EinsteinEP

Dave, I suspect that your problem isn't with deadzone bands. From your posts, it sounds like you're centering only the joystick and expecting function to return. Unfortunately, this isn't the case with the Center-mode Trimmer. You have to center the cyclic AND rudder inputs before the system will accept inputs again, not just the cyclic! I normally don't do shameless self-plugs, but you may find this series of articles helpful: http://simhq.com/_air13/air_426a.html If you are centering the joystick AND the rudder inputs and still experiencing Trimmer lock out, can you post a track?

The TrackIR "Precision" feature can appear to be "look lag" if you're not expecting it. (Woots, this sounds like what happened to you). Personally, I don't use the feature so I disable it in the TrackIR control panel so I can't accidentally activate it.

Don't forget, with the "new" trimmer method, you have to center your cyclic AND YOUR RUDDER inputs before it accepts either input again.

I second Boulund's recommendations. The Extreme 3D Pro is, IMHO, the best stick for a small budget. A good stick with solid construction, there are plenty of buttons and the layout is intuitive and ergonomic (for a righty, at least). The programming software is fantastic and well worth the time to get to know how to use. Like Boulund pointed out, all the features greatly expand on the capabilities of this small, cheap, yet powerful stick. The X52 Pro is a good HOTAS with numerous buttons. I found the construction to be a lot less robust than I had expected for a high dollar peripheral, and the programming software has a lot to be desired, when compared to the Logitech software. Also, although the X52 Pro MFD can interface with PC applications, there are few games that actually include this feature. You'll have to either develop your own MFD app, or find a 3rd party one on the web somewhere. All that said, the X52 Pro is still my stick of choice in Black Shark, as well as other combat flight sims (F4AF, etc.). My recommendation is to go get the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro if you're on a budget, but get the X52 Pro if you've got the money.

Actually, the answer comes from http://www.griffin-helicopters.co.uk/lessons/effectsofcontrols.htm.

Put a couple nukes inboard with some AIM-9Xs outboard for some A/A protection. ;)

Aw... :( I had hoped the fizzle would stretch until at least the 2nd to last article. Guess I'll have to spend more time on the next set...f there is a next set! :D

Ooo, they're pretty! Well done! Where did you have them printed? What did they cost?

*bump - minor updates incorporated into rev H5 (see 1st post)

Although I like to keep my head vert, too, Dethmagnetic, lots of sim pilots don't. I know of several who prefer the default head tilt. For me, I'm just glad it's an option and I don't have to tilt my monitor! ;)

Unashamedly OT: I have three kinds of socks in my sock drawer: white athletic, black dress, and brown dress, so they're roughly grouped in that order, blacks and browns to one side (they pack tighter) with the whites taking the rest of the drawer. Because I've purchased my socks at different times over the years, I have about 4 different kinds of brown socks and there's one type (hard to describe, but they've got these funny little colored polka dots on them) that are just too snug. Being cheap, I can't stand throwing them out, so they stay in the drawer, although they keep migrating towards the back. Now, being only slightly OCD, I try to vary my brown vs. black outfits during the week, but I may, occasionally, have a mostly brown week, just 'cuz I feel like it. Then I have to wear this snug polka dot socks. When I come home, I'm always in a hurry to take them off, since my feet are uncomfortable, but I always throw them in the hamper instead of the trash. This week has been a brown week so far, so stay tuned to see what happens! ;)

http://shock.military.com/Shock/videos.do?displayContent=200139&ESRC=navy.nl

Thanks all, for the feedback. Especially Chip. I'd +1 you, but apparently I rep'd you last, so you'll have to wait a few rounds for another one!

I know there are several other quality checklists out there, but I've been working on mine for a while and thought I'd throw it out here to see if anyone else finds it useful. This document is a work in progress, but the start-up checklists should be pretty solid. Below is a list of items I'm still working on. Performance data/reference Autopilot operation reference Additional Emergency cards (in-flight fire, etc.) Weapons Employment reference (Vikhr, etc.) Mission briefing template I know folks on this forum aren't very open about their opinions:megalol: but your feedback would be very much appreciated, positive and especially negative. Feel free to post them here or PM me with your suggestions and criticism. FM-Ka50-CL-H5.pdf

I don't know about the Russian system, but I know first-hand that flight test programs in the US, including Air Force and Navy, use numeric callsigns, often the last 3 numbers of the plane's tail number. I guess there'd be an issue if the two numbers were similar or close, but I've never seen an error or confusion. Since aircraft are usually ID'd by their tail number in maintenance documents, pilot/plane assignments, etc., it becomes second nature and a logical ID. Operationally I believe they use callsigns like "Avenger 2" and whatnot, which is what I think you're looking for.

