Raptor9

The original effect of the large column of smoke was incorrect. The M274 is a training rocket that simulates the M151 HE rocket but generates a small flash and brief smoke signature effect instead of an explosion. This was implemented in a recent patch and is intended behavior.
The current M274 is using an M156 white phosphorous rocket external model, which is a target marking rocket that would generate a large smoke cloud for about 2 mins, but I believe it is being used as a placeholder for the time being, as are the current zone loading options.
You can see the small signatures of smoke and impacts from several training rockets in this screenshot:

Hello @ETBSmorgan, the APG-78 FCR was not designed to engage maritime targets. However, the FCR can in fact detect them, but you will need to  use RMAP mode to see the raw radar information as the FCR will not process "ship" targets. The AGM-114L can also detect and even track these targets, as shown in the images below, but you will need to use the TADS to provide the target location to the missile, rather than the FCR.

The "datalink signal" is not a continuous, singular signal; like when your phone indicates signal reception from a cellphone tower. The datalink is composed of discreet radio microbursts of data that are periodically transmitted from various units in the battlespace, which are then processed and displayed in the cockpit based on the data contained within those radio microbursts.
There is no indication in the cockpit when the radio signal from Air Traffic Control is lost because there is no continuous signal being broadcast from a single ATC tower. In similar fashion, there is no indication in the cockpit when datalink is lost because there is no continuous datalink radio signal being broadcast from a single unit in the battlespace. If line of sight is lost between your aircraft and a unit transmitting information across the datalink channel, the information received from that particular unit is simply no longer received, just as if you can no longer hear the voice radio transmissions from that unit while still hearing all others on the same frequency.

Recommend this thread, by a real-life AH-64 instructor pilot.

From the DCS F-16 Early Access Guide.

The AH-64D is indeed designed to operate during hours of darkness, but it wasn't intended to be operated at low altitudes near terrain or obstacles in an "unaided" manner without the use of the PNVS or TADS FLIR sensors (or night vision goggles as an alternative). And the CPG is certainly not going to be trying to detect targets at night using the unaided eye.
If you are intending to fly at night without the use of the PNVS, TADS, or night vision goggles, higher altitudes should be utilized at which terrain or man-made obstructions will not be encountered. If the lowest setting of the IHADSS is still too bright for use, I would recommend removing the IHADSS monocle entirely.

This is not true. AH-64 variants to this day behave the same way, in that if you manually type in a frequency to tune into the Keyboard Unit, or use the EUFD Preset button to select a frequency, it will place it into the Primary slot, and move the existing frequency from the Primary to the Standby. This has never changed.
However, when tuning a Preset via the COM page, you do get the option to tune that frequency into the Primary slot as usual, or place it in the Standby slot. This includes the version that the DCS: AH-64D is simulating, but the COM page Preset format hasn't been implemented at this time to permit this option.
In the civilian aviation realm, yes. There is no ubiquitous, proper, or "sane" strategies when it comes to aviation avionics or equipment, because aircraft are designed to operate in different environments and conduct different missions. The AH-64 avionics are designed differently due to the environment it is expected to operate in, which is a different world than civilian airspace. In fact, everything in the AH-64 avionics is designed with very specific reasons in mind.
The idea is that if you need to rapidly push to another frequency in a hurry, it's going to put that into your primary frequency so you can talk immediately. But you may need to swap back to your previous frequency just as hastily, so that is pushed into standby. So it functions on the principle of the most recent frequencies demanded by the crew in a combat situation, rather than the "mainstream" process of placing the next expected frequency into standby for what has been planned on the next leg of a flight plan (as an example). The AH-64D avionics and human interface are solely designed around functioning as an airborne weapons platform, which is why it breaks from a lot of so-called "standard" aviation conventions for the necessities of combat situations it is expected to be in.
As mentioned prior, with the Presets you will be able to tune a frequency into the standby slot if you desire; but again, the premise is that if you are tuning a frequency that you have already planned on using, it would probably be in your Preset list anyway. Manually tuning a frequency on the COM>MAN page is geared more toward "unplanned" events during your flight.

@BFQ Using the 4-way trim hat will only physically move the cyclic in the pitch axis when a forward/aft input is applied. When applying left/right inputs, the cyclic will not move.
The trim positions can be thought of as such:
Forward/Aft: Airspeed trim/adjustment Left/Right: Bank angle trim/adjustment

Hello @MrReynolds, this bug has already been reported internally, but thank you for the report.

There is no bug. Heading Hold is enabled in the AH-64D when below 40 knots ground speed, regardless of whether Attitude Hold is enabled, subject to specific engagement/disengagement criteria. Please refer to the DCS Early Access Guide in the FMC section for more specific explanation of the criteria.

