HuggyBear

The book was referring to 'ghosting' the controls, where the non-flying pilot places their hands and feet carefully near the controls, sometimes touching very lightly, ready to take control instantly if required. The same thing also usually happens during training/instruction when close to the ground or obstacles. However, it is important that only the flying pilot is flying the aircraft and making control inputs unless the non-flying pilot takes over. Two pilots flying/fighting at the same time is bad. :) - Bear

I'll look at it this afternoon, though the real searchlight isn't very powerful, certainly not as powerful as modern Police/EMS searchlight. Will let you know. - Bear

G'day Boon, Not pestering at all mate, sorry I hadn't replied. I'm almost certain this is fixed in the test build, I'll confirm it later today. Cheers, - Bear

VRS is currently overmodelled, but it's being improved. Don't know whether the stab bar is specifically modelled in code, but I doubt it. Of note, the stab bar doesn't 'prevent' main rotor flapping or disturbance due to external influences, but will return the rotor to its original control position, thereby providing an 'analogue' SAS. I'm not sure when, but at some stage some form of 'droop stop' type of mechanism became available, which would hold the blades level when parked. I don't know much about them as Australia never had them fitted. I haven't looked at the control response while shut down, but I'll look at it today and submit the bug. Cheers, - Bear

If it changed in the F, or Dutch Chinooks are different, that would explain it. I only flew Aus and US 47Ds and discharged three years ago. It was 70 knots since before I was born until I discharged. :) As for the rest, you're convinced you're right, I'm convinced I'm right, but it doesn't matter. Cheers, - Bear

Find a spot? You can't plan where you have an engine failure. Robert, I don't think I can convince someone who believes the min rate of descent airspeed published in the US CH-47 Tech Manual is too slow for autorotation and now suggests only allowing engine failures to occur over suitable landing areas. For everyone else interested in the Huey: Run-on autos are safer and easier and should be used where possible. Zero-zero autos are safe and easy and should be used where required. - Bear

Hitting an obstacle at 40 knots is a crash. :) A zero-zero isn't a crash in a Huey. A zero-zero is likely a crash in a Chinook, but if there's no room for a run-on, it's worth a shot! Both of us will stick to what we know and that's fine, but please don't tell someone who just demonstrated a very nice zero-zero that it was the wrong thing to do. Cheers, Bear

Robert, if there's nothing in front of you that'll work just fine. If there is... you'll hit it at 40 knots. Just because you weren't taught something doesn't mean it's impossible. Vierkies, there's a diagram of the avoid curve, not sure if it's in the flight manual but I'll have a look. - Bear

Maybe you're confusing the term zero-zero here. Fly a normal auto profile at 70 KIAS, start the flare at 150', wrap it up aggressively in the last 50' to bring your airspeed back to zero just as you sharply initial, aggressively level, then cushion with the thrust lever up into your armpit. Doing it to a level surface makes things a little easier in that you can try to touch down the aft gear as your airspeed reaches zero. It's difficult, but it's possible, I've done it in the sim. I was suggesting that aircraft damage and injury were preferable to aircraft loss and death, but I'm guessing you knew that. - Bear

I also flew about 700 hours on the Chinook with some of that as a Maintenance Test Pilot, so I know how different wheels can be. Remember in the Chinook once the aft gear are on you can use all your collective to slow yourself while still in a flared nose-up attitude, then jump on the brakes and drop the forward gear down to stop in a very short space. Also thanks to large, heavy transmissions the Chinook effectively has quite low-inertia blades compared to the Huey, which will cause them to slow quickly without airflow. Zero-zero is still an option in the Chinook though, it just means you're almost certain to seriously damage the aircraft and likely to injure yourself. If you lost both engines (unlikely) over thick trees you'd want to come straight down. Try it in the simulator next time, you'll likely never use it for real, but it's just another tool available to you. - Bear

They're designed to crash vertically. Seats collapse, skids spread, yaw won't matter much if you come straight down. Forward speed means people can fall forward into controls and instruments, obstacles or trees can strike the vulnerable noise and windscreen, uneven ground or yaw can tip the aircraft over. Forward airspeed makes things easier, so it's great for learning and gaining confidence in autos, as well as protecting a valuable helicopter, but once outside the airfield fence landing surfaces aren't guaranteed. :) A successful zero-zero is the best possible outcome and in a H it's very achievable with practice. I have about 1250 hours in the H. - Bear

