fudabidu

This is me trimmed for forward flight at 220kph. Hot start, no wind, no external stores, 100% fuel and cannon ammo, no mods. As you can see on the control indicator I have to apply left cyclic + right rudder. Am I doing something wrong? Again: not that it matters since you're trimming frequently anyways, but it would be nice to know if this is a bug or a flight model update leaking into the OB branch. Wouldn't be the first time something like this happened.

You have to confirm longitude, latitude, altitude and heading on the INS page within 1 or 2 minutes. I'm assuming you missed the altitude and heading so the alignment was degraded. As soon as the INS page comes up during startup do ENTER - down - ENTER - down (...) on the ICP until all 4 have been confirmed. Takes a few seconds and that's it. I then usually leave the INS page to set up my comms and when I come back the alignment finishes as it should.

I was going to provide a track file but somehow it's always the same track of a single player mission I played weeks ago. Maybe I shouldn't launch the mission from the ME? Might try again later. Reproducing is really easy (empty mission, no wind, hot start): Just fly straight and level at around 100kph and watch the controls indicator. You'll see a bit of left trim is required. Now trim the nose down to -15° without moving the X-axis. As you accelerate the helicopter will start banking right. Same thing also works in reverse: Trim for straight and level flight at 200kph and pull up to decelerate. As speed decreases the helicopter will start banking left. It's rather obvious if you watch the angle difference between aircraft datum and pitch ladder.

When the laser is firing there will be a counter on the left side of the HUD. If the counter vanishes immediately your laser has burnt out. Keep the laser off unless you need it and turn it off right after a Vikhr has hit (saves 8 seconds of laser time each time).

Tried the mission, only trimmed pitch for take off, around 50kph the helicopter starts banking. Turned around, tried again, same right bank. Both rotor disks IRL provide different amounts of lift, so dissymmetry of lift could be a factor now. Remember the Ka-50 flight model is/was over a decade old and it wouldn't be the first new feature that isn't mentioned in the change log. Shouldn't cause any problems since you need to trim after a speed change anyways.

I think you're misunderstanding the switch. The original label translates to "compartment lights". I strongly believe the switch controls the lights inside the avionic compartments, so maintenance (including loading the cannon) can be performed without holding a flashlight. Maybe the light is enough to load pylons at night as well, but it doesn't really matter since we can't open any hatches.

That's not going to work. The 2A42 feeds from two separate magazines. You can't just trade HE for AP ammo.

This has been bothering me since I got a joystick with analogue TDC cursor 7 or 8 years ago! Funniest thing is some people were calling me crazy, because they couldn't believe how messed up the analogue TDC controls are. There is a built in deadzone you just can't get rid off. If you make it past the deadzone the minimum axis response is way too much. You just can't make tiny adjustments reliably. The TGP on A-10, F/A-18 or F-16 on the other hand can be controlled perfectly smooth. The only "fix" I found was mapping the Shkval TDC to a spare hat switch and tapping it for small adjustments. This should have been fixed years ago already so please fix it for BS3.

Invulnerability, infinite fuel/ammo and missile warning can be used for practicing purposes. Making a mistake and getting hit in a practice dogfight doesn't force you to restart if you're invulnerable. If you want to practice for an extended period infinite fuel helps. Infinite ammo gives you an opportunity to get a feeling for different missiles and practice gunnery. Missile warning can help developing situational awareness. How does a refueling autopilot help you with learning how to refuel? It doesn't! That's my problem. And AAR has absolutely nothing to do with talent. 17 years ago I started playing the guitar without any musical knowledge or talent but I learned through practice and it was fun learning. I didn't bolt a cheat device to my guitar that would play music on its own.

Flying at low RPM with a light payload can be tricky, but I didn't find it difficult to adjust to (TM Cougar, no curve) Too slow? Just give the throttle a "slight tap" forwards. Too fast now? Pull the throttle back "half a slight tap". Keep doing this until you're refueled.

Q: Why is the HUD so small? A: Because that's how it is in the real thing

1. The INS is powered through the generators, so it will take a few minutes to warm up after start up. If you don't get the numeric speed reading (HUD, top left) or the drift line (HUD, center, <50kph) your INS is still warming up. 2. If you fly below 10 meters the auto-hover will disengage automatically UNLESS you set the autopilot to hold barometric altitude. You will have to toggle the altitude channel or use the collective lever (default F) for the change to take effect. 3. Low engine RPM can cause the generators to "fail", disabling the INS, autopilot channels and of course auto-hover. There is no backup system to run the INS without the main generators.

Would link to my post about this but can't find it right now. Because of hot/cold weather the spool up time for the engines is different and the Fuel Cutoff Lever is switched to early. IIRC this could even lead to a flooded engine you need to crank start. Linking auto startup items to conditions like engine RPM instead of static timings would instantly fix the issue.

No. The lights are getting rendered as blurry lines to emulate motion blur. They should follow the outer rotor disk shape but instead are fixed with the rotor blade angle. A shortcoming that has existed for a very long time. It's one of those things that should be addressed with Black Shark 3.

