DmitriKozlowsky

I watch this time and time again for Gazzele. Especcially Lima with gunspods.

An axis lever on my X56 stick. Mossie appears to taxi with differential braking. Brake lever controls pressure amount and rudder control differential pressure. It works fine. My issue is rudder dance. Using differential brake, evena tiny amount during roll ensures a ground loop. No amount of rudder dance can arrest that once it starts. I hate this whole thing. I find it impossible to learn, becouse there is no learning curve. I am not getting better. I don't think any taildragger mod is for me. I-16, P-51, that little sport plane mod. I cannot T/O, never mind land taildraggers in DCS. Tricycles, helos, VTOL Harrier, all work fine, and I am fairly proficient in them. But taildraggers are a curse. Not sure why aviation even invented those in first place. Aside from T/O and landing attitude at takeoff and 3 point landing, there is nothing good about such an unstable and hazardous arrangement.

Useless! Along with 100% of all other YT videos on subject.

After more then 120 attempts with same failed results, no improvement, and no clue, I'd say that whatever talents are needed to master taildraggers in DCS are absent in me. If rudder dancing requires feel, there is no feel in DCS trhough X56 and Thrusmaster pedals. Result is undercorrection or more frequently an overcorrection, resulting in ground loop fairly quickly. I've had zero good take offs, and thats with no crosswind. The book states that correction should be began before nose deviates 10 degrees from desired heading, and that the slower the aircraft the larger the correction. That rudder correction to left is followed by equal correction to right to neutralize rudder effect. That the as aircraft gains speed, rudder correction is reduced in a dampened sine wave. That flight control effectiveness is A-E-R . Aleron authority is highest, then elevator, the rudders. This is the basic book for taildragger takeoffs. Well reading that, and practicing it fails me in practice. Doesn't work. In real world, book states that it takes 4 to 6 traning flights for student pilot to get feel of taildragger. If so, I'd wash out pretty quickly. I cant comment on real life, but in DCS there is no feel. Only visual.

I have no clue what this hyperbole means. A consistent problem for me in aviation training. Context absent instruction.

After a almost hundred, counted em, triies, I don't think its gonna happen. There is no instinct is simulated flight. Not for me anyway.

Reticle intensity not working. I float mouse over it. Click and drag. NOTHING. Float mouse over it, LEFT click or click NOTHING. hold down LMB drag NOTHING hold down RMD NOTHING mouse scroll wheel. NOTHING hold down MMB drag, NOTHING. This GUI is frustrating to say the least,

This is an example. Getting ready to say eff this mod. It happens by itself, regardless what I do. I cannot keep this aircraft straight down the runway, and I don't know why. GroundLoop_on TOt.trk

The language used to describe T/O trim is cryptic. For T/O elevator trim it is TWO NOTCHES. There are no notches to guide me. What am I looking for? The elevator trim bar on control overlay moves very slowly and has no notches. So every time someone reponds with two notches of trim it means zero to me. I have no scale or notch guide. This is why I hate some parts of DCS instruction. They are offered without explanatory context.

Cant taxi straight, cant maintain straight run during takeoff . I don't know. I cant do it. I thought I had it at first, but I cannot. Doesn't happen for me. With no brakes and rudder center, the aircraft veers to one side or another and correcting by differential brakes just ground loops it, braking the tail wheel. Whatever the secret technique is. I don't have it and I don't know it. This is true for me foe every tail tragger in DCS. Every one! I-16, P-51, and now Mosquito. I don't know why so I cant fix the issue, and YT videos don't help as simply saying 'rudder dance' does not tell what to do and when. For WWII types, I am hoping for tricycle gear types like P-38 or A-20G or P-39. Also the term maintain "Maniforl Pressure" or "Continue to pull inches" of manifold pressure, DONT tell what to do and when, aor why.

Instanc Action/Caucaus/Free Flight Drop wing tanks. Then fly at max power for 5 to 10 minutes. Then check fuel. Wings tank read will still 2450 per tank (which were dropped), internal fuel is unchanged, total fuel is unchanged.

Fuel amount not changing during flight remans constant. Either this is a major bug, or a new unlimited fuel feature.

The Flaps at 10 degrees. OK this does not make sense to me. As in cockpit, the flaps handle has no axis of travel. Its either all the way down or all the way up. Its does not behave like prop speed levers which move on axis. Flap is either ON or OFF. Same os for mixture, which despite being listed as AXIS does not behave like axis at all. Click dragging it, just moves it all the way up, or all the way down. With take off, with above full flaps, and without any nose up on my part, results in port wing stall. That is only starboard wing takes off, causing uncontrolled roll that I am unqable to counter. If I start in free flight in air, it flies fine.

Taking advantage of trial. Finally a WWII tail dragger that does not ground loop, provided both are turning. However in flight it is difficult to pitch nose down. It always wants to pitch up. My guess is that its pitch trim setting.

Just got latest update. Damn! The new FM now feels great. The gross weight is now correct, or feels like it, after in-mission refuel/rearm. With 30 % fuel, and no weapons, the Gazelle just leaps off the ground. There is still odd right torque and slight aft displacement, but that may be due to slightly off take off trim. My T/O cyclic trim is slightly left and slightly aft. Once engaged with mag brake, only slight cyclic displacemt is needed to fly the helicopter.

