bradmick

I’ve never seen an SDU in my time in Apaches. Using the SDU requires removal of the HDU from the cockpit. The primary means of flying the aircraft is with the FLIR and goggles are an augment to the gunner in the front seat. You learn where your “index point” is for target handovers over time when using the goggles. Overall this would be an unrealistic addition (the sdu) for the aircraft because it’s just not used.

It’s about double what it should be, and it’s already been addressed in another thread. So I wouldn’t flood the forums with it, lol. Flight models are hard, especially helicopter flight models.

When the helicopter is out of aerodynamic trim, the tail is either skidding or slipping like a fixed wing. You’ll incur a drag penalty as a result. With everything in aerodynamic trim the aircraft will be streamlined with the air mass (probably not the best word). I need to try and do up some better diagrams one of these days. Helicopters are a nightmare for forces, lol

The offset gets larger as airspeed increases. The vertical fin can only compensate so much before the main rotor torque starts to take over. At around 40 knots the yaw offset is 0 and increases to around 10 degrees of offset at 150 knots. You actually end up add left pedal at higher airspeeds. So no. The offset becomes larger requiring additional left pedal as more and more torque is applied. Trim is essentially telling you how balanced your main rotor torque and tail rotor thrust are. Winds get a vote too. Also, sorry, don’t speak German. Yay google translate. Definitely don’t pretend to be an Apache pilot. Been one since 2009.

It’s absolutely not part of any start up procedure for the Apache. And I’ll add that if I find myself in an aircraft with mains that aren’t full, as the operator of the aircraft I’ll start the Robbie as part of my run up as a technique. If both mains are full, then I’ll wait until after the first fuel check as a technique to start the Robbie. The perf page has been said to be WIP multiple times. That’s why there’s a perf planning document in one of the mini updates for use in the interim.

90 is the maximum, 50 is the minimum for ecs temp settings. What temp/pa/gross weight was the aircraft and how did you determine what your predicted hover torque was? the Robbie tank has to be commanded on by the crew, it doesn’t automatically turn on. chaff and flares shouldn’t be armed on the ground, the chaff actually can’t be armed unless GND ORIDE is selected on while on the ground . If you’re in the air, then I’d probably agree if one is armed, both should be armed.

Cruise symbology has the pitch ladder and barometric altitude, as well as radar altitude. Transition symbology had the horizon line and velocity vector and radar altitude.

Math. Helicopters are really complicated. You have main rotor torque which initially decreases as the aircraft accelerates from the hover into forward flight, reaching its lowest point at max endurance/rate of climb airspeed. The tail rotor is constantly being used to counteract that torque effect, this imparts a constant yawing moment on the helicopter. The helicopter also wants to drift right at all times. This requires left cyclic to counteract it. The combined effects of the above combine to cause the aircraft to fly slightly crabbed at all times. The aircraft will be most efficient when it is aligned with the incoming wind, which is achieved by maintaining the helicopter in aerodynamic trim (centered ball) otherwise you’re going to be skidding and slipping all over the place and incurring a drag penalty. You have to actively be on the pedals to keep the aircraft from skidding/slipping in forward flight as a result of increasing/decreasing the torque for higher/lower airspeeds. There are a lot of forces at play that cause the aircraft to fly (and this is true of all helicopters with tail rotors) the way they fly.

No, because now your fuel burn is going to suffer.

You should always fly in aerodynamic trim. Nose to tail trim is used when you’re down low close to objects and trees. Coordinated flight is better for getting the lowest drag from the aircraft in forward flight. It is also preferred when shooting rockets because it provides a favorable relative wind to the rocket.

Think of the SAS as operating on a -1 to 1 range, it stays fixed, it’s range of authority doesn’t change, however the SAS actuator is position within that authority range does. Imagine you’re at a perfectly stationary with no wind, and you’re the perfect pilot, the SAS has no reason to move, it’ll remain perfectly fixed at the center. Now imagine a wind from the right starts. The SAS is going to apply input in the direction of the wind, this is the green plus. It will move further right, essentially applying right cyclic to the flight controls until it runs out of travel. It has zero ability to come back to its zero point on its own and will “stick” in this position. This is the point at which you the pilot interrupts the force trim and command the SAS sleeve to center. During this action the SAS should still provide stability to the aircraft, depending on conditions it can take 3-5 seconds to recenter because it’s still trying to provide a stable platform.

No, the green plus indicates the SAS position within its authority range (white boxes). If it’s bumping up against one of the sides, you need to press and hold the force trim release to recenter it.

The helicopter SAS will “saturate” over time and run out of authority. The green plus signs will tell you where the SAS is with regards to its “authority”. You can’t just trim it and leave it permanently there. As the FMC commands the SAS to respond to exterior stimuli while trying to maintain a stable hover or a desired or commanded attitude, it will use the SAS authority it has available to it and eventually run out of it. To return full SAS authority you have to recenter the SAS servo. To recenter the SAS and return it’s authority to maximum, you have to press and hold the force trim release switch for 3 to 5 seconds to recenter the SAS. Based on your description you allowed the SAS to saturate and it can no longer help you maintain a stable position.