Hello @GAJ52. You can find several resources on the main DCS AH-64D forum section, which includes a link to Wags's youtube playlist. However, as with many of his videos, keep in mind he normally shows a video of features in early access so they may not precisely represent their final state, but they just provide a broad overview of module features. And of course you've already seen Chuck's Guide which provides a very illustrative format for instruction. There is also the official DCS Early Access Guide which can be found on your computer if you've installed the DCS AH-64D module, located below next to the red arrow; or it can be manually downloaded from this link.

The DCS AH-64D Early Access Guide includes a more thorough description of the aircraft, systems, sensors, and weapons. Each chapter is iterative, in that it begins with a broad overview of the chapter topic, followed by explanations and graphics of each MPD page or aspect of the chapter topic, and then (when applicable), provides a step-by-step procedure with accompanying illustrations that explain how to accomplish each step of the procedure. Finally, Appendix A in the back provides abbreviated checklist procedures without the illustrations which may be more conducive to use when actually playing a mission, and is optimized for use on electronic devices such as tablets with hyperlink navigation.
You can also find this thread by BradMick (who has spent many years as a professional AH-64 instructor pilot) pinned to the main AH-64D forum section, in which he provides various video tutorials regarding flight maneuvers and procedures, using the force trim, navigation systems, and a little bit on using the TADS.
Hope you enjoy yourself.

Only FCR targets generated by the ownship's onboard FCR will be displayed on the FCR page. Any FCR targets received via the datalink will only be displayed on the TSD for orientation and situational awareness.
FCR TGT Reports do indeed overwrite any existing FCR data in the receiving aircraft, but FCR targets received via an FCR TGT Report cannot be used in the same manner as FCR targets generated by the ownship's onboard FCR. FCR targets received through the datalink cannot be directly engaged unless they are received by an RFHO message. This is even specified during the video.
Keep in mind that many of the feature preview videos that Wags releases may include small details that were identified as bugs after the video was produced and were subsequently corrected.

First of all, the bug that produced the appearance of the FCR not emitting from the radome has nothing to do with the TADS, with LINK, or anything else than what I specified. The information I provided in other threads regarding this issue came from the ED devs and my own testing using internal debug tools, not the Hoggit rumor mill. Second, the actual issue that was causing this effect was resolved months ago, so if there are still some individuals in the social media channels making these claims, I would wonder if they have even played DCS: AH-64D in several months, or if they are simply repeating things that someone else said to drive a narrative for whatever reason.
The image below was just taken from the same DCS version that anyone in the DCS community can play and try out for themselves. Clearly the FCR can see the target while the TADS is still obscured by the ridgeline ahead. And as you can see, the FCR is performing a continuous scan to show that the target was just detected at the current altitude.

To provide some context, if the FCR does not see enough of the target, it may not be able to determine whether it is a target of military interest or simply ground clutter, even if it does register the radar reflection from the vehicle. Case in point, in the images below (again, from the same DCS build that everyone else can play) you can see that the raw radar information displays a radar target out there as a bright white reflection, but it is only partially visible to the FCR. The TADS doesn't need to see the whole target to establish an image auto-track on it, but the FCR does not have enough information to determine what it is, so it rejects it as ground clutter. As opposed to a tracked target in the foreground of which it does see enough to classify.



Finally, the aircraft altitude is increased until the FCR can gather enough radar information to determine what the target is.

As you can see, there is no issue with how the FCR is behaving, there hasn't been for months, despite what people keep claiming. However, one must keep in mind some practical limitations of radar as a sensor. Just as a radar cannot determine whether a tank is operational or destroyed by a missile, the radar cannot classify a vehicle if it only sees a portion of the vehicle.
Threads merged.

@GNCRamBo, the engine core (compressor and gas generator rotors aft of the combustor) mechanically drives the accessory section of the engine, which has all of the various other engine-driven components mounted to it such as the alternator, hydromechanical unit (the fuel control), IPS blower, fuel pump, oil pump, lubrication filters, etc. The PTO shaft is what mechanically transfers the engine power to the accessory section so all of the accessory components can function. The rotational speed of the engine, referred to as NG, is measured by the alternator itself, and the alternator provides backup power to the engine electronics so that the engine can still operate in case of a power failure of the aircraft electrical system.
During the start sequence, the engine starter device known as the Air Turbine Starter (ATS) drives the accessory section which back-drives the engine core to spool the compressor during the engine start sequence. The ATS is powered by expelling high-pressure air across an impeller within the ATS itself, and this pneumatic pressure is normally provided by bleed air from the APU; but it can also be provided by bleed air from the opposite engine or from an external pneumatic power source.
The engine is started by pneumatic air from the APU, the opposite engine, or an external air supply. It is not started by the PTO because the PTO is just an internal component of the engine that links one section of the engine to the other, much like how the central engine shaft links the compressor and the gas generator stages. If you do not have pneumatic air to spin the engine, the engine will not start.

