ericinexile

EvilBivol/AlphaOneSix (I'm using a phone so pardon sp/format/etc) This sounds asinine but regarding this subject I think we must dismiss for the moment what the REAL Kamov does and consider only what this sim does. And what the sim does does not exactly match what you have described in my experience. Let's fly one maneuver as an illustration: To me the most usefull maneuver is a simple aggressive turn-on-target while in forward flight at 200+ KPH. Try doing this with STAB buttons on and STAB buttons off. With the HDG STAB button on your turn will be sloppy, with pauses and accellerations in rate-of-turn that are frankly unatural. Turns are an area where helicopters tend to require less work than small fixed wing aircraft to perform. Most helicopters require almost no peddal input for coordination. Watch the ball during your BLUE BUTTON ON turn. Try and keep it centered. Watch the horizon and note the lack of consistancy and precision in Rate-Of-Turn. Now, turn the HDG STAB off and do the turn again. You'll get a much easier, much (sorry) prettier turn. This isn't the way it should be, but it is in this game. Autopilots are designed to help the pilot, not hinder his ability to fight effectively. The more ED reps defend the autopilot system as simulated or, in some cases, admonish players for unrealistic technique, the more convinced I become the there are flaws in how this system is modeled in Black Shark. I just can't imagine that a REAL test pilot would sign off on a system that makes precise, aggressive fighting MORE difficult. Regards, Smokin' Hole

I don't think many (read: ANY) users of the FD feature are doing so for the cueing. They do it for the single reason that gets stated every other post on this thread: to bypass the middle-man. Yes, that may also be done by holding the trim but that is far more cumbersome and once the trim is released you then must react to the autopilot's re-intrusion to your flying. And that's another little issue that hasn't been brought up. With the FD, the use of trim is far easier. You can do some fairly aggressive manuevering, push/release the trim, neutralize the stick and never miss a beat. With "otto" this seems true in theory more than in practice. I find that even when I release to neutral immediately after trimming, the helo still exagerates the intended pitch command. This never happens with the FD on--at least not for me. Smokin' Hole

I think you may have it backwards. NO FD, but Blue Buttons ON, is closer to what you describe. More accurately, this configuration is similar to the rarely used Control Wheel Steering (CWS) feature found in many non-FBW airliners. The Ka50's FD does the opposite and takes the autopilot OUT of the equation--except for dampening.

You could. In fact I did for about a week until someone on this forum pointed out that with the FD, you get some stability augmentation without the obtrusive autopilot interferance. I find this to be the perfect balance as it is still easy to fly. The helo is fun to fly with all blue buttons off but nearly impossible to fight effectively...at least at my skill level. I have both FD and Auto Hover buttons assigned which provides a quick ramp up to the automation level I need to fight.

^^^^^^^^ I fly airliners as well. And although everything you stated is true, the FD has a completely different purpose here. I use it exclusively. Not for command guidance (which is it's ONLY use in our environment) but rather to get the autopilot out of my way. Smokin' Hole

Not true. "Flight Director" seems to have a very unique meaning and purpose in the Kamov. Airline pilots almost always use the flight director when hand-flying. The exception is when we are on a visual approach where the FD is supplying useless information. With the autopilot on, the Flight Director is still always on. Thats the best way for us to see what the FCC is asking the autopilot to do. Smokin' Hole

Your advisor is using a Flight Control System slightly more sophisticated than a $100 Saitek. When I get his real Helo instead of my simulated Helo, I'll act like a Real Kamov Pilot and keep the FD off. I appreciate realism and you guys have made it as real as it gets on a desktop, but sometimes the available equipment makes one compromise. Smokin' Hole

I just let the door close on its own at 150 kph. This also helps with the irritating whine that Vista seems to add to the sound. Smokin' Hole

What does that mean? I've gone through the GUI manual and Flag is mentioned a hundred times but never defined. Maybe to most it is too obvious to need further explanation but I missed the memo. Help is appreciated. Smokin' Hole

That's my experience too. I was so disappointed with flying this Sim (after waiting 2 years for it). Then I discovered how much better it flew with the blue buttons off. It flew like a helicopter! But it wasn't so easy to fight and control the thing in that configuration. Then I was told about the Flight Director and that was the kicker. It now flies like the YouTube videos (even does the funnel) and is easy enough to hover, search, and shoot without the autopilot. Real pilots don't use the Flight Director? Well real pilots don't fly with a $100 Saitek either. FD Rules Smokin' Hole

Brad, Is it optional for you guys operationally? The only FBW experience I have is with the A320 and it was completely verboten to turn any FCCs off unless things go awry--really awry. Smokin' Hole

Landing: 1) All Blue buttons OFF ***an alternative that's a little easier is to turn FD ON and keep the Blue lights ON*** 2) Line up with runway at approx 2km and 100 meters. Speed <100 kph. 3) Note the position of runway numbers on the windscreen and keep them fixed with the collective. Doing that speed will take care of itself. 4) As you decelerate <30 kph you will need to pitch forward to a level attitude and add lots of collective. 5) Make sure brake is off ("Cntl-Enter") 6) Use collective to make a gentle touchdown while keeping pitch attitude level. A little forward speed is fine. Smokin' Hole

And do it it did. Thanks.