No, the accumulator is there in the event of a loss of all hydraulic power in the helicopter. It has nothing to do with autorotations, the reason being that so long as you have NR, the generators and hydraulic pumps are running. That system was never intended to be use outside of a dual hydraulics failure, and it only provides you with a few tens of seconds worth of controllability before it locks up anyway. In general if you’ve reached the point where the generators cut out in an auto, you’re essentially dead. Unless you get very lucky the likelihood of you recovering the rotor is next to none.

This is accurate, you will 100% lose all control ability below a certain Nr. This is true of all helicopters.

Roll-On Landing: The purpose of this maneuver is to allow crews to land the aircraft when operating in a "High, Hot and Heavy" enviroment and terminating to a hover is not an option. It also provides crews a means of landing when surface conditions are poor (sand, dust, snow), where the goal is to be on the ground before the cloud envelops the aircraft, which typically occurs once below ETL (16 to 24 knots) when the downwash is no longer "behind" the aircraft. I begin the maneuver at 700ft AGL at 90kts, while turning to base begin a smooth, progressive descending and decelerating turn. A shallow approach angle is preferred (300 to 500fpm). Maintain your LOS on the intended point of touchdown, and place the flight path vector slightly above it to ensure you don't under arc. On final, verify the suitablity of the surface for landing, the tail wheel is locked, light off and the parking brake released, handle in. Smoothly and progressive decelerate the aircraft and touchdown at or above ETL (16 to 24 knots) or calculated Velocity Safe Dual Engine (VSDE). I tend to carry a bit more airspeed as a techinque until the last 50 or so feet of the approach and allow the tail wheel to contact first and then gently cushion the mains. You can also adjust for a 40 knot attitude (the helicopter hover and "at rest" attitude) for a perfect 3 point touch down. Once the aircraft is on the ground, reduce the collective to settle the aircraft, and then smoothly increase collective to ensure the TQ is > 30% dual engine and apply aft cyclic to aerodynamically brake. Use pedals to control the heading and lateral cyclic to control the roll attitude of the aircraft. If needed, use the toe brakes to assist in stopping the helicopter. Once the aircraft has stop, neutralize the flight controls and lower the collective to the full down position.

I'm definitely able to replicate this behavior. I can definitely say that the drag on the rotor is to high currently and doesn't allow you to recover the Nr after losing both engines (or bringing them to idle). The Nr never returns to 101%. In an auto, once established and with an application of aft cyclic, the rotor will recover to 101% and even start accelerating beyond that. Typically a slight amount of collective is required to maintian the rotor at 101%. For a D model the rate of descent is around 3400 fpm in an auto, and that'll vary with cyclic application and airspeed. Bottom line: The rotor doesn't recover to 101% in a power off auto like it should currently.

When you go below 80kts the stabilator will schedule down to improve forward visibility, this is normal and expected behavior. This is also why I don’t like the NOE Approach mode. Manual stabilator is the preferred method IMO because you control it, and not the computer and you can better adjust the controls to control the pitch down that happens when the stabilator schedules.

I taxi with it locked on straight aways all the time. I unlock it prior to turns. You don’t have to have it unlocked when ground taxiing. It’s at the discretion of the pilot, do what works and makes sense for the situation. Just remember to unlock it prior to a turn, re-lock it after the turn.

Lockout is used when a “low side failure” is encountered in the aircraft. A low side failure is a failure where the engine is no longer producing its full power, this can result in a loss of Nr and an erroneous engine out audio (because the power lever is at fly and the NP on the failed engine is likely <94%). It’s during a situation like this when you lock out the engine and retard the power lever. Doing so disables the DECU and gives you full manual control of the engine. It should be noted that the engine is trimmed mechanically to maximum power but limited limited by the DECU. You never want to take the power levers to lockout unless the engine is failing to produce the power it should be. The power levers go to fly and stay in fly. If you accidentally do take them to lockout, the power lever has to go all the way back to idle to reset a micro switch in the power lever and re engage the DECU.

That’s what I mean, it’s there so you can also see the target in the HDU. At night I only use the HDU and turn the TEDAC off entirely, both in sim and real world. I’m 50/50 day time between hdu and tedac, depends on the sun angle.

Because it allows you stay heads out and easily direct the TADS when it's your selected sight by setting your ACQ to GHS and pressing the SLAVE button. Also, in the real aircraft you can lower a smoked visor to improve the visibility of the HDU. It's not a bug, it's working exactly as intended. If you don't want it in your eye, you rotate it out of your eye and use the TEDAC.

That’s not how that is supposed to work. That only applies to the RLWR messages and not the voice warnings for emergency situations. Pressing the MASTER WARN or MASTER CAUTION push buttons silences the audio associated with emergency situations. Or exiting the condition that’s causing the error in the first place.

That's what I meant when I said "You can customize what options are displayed between the NAV and ATK phases to declutter the TSD." specifically as it pertains to the SHOW options.

When the switch worked, it was only active when you entered the boresight mode on the MPD. It wouldn’t change your boresight if you accidentally hit it.