molevitch

The cockpits and cargo cabin are all connected and pressurised, and all the doors are pneumatically sealed, making it NBC capable. There is an air conditioning system for circulating and filtering the air, and you can see the pipes and outlet nozzles of this system, which blow upward along the sills of the canopies to reduce condensation, and into each cockpit area, for either cooling, or heating, depending on the environment. The fans are there to keep all of this moving around, and can be positioned accordingly for the pilots’ comfort and benefit.

The doors are opened by the Co-Pilot/Operator when using the ATGM Periscope Sight. The doors are there to protect it from damage and dirt.

Its a mistake. Reported! Thanks for your "eagle-eyed" attention.

Use your settings in the main config screens. Choose between km and nm

Mi-24 variants, 2648 built, in service in 48 countries, plus Russia. Still being produced today in much the same configuration as its original design.... Not that flawed then.

One aspect of the Mi-24's design that should be understood, is that it took place under the aegis of Soviet ministerial management. Mil himself wanted to design unique systems for the Mi-24, for avionics, navigation, comms and weapons management. However, he was told by government departments to make use of many existing equipment, already in use and in stock. Consequently, these systems had to be integrated, requiring more complex electrical systems, and design difficulties for integration between them. Having said that, sitting in (my reproduction) pit, the layout is no better or worse than many other aircraft. Some switches are awkward to reach, requiring a twist to the left to use a right hand, or reaching blindly back with a left hand, peering underneath the door closing-piston to access the anti-icing or Aircon, or trying to see and activate the correct weapons switch while holding the cyclic in active combat flight! But with practice, familiarity will settle in, and we will all intuitively know where to look, where to switch, which knob to turn, etc. Personally, I cannot wait for this beauty to be EA ready!

I search for books and docs on scribd.com. just found “The Bear went over the Mountain”.

Very impressive!

The Apache discussion thread is somewhere else, I think....

I have a nice screen from before I got VR. 32” curved Samsung. But I fly predominantly in VR with a custom 3D printed face gasket which allows me to see all of my pit switches and knobs. The gasket has the lower half from cheekbone to cheekbone cut away, and a slightly thinner but firmer cushioning also. I look straight ahead, I see the virtual pit in all its graphical glory, the sky, the terrain, etc, but I can glance down, or look left and down and manually select a switch with my hand, without groping for something I cannot see.

Two things. The Soviets cleverly used rubber blades in their fans. I made my fan blades from sheet latex rubber. And my fan is a 3D printed model wrapped around a usb powered desk fan.

Funny you should mention that, Frag. i just need to build the door frame to be able to mount this item....

Once again...

Having the full set, cyclic/collective/pedals, makes it both more like flying a helicopter and a lot more fun to do.

This has been declared a theoretical myth over and over. It made no sense to risk a landing, have both pilots leave the aircraft requiring a full shut down, in order to be employed in reloading. The aircraft struggled in Afghanistan’s climate and conditions with a full load of weapons on the pylons. The idea that a second full load could be carried internally is flawed. To offset the weight, even less fuel would be carried, reducing the flight time or range even further. It was much simpler, quicker, and safer, for pilots to fly back to their (not too distant) base.... And let the ground crews do it, while the pilots had a break.

This video sums up and demonstrates the trim functions of the Mi-24. Pedals do not stay centred in flight, nor does the cyclic, nor collective. The trim system is there to alleviate strain on the pilot and hold the controllers mechanically in position, using hydraulics and electro-magnets. This is to enable the helicopter to be flown against cross-winds to prevent excess drift, to balance all the opposing forces of torque between the main rotor, the tail rotor, inertia, wind-resistance and meteorological influences, and to relieve the muscular tension of the Pilot’s arms and legs, and to leave him also hands free (on occasion) to operate and interact with other equipment in the cockpit. In a trimmed state, the pilot still has some authority over the controllers to make adjustments to flight as necessary, without compromising trim, but also will use multiple changes and corrections to trimming during flight. In DCS, to simulate these systems, the programmers have accommodated standard flight sim controllers, joysticks and pedals, whose designs generally have a recentering spring. Force FeedBack sticks like the old MS Sidewinder series do a great job in DCS of emulating this cyclic trim. Some DCS pit enthusiasts customise their pedals by removing the centering spring and adding a steering damper to achieve pedal trim. In the Mi-8 and the 24 (and other) helicopters, the pedals have switches, so as you push with the feet, the switch can activate a motorised actuator to turn the pedal position in a controlled mechanical way. When the foot pressure is removed, the motor stops and holds the pedals trimmed. This activation can be turned off and a damper applied instead to allow free movement of the pedals without motorised control.

Get some pedals. No regrets guaranteed.

And hopefully to be able to say....”I’ll be bäck.” (Terminator).

You big tease!

I have been working on a fully switchable Mi-24 pit for nearly 4 years, in anticipation of eventually getting the beast in DCS. Full thread here. It is already 90% ready, and currently working as a Mi-8 cockpit. Apart from the breakers, I can do a full cold start, the radios are all functional, ARK-15 functional (though a DCS update broke that last year), Doppler NAV fully working, weapons panel wired and ready (with some Mi-8 bindings in use), Fire Extinguisher panel working, etc. I still need to wire up the gun-sight, build switches for the gauges, (gauges are dummies, but switches will work), add a Flare Dispense button to left panel, add (annoyingly) a switch to the engines management panel, add authentic pedals with their trimming system, etc. So bring it on Eagle Dynamics! I cannot wait to get this Hunchback Glass Crocodile flying and firing!

As the Mi-24 module in DCS has now a “suggested” release date of May 31st 2021, I thought I would share a short video of recent progress. there is still a lot to do, but I have been focused on connecting switches which relate to functions in the Mi-8, which I currently fly increasingly aggressively! The weapons panel is fully wired up now, though the weapon switching systems in the 8 are very different to the 24. I still need to find a solution for the left and right breakers panels, though I have something in mind. And I still have yet to progress with the authentic pedals and their trim system, and I want to build the door and door frame also. I have built a working fan though...

My understanding, re Mi-24s in Afghanistan and "reloading from the cargo compartment".... There was no advantage to this idea. Operations were not so far from the airbases or forward operating bases to warrant the risk of landing, out of weaponry, shutting down, rearming by hand from the awkward cargo compartment by the pilots, then taking off with a view to returning too the fray. The safest place to land would undoubtedly be the airbase, which would be not too far a ride. Added to this, why add weight to further limit the performance already compromised by the terrain and meteorological conditions. It just was not done, it is a myth, or conjecture.

I fly in VR in helicopter specific server. We sometimes have over 20 helos in the air. No problems here....