Bump. (sorry but I thought I'd take another stab at getting an awnser on the applicable file. Otherwise it's a re-install)

I'm pretty sure it won't as that was the first thing I tried. I think I need the config or lua file that is altered when a new view is saved. BTW, I got into this mess becasue I misshit the key combo to adjust rotor RPM. Anyway, if anyone knows the proper file. I'd sure appreciate it. Smokin' Hole

Somehow I hit a key combination that switched the center view to the wall panel. To make things worse I then accidentally saved that view while trying to back out of it with the "RAlt-Num0" combo. After that, centering TrackIr centers on the wall panel. I've since managed to slew the camera back to something close to center but need to know how to return to the DEFAULT center view. Here's what doesn't do it (probably because I saved the bad view): Return camera (RCntl-Num5) Return camera base (RAlt-Num5) Center camera view (Rshft-Num5) Thanks in advance, Smokin' Hole

The greatest, most immersive aspect of Falcon 4 (an otherewise very flawed product) is that I could contribute to an ongoing multi-player campaign that progressed over days, weeks, or months on an MP server. I came to CARE about the progress of the campaign even though my little contribution to it's outcome was statistically insignificant. I loved to find an available package and being briefed by the fight lead on my loadout, task, and potential threats. Returning to base after a succesful flight was imensely (sp?) satisfying. As a "study" sim, DCS doesn't need this to be great. But I think a strong DC is necessary for longterm playability. This far truer with Black Shark than it was with the Flanker/LOMAC products because they had a strong H2H element that Helos lack. I see real limits to the long-term playability of MP co-op servers because the will require constant re-writing on the part of the server. As the newness of this sim wears off, I don't see this as sustainable without a dynamic campaign model -- wether incorperated within DCS or created by a third party. Smokin' Hole

I see a BIG improvement with Vista 64 Ultimate. 15 FPS + improvement and far less stutters. Smokin' Hole

Big Difference! Just did a clean install of Vista Ultimate 64 and Black Shark seems to be running quite a bit smoother. I ran a mission that bogged my system at one point under XP ("Road Block" from the DCS missions thread) and seem to be getting a roughly 15 FPS improvement. Less stutters. Almost no FPS hits over cities. I'll try different affinity settings but for now it's using all cores on the first CPU. Thanks for the help. Smokin' Hole Mac Pro 2 x Zeon 2.8G Quad Nv 8800GT 2 Meg

Just flew it again and see that practically everything I wrote above is wrong. Climbed to 3700m at "K" (Cruise) power setting. Engine/Rotor A/I ON (though I don't think it matters). Mostly ignored the "Over-torque" lights and made it across at 200kph with plenty of reserve power. Coming back I dropped stores and the helo virtually rocketed up to 3700 m to cross. Easy stuff. Smokin' Hole

Coordinates are in hours/minutes/seconds. However on the PVR-800, coordinates are hours/minutes/10ths of a minute. So... N33"12'30 = N3312.5 At least that's how it works in my airplane. Hope this helps, Smokin' Hole

The only way I could do it was very counter-intuitive: Instead of staying high (3000+ m) through both valleys, I descended after the first ridge down to valley level then climbed BACK to 3600 m to cross the pass. I tried it with engine/rotor anti-ice on and it made no difference for me. In the end I kept them both off despite ECRAN warnings which had the added benefit of giving me a tad more umpf to cross the ridge. Notice your engine "tape" gauges on the wall panel and try to stay within continuous power limit. Except for short durations keep the "over-torque" lights off. Hope this helps, Smokin' Hole

Another question. Is LO:FC affected by this as well?

Thanks for the response. Saved me a little money. Smokin' Hole

That other discussion about getting better frame-rates with Black Shark and Vista with affinity set to use more than one core left me confused. (Admittedly not hard to do.) I've never even seen Vista so I know nothing about it. My 8 core Zeon Mac Pro runs on all cylinders at 64 bit just because that's Leopard--Apple only makes one version. But I degress (this is not a Mac discusstion)... The terms Vista 64 and Vista Ultimate 64 and Vista Ultimate seemed to get used interchangeably in the last discussion. But one doesn't have to buy Vista Ultimate in order to get a 64 bit version of Vista. So, are Vista users who are getted marked improvent setting DCS for multi-core affinity all using Ultimate 64? To state another way, is it the "Ultimate" that's providing the improvement or the "64"? Thanks, Smokin' Hole