3WA

Thanks, Branch. Read the last three pages of that conversation on the Russian boards. I left a message for Chizh requesting longer Ka-52 wing, 3rd rail for igla's, and FLIR be added to the "Ka-50ED". Looks like it will be as I suggested here, and "ticked in" on the "Special" page, right along side things like "Rudder Trim". Anyone else want anything, you might as well ask! :D

Hi Chizh, if your going to make the KA-50ED, then please give us the slightly longer wing of the Ka-52, so a third pylon for needles can be added. Also, FLIR, such as that on the Ka-50N or Ka-50sh. We desperately need this so night missions can be made for the Ka-50. Привет Чиж, если вы собираетесь сделать Ка-50 Эд, то, пожалуйста, дайте нам немного длиннее крыло Ка-52, так что третий пилон для игл может быть добавлен. Также флиртуют, например, на Ка-50Н или Ка-50Ш. Мы отчаянно нуждаемся в этом, чтобы ночные миссии могли быть сделаны для Ка-50. Перевод на русский язык Яндекс переводит.

Very, Very interesting history of the Ka-50 and a LOT of good points made! I'll have to mull all this new info over. Gonna have to learn to read Russian too, as it seems a lot of stuff is being said in the Russian forum that isn't being said here! Sounds like Chizh is just suggesting kind of what I had said. Most of us can't afford over $1000 Hotas systems and VR / Track-IR, so it gets very difficult for us to fly and target at the same time. Then, to worsen it all, we can't even get the shkval to lock up the flying target. So, we need something that can target fast and easy, like an IR-Air to Air missile. Igla. R-73. I would VERY much like to see what came about with that last modernization phase on the Ka-50 though. Looks like it go a whole new cockpit, and so one wonders, what was added.

Wow! Great information guys. Gonna take me some time to read all that! :p

Lol, Yeah, my side pretty much ignores yours too. :) Especially your petty insults that bring nothing to the debate.

Yep. No point in having iglas if you lose valuable A-G ordnance. And, no, we'll probably never know if the Russians put 3 pylons on a Ka-50 ( except maybe the Ka-50-2, which did have 3 pylons) as I don't think they've shown us more than a very small percentage of all the prototypes they came up with. We just know the end result was the Ka-52. However, we do know that the Ka-50N and the Ka-50sh did have FLIR. And that's what I'm looking for in an update. 3rd rail Vhikers and FLIR.

Ahh, did not know that. I'll have to look that up. Kind of like VBS and Arma.

Yeah, I think THIS is probably what's holding it back. I recall someone saying they were having some kind of "sync" problem with side by side cockpits. Though I have no idea what that means.

To me, it already is a mythical, fantasy version. Because it was never really produced, beyond 2 or 3 to wrap up a contract. So, I'm fine with the longer Ka-52 wing and 3rd rail. Would also VERY much like FLIR, so the copter can have night attack abilities. I'm getting destroyed by just a few AH-1W's in Battle.miz . Against Apache's, it's a total NIGHTMARE! And they ALWAYS come at you. Against fighters, there is no chance of survival. They're farther away, giving you a chance, but you can't lock them up. So in the end, you're toast. I'd be happy if they gave us the options for the third rail and FLIR on the "Special Page" or whatever they call it, where they have the option for "Rudder Trim". Then, everyone can fly what model they want. Cause to me, the only REAL "Ka-5x" is the the Ka-52.

Probably waiting on systems development, which is happening with F-18, F-16.

Come to think of it, I couldn't fire the cannon the last time I played either. I just chalked it up to I didn't do something right. I will try again, later.

Recent? Super-Secretive? There's pics, stats, and rather large photos of it and it's cockpit spammed all over the internet. The Ka-52 that is. The Ka-50 is an old experiment that became the Ka-52. If you know what's in the Ka-52, then you know what's in the Ka-50. There seems to have been many prototypes of the Ka-50, so I think ED is just picking a random one they liked. At least, one the Russians showed off. The Russians even show off the Ka-52 simulator, so I don't see how it could really be that secret. Sure, there may be a part or two, but it probably involves the radar (which is not on the Ka-50). Everything else is old school.

