Pogo

Thanks sinelnic, that will certainly help in flying precision patterns, but that still doesn't reconcile the difference between the Landing Pattern lesson and other lessons/missions. I don't believe that the lessons use a different or easier flight model than the missions. Aside from not having to fight the AP on heading, the helicopter pretty much feels the same. If I fly the Control Hover lesson, for example, the heading issues are present in that lesson. I would encourage you to try the Landing Pattern Lesson to see what I mean. Cheers, Pogo (Witty signature to follow.....)

Hi, I've had Black Shark for a couple of weeks and I just want to start off by giving props to ED on the wonderful simulation they've built. I'd all but given up on ever seeing a simulation of this quality being released into a market where games are routinely dumbed down to the lowest common denominator. But, that is a whole other discussion. I've been slowly advancing through the training missions and I am pretty happy with how I am progressing and coming to grips with the different systems in the aircraft. There is one thing however, that I just can't get my head around, and that is how the Autopilot handles the aircraft's heading. I understand how trimming works, and how you can set the autopilot's heading with the trim switch when you are not in Route Mode, and I understand the differences between Desired Heading and Desired Track. What I don't get is how constantly fighting the helicopter while changing heading is considered normal. I've read through the various threads where some people recommend turning off the heading switch on the Autopilot, but the problem I see with that is that you also turn off the dampening effect which that function provides. Others say to hold the trimmer switch and release it only when you are at the desired attitude and heading, but again, I find that the aircraft loses some of its more desirable flight characteristics as you do this. In other words, these options just don't feel right. The last option is to use Flight Director Mode, and this does work and is a viable option except for two things that I have noted. The first is that according to what I have read, using Flight Director Mode for this purpose, as well as turning off the Heading function of the Autopilot, or holding the Trim Switch, go against flight doctrine and training on the KA-50. The second thing that I have noted is that if you fly the training mission for learning the Landing Pattern, the Black Shark handles like a dream in that lesson. You can go into Route Mode and the Autopilot will fly the desired heading or track to the waypoint, but outside of Route Mode the helicopter goes where you point it without having to use any of the somewhat clumsy techniques I've described. Even when you trim the aircraft you are not locking the current heading into the Autopilot and you can continue to painlessly fly to whatever heading you'd like. Now, I've looked and I've searched, and I've searched and I've looked, but the only difference that I can find in the aircraft configuration for that lesson, is that the ADI is set to manual and the NDB switch is set to the inner NDB. I can't for the life of me figure out why the aircraft behaves so differently in that lesson as opposed to any other lesson or mission that I've flown. I'm really hoping that someone here or from ED can enlighten me. Again, this is a great sim with a great community and I'm very glad that I've found it. Cheers, Pogo (Witty signature to follow.....)