To the left of the Caution Panel on the center console there is a Test/Reset switch which will reset the Master Caution. - Bear

I saw it, must have been all the caps that caught my eye! :) In the options menu you can assign a joystick or pedals axis to the tail rotor. Otherwise check which keys are assigned to tail rotor left/right. Assign your own preferred keys if you wish. If you still can't get the tail rotor to respond, let me know. - Bear

I definitely agree with you there. :) I've some crazy/stupid things in H models and never been close to vortex ring. It's much better than it was... and we'll keep pushing for improvement. Cheers, - Bear

G'day guys, I have around 1250 hours on the H model and was also a Maintenance Test Pilot for much of that time. The 'amount' of instability is quite accurate (for something which can't be measured :) ), however the main problem at the moment (which you and several others have mentioned) is that the instability is mostly in the pitch axis, when it should be mostly in the 'drift' axis. The aircraft feels as though the centre of lift and the centre of mass are at the same point and the aircraft is balancing on a basketball, trying to tip/fall over constantly. Instead it should feel as if the centre of mass (fuselage) is hanging below the centre of lift (rotor) and the aircraft should feel like a pendulum, trying to drift and wander constantly, but not tip (as much). Some of the FM changes made during develepment increased the stability in the hover greatly, however the agility was also greatly reduced, sometimes to the extent that the angle of bank wouldn't exceed 80-90 degrees at full cyclic deflection. The current beta implementation is the best compromise so far. To summarise, I feel the FM is very good, certainly the best I've experienced in a sim, but still has room to improve. I'm encouraged that the dev team have been very receptive to testers and users and will continue to improve the experience. Keep pushing issues/problems/improvements as you have been and things can only get even better! :) Cheers, - Bear

Glad to hear it mate! I'll have a tinker with the volume settings and ask if it's something which can be improved. Cheers, - Bear

Good to hear! :) The Standby Gen is actually also the Starter Gen, just operating in Starter Gen mode, so any indication on the Standby Gen Loadmeter while the Starter is energised will be defective. The Loadmeter is basically like an Ammeter but with the load/current indicated as a percentage of total generator capacity. Later Bell aircraft like the Bell 412 use an Ammeter instead. Cheers, - Bear

It's certainly easier to land with forward airspeed, as long as you have a long smooth surface with no obstacles. Since this doesn't appear regularly outside an airfield, zero-zero autorotations are preferred and they are very manageable in a H model. I've landed many zero-zero autorotations in H models and never damaged the aircraft (during autorotation). The high inertia blades allow for a lot of cushion potential in the last few feet and the skids and seats will deform and collapse to absorb impact. Landing with forward airspeed and hitting an obstacle or tipping the aircraft greatly increases the danger to the crew and passengers. In training, practice run-on until proficient enough to progress to zero-zero, try to protect the aircraft. In operations, zero-zero and screw the aircraft. :) - Bear

The dim switch will only work if the pilot instrument lighting rheostat on the overhead console is not in thep off position. This is as per the real aircraft to prevent dimming the caution lights during daylight when they may not be easily noticed. - Bear

With DC power applied and N2 within limits (above 6000+/-50 N2 from memory) the Low Rotor Audio switch will spring to the AUDIO position. You can press and hold it in the OFF position, but it will spring right back to AUDIO when released. This is correct behaviour in real life and important to alert you to an engine malfunction. - Bear

Is it the voltmeter or loadmeter which peaks? During testing it was working fine as I would check DC volts recovering to 15 VDC by 12% N1. On a train home right now but I can check this in the morning

The throttle is set at idle prior to engaging the starter in the real Huey. The primary fuel nozzles won't open until 8-13% N1, thus preventing a hot start in normal conditions. - Bear

That's certainly strange. Please check the various volume settings in the options menu (that's the only other thing I can think of) but if you still have no luck please post a .trk file for us to investigate. Thanks, - Bear

If the audio is manually set to OFF it will only return to AUDIO if it is either: Manually switched, N2 approaching operating range (6000 +/-50 N2 IIRC), or If DC power is removed. The RPM warning light is a separate system so doesn't get cancelled with the audio. Can you please confirm if the switch returns to the AUDIO position when you do one or all of these things? Thanks, - Bear

Can you confirm you don't have 'Central Trimmer' activated in the options menu? - Bear