VampireNZ

Just try flying the helicopter without any AP activated. As I said it should make no difference if you are moving slightly - you can move around at slow speeds bobbing up and down on your cushion of air with a steady collective. I am climbing and descending at considerably lower rates than that. E.G. immediately after liftoff let it slowly just float up in the air, then lit will float back down again and gently bounce off the ground, no cushioning effect at all. It is literally like the rotor disc produces no downwash whatsoever. To hold a steady hover altitude I need to constantly adjust the collective by fractions of a mm, when in reality these micro-climbs/descents should be cushioned by the downwash GE. Also just FYI I am not an idiot - normal temps at sea level in the minigun variant, and I am not dropping the collective and auto-ing into the ground wondering where the GE is..... But I will make a track, as it seems this is needed. I really didn't even consider it as it is so blatantly obvious.

If it is just isolated incidents then that is fine - bit of a pain as you need to quit out to menu and start again thou. Just flying the Gazelle for the first time last night and it happened on two separate occasions which prompted me to mention it. But yes I have also landed and lifted off again from grass just fine on other occasions. In lieu of a track, I will paint a visual word picture of what happened - slow to a 3-5' hover, descend slowly to grass and land, lower collective fully, raise collective - no liftoff, raise collective more, no liftoff, raise collective fully, no liftoff. Not too hard to visualise, but if it happens again I will try to get a trk file. I am not sure what specifics you need - the helicopter was sitting on grass and was unable to lift off. We can also dispense with the standard 'its your fault, you crashed etc etc', I can fly a helicopter. It was very similar to dropping a wheel off the taxiway in the Mirage and then requiring full AB to get rolling again.

Yes - I am aware of that.....if you think about it, I had to takeoff in the helicopter to be able to land it somewhere else ;) I implied I can slowly increase collective to maxmimum position, but still stuck in the mud. Happened multiple times, but I have also just landed and taken off from grass just fine - so maybe it was just a few strange places... I right beside a road on one attempt. But hey - no track, it didn't happen apparently. Clearly I have no idea what I am saying and need to prove it.

I gently land helicopter on grass - then apply full collective, and go nowhere.

Land helicopter on the grass....can't take off again. Seriously guys?

Complete lack of ground effect - heli will either drift all the way down and hit the ground without stopping IGE, or with the slighest collective will continue to rise well above ground effect. Not how helicopters work...you can hover along nicely on a cushion of air - I know, I have done it in a A109.

So yes to my question then I guess..

Plenty of other modules in DCS to fly till HB decide on a final handling FM. So has the FM been constantly changing for the past however many years since the start of development? It always strikes me as odd that an aircraft gets released in DCS...and all of a sudden the FM needs a major overhaul - as if it didn't exist before release? Surely not a 'she'll be right...get her out the door no one flying DCS flies a real F-14, they won't notice"...."Damn, they noticed...." :music_whistling:

Just scrolling through the Changelog updates thread - https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=214251 and I notice the Gazelle hasn't had an update since the very first post in that thread on 06-27-2018? Now either the devs think this module is now the pinnacle of absolute simulation fidelity, or they have just given up? Do they genuinely believe that there is nothing in this module that needed improving/tweaking/fixing/adding in the past 14 months? :huh: I just purchased this module for some related RL reasons, and am a little annoyed it is still charging a significant amount for what is effectively an abandoned module with no effort put into any sort of improvement or additions in over a year, compared to the other similarly priced modules!

Tell me about it.. Jester, lock that friendly tanker 22nm on the nose..."No can do..." Jester, lock that friendly tanker 21nm on the nose..."No can do..." Jester, lock that friendly tanker 20nm on the nose..."No can do..." Jester, lock that friendly tanker 19nm on the nose..."No can do..." PAL selected....0.5 seconds later - LOCK. Jester - GTFO... :huh:

So this 'promising' consultation and investigation into the correct aircraft performance between yourself and Damcopter happened a year ago now - did these improvements/refinements in the FM ever eventuate, or was it all just hot air? Actions speak louder than words. Did your 'buddy who flies for the special forces' assist with FM refinements?

Haha yep - been there before too.

...keep falling on my head..

That's why you check them with the back of your hand! :thumbup:

Bro - in the sim on the base...do you even lift?

In windy conditions we just used to grab a Huey blade with a tie-down strop and stand out the front holding the blade for as long as it was possible during start - then just let it go and gtfo and it usually spun up pretty quick. :thumbup:

I believe they are away on holiday this time of year - big thing over there in Spain apparently.

You made that circuit to land look far easier than I am sure it actually is - nice job. Thanks for the vid!

That is what rudder trim is for :thumbup:. Yes the pilot is all over the trim at engine failure, but they quickly wind in the appropriate rudder trim and that takes care of most of it. In the case of a double engine failure on one side there may not be enough trim, but the additional rudder required is not that bad depending on the control system assistance. The fun part was when we had a rudder booster hydraulic failure combined with a critical engine out during take-off (so full power required to climb away) and you watch the pilots get the old leg-shake holding in correct rudder till they get a chance to take their hand off the controls to wind in the trim.

Have a read of the Wake Turbulence pdf from the NZ CAA I posted previously in the thread.

While being 'beyond the scope' - here are a few basic comparison figures for Ultimate Tensile Strength between a standard 2" plate of the Titanium used in the F-14 Wingbox (Ti-6Al-4V), and a generic aluminium used for machined critical aircraft components (7075-T651) - Ref MMPDS-03, B-Basis. Just for the interested lay-person. Ti-6Al-4V Ftu = 137,000 psi 7075-T651 Ftu = 80,000 psi Also for comparison - the same 2" sheet of AISI 1025 standard Carbon Steel (not used in aircraft) Ftu = 55,000 psi An interesting document detailing the design of the Wing Box section - but I am probably getting off on a tangent now....

From using the FSSB that would prob be the main disadvantage and thing I have had to work around the most. In VR I can swap to my left hand to fly and turn right around to my right to look behind me with a ctr-mounted stick, however with the side-stick the ability to swap hands isn't really possible (I have tried!) and your ability to turn and look behind you is greatly reduced due to having to keep your right hand out beside your thigh. Obviously it limits how far you can turn to the left in your seat also as you still need to reach the side-stick with your right hand - whereas before due to it being in the ctr you could turn your upper body a lot further. As far as using controls - with so much being on the HOTAS and the ICP is operated by the left hand also, that isn't such a big deal. Just my 0.02c

I had the same till I updated my Motherboard Bios to latest version - now DCS is super smooth. I was pretty stoked!

Yes - the F-16 uses 133% for roll with left higher than right as you say, and 185% for pitch. So for pitch for example - the max pull is 37 lbs, but the max push is only 20 lbs.

Great to see this level of detail creeping into DCS! Wake Turb is a real danger to aircraft - see pic below of a landing CT4 of the RNZAF Red Checker display team experiencing some wake turb from a preceeding aircraft just prior. Note the full corrective rudder (mirrored by nosewheel) and aileron deflection. The CAA pamphlet attached on Wake Turb is a very easy to read info booklet on the phenomenon Photo © 2016 Brian Greenwood Wake_Turbulence.pdf