Mr.Scar

I have the Viggen, but I prefer Helos

Short cliche answer: It depends. Long answer: I fly helos for the joy of flying, not for the fun of operating complex systems. If I am not mistaken, most helos have 2 crew members at the minimum becasue well... they need to have 2 crew members due to the combat scenarios they will be in. The exception being the Ka-50. Now I do not know what your experience is, so I am not trying to be a smartass here. But In order to answer your question, will it be fun to play as human Petrovich, you have to consider the following things, or at least the things I think are worth considering: 1. Helo flying is much different than fixed wing flying. Honestly I do not consider the comparisons of the F-14 multicrew to the Mi-24P correct. They are similar, but much different in essence. Why? Ill explain in the next points 2. F-14 RIO has to manage onboard systems + maintain SA against enemy fighters. This is because the Tomcat is an Interceptor in the first place so enemy air targets are a priority in a dogfight or BVR. Other fighters are your main concern and ususally, with a competent human rio you can prepare yourself for an engagement. 3. The Mi-24 like other assault choppers in general operate in a utterly hostile environment, forced to be constantly low alt in a combat scenario. Manpads, guys with AK, SPAA, fighters, other helos with stingers... Being in a Mi-24 that is not designed to fire missiles safely from a distance i think both the human Petrovich and the Pilot, will have a lot to do. Honestly i think that both of them are threat/target spotters in some way. I cant recall how many times i got killed by a manpad because i did not spot the missile launch. My SA would have been much better if i had a human co-pilot/gunner with me. How will the AI Petrovich work? Well this is something we will see eventually. As for the "very long scenic rides" well, again it all depends on the scenario. If there are any farps, is it a single player campaign, is it a multiplayer air quake environment, is it blue flag etc. all depends on the mission setup. But for the Zen aspect, the Mi-8 will probably be better. For the "Oh my God my ass is sweating after dodging another of those stingers, thanks for letting me know Petrovich" the Mi-24P will be better. Final summary? Depending on the scenario and taking into account what kind of environment the mission takes place i think the Human Petrovich aswell as the pilot of the Mi-24 will have a ton of work to do and a lot to watch out for. For the end i will quote something from Chucks guide that I think applies both to the helo pilot and the gunner: "Helicopter pilots have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. You have to be one hell of a pilot to fly one of those. Or batshit insane. Or a bit of both." But this is just my few cents

I am not griping or anything, because I am one of those that suffer from DCS crashing after 2.7 so I am not able to experience this in the fullest yet (reported it and waiting for a fix) but that is life and how things work when a big update comes, so I am not mad. However I took quick flights in the Mi-8, Huey, Mig-29, Su-25T and F-16 on the Caucasus map and simply put... It was breathtaking.

I do not have rudder pedals, but I do use the FCS Thrustmaster 16000 with Stick and Throttle. For Helos i use the "pedal" axis on the throttle instead the twist on the stick, and for me it works like a charm. 1. For the Huey, I use the pedals axis quite constantly since it is a light frame, but it does get the job done 2. For the Mi-8 after learning the Huey i think it is even easier since the Hip is a very stable platform once it gets rolling. I would not say it is that pedal dependant as the Huey is and the Hip is much more "stamina friendly" + the Zen aspect. Now the reason i mention it is that the Hip has the same or a very similar flight stabilization system as the Mi-24 does (correct me if I am wrong, i take it from the top of my head now). I dont remember the technical terms for that so sorry, but to put it blunt its the thing that makes flying the heli easier than the huey. At least for me. So all in all, separate controller in form of the pedals is always a great idea, but i think that if you like how the Hip (if you own it that is) handles with your current setup i think you will be satisfied with the Mi-24 aswell. Just my few cents.

