lmp

I refuse to cheat my way out of navigating through any of the in game helpers. I consider the limits of the nav suites of particular aircraft as important as the limits of the weapon systems and sensors. Besides, it really is half the fun. Hopefully we will be getting the add-on GPS for some aircraft. Wonder if it'll make it onto the F-5?

I find the safest way is to fire a burst or two from a relatively long distance (say, 2km) at high speed (200km/h) in a shallow dive or level flight. Then break away and repeat. Your speed and range should protect you from return fire. The manual has sight depression settings for such attack profiles. It takes practice to accurately judge range (it helps to plan a bit before the attack, pick some terrain features as distance marks). You won't achieve pinpoint accuracy this way of course, but with OFP rockets even near misses should do the trick. And you get a lot of rockets on the Hip.

The APU can provide DC power to the battery bus via the STG-3 starter-generator. The switch is located next to the two battery switches in the DC part of the electrics panel on the right side of the cockpit. It shouldn't be used without batteries but together with them in case both primary generators fail. The batteries alone will last you for only a few minutes. Having the AI-9V APU and STG-3 starter-generator on will extend that to 30 minutes, after which the APU should be turned off to avoid overheating. To get AC power you will need the inverters working. Some AC systems are connected directly to the generator buses and can't be powered from the batteries. The Mi-8's electric systems are pretty complex but well explained in the manual.

I think it doesn't. There certainly is no mention of it in the manual and the amount of ground clutter I see on the scope when I point it at terrain seems to confirm that - Doppler filters are meant to get rid of just that. It'll be used differently depending on the job. In one of the missions provided with the module - the one where you're supposed to intercept a C-130 - I picked it up quite far out in the 40nm setting. Then as I got closer I'll switch to 20 and 10nm. 10nm is as far s the TDC will go, so you can't lock a target beyond that. OTOH if I know I'll be engaging fighters or fighter sized targets I'll start my search in 10 or 20nm. Or turn it off all together and go for a stealthy approach.

Why would a target moving abeam be difficult to pick up?

Depends on how you look at it. Your method gives you the best access to all three sight modes. On the other hand, if you start in MSL mode, you sacrifice easy access to A/A2 but in return you don't have to switch to DM to see where the ARL is, which makes it easier to point your missiles and radar at the target. And you get the option to pick your target with the TDC. I like to shoot at close ranges (MiG-15bis habits) where switching between A/A1 and A/A2 makes little sense, so I stick to MSL mode.

In A/A2 and A/A1 modes you have to manually initialize the acquisition phase with the ACQ button, but the acquisition phase itself works the same way as in DG and unlike in MSL mode. No gating with the TDC.

The acquisition range is longer in DM than in DG. The sight works as in MSL mode in DM and as in A/A1 mode in DG. "In range" cues are given for missiles in DM mode and guns in DG mode. Off the top of my head those are the only differences.

I won't repeat what the others have already said about flying and fighting, instead I'll draw your attention to another aspect - navigating. Both helicopters have a wider array of aids than the Huey and can solve more complex navigational problems, but in the Hip the process is quite a bit more involved. The Ka-50 has the ABRIS satnav set and the PVI-800 inertial navigation system, both very capable. You will be able to effortlessly follow the flight plan from the mission editor, but also store targets, points of interests and better coordinate with other pilots if you fly in MP. It can be a little boring when "just flying" but in a fight you will appreciate the extra flexibility. In the Mi-8 you will be relying primarily on the DISS doppler navigation system, which is much more "hands on". It will only determine your distance flown along a manually set heading and your deviation from that heading. No waypoints, no map view, have fun getting back on course if you set 227 degrees instead of 272 degrees 78km ago ;). You will probably want to spend a few more minutes in the mission planner and maybe write a few things down before you hit "Fly". Both campaigns available for the Mi-8 will test your ability to follow fairly complex flight plans. Other than that, both helicopters have ADF sets and radios with VHF/UHF homing function - the Mi-8 is even a little bit better equipped in this area. So I guess in a way again it comes down to whether you want to fly more (in this case I recommend the Mi-8 because of a bigger challenge) or fight more (here the flexibility of the Ka-50 will make it more fun).

