Fri13

I haven't tested it from higher altitude than that few hundred meters. Maybe it work if flying at 700-1000 meters? Now AI is engaging their 12.7 mm and even 7.62 before the sight starts to move up, closer to fixed reticle to calculate distance. I understand that you can't have accurate sight at 60-100 meters for ranges like 3000m because flashlight effect being way too narrow. But one could think that at 300-500m you would have accurate pipper past maximum firing range? I made few high altitude raises, don't know that to what altitude exactly, but as high that you start to feel that A-10 flies below you. But same thing that CCIP was well below fixed and rockets hit above targets when aiming with it. Many times the CCIP has been above fixed one before its range scale starts to move and calculate range. But maybe again the map scale feeling is problem, as 1000 meters looks like a 300 meters when the trees are like 50 meters wide and 100 meters tall as there isn't really smaller objects to give visual scale. It is really simple sight system by calculating impact point only based the nose down attitude. So you need to get nose radically down ASAP, or it doesn't give range. But one would have though that it constantly calculate impact point based own radar altimeter, but it is needing own fixed sight turn downward and then CCIP starts to raise up slowly to meet fixed and then you might be suddenly minimum range when it decides to wind up range scale.

The CCIP works odd way IMHO. It starts to calculate distance at very short ranges. Other time it just stays below gunsight and doesn't move until half way the launch ranges. And you know it is getting there when it starts to raise from bottom. I am already custom to use fixed reticle and estimate range myself as I can't engage from max ranges with calculation. Example I have a fixed on target, CCIP is bottom of gunsight, and S-5 rockets flies well over the target and hit far away. Simply meaning that there is major range capability that is not usable. Haven't tested yet, but I think you need higher altitude than 300-500 meters and deeper dive angle to get it working properly.

I don't use boresight simplification. I command Petrovich to search area and let it to engage automatically. I can have gun or rockets selected, and because Petrovich decides when to fire, my fire button is free to shoot gun or rockets while Petrovich guides missile on target. I have not looked is the sight open or closed, but if it gets closed, then Petrovich is guiding missile without seeing anything, even hitting moving targets. So there is a bug. What should happen in such scenario is that Petrovich should course at you and damn you from wasting a missile by selecting a cannon whole he was observing.

It is as explained already, a box where a strip of plastic travels across by the speed and heading information that is received from Doppler Radar (under a tail boom root), and your selected scale of 1:20000 or 1:1000000 (1 cm is 2 or 10 km). All you need to do is to use two dials to position strip symbol of helicopter on the map to where you think you are (by looking outside) and it does rest. In reality you have specific size cardboards with map glued on them with those two scales. The board size doesn't matter, scale does. So you can have anything you want. You can draw on the map with pencil for enemy positions or routes etc. And you usually have maybe two boards. Flip around for other side. Where you example have 10 km scale one for general navigation from base to combat areas. And then 2 km version to operate in combat areas. IIRC the plastic strip is 1 cm wide. So you have one square centimeter red square in it. That means the symbol shows 1 km to any direction from crosshair to edge of red square in 2 km scale, or 5 km in 10km scale. Think it this way. You land next to ground troops commander, they approach you next to cockpit and you hand them the board and pencil. They scribble troops positions on it and movement directions. Now you have updated troops general positions and intentions. You can talk over radio to someone and do the same. Take notes on such that where they are, what is their route. And then insert board to box when entering combat area. Edit: I would like to see a manual map swapping. So open box and select board. I would like to have possibility capture wanted areas on map and place then there manually. Meaning I could take a screenshot of F10 map as such with proper zoom scale and resolution, make wanted markings and save as kneeboard files.

It is there. At least I get to feel it.

I don't know, it is odd it is down at the start. I recall there would have been a special option to show it on start, or something. Oddity for me is that sometimes it is visible on mission start, sometimes not.