Totally agree. Honestly, helos in DCS are my bread and butter now. Before i started learning the Huey i was jumping around like crazy between the F-14, F-16, F-18, F-15, Mig-29, Su-27, Harrier, Mirage and hell knows what more in order to find that perfect airframe for everything. I stuck with the Hornet for around one month and generally got bored with it. Then i moved to the A-10 and this is where I have realized that ground pounding is the thing for me, but there was still something missing. So i have tried the helos. Huey, Mi-8, Ka-50 and now pre-ordered the Mi-24 Truth is i dont give a damn about fast movers anymore. Spinning up the rotor, hugging tree lines, doing strafing runs etc. this is what gives me the goosebumps. I dont care about which aircraft is META according to multiplayer standards. I only care which airfract gives me a big smile when i start it up. And those aircraft are helos for me. In the end we all have our own reasons why we fly, but I do think ED is giving us plenty of options so that everyone can find that sweetspot for themselves. As for the Mi-24, I am no expert about Soviet tactics. But I know one thing. When I look at the Mi-24 i know its a beast that does not joke around and was built to execute brute force by hammering hard the enemy ranks. And this is something I intend to do.

Well, for me its only syria that crashes 100% of the time. Nevada and Caucasus crash too, but those crashes are random. Sometimes I am able to start a fast mission without a problem on Caucasus or sometimes it crashes. I reported with all the details the syria map crash, but just noticed the crashes also randomly happen on other maps without any clear reason. I tried every method to fix it but without effect. Only thing i have not tried is a total reinstallation of DCS, but honestly i prefer to wait for some kind of fix, because i have no guarantee that a reinstallation will fix the problem. And a reinstall is a very time consuming process for me due to a not so awesome bandwith i have. So patience it is now for me.

Thank you very much!

Hi, Game crashes only on the Syria map, bar goes up to 3/4 and then crash. Rest of the maps work fine. What i do: Create fast mission, huey, spawning blue and red units, weather random, time: 11:00 am, map syria Troubleshooting i did: 1. Cleared all the "user" folders, caches, shaders etc both in app and save game folders. 2. Ran the repair/updater tools 3. Repeated step 1 and 2 after updating graphic drivers 4. Repeated 1 and 2 and deleted and re-downloaded syria map 5. Eventually cleared all the folders where DCS creates new data and again no effect 6. Tried digging around different forum topics and tried the method with page file. no effect. Attaching the last error zip file Many thanks for feedback dcs.log-20210416-132536.zip

Thank you for the advice :) And honestly I have bought the Hip some days ago. I have switched to it after around maybe 20-25h in the Huey. I like the Huey but the Hip is so much more better. Feels much stronger, stable and the biggest difference for now are the landings. I have to really calculate how to approach that spot for landing to avoid a vortex ring, where in the huey everything happens so much faster. Its the weight and size, but I find the Hip much more comfortable to fly. Flying helicopters has become my bread and butter, its just so much more fun than a fixed wing. When i start those rotors it gives me big smile, and the Hip gives one more thing the Huey does not give. That zen. Crusing stable with the window open, and just having time to drink coffe. Last time I had this feeling was when doing space trucking in Elite Dangerous or mining in Eve Online/Star Citizen. The Hip also gave me the answer that I will love the Mi-24P. Cannot wait for it.

Same problem here, saw it yesterday. No mods on my side.

Totally agree, and the flight mastery part is what I honestly like the most... I do have some experience with the Ka-50. Learned its systems, weapon emplyoment, even done some missions. But at some point while flying the Shark I realized I have been missing something. I mean, the Ka-50 is fantastic, but while flying it I realized I am missing the essential heli flying skills, and depending on the autopilot made me pick up bad habits. I will pick the Huey as my trainer. Will learn it to fly, navigate and train my SA in it. Once I feel confident enough, I will think about my next step. Ka-50, Mi-24P, Kiowa or the Mi-8 The decision has been made, thank you very much. Huey it is then :)