Currently the green heading channel light on the autopilot panel goes out when the channel is disconnected due to pedal movement. Previously it remained lit and only went out when the channel was turned off entirely. According to my colleague from another forum, who is a Mi-8/17 tech, the new behaviour is incorrect.

Perhaps. IRL there are microswitches on the pedals that turn off the heading channel, our pedals don't have them and depend on offset from the trimmed position instead, so it'll always feel different. While I haven't noticed what you're reporting (perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the heading channel starts trimming your rudder once it reaches the limit, unlike the other channels), I found that the heading channel was getting in my way rather than helping if I followed the "keep it always on" doctrine popular with some users. I prefer to follow the Russian way outlined in the manual to only engage it when I actually want to hold a specific heading.

It's by design. The way the adjustment process works is the crew chief slowly adjusts the pitch/roll channel while the pilot compensates with the cyclic and then trims the aircraft. You can't do that with the heading channel because as soon as you put your feet on the microswitches on the pedals (IRL, in game as soon as you move the Z axis from the center position) the heading channel is disconnected.

Alright, got it. Amazon kept delaying and delaying my order so I bought elsewhere. It's what I expected for the price. Not premium quality but works. The main axis isn't exactly smooth as butter, but it has a long throw, so you can be accurate despite of it. I'm upgrading from a Saitek Throttle Quadrant and I can be definitely more precise with the new throttle. The pinky axis is actually pretty great - some reviewers weren't too impressed with it, but I like it a lot. The rudder axis works well, but because of the small range, it's hard to be accurate (as in helicopter-flying-accurate) with it... but maybe it's just me and my lack of experience with it. I may use one paddle as a Russian style break lever with some curve magic. The buttons and hats are a little flimsy but work alright. The overall ergonomics is ok, although it's a BIG throttle. I have pretty big hands and I can't reach the thumb button and the two front buttons easily without moving my hands.

Thanks!

Oh, I didn't know that, thanks!

Hear, hear!

The 3 tons maximum doesn't mean that the cable/hook/hoist will snap as soon as you go over it. Every such limit accounts for manufacturing deficiencies, wear and tear (all within reason of course) but also quite a lot of dynamic forces that may act upon the system. The air isn't always smooth and pilots aren't always having a great day. I imagine it's quite possible that a new, perfectly maintained Mi-8 in ideal weather could lift even a few times the rated weight if the pilot was doing everything right... but there would be NO margin for error and it would put a lot of wear on the machine. I think that the interesting question here is not whether the Mi-8's hook should survive such a load or not, but why do we have so many heavy loads available in the first place? There's no flyable helicopter in DCS at the moment that could lift some of the new cargos safely.

Thanks :)

I also assumed you have power on all buses, all relevant circuit breakers on and engines running (the autopilot needs the main hydraulic system to be working AFAIK).

Perhaps you didn't turn on the copilot's attitude indicator? Other channels will also require the GMK-1A and SPUU-52 systems to be on.

Interesting, never seen those before. Thanks for the info! I'm not going to say no to having another thing I can put on my favourite helo, though as of now it wouldn't be very useful.

Your picture shows a Mi-8T which didn't have the PZU dust protection devices our version has. Were those large filters used on versions which had PZUs?

Thanks for the explanation. Do you know if a failure of the DMR-200D is simulated? Should I expect to ever have to use that switch in game?

I'm also interested how this switch should work and whether it works correctly now. I have a Polish scheme of the electrical power supply system and it suggests the СЕТЬ НА ВУ switch works the way you describe. But then again I don't know the meaning of the R4 symbol on the scheme in the manual - it's not explained like the others. Perhaps it's significant here?

You could try that, might work. I've contemplated the idea but never got around to doing any tests. If you know the exact altitude of your target, you could just match it and set the antenna tilt to 0. Personally, unless I'm intercepting a big bomber, I don't bother trying to lock it in MSL mode. Against fighters I use it as a situational awareness mode and rely more on DM and DG to get a firing solution.