I had same problem, and I thought it was that I had "master arm" activated (no:26 in above images), but it was not that. You can not have any weapon selected. So as picture above, no:4 knob is required to be in far left "MSL/OFF". That is selecting sight position information from front cockpit to be shown in ASP-17. You can switch to another weapon after you see where Petrovich is aiming. So at this moment you can example prepare for rocket rumor cannon whole Petrovich is guiding missile. (Likely out shouldn't be possible, as sight doors likely should be shut if either one selects gun or rockets because their smoke and recoil.) So switches 1, 7 and 26 can be On (Up). Then you are ready to fire anything you can buy selecting it with no:4 knob. 1. Enables automatic CCIP calculation, or manual ranging. 7. Powers the whole gunsight, that you see something in it. 26. You have control of weapons. 4. You select what weapon you want to use, the system selects the station. Simply by selecting "MISSILE" you should see sight position. At this moment it is not so. You don't see Petrovich moving the sight when searching targets in area. You only see it when you select target, when the sight moves on the one, and you are able to fly toward it. It would be cool to see Petrovich scanning across places, especially your "pointed" area. So that you would know that Petrovich is doing something. As well at the moment the stabilization doesn't seem to work correctly IMHO. Even Petrovich rolls it around target like having a gimbal center roll axis.

With the default option, a non-centering joystick should do nothing when pressing a trim button. But the control indicator shows that diamond jumping all over the places based how far you are from the center. I have seen it even jump from 55-60% position to 90% and on next press to full 100% deflection, without moving joystick at all between. It is as of FF doesn't report a new centered position, then normal doesn't work.

I have the faint recollection that cannon selection should close the doors, but I'm this case it doesn't. Petrovich guides missile as well it can, what now can miss at long distance if gun recoil push down at wrong moment. The sight stabilization is not such that would deserve +/- 60 degree freedom to fly or any praises for it. It is so bad that I have never seen so bad stabilization on any Russian vehicle. Sadly it is not from T-72 as that has best until Leopard 2 was developed.

The small trim actions are valid in KA-50. You move a little, press a trim. Move a little, press trim. Etc. You can as well just press and hold trim because then AP channels are overridden, and only input dampening is active until you release trim. It behaves same way as having Flight Director when you hold trim. Why people can't do that normally is that they have trim mode that requires centering after trim. After release the joystick input is disregarded and requires centering joystick. Only after then the trim is applied and joystick input is listen again. So using multiple small presses makes annoying moving process, when you can use just one trim press, move and release. The trim system seems to be broken in Hind. As my trim shouldn't move any center, virtual or real one. It should only register AP channels to attitude. Now a non-centering joystick is required to be moved to center, and use a small movements because every time trim is pressed then X percentage is applied.

You can select 30 mm / rockets and shoot it while Petrovich is searching targets, aiming at them, and guiding a missile at them. Just tested it. Killed a target sooner than Petrovich because cannon does hit faster.

I have used cannon and rockets with Petrovich guiding the missile simultaneously. So doors doesn't get closed if other selects those.

Trim works totally different in KA-50. I move joystick to wanted attitude and pressing trim will only program AP to maintain that with its 20% control authority limits. There is no jerking, no jumping, nothing wrong in it's trimmer. It works as should. (What can't be said about it auto hover etc). In Mi-24P with same non-centering setting it is constantly shifting center around and requires to sell physical center etc. I just tested all the three options and only thing that works even semi-right is the Reset Trim, that resets AP channels like in Mi-8 flight engineer would do it, but doesn't touch the joystick centering. Still for me it is best not to use any trim at all. The AP balances itself out and nothing is causing fighting back as cyclic stays exactly where joystick is. I already got yesterday so custom to smooth and accurate controls by not using any trim functionality. It feels wrong, but if it works.. But any of the three functions are nothing like KA-50 has.

Petrovich does stupid things too often. You fly to perfect hover, jump to front and Petrovich starts waving nose around and turning sideways etc. It takes time to get it commanded to relax. Or it just flies on ground because pulled high AoA and went VRS. Sometimes it feels like Petrovich is flying first time.

That was the simplified control for AI. So it is similar to "lock closest target" command in fighters.

