EinsteinEP

Aussie, is there some sort of control lockout that prevents the pilot for advancing the engines to full power? If not, what would happen if an impatient pilot stepped an engine up to full power as soon as he/she could (BTW, I'm not recommending you do actually try this!)?

OK! I use basically the same procedure, Boulund! I found that the fastest I can start the next engine is to watch the "START VLV" light on the starter panel: once it goes out you can flip to the next engine, but not a moment earlier. While the main engines are starting up, I go through the rest of the checklist (e.g., INU, NAV, Weapon, ABRIS, K-041 on, etc.), so that by the time the engines are up to full power, I can takeoff and not have any more button pushing/switch flipping to do in the air. I'll post my checklist up, let me know if you can cut any corners off of it... [edit: QuickStart procedure has been uploaded]

Boulund, The APU takes 12 seconds to start and each engine takes 38 seconds which results in 88 seconds just to get the engines up to IDLE speed. The best I've been able to do from cold start to liftoff is about 100 seconds. Can you actually take off at "around 90 seconds"?! If so, would love to see a track of that, and/or whatever procedure you use! Are you able to start one engine while the other one is still starting? I couldn't get that to work... Whatever it is, I'm missing something!

Within the constraints of the DCS game, about 120 seconds is as fast as I can start her up using my QuickStart procedure (I get that down to about 100 seconds, if using a macro). In comparison the LWin+Home cheat takes about 3 minutes (180 seconds), and it takes me 5-6 minutes when using my full ColdStart checklist. With the QuickStart, the HUD, ABRIS, and velocimeter need a few more moments to come online, but you don't really need those systems during the ingress. The assumption is that you're in a hurry and need to get wheels up NOW, so those systems can initialize en route. In the game, I don't see any lasting negative effects from the QuickStart procedure (NAV error, AP dysfunction, etc.), and it helps me get back in the fight quickly in multiplayer matches. However, as AlphaOneSix points out, there are a number of time considerations that aren't enforced in the game or that don't have the same negative consequences in real life. Starting the engines immediately after one another, for example, or not waiting until the engines and gearbox have sufficiently warmed up before putting loads on them could result in immediate catastrophic failures. This sort of practice would definitely result in long term damage. You just don't treat multi-million dollar toys like that! That said, this *is* a sim, so... ;)

icenden, As EtherealN posted above, the "helo operating on battery" warning is probably due to the generators not generating enough power to operate the electrical equipment. This could be caused by the engines not being run at a high enough rpm (i.e., your throttles aren't set to 'auto') or the generators not being turned on (switches are near the fuel pump switches on the right wall panel). You may also get the warning if you pull up too violently on the collective, which slows the rotor rpm, which causes the generators to stop producing power, etc. Make sure your throttles are set to auto (pgup x2), although the system some time to settle (watch your engine RPM needles, wait until they settle down), then, when you're ready to takeoff, gently pull back on the collective until you start to climb. If you're still seeing "operating on battery" warnings, post a track so we can take a look at it. The NAV failure you're getting is likely related to the power issue (e.g., not enough juice to run the nav system) but double check that the following switches are ON: INU power, NAV, K-40 Power (on targeting panel). If you've solved your power issue (above) you should have any NAV issues. The ADI is by design, always "bound" to the NAV system. If you're talking about the Standby ADI on the right side of the cockpit, it has a separate power switch on the right wall panel. Good luck!

There's also no warning for when an IR missile is shot, either. By the above logic, *no* fighter plane should carry flares. Funny that many still do, though, eh? If you had an aircraft/platform that had chaff but no indication of when you were getting painted by radar, you'd use chaff when you thought you might be getting painted (e.g., you know AA defenses are in the area and know where you are and are probably about to shoot you) or if you think they may be useful (e.g., you see a missile streaking up towards you from an area that you know has radar-guided SAMs). Just because you don't have a sensor integrated into a warning system doesn't mean you can't effectively use countermeasures.

Daddy likes.

As a workaround, I have a button on my throttle mapped to "F" and use it when I need/want to update my AP ALT hold.

Rangoon, I have a whopping 0.5 hours of rotor time logged, but I'm amazed that you don't need any rudder to keep the ball centered when you make a turn in a chopper. Cyclic only and the chopper maintains coordinated flight throughout? Wow. That's cool! Definitely need to use the feet when flying most fixed-wing aircraft. It may be that the particular heli you're flying has very high "weathervane stability", which means it has great tendency to point into the wind. Standard fixed-wing aircraft have comparatively little weathervane stability, which means they generally point nose first into the wind, but not with a whole lot of authority behind it, hence the need for supplementary pedal action in a level turn. The big fan on the tail of conventional choppers probably adds a lot of weathervane stability (think of the feathers on a dart or arrow) which is why, in general, they don't need a lot, if any, pedal to maintian a coordinated level turn. I'd guess that if you make a really hard turn with just the cyclic (60 deg bank, sustained), you'll see the ball bump some out of the pocket. The "return moment" is strong enough to maintain coordinated flight at low turn rates, but higher rates will cause the nose to drag behind where it "should" be, requiring some pedal to put it there. It would be an interesting experiment! As for why the Black Shark DOES need rudder to coordinate a turn, the Shark has reduced weathervane stability compared to the conventional chopper - on purpose! It can turn on a dime at any time (try stomping down on a pedal while cruising at 150 kts. it's cool!), a handy attribute for an attack chopper. Classic stability vs. maneuverability design tradeoff.

Put one in each hand and flap vigorously until liftoff.

Autopilot is probably on and trying to steer you towards a waypoint or the last heading you trimmed towards. 1) Make sure the waypoint light on the PVI is OUT. 2) Trim. Trim often. 3) Use your shift key.

That's an interesting assertion, Sobek. Any links or information why you believe that's the case? Intuitively, ice and dust are two very different things and one would expect the protection systems to be different - filters/separators for dust and heat for ice. Plus, the switch labeling suggests two different functions in each mode and the anti-dust light does not come on when the anti-ice system is activated. If both systems come on in one "mode" or the other, either the designers left out any indication, or the sim has a bug! If you have a link or something that shows that both functions are active when you select anti-ice, could you (or anyone else) post it here? I'd be very interested to read about how/why that's done!

Flight Director can be summarized as instead of flying the aircraft for the pilot, it Directs him/her where to go via visual cues. FD dioesn't provide any collective or cyclic or rudder inputs, it just says "hey, dude, you wanna go this way." It's up to the pilot to get there (or not).

I second DMarkwick's advice. If you look externally when hovering nice and level with the landing gear extended, the nosewheel is actually higher than the main gear. When you land, the whole chopper "leans" forward onto that gear, which means the rotor disk, which was pointed straight up for hover, is now pointed forward, causing some of that lift to drag you along the ground. Settling down to the ground in a landing should be done fairly quickly, although not an abrupt drop. Once the main gear settles and the nose starts coming down, drop the collective all the way down and pull back on the cylic. Use the wheelbrakes to stop any forward motion if you need to, but remember that if you don't cancel out the "pulling" motion, you'll start creeping forward as soon as you release them. You want to find the cyclic position where the rotor disk isn't trying to pull you forward or backward and then trim it in so you can relax. Then hit the parking brake.

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=671731&highlight=ghostbusters#post671731 [edit: Doh! Didn't see PeterP had posted this same link earlier. Thanks PeterP!]

Although both methods can work, method b) is the better method (arguments to follow my post, I'm sure ;) ). In the current implementation of AP (I think I read this may change with the upcoming patch), with method a) and Heading Hold activated, the AP will "fight" you as you make the turn, requiring you you hold excess rudder to make the turn. When you finally reach your desired heading and trim, you've simultaneously trimmed in that excess rudder and caused the AP feedback to go from its full 20% to 0. You're likely going to need to trim again. With method b), once you press and hold the trim button, all AP feedback (not dampening) goes away, so there's no counter-input when you make the turn. Plus, once you have achieved your desired heading and release the trim button, you're holding only the required rudder inputs and when the AP feedback kicks in, it's trying to maintain your current heading, so there's no large control "spike". Easy-peasy.

Flight Director.

Guess: It could be a flag to indicate that there's no ILS information. Some ADIs have bars for glideslope and localizer tracking and will show a red flag if that info is not available. And I don't seem to see ILS implemented in the sim...as of yet!

Press the On-Star button up on the upper right eyebrow and someone will be with you shortly to provide guidance.

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=671731&highlight=ghostbusters#post671731

I second that! But, these tools will help folks who don't want to improve their technique and I must say I'm impressed with the creativity. I just hope it doesn't get "fixed" into the sim!

Nice shot! And kudos for using the right "yours" and "your"!

Now you need three more monitors, a TripleHead2Go, and start making your own cockpit interface boxes (for ABRIS, the HSI, etc.). I mean, you already spent $3,000. What's another $7,000? ;) Welcome to the game! I like to tell people it's not a simulation, it's a habit.

And are you you had anti-ice on, not the dust protection? Same switch, different direction!

Ditto! I use auto-hover only when I know I'm going to be hanging out for a while and there's no reasonable chance that I'll need to maneuver or evade: like waiting for other members of my flight to takeoff or catch up, or, if I gooned up my ABRIS and need the chopper to hold steady while I un-goon it. In addition to honing your homing skills (pressing the "autohover" button is not a skill, IMHO), you can also scootch around, left and right, forward and backward, while "hovering", presenting a more challenging target to the enemy that you don't see who's targeting you. Can't do that with autohover!