Also, now that you mentioned it, a thought crossed my mind Mi-8 + Mi-24P = They both supplement each other in combat Kiowa + maybe AH-64? = They both supplement each other too I think This is suspicious ;) I will say even more, we got the Syria map and a lot seems to be a lot going on around helicopters now. Makes you wonder what surprised does ED have hidden away, but my gut tells me there is something more there than meets the eye. But anyway, I think I will stick to the Huey for now. The Mi-8 is tempting and I love to watch how others fly it, and as Art-J mentioned, it would not be a bad idea to jump into the Mighty Eight. But the Huey is great learning platform, Its nimble and I think it can teach everything a heli pilot needs, that then will be more easily transferred to different helis. And I think it is the most fun one to fly. So when flying it, best thing I can do now is wait for the Kiowa and Mi-24P. Thank you all so far for the input. I seem to be leaning more towards the Huey now.

I still have not made my decision, but you did provide me with some really valid points, and things to think about, so thanks for that. I think you are right, buying the Mi-8 just to prepare for the Mi-24P sounds pointless. Worst thing is, that If I would buy the Mi-8 I might actually like it even more than the Huey and it would mean I would not just buy it to train for the Mi-24P. This is the toughest dilemma. I actually do not know if it will suit me 100% until i jump into the cockpit and try it out myself. I blame myself a bit for not trying it out when It was available to fly for free. I would not have made this post probably. But then again, at that time, DCS was the last thing I was thinking about. Not to mention choppers. I will need to think about it. I will try to fly the Huey for now, but I will read and watch yt with the Mi-8 Also last question. If it goes for campaigns (i currently fly only single player) which do you think guys is maybe not the best, but most appealing and content rich if it goes for helicotpers?

Ah, yes. Forgot about the Kiowa :) Hm, so generally you guys think picking up the Mighty Eight is not a bad idea? You got me really thinking here. I need to make up my decision.

Ow, was not aware of that. But in any case, good point. We can only speculate now. As for the A version, you have a point, however I think again... at that time it was also active duty. So might have been harder to get it right, based on actual documents. Who knows, speculation. Concerning popularity, that really depends and is debatable. Honestly I am both interested in Eastern aircraft, as I am in western ones. They are both fantastic for me, and I would love to fly the Mi-28N for example, although I have not seen a single movie about it, but flew it a lot in Enemy Enganged: Apache vs Havoc. And honestly, I preffered the Havoc 80% of the time in EE. But thats a different story and times, and I can only speak for myself.

Because at the time they did the Ka-50, the Ah-64D was still in active duty. And If I am not mistaken, it still is. The security barricade would have been impossible to penetrate in order to get a 1:1 full fidelity module of the AH-64D. If they did the Apache instead of the Ka-50, it would be severely dumbed down, and that in general is not the point of DCS. The Ka-50 was a prototype, never mass produced and the Ka-52 was created on its basis. So I guess it was "easier" to get hands on the documents of the Ka-50. Despite that, I am quite sure there are still things in existing modules that are probably not modeled because of security reasons.

Hey all, I`m back again, with a question. And maybe you will be able to shed some light and help me make my decision. Currently I am flying the Hog (will be around 3 months now, where the last month was the most extensive one) I am having a blast and I love that machine. But what I realized is that it is helicopters that draw me the most, and always had. Read the Chickenhawk by Robert Mason, even in childhood there was a Mi-24D base next to the place where I grew up. And it was always Helis that gave me the most goosebumps on airshows, and not the jets. I currently own the Ka-50 and the Huey, however I am eying the Mi-24P. And because of that, I want to ask, is it worth it getting the Mi-8MTV Magnificent Eight and learn it to prepare for the Mi-24P? I know the basics on Ka-50, I know how to fly it, but mastering it in order to be proficient in combat scenarios is a long way to go. Plus, it does not have the tail rotor, and is basically fully automated. So I do realize I can "teach" me some bad habits, when trying to fly the older helis. Which brings me to the other point Should I instead train in the Huey, and it will be sufficient to prepare for the Mi-24P? Because from what i see it is a fantastic incubator to learn helicopters. Autoration, navigation, countering that dreaded Vortex Ring State and more... or, should I choose the Mi-8MTV2 because from what I have read about the Mi-24P, those two have much more in common when it goes to flight characteristics. My general preference is ground pounding, because I love blowing stuff up, but also dont mind a bit of utility work or troop deployment. As a summary I will tell you, that if we had the AH-64D it would be a no brainer for me. I would fly it all day long and more. But aside from Wags teasing, there are no official announcements yet, so I need to choose from the available options. Also, I think it might be important to note that I do not have any rudder pedals. I use the twist axis on the joy for that, or an axis on my throttle (I have the Thrustmaster 16000 FCS stick and throttle) and it does a good job with the Ka-50 and Huey. But I wonder If it will get the job done, If you convince me to choose the Mi-8MTV2 Many thanks for your time and help. Fly safe.