OK, but, if STARTER is switched OFF in fliight with fuel throttle to MAX, the engine is shutdown in flight. With throttle to MAX, STARTER OFF should not shut down the engine. Its an inherently unsafe design in real life, and not would not be so. Otherwise it would be a super guarded switch with bright red cover and lock. So it possibly incorrectly implemented in the sim. With throttle at below idle, STARTER to OFF should shut down the engine, but not at throttle at MAX. Well that just IMHO.

Someone saidd that in SA342M/L/W Starter switch also acts as FADEC ON/OFF. So it should be left on. Maybe thats correct , maybe not. I am inclined to think that its not, and that setting STARTER to OFF (Arrette) in flight shuts of engine, even with full throttle. I think this is erroneous functionality, as simulated. If it was that critical, STARTER would be a a red guarded switch. Like throttle lever has lock. In RW Gazelle, the throttle lever would be have some kind of safety friction lock, and in my sim shortcuts, I have it mapped to axis but with modifier button. The modifier must be held down for throttle axis to be read by DCS. That guards against accidental brushing , shutting off throttle, forcing autorotation. There is a real world fatal incident. The Bell Ranger sightseeing helicopter went into Hudson river, and four passengers drowned. Pilot survived. Passengers were not instructed how to undo their safety restraints in emergency, and could not free themselves. Investigation stated that copilot seat passenger somehow got straps of his photobag snagged on engine throttles, and pulled them into CUTOFF. How that peice of bad engineering could get past Bell all these decades, I dunno. But explanation was that Ranger is not certified to have passenger in copilot (left) seat.

The ammunition type., with respect to DCS, is only tangential , to effectiveness discussion, as we don't know, well at least I don't, as to what kind of .50 BMG round is simulated in DCS. I am assuming it is baseline ball and incendiary. If it has API mixed into sim, thats great.

I swear US and Allies won't stop using .50 BMG in all its guizes for another 100 years. US Defense industry have been pitching .50 BMG replacement (still using .50 BMG ammunition) without commercial success. The proposed weapon is either too complex, too expensive, too heavy, or not light enought, or does not bring sufficient new capability. Most new applications have been in mounts , ammunition feed, ammunition type, sensors & targeting. But the core weapon is essentially John Brownning's 1919 design produced from 1921 onward. Any improvement in firepower and range brings weapon into autocannon territory and out of heavy machine gun class. Hostile aliens could be landing on Earth in next 70 years, and they will blasted with .50 cal Ma Deuce, provided they don't have energy shields. Similar issue with FN SAW and FN Mini . THe pinnacle of 5.56 mm and 7.62 mm machine guns. They can't really be improved on, except in lighter metal alloys.

It could be that internally to DCS, the DCS PT-76 is too volunerable. Agree it is a lightly armored light tank, but it is still a tank of sorts. Well maybe not, at least not in DCS.

So an odd problem. In Nevada, the airfield elevation (Nellis) is 1850 feet which is about 563 meters. The ramp height of heliport is 561 meters. On beggining of Instant Action/Nevada/Cold Start the altimeter is reading 960 something. I am assuming it is in meters, as dial states 'Meters'. In External view Gazelle's elevation is displayed as 561 meters. So DCS is using meters as units. Yet I am unable to set the altimeter to 561. It goes from 800 to 980 , regardless of how much I rotate the dial, either CW or CCW. It is confusing, as I don't quite get what is happening.

I killed two static PT-76 with HMP pods. In debrief PT-76 #1 took 36 .50 bmg hits. Second took 24. Both sustained critical damamge and were on fire smoking . As great as BMG weapon is with incendiary and ball rounds, the munitionis not explosive, as far I know. PT-76 is light recon tank, and is more heavily armored then BTR (which can be killed with .50 BMG), but it is not that lightly armored. Or .50 cal is wee bit too effective when fired from HMP pod. This is not a compaint just a personal observation. https://fnamerica.com/products/weapon-systems/fn-m3p/ https://www.weaponsystems.net/system/1050-HH13 - HMP

Is pad connected to internal NADIR nav or is it a simulated standalone pad with simulated civilian GPS receiver? I would like to see waypoints and route, maybe even EPLRS pos of friendlies displayed on it. I imagine that such pad in rw mitary helo would display MGRS coordinates, give MGRS grid coordinates of a picked point. Have mission brief page. So on. Be nice if it can display terrain like Google Earth. With option for MGRS contour map, satellite textured map, and hybrid. Anyways that pad is even more of a DCS landnav cheat then position marker on knee board map.

Any fuel over 45% is using extended range tanks. But my question is not answered. As fuel is burned off, and munitions are expended, does FM internally calculates reduced grossweight and adjusts handling and performance of Gazelle to reflect reduced GW.? From just flying around, I am not sure that happens.

To me it feels like, with new FM, that flying and burning off fuel does not effect GW. From Instant action/Nevada/Cold Start . The 342M starts with 100% fuel, and while it struggles to T/O, it definitely cannot hover OGe or IGE, or land from hover, with such gross weight. So after 45 minutes of flying at near max collective, I still cannot hover OGE or IGE or land with precision from fast fwd speed.\ In custom mission with 20% fuel, I have no such problem. It T/O, hovers OGE, IGE, and lands safely. Is there sqame issue with weapons? Where expending missiles , rockets, and ammunition, does not effect GW. So while you run out of fuel, out of weapons, there is no benefit of reduced weight.