Rogue Trooper

This is a video to get you hot to trot on release... which is soon...ish. Nothing detailed, just wheels up on release ASAP and feel the airframe airborne.

Yup, better to let them lead. They still die, but they take more stuff out.

HMS targeting or TADS? TADS I guess.

In the FFBeast video shown in this post, I think he flies lovely. No Pedal problems and the video looks like a real helicopter flying and hovering in total control by a competent sim pilot.

I find the sim yaw pedals good, responsive and smooth. However, i guess this could be due to the oil damping on my pedals being set quite high for all choppers. Yeah the crabbing is excessive. For the hold modes: Hover hold is great, It can hover better than me. Getting into hover mode is easy as long as you are well trimmed for hover. Indeed, it is so reliable that once activated, I am usually working the MPDs whilst the hold mode corrects and realigns to the centre of the hover hold... but for sure I am watching the BOB up box on my HMS whilst working the MPDs. Straight line flight in hold mode is also good and reliable as long as I am travelling at or below 120 Knots (usually 110), holding Trim for 3 seconds realigns everything nicely if limits are reached. Above 120 Knots the APs are working too hard and quickly reach their limits. Holding the trim for 3 seconds to realign the sleeves can cause some undesirable effects. Above 120 Knots I fly by hand only... I am in a rush.

Yep, she flies real nice.

I love dead stick for the Kiowa and Gazelle, the sense of the stick being totally in sync with the rotors is superb, but I found it detrimental in the apache and other large helicopters but mostly the Apache and KA-50. For sure the Apache has the agility to maintain superb sync between the stick and the rotors with a dead stick.... but when I pull this massive weapon in amongst ground obstacles to pop up and find a firing solution on targets, I will often start working the MPDs to gather information. Because the base of my MPDs are around knee height, I often found myself accidently knocking the cyclic and with a dead stick the cyclic deflects and holds the deflection which means the Apache is now increasingly accelerating into what I am hiding behind and requires pilot correction to kill the acceleration and re-establishing a hover. In the Apache the dead stick is not for me. Strong springs, no centre detent in the CAMs and let the SAS & SCAS look after accidental knocks whilst I start planning missile release.... like the real thing. Force feedback will be awesome, best of both worlds.

Yep.... I did that for the Apache, but two weeks after its initial release date. Apache is just too cool.... it would be rude not too!

Agreed, DCS is extremely complex and will only get more complex once we get the voice chat working right & the online dynamic campaign campaign.... no one will be complaining about missions then.

Me too, I prefer it this way too. ED is where they are due to Fanboys and it is finally getting to the point of being what I want it to be.... once we get the online dynamic campaign.

I can definitely see why Varjo got the hell out of the Public market and went back to the professional market only. You've got the patience of a saint Bignewy

The OH-58D is very nice indeed. Easy to fly with SCAS and a very nice FM without SCAS, Cockpit looks good and we have pilot figures from the get go.... perfect. The external model quality I do not notice with my current VR headset. A great module that is pretty much all there on release and I am sure it will get lots of tuning and upgrades in the near future.

Agree, the lack of Jetseat in the OH-58D really makes you feel that you are in a super smooth alien machine and not a cranky, pulsating, vibrating machine called a Helicopter.

Something I see often with the Virpil Collective in DCS and I think you may be experiencing it: When you set up the collective in DCS "Axis only", it designates the Virpil collective axis as "Axis_RZ" (I think this is the name). Then go into tune axis and check the name in the top right box, I bet it is Axis RZ..... this means you are inverting the wrong axis. The fix is simple, Just click on the Axis RZ box and a drop down menu will appear with both names (Axis RZ and Axis_Rz). Select Axis_Rz and then tick invert and tick slider and that should do it. Unfortunately you have to do it in each module.

Sweet.

Looks very nice in that pit, will the coiled cables wobble and move around with flight?

The only time I had play in the stick was when I had no Friction set at all and this I did whilst balancing the AH-64 Collective, after that I applied friction but I am no where near max. Remember that the friction clamps are actually the bearing for the whole Virpil collective so a little friction has to be applied to ensure there is no play around the main bearing shaft. I think it is also important to screws down (with friction adjust screws) the friction clamps evenly so that they evenly engage top and bottom of the bearing shaft.... I think. .

We are getting there, day 1 purchase for me.

Will do. May be a while until it arrives though.

I agree that the Automation may take some fun out of flying it, a bit like the F-16 or MI-8. No matter what it will be an incredibly useful machine for the blues, One flight will deliver a massive amount of kit to the front or rear lines. It will be an incredible tool. DCS has a way of changing your mind about an aircraft when you are in the pit. Years ago, I thought WHY the MI-8 when it was announced as a future release.... once released, I loved it so much that the Huey pretty much dropped off the Radar for me.

I have one on order. I ordered it about 1 and half to 2 months ago. I expect it to take the full three months until delivery, I am fine with that. Let us see what it is like, one thing I like about Komodo, they get the scale, shape and curves just right. I have never flown the Apache from the front seat, never visited it during a mission as George seems pretty damned good at taking orders. But the front seater really seems to have a lot of toys to play with.... So let us see.

Yeah, I need to go through the previous posts that Chinook pilots posted. The collective is thrust and the forward cyclic movement is collective.... Huhh?.... I need to re-read it, Surely I got that wrong as I was too quick scanning through the posts.

I only use the Apache APs or flight stabilisers when I am happy that the airframe is trimmed out in the flight regime I require. I also tend to hold the trim for 3 or 4 seconds before engaging the APs to ensure the airframe is trimmed out ready for the automated systems. I love the way the Apache flies, I love the way she drifts off the ground when taking off.... it feels amazingly natural. I love the way the tail rotor is neutral with a bit of right pedal, the personality of the airframe is superb.

Pre Purchased as soon as ED allowed me too. It will be better than anything else available on the market for a very long time. A fabulous airframe to start the new complex logistics line!

Until zoom is released, it is possible to use the map on your right MFD to zoom in on targets to help get a better idea of the battlefield. Select pan on the right MFD (TSD) and use the cursor controller on your collective to move the map to centre on the targets, then zoom in. The targeting overlay remains live as long as your FCR is active and will display active and secondary targets as you cycle through the list of targets.