Thought the same, but judging from how complex the HMCS is I would not be surprised that it can be customized more to the pilots needs. I just have a feeling that Wags did not show us 100% of what that thing can do, because he wrote: "The HMCS consists of several sub-systems, but we’ll focus on the Helmet Mounted Display (HMD) and the Profile Editor in this video." I mean, its a really powerful tool... and I really wonder what those "several sub-systems" can do. Cant wait to try it out, now I am even more happy I have picked the Hog as my main aircraft a month ago. The possibilities with this thing are awesome. I watched the Tank Killer launch trailer like twelve times now...

Come Hell or High Water

Viper, because it has this magic "thing" the Hornet does not have. Its just the feeling of how the Viper handles and how it feels for me. Cant explain in words. As for the Hornet, its good, can do it all, but... yeah, feels a bit lifeless + I`m not the Navy type.

Many Thanks Baltic, much appreciated :)

I will take the role of a devils advocate a bit here with this, and you will probably hate me for saying this, but... please guys. You waited so long for this. Not me, because i was not sticking with DCS due to real life reasons, so I can only imagine the frustration, I do not know how much this will help, but I will tell you this... From a fresh nugget perspective, I got a feeling this is going the right way. You made your point and because of that, judging from BIGNEWY activity, the topic is being handled in a serious manner. Please have just a bit more faith, let BIGNEWY do the talking, and hopefully we can receive some kind of official statements. This will be the first step to fix the Harry, and ask yourself if it is not the thing you want firsthand and finally? Maybe "two more weeks" will really be two more weeks this time? Haha, sorry said it just to let some steam out. Anyway I wish you all the best guys, and I keep my fingers crossed for the Harrier,

Hi BIGNEWY, Just wanted to thank you for stepping in. I recently came back to DCS because I have a bit more time in real life. Case is, a pilot that comes back to flying in DCS starts to read such posts, he might begin to feel a bit disturbed. Now aside from the Hog, I am a nugget Harrier pilot with not an awful lot of experience. I love to fly the Harry and I probably do not possess the awareness to recognize what functions properly or not. But what I do know, Is that it is a good sign that you stepped in and there is hope of receiving some kind of statement. Be it RAZBAM directly, or RAZBAM status update done via ED channels. I do not want to sound pessimistic, but whatever the information might be, I think it is better to recieve bad news that no news at all. So thank you for stepping one more time in and shedding some light on everything and I hold my thumbs that everything works well and all are happy. Fly safe :)

I agree. I kind of also love the Hornet, but I am shit at dogfighting and BVR. I prefer to leave it to the guys that are good at it and make my job of turning enemy ground forces into scrap easier, by protecting the high sky. CAS brings me the most satisfaction. So Hog and Harrier are my kind of planes. I know the Hornet can also do that, but the Hog and the Harrier have this... thing. Cant really say what it is, but I simply get drawn to it. Truth is, if DCS had already an AH-64D i would fly it all day long.

I got the Viggen and it is a blast to fly, however it does not meet my requirements of a modern aircraft. As for the Harrier... well i got it too, but there is too much fuss around it. I mean, I fly it, i love it, but currently my Focus is the Hog.