1. Every town looks the same because there are only "a few" generic buildings. Just look at the real Tblisi, Batumi or any other large city. Architecture can be vastly different. 2. Some villages are build on crazy slopes with their box base sticking out of the terrain and the other side being partially underground. Ugh! 3. There are only 2 lane roads. Not a single highway or highway junction. 4. A couple of airfields have these ugly bent taxiways. PAG-14 plates are not meant to be bent or cut. 5. In some instances the PAG-14 texture is reused and scaled improperly (ramp areas, rail crossings) It's been 17 years since LockOn and I believe it's about time to give Caucasus a proper facelift.

You only mention the cockpit lighting as a problem and call me not well informed? That's sad.

NO ... not worth it. The Ka-50 has never been updated except for a texture update several years ago. Best way to experience the Ka-50 is getting a copy of the original BS release (2008 ) or downgrading to the last DCS 1.5 version. I do own a copy of the 2008 original release and since ED completely neglected the module it just got worse over time. It's not just one thing that needs fixing, but listing everything wouldn't make much sense if you don't own the module. This even extends to the campaign missions which clearly haven't been updated for the new 2.5 terrain. By now this module is nothing more than a bad joke. Better wait for Black Shark 3

NO ... NO NO NO I agree that trimming is really sensitive, but it's still easy to do. Just trim in the "wrong" direction and keep tapping the trim until you got it in the right spot. This requires like an hour of practice. Even if you can only get it 99% right there is always an autopilot to keep you level. And I'm not against it because I think trimming is easy, but because it's a basic skill everybody should have. If we start with unrealistic convenience features like that what will come next? AAR autopilot? Landing autopilot? How about automatic trim for the Ka-50 so people don't need to learn how to fly this thing any more? Convenience features like that have no place in a sim.

1. Not knowing how to operate an aircraft isn't a bug, so this has no place in the bug section. The day/night switch simply isn't implemented yet. 2. ICP, top left, HUD brightness (which also has easy to find keybinds)

DCS is a big work in progress. Some issues introduced with 2.5 still haven't been fixed but several new modules have already been announced (Hind, Ka-50 upgrade, carrier, dynamic campaign, ATC rework ...). Do you really think ED is gonna work on a completely unrealistic convenience feature that practically nobody asks for when there is so much work to do that everybody would benefit from? I don't. "Easy refueling" isn't coming. Gather some friends, form on a tanker and take turns for an hour. Repeat as necessary. Don't forget to come back and tell everybody how amazing your first successful refuel felt. It might encourage people to practice more.

Schlomo1933, please, don't spread wrong information. Holding trim will disable pitch, roll and heading hold temporarily. The dampeners remain active. Your problem is clicking the trimmer, so every time you trim again the autopilot will act weird. It's been 10 years since BS1, there are dozens of Ka-50 tutorials just talking about trimming and pretty much every experienced DCS Ka-50 pilot will tell you the same. Why do people still insist on doing it wrong and then complain about the helicopter acting strange? Want me to fly around and provide a track file to show I'm not crazy? I will do that if it means I can avoid having the same discussion for the 50th time. ... anyways: One good learning tool is the Flight Director mode (button right of the AP channels) It disables the AP, but you'll get 2 bars on the HUD indicating which attitude the AP would be holding normally. These bars will update when the trimmer is released, since that's when the attitude gets sent to the AP. Practice trimming as described previously. As you release the trim you want the helicopter to be in stable flight and the bars should stay aligned with the aircraft datum in the HUD center. If you were to re-engage the autopilot now it would only have to do minor inputs to hold the set attitude. That's what you want to achieve. FD mode also feels very similar to flying with the trimmer held down, so you'll get a lot of practice flying the helicopter manually. Just practice flying like this for a few hours and it should become second nature quickly. I'd also recommend setting altitude hold to baro, since terrain following can lead to changes in pitch as the helicopter changes altitude constantly. An AP indicator is probably far towards the end of ED's priority list (if it's planned at all) and FD bars are the only other visual indication I can think off. Hope it helps with getting a feel for the Ka-50.

Slave and bore is switched with the uncage button on the throttle and it works.

The DCS Su-27 has a PFM, so ED must have had access to "classified" data in order to create the flight model. A complete Russian flight manual of the Su-27 (Su-27SK export variant I think) can be found on the internet (forum rules prohibit posting a link). If you can find it through a clever google search it can't be "classified". Not to mention the DCS Flanker is almost 35 years old and the real thing has been upgraded substantially over the years. It's like "We can't do an F-16A, because the F-16E has many classified systems" even though both planes are very different internally. All the data is there, somebody just needs to do it. I'd buy a full fidelity Flanker instantly. Would give me a reason to get back into PvP. I'm sick of NATO vs NATO on public servers.

"I seem to have massive pitch and roll movements when clicking the trim button." ... probably because you're just clicking the trim HOLD DOWN trim - make your maneuver - stabilize the helicopter - release trim - center joystick ... NEVER just click the trim. You'll have to manually fly the chopper while the trimmer is pressed. Get used to doing this a lot (practice manual flying in flight director mode without heading hold if desired) Releasing the trim will send the current attitude to the AP which it is then trying to hold. If the helicopter is stable at this point the AP barely has to do anything. I don't see how an AP indicator would help with any of that.

I did some digging and found page 7-114 in the manual: "The (Data Link) system can only process up to four targets of the same type. If a fifth target of a type is added, it will overwrite the first one." I did a quick test and that's indeed the default behavior (current open beta, single player, no mods).