovich you have no way of knowing beyond knowing how many you took off with, and how many you've fired. As an observer you could open the DIAFR switch up to allow off angle launches then cycle through your missile pylons. Each tone being a live missile ready to be fired. Might want to warn your pilot first, as it may confuse them as to why they are suddenly being beeped at in rapid succession. Remaining Rocket Ammo I believe the same is true for the rockets. There may be a light that pops up on your weapon control panel to show when they are empty, but I can't seem to get it to do so at the moment. Consider this when using your rockets. The way I tend to personally approach it is that my rocket pods are a single attack. Fire all of them and do not return to try sprinkling for more hope. The only time I use single or low shot counts is for practicing attacks or smoke rocket spotting. Remaining Cannon Ammo Thankfully the same is not true for the 30mm cannon, 12.7mm/7.62mm gun pod, or 30mm grenade pods. Their ammo counts can all be found just forward of your electronics dc power box on the right side of the cockpit. Underneath where the door closes. Not the best place to be checking for ammo amounts, but it's serviceable.

The Control Helper is a setting that makes the helicopter considerably 'easier' to fly. It focuses on keeping it largely trimmed for you, and just generally making flying it an 'easier' experience. From my understanding it's for folks who lack a full hotas and rudder setup and need just the extra little bit of assistance to fly the bird. The Rudder trimmer option allows you to connect your rudder pedals to the cyclic button trimming system. So that you can set them, press the trimmer button, then release your pedals and allow them to physically center. Their new 'software' center will be where you trimmed them at. It's another option to make flying a bit more comfy as almost all modern rudder pedal options have centering springs that cause long term discomfort in some folks from having to hold the pedals out of center for long periods of time. From my experience the control helper is an absolute disaster of an option, and if you have an even vaguely acceptable setup (HOTAS and Pedals) then you should leave it off and learn to fly the helo without it. Everyone I've suggested use it has issues with it, they're constantly fighting against it to try and get the helicopter to do what they want. The rudder trimmer is at least moderately helpful.

I fully understand they'll get here when they get here, but I'm personally curious about other bits and bobs of their integration into the Hind itself. Mostly if the systems for selecting the R-60 are already in the cockpit, and if anyone knows what the procedure will be for selecting them. I can only assume they share wiring with some of the inner pylons and when in use are piggy backing on some electronics. Do they use the Spirals wiring for the inner pylons? I'd like to know. We certainly have pictures of them on the helicopter, but I've been able to find next to no info beyond that and some vague comments about them used for airspace policing and lobbing at trucks at night in Afghanistan. I suppose my questions are as follows. Are all the electronics for using the R-60s already in place in the cockpit? If so, does anyone know the procedure for selecting the R-60s once they are added? Is it already a practicable action flow? Is the boresight line of the R-60s already known? Do they line up with the guns boresight? What is the minimum altitude they are going to be able to be launched from? Will it be a concern that you are too low and they may ground strike? I'm almost certain there won't be, but I want to be sure.

What should happen is that you move the stick to where you want it trimmed, press the trimmer button, then swiftly recenter manually. Of course this has the issue of your controls wobbling if you don't recenter fast enough on your physical end. There is an alternative special option for trimming that instead locks the controls where you trimmed at and then unlocks them when you recenter your physical hardware. This should solve the issue of wobbling when trimming. The problem, and what is broken, is that sometimes the trimmer over trims on centering, causing the new center to be up to twice as much trim as you entered. Say you trimmed at x: 25, Y: 25. Instead it jumps up to X and Y 50. Causing you to immediately have to retrim again. It's not an every time thing though, it only happens occasionally. Thinking about it. It could also happen consecutively if you're rather unlucky. Remember though that the Hind has two trimming systems, the mag lock and an aircraft style hat trim (beep trimming is what I've usually heard it called, but that's a term from the Gazelle guys, I think.) The trick I use is that every time you do a full mag lock trim be prepared to input opposite beep trim. You can quite quickly correct the trimmers over input with the beep trimmer. Hopefully it is fixed soon.

Apologies for double posting, but I'm mobile and these were on two pages. I agree, cutting saturation is a poor alternative, curving is as well though, control linearity is imoortant. As much as I actually hate to say what I'm about to, because I know it comes off as pretentious and arrogant. The fact is from my experience that a desk mounted flight stick is not comparable to a floor mounted full extension. In the exact same way the console controller is not comparable to the desk mounted flight stick. The difference is the 'suck it up and get one' price difference is mind boggling between the pair. The amount of money I had to drop for base, spring upgrade, extension, and stick is mind numbing to me. It caused me real pain to drop what I have into it, but now that I've had it for some time and the absolute terror that I had of sunk cost falacy has passed I just can't see how I flew helos before. The amount of minute, almost just muscle twitch movements that I used for years on my ch fighterstick do not compare in any way. Before I would fly about spooked that my little one would bump me and mess up everything, now it hardly matters. He can climb up into my seat from the side and sit with me while we 'vvvvvv' around the digital sky. If you're ever on the fence to get it, and can afford it, jump the fence. The grass is beyond greener on the other side. I understand that there is a real possibility that my setup is why I'm not having issues with the Hind, and I'll say the same thing that we've all told our console controller toting friends. Your gear might be insufficient. Sorry.

I have put hundreds of hours in both. If not over a thousand in the Mi-8, which I purchased in 2013 in hopes of it being as close as I could get to the Mi-24. Actually, I very specifically remember reading a thread circa 2014 or so that the Hind was hopefully close since the Mi-8 shared so much with it. I feel by far the most safe in the Hind, and that's with far far less hours by comparison. I am flat out not seeing what you guys are talking about in any way, shape, or form. The one and only issue I'm having in any flight regime is that the transition from etl to a hover takes longer than I'm used to and I often find her slipping ahead of my intended landing site and I have to come back in. An issue that is entirely on me for not countering her refusal to decelerate by slowing down earlier. I stand by what I say, my front seats open if you want a ride around. Certainly with voice comms you would be able to more clearly show me what the issue is. I'm free almost all of today, though tomorrow I won't be due to a dental appointment. Edit: Took the time to do my daily warmup, was having some control issues and wanted to get them sorted out. So, here, I made a track of me doing some basic low speed maneuvers around Taftanaz. Bit of a sloppy take off and landing, but I think it shows what I'm talking about fairly well. Also ignore the first take off, I was more or less double checking controls on it. Hind Solidity.trk

I'm not saying it well enough, clearly. She is rock solid for me in all flight regimes. From a hover, low speed flight, low speed side strafing, all of it. Rock solid and steady as can be. There has never been a time, with the autopilot roll and pitch channels on, that I have ever felt anything remotely unstable that wasn't entirely introduced by myself. Trimmer bug aside. We share the same game version and the same flight model but seem to be getting vastly different experiences. What's different? The only things I can think of is your hardware, and the meat computers are different models. While I'm unable to upload video, you could come sit in my front seat for a bit some time if you like, I'd be happy to zoom you around and do some rocket attacks. Maybe we could figure something out. Toss me a PM and I'll toss you my discord, we'll piddle around on 4ya or something for an hour or two.