All of the CH-47F communications are fully integrated into the avionics, and controlled through the CDUs and MFDs. The single radio control panel on the center console is a backup control head that allows the crew to control the ARC-186 VHF radio if there is some sort of failure in which the CDUs and MFDs are not functional.
When the ARC-164 UHF radio was added, its functionality was added to the avionics (referred to as U2, since it is the 2nd radio in the stack), but there is no physical radio control panel for it.

You can interact with it through the CDU by pressing the CNI button, and cycle through the various radios on the main MFD using the Radio Freq switch Left/Right on the Thrust Control grip.

The flight model was not changed in this update. The last time any aspect of the flight model as a whole was changed was in December when the hold mode logics were adjusted.

It's not a duplicate key binding or an error, that's how it is in the real aircraft.
If the CPG actions rockets on the TEDAC, he clearly isn't flying so he cannot align the aircraft with the rocket steering, so COOP mode is entered if the Pilot actions rockets as well.
If the CPG actions rockets on the Cyclic, it is assumed he is flying the aircraft and therefore is the one aligning the aircraft with the rocket steering, using the HMD, instead of the pilot. Since only one person should be flying, it takes the rocket control away from the Pilot.

As a follow-up to this thread, I wanted to update you all that we were finally able to identify and reliably reproduce a few issues with the datalink, and these have been fixed internally. We appreciate your patience and hopefully these fixes can be sent to the public builds as soon as possible.

@Fakum, if you have a TSD point set as ACQ, the Cued LOS Reticle (broken cross) in the symbology is superimposed over that TSD point in the same manner that the Nav Fly-To Cue (homeplate) symbol is superimposed over your current navigation destination. Further, the Cued LOS Dots around the LOS Reticle are indicating where to look to see the Cued LOS Reticle within your symbology, and the Cued LOS Dot in the Field Of Regard serves the same function as the Command Heading chevron on the heading tape, by showing how far away from your nose the ACQ is located.
Note that all of this is explained in the Early Access Guide.

The crewmember's selected sight (HMD, FCR, TADS) determines where the weapon is pointed. If FCR is your sight, the gun will be pointed toward the FCR target with the diamond around it (if there is one). If the HMD is your sight, the gun will be pointed to where your helmet is pointed. If TADS is your sight, the gun will be pointed to where the TADS is pointed.
If you action the gun while the FCR is your sight and there is no FCR target, LOS INVALID is indicating to you there is no line-of-sight for the gun to reference for targeting. The same logic applies to each weapon system, regardless of crewstation.

This is already known, and is caused by the same bug that has broken C-Scope. But thanks for the report.

If George is instructed to use the TADS to track and/or engage targets, he will automatically set the aircraft to ARM status so that he can fire the laser if necessary, which cannot be fired while SAFE.
If you wish to set the aircraft to SAFE, press Down-Short using the George AI interface command and he will stop tracking/engaging his current target (if any), and slave the TADS to a fixed forward position. If the aircraft was ARM before you told him to use the TADS, he will leave it set to ARM; if the aircraft was SAFE before you told him to use the TADS, he will return the aircraft to SAFE.
From the DCS: AH-64D Early Access Guide, George AI chapter:

Remember, George is an AI crewmember, so when instructed to perform a task, he will actually perform multiple steps in the cockpit to perform his directed task. Just like a real crewmember, he doesn't need to be told each individual step in performing his duties as the gunner, but it does require you to assign the correct task to him for the given situation. If you wish to SAFE the aircraft, you must tell him to stop performing targeting duties.

The UHF radio has a separate, dedicated GUARD receiver that is used to monitor 243.0 MHz when the UHF is set to any other frequency. If the UHF radio is commanded to the GUARD frequency, this disables the GUARD receiver of the UHF radio since the main transceiver is tuned to the frequency.
The GUARD command on the MAN sub-page does not toggle the dedicated GUARD receiver, it commands the UHF radio's main transceiver to 243.0 MHz as an immediate method of accessing the emergency frequency instead of manually entering the frequency using the keyboard.
The individual radio configuration pages (XPNDR, UHF, FM, HF) are not implemented at this time, although some functions on those pages may be partially implemented.

Not all battery packs are the same, and the pack in the DCS AH-64D has a velcro patch across it hiding the label.

The extra lip light battery pouch has already been reported some time ago. I'm sure they'll get to it, its just a low priority.