Well said, Fri. From what I have summed up searching over the internets for the last 11 years on the Ka-50, and mostly over the last few years, is that there seems to have been MANY prototypes. We are seeing only the few that they wanted to show the world. They seem to have experimented like crazy (which is what the Russian's always seem to do ), and in the end, after it seems they lengthened the wings and added the third rail for igla, they decided they needed a two man cockpit, and made the Ka-52. Probably because they decided it was too hard for one man to fly and target (Which I TOTALLY agree with! ) and that they wanted to make a more spread out cockpit with a better layout. I think in the end, they ditched the Ka-50 for this reason. Made a few of the #25 or so, only because they were obligatorily contracted to. What I really want to see is what the modern Ka-50 would have been, because I'm sure there are prototypes out there, with the slightly longer wing and third rail, probably everything in the Ka-52, minus maybe the radar and of course, the dual controls. Because eventually, ED will come out with modern Apache, and AH-1W, which are already very deadly opponents to the Ka-50 even as AI. We need a Modern Ka-50 that can survive the Modern Battlefield. Either that, or a Ka-52. In the end, the Ka-50 never was anything more than an experiment, that became the Ka-52.

Looks like the same Ka-50 wing. They just welded another pylon right at the tip before the flare ejector. Would love to see a real Ka-52 be modeled. Or as close an unclassified prototype as we can get to it. And actually, it's carrying R-73?, instead of igla's. Seeing how crammed it is, I'm guessing Ka-52 wing is slightly longer, since it's shown with the 3rd pylon closer in and carrying a brace of igla's. Nice Ka-52 Russian video I found on the internet. From Combat Approved. https://rtd.rt.com/series/combat-approved-series/ka-52-alligator-strike-helicopter/ Around 8:52 or so, you can see the iglas mounted on the wing. Also, nice shots of the President-S system throughout the video.

I've always thought the small was a day camera, and the large a FLIR camera.

That would be nice.

Yeah, but it seems it was all kind of half-arse, like they were just finishing up something that they had promised someone years ago. And putting minimal effort into it. I remember reading even the last few frames that weren't absolutely promised were made into Ka-52's. So, I really don't think the Ka-50 was ever truly finished. More like it was just dumped by people who didn't want to bother with it anymore. Can't blame them, since they already had the Ka-52. It is much harder for a single pilot to operate a complex heli than it is two. I would love to have a weapons officer I could just call out targets to. At the least, he could select weapons, and lock them up for me. Then all I would have to do is fly and fire.

The point being that this was an EXPERIMENTAL helicopter with a Capital E. God knows how many variants we don't know about. I just look at the Ka-52 and think, if the the Ka-50 had been mass produced, it would have been a single seat Ka-52, maybe minus the radar. Not sure they could have stuffed that in there. Cause right now, it's not much use on a 21st Century, modern battlefield. It can't defend itself against aircraft ( cause it can't lock up aircraft for s@#t! ), and it has no night ability, because it can't see anything on the ground. In the 21'st Century, night ability is a MUST! You snooze, you lose!

:megalol:

Oh thanks, Alpha. I didn't realize you worked for and represent ED.

Well, I'm laughing, because as a customer, I'm the one they have to convince to buy their product. :lol: And after 11 years of this debate, I have tired of it.

I think you nailed it there, Fri. Waiting on that third rail upgrade.

Well, it pretty much comes down to, do ED want to sell us an upgraded EXPERIMENTAL copter or not? :) You NEVER know what Russia is hiding. Putin always has the last laugh. You know he's going to come out of the mist in the end, flying RedWolf with Kim Jung Un as his weapons officer. :D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv4n50yu2Hw

My tactic is to just stay slow in the bushes. I pop my head up once in a while to see what's going on. Then dive back for cover.

Now THAT'S how I think of Russians! NEVER SAY DIE!! :thumbup: maybe I'll just tape those dam iglas onto the wingtips... I got some cables somewhere.