I have non-centering joystick. So no spring or any force to center it. It has dry clutches to hold it in place where I leave it. If I need to move joystick right to 70% to have level flight (50% being center) and I use trim, I am giving extra 20% to right if I do not center joystick. This caused problem that I was confused as I couldn't really get Hind for wanted direction easily as it always required some extra corrections to opposite direction. Until I opened the control indicator and noticed that Hind went to wanted trimmed attitude everytime I moved joystick back to center. No more unthinkable stick movements to get it to center or close.

It does work as collective doesn't move accidentally. In few minutes you learn habit to press and hold that button whole moving collective. It as well helps a lot if ones collective has it pot suffering from jittery.

IMHO the trim works as centering trim. If you apply 20% left for level flight and press trim, you will apply 20+20% trim, why you roll to left. You need to physically move joystick to center for AP to apply only required 20% trim. So even if you select "non-centering joystick" for trim, you need to center the joystick for proper trimming. Hence, do not use trim button but just adjust joystick on wanted position and AP automatically takes it from there.

Seems that all modes requires trim to recenter the joystick. I was constantly fighting with controls by using a "no-spring & FF" option as I have such a joystick. And after every trim it required to center joystick to not cause double input. Now I fly without trimmer and it works as should. Just move stick where wanted and it stays there.

It is easy to fly slow (50-70 kph), but you can't do any combat that way because your nose is so high up. That means, - You can't perform a ATGM attack from hover or at slow speed because you can't get ASP-17 sight on target without speeding up. - You can't aim rockets easily as it will accelerate. - You can't use cannon, pods or anything if you want to aim, anyways recoil push nose down. This is where the Mi-24V would have rocked, as you hover and let the operator just shoot around. The Mi-24P is really for the speed. Get 100-300 kph and it does very stable manner everything. Interestingly it does so better than KA-50.

There are oddities like that currently. You do same thing time after time and it doesn't work, until suddenly it does He does that! I believe that sight is broken, as its stabilization isn't working. It should keep the vector, and operator needs to compensate for helicopter movements in two plane. Now the sight is waving around even in near perfect hover (what now it moves forward like 0.2 meters per second, very obvious in outside camera). They are still missing to show the Petrovich scanning the area, where you should see the pipper moving around in you gunsight.

The grenades are very odd. I have not really mastered their use in Mi-8MTV2, but it feels like they fly totally wrong direction when fired from slight side drift. You move to left, you aim to right, and grenades flies to far left. It is like they leave the barrel in very odd curve. Why you need to get to perfect straight flight and then just spam them around. As they are shot at crazy high angle for some reason. Excellent weapon when you have infantry and light vehicles. But as well seems to be too little spread for AoA weapon that gets so effected by wind and motion. It feels like there is some problem to get things powered. You can flip correct switches but doors don't open. Btw, check is the cannon not selected either cockpit. As I have faint recollection that gun selected the doors might not open to protect it.

I don't know how sometimes the doors don't open, sometimes they do. You need to have the front panel configured properly so that light lits up when doors opens (top center IIRC) . And of course remember power B2 & B1 at the far right power panel in front cockpit. Then the door switch works right... I assume. I can't get gun working, after letting Petrovich launch free missiles it starts working. But before that nothing. Rockets work, but cannon is silent.

Hopefully the spotted target list gets some extra info. Estimated range and little bit their positions in the group/area. IFV 1, closest and left, over 5 km. IFV 2, further and center. APC 1, farthmost and right. APC 2, farthmost and far right. AAA 1, middle. Would help that is Petrovich estimates target distance to over 5 km, then he will not engage the target automatically. Then you can override him and command fire if player decides range is enough. As well if there are many similar type of targets, they could be actually grouped. Up = list up Down = list down Right = select type / target Left = type list This way in a proper combat formation where you have over 40 APC, 3-6 MBT, 3-6 AAA and 3 SAM, and others, you can quickly select the type first to go hunting.

Don't leave ;). Everyone needs to find out what works best for them. Like many controllers don't have 5 way hat, or some might want to use buttons or voice commands.