Tell the sailors to clean all the Crisco off the flight deck. ;)

The Doppler nav will get reset if it loses AC power. The onboard generators disengage if the rotor rpm drops below a certain value (don't know the number but it's about 75% - 80%, well after the alarm goes off). Once the Doppler nav is off, there's another start-up delay! My suggestion: wait for the Doppler nav to warm up before engaging Auto Hover and don't let your rotor rpm go below the red mark, and you'll never have this problem! Good luck!

Does it stay gone? The Doppler nav takes a few minutes to warm up and doesn't give a reading while on the ground. You may be starting things up in a different order than the auto-start, or are just quicker, and the Doppler nav may not be up yet. If you've been up in the air moving about for more than say, 5 minutes, and still don't get a ground-speed indication, then check that the K-041 power switch on the targeting mode control panel and the Nav switch on the wall panel (next to IFF) are both on. You could also post the track for others here to review.

The Doppler nav system uses the Doppler effect to accurately measure the helicopters velocity with respect to the ground. I assume it uses a laser (aka laser velocimeter), but don't know for sure. This input, instead of airspeed, is used by the autopilot to establish a hover over the ground. The Doppler nav system takes some time (~3 minutes? any body timed it?) to warm up after you flip on the K-041 and Nav switches. Tip: turn on ground power and turn these systems on before you start the engines, so it'll at least be half warmed up before you're ready to take off. Also, as mentioned earlier, check for that ground speed indication before activating ground hover or the autopilot will shut off the respective channels.

Mikemonster, Made the same mistake myself. $80 for a set of buttons shaped like an MFD? <sigh> OK, I'll buy it. ;)

Another cause of auto-hover madness is if you engage auto hover before doppler nav system is up. Check the upper left of the hud. No ground speed = no doppler nav. (BTW, this is one of the reasons why low rotor rpm knocks out the auto-hover too. Low rpm = generators disengage = doppler nav goes sleepy time).

Yo, Chops! Just watched your track and I didn't see anything weird going on with the autopilot. One possible spot you may be talking about is at about (about 12:05 according to your ABRIS page in the track) when you put the helo in a nose up attitude to slow down. Your controls get "centered" when you release the Trimmer button and the AP tries to maintain that nose up attitude. But, because you're slowing down, it takes more and more back cyclic to maintain that nose up, and the autopilot keeps using more and more of its control authority in the fore/back cyclic axis and, in fact, gets saturated near the end: you can see the nose starting to drop from the assigned attitude. At this point, the AP is holding its full 20% back cyclic, trying to pull the nose back up. When you press the Trimmer button again at 12:05:05, that 20% force gets zeroed out, so you get a little bump as the total cyclic input (pilot + autopilot) suddenly jumps up 20%. The cure for this is to trim often and to hold the Trimmer button down when making attitude changes or changes to the flight condition. Autopilot control feedback forces are zeroed whenever you hold the Trimmer button down, not just when you release it. As an example, when slowing down or accelerating with the autopilot, I will occasionally press and hold the Trimmer button down, making sure the chopper is in the attitude I want it, then let the Trimmer button go. Does that help?

Boulund, Just so you know you're not crazy, I experienced the same thing - blurry cockpit textures, to the point where switch/button labels were unreadable, even when I zoomed in. Although I do have 8800 GT cards and I "downgraded" display drivers (170.something), I originally saw the problem with the "old" drivers and solved it by twiddling with BS display settings - did not touch nVidia control panel during the process. All's good. You say all your display settings are all high, and I seem to recall that chaning the Textures setting to High and cockpit to 1024 (always) was what fixed it for me, but I'll check my settings again and post for you. I'm using a default install of BS with 1.0.1 and zero mods - no ModMan, no DCSMax, etc. - on a WinXP platform with two 8800 GT cards. Enabling/disabling SLI did not appear to make a difference with the blurring problem.

On the ground, with both engines start, while testing the Fire Extinguishing System, I noticed that there is no audible alarm (e.g., "Left Engine Fire") given if the throttle levers are in IDLE or GOV FAIL. If I move the throttle levers to AUTO, the audible alarm is then heard. I've repeated the procedure several times, to make sure I'm not nuts, and I've attached a track file here. The heli starts hot on the runway. Is this normal/expected? I would have expected an audible alarm to be given in case of a fire at all throttle settings, but especially at